Little Dave, a.k.a. Baby Barista

Happy Halloween to all! We had a wonderful time trick-or-treating, celebrating with the Horribles parade, and ending the day with hot chocolate and cookies. (and concidentally a slightly later bedtime.)

Mom and Dad debated for a while about what Ella might be for Halloween. There are always many usual costumes- i.e. lots and lots of 2 year old Elmos. We orginally bought Ella a flower costume, but after the head wouldn't stay on we thought a lost little stem was no fun. So we went to our big plan B. Ever since Ella was born we have heard how much people thought Ella looks like her dad, so we figured we'd complete the transformation... introducing little Dave (or mini - me as Dad likes to say.)





We hit the neighborhood hard in search of candy. Ella jumped out of the wagon and knew just want to do. Her and Dad have been practicing saying trick or treat. Unfortunately at the first house Ella did all the right things, until she tried to go into the house. Yikes!



Quickly she figured out just want to do, and followed her friend Max all over the neighborhood. We had a blast! Plus she got a whole lotta candy too. Can't wait for next year already!

Happy 92 Great Grandma!

While Ella and her parents were celebrating Jack's baptism in CT we stopped in to see Great Grandma and help her celebrate her 92nd birthday. There were lots of smiling faces, and some teary eyes when the cake and singing came around the corner.

Cousin Jack

Ella has a new cousin named Jack, and we were so happy to get to meet him last weekend for his baptism. Dad is his Godfather now, and it was really nice to spend the day with them celebrating.

Fall & Friends

Ella is a complete social butterfly. She makes friends easily, is polite, and funny. She is even a good friend to her little stuffed friends. She has about 8 or so stuffed buddies but usually George and Bella and the ones in tow.





Although she will still make friends with adults. Just the other day she made friends with the on-call doctor. Though we're pretty sure that was for the stickers and lollipop.

Fort Reed

Mom had heard that some of Ella's little friends were building forts, hiding, and having fun... and we thought, wait a second - we can do that! So Dad set out to turn our little house into Fort Reed and we had a blast! We had all of the necessities - blankets, pillows, couch cussions, puppies, Elmo, a flash light and orero cookies.

The Pumpkins are Picked!

October calls for a trip to the pumpkin patch. So off we went with a little help from our friends Mike and Lisa. We found a Daddy, Mommy, and Ella pumpkin... but the littlest was the favorite.



She was so proud of her pumpkin!





Then she even said cheese (although it was a tired, missing my nap, kind of cheese).





After the pumpkin was secured... it was off to feed the goats and grab a hot dog.

The Little Ballerina

Ella started ballet lessons. (Mom has been waiting to say that for a while!) She is signed up for 6 weeks of Mommy and Me ballet classes! It was some of the best 30 minutes we have ever had! Enjoy the pictures!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

To celebrate Mom and Dad's 5th Wedding we headed back to Newport, RI - where Mom and Dad got married. Nana graciously offered to spend the weekend with Ella so Mom and Dad could get away a little. (Thanks Nana!!)





Mom and Dad went off to visit some masions, a vineyard, and eat great food. Ella played with Nana, and visited with family too. Here is Ella with her Dad and Great Nanie Annemarie. (We also visited Great Grandma Reed and Aunt Bette but accidentally left the camera in the car).



Then we even got to see Grampa Pete - Ella had a blast visiting him in his workshop full of big shiny firetrucks. Ella took a minute to look around, see what's what and then JUMPED right in. She love the big steering wheel and loved the booming sound of the horn too. She can't wait for her very own parade once the weather gets nice.

We looooved September!

We had so much fun in the September sunshine, enjoyed the cool weather, and did perfectly perfect fall activities. As a family we made our very first scarecrow.



Then Mom and Ella (and our friends Kim and Lila) headed out apple picking. It took us about 4 hours to pick one bag of apples, play in some hay and enjoy a cider donut and some ice cream. Ella liked wandering the orchard, having Mommy pick her an apple, and then just plopping down to sink her teeth into it. In those four hours she ate most of 4 cortland apples.







We also had some more birthday party fun. We attend our third birthday at the Gymboree - filled with a giant Elmo shaped cake, cute Halloweeny socks, and lots and lots of playtime. (Thanks Elizabeth!). Ella has a blast and is now ready for her big #2 come December.

Ella's First Spensah Fair

In New England they have many different agricultural fairs - most include giant pumpkins, things with blue ribbons, typically bad cover bands, and the assortment of fried food and poorly constructed carnival rides. When we heard the fairs were coming to our area, we said "Count us In!!"