Valentine Day Kisses

For Valentines Day (well, for all days), Cooper showed his love for Ella with what else but a bunch of doggy licking kisses. She receives them well with big grins and as much of a giggle as she can muster under Cooper's big tongue. Happy Valentines Day!

Ella holding a flower from mommy's valentines bouquet...

...Ella realizing she's holding a flower from mommy's valentines bouquet!

Let the kisses begin!

Cooper thinking about going in for another....

That's it! Happy Valentines Day!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Cooper!

Our little furry buddy turns 2 years old today. His morning birthday present was a romp in the woods near our house. He was a maniac: jumping in and out of creek beds, crashing and splashing through the thin layer of ice that covered parts of the creek, running in big circles in the woods (spaz mode we call it), chasing squirrels, and generally getting nice and dirty and ICY. Cooper needed his fur defrosted next to the space heater when we got back to the house. He loved every minute of it and so did Tim (except the drying off part).

Infant Massage Class

Tonight, Tim and Erika became infant massage connoisseurs....well, sort of. But we sure learned a lot during the one hour class offered through our church and Ella for the most part, did pretty well. We learned all about technique, methods, and benefits for providing our little one with a good 'ol rub down. There were 4 other babies with us and the instructor offered a really nice class for all of us. We used olive oil for the massage and Ella enjoyed every bit of it...except when we laid her on her stomach for the back portion. Ah well - she got happy again as soon as she saw the other babies laying around!

Getting a foot massage from Daddy

Working on the ankles

Mommy and Ella post massage - Ella is all relaxed!

Ella with her parents

All about Ella...

Guess this will never change! Erika got a new camera for her birthday (thanks Mom and Dad!) and since then has been going crazy with the picture taking. Ella has fallen victim to the new craze and every now and then Cooper gets looped into the picture frenzy madness. Doubtful that it'll let up soon since Ella is just so cute!

She's just about 4 months old (already! Jeesh, time FLIES by!) and had a check-up with the doctor this morning. We're happy to report that she received a clean bill of health! But boy, has she grown since her 2 month check-up! She now weighs in at 14.8 lbs (75 percentile), measures 26 1/4 inches long (95 percentile!), and her little head grew 1 1/2 inches (65 percentile). All this growing has retired many pieces of her wardrobe...we can no longer squeeze her into 0-3 month clothing (tear, tear, mommy needs a moment......) but at least all this growing gives Erika a good excuse to go shopping for more baby clothes! She also had another set of shots, too, but recovered quickly...with just a few tears and a few screams, she was back to her normal smiling self. We are so proud of her.

We also wanted to congratulate our friends Sara and Eric on the birth of their daughter - ALLISON LAYNE who was born on February 5th at 7.5 lbs and 21 inches long. We are so excited for the new parents as they embark on the wonderful journey of parenthood! Congrats, Sara and Eric and welcome to the world little Allison!

Got a few seconds to spare? Then check out some pictures from the past week by clicking here!