Happy Holidays

I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. So much has happened in our lives this past month. I found out I got into the nursing program, which I will be starting in August. I'm excited for the adventure, but getting more and more nervous about being back in school! I've had such a long break. I'm going to continue to waitress a couple shifts each week to make ends meet.

Ella had a great Christmas. This was the first year she really understood what was going on. When she woke up Christmas morning she said, "Mom, I shut my eyes and now it's Christmas!!!" She was very excited to open all her presents. We ended up getting her a swing set that Charley set up a couple days before Christmas. It was hiding under a tarp in the front yard. We sure surprised her with that!

It was fun to go to Ella's Christmas performance at church and hear her sing. She did really good with learning all of her Christmas songs.

Now that Christmas is over, we are working on Ella's 3rd birthday which is January 9th. I'm just amazed how quickly time goes by. She'll be in elementary school in no time at this rate.

My big sister has talked me into training for a full marathon this May. That would be an amazing life-long accomplishment and I am excited for the challenge. My little sister is also supposed to be joining us. It should be fun. Hopefully I can follow through and finish it.

Monthly Post...

Another month has gone by. I can't believe how quickly November has gone. Thanksgiving is only days away! Thankfully I do not have to work on Thanksgiving. I'll be spending it with my little family. My side of the family is traveling to the bay area, so we'll just be spending it with Charley's side. Charley took the day before and after Thanksgiving off which will be nice to have him home.

I've already gotten all my Christmas cards together to send out. I'll be doing that next weekend. And pretty soon we will start our shopping. Ella is very excited about Christmas. I think we may even get our tree on Thanksgiving weekend which will be the earliest we ever have. It's fun to see her eyes light up when we talk about it. This is the first year she kind of understands what's going on. Well, the present part anyway!

We had a great Halloween, but I somehow forgot to take a picture of my little ladybug Ella! I can't believe it. Maybe somebody else did...

It's Almost Been a Month...

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I last blogged. First off, Charley's new schedule is working out great. He's able to do things around the house and even get the grocery shopping done during the week. He had last Monday off, so we went to breakfast together. That is something we never get to do anymore because one of us is usually always at work. It was nice to have a few hours together while Ella was at school.

We took Ella to the pumpkin patch the day a huge storm was blowing into town. It was really windy at the patch, but we manged to find a few good ones. Ella and Charley carved one together while I was at work and toasted the seeds for me. Yum! Ella is going to be a little lady bug for Halloween. She's looking forward to dressing up and getting candy in her orange pumpkin. I'll be working, but Charley is planning on taking her out. I decided to dress up as well since I never do and actually have an excuse to this year. I am going to be a cowgirl. Something cute and easy.

We had our yearly pictures taken this month. They turned out amazing. I'm so happy with the memories we are capturing every year that goes by. Ella as surprising cooperative for the most part. We got tons of great shots of her.

It's fall!

Ella before a princess party she went to.

The weather is finally starting to feel like fall is on it's way. We had a really nice couple of days before we started to have some cold days. We even brought out the little swimming pool in the back yard. I'm looking forward to taking Ella to the pumpkin patch the first weekend in October.

Charley started a new schedule so that he gets off earlier. He is now working five 8 hour shifts instead of the four 10 hour shifts. He gets off at 4:30 which allows him to spend the evening with Ella and get her in bed at a decent hour. She has been doing better at preschool with her new schedule and getting a little more sleep than she used to.

My family and I decided to have a family dinner once a month. I think it's crazy that we all live in the same area and barely ever see each other. We will take turns hostessing and everyone will bring a dish. It should be fun!

Last Sunday at work my car was broken into. They broke the driver side window and ripped out my xm radio deck. I was pretty upset about the whole thing especially since I was able to order a replacement radio for under $10. The window alone cost me $200! Life just isn't fair sometimes!

Charley and I celebrated 10 years of being together on the 15th. I was 15 years old when we first starting dating and we have been together ever since. We are exactly how I pictured us at this point. Although I think I imagined me being done with school by now... Oh well! It's hard to look back on those days and realize how easy life was even though it seemed so hard. I miss those crazy days cruising around in the old Camaro.

Adventures

Swimming in the "hot pool" at the hotel.

Watching Dora on her new dvd player on the way home.

On the boardwalk with Mema and cousin Shea.

At Grover Beach.

First Jamba Juice!

Sitting in the giant clam .

At the fair

Well, it's been so long again that I don't even know where to start... We took Ella to the fair back in August. She really enjoyed seeing all of the farm animals. She had a very hard time listening to directions though. She was sticking her hands in cages and climbing up the fences. We didn't stay all that long because we were both about to have a nervous break down! Maybe next year will be a little better.

We went on our little family vacation and had a blast. We left on a Friday after I got off work and made it to Santa Cruz. We woke up the next day and drove to the aquarium in Monterey. Ella was thrilled to see all the fish and critters. Her favorite was the octopus and starfish. She sang twinkle, twinkle little star every time she saw a star fish. And there were a lot of those guys! We spent a couple hours there and then headed to Pismo. We took the scenic route which had like 75 miles of winding roads... At least the view was gorgeous, right?

We had a great time spending time with Mema and cousin Shea. Mema took us to dinner both nights. Seemed like our time there went quickly, but at least we were able to make it down there. We drove the whole way back in one day. We shopped a little on the way home. Ella got lots of new school clothes. I am thankful that everything went so smoothly. I'm proud of Ella for being such a good girl on her first big trip. Hopefully we will be able to go back soon.

I can't Believe it's Been so Long!

Wow, I haven't taken the time to sit down and update this thing in weeks. I've been busy working and just too plain lazy to type an entry.

