Baby Dedication

Last Sunday Ella had her Baby Dedication at church. We had a great time celebrating after the service with friends and family (oh, and food)!  It is always hard to not have my family around for things like this, but I am so grateful for my dear friends that came to celebrate with us.  Ella is so blessed to have so many loving friends in her life already!

Ella's dedication was a good reminder of what it means for us to raise Ella as her parents.  At our church, Common Ground Christian Church, the children are not baptized as a baby.  It is more of a public statement to the congregation and a commitment to God from the parents to raise their children in the way of Jesus.  (Ella can choose to be baptized later in life when she accepts Christ).  Chris and I both felt very challenged after going through the Child Dedication class and were reminded of how important our job is as a parent.  We have been blessed with our daughter and now it is our job to raise her in the way of the Lord, with God's help of course.

Here is a verse that we went over in class that I enjoyed, 

"He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded the fathers to teach to their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children not yet born, and they in turn would tell their children.  Then they would not forget his works but keep his commandments." Psalm 78:5-7

You can see from this that God desires for every generation to know and trust in Him. Not only did He rescue us and save us, but we need to constantly remember Him in our daily actions and keep His commandments.  What a job we have as parents!!  Whew!

 Of course I will leave you with some pictures now :)

 All dolled up before church

 Love. Her.

 Family Pic (as if you wouldn't have guessed that)

Ella and The Danforth cousins :o)

(they love her soooo much, it's so sweet to watch them interact with her)

Have a wonderful weekend!

My First Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  

It's been a long day so i'm not going to write much, but here are some pictures from Ella's first Halloween.  We spent the day together and went trick-or-treating for just a little bit tonight.  Great memories -- I loved dressing up my little monkey!

 Playing with Barkley

 Ready to trick-or-treat!

 Pictures with Cameron

(Ella was tired and Cameron was ready to eat candy, hehe)

At the end of the day, isn't this how we all feel sometimes?

Sitting up

Here is a little video of Ella sitting up in the "big chair" playing

When did she get so big?

Ella is starting to feel better -- yay!  Now she just gets to deal with side effects of amoxicillin for 8 more days (or should I say, I get to deal with it... i.e. dirty diapers)!  Either way, it's okay as long as she's feeling better :)

I was looking through some pictures today and can't believe how much older Ella looks in the face!  Seeing her every day I don't realize it.  Here are some new pics.

 Sitting up in her high chair for the first time eating bananas

 Thinking about crawling -- what?!  Mama is not ready yet!

 Break it down!

 Making silly faces

 Looking all grown up in her "jumpsuit", as Daddy calls it

Trying to steal some tortilla chips.  

(Not yet, honey, you need some more teeth!)

Trying to deal with the fact that she's almost SIX months,

Ella's mama

under the weather

Ella hasn't been feeling well for a few days.  This morning we had her 6-month appointment (which is hard to believe), and the doctor said her throat didn't look good.  She said it looks like strep throat or hand, foot & mouth virus.  We are treating with amoxicillin and hoping that she will feel better soon.  She hardly has an appetite, is extremely tired, and is spitting up almost everything.  She has been taking really long naps and sleeping a lot.  I'm hoping to have my real baby back soon!  She's been such a good girl, but it's hard seeing her so miserable!  

Chris was also sick today with a stomach bug.  He was feeling better tonight so that is a plus!  Especially since I have to work tomorrow.  I need him to be able to take care of Ella.  Tonight it was me taking care of the two kiddos :)

 Took this pic over the weekend... relaxing together on the couch

 My little monkey all bundled up for a little walk.  It was nice to get outside.  

 I took this pic tonight.  She was so tired and had thrown up all of her milk.  She paused to play for a few minutes before bed and even managed to smile for me.  She's such a trooper!  I'm hoping she gets a good night's sleep and is feeling a lot better tomorrow!

And hey -- I just blogged two days in a row.  Yay!