Oklahoma......

Ella & I safely made it to Oklahoma over the weekend! (Nana is very happy! daddy is very sad) Ella loves exploring Nana's house- she loves getting into all Nana's cookbooks/cookie cutters/decorations/cords/ you name it....Ella's into it! And boy oh boy does Ella LOVE Riley & Queenie (the dogs)! She's chases them, pulls up on them & laughs hysterically when they are around!

I love you Riley!!

Good Boy Riley

I'm gonna get you Queenie!!

Sunday evening Ella went "Trunk or Treating" at the church I grew up going too...she loved seeing all the different costumes & getting candy! (Okay maybe mommy liked the candy more) She has also gotten to spend some time with her great-grandparents who adore her!

It's been lots of fun so far & I'm sure it will continue to be fun! More pictures & updates to come!

 

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My Little Pumpkin

As I've said a million times before- Ella is at such a FUN age!  Lots of smiles, giggles, roaring (it's her new thing), shake-shaking things, waving, and crawling!! And I LOVE getting to dress her for the seasons/holidays!! I'm pretty sure the fall is going to be her favorite time of year as well!!

At breakfast about to eat some pancakes!! YUMMY! I LOVE to eat! 

What? I'm too cool for school.....

So what's new with Miss Ella you may ask?  Well first off- she's an eater now! And I mean rarely will she take baby food....she wants FOOD! Pancakes, beans, pulled BBQ, ice cream, crackers with hummus, cheese, yogurt, soup, etc! She pretty much eats what Jon & I eat! And much like her father.... you better feed her on time or else! She is also a pretty fast crawler now and loves to get into the trash, find the smallest pieces of dirt, and get into anything she isn't supposed to. How does she always manage to do it?? Baby gates have been installed!  Ella can pull herself up & stand! She feels like such a big girl when she does this, therefore we must stand most of the time now! Ella can now "roar" like a lion or dinosaur! She loves to hear herself roar! Her roar face is a regular face around here! And finally Ella got a new Big Girl car seat last week, which she loves! She can see out everywhere! Maybe we can start taking some family road trips now! 

Rooooarrrr

See- I can stand now! 

Big Girl Car seat

I promise I really like Mommy's ice cream

Really- I ate at least 1/3 of it!

The weather has become pretty cool here in Minneapolis! We went to a neighborhood block party & the Great pumpkin Costume party this past week and we had to bundle up big time! I'm not so sure we are going to survive this winter here!  Guess we will be spending a lot of time at the Mall of America indoors! Ella even rode the carousel for the first time with daddy earlier this week! And I celebrated my first OU/Texas VICTORY!! BOOMER SOONER!! 

Fun at MOA on the carousel

I got my pumpkin at The Great Pumpkin Party

I however did NOT like being put in the tractor full of pumpkins

Brrrrr- better bundle up....it's cold out there! My snow baby! 

This month was "family photo" month!!  While my mom was in town earlier this month we went and had some pictures made at JCPenny, and we also had a fabulous outdoor photo shoot on Tuesday (pictures aren't ready just yet)!!  Lots of pictures- lots of smiles! We gotta remember these moments! Here's a few from JCPenny:

SOOO happy! 

CHEESE! 

I'm posing pretty! 

I'm big & strong like daddy!

My little mini me! 

Jon and I are well too! He is busy working & learning, while I continue to stay at home and play with Ella! Jon watches lots of football and I am about to celebrate my last 20 something birthday! :(   Ella & I will head to Oklahoma to spend time with family and friends! Maybe even look at a few houses (dreaming)!  Nothing too exciting to report here in Minneapolis, but we are extremely blessed, happy, and healthy! 

Fall is Here!

That's right.... true fall is here in Minneapolis! (And I'm afraid winter is very close to follow) Temperatures have dropped and the trees and leaves are a beautiful array of oranges, reds, & yellows!  My house is decorated with pumpkins & mums, and the fall candles are burning every evening!! It's my favorite time of the year!

She's stylin in her jean skirt, tights & boots! Fall lover already :)

 My mom (Nana as she's referred to here) came into town last Tuesday and we've been having lots of fun playing, taking walks, shopping and eating great food! She just made cinnamon roll dough for us tonight! YUM! It's been really nice having her here! Nana and Ella have been bonding-- Ella smiles every time she realizes she's still here to play with her and she loves having company in the back seat! Today we went to yet another apple orchard and took some family photos! Always something fun when Nana's here!

Walking through the neighborhood! 

Driving the John Deer tractor at another apple orchard we ventured too!

They love each other! 

 Our trip to Chicago was great fun! A little crazy due to poor planning on our part, but extremely fun none the less!! We were able to expose Ella to more of the city she was born in and visit with our dear dear friends!

Corner of Michigan Ave & E Wacker Ave :) She loved it!

YUM YUM YUM! Garrett's popcorn is the best!

Friends dinner at Rock Bottom! (We miss the OP Rock Bottom)!!

