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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Trip to the Zoo

Two weeks ago, while we were visiting my parents in Virginia, we took Ella to the Richmond Zoo

{warning: very picture-heavy post!}

Before we even left, Ella was perfectly outfitted in this hat my mom found. It used to be mine, and with the giraffes, camels and monkeys on it, was perfect for the zoo!


We arrived at the zoo, and bought some food to feed the giraffes later. 




This was also Ella’s first time in the stroller without her car seat attached…my little girl is getting so big!!

{flamingos}

{monkeys}

{tortoise}

About an hour into our trip, we took a break on some benches so I could feed Ella. That wasn’t weird at all. Haha…a huge group of kids walked by us, thank goodness for my cover-up!


After that, we were back on our way, taking pictures of every single animal!





And then…we got to feed the giraffes! 



I think Ella was more interested in the giraffe’s food than she was in actually feeding them. 


Up next was a little bird house, where you could go in and feed the birds. 


We didn’t buy the sticks of bird feed (seen here), 


but Ella did really enjoy being in there! I think she liked listening to all of the bird sounds!


When we left the bird house, we headed to a little farm-type set up, with goats, donkeys, sheep and deer. 


The goats were especially funny as they kept trying to eat Ella’s stroller!


Across from them were the camels!



After the camels, we walked through a little forest that had a whole bunch of North American animals. 


{someone is getting tired...}


Soon after this, Ella crashed. We saw a few more animals before leaving. 


{alpacas}

{kangaroos}


Thanks again to my parents for a fun zoo trip, and to my dad for willingly pushing the stroller all morning!


I can't wait to go back when Ella is a little bit older!

Monday, July 28, 2014

Life with Ella {week 25}


Little Miss is starting to be quite difficult during these little photo shoots! She is just into EVERYTHING! Here's a very small sample of outtakes:


Honestly.

Anyway. Here's a look at our past week!

On Monday, we survived some crazy storms...


...and also discovered a way to make Ella swallow the rice cereal: give her a bottle nipple to suck on after each bite! (This was my husband's genius idea, and it actually worked!)


On Tuesday, we went to our play group, where Ella flirted shamelessly with little Will.


And Tuesday night, someone finally sat up long enough for me to get a picture!


On Wednesday, we discovered a new toy: mommy's ring


And we also discovered that Ella can hold her own bottle! 

{This was on my crazy day of running errands. I don't usually feed Ella in the car, but I was desperately trying to multi-task!}

Thursday was story time at the library! We had fun with the scarves! 


It was great seeing April and Christina there, too, with their sweet girls! 

Afterwards, we stopped by Alphabet Soup to pick up a few birthday gifts for some friends! :)


We also had a bath Thursday night, and this picture is too funny not to share.


Cracks me up! :)

Friday, we went out to lunch with Kathryn at Genghis Grill. Ella was a little unsure about all of the loud noises in the restaurant!


We also stopped by Lowe's to pick up a hook for our hummingbird feeder.


Ella is saying, "Don't mess with me, people!" She has been so funny lately!

Saturday, after we checked our email...


...we went to Kid to Kid because they were having a big sale! 


I didn't find any Lilly or smocked dresses, but I did manage to pick up a few cute outfits for fall!


We also stopped by Harris Teeter. Ella was fascinated with the lights in the wine section!

{Don't judge. I usually leave her with Travis when I go grocery shopping, but he was golfing!}

We finished off the day with rice cereal...she was so determined to feed herself!


And then, we had some swimming lessons in the bathtub.


This child needs legit swimming lessons ASAP. She loves the water!

Yesterday, I went to brunch with friends for Katie's birthday, while Ella stayed with her dad and played on his iPad. 

{Outfit is mine from 1985!}

She ended up "liking" her own photo stream picture! She is too funny! 

Coming up soon, I will finally post pictures from our zoo trip 2 weeks ago!! :) 
Have a great week!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Five Month Favorites

Now that my child is almost 6 months (eeeek! Where has the time gone?!), I figured I should probably get around to posting her favorite things at 5 months! 
I know you've all been worried...

In addition to the toys I've mentioned in previous favorites posts, we have some new ones:


1. Jumperoo: Trav's parents got us this for Christmas before Ella was even here, but she's finally big enough to go in it...and she LOVES it! She has just started to figure out how to play with all of the toys on it, and it makes for fabulous entertainment for both me and her!
2. Loopy Ball: I love this thing because it has a little hook so I can hang it from the toy bar on her play mat or the car seat. 
3. Take Along Tunes: This is a #1 best seller on Amazon for a reason! If Ella is fussy and I turn this thing on, 9 times out of 10, she will stop crying and just stare at this thing. It's amazing.

Owl pillow / Go-Go book / Fruit snacks wrappers / Owl mirror

1. Owl pillow: When we take our weekly photos, Ella has become so fascinated by this thing, that most of the time I have to take it away until we are done taking pictures! It's wings are crinkly, which she loves almost as much as playing with the gigantic tag on the back. 
2. Go-Go book: Someone gave this to me at my baby shower, and whoever it was THANK YOU! This is one of my favorite things to take with us when we're out and about...it's crinkly pages distract Ella fabulously!
3. Fruit snacks wrappers: Yes, this really is one of Ella's favorite things right now. I'm still downing fruit snacks left and right so I can give my child the wrapper to play with! She's obsessed.
4. Owl mirror: Ella loves this thing just for the crinkly wings. (Are you seeing a pattern here? Apparently my child will only play with things that crinkle.) She doesn't actually use the mirror part....just the wings. 

And because it's summer, here are our favorites for the pool!


1. Sunscreen: I originally thought babies couldn't wear sunscreen till 6 months, but my pediatrician told me it was ok to put a little on Ella after 4 months. I've been really happy with the Aveeno bath products, so I bought the sunscreen as well. It hasn't made Ella break out at all and goes on really easily, so I am happy with it so far!
2. Sun hat: This is so essential for keeping sun out of baby's eyes! This one comes in 485762 colors, but I like white so it will match all of Ella's swim suits!
3. Rash guard: I really didn't understand the appeal of these until this summer. I love that when Ella is wearing this, I only have to put sunscreen on her legs, and I don't have to worry about her arms getting sunburnt. Mine is sold out at Gap, but a similar orange version can be found here.

That's all I've got for month 5! 
Happy Thursday! :)