Ready or Not, Here Comes Ella

Ready or Not, Here Ella Comes
Originally uploaded by mbowling

Summer is here, complete with multiple trips to the pool. Ella has no fear, which concerns me just a bit, although I do love watching her unbridled enthusiasm. Her favorite area at the pool is the tunnel slide in the kiddie area. She just loves to hoist herself in the tunnel and come barrelling down. The minute she's back on two solid feet, she takes off ready to climb the obstacle course once again where her reward is another trip down the slide.

There are people in there!

I have a full day today, but did want to take a moment to point out the event that Amanda and I witnessed last night. Most who know me I'm pretty much a shuttle geek--so last night I happened to pop on NASA TV online to see what's up with the next shuttle landing--they announced what's called a "sighting opportunity" in just about 20 minutes from when I turned it on.

Cool!

So I check out this website and it lets you know exactly where the space station (and shuttle while its in flight) is located at at all times. So, we went outside and pretty soon what looks like a bright star (the space station) appears out of the north and passes through the brilliant night sky down to the south, and about 45 seconds later following the same track was the space shuttle. It was unreal. Amanda said "I can't believe there are people in there!" I couldn't agree more.

Empty House

I miss my girl. She hasn't slept in our house since Monday night. She's been up at Grandma and Grandpa Bowling's house. Daycare was closed Wednesday for a teacher in-service day and we went to the AKUS concert Tuesday night, so the grandparents helped us out by letting Ella stay the night and then kept her on Wednesday. Well, earlier this week, we learned Ella's great grandma from Bloomfield was coming down for a visit. To give her some extra time with Ella, she stayed over an additional night. I understand everyone's having a ball together, but I can't wait to see my little girl tonight.

It's so foreign to be at home and not have her here. The house is definitely missing some energy. Mike and I found it so odd that we didn't spend much time in the house. Once we finally got home last night, we popped in videos from Ella's early days and watched them before heading to bed. I miss my baby. I miss her silly laugh and her wild energy.

Just for the sake...

Can I just say that I'm happy that summer is almost here? Man I just can't get enough of the summer. Not that I HATE the winter. Just that I can't stand the month of February and March (weather-wise). Basically I just get to the point where I'm just ready to kick the cold weather to the curb and get outside all of the time!

At lunch today I found an awesome site: ClientCopia. It basically is a collection of conversations, stories, quotes from clients that really are clueless. I've had my share, and I'm very happy to know that I'm not the only one.

My Father's day was good. Spend the morning with my whole family at Granite City up north in Zona Rosa. It was good eats for sure. We came home--took a nice family nap for an hour and then we did some shopping for some much needed supplies. My wife and daughter gave me an AWESOME gift: Tickets to both the Busch and NEXTEL Cup races in September and then tix to the Truck and Indy car race in April of 2008. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm very excited because I'll also be going with Scott (Amanda's brother) and his girlfriend Holly. We should really have a great time. I might drink a beer too.



or 4.

Learning our Quack, Moo, Meows

Its been a little bit since out last post (okay, AMANDA'S last post) and we have just be busy bees as usual!

Amanda's had a bout with some sort of viral sickness that we aren't quite sure what it was, but all I know is she was just plum pooped for most of the week. And of course Ella was sick as well on Wednesday, so Amanda had to take care of both herself and Ella-bella who really could have been okay to go to daycare in hindsight. But thankfully Amanda is back up to about 95 percent and getting back to her usual witty self. And is currently beating me up for not grabbing her free Sheridan's the other night when she was sick. (There was a free concrete promotion going on that day) So, yes, I'm a bad hubby.

Ella is finally through all of her medication for her Scarlet fever and seems to be back up to full speed. We can tell because both of her knees are back to being skinned! Amanda and I had our quarterly parent-teacher conference with her daycare provider and seems to be doing good! She's getting good marks in most all areas. Some things she's way ahead in!

Ella has been learning all the animal sounds this last couple of weeks. She has been putting up with her parents saying "what does a ________ say?" for about 3 days now. I give it 3 more days and she's going to be taking the next buggy ride out of town. She really is talking/babbling quite a bit. She sure keeps Amanda and I entertained even though most of the time its been incoherent. Although most people are used to hearing it from me!

Looks like our first trip to pool is in our future this weekend, as well as Father's day--which is awesome. We also may try to hit up Rhythm and Ribs fest down at 18th and Vine. Should be a hot one!

Can I just get a hug?

Can I just get a hug?
Originally uploaded by mbowling

I know the photo is a little overexposed, but I like it just the same. No worries, Ella's fit of frustration was only a mere moment. We don't live a sitcom life, so the kid does get upset now and then.

Overall, Ella is continuing to amaze and delight us. She's recovering from yet another illness. During a trip to Children's Mercy South Sunday, we discovered that Ella was fighting scarlet fever. Luckily, we live in the word of antibiotics, so Ella was back to her happy normal self after a few doses.

A few new cute things she's doing lately:

• She points out the moon once it appears. Mike taught her it one night and each night we are outside, Ella is searching for it and uttering the word.
• The minute she hears a plane, she points to the sky and tries to find it. The love of planes must be in the genes.
• She waves bye bye as we leave the park. Most nights the park is empty when we leave, yet she still turns around as we walk up the sidewalk and waves and says "bye bye." I see it as her way of saying this was a special time, thanks for letting me play.
• She can identify Elmo, depending on your personal feelings, this could be a travesty, but for now, we think it's adorable.

Payton was over this week for an overnight visit. I've always enjoyed having Payton, but now I enjoy it even more because Ella lights up when she sees Payton. For being over three years apart, they certainly share a special bond. Ella is so fascinated with Payton, and I think we get great belly laughs from Ella, but Payton gets the best laughs out of her, it even sounds different.

Payton and Ella will get even more time together as Payton will be hanging out with Mike and Ella while Rene and I are celebrating Kim's upcoming nuptials with a girl's night gathering.

Crayons, one of the five basic food groups for tots

Crayons, one of the five basic food groups for tots
Originally uploaded by mbowling

Since I posted an upset photo of Ella, I thought I better post a sweet photo of her. She loves to color, but coloring time never lasts too long because the crayons always end up in the mouth.


More pictures have been posted lately to the flickr account, including ones from Jazzoo, which I think is the best party in KC. Mike and I had the best time, who wouldn't any time you get to wear flip flops with a party dress. It's cute and comfy all at the same time.