A reason to vote

I've only been a fan of American Idol since last year and have never once felt a need to vote for anyone...until now. Look at this kid. How cute is he?! On top of that, his voice is amazing! All of the judges LOVE him and basically think all of the other people should just go home. Oh yeah, and he's from Utah! Does it get better than that? Moral of the story kids...pick up your phone and vote. I worry that because he is so good, everyone will just assume that people are voting for him and not bother to vote and he might slip through the cracks!!! Lindsay and I are gonna try to get tickets and if we go, you know we're gonna be the ones holding up the huge banners that say "I LOVE DAVID!" and crying when he sings.

Conquering the business world...one bow at a time!

It's official. We're in business! My sister and I have been wanting to have a little project on the side that gives us a reason to take a break from being mommys. So we decided to make some bows, headbands, and other hair accessories for babies and little girls and see if any of the little boutiques around here would want to sell them. A cute store in San Clemente called Mac and Maddie bought some of our stuff so our product is officially on the market!

Charlie!

Last night my brother called and told me to get on You Tube to see this video. I don't know why, but it's one of the cutest/funniest videos ever! It wasn't that funny the first time but for some reason, it's gets more funny the more you watch it. Ryan and I have watched it like 5 times now and we're still laughing at it. Anyway, check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

p.s. Krissy, you better click the link. If I know you like I think I do...you're gonna love it.

A day at the Zoo

Last Saturday we went down to San Diego to meet up with my family at the Zoo. It was so fun because everyone (except my sister's husband, Mike) was able to be there. Ella has been way into animals lately so we were really excited to watch her.


Our first stop was at the monkeys. Needless to say, they were a hit with Ella.


That little one on the right was so stinking cute. He was going around to all the other monkeys and teasing them then swinging away. So fun to watch!


Of course we had to go into the nasty petting zoo. Stinky. Poopy. I'm not a fan. But Ella sure was.

We put Ella on this big turtle. She had to focus so hard on not falling off that she wouldn't smile for the camera.

Who knew we would even see a celebrity at the zoo?

On the way out, we had to stop and take a picture in front of this sign. Embarassing to take but at least we got a picture of all of us together.

Thanks Aunt Lindsay!

Last Thursday (Valentines Day) my sister told me that one of us should get to enjoy their Valentines without any kids so she wanted to take Ella for a little slumber party at their house so Ryan and I could have the night to ourselves. I have to say, I had mixed feelings about this (which apparently goes away with more kids) because I haven't spent a whole night away from Ella ever...except for that week in Mexico--but I was only able to do that because I was forced to at the last minute without much time to think about it. Anyway, I was SOOO grateful we didn't have Ella with us. We were able to enjoy a nice peaceful dinner...Ella is at the age that is just not very fun at restraunts.

The next day, I went down to San Clemente to pick her up from my sister's but before we came back up to Huntington Beach, we had to go play at the playground. Here's some pictures from that...

Ella wasn't quite sure how much she liked going down the slide.

Carson on the other hand...

Kaitlyn was a great "assistant babysitter". She shared all of her toys with Ella!

Thanks again Banner Family for taking care of our little Ella! Now we owe you!!!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

The other day, Ella and I were just cruising home from a few errands that we had to run. It was a gorgeous day, as usual (sorry about that for those of you that are north of us...I used to hate when I lived in Utah or Nebraska and my dad would tell me how warm and sunny it was in San Diego while I was dealing with snow, ice, and freezing temperatures!) Anyway, we were just driving along with the windows down and KIIS FM blasting...not BLASTING, but you know...jammin'! Maybe I should preface this story with a little background. For those of you who know me well, you know that I can't get enough of my teeny-bop music. Timberlake, Aguilera, Spears (old school Britany...not the new, trashy stuff. Ok, maybe a little bit of the new trashy stuff) I love it all! Ever since Ella has been with me, including the 9 months she was in the womb, I'm sure she has taken a liking to all the same stuff. How could she not? So back to us in the car...I took a second at a red light to check out what my little girl was doing and I find her staring out the window with her head just bobbing away to the beat of the music! I was dying! Of course being the good blogger that I try to be, I grabbed my camera that is always with me in my purse and snapped a shot of her. You can't really tell what she's doing but I thought it was still funny. (BTW...she has her shoe in her hand cuz that's one of the first things she ALWAYS does in the car: take off headband, take off shoes, take off socks. SO ANNOYING!!!)


After she caught me taking the picture, we both had a good laugh about it. What can I say...I love this little girl!!!

Lunch with the girls...and a couple boys too!

