My First Pony-Tail

My First Pony-Tail
Originally uploaded by mbowling

It's not actually Ella's first pony tail, but it's the first one that stuck for longer than 10 seconds. I've been trying now for awhile to do her hair, but anytime I would even come close with the comb and a rubberband, would shake her head and say "No!" Her emphatic no of course didn't stop me from trying. Through all my attempts, I did realize that the first set of rubberbands that I purchased were completely worthless as I couldn't even get my fingers through them.

Fast forward to the other night, when we were playing in the bedroom. I decided to play hair using my stuff, and Ella actually let me do a "Pebbles" ponytail. I was so excited that I raced her into the bathroom to show her how cute her new hairstyle was. She seemed pretty impressed with it. I think it helped that I too had my hair in a ponytail. I think she also liked admiring herself in the mirror, hence the photo.

We did another ponytail this past weekend and she seemed again okay with it. The main issue now is training Mike and making him comfortable with doing hair. It's important to increase his confidence as he now takes Ella in each morning, and she's typically asleep or just waking up as I leave. This means Mike has the responsibility of getting her ready, so hair duty naturally falls to him. Maybe beauty school is in his future?

Hey, mom you pushed me

Hey, mom you pushed me
Originally uploaded by mbowling

So the warning label says, the slip n slide is appropriate for children 3+. That didn't stop us from allowing Ella to try it out. Once she had one gentle push down the slide, she tore up the hill so fast to take another turn. Ella absolutely loved it. Pure joy was written across her face as she came sliding down. No worries, there was plenty of parental supervision, four adults for three kids.

Mike and Jen invited us over on Sunday to test out some of the new toys Aaron got for his birthday. We unfortunately had to miss his party, but appreciated the time to play with the new toys. We originally went there to let Ella tumble around in a moonwalk, but surprisingly, she cried each and every time we tried to get her in the moonwalk. I was a bit flabbergasted as there isn't much this kid won't try if given the opportunity, so witnessing fear from her was unusually for me. Instead, she found joy with the slide n slide. So much in fact that her parents purchased one for her that every night. We can't wait to have Payton over to test it out. We also think it will be a big hit with the neighbor kids.

Ella tells a funny, knee-slapping joke

Ella tells a funny, knee-slapping joke
Originally uploaded by mbowling

Oh my, I think this is one of my favorite new photos of Ella. Uncle Scotty took this while she was hanging out with Tricia and him a few weeks ago. Every time I look at this, I just laugh.

As Tricia says, she wants Ella to think Elmo lives at Uncle Scotty and Auntie T's house. I think she just might. Thanks for sharing the photo, S&T. Hope you don't mind that I posted it, but it's too cute not to share.

More great photos to come of Ms. Ella. She had quite the weekend, including her first experience with a childhood water toy, plus getting to play with her Fairfax cousins. I hope to get them posted in the next day or so. I was scheduled to visit our St. Louis office this week, but it appears I may push that back until August, so I may find myself with some extra time this week.

Mmmm...I love me some sweet corn

Mmmm...I love me some sweet corn
Originally uploaded by mbowling

Oh my, Ella cracks me up. She loves to cheese it up for the camera. She happily let Mike snap this photo after she had gnawed on the first half of her ear of corn. The McManigal side will be so happy that Ella has some of that Nebraska blood in her, even if I'm raising her in Kansas.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. We've been insanely busy, trying to enjoy life, summer fun and maintaining a crazy balance of quality time with Ella with the work demands. Work for me has been C-R-A-Z-Y. It seems to be subsiding a bit. My boss wouldn't even let me take my computer home the other night. It was a nice break, but I felt like I was missing an appendage. I think I've detoxed well from my addiction.

I hope to better regulate my blogging schedule. I've had lots of posts pop in my head, but I've forgotten the topics by time I find myself sitting at a computer for leisurely fun. For now, I've posted pictures of Ella. It's a random assortment of our past few weeks. Enjoy!