Happy 1/2 Birthday Ellie!

It's hard to believe we've had Ellie for six months already. We have been having so much fun with her! She has a very happy personality and loves to see what's going on around her. Her biggest accomplishment is sitting up unassisted! She loves it too! She went from only sitting up for a few seconds to several minutes in just a day.

She has an adorable laugh but she holds them in for her favorite person, daddy! He gets more smiles and laughs than anyone. She just adores him!

Ellie is also talking a lot more and using words like mum, da and ba. We try to practice mama and dada to see whose name she'll say first. A not so fun thing she's learned is fake crying. It's pretty funny to look at but not a funny habit to keep. She does it when she's done with playing and wants to be held. She loves her playing in her exersaucer and bumbo and going on walks at the park.

This face is hilarious!!!!!

She seems to be ticklish on her feet especially when daddy rubs his scruffy face on them. She loves playing peek-a-boo and singing and dancing to mommy's made-up songs.

Cute little button nose, perfect lips and Smith chin!
What an adorable profile!

Mommy and Ellie

Ellie's Six Months Stats:

weight- 15 lbs 10.5 oz (50%)

length- 27 3/4 in (97%)

head- 17 in (75%)

Perfect in every way!

Rock and Roll... again!

ROCK ON!

My sister Cristina and cousin Jen talked me into doing the PFC 1/2 Marathon again. These gals are speedy and run on a regular basis. Even if I ran every day I'd still be slow! It also would have helped if I trained. One day I'll learn from experiences like this and actually train... hopefully by November so I can beat my time in the Desert Grande Triathlon.

I made a goal of beating my 2 previous times (3:00 and 3:26) I kept up with the gals for 2 miles and waved good-bye from there. My music kept me company till mile 11 when my phone died. I was so relieved to see the finish line after almost 3 hours of jogging. I was ready to be done! And I did it... finished in 2:55:42! Time for ice and rest!

Cristina rocked an amazing 2:11 and Jenn 2:19! They are awesome!!

Glendale Glitter and Glow

Family night in Glendale! My sisters and our families went to Glendale to enjoy some pretty twinkle lights and some hot air balloons.

The girls had fun on the rides and the tall bumpy slide!

I have some seriously cute nieces!!

Glitter

and Glow!

the Rasband clan

Guess who bought her that shirt?!

All six girls on our side of the family!

the Villella clan

They had all sorts of balloons - Spider Man, Bumble Bee and even this gigantic Polar Bear. Ellie's face would light up each time the flames when off on the balloons. We all had a ton of fun being together and looking at all the balloons.

Christmas part Two

My sweet nieces were with their dad this Christmas so we were lucky enough to spend Christmas part Two with them when they got back home to AZ!

Ariana helped pick out Ellie's elf hat and got herself one to match.

Aren't these girls beautiful?! They were so excited for all their gifts under the tree but they decided to have dessert first and presents last - Caprice and Ariana "save the best for last" followed by a fist bump! They are hilarious!!!!

Thank you Trini! You really are AWESOME!

Do you remember those bitter beer face commercials... Ellie totally has a silly face! I think the flash right in her face was a bit too much LOL

The Rasbands

Thank you for letting us be a part of your fun family night!

2011

It's a new day! A chance to start over and try to be better than you were the day before. A day when you make goals and look forward to the year ahead. I've been thinking a long time about what I want 2011 to be like. I had so many things I wanted to do that I had to categorize them: Personal, Physical, Spiritual and Financial. Each area has things I want to learn and areas I know I can grow in. I'm posting these to make myself accountable and also so that you can help encourage and support me over the next 12 months.

Personal:

-be kinder to my husband *I'm not a meanie I just want to be nicer and more patient

-do not gossip

-read 2 new books *for all who know me I'm not a reader so 2 is a good place to start, who knows I might end up reading 10!

-learn to sew *for now on a borrowed machine, I hope to have one this year!

-learn to make by Ellie fresh baby food

-plant a garden

Physical:

-do P90X for 90 days

-workout at least 3 days a week

-lose 10 pounds *just to be back to pre-baby weight

-do Susan's Run 10k Feb. 19th

-do Pat's Run 4.2 miles April 17th

-do Desert Grande Triathlon and beat my previous time

-eat less fast food

Spiritual:

-attend the temple at least once a month

-read the Ensign every month

-do visiting teaching every month

Financial:

-only spend what's in the budget

-save at least 10% a month

-learn to use coupons

That's a long list but pretty good stuff to work on and I'm excited to get started!

We took Ellie to the park to feed the ducks on New Year's Day. She liked playing with the bread and sucking on mom's fingers. It was a fun family day!