What a great weekend...and it is only Saturday night!

Just had to post that I am having a fantastic weekend.

First - I got to spend a lot of time yesterday with my friend, Bobbi Jo.  We have a good time when we're together and I always laugh a lot around her.
Then - last night was Christie's Panty Party.  It was less about embarassing her with lingerie for she & Andrew (though we certainly did and with lots of laughs) and more about getting to celebrate my really, really close friend before she gets married.  This is such a special time and I'm so excited for her.  I wanted to make her feel special last night and I think we accomplished that.  Thanks to our friends who came out to shower Christie with laughter & lingerie.

Overnight was not pretty since Ella isn't sleeping well and she & I were up battling it out between 11:30 pm and 2:30 this morning.

BUT - I woke up at 7:30 this morning next to my beautiful baby girl.  Then - I got to get ready and head out to breakfast with my friend, Melissa - who I feel like I never get to see and we used to go out at least once every weekend when she & Jay first moved here.  It was so wonderful to just sit with her and chat for a couple hours in a local coffee shop.  So needed!

Then, lunch today was a celebration of mine & my dad's birthdays.  My grandmother, great-aunt, and aunt came in town from Newport News to eat with Dad, Mom, Jeff, Ella & Me.  We had a good time and Ella got to show off a bit.  After lunch we went back to mom & dad's apartment and hung out while Ella really showed off how much fun she is to be around.  So good to have Ella spend time with her GG, EE & Aunt Carla.
Tonight, we went to Jeff's parents for dinner in a late celebration of Jeff's mom's birthday (Feb 3).  It was great since all three boys (Jeff, Jerry & Gabe) were all able to be there with no schedule conflicts.  Kristen & I were there, too, but the most fun is watching Nana and Papa interact with their two grandkids.  We were all together.

It has been a great two days and tomorrow is lining up to be fantastic too...
I actually get to go to church at United tomorrow.  I feel like it has been a lifetime since I've been there and for me it has.  The last time was January 24.  Church was snowed out the 31st & February 7 and then Jeff & I were away last weekend (Feb 14).  I can't wait to hear my dad preach.  He is my favorite minister...and it isn't just bias.  I feel that he preaches from the heart to the heart and I love that about him.  Tomorrow's theme: God as our shepherd.  So excited!
Then tomorrow night is my book club meeting.  I haven't posted about book club before...not sure why not except I just post so little...
Tomorrow night we'll be discussing the book, The Help.  It was a GREAT book that I recommend to anyone interested in a fiction story set in a all-too-real 1960's segregated Jackson, Mississippi.  I had to remind myself that Mae Mobly and Aibileen weren't real people.  Oh, little MaeMo - your nanny Aibileen loved you.  It has been a month since I read the book and I can't recall what MaeMo called Aibileen in the book, but it tugged my heart strings.  SUCH A GOOD BOOK. 

I'll have to do posts on the books I read since I have become a voracious reader.  I read the bookclub book and then find as many other books to read in the remainder of the month.  I can't stop and I love it.  I've also found that I'm currenly very drawn to stories (fiction & non-fiction) set during the 60s that focus on segregation and integration.  I find it fascinating...okay - that is another post too.

Well - that's it.  It is a great weekend and I just found the desire to share that with you.  Thanks for reading!

Really, Really Bad at Blogging

So I'm the first to admit that I am AWFUL at blogging.  Despite wanting to blog weekly, I just can't seem to make the time.  Oh, the time is there...I just end up doing other things...like reading and posting on Richmond Mommies.

So what's happened since the last time I posted?  This:

This happened!  SNOW, SNOW and more SNOW.  My sidewalk is still covered (since it never gets sun) and the same for my driveway which is now a solid sheet of ice.  If I thought taking a hairdryer out and melting it to the ground would do the trick, I think I would.  Except I'd get cold too fast and quit.  I can't get warm.  I'm cold all the time and that hasn't happened since I got pregnant.

