On the Lake

On Thursday one of Gustavo's old friends, Justin, took us boating.  It was a perfect day so although we only intended to go out for an hour or so, we stayed for over 4 hours.  This was the first time I've been boating since high school and the only time I've been with Gustavo.  

All of the guys went out first.  Gustavo tried out the knee board and got up the first time.  This was no surprise, he is always good at everything- it is so annoying!

When Nolan went out it took him a few tries, but he got the hang of it.

Justin went out on the wake board to show everybody up.

He had my try the wake board first and I almost got up the first time, but then face planted on my next 2 attempts.  I decided to switch over to the knee board.  I pulled my body up on the third try, but lost my balance while I was getting the rope.  I tried one more time, but my arms were already really tired so I didn't make it up.  Next time I will though!

Nolan's girlfriend, Shaunie, tried too.  Even though she and I weren't successful it was tons of fun and the water was PERFECT.  (Of course there aren't any pictures of me because Gustavo forgot to take them while I was out.) No one else was out on the lake and the water felt incredible.

It was Ella's nap time and so fortunately she fell asleep for a little while.  

It was so nice to be outside enjoying the summer.

It was so much FUN!

Family Pictures

While my sister Megan and her family were here from Pennsylvania we decided to take some family pictures.  

Here is the whole family: my parents, 4 sisters, 3 brother-in-laws, 8 nieces, and 1 nephew (well almost 2 since baby Max is due in about 5 weeks).

My little family of 3

Splish Splash

Last week we went swimming almost every day since it was so hot.  Each time Ella gets in the water she enjoys it more and more.  The first two times she was very serious and stayed pretty rigid although she never complained and seemed to enjoy it.  Her third time in the pool she started to splash.  Gustavo and I just laughed as we watched her splash and splash while maintaining a very serious face and making an occasional surprised sound. 

This is her surprised face after a huge splash:

The next time we went to the pool she got even more comfortable.  She started smiling and laughing, even though for the most part she stayed pretty serious.

She is content to stay in for as long as we'll let her.  Ella is starting to love the water so much that she even cried Tuesday when I took her out of the bath tub.  

 

I couldn't resist taking a picture of her incredibly wrinkled feet!

Yaya

Gustavo's grandma, Yaya, is staying with Jilda and Natalie so we went up to visit.  This was the first time she and Ella have met.  Yaya lives in Puerto Rico and will turn 90 next month! She is Ella's only living great grandparent and I'm excited they have the opportunity to know one another. Unfortunately Yaya and I have never been able to have a conversation because she doesn't speak English, and I don't know any Spanish.  It is always a little interesting/uncomfortable because people don't know whether to speak Spanish so Yaya can participate in the conversation or if they should speak English so I can understand.  When Yaya accused them of being impolite by speaking in English I told them to speak Spanish, well actually I messed up and said "Hablo Espanol."  It all worked out though. 

Yaya and Gabe

Natalie's son Nicholas is so adorable.  He is almost 5 months older than Ella, but not much bigger.

The three babies in the Gonzalez family.

yes, I am definitely a giant compared to everyone in the family

rolling

Today while we were over at my parents' house Ella

ROLLED OVER!

Family Date

We spend most of our summer days "hanging out" in the basement where it is nice and cool.

Monday night we decided we wanted to get out and play so we went to Boondocks.

Gustavo and I both pretend not to be competitive with each other, but of course we are.  He had me for most of the game until the 15th hole where he choked.  I then finished strong and beat him by 2 (yahoo!)

While we were golfing I kept admiring my new "mom shadow".

Our little cutie was having so much fun that she fell asleep.

Yummy Yummy

Now that Ella is 5 months old we decided to try giving her rice cereal.  We half heartedly tried once about a month ago, but she was in a bad mood and we didn't want to push it.

Things got messy really quickly

So we just embraced it and let Ella play with the spoon.

That was a lot more interesting than eating.

5 Months

Ella is 5 months old!  It is amazing that although I continually hear people warn me that children grow up so quickly, I can't help being surprised at how true that is.  I swear she gets bigger every single day.  I can't believe it! Ella is such a happy little girl; just full of smiles.  The only real milestone she has reached in the last month is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT.  Unfortunately I kind of forced her into this a week ago by letting her "cry it out."  I didn't think I would do it, but she started waking up as much as 9 times within 6 hours just wanting me to give her the pacifier or rub her back.  That was too hard for me so I took the pediatrician's advice and let her cry.  Fortunately the crying only lasted for 3 nights and usually wasn't longer than 10-20 minutes at a time.  She has successfully slept through the night (11 or 12 hours) without crying for 7 consecutive days.  I really didn't mind getting her once a night for a feeding because I liked the extra cuddle time (that is why I absolutely LOVE nursing Ella and am so grateful my milk supply increased after school ended).  When she started waking up all through the night again it was so exhausting that I needed to make a change.  I can't complain about getting a good nights rest.  I remember not knowing if that would ever happen again those first 2 1/2 incredibly sleep deprived months after she was born.

Look how big she is!  I can hardly believe it.

Talking with Daddy

While Ella and Gustavo were talking today I realized I haven't ever recorded her funny sounds. She always has us laughing with the great noises she makes and of course, her adorable giggle.

As you can see, she is very easily distracted by the camera.

4th of July

I love the 4th of July because all of my family gets together to celebrate.  This year was especially wonderful because Meg and her family are visiting from Pennsylvania.  We all met at my parent's house in the afternoon to go swimming.

 Ella started off by just dipping her feet in.

She never smiled, but she was definitely enjoying the water.

Ella wouldn't take her feet off of Emily's pregnant tummy the whole time they were in the pool together.  Even when we tried, Ella put them right back on.

We ended up putting her in this little floaty toy which she just ate.

The little girls went back and forth from this tiny water slide to the pool.  They had LOTS of fun in the water.

Eva was posing for me.

Lucy and Jane were taking a quick break hoping to get warm.

Elena and Eowyn decided to dry off on the trampoline.

After lots of fun swimming we dried off and got ready for the bbq.  Meg and I decorated sugar cookies while people prepared the real food.

After dinner we had a WATER FIGHT

It started with water balloons but quickly turned into a war of hoses

Dad (or Grandpa) was the first major target.

Eva even got the hose for a little while and grandpa surrendered himself. Very quickly Emily called out Gustavo and he became the new target.

Emily chased him around the yard while he tried to hide.  He finally ran over and got another hose.  You can't see Gustavo because he was trying to hide behind the tree, you can just see the spray from both hoses as the two drenched each other.  

My dad ended up turning off Gustavo's hose so he just jumped into the pool where my nieces continued the attack.

Ella was a very happy girl and showed the family what a sweet girl she can be.  I believe everyone even got to hear her laugh a few times.