Time flies when you're having fun!

It is crazy that Ellie is a little over 8 months old already! I was looking through my baby book the other night and realized I need to do a better job of recording Ellie's milestones. I guess I thought I would "never forget" when this or that happened, but sometimes thinking back over the past 8 months I get a little blurry about exactly when something happened. So on that note, here is where Ellie is at now:

*army crawling, starting to get on all fours more

*squirming and wiggling all over, loves to squeal while she does this- new game she plays with Esteban

*sitting up on her own

*can sit up from laying on her back

*eating stage 2 baby food and has fun trying out "big people" food such as bananas and pasta

*LOVES drinking cold water from a "big people" cup but refuses to drink water from a bottle or sippy-cup

*reaches out to touch someone's face...if she likes them

*plays with my hair when she is falling asleep

*smiles ALL the time and LOVES life- happy girl!

*says "da da," "ma ma," "ba ba," and other gibberish, but we don't think she actually knows what that means yet

*my mom taught her how to clap her hands- I need to get a video of that on here for you all to see, it is too cute- looks like she is at the Opera or something fancy, very proper clap!

*puckers up and makes a kiss sound when you ask "Ellie, can I have a kiss?"

*pulled herself into a standing position for the first time in her pack-n-play

*curious about everything and listens to conversations around her very intently

With all of that said, we are having so much fun watching Ellie grow and change everyday! I am starting to prepare myself that summer is coming to an end...volleyball starts this week and I think it will be a good start to getting back into reality! I can handle getting sweaty and playing in the gym, but I am not 100% ready for lesson plans just yet.

playing UNDER her Baby Einstein instead of in

Hanging out at the pool

Sleeping with Uncle Dan

Playing with toys at Mimi's house- outfit from her Grandma Lopez that her GREAT grandpa St. George would love- he loves red!

Crazy lady in her zebra swim suit

Playing with Keelin & Teagan after swimming

Sweet girl

July is here!

I am having a bit of a hard time coming to grips with that fact that July is here. For those of you that do not live in the south, that means our summer is almost over! I start open gym for volleyball the last 2 weeks of July, we have try-outs and pre-planning the first week of August and school starts August 9th!

I sure have LOVED this summer! Being home with Ellie has been wonderful and Ellie and I have had fun spending a lot of our days at the pool with friends or my family. Esteban has been working really hard and things have been going really well for him/us!

We had a great 4th of July in Chattanooga! My good friend Amber and her fiance, Frank, came with us on a day trip to Chattanooga! Esteban and I love any chance to go up there, we sure miss it sometimes. If you have never been, you need to go- it is such a quant and fun city! We started off by eating lunch at Tony's, a local Italian restaurant in the Art District. Then we walked around, drove through UTC's campus- lots of new construction going on-, then drove around Look Out Mountain, then back to the Art District to hang out at Rembrandt's for a while before finding a spot by the river before the fireworks started.

Us on the walking bridge.

Amber and I on the walking bridge in Chattanooga.

Esteban at Sunset Rock on top of Lookout Mnt.

Stopped at the little shop on the way down to mountain for some Coca Cola and a little browsing.

Ellie loved "tasting" the Coke.

Esteban, Frank and Ellie on the Tennessee River.

Our family on 4th of July in Chattanooga :)

Chattanooga did their big fire work show on Saturday night, but the Lookout's had a firework show after the baseball game. It actually worked out perfectly, there wasn't a huge crowd but we saw a great show! Ellie did NOT nap at ALL Sunday- guess there was too much excitement and she didn't want to miss out. Thankfully, she LOVED fireworks and fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and slept all the way home!

Ellie playing and waiting for the fireworks to start.

Watching fireworks, so serious.

Happy 4th of July!

Home Sweet Home

Ellie loves playing and really enjoys being read to! She will sit very still while you read and if the pages are a little wordy she will look up at me, probably thinking "next picture, please."

Ellie at home playing.

Happy girl playing at home.

Ellie fell asleep cuddling with Uncle Dan, too cute!

Sweet Summer Time

At the end of June, Esteban and I took Ellie on her 2nd flight, but 1st trip to California! Ellie did great on the flights to and from Arizona in March, but she is 3 months older now...so we didn't know what to expect. After a little crying and trying to get comfy, Ellie slept the entire flight!