Let's see...what else?  Oh - I turned 32.  It was a very eventful day.  Jeff got up at 2:30 a.m. very, very sick.  All the plans for the day went out the window because I wasn't going to leave him alone just yet.  He seemed to be better by lunch, but that all went south again around 5:00.  Originally, we were going out to dinner with his family, but that got moved around (and not yet rescheduled) because of his brothers' schedules.  So, since my friend Amy had planned a girls night out that I thought I wasn't going to go to (due to dinner with the fam), I called the girls and said I might be there.  Then, I quickly arranged for mom to keep Ella at her apartment while I went out.  Jeff wasn't thrilled with the idea, but like the loving hubby he is - he let me go have some goodness on my actual birthday.  I met my girlfriends - Amy, Bridget, Katie (not Quinn), and Whitney - at The Cheesecake Factory in Short Pump.  Amy ordered a yummy app & bought she & I drinks (just one a piece); then I ate steak for dinner; and Whitney bought me cheesecake.  After being serenaded by the waiters, Bridget got this picture of me getting ready to blow out my candle:

The cheesecake was YUMMY, by the way.  It was a great night.  I picked up an asleep little girl (who woke up as soon as we went out in the rain) and then spent an hour getting her back to sleep once we were home.  Well worth it.

That Friday night, Jeff invited my parents over to dinner and came home with Hardees Fried Chicken and an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.  We had a small belated birthday party for me.  It was nice.  Jeff gave me a family membership to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens - which I was dying for.  I can't wait to take Ella to play in the children's garden this spring & summer.  Plus all the events - it will be great.

The weekend after my birthday we headed to Lynchburg to see Margaret, Nanny & Kenny.  Ella LOVES her Aunt Margaret and they had a lot of fun playing together.  The pic below is them looking at birds on the bird feeder:

We got home Valentine's afternoon and I promptly got dressed and ready to head out with my mom to The Carpenter Center to see the Richmond Ballet (and Richmond Symphony) perform Romeo & Juliet.  I love the story - love the play, LOVE the Leo/Claire Danes movie - but wasn't so sure how much I'd like it as a ballet with none of Shakespeare's words.  I LOVED IT!

Jeff & I celebrated Valentine's on Monday, the 15th.  It was a great night with dinner & small gifts.  I got him a book, Ella got him a stuffed version of that brown thing that chases kittens in some internet thing.  He got me a Starbucks gift card.  Now that rocks.

Well, my little one has blessed me with 30 minutes of time, but is now up and fussing in her crib.  I need to start dinner anyhow.  See ya sometime soon...just maybe longer than 7 days.

Already broken my resolution to post...

Oh well...such is life, eh? I planned on posting Friday, but with a sick little one I just didn't get to it. Baby sickness stinks. Let me tell you! And we have been extremely fortunate where this is concerned. We went Ella's entire first year without a major illness for any of us. Granted, for the first two months of her life we had some tenuous moments with the feeding stuff. She'd gorge herself and throw up, but we all thought there was more to it. It took about 4 weeks to work it all out, but once we did we never looked back. As soon as she turned one, she got strep throat. Then an ear infection...then another. We're currently preventing #4. Thursday (1/21) we went to story time at the library and then to a playdate at our friend Whitney's (Becca). All was well. We came home & I put Ella down for a nap. Twenty minutes later she was up screaming. She hates to nap in her crib during the day and always cries when she wakes up in it, but this was different. She was irate. I went to get her and she was burning up - a fever of 103. HUH?? So off to the doctor where we have every test known to man run to eliminate anything not viral. It's viral. So home we go with instructions to alternate Tylenol & Motrin every 3 hours as long as her temp is over 100. Then Friday, we're still hitting 103 at least once every 3-4 hours. So back to the pediatrician we go (their call) to be sure something worse hadn't developed in the 24 hours since Thursday's visit. The only difference? Her ears are starting to look gunky (not yet infected) and they don't want to go into infection #4 so she gets a shot of a powerful antibiotic and we get a script for more oral antibiotic. We've been fever free since Sunday morning and I'm thankful. I'm also thankful to a great mom & hubby who carried the brunt of Ella-care on Sunday. Both Jeff & I were scheduled for praise team and I didn't want to expose the tiny baby in the nursery to anything so mom came to our house to care for Ella while Jeff & I went to church. Then Sunday afternoon was Christie's bridal shower. The plan had been for Ella to go with me & mom, but after a diaper blowout during church time, Jeff decided to keep her home. Good call since he had another diaper blowout that afternoon. Yesterday we only ventured out to the library (quick visit for me to pick up a hotly sought after book) and Target for needed essentials (like wipes). Other than that we were home in sweatpants. Today, my mommy friends convinced me that being fever free for 48 hours meant it was okay for Ella to play so off to the playdate we went. It was a lot of fun and I really like my mommy friends. They are wonderful. Thursday we're going to Maymont to see the animals before the weather predicted for the weekend. Wouldn't you know it - they are calling for a FOOT of snow and Jeff had bought me tickets to The Wedding Singer musical for Christmas. Oh...my present better not be ruined. I may cry. Oh well...

