Swimming with Teeth!

Today was a great day. First, I surprised Brandon by arranging for his friends to come over for breakfast and then a morning of paintball at a field in Tulare. I wish I had some pictures of this awesome event. Brandon came home with paint in his ear! He said that they had a blast and I was voted the most awesomest wife ever. For breakfast I made my yummy Hashbrown Breakfast in a Pan (see comments for the recipe)!

After Brandon got home and we had some lunch, we went swimming at The Hatch's. Elly is totally into swimming now, she absolutely loves it and splashes around everywhere! We bought her a new floatie which we are going to return. We bought it because it had a built in sun shade, which didn't shade her face at all when she was in the thing correctly. It only shaded her when we put her in it backwards. Anyway, she had a ball and she really likes showing off her new teeth! Even though I put gobs of sunscreen on her, she's getting a kickin tan, I guess it's in her blood. Look at her little hands, they're so brown.

This evening over our favorite local pizza, Trader's take and bake, Elly and her Dad had a complete conversation. She looked at him and said "Da, doheh" and he looked at her back and said some other gibberish, then her turn again. This went on for probably 5 turns talking each. She would wait for him to respond and then say something else. Of course, we've had conversations with her before, but this one seemed so deliberate and serious. She really wanted him to know something. If only...we knew what that was.

Lacy and Gram Ben

This is a picture of me with my great grandmother, Frances Bennett. I was probably about Elly's age here (6 or 7 months). I have been thinking recently that Elly looks like my baby pictures, but seeing this one might change my mind. Her cheeks are bigger for one! Anyway, I thought I'd write a little about my great-grandmother, we called her Gram Ben. I was fortunate enough to know her. Each Sunday, we would go to her house for "Family Gathering". I remember playing with one particular fancy purse that she had that was gold and really fun to feel. It was always a fun time for the kids to get together with the cousins (first cousins once removed, second cousins, third cousins?) and more. It was one time a week where all the adults went into a room and talked and the kids got to play with different toys and different kids, make up skits and eat waffle cremes. It was a great time. Gram Ben seemed to always be happy to see us. She had beautiful white hair and really soft skin. We always gave her a kiss when we came in the apartment. Later on, my parents took both my great-grand parents to lunch every week at Village Inn and I went occasionally. Gram always ordered a half a belgian waffle and a child's milk. She always buttered each individual square. She always got dressed up to go to lunch. She looked elegant. She died when I was 17 years old. It isn't every girl who knows her great grandmother so well. I feel very blessed to have been so close to my ancestors.

Doc Pops in...

On Wednesday, we got a quick visit from Doc. He flew into Fresno at 2pm and flew out the next day at 6:30 am. Doc, Elly and I all went to a late lunch at one of our favorite local places, Colima's Mexican food. It was a lot of fun to hear all about Doc and K-ma's trip to Canada with the Freedmans. They stayed on a private island and saw orca whales one day! Elly and I also gave Doc his Father's Day present: a black 'touch my shirt' shirt with a cool bamboo print on it. I was only a little disturbed when Doc said "ok, what can Elly eat here?" I was like: "Dad, she's 6 months old, she doesn't eat Mexican food." But, that didn't stop him from handing her a corn tortilla when I wasn't looking which she promptly folded into a perfect taco. "Well, she's definitely Peruvian!" Doc exclaimed with delight.

We waited while Doc checked into his hotel, The newly remodeled Marriott in downtown Visalia. Then, we went back to my house where Doc and Elly played on the floor of the great room. Pretty soon, there was a lull in the action and I was just wishing that I had something for Doc to do...just then the doorbell rang. It was something for Doc to do! I had ordered a stroller from Target a week earlier and he and I put it together.


Doc took off to the hotel to get ready for his talk and Brandon, Elly and I came later to swim in the Marriott pool. It was a nice pool, not crowded at all and Elly loved swimming with Mom and Dad. Too bad Doc had to go give a talk to other Doctors at the classy restaurant "The Vintage Press". But, he invited us to stay for a while and then eat some room service in his room. So, after we ordered our burgers, we gave Elly a bath in the sink, and hung out in the room. The burgers were alright, but the lettuce wraps were awesome! We got to watch one of our favorite summer shows "So, You Think You Can Dance" and got home just in time to put Elly to bed. It was a very nice evening, we only wish Doc had been there. It was kind of like being on Vacation, but you don't have to travel anywhere and you get to go home and sleep in your own bed at the end! I love vacations at home...Thanks for the fun visit, Doc! Come again soon.

