Welcome to the world Finn. We love you already…

We have the most awesome friends here in SF. Ella adores them. She’s started understanding that people have names, and we are trying to teach her how to say everyone’s name. A few days after our friends Betsy and Steve babysat Ella, Alex took this video. Completely unprompted….

Today is Steve’s birthday. So, here’s to you, Caca.

Last weekend we took a bit of time off work and flew up to Portland to spend Easter with Unkie Wayne. He was very gracious to open his home to our boisterous bunch. We had a lot of fun, doing the same kinds of things we do here at home… farmer’s market, playgrounds, bookstores, restaurants, and cooking. We didn’t take a ton of photos, I guess we were having too much fun to remember to take out the camera. But here are a few fun shots.

We found this great old school playground that still had all the toys they usually rip out and replace with lead-free, nonlethal new equipment. But Ella loved playing on it as much as we did!

One on the merry-go-round. I forgot how fast these go!

A few on the tire swing:

One end of the teeter-totter:

Alex had some friends he’d met from a work conference who invited us to crash their egg hunt:

Alex’s other favorite site in Portland – Stumptown Coffee. He can’t get enough. But Elle and I decided to share a hot chocolate. This one came with whipped cream, which she enjoyed more than the drink:

Sunday night Wayne, Alex and I pitched in (Ella was asleep, thankfully) and made an amazing Easter dinner. We had a hazelnut crusted pork loin with apple chutney, asparagus, Emily Bates’ mac and cheese, and a green salad with radishes and bleu cheese with Wayne’s secret dressing. I also made a strawberry rhubarb crisp for dessert, not pictured (although it should have been…). It was fabulous. Best food we had the whole trip.

Wayne:

And for those of you keeping track of Ella’s hair styles, Monday night (after we got home) I sat her in her high chair, and one dinner and two Yo Gabba’s later, we had this:

These two shots below are from today, so day 4 of the hair, doing it’s own thing. Dressed to kill in the dress from Grandma Debbi for Easter. Also, wearing her new shoes (I love shopping in Portland, no sales tax, and TONS of amazing shops. Dangerous).

March is almost over, and I realize that I haven’t posted pictures in quite some time. So here are a ton of pictures and videos to keep you up to date on Ella’s exploits in March.

We started off by going to Ana’s (our nanny) surprise birthday party. Here she is with Avi, Ella’s sharecare buddy.

More adventures in hair…. It starts with cutting out the prior batch of elastics, washing, and putting the hair up again.

Then, lots of snacks and a couple episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba!

And the final result (on day 6, actually):

We also finished up 3 months of swimming lessons this week. Ella loves to go underwater, and recently has been more interested in putting her face directly in the water.

And to finish off… here are a couple great videos.

The first one is Ella opening her Valentine (I know that was February!) presents from Grandma Meme:

The second is Ella helping. She loves to climb on her stool in the kitchen and help with something. Here she is acting as our barista.

This one is Ella walking her baby to dinner – about 5 blocks away.

The last one is Ella enjoying some salsa. She hasn’t decided if she likes spicy food or not. When she tries it she turns into the Incredible Hulk – then asks for more. Enjoy.

Saturday we took Ella to visit the Oakland Zoo. A few of my coworkers, and their daughters, met us with wagons to trek around.

Here are the girls, Isabella, Paige, Audrey, and Ella

Ella and Audrey in their pimped out wagon – often seen trading sippy cups.

Ella

Bella

Paige

And Audrey

Ella had a great time. She’d never seen wagons like these. The Oakland zoo is great, we’d never been before. There are huge open spaces for most of the animals.

The girls took turns pulling each other in the wagons.

We saw elephants

Meerkats

And the girls lined up against the glass to see some kind of lizard sleep.

Audrey and Ella get along great. They’re only 4 months apart in age,

Paige and Bella live across the street from one another, and are best friends.

Here are Audrey and Ella posing on a huge frog.

Ella was showing me her belly button.

We ended the day with a long ride on the train around the zoo. As soon as we got all buckled in the car, Ella said very quietly “thank you.” And then fell asleep.

So, our friends at the Booksmith in San Francisco have given Ella her own shelf! There is Ella’s favorite books (more to come):

And our picks!