Oh - and Ella has a black eye! Our world is fun. You should join us.

Haiti

Haiti holds a very, very special place in my heart. When I was 19 years old I desperately wanted to take a mission trip to visit friends who run a school in Ghana, West Africa. I begged and pleaded with mom, but there was no way she was going to send me that far away by myself. So we compromised. We knew a family who was living in Port-de-Paix, Haiti and teaching at a school called Sonlight Academy. I would be allowed to go visit them if I wanted to. It was a compromise I agreed to partially because I loved the family I was going to stay with - Scott & Debbie Taylor and their two kids, Hilary & Evan. I had babysat Hilary & Evan before they left for Haiti and thought it would be fun to get back in touch with them. We scheduled my trip for December 1997. I was going to go for 10 days and help in the school while staying with the Taylors. I was nervous and totally excited. I quickly learned the term "island time" meant nothing follows any schedule (something I enjoy on St. John now, but it made my 19-year-old self very upset). The flight from Miami to Haiti had been delayed by about 7 hours...meaning I was going to have a TEN HOUR layover in Miami instead of a 3 hour layover. My uncle had planned to come sit with me (prior to the restrictions of non-ticket holders at the gates), but ended up taking me on a tour of Miami and out to eat to kill some of my time. Thank you, Uncle Marshall. When I finally got on the plane to Haiti, my heartrate sky-rocketed. Was I really sure I was ready to do this??? It was dark as we flew into Haiti. Though mostly dark, there was a small village on side of a mountain with electricity. My first thought, "A city on a hill can not be hidden." (Matthew 5:14) Isn't it amazing how God speaks to us in times of need? My anxiety was alleviated once I saw Scott Taylor at the airport in Port-au-Prince. The same airport where I'm now watching planes from all over the world bring aid and aid-relief workers. Scott got me through customs and got my passport stamped. Then explained to me that instead of taking a small plane to Port-de-Paix (PdP), we were going to spend the night in Port-au-Prince (PaP) and then take the BUS to PdP. We stayed at a small hostel in PaP where many American missionaries stay the night before or after a flight out of/into the country. There was an armed guard with a large dog at the locked gate...my first experience of this type. There was a pool, though we didn't swim, and a beautiful fountain. Everyone staying in the house used one bathroom. As I sit here now, I have a horrible feeling that the house where I slept (or didn't sleep) that night is no longer standing. I'm wondering what happened to my very kind hosts. The following morning, Scott and I were taken to a bus stop for our trip to Pdp. There were dirty children everywhere begging for food and for money. It was awful. Scott told me there was no way I could help the all. It was heartbreaking. Now I sit and wonder...what happened to those children? Were they still alive this week when the earthquake hit? I know they are no longer children, but they may even have children now... We boarded a school bus full of people and wildlife...goats, sheep, dogs, chickens, etc. It was straight out of a movie. Even the aisle had stools in it. Scott had paid for us to have FOUR SEATS which meant that the two of us had a whole school bus seat to ourselves. Yes - a school bus seat. As the bus pulled away from the stop, a shadow of the bus appeared to my left. THERE WERE PEOPLE ON TOP OF THE BUS where my suitcase was. Oh my!!! I looked at Scott with panic and he told me that for the price of 1/2 a seat, you could ride on top of the bus. Now, in the U.S. this bustrip may have taken a few hours (including stops), but in Haiti the roads are awful. We were on a paved road for a while, but then the pavement ended (go US) and we were traveling on dirt. The trip took 10 hours...on a school bus...with goats & chickens. It was WONDERFUL!! I bought sugar cane from a child who ran alongside the bus tapping the bus with the canes. (note: watch for splinters in your tongue when eating sugar cane that had just been chopped) I had never seen anything like it. When the bus stopped to refuel, we got off to stretch our legs and I experienced one of my favorite Haitian treats...Banan-a-fui...or banana of fire. It was plantain sliced lengthwise and grilled topped with something hot. I'll never recreate it because I have no clue what it was. But it was delicious. As we traveled, the driver had the radio on a Haitian station and the music was fun. Then suddenly, at some