Random

So, I have zero excuses for not blogging much recently. I just
haven't wanted to at all. I also haven't take that many pictures
over the last month or more. Maybe it's just the late pregnancy
craziness. Who knows. I'm sure it will pick up quickly as we
start documenting the next bundle of chaos that is coming to us
so soon.

Ellie loves bubbles, so Grandma bought her a bubble machine.
Tucker was equally thrilled... Ellie won't play with them until
she calls the dogs in to play too.

Wrestling around with Dad, like always. These two are so
crazy and rough. They have way too much fun. She has LOVED
having Daddy home so much more this summer. We'll be
sad when school starts back up in the fall.

Of course, the wrestling ended with Ellie beating down
the man who taught her to fight. The student becomes
the teacher.

Ellie is still SOOO helpful and cute. She LOVES to
do laundry. She puts the clothes in the baskets, puts
them into the washer, dumps in the soap, closes the lid,
and even makes sure to turn off the lights. She always likes
to have things back where they belong. She is in charge of
things is always sure to let us know if we aren't doing something
right... or if we're forgetting something. A natural big sister.

Lately, she has not wanted to change her clothes after
church on Sundays. She loves her pretty dresses and shoes.
She also compliments us when she thinks we look pretty.
Such a sweetie.

Love that girl.

Showing off her dainty side... she's too young to know that it
could be embarrassing. Anything to do with her bum (diapers,
toots, poo, her bum itself) are all "poo" to her. So in the left
picture, she had just tooted, and grabbed her bum, then said,
"eeewww, poo." That's our girl. She loves to talk about it. Then
she also likes to talk about boogers. She's all about the yucky
boy stuff... her Daddy and GrandDaddy are proud men.

Sidewalk chalk... I hate how it gets everywhere, but she
enjoys it, so I endure.

For the Fourth of July, we went to the traditional ward location,
where kids were rolling down the hills on the golf course... so Ellie
of course had to join in... first with Daddy's help.

Then she had to do it on her own... and actually did
pretty well. She had fun... at least in the beginning.

Popsicles got her through the first, little fireworks.
Then they got bigger and louder, and in that location,
they were right over our heads and echoing off the lake,
so she just wanted to get out of there... not a fan this year.

The next day we did a forest picnic in super hot weather.
Ellie had fun exploring the woods with Dad and the pups.

Love the sweaty hair.

Then she enjoyed hitting all the big trees with a cool stick she
found. We had a good time with Grandma and Grandpa.

Anyway, things are good with us. Adam is working lots of hours,
but we get to visit him a lot, so it all works out. I am 37.5 weeks
pregnant... feeling good, just waiting for the big day. I am still
running, but not a lot.... like twice a week lately... and only 2-3
miles each time. But it feels good to do it. We will be sure to post
the news when our little man arrives. Here's to the waiting game!

Whole lot of Summer...

So on to June... it has been HOT, and so we are keeping
busy with lots of summer activities.

Seriously, I just can't resist this girl.

Ellie wants to play in the water ALL THE TIME!
(as you will see throughout this whole post).

Along with sprinklers and summer come icepops!

Ellie loves to play. In this game, she thought it was
hilarious to slam the door on me, then play peekaboo
and laugh whenever I act scared or upset.

Letting the Italian blood shine through... this girl
LOVES pasta.... and even things with strong, stinky
cheeses. Makes her daddy proud.

She also loves to cook. And everyone in the room
always gets to taste, while she says "mmmmmm"
as loud as she can.

She even got to have Tucker play in the sprinkler with her.
They both had too much fun.

Ellie and I were pleased to have Daddy home with us
ALL DAY on Memorial Day. It was wonderful. We started
with a yummy breakfast of french toast and donuts... and of
course, some Band of Brothers on TV (a fave for me and Adam).

Then of course some more sprinkler time...

While Daddy did some work on his new baby... a little $1200
Dodge Avenger. Yay for cheap cars!

Ellie saw me laying down to take a picture of Dad and looked
too cute when she came to join me.

Mr. Fix-it.

We also went to a park for a little run.

And Ellie was so excited to finally have Dad
with her at the playground (he's almost never
home during the day... except for Sundays. The man
works too hard for us). She showed him all of the
equipment she loves.

I got out a camp chair to sit in while Ellie played in
her kiddie pool the other day, but she decided it looked
comfy and took over for a while... as usual. Pushy little girl.

Too bad all the real pools around here are so expensive... we
will just settle for our little plastic one for now. Ellie doesn't
seem to mind.

