Busy times...

I know that it's been a very long time since I last wrote. We have been busy ending our summertime fun. Grandma Hohensee & Great Aunt Debbie came for a visit and stayed a few days to spend time with Ella.

We went back to the Iowa State Fair for a 2nd time and had a nice day w/ Grandpa & Grandma Anliker, Uncle Clark & Cindy. Although Ella didn't quite like it as much as the first time. Something about the building we were in -- oh well, she's over it now.

Then we had a quiet weekend to ourselves here in DSM. Got a few things done that we had been wanting to. We got to spend some time w/ Uncle Brian & Aunt Sarah out at their house and cousin Logan.

Ella went back for her 9-month checkup....22 lbs 8oz and 29 1/4" long. She's growing!

Sometime in this mix, Ella decided to work on getting some top teeth through. We can see both I-teeth on the top and one has popped through. She also got one of her top middle teeth. She's doing really good w/ Cheerios and has even started to munch on some real food. She's had chicken and potatoes (mashed and chunked) and even a little hamburger. She continues to be a good eater (suprise there, huh?) and really likes yogurt.

Thursday evening (08/31), Alyse's Godfather & Uncle arrived from Florida, so Ella got to meet her Great Uncle David for the very first time. It didn't take long before she was comfortable with him!

This past weekend, we went back to see our parents and our family. A few of Ella's great aunts & uncles, great-grandparents and even Uncle Josh and Cousin Paige. Got to spend some time at Lost Island Lake with some family and Ella got to experience her first bonfire -- even though it was cut really short by rain. That's where both of these pictures were taken.

We came back on Sunday night, so we could relax all day Monday and boy did Ella ever relax -- 6 hours of naps worth of relaxing! Plus she still slept 11 hours overnight before we had to wake her up!

Well I'm tired from all of this writing -- sorry again for the long delay in posting. I'll try not to get so lazy in the upcoming weeks/months. Hope all is well with each of you -- keep in touch!