Andrey and I finally got to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. Yes, nearly a month late but we were fasting during the actual day and couldn't take advantage of any of the usual celebratory foods - namely chocolate and alcohol. We ordered some yummy food from one of our favorite restaurants and had a date after Ella went to bed. A bottle of champagne, some posh Mexican food, a homemade six minute chocolate cake and a viewing of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (love that movie!) made for a fun date night at home to celebrate the beginning of our tenth year together.
Last week I grabbed a few shots of Ella on our little street. She was in a rare mood - relatively willing to be herself in front of the camera. This girl has so much personality. Her mind and body are active and busy and so much fun to watch.
We joined Andrey on a business trip this week. Ella amazed us again with her love of all things travel. Her excitement level is set to high anytime we are in an airport or airplane. When we returned to Cebu, Ella told my friend, whom she's spent a bit of time with, "Airport! Airplane! Fly! Manila!" This photo is fuzzy but it shows how elated she is and how good she feels about pulling her own bag.
Even on long taxi rides, this girl is amazing. Not having a car seat helps.
We did a bit of yard work yesterday. Andrey had the garden shears out and Ella really wanted to help so we got her scissors (the ones we recently realized she can use like a pro) and let her go to town on the shrubs. The plants in our garden grow like crazy so it's no harm to cut anything back. After a while, Ella grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the bushes and continued her work. Then she went inside and got a chair for Daddy saying, "Chair! Own!"
Some things Ella is into these days:
You may have noticed I've been letting Ella's bangs grow. This is what it looks like when she takes her clip out. I think it's hilarious because it reminds me of the Adam's Family It. She is not happy about me taking this photo at all.
Next month, Ella will turn three! I am already planning her party. This first birthday together just feels so significant. It will also be one week short of us being together a year so we feel it is appropriate to make a big deal out of it. If anything it is to reflect how full our hearts are. We just want to celebrate! So a pool party we will have at a place near the mountains. I just booked the place today. We're so excited. I am currently researching woodworking plans for the play kitchen I hope to make for her. I'm eager to start a fun project. I bought a bunch of kitchen supplies when we were in the States so I have all that ready to go. Just need the kitchen. There are tons of really cute do it yourself ideas that can be found on line. I just have to pick one and then figure out how to go about it. Should be interesting.
Last week I grabbed a few shots of Ella on our little street. She was in a rare mood - relatively willing to be herself in front of the camera. This girl has so much personality. Her mind and body are active and busy and so much fun to watch.
Ella's weekly play date with R. How cute are they!?
I found some finger paint this week. Ella was so excited about it when I bought it for her that she even passed up an opportunity to enjoy the slide at the mall playground (unheard of) because all she wanted to do was go directly home to paint. After a quick trip to the grocery, that is what we did.
We joined Andrey on a business trip this week. Ella amazed us again with her love of all things travel. Her excitement level is set to high anytime we are in an airport or airplane. When we returned to Cebu, Ella told my friend, whom she's spent a bit of time with, "Airport! Airplane! Fly! Manila!" This photo is fuzzy but it shows how elated she is and how good she feels about pulling her own bag.
Even on long taxi rides, this girl is amazing. Not having a car seat helps.
At the Manila airport, beginning our trip home to Cebu. Look at my big girl!
Back at home... Sometimes she just does not want her picture taken.
We did a bit of yard work yesterday. Andrey had the garden shears out and Ella really wanted to help so we got her scissors (the ones we recently realized she can use like a pro) and let her go to town on the shrubs. The plants in our garden grow like crazy so it's no harm to cut anything back. After a while, Ella grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the bushes and continued her work. Then she went inside and got a chair for Daddy saying, "Chair! Own!"
Some things Ella is into these days:
- Loud music, especially her favorite song, that Chris Tomlin song that goes... strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord we will wait upon the Lord... when it comes on she says, "Loud! Sing!" and will sing along with gusto. Oh and she often demands us to sing with her. No talking, Mom & Dad... Sing! (I wonder if I should have her hearing checked because she also really likes turning the TV volume up when watching Elmo)
- Cutting - as I mentioned she is able to use scissors now. When she first found this skill she spent long periods of time (okay, long for a toddler) cutting paper into a gazillion tiny pieces. Lately she is more intrigued by trimming plants outside.
- Food - she's been eating so much lately! Favorite food these days? Chicken. Man can she eat a lot of chicken.
- Trying out two words together - Up until recently she has been limited to stringing single words together but not making sentences yet. I have encouraged her for months to say things like "blue cup" or "hot coffee." She can say blue and cup but when prompted to say them together she'd just put an uhh or ahh in front of the second word, like "ahh cup." Well last week, she, completely of her own accord, started putting adjectives with nouns. It's very sweet because we can see that she is really focusing and concentrating and when she says something and we understand and praise her, she clearly feels very good about herself. Lately, she's been saying things like water slide, yellow bus, black pants, brown shorts, purple shirt, hot egg, etc... Way to go, Ella!
You may have noticed I've been letting Ella's bangs grow. This is what it looks like when she takes her clip out. I think it's hilarious because it reminds me of the Adam's Family It. She is not happy about me taking this photo at all.
Next month, Ella will turn three! I am already planning her party. This first birthday together just feels so significant. It will also be one week short of us being together a year so we feel it is appropriate to make a big deal out of it. If anything it is to reflect how full our hearts are. We just want to celebrate! So a pool party we will have at a place near the mountains. I just booked the place today. We're so excited. I am currently researching woodworking plans for the play kitchen I hope to make for her. I'm eager to start a fun project. I bought a bunch of kitchen supplies when we were in the States so I have all that ready to go. Just need the kitchen. There are tons of really cute do it yourself ideas that can be found on line. I just have to pick one and then figure out how to go about it. Should be interesting.
6 comments:
Oh precious daughter, thanks for this wonderful blog post. I laughed out loud several times. Ella is just exploding with personality!!! Happy building a little kitchen for your daughter!
sweet pictures and stories! Did you know that you can make your own sidewalk chalk paint? Looks like you have plenty of cement to decorate. :)
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/super-sidewalk-paint-673728/
She certainly does appear to have quite the little personality in those photos!! She seems to be getting so big, especially in the photo where she is pulling hew own suitcase and you gotta love a child that travels well!! I'm sure that she is going to love her pool party.
I see so many similarities between Ella and our three! I sure am thankful for the orphanage that they started out in. Is Ella's backpack from Dorcas? Our girls have the same one! It is such a joy to see how much she is growing and changing.
Blessings!
Deborah
Rachel: Thanks for the tip about the sidewalk paint. I hadn't heard about it but will try it out. We use sidewalk chalk often. The paint would be another fun option and seems really easy to make.
Deborah: I too am thankful for Ella's care at Dorcas House, although she was only there for about 8 months. And yes, her backpack came from Dorcas. It's the kind of thing I probably would have never bought for her but she loves it! It is a regular play thing in the house and has proven to be quite useful.
What a fun update. Thanks for sharing.
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