Florida

Last weekend we packed up and headed to Naples, Florida for a trip to visit my Nana. My mom, dad, sister and her boyfriend Matt also went with us. It was a long weekend filled with lots of beach time. My Nana (Campbell referred to her as mommy's nana or mimi's mommy) had not seen Campbell since she was 3 or 4 months old and had never met Ella. We were way overdue for a trip down there. It brought tears to my eyes when Nana saw the girls for the first time. She was overwhelmed with emotion! For me, it was the highlight of the trip. The girls did really well overall. Campbell was a champ and played SO hard on the beach everyday. She had SO much fun!!! Ella did ok...she was a little off when we left for the trip so she was a fussier than normal the whole weekend. Naples is so beautiful and quite! It is a perfect place to bring kids because the water is so calm and the sand is so soft. We collected lots of seashells and saw 2 sharks and several dolphins. Yes, I did say sharks. They were pretty small but were very close the she shoreline. Needless to say we watched Campbell like a hawk for the rest of the trip. Here are pictures from our trip. I had a hard time narrowing down the list so there are a lot :)

"mommy's Nana" and the girls

Matching pj's :)

The fam

Our beach babies

Bathing beauty

Ready to play on the beach!

Good times!

Mommy and Ella Bella

Ella LOVED walking with daddy on the beach

Daddy was a busy guy!

Love this picture of her...so content!

Eric, Campbell and Pa

The fam

Eric and his girls

Me and my girls!

Ella Bella and mommy

Pa giving Ella a bottle on the beach

At dinner at The Lighthouse...our favorite restaurant in Naples

Heather and Matt

Packing to go home...such a big helper :)

One, Two, Three...

Those three words are used a lot in our household these days. I am always using the counting technique to get Campbell to follow the rules. For example, "Campbell you have until the count of three to get up off of the floor and stop crying or you will go to timeout." Or, "Campbell you have until the count of three to come in your room and get ready for bed." This technique actually works really well for her.

So, yesterday Campbell used this technique on me. She asked me for some orange juice and I told her I would get it for her when I was done changing Ella's diaper. She then proceeded to count to three and when she didn't get her orange juice by three she told me I needed to go to timeout. I just started dying laughing!!! I thought it was SO funny and told her that she couldn't send mommy to timeout and she started laughing also.

Nice try Campbell Grace!

State Fair

On Friday we took the girls to the State Fair for the first time. Eric took a half day so we were able to get down there around 2:30. Aunt Heather had the day off so she was able to join us as well. Campbell LOVED riding all of the rides and even rode a few all by herself. We toured the children's aquarium and the agricultural area. After sharing a corn dog, a pretzel, some nachos and a few beers we headed home. It was a great day and the girls did so well. They were exhausted by the time we left and both took great power naps on the way home. I can't wait to go back next year!

Campbell and Ella checking out the stingray

Daddy and Ella in the aquarium

There is a huge electric eel in the tank...Campbell thought it was cool. I thought it was gross!

Petting a baby chick. She named the chick "chickee"

Ella hitchin' a ride

Riding the swings!

This ride was actually really fast and really fun! I'm not sure who had more fun, Campbell or me?!?

Eric and Campbell riding the monster truck ride. She was all about this one!

Aunt Heather and Campbell

Cousin playdate

Peyton came over on Wednesday for a playdate so Aunt Megan could get some much needed rest and have a little downtime. Graham is 4 weeks old and isn't giving his momma much sleep time at night. Peyton came over to play with Campbell around 10 and stayed until 2. We had so much fun! We decorated pumpkins, played with bikes and cars, played dress up, played dollhouse, ate lunch, played hopscotch and played in the princess tent. The girls had a blast and Ella did her best to keep up with them. Here are some picture from our day.

Ella 11 months old

Wowza!!! Ella turned 11 months old on the 9th...we cannot believe it. A lot happened last month. Her biggest accomplishment is that she started crawling. She is loving this new freedom and so am I actually. She was getting pretty bored of sitting around watching Campbell do fun things. They are actually playing really well together despite the occasional shove from Campbell she is holding her own :)

Still taking 2 naps a day (around 9:30 and 2:30)

Sleeping at night from 7 to 7

Eating pretty much only table foods. She is really no longer interested in anything pureed

Loves to "talk" and make sure everyone knows she is in the room

Eats three 8 ounce bottles a day

Campbell and Ella have a new game called "the bike game." Campbell rides around on her barbie bike and Ella crawls around chasing her. They both LOVE this game!

Still holding steady at 4 teeth

Says mama, dada, and baba and knows what these mean

Pulling up on most things if they are the right height

She is a total ham...she makes up laugh all the time!!

Happy 11 month birthday Ella Bella...the next one is a big one...let the party planning begin!!!