A couple of weeks ago I asked my manager if it were possible for me to take Fridays off and work another day instead. She ended up working it out so that I can work Tuesday nights instead of Fridays. I'm really excited to have a day off with Charley and Ella. I just didn't think it would be possible. I'm glad I asked!

Today was Ella's first official day of preschool. Charley and I dropped her off at 8 and then I went on a 7.5 mile run with my little sister and then to the gym. I love having Ella come running with me, but she slows me down. It was nice to run freely today and at a much faster pace. I'll be sure to report how she did!

Passed out after a long day

Well, we've made progress on the planning of our trip to Pismo Beach. I've got the hotel booked which is a new hotel right down the street from my Mema's. Ella will have a blast playing in the pool. We're planning on stopping at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on the way down. I think Ella will really enjoy that.

Charley and I made a huge accomplishment this month. We finally paid off all our credit card debt. It has been a long seven months, but we paid off every penny! Feels great to have that weight lifted. Now we know just how much money we should be able to put away in savings. And now we need to start saving for our trip!

I'm working Wednesday-Saturday night and all day Sunday this week. Hopefully we can make it to the river on Friday before I have to be at work.

Been a Couple Weeks...

Not too many new things have been happening on our end lately. Charley and I had another Friday off together, so we took Ella to the river again. She was talking about it all week until we finally got to go. She had a lot of fun playing in the water and in the sand. We dropped her off at Grandma and Grandpa's that night and went out to eat at my favorite sushi place. We were celebrating our six year anniversary which was yesterday. I really can't believe how long it's been already. We sure have been through a lot looking back on those six years.

We decided we are going to take a family trip down to see my Mema at the end of August. I am excited to take Ella on her first big trip and to see my family. It will also be nice to spend some time as a family since that doesn't happen all that often!

Summer Days

We were able to make yet another river trip last Friday. It was a lot of fun for all of us. My sister and all her boys were there. Ella had a blast taking care of baby Luke and swimming in the water. She's already asking when we are going back.

We officially started the beginning of our school schedule with Ella. We moved her bed into our room. Around 10 I make her get in her bed and I read her a story. Then I have to lay in my bed until she falls asleep. It's really nice having a couple hours before bed to myself. Now I just need to get myself up earlier so that I can get her up earlier. I'm glad we finally buckled down and started the process. It's the best thing for all of us. Plus she starts preschool NEXT month!!! That is just around the corner... She told me she needs a backpack for school, so we'll have to get her to the store to pick one out.

We don't have any big plans for the 4th weekend since we both will be working. I have to work 2:30-9 on the 4th. Hopefully we'll be super slow and I can leave early. Although I wouldn't mind be really busy and make good money... It's unlikely but we'll see.

We had a great Friday off together. We ended up taking Ella to the university's marine biology lab. They have star fish and sea anemones that you can pick up and touch. It was very hard to get Ella to want to leave. She is still talking about the star fish!

I had to work this past Friday because work was so busy the one Friday I had off. That was short lived, but I do get this Friday off because another girl is working that shift. We are thinking it would be a good day for a river trip.

I took Ella to her first eye doctor appointment yesterday. The doctor said her eyes look perfect and doesn't need to come back until she's 4.

We are getting very to close to being completely potty trained. I am trying to decide whether I should buy one more Costco box of diapers... Unfortunately we haven't made any progress on the schedule change yet. Charley is planning on moving Ella's bed into our room and we are going to start from there. To get her to sleep in her own bed (even if it's in the same room as mine) would be huge! I'll report how that goes later on.

Got enough floss there Ella?

Nothing too exciting has been happening on our end these days... Just the same old go to work and pay the bills. I really need to start getting Ella on a normal schedule so that she can get up in the morning for preschool when she starts in August. It's hard getting home from work late and trying to get her to go to bed. Her bedtime right now is about midnight and she wakes up at 10. Yikes! I need her to go to bed around 9 and get up at 7. I don't even know where to start.

My schedule at work changed a bit starting this week. I'm actually very thrilled about it and feel as though it is a major blessing. I now have Fridays off. Charley's only day off... I'll be working a short shift on Sundays instead. Which is fine with me because at least I didn't lose any hours and I still get to work with one of my best friends one day a week. I think spending Fridays as a family will really good for us. I've already been thinking of the day trips that we can take. And we'll also be able to get things done around the house. Charley told me that he was excited because now he'll be able to mow the lawn once a week since I'll be home to watch Ella. It's the little things, right?!

We Got Some Sun

Hmmm... A pumpkin full of socks... Don't know about that girl sometimes!

We spent Memorial Day at the river. Ella had a blast playing in the sand and rocks. She loves throwing rocks in the water which is what she spent most of her time doing. I relaxed in the sun and got a nice tan. I'm so happy summer is on its way!

On Friday we took Ella to a preschool that I've been interested in for quite some time now. We observed the classroom for about an hour. Ella joined in free play, circle time, and snack time. She even peed on the potty while we were there!! She is going to start mid-August. This is just a couple weeks before the fall class starts so that she's not overwhelmed with such a big class at first. She will be going three half days a week. I was worried that she wouldn't be ready, but she sat and participated in all the activities without even worrying where we were. She keeps asking me when she can go back again.

A Better Week

Ella snuggling with baby Luke

Eating a sandwich with Dad

"I'm not listening...."

This week has been a much better week. I'm back to my normal workout schedule and it feels good again.

I start a new shift at work on Saturday. It will be nice to get off earlier than my usual 11:00-11:30 P.M. time.

Ella's ear seems to be getting better. She's on her second set of antibiotics because the first set didn't get rid of it. We also got ear plugs for her when she takes a shower with me. It is very important to keep the water out.

Charley has Monday off and I don't work until 4, so I think we are going to head to the river for a little family day trip. Ella and I need to find bathing suits. I'm thrilled summer is on it's way.