Esteban was a groomsmen in a friend's wedding in his hometown so we were able to spend time with his family as well. Esteban's brother, Nick, flew down from Berkley to meet Ellie for the first time! Speaking of Arizona, we were able to squeeze in dinner and fellowship with Aaron and Amber Anderson. It was a very, very busy weekend with a few unexpected events, but we had a good time and Ellie did great with the time change and new environment. It really wasn't until we got home that it really hit her, but she is almost back to her normal self.

Ellie 7 1/2 months

Ellie with her Grandpa Lopez

Ellie-aka "Scooch"

Ellie is officially "scooching" everywhere...not quiet crawling yet, but for sure has her eyes on EVERYTHING and seems to find a way to get her hands on it, too. Ellie is such a low-key and happy baby, most of the time. She has a habit of letting out this ear-pierching squeal when she is bored, which is usually when we are out to eat or do something else in public and she is not getting our undivided attention. As soon as you look at her, she smiles- probably knowing how much she is hurting our ears. Thankfully, most people around Ellie when she squeals are understanding...but we are working on this...somehow :)

Since the beginning we knew Ellie would be a talker...she is starting to "babble" much more now. Some days it sounds like she is saying "ma ma ma" or "da da da" but who knows if she really knows what she is saying just yet. Lately, on our walks at the park, Ellie "talks" almost the whole way. If she isn't talking herself she is listening to mommy and her walking partner chat...the days of sleeping during the walks have stopped for now...but she usually takes a long nap when we get home which I love even more!

This past weekend was Esteban's 26th birthday and his 1st Father's Day! Since he has been working so much he just wanted to relax and hang out at home with "his girls." Esteban, Ellie and I went to lunch at Jim and Nick's BBQ for Father's Day and Ellie was babbling and starting saying "da da" more and more- still not sure if she really means to say it yet, but still pretty cute timing on her part :)

I tried to put some videos on here of Ellie scooching, but it won't work for some reason so I will have to try again later!

Have a lovely day!

Jenn

miss personality- love it!

As you can probably tell by the pictures I have posted, Miss Elizabeth is already full of personality! Esteban and I can't wait to hear what she has to say when she starts talking because her facial expressions already say so much!

Here is Ellie's newest smile!

7 months old @ pool

6 1/2 Months...1st Time in the Pool

I am officially on summer break, home with Ellie EVERYDAY and LOVING it! She is my personal wake up call, bright and early, but I don't mind one bit! Today, we had breakfast, I did a yoga video, laundry, and a shower before 8:00am!

My grandparents (dad's side) live in Virginia and after seeing Krissy's Prom pics and newer pictures of Ellie decided they missed everyone and wanted to come down for a visit! After a 9 hour car ride, they arrived full of positive energy and ready to love on everyone. Ellie had a little fever so we weren't around as much over the weekend, but it was still great to visit with them. The last night there were there we had a HUGE rain storm. No thunder or lightning, just super heavy rain. Krissy, Dan and I went on my parent's front porch to watch the rain and then I dared Dan to run out in the middle of the street...being a 10 year old boy, he jumped on that dare...and Krissy shortly joined him. Below is a picture of the girls in the family after all that fun... my mom, grandma, Krissy, Ellie, and I.

Ellie is such a HAPPY baby! We are SO BLESSED!

Ellie is sitting up more, but wobbles over pretty quickly. She loves to be able to see everything...and always eying what to get her hands and MOUTH on next!

On Monday, Ellie went to the pool for the 1st time! She loves the bath, so I assumed she would enjoy the pool as well. She ate lunch in her Bumbo seat...here she is relaxing and loving life.

We have a foam set of the ABCs and 123s for bath time...Ellie loves to play with them and teeth on them...it's funny because they are made by the company, Sassy, but the only letter that says "Sassy" on them happens to be the "E" ... here is Ellie with her Sassy E! (Sassy Ellie)

She likes to take off the sunglasses a little more now then a few months ago...

Hanging out in her stroller and checking out the ducky on her towel.

Always got a smile on her face!

Big shot in the pool!

Swimming with my little cousin, Teagan.

Chilling out in her float with a football and passy...she stayed like this for a long time!

Ellie was so comfy in her float, she almost fell asleep... unfortunately, we had to take her out and change her so she didn't take a nap in the wet diaper...but she quickly fell asleep and took a nice pool side nap in her stroller.