Tired of weather...

Last week it was snowy and wet.... this week it was sunny and
hot... today, it's rainy and cold. And I thought I was indecisive.


Let's see. Ellie is 7 months and 3 weeks old now... craziness.

She has been very healthy and happy and full of intensity.
She eats new foods all the time... probably more than she should.
She tried fresh orange slices today and loved them! She likes
to be heard... and seen... and adored. And she'll let you know
when you're not giving her enough attention. She also likes
to bounce and wave her arms when people smile or say hello,
(even the random strangers walking by the house). She
is an active little girl... but we love it all.

I may not put a lot of captions this week... they're mostly
just pictures I took anytime I thought she was being extra
cute... not a lot to narrate.

A little blurry, but a funny face.

Ellie has been making great progress in crawling. She can do
everything perfectly... except the arms. She gets up into perfect
position, moves her legs forward... but then just rocks cause she
can't seem to shift the weight off of her arms... but she's getting
incredibly close... I don't know how I'm going to keep her under
control once she's fully mobile... yikes!

She loves to stand and walk. I usually hold both her
hands and let her direct the walking... but this time we
were practicing just standing more alone.

She likes to crawl onto my lap and play... or just climb up
my chest until I have no choice but to pick her up.

Enjoying the nice weather we had the first half of the week.
Thanks to Lynette and Addie for the adorable hat... we used
it A TON this week!

Talking with Daddy.

This snack can of hers is often used as a drum...
and occasionally a weapon

Dad always shows Ellie how to look cool.

Easter and REAL push-ups

We had some nice sunny weather for a while that was very
enjoyable. Ellie loves being outside and playing with the grass.

We also went to the park last week. Ellie was very chill
in the swings... she just ate her hands and kicked her feet.

Hanging out on the slide.

She wanted to take a break by one of her many homelands.

Then she scared everyone at the park by taking control of
the big guns.

We used to wear blankets and things on our shoulders to
catch spit-up, now we just wear them to protect ourselves
from Ellie's sharp little teeth... yep, she's a biter... our
crazy little vampire... maybe I shouldn't have read all those
Twilight books when she was a newborn.

Clinging to Daddy... after she had climbed on his shoulder for a
taste as well.

My two best buddies before Church Easter Sunday.

Showing off her beautiful dress from her Great-Grandma Garner.
The colors fit her hair and skin so perfectly!

Ellie liked playing with her Easter Basket.

And eating the shiny eggs.

Her favorite thing was to dump the basket over and over.

But we decided that Ellie is our favorite Easter gift!

She's our wonderful goofball of a girl.

NO GIRL PUSH-UPS IN THIS HOUSE...
Ellie was born with an intense Army heritage, and thus, has
decided that she only does real push-ups!
She does these now whenever she practices crawling... she
just gets right up on her toes and holds the push up position
as she tries to move herself forward. She's closer and closer
to real crawling all the time... but can still get around in
other ways when she has the patience.

Videos

So.... I finally uploaded some of our videos to youtube.... they are from the last couple of months.

CLICK HERE to watch my favorite one.

OR-- to see them all anytime, just go to:

http://www.youtube.com/user/roggia48

Easter Pictures and such soon to come!

Winter... in the Sping....

I feel like I'm getting slower and slower at posting. I
keep puttingit off since I don't use the computer that
much anymore... but then the more I put it off,
the more daunting the task becomes because
I end up with so many pictures that I want to post. It's
a vicious cycle. Anyhow... we're all doing well and
keeping busy. Ellie is great and just a big ball of fun. She
loves to laugh and eat and play and yell and just be crazy.

Looking cute after church a couple of weeks ago. PS-she had
her 6 month appointment a couple of weeks ago (she was
actually 6 and a half months, but she was very healthy.
Her stats were: 17 lb 6 oz (70th%)
27.95 inches long (97th%)
16.9 inch head circumference (58th%)

She is VERY ticklish.

We liked this picture... her hair looks extra red..

She loves to bug Dad while he works on things.

Lynette and Addie came to visit us last Sunday, and Ellie
loved playing with them! She even sat and just chilled happily
on Lynette's lap... a rare happening with anyone. We're SO
glad they stopped by!

By the way, we also got a wonderful visit from Dave,
Natalie and Nicole this week, but I was a bum and forgot
to take a picture. But we really loved seeing them all!

Modeling another pretty dress.

Apparently Zeppelin brings out her aggression. Is it just
me, or does it look like she's holding that duck up so
that she can punch him in the face?

But then she's friendly again.

I have to hide the bowl from Ellie's line of sight now, otherwise,
she freaks out until I let her have it. She loves control... (I
think I've said that before...)

She watched some Italian cartoons online with Dad the other
day and thought they were pretty entertaining.

This is the view of Ellie from the driver's seat of the
truck. She is always quick to laugh and smile if you look
back at her. As you can see, she also like to kick the visor
as she rides... sometimes she kicks it all the way down!

Ahhh... the wooden spoon... one of Ellie's most recent
favorite toys. Me thinks the cookie tradition shall continue.

She is always climbing on and over us to get to whatever
she decides she wants. She is a pushy girl. Oh... and she
also scoots and half crawls now when she's in a patient
enough mood. Getting close to full mobility... a scary thought.

Adam did a half marathon race yesterday. Ellie and I met him
at a few different points throughout to give him little sport
bottles of gatorade and cheer him on. It was SOOOO cold...
and snowy... and windy... yuck. So this is Ellie hanging out with
me in the truck while we wait for Dad to get to our spot.

Despite the crappy weather and a delayed start, Adam did great
with a top 15 finish out of hundreds of racers!

GOOOOO JOE!!!!

We went and hung out with family for Conference sessions today.
Ellie had fun with her cousins. She loves playing with and laughing
at Brianna and Mia! They're such fun girls!