Topless!

Who needs clothes when it's over 80 degrees outside??!!

Houston Rodeo

Ella riding her first pony! She was very unsure of the whole experience. I got a couple of smiles and then she completely freaked out and wanted off immediately. We had to stop the ride and get off. But we got our money back!
Farmer Reagan with his big tractor! He definitely wanted to ride in it all day.



The guys getting impatient while waiting on Reagan to finish getting his fill on farm animals.

One wore out cowgirl!

This girl is ready for the rodeo! Mommy made sure she had the perfect boots to go with the perfect outfit!

Feb/March '09

Ella loves her comfy chair that Nana bought her for Christmas! I had just bought her a new snack cup. That day I filled it some cheese puffs and gave her the cup. I walked out of the room to check on something. When I came back, she had climbed up into her chair and was watching Friends on tv. She was watching so intently like it was her favorite show.



Ella decided her dump truck was a ride-on toy even though it is a push toy!

Playing in the leaves

I think I took these pictures back in December. It was a really nice day outside, so Gene decided to get to work on raking the 10 bazillion leaves in the our backyard. Of course, Ella wanted to get out and help. For the first time, I let her get as dirty as she wanted as she explored each area of the yard. I was a nervous wreck and hovered over her like crazy! As you can tell from the lack of smiles, she is still not crazy about the grass. She would much rather run on the concrete.

Happy birthday, Ella Grace!

As you can see, it was a polka dot party! Ella had a wonderful time with her family and friends on her special day. Uncle Preston, Aunt Jenn, and Reagan couldn't miss out on all of the fun and visited for the weekend. Good thing Aunt Jenn played photographer because Mommy realized after it was all done that she had only taken 2 pictures! Ella received musical instruments from Reagan, a Winnie the Pooh ride-on airplane from cousin Gaylon, a Little People farm from Jay and Michelle, building blocks from Granny Linda and Papa Mike, a wild pink outfit from Hudson, and a book from Kate. Nana and Poppy want to get Ella a swing set for the backyard, so we will hopefully find one soon.

Ella had a wonderful birthday. Gene and I can't believe it's already been a year since we welcomed sweet little Ella into this world. We look forward to celebrating many, many more birthdays!

December '08

In hopes of making the trip a little easier, we tried flying in and out of Houston instead of Tyler. On the way home, we stopped for lunch with Uncle Preston, Aunt Jenn, and Reagan.