Tennis

Matt likes to take Ella with him when he goes and plays tennis. It gives her a chance to run around and it gives me a little break! It works out great for everyone! Cody thought this would keep her out of their game for a few minutes...

Ella and Kash

Well Ella went from not wanting anything to do with her little brother, to loving him a little too much! She is constantly giving him kisses on the top of his head, so all that hair of his always has slobber in it! Matt swears Kash tenses up whenever he hears her coming, but he'll just have to learn to be tough real fast with her around. She is a good big sister though.

She always tries to comfort him when he's crying.

We do everything in "two's" now.

So far he has survived.

Halloween Cookies

We went over to Great Grandma "Dobo's" to decorate Halloween cookies. Ella and her cousins Lauren and Sydney had a lot of fun-Ella of course spent most of the time eating the cookie dough and licking the frosting! This girl LOVES sweets!

She is concentrating so her tongue is out...anyone who knows her dad knows where she gets that from.

Grandma is helping her decorate.

She can't even stop eating to pose for a picture!

Kash Matthew

On September 19, 2007 Kash Matthew McLaws was born. He weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. I was in labor for about five hours and everything went really well. Ella still doesn't know what she thinks about her new little brother...we are definitely still adjusting!

Thankfully my mom is staying with us which is a HUGE help. I don't know what I'm going to do when she leaves.

Labor Day

On Labor Day we went to a barbecue out in Washington. I didn't know there would be water, so I didn't have a swimsuit for Ella. As soon as she saw it she went running, and I didn't even try to stop her. She went crazy and was soaked in no time!

She had all of the boys running....she's a little intimidating when she's excited.

Can you tell she's having a good time?

It was a long day, so she cuddled up to her little brother. Try not to stare at my 3 chins...

The Beach

Every year my family rents a beach house in San Diego for a week for our Craft Family Reunion. I was nervous about how Ella would do...or how I would do chasing after her seeing that I am HUGE at the moment! But everyone helped so much and Ella loved it so it was a lot of fun. The girl has NO fear whatsoever so she was constantly running right towards the ocean-which meant someone else was constantly running after her! I guess I can't complain though because next year there will be 2 babies to chase!

Sisters! Nikki, Mandy, Lindsay, Whitney, Karlee

Matt made Ella a huge hole to play in to try to contain her, all of her cousins liked it too.
Lilly, Sydney, Ella, Julia, Cade

All the girls

Matt sat Ella on the boogie board and started pulling her around but she jumped right up and wanted to stand.

The whole family: Matt, Lindsay, Ella, Karlee, Dad, Nikki, Mom, Whitney, Mandy

Swimming

We babysat my cousins over the weekend so we took them swimming on Saturday. Matt blew up two air mattresses for them to play on and I thought we would never get them out of the pool! They had a lot of fun and they are so good with Ella.

Ella, Julia, Lauren, and Sydney

You might have noticed that Matt shaved his head. He was in the bathroom forever and we were going to be late so I went in to see what the hold up was and there he was sitting in the shower with his clippers and a completely bald head! I am still mad about it because we are getting family pictures taken soon and now he has NO hair.

Thirteen months and potty trained? I am proud to say that Ella pooped in the toilet! Okay, so she's not exactly out of diapers yet....I was giving her a bath after swimming and all of a sudden she stops what she is doing and starts grunting. I knew what was coming so I quickly lifted her out of the tub and sat her on the toilet just in time! I was so happy about it that I made her sit there while I took a picture-what a mean mom!

Las Vegas

Matt surprised me with a trip to Vegas over the weekend. It was the very first time we left Ella overnight! We had a lot of fun but the next day I was really wanting to get back to see her. I had a much harder time being away from her than I thought I would! I'm not saying that I wouldn't do it again though...

This is us eating at the Cheesecake Factory....soo good.


We walked to the Bellagio and I thought I would wear heels so I would look cute--not the best idea 7 months pregnant. My feet were immediately covered in blisters and I was barely inching down the strip. Matt made me sit down while he went and bought me some flip flops!


We saw the O Show and it was amazing. We have seen the Mystere and the Blue Man Group but I think that I liked this one the best. I definitely recommend seeing it, it was tons of fun.

Arizona

We went to Arizona for my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary and had a family picture taken. These are some of the pictures that I took while we were waiting.


Doesn't she look like her dad?

Ella and her Papa Ben are best friends.

What a cute Grandma!
This is Ella and her great-grandma, Ella loves her so much!