Easter Bunny visits Ella for the first time

What is it about Easter? It's sort of like Christmas in the spring time. There's a sense of renewal in the atmosphere as everyone is getting a little anxious for warmer weather, green leaves, sunny skies, and blossoming flowers. I don't think we've ever seen so many people out walking around our neighborhood as we did yesterday. Spring is in the air! This marked Ella's first Easter and we realized that every Easter (and holiday for that matter) going forward will only get better. We're excited for Ella to experience all the fun times that we cherished as little kids. Wouldn't we all like to believe in the Easter bunny again? As Ella develops more and more, her sweet innocence becomes more and more apparent and it really is so special to observe her as she takes the world in.

We celebrated Easter with morning mass and then breakfast at our home with Erika's parents. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice long walk with the Coopman and then headed over to the Buehrig's for Easter dinner with Ms. Fay, Meg, and Mike. It was a really enjoying evening and great way to end such a beautiful day.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! For some pictures of Sunday, click here.

Also, a BIG congratulations to Amanda and Mike who celebrated the birth of their baby girl, Anna Rose, on Saturday. What a special Easter treat! Congrats!!!

Rub-A-Dub Dub Dub, 'Lil Ella in the Tub!

Ella and her little tub may soon be graduating to the bathroom bathtub for her baths as she has become quite the little splasher these days. Her little, chubby legs managed to soak the kitchen floor with all her splashes this morning so while the bath left her all nice and clean, the kitchen was a wet disaster! Nonetheless, it was worth it. Her face just LIGHTS up when she sees that blue tub of hers filled with water. We have no doubt she'll love the swimming pool this summer! Erika snapped a few pictures and took a little video from the bath this morning - Ella looks so big in her tiny tub!

And another video....Ella is such the movie star- ha! This one is a real treat; if her little laugh doesn't bring a smile to your face well, then, you're just outta luck! There's a little surprise at the end, too...doh!

Here are a few pictures of Ella trying out her bumbo seat...she seems to like as she's able to reach for toys on the ground and remain in a sitting position.






Below are a few more pictures from the last week or so. Ella enjoyed a play date with some of her baby buddies last week and really enjoyed interacting with baby Lindsey who is just slightly older than Ella. Claire is working on her social skills still and just enjoyed small catnips in her swing and the occasional observation of her little friends.

Taking a little nap while enjoying her tiny thumb...

...and enjoying some floor time with buddy Claire

So many babies! Lindsey, Ella, and Claire

All smile for the camera!

Sitting (or leaning!) from oldest to youngest!

Also, we enjoyed a night out without Ella on Saturday and treated ourselves to a date with the Hayken's at Rays, our favorite steak restaurant. It was de-lish! Afterwards, we headed out to an Irish bar with our friends to celebrate St. Patty's day - no green beer but it was fun to get out and enjoy a night out at the bars!

We'd also like to congratulate our good friends Steve and Rachel on the birth of their first baby, a little boy named ETHAN SHIA born March 3rd at a tiny 5 lb 13 oz! We are so excited for them and welcome them into the wonderful adventure and journey of parenthood...Happy BIRTHday little Ethan!

February Wrap Up

Even with the extra day in February this year, the month seemed to just FLY by. And even though we're anxious for spring (aka warmer weather), February was a lot of fun for the Carlson's. Here's a little February Ella recap:

• Ella turned 4 months (in fact, she's now almost 5 months!!!) old!
  
• Ella laughs! This is different from the "giggle." She truly laughs and it is about the sweetest thing in the whole entire world to hear.
  
• Hello world but hello FEET! Forget the toys. Forget the pacifier. Forget the fingers. It's all about the toes. Grabbing them is fun but sucking on them is even better.
• Squirmy bug at night. On several occasions when Erika comes to get Ella in the morning she is quite astonished to find that Ella is NOT where Erika left her! Sometimes she rotates 45 degrees in her crib, other times it's a complete 180 turn - her feet were where her head was! Regardless, Ella is still the superb sleeper....pulling in 9-11 hours each night and waking up all smiles and ready to eat!
• Twinkle, twinkle little star. We all know Erika can't sing but you'll have a hard time convincing Ella that her mommy can't carry a tune. We're not sure what is about "Twinkle twinkle Little Star" but Ella just seems to LOVE this song. And boy do we mean LOVE it. She loves it so much when mommy sings this song (and only THIS song) that it'll even stop her fussiness and bring a smile to face, almost instantaneously. We love how much she loves it....instant happiness!
  

Click here for some February pictures.

Hello chubby cheeks!

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!