Last week my best friend since the pre-existence, Amanda, was in town with her two kids, Trent and Camryn. They were gonna come to Disneyland with us to help celebrate Ella's birthday, but Camryn decided to ruin the party and throw up all over the place! No really, we felt so bad for the little cutie...and even worse for Amanda that she had to spend her vacation cleaning up throw up for a few days! Anyway, we ended up meeting for lunch the next day and it turned out to be quite the lunch! It was not just us but my sister, Amanda's two sister-in-laws, Laurie (Amanda's mom) and L-train...I mean Laura. No I don't...it's L-train. Plus we had all of our kids! Good thing Olive Garden gave us a little room that was kind of partitioned off from the rest of the restraunt. :)

This is me with two of the three best college roommates a girl could ask for! (Eliza, we missed you Hot Stuff)


L-train's little Kate on the left and Amanda's little Camryn on the right


I had to include this picture. Look at that crusty look Kate is giving her mom. I wonder where she learned that??? :)


Here's all the kids...well the best shot we could get at least.
Kaitlyn, Trent, Ella, Carson, Camryn, Kate, (Liz and Jeremy's) Christian, and (Brandon and Carissa's) Carly. I love the look on Carson's face as he's squishing my little Ella!


The future Mr. and Mrs. Kaitlyn Banner. Yep, I think she's already convinced Trent to take her name just as she was telling him everything else to do that day. Looks like she's taking after her mom! Just kidding, Lindz.

Future roommates at BYU/UVSC or is it UVSU now? Whatever it is, you know these little girls are gonna be causing all kinds of trouble. Whether it be stealing political signs, toilet papering the neighbor boys (with TP they just borrowed from the boys!), or throwing each others "unmentionables" out the window (you know I'm never gonna forgive you girls for that!)

An Elmo party to remember

Last Saturday we all got together to celebrate Ella's first birthday. My sister was nice enough to host the big party at her house. I want to thank everyone who brought stuff and helped make it a really fun party for Ella (and her parents too!)

My cousin Laney with Ella

How cute are these cupcakes!!! My two aunties brought these Elmo cupcakes from Cinnaminn Creations. SO YUMMY!!!

One of Ella's favorite new toys was this car from her cousins.

She loved it!

Mel and Jill also got these great shirts for Ryan and I so we could really get into the Elmo spirit. Ryan can't wait to wear this shirt out in public!!!

Cute Buster Carson!


Uncle Toddo being...himself!

My cousin Chase. What 16 year old guy wouldn't want to spend their Saturday night at an Elmo party? He's a good sport.

Uncle Owen and Aunt Jules

Ella wanted to thank Linds for the cute new binki along with all the other great presents!

Ella in the special "gift opening chair"

Cute outfit from the Stuckis

Ella loved her purple monkey from Owen and Jules

Time to dig in!

Sharing with Carson...

...and me.

We had so much fun at Ella's Elmo party! Can't wait to do it again next year!!!

My baby turns 1!

On Wednesday, my little girl hit a huge milestone...she turned one! I can't believe how fast this past year has gone. Ella has brought so much happiness to our lives and we just can't imagine our little home without her. Anyway, to celebrate the big day, my sister and I took our kids to Disneyland (no making fun Deanne! ) I know, big surprise but with our passes and it only being 20 minutes away, it makes for a cheap outing that our kids love...and maybe Lindsay and I do too!

Here's the little 1-year-old on the way in


If you go to Disneyland on your birthday, you can stop by City Hall and get a button with your name and age on it. It was so fun cuz all day long, all the workers were saying, "Happy Birthday, Ella!"


Right when we walked in the park, we saw these beautiful tulips...so you know we had to stop and take pictures!

Only my little niece, Kaitlyn, can convince me to take her on the Teacups. It actually wasn't that bad if you don't spin the wheel in the middle.

After the Teacups, we stopped by the White Rabbit's house (from Alice in Wonderland) but he wasn't home.

Of course we had to go on the merry-go-round! It's Ella's favorite lately.

This girl loves a spin on the merry-go-round!

This boy?...not so much.

Later that day my aunts Melanie and Jill and Uncle Todd met up with us. We had so much fun with them. Disneyland is always a little more fun with Uncle Toddo around!

We (finally) went on the new Nemo submarine ride. I have a rule that I won't wait in a line more than 10 minutes, but Todd, Jill, and Mel convinced us. I'm glad we did cuz Ella LOVED it. (I love how she's pointing in this picture like, "Do you see this?!"

Here's Captain Ella on the Buzz Lightyear ride. We let her control while Jill and I did the shootin'. For the record...I totally beat Jill!

Uncle Toddo and Kaitlyn on the rockets.

Jill, Linds, and Carson (with his sister's hat on)

On our way out, we saw Ariel and had to stop and say hi.

She was so nice and even wished Ella a Happy Birthday!

When we came home, we let Ella open her presents from us and Ryan's parents and sister. I forgot to take more pictures of her with her presents after she opened them cuz we were doing the video camera (and if I could find one part I would put the video on the blog) but I think we can all agree that there are quite enough pictures for one post!

We're doing a little party for Ella this weekend so you know there'll be a ton more pictures from that!