point in the trip, the radio announcer came on saying something in Creole that caused the whole bus to go crazy. People were crying and then listening carefully as the report continued. Scott explained to me that a very important official in PdP (where I was headed) had been assisnated overnight. The plan for my arrival in PdP changed, though I have no clue what the original plan was. When we got to PdP, I was instructed to get off the bus and RUN to a doorway on the other side of the street. Scott would get my bag. I did just that - there was no question after seeing the near-riot in the street where the bus stopped. I ran into that doorway and the man inside said to me, get under this counter. I did that too. It wasn't too long before I was loaded into the back of closed SUV (like a dodge ram, maybe) and taken to the Taylor's house. It was scary, but exhilarating. I didn't spend much time in Port-au-Prince on my arrival, but I did get to see more of it when I left... Yes, I'm skipping my entire week in Port-de-Paix. I'll post about that another day. It was a wonderful week and I have always longed to return and teach at Sonlight Academy. Maybe someday... When I left Port-de-Paix, Scott thought I deserved to go the easy way this time (i.e. no 10 hour busride). They took me to the PdP airport...a shack with a dirt runway...where a TINY plane was waiting. There were 11 of us on that plane, counting the pilot & co-pilot. I have never been so thankful for the kindness of strangers...there was a Mennonite couple who traveled back and forth to Haiti on a regular basis and spend the time between leaving PdP and getting on a plane in Port-au-Prince helping me along so I didn't get lost or overwhelmed. We got in the air (surprisingly) and the pilot TURNED AROUND (no speakers here - TINY PLANE) and said that some of our gas had been ciphoned and we would need to make an unplanned stop to refuel. It was actually scary since at one point, the plane actually sputtered. I looked out my window at the mountians beside me and thought, "I lift my eyes up to the moutains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from you, maker of Heaven." (Psalm 121:1-2) We stopped in Cap Haitien, Haiti to get gas. It was BEAUTIFUL. Oh my... Then, reboarded the TINY plane and headed to PaP. Once there, we landed at some tiny airport that wasn't the main airport where I needed to be!! Again, the Mennonite couple shuttled me into a cab and over to the main airport where their flight was getting ready to leave. I had a few hours to kill. So I shopped. I got a lot of Haitian keepsakes there that I hadn't had an opportunity to even know existed. My favorite purchases? A statue for my dad which sits in his office at church though they picked on me that it was a voodoo statue. A mask for Karen Fletcher (single at the time) that we all joked was a fertility god. And a Haitian navity set for my mom in which the stable is a coconut. I met a lot of people on my trip in and out of Haiti. It breaks my heart to think that some of those people could possibly be in that mass grave of an estimated 40,000 people - unidentified - lost. I think that is a part of the reports that break my heart the most. Burial is an important rite no matter what your religion or belief. The thought that people will never know what came of their loved ones really gets under my skin. CNN had a family on this morning whose mother was in Haiti and died in the earthquake. They have no clue where her body is. They are begging for someone - anyone - to find her body and return it to them. And how is that someone supposed to find her? What if she is already in the mass grave? What if they never find the body of their mother? It is devastating... Please, please pray for the people of Haiti. Please pray for the aid workers striving to bring help to those people. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE CHILDREN!!! I nearly adopted a child the week I was in Haiti. There was an orphanage in Port-de-Paix that was closing and they had an infant that had yet to be adopted. I called home (during a moment when the lines were functioning) and told my mom I was going to adopt him. I didn't...but I almost did. Someone else took responsibility for him. I saw many things during my 10 days in the country of Haiti and I have never been the same. There isn't a day when I don't think about Haiti and returning to teach there. It calls to me... The earthquake this week is making my heart break. I want to go there and hold those children. I want to sign up to adopt a child who has been orphaned by the quake. For now, all I can do is give & pray. I encourage you to do so too.

