Photo Shoot

We decided that for this Father's Day we would take pictures of Gabe and Ella for their grandpa Gonzalez. Unfortunately Gabe got his shots last week and wasn't his happy self for the pictures. He always looks adorable though.

This was one of my favorites.

Ella loves to hold up her legs. While we were taking pictures she randomly lifted her leg for a few minutes.

We loved that they were holding each other. This was Gustavo's favorite.

I had to get a close up of their chubby hands!

I just love her sweet smile.

Gustavo and I laughed so hard at this picture. We think it looks a little like a glamor shot engagement photo. Yolanda and grandpa thought it was the best of the bunch.

4 months

We think our little Ella gets more beautiful every day, hence all of the pictures! This is my favorite age so far because she isn't mobile, but she is starting to be really interactive. Here is a list of some of the things Ella is doing at four months:

• Ella LOVES to suck on her hands. She will put anything she can grab in her mouth, so along with her hands she also sucks on her clothes, toys, blankets, and our fingers. Every time we approach her face to give her kisses she opens her mouth as wide as possible.
• Ella is starting to talk with us a lot more. She loves to use her voice. During most conversations, and randomly, she will vocalize while sucking in so she makes a very loud awkward sound. I love it!
• She laughs! We can get her to laugh by bouncing her in our laps, tickling her chest, making silly noises, and raising her in the air above our heads. It is the best sound in the entire world. She even makes her great sucking in sound in the middle of her laughing at times.
• Ella is experimenting with her legs. She wants to stand up most of the time and when we lay her on her back she raises her legs and keeps them in the air. During some diaper changes she rests her hands on her knees while her legs are in the air.
• She loves being with her mom and dad, but is still hit and miss with most other friends.
  
• Ella can be extremely sensitive. If she hears a loud sound suddenly then she quickly protrudes her bottom lip forming a very dramatic frown and then starts to scream. She has done this with lots of sounds including laughter, accelerating trucks, dogs barking, the telephone, the tv, and her parents conversations. Of course these noises don't always make her sad, just when she is in the "right" (or should I say wrong) mood.
• Ella is starting to like some toys. She loves the cow Jessica bought her (thanks Jess) and anything that circulates (ceiling fans, her mobile, etc.). She loves bright colors and lights. She still loves watching the tv because of the movement and colors. The first time I put her bright pink sneakers on they kept catching her eye and she would just stare at them.
• Ella loves to be outside. We go on at least one walk a day. When nothing else can calm her I walk outside and she is instantly alright.
  
• When we talk with Ella and get her to smile she quickly turns her head to the side as if she is shy. You'll notice in the pictures above that her head is turned because her daddy was getting her to smile.
• Before Ella sneezes she lets out an anticipatory yell and then pauses to wait for the sneeze. If the sneeze doesn't come she gets a little perplexed look on her face.
  

Movie Night

and

and

make a wonderful girls night in with El.

Thanks for being so incredibly good looking Rock Hudson.

Just the Two of Us

This week Gustavo went on a stake camp out with the young men. When I first realized he would be gone for an entire week I was really nervous. At that point Ella was only about 4 weeks old and I was still very sleep deprived and in a lot of pain so I didn't even know how to function. Now, I can happily say that I feel WONDERFUL. Life is absolutely perfect. Ella and I had an incredible week together; just the two of us. We spent lots of time with Eleanor and the sisters in my ward. I felt like I was finally able to fulfill the responsibilities of my calling in Relief Society. We even started a successful playgroup for enrichment. It was so much fun playing with my baby girl all week.

Mmmm...Lemon Bars

So Tuesday I was sitting at home and thought,

"Mmmm lemon bars sound really good."

Then I smiled as I realized there was nothing keeping me from making them right then! Oh, how I love the freedom of my summer as a stay at home mom. So I pulled out the KitchenAid mixer I bought myself for Christmas and gave it a go.