More running pics, I know. But I like them.
Ellie and I also got to spend Friday with Dad, which
we were very grateful for since he left the next day for
his 2 week class in Cedar City, Utah. We drove to meet
him at various points for his 12 mile run that morning,
handing off water and such. We had a lot of fun!

Ellie decided that she should drive home.

And while we were there, I realized I haven't really
been recording my pregnancy progress at all this time
around, so I had Adam take a picture of me. So here I
am at 32 weeks. Feeling great... and very blessed to be
experiencing such an easy pregnancy again. I have to
remind myself all the time that I am pregnant, and that
this little guy will be here in less than 2 months! We're
excited to meet him!

May

With how my pics are organized, it felt easier to just catch up on
all the pics from my "May" folder before moving on to any from
June. So, here are some quick moments from the second half
of the month of May.

Ellie got a new bed! She was already sleeping in a big bed,
but it was a little too big (and tall and squeaky)... so here is
her new bed, perfect for her. She loved it right away and
wanted to lay down with her babies. Someday I'll buy her some
real bedding... it just doesn't seem necessary yet.

Ellie LOVES to play at the park now. She climbs on everything,
even up the tall slide... which she goes down over and over.

I'm glad she has finally gotten so brave and independent on
the equipment now. She's fun to watch. The only thing she
doesn't like is swings.. she loved them when she was smaller, but
I can't get her on one anymore... oh well. Just mean I don't have
to push her, right?

Adam and I went to a free local "track meet" in
Fredericksburg a couple of weeks ago. There were hardly
any people, but it was soooo much fun! I've never done any
kind of track race/event, but I love it. I really want to try
and compete in some real ones next year when I'm not so...
well, you know... with child.

I was 30 weeks along when we did the race. I ran the 800m,
with Adam as my only competitor, which means I finished 2nd!
But I did it in 3:24, which just seems crazy... that's a 6:48 mile,
I don't even run that fast when I'm not pregnant... I think I just
like races... and short, fast ones. It was a blast!

Adam did like 3 or 4 different events, just to get a good
workout in, and he ran really well! He amazes me with
his talent and dedication to everything he does. Plus,
I LOVE watching him run... always.

Looking good around the track. Glad he's mine.

UTAH

Adam, Ellie, and I were lucky enough to be able to travel to Utah last week. It was a wonderful little vacation, and we were soooo thrilled to see everyone! Ellie even did super well on the planes. We were quite impressed with her maturity. She's such a good little girl. Anyway, here's a quick collection of pictures and moments from the trip.

Adam and I got to do a SLC Temple session with his
parents, which was wonderful!

Mom and Pop Roggia... how cute are they?!

One of Ellie's favorite things from the trip was the "puh-puh's".
That girl loves her some dogs. She just walked around with Joy
and Tyler's dog in the picture and put her arm around her,
pet her, laid by her, everything.

We tried for lots of family pics while we were there... but Ellie
is at an age where that is not very likely to work out. They were
still cute and fun though... so I'm posting some anyway.
Poor Daddy... he always comes close to losing an eye with her.

On Saturday, Mom and Pop Roggia, Cathy, Jason, Adam, AND
I all got to do a 5k in Provo. Even Ellie, Caleb, and Brianna got
to ride along with Jason pushing them in the stroller. It was
fun to do a race with everyone. Adam did great and ran it
in 19:00. And I surprised myself by totally getting under my
goal time (I was hoping for sub 28 min), and finished in 26:13!
Hurray for racing at 28 weeks pregnant!

Adam and his beloved Father... they're really cute together.

Adam and the boys even got to attend a Real Salt Lake game...
such a handsome group of guys... I love Evan's face in that picture.

This is one of Ellie's favorite things... a "group hug", but really
it's just her strangling the two other people in the hug...
she loves it!

Her favorite way to get around.

She liked pretending to have a baby bump like Mommy.
She was even dancing around and patting it.

Great Grandma Roggia, with Ellie's newest cousin, Elias...
he was so sweet and adorable! Ellie was very good around
him and even liked when I was holding him... a little too
much even... she got mad when someone else took him
from me. Funny girl. She'll be a good big sister in
a couple of months here.

Picnic with the cousins.

She picked up lots of habits and skills... like climbing
on everything. She's gotten even more fearless after
beingwith her cousins for a week.

The oh-so-cute Grandma Roggia... in her
Mother's Day apron.

The Roggia clan together.

...plus spouses and kids. We had so much fun. We are really
going to miss Mom and Pop Roggia while they serve as
Mission Presidents in Africa for 3 long years!
(We just wish Dean, Mel, and Roman could have come!)
Thanks for a wonderful trip, everybody! I'm so glad that I
was blessed enough to marry into such a wonderful family!