Wow...a lot has happened in FOUR MONTHS!

Hello Friends...Sorry I've been a bit absent for FOUR MONTHS!!! A lot has gone on since that last post in September. I'm taking inspiration from Kristen and I'm going to blog more.

Let's see...where to start...

How about a New Year's Resolution? That I'll post at least once a week. Feel free to email or text me if I haven't posted and it is Friday. Maybe I'll need the reminder.

Since that last post, Ella and I have been meeting up with Amy (Jackson) and Whitney (Becca) along with another mom, Bridget (Nate), at least once a week - except for Christmas/New Years. Including Nate, all the kids are within 6 weeks of each other so it makes for good conversation and it helps to have all that encouraging feed back. Ella can almost say "Jackson" now.

---insert 30 minute break for screaming toddler up from a 30 minute nap---

So, what was I talking about? Oh yes - our playgroup. We all met through Richmond Mommies (RM) and it is a great group! I highly recommend RM for all new moms who are the first mom in their group of friends or when you find that your friendships change after you have a kid. You'll find a group of mommy-friends who understand all you're going through.

Okay, moving on...A LOT has happened since September. If you aren't on Facebook, join and friend me so that you can keep up with us and see what you've missed. I update their Monday-Friday and occasionally on the weekends.

First of all - Ella has a cousin!!! Jerry & Kristen welcomed J.J. (Jerry Alvin Stone, IV) on September 30. Ella likes to look at her baby cousin and I'm sure she'll like him more once he can move about on his own. Hopefully she'll be better at sharing by then, too.

Halloween was so different this year. We didn't go anywhere because we like to give out candy to the few kids that are trick-or-treating age in our neighborhood. Ella was dressed up as Cinderella - a costume her Uncle Warren bought for her.

Less than a week after Halloween (11/06), Ella turned ONE! We had a big party for her at the church - there were so many people we couldn't have it at our house. Mostly it was family, but we did invite a few friends including Alastair Amos & her new friend, Jackson. She had a great time at the party and was in a great mood the whole time. What more could a mom ask for?

Thanksgiving took us to Nags Head to spend a couple days with my mom's family. And next came Christmas. Christmas this year was a lot of fun. First, we got our tree up and put ornaments on it. Ella loved looking at the tree (and still does since it hasn't come down yet). She also enjoyed the present aspect a bit more this year. She still doesn't understand the whole unwrapping thing, but had a lot of fun playing with her new stuff as it was revealed.

She also enjoyed the time with her Uncle Warren & Aunt Rachel!!!

New Friends

So, today I ventured out of my shell to meet new people. If you've known me for a long time, this isn't a surprise; however, in the last few years I've kept to my established friendships a bit more and I'm a little less open with who I am. Today, I met two moms off of RichmondMommies.com (where I'm an active member after lurking for months) at Cartwheels & Coffee. I got in line and immediately one mom in line in front of me said, "Evelyn and Ella?" It was Amy, the mom who had organized the playdate, and her little guy Jackson (who will be 1 on 10/10). After a few pleasantries she went to put Jackson in the play area and I was waiting to order. The mom in line in front of me got to talking to me, too. Her name was Melissa. She has two kids - Lucas, called Luke, and a little girl around a year old whose name I cannot remember right now. Ugh. Anyway, they were not there for the playdate and were actually on their way out, but we had a nice conversation and I'm hoping to run into her again sometime. She's a regular there so I don't think it will be a problem to find her. After placing my order and paying I went over to the baby area and met another RM mom named Whitney who has a little girl, Becca, who will be 1 on Halloween. So all three kiddies were within one month of each other. We had a great time! I learned that most of the things Ella is going through, all kids her age have/will go through. Yes, I knew this mentally, but it is so reassuring to have someone confirm it for you. Ella played HARD for two hours before we packed up and came home. She slept all the way home and for about 30 minutes after getting home. After feeding her and a bit of playing she was definitely still tired (and I was too) so we laid down on the sofa together to nap. I've already been in touch with Amy via messaging and we're hoping to get together again soon. She is a member of the Y (yay) and they don't do the Romp-n-Roll or other expensive classes either so we'll have time to get together and play. It felt great to make a friend with a little one Ella's age. After looking at her signature in her message to me, we also got married one month apart. So crazy! It was a good day... Now, if Jeff didn't have to work WAY LATE tonight, it would also be a good night. It is very, very rare that he and Ella don't get one-on-one time together in the evening and she was a wreck when we got to her night time bottle and he wasn't home. She knew, and she wasn't happy. Hopefully she'll be up a bit early tomorrow and able to play before he leaves for work. Life is good...GOD is good! I am BLESSED!

We're home for a bit...