If you’re in San Francisco, specifically the Haight, stop by. It’s a great bookstore, and you can check out Ella’s growing list of favorite books.

Thanksgiving 2008 was a roaring success. We had our friend Wayne in town from Portland for the long weekend. He and 9 others joined us for our Thanksgiving meal. Ella liked the rolls Liz made the best.

On Friday while I was making a pie for another party, Alex took Ella to the aquarium. This is her favorite place to be. She loves that the glass goes all the way to the floor so she can stand right up against it to look at the fish.

That night we and a group of friends went down to Union Square for the annual tree lighting. Last year Ella slept through the whole thing. But, being a year older, we thought she’d really enjoy it! But she fell asleep on the walk over.

Luckily she woke up in time for the lighting and a family picture.

We all went to Betsy and Steve’s house after the lighting for “Pie Friday.” Ella got in her jammies and cozied up to Wayne.

Saturday we went with Shawn and Robyn to cut a Christmas Tree. Luckily, we kept the Old Port Lobster Shack tradition, and Ella tried a bit of lobster herself. She liked it, but thought the oyster crackers were far superior. Oh well.

Sunday we took Milo and Ella for a walk, and let Ella walk by herself. Whenever Alex would squat down to take a picture, she’d mimic him.

She loves walking by herself!

Such a big girl.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, full of fabulous food, friends, and family. I will take another, please!

We traveled to Utah mid-October to see family, celebrate Ella’s birthday, and for a film screening for Paperback Dreams

The film screened on Thursday, October 23rd at the SLC library. It was well attended, thanks in part to our Heiner family, and SLC friends! Unfortunately, our dear one-year-old (still sounds strange!) did not have the patience to sit quietly and watch Daddy’s movie. But luckily (?) neither could Cousin Gray. So Spencer, Gray, Ella and I entertained one another in the lobby. Spencer is the best Uncle ever, and was a huge help with Elle, and I taught Gray how to hand out postcards once people left the theater. He called them his “monies.” And he’d give them out to anyone who walked by – and sometimes would demand their return!

The next day was “Hamburger Day.” On the 24th of October last year we met with A Angel Adoption to sign our adoption paperwork, in a Burger King. It was surreal to say the least. But we decided that ever after 10/24 would be Hamburger Day. (We couldn’t stomach the thought of it being BK day…). So we piled up Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Spence, Cousin Gray, Mom, Dad and Ellie. We went to Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Ella and Gray had a blast, mostly sharing a Caffeine Free Diet Coke (nasty).

That night when we went home Spencer and Alex decided to carve pumpkins. I thought they were a little over ambitious, but boy was I surprised! They carved 4 pumpkins – one that looked like Ella, Gray, Milo, and Dash (the latter two are our respective pups). They were so awesome lit up!

On Saturday Chris and Amanda joined us. Ella took a real shine to Amanda. Super cute.

And we had her birthday party. It was great to see so many family members and friends. Too bad we didn’t take many pictures! But here’s the 2nd birthday cake. She was still a bit freaked out when we sang to her. Maybe it’ll go better next year…

All in all it was a great trip. We got to see family, Gray and Ella had a ball together, and it was great timing for a vacation.

I meant to have this done for Ella’s birthday, but somehow in the craziness, I didn’t get it done. But here it is, one year in pictures of our little Ella Michelle.

Ella doesn’t officially turn one until tomorrow, but we had her party on Saturday (since Grandma Meme and Grandpa Papa were in town to celebrate).

Here’s the beautiful birthday girl:



These were the table decorations:





And the cupcakes – each with it’s own pinwheel:



Ella insisted on walking as much as possible. It’s her favorite thing to do. But since she doesn’t have it down solo – except for 5-6 steps, she needs a bit of assistance.



Here we are opening presents. She wasn’t all that interested in unwrapping, but loved checking out the goods.




And occasionally had some help….



And the favorite portion of any child’s first birthday — gorging on cake.





After we’d cleaned up, and all the guests had left, she got to take a special ride on the carousel with Daddy.



All in all, a very wonderful first birthday party. Thanks to all the friends and family who came to celebrate with us.