Elly looks so little sitting on Doc's hotel bed. Can you find the baby in this last picture?

Blogs

You may notice a new addition to the "Blogs I visit" section of my page. Adam Romney is the brother of a friend of mine from high school, Pete Romney, which is how I found the blog about his 3 year old son. Adam married a friend of mine from elementary school, Whitley Clark. They definitely have no idea that I read their blog about Smith (their son), but it is hilarious. It is simply a blog about all of the funny things that a 3 year old boy says and does, particularly this 3 year old. I hope they don't mind that I read it, but it makes me laugh so hard.

Here is a little taste of what you might find on the blog:

Big Gulp

Smith and I did some male bonding yesterday. We went to the park, pushed around some rocks and dirt, played baseball, and ate burgers. While devouring in silence, Smith suddenly stopped and said, "Dad, watch this." He seized his chocolate milk and took one big swig, filling his cheeks with liquid. We made eye contact, and then he threw back his head as far as it would go. His chin was directly above his Adam's apple, like a bird when choking down a worm. After a dramatic pause, he swallowed the whole mouthful in one big gulp, emptying the entirety of his mouth. I could see his little Adam's apple slowly and deliberately move up and then down. He slowly lowered his head, looked at me and uttered an exaggerated, "Aaahhh . . . ." Smith then turned to me and said, "I've been practicing that for years."

There's lots more here:

http://smittyisms.blogspot.com/

Baseball Family Fun!

Last night, we went to Centex Family Night at the Visalia Oaks baseball game. Yes, Visalia has it's very own Minor League baseball team. (Another radom fact about Visalia that Cody and Mad recently learned is that Kevin Costner is from Visalia and even went to Brandon's high school for a year. I mean, not at the same time or anything.) Anyway, The Oaks' Field is only 5 minutes from our house. We all got red Centex shirts, including Elly. But, I'll give you a little idea of the sizing for the shirts- I'm wearing Elly's child size shirt in this picture. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and Elly seemed to really like it. She loves watching people and being involved in anything the adults are doing; this doesn't bode well for our future. Even now, she wants whatever Mom and Dad have. She doesn't want a "special" Elly-size anything or a remote that doesn't work. The excitment of the evening at the ballpark included standing in line for half an hour to get me a hamburger and Brandon making sure to cover Elly's head whenever there was a foul ball. (He told me a story about going to an Oaks game when he was young with his siblings and their dad. A foul ball was hit and they didn't see it coming until the stranger behind them put out his glove right above toddler Kari's head and caught the ball.) The game was fun to watch but the real fun came when Uncle Erik and friends participated in a 5th inning contest where they teamed up and tossed water balloons at each other on the field. We took off early, though, to put the Bubbush to bed and took this picture outside the park, you can only see the lights of the field behind us because I took it myself. It was a fun family outing, all in all.

Swimming Shwimming

Elly's first tooth has erupted. It isn't showing yet, but we can sure feel it! We are getting behind in our chronicling her little life, so this will be a little catch up post. About a month ago, we went swimming at our friend's The Watts pool. We weren't planning on it, but we borrowed a swim diaper and Elly had her first swim in the pool.

She had the exact same look on her face the entire time. She was completely indifferent to the whole thing. It didn't matter what water park-like fun Brandon tried to create she just couldn't have cared less.

This is a beautiful picture that shows her awesome rolls! At a later date (also at the Watts' pool) she wore her adorable swimsuit given to her by her aunt Madelyn and loved every minute of the pool. Unfortunately, we have no pictures of it because both parents were in the pool with her. She loved splashing with her hands and then would be surprised when water would unexpectedly come into her face. But, she just kept doing it.

Elly is a little character. She does a new little smile where she scrunches up her nose and breathes in and out through her nose real fast. It's super cute. She also can take all the rings off of her toy all by herself (pictured). I gave her a really fast turn driving the car the other day and she really loved it; she's a natural!