I was just telling Yolanda and Emily last week that I had unfortunately only used my mixer 2 or 3 times so far. What a shame considering that I got up at 2 am the day after Thanksgiving and risked my life so I could buy it for only 130 dollars (thank goodness for that sweet Hispanic couple that protected me since I was pregnant)! For those of you who don't know that story, I went to Walmart after being very disappointed that my plan to buy the KitchenAid online at walmart.com had failed me. I thought I had this genius plan, but I guess I woke up too late (the sale said it started at 5 am so I figured I'd be safe and get up at 5 am Eastern time. At 1:45 my time they were already sold out so the sale started at some other mysterious time.) I wanted to just go back to sleep, but my head kept spinning so I decided I would see if our Walmart had one I could wait in line to buy. After all, 130 dollars is an excellent deal! When I found the mixers it was easy to see there weren't very many mixers bundled up in seran wrap and there was already a crowd of people swarming around them. As I approached the women who also wanted the mixers stared at me silently for a few minutes. Then the woman who quickly became our leader spoke up and we formed a plan. I was told there were 9 mixers and I was the eighth person to arrive. We each decided which mixer would be ours. I didn't even have a cart, but there was a sweet Hispanic couple who only wanted one mixer so the wife stayed to make sure she could continue to stake her claim while her sweet husband who didn't even speak English went to grab one for me. One other person came shortly after I got there so all of the mixers were spoken for. Those of you who have been to Walmart's day after Thanksgiving sale know that you can't even touch the pallets until 5 am so we just waited and it seemed like people became more frantic with each passing moment. Every time someone approached the pallet "our leader" informed them that there were only 9 mixers and 9 of us were already here. Most people were disappointed, but then left to go find the other deals they were hoping for. We worried about one couple because they came back after already knowing the situation, but they told us they decided they would buy the grill that was on the adjoining pallet. They seemed nice enough so no one was threatened. At about 4:30 a woman in her mid 20's came and when "our leader" spoke up she didn't seem to care. People got worried and decided to break the rules and unwrap the pallet so our mixers could be in our carts- it was so much safer that way. Of course, it wasn't long before a Walmart employee came and had everyone put the merchandise back on the pallet and then walkied for someone to come watch the KitchenAid customers. This new woman who didn't have a KitchenAid came up right behind me and moved my cart. The Hispanic woman quickly got in her face and started yelling at her saying something to the effect that I was pregnant so nobody should even think about pushing me. It was very sweet, but I felt pretty ghetto at the same time. When 5 am hit everyone in Walmart went CRAZY. A sight I never hope to see again. Each of us tried to grab our KitchenAids, but the girl who didn't have one claimed started fighting two people. She was clawing and jumping and all sorts of crazyness. The Walmart employee who was sent to watch us had to get the woman off of the other ladies. She was fighting a 14 year old girl and then a 60 year old woman. It was honestly insane. After all of that I have only used my KitchenAid 2 or 3 times. What a shame.

Now back to my lemon bars.
They were as delicious as I'd hoped. I plan to use that mixer plenty more this summer to make lots of sweet treats. YUM!

BBQ in the Canyon

Wednesday night Adam put together a barbeque up the canyon. We had lots of fun enjoying the beautiful summer night with great friends!

After eating we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. I can't get enough sweets these days so I was excited about this.

These guys have been two of Gustavo's best friends since high school. I'm so glad they've stuck around the area too. Now that Levi and Jesse have graduated we aren't sure how much longer they'll be in Utah, but we'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Levi & Jesse Belnap

Adam, Jennie and Boston. Boston is the happiest little guy!

Ella fell asleep at her usual bedtime of 8 o'clock after eating and having a nasty blowout. Unfortunately, she has a hard time sleeping outside of familiar surroundings so she woke up about 10 minutes after Gustavo set her in her car seat.

Ella started to get a little restless an hour or so after her bedtime, but she enjoyed Boston's toy that lit up and sang. When we get together with the Lennons Boston is always very interested in Ella. He gives her huge smiles, grabs at her, and usually tries to eat her. Ella just gets upset (what a surprise!)

Ella followed each of the lights as they lit up. The toy even kept Boston entertained for a minute or two. He still attempted to eat Ella a few times though. Ella fell asleep on the drive home. I can't get over how precious she looks when she is sleeping.

It Doesn't Get Better Than This

I have absolutely LOVED being home. I can't believe it has only been a few days. Our little family has been able to spend so much time together because I'm done with the school year and Gustavo is working random hours with the Air Force. Gustavo's brother Laz and his wife Emily came to visit for the week and got to meet Ella and Gabe.

Ella was true to her character and has been a princess with everyone, but her parents this week. Monday she wouldn't let Em or Laz hold her, but Tuesday she eased up a little bit. She was happy with Laz for about 15 minutes as they talked together, but then she wanted to take a nap. We went to dinner at the Pizza Factory and Gabe was a cutie like usual while Ella only let me and Gustavo hold her.
She has such a STRONG personality! We built Ella's little jumper and put her in it for the first time. She jumped a little and looked at the lights of the piano, but it wasn't very interesting yet. She looked cute though :)

I am LOVING every second I get to be home with my beautiful Ella.