So, we've had quite a busy summer. When Ella & I have been home we have taken time to visit with friends. We've also been gone three different weeks! The first was in June. This was our first time traveling with Ella for more than 3 days, so it was quite an undertaking. I had no clue what to take with us so I just took most everything. We took a box of toys, her bathtub, lots of clothes, lots of pampers swimmers...you get the idea. We also decided it was way easier to buy diapers, wipes and food once in the OBX. This was true. We never did use her bathtub, so that was nixed for future trips where both Jeff and I will be. It was vacation with my side of the family. That consisted of: Jeff, Evelyn & Ella; Ken (Pop) & Sandy (GrannyMac); (Uncle) Warren & (Aunt) Rachie; Louise (Granny, GG) & Aunt Evelyn (now EE); Aunt Carla & Uncle Mike; Davey, Debbie, Zachary, and friend whats-his-name; Brad, Patty, Eric, and Patrick; Corey, Angela, Rosella, & Sammy; Carl & some friend another whats-his-name. Count it up people: 26 people! Wonderfully we were divided into three locations. Mom & Dad stayed in their trailer...Granny, Aunt Evie, the three of us and Warren & Rach in an older house...and the rest of that clan (my aunt & uncle, their 4 boys and their families) in the "big" house which had a pool. It was great fun, though we never did make it onto the beach to play. It was just so easy to play at the pool where we had the indoors right there. We did take Ella for walks on the beach, but no playtime in the sand. It was busy and great to spend time sitting up playing games with Warren & Rach. I (Ev) even won at putt-putt against Jeff, Warren, Rach, & DADDY! Of course, we didn't start play until around 9 p.m. which is past dad's bedtime, but that is just a small detail. It was a great week and really made us wish Warren & Rach lived closer. Then in July I had Music & Drama week at Oak Hill. Jeff had taken a week off for the vacation in June and another week for vacation in August (more to come), so he couldn't take the whole week in July off. That meant that Ella became the M&D mascot for about 5 days. She had fun watching the teens sing and dance, but didn't enjoy that mommy was nearby, but not always available. Luckily, my mom is a dean of this week, too, so she had mommy & grannymac alternating. I was worried about her staying in the cabin and I'm sure she cramped the style of our cohabitants, Christie, Mom, & Carol, since we couldn't just stay up talking and laughing at night, but we made it through and now she's officially stayed at Oak Hill. That was special to me. She got picked up Wednesday at lunch by Jeff and taken home for daddy time Wednesday - Sunday. Talk about breaking a daddy in! I don't know many other dads who have stepped up to fly solo when their first child is 8 months old. Yay, honey! She didn't even act like she'd missed me when they arrived on Sunday...she barely came to me! My feelings weren't hurt, I just thought it was funny. In August (last week), we went on vacation with Jeff's side of the family. This time we were all in one big house. It was 14 people: Jeff, Ev, & Ella; Jerry (PaPa) & Mary (Nana); (Uncle) Jerry & (Aunt) Krissy; (Uncle) Gabe; Nanny; Aunt Margaret & Kenny; Ian, Lydia & Noelle. It was a great house with a beautiful pool. Ella is most definitely a water-bug. She also enjoyed playing with Noelle who will be 5 at Christmas. We had big breakfasts & dinners and even got a visit from GrannyMac, Aunt Carla, & Michelle Mende who were all at mom's trailer for the week. I'm pretty sure that climbing the 3 stories of steps just wasn't enough to work off all the food we put in. On Wednesday night of the week, the "youngins" - Ian, Lydia & Gabe - convinced (Uncle) Jerry, Jeff & me to go with them to karaoke down the street. I made it until 11:30 before I was nearly falling asleep. At least we got to see Jerry sing "Home Sweet Home" and Ian & Gabe sing "When You Were Young". The house was on Rt. 12 right at the sound. It was a 10 minute walk to the beach so (yep, you guessed it) we didn't go play in the sand this week either. Ella did get her feet in the sand a couple of times, but we didn't spend any real time over there with her. Jeff went a couple afternoons to play in the waves with the boys, though. On the last night of that trip Nanny took us all out to eat at The Black Pelican. The food was taking a while to come so we took Ella outside walking and went over on the beach. Jeff was walking her along the shoreline and I managed to tell them to move in plenty of time the first time the waves got close...not so the second time. Jeff and Ella had their feet washed over by a wave - now, this was no big deal for barefooted Ella, but Jeff was in tennis shoes and socks. I felt so bad that he had to eat dinner with wet feet. Ella barely reacted to the water, so we're thinking she'll take to the beach like a pro next year. And now we're home...at least for a spell. Ella & I will be traveling to Tennessee in October to see Warren & Rachel. I'm excited because it will be 2 weeks before her 1st birthday. It will be great that they aren't missing out on everything! Maybe she'll be walking by then - or maybe she'll walk on that trip. She is really trying! Hope all is well with you, too! Keep in touch!