Ella turned 8 months on Saturday..... where did the last month go again?! Time is flying by! I know I've said it 1000 times, but she is one HAPPY BABY (except when she's not happy...then she's NOT happy)!! She smiles, laughs, wiggles & giggles all over the place!! Her "army crawl" is getting better, and she now is trying to master pulling up on anything & anyone! This girl wants to stand and walk NOW! She'll pull your pants down, pull your hair out, pull on anything if she thinks it will get her up! She always wants to face out (thank God for the Baby Bjorn) and see the world! Such an inquisitive baby! Feeding her has become a huge mess as she insists on feeding herself! Plus she's become a carb addict.... if you don't have bread, a cracker or a tortilla... you are in TROUBLE! And after flying since she was 7 weeks old, Ella finally got her "wings" from a nice pilot on her Chicago trip!

They put me in jail @ the Westin in Chicago.... let me outta here! 

Big Girl!! 8 months old! 

Sooooo big :) 

Playing with pumpkins

Happy Halloween!!

I got my Wings..... but I'm worn out from traveling! 

Not too much to report from Jon & I:  I spend my days chasing & carrying Ella around, and Jon stands covered in lead- elbow deep in people's veins/arteries.  Our evenings are spent resting from our days- reading books/magazines, watching a Redbox, the occasional glass(s) of wine!! Pretty boring I know- but we enjoy it!  Ella is our pride & joy!! Nothing makes our hearts as happy as to see her happy! Her laughter can wash away the worst of the worst days!  She's my little buddy!  Keeping us Krazy Kirklands busy busy busy and truly happy!

This girl LOVEs her some apples

Love this girls smile! :) 

About to go explore Chicago in her favorite position: Face Forward! 

It's been a while.....

So it's been a while since I've blogged, mostly because we have been busy getting "back to reality" like my last post said & because I'm trying to take full advantage of the beautiful fall weather here in Minneapolis before winter hits! :/   But here's a little bit of what we've been up to:

Ella continues to grow and become more "active" each day!  She's really determined to crawl, apparently she's decided the army crawl is not as efficient as a regular crawl would be. She's trying to pull up on everything & loves it when we hold her fingers so she can stand like a big girl or jump up & down! She is such a happy and fun baby! Her expressions crack me up! Her smile is infectious! Definitely a mommas girl :)  We started music class last week and she LOVES to shake things now. Maracas, eggs, bottles, keys.....everything gets to "shake shake shake." She has started doing her own laundry, although she prefers to pull it out after I've folded it....but she's learning right? She loves to put on her Sooner gear & cheer for OU! While she can't quite say Boomer Sooner.... Jon is convinced she knows what it means, as she smiles SO big every time we say it!  We recently took Ella on a trip to the local apple orchard where she fell in love with apples (she literally ate one to the core) and to the Como Zoo.  We also joined the Sea Life aquarium at the Mall of America and she loves to look at all the pretty colorful fish!

Morning playtime in our jammies! 

BOOMER SOONER!

Helping with the laundry..... or shake-shake-shaking it all up :)

Look at those teeth :) 

Wild Child--It' a little too early for music class mom! But I'll shake my scarf :) 

I've been busy doing a little bit of everything & enjoying my new mommy friends!!  We've recently decided to try a weekly meal exchange program where we each cook 4-5 portions of 1 meal and then get together at someones house to play and exchanges the meals! Therefore my week of dinners is already done :)  This was our first week- and so far YUM! It's so nice to have such a supportive & encouraging group of new friends! Plus all the little ones love to play, pull, & terrorize each other! Since this is my favorite season- I've decorated for fall and constantly have my pumpkin candles burning! Like I said earlier the weather has been amazing here and the trees are turning beautiful shades of orange, red and yellow! We love taking walks around our neighborhood or around the various lakes!  My craftiness has kicked in and I have taken on the task of making Superhero costumes for the babies in our mommy group! Can't wait to see them all in them! And of course I'm baking up a storm as usual! Pumpkin breads, cookies, chex-mix (Jon is very happy), and trying out new meals! 

Never too early to start her off with an LV :) 

BOOMER SOONER!! 

Fun times at the apple orchard (Ella was less than amused at the tractor ride)

Jon is enjoying his time a the "spa VA" hospital.  (They call it that because the hours are much much much more reasonable-  it's a government hospital)  And we are enjoying being able to see him more! His weekends when he isn't on call are spent playing with us, eating Chex-Mix and watching FOOTBALL! He is a happy man! 

Daddy & Ella at the apple orchard

At the Como Zoo seeing the Polar Bears! 

So that's what the Krazy Kirklands have been up to lately! Never a dull moment for us! We are heading to Chicago tonight to spend a long weekend with friends, for Jon to attend a conference and for mommy & Ella to shop!  Then NaNa comes next week to visit Minneapolis!! Life is good!  

Something tells me she is going to be trouble....

But with this smile I'll forgive her