June Family Reunion

One of the first pics with my new camera! I love this one! It was at the gym where we were watching Emily swim b/c it was over 100 degrees out.

I had Emily's 6 month pictures made in this dress. I decided to do something different for Ella's 6 month pictures with the photographer, but I wanted to get some with Ella in this dress. I need to try again with my new camera. This was taken with my old one b/c the new one had to recharge but I already had her in this dress!

I found some cute pictures when I was downloading pictures from my old camera. We went to a family reunion the end of June. We only went for the day, but we did get to see some of the family. Here are some pictures of my cousin's kids Claudia and Lily from South Carolina! Emily loved playing with them! I hope we can see them again soon!

Branson and Tulsa Trips

Here's a picture of Ella since we didn't get one of her on her trip to the Aquarium (since I wasn't there to take pictures).

Roy agreed to go to Tulsa with me because I was very tired after coming home from Branson the night before this. My parents met us there so that my mom and I could go see Wicked (see previous post)!!! So, I thought it would be fun for Roy and my dad to take Emily and Ella to the Oklahoma Aquarium. It was perfect for them! They seemed to have a good time and they were done when the performance was over. I hope to go with them again to the Aquarium soon! Enjoy a couple of pics of Emily and Poppy~

Ethan, Emily, and Caleb on the Ladybug ride!

Some of my college friends and all of our kids (except Ella) met in Branson. We had a wonderful time! We spent the night at a wonderful Condo. We had 2 condos since there were 6 adults and 12 kids!!! They had a neat pool, so we sat outside the pool talking as they played. Here they are about to go to the pool. Last Friday, we all went to Silver Dollar City. We hope to do this again. I didn't spend Friday night b/c I didn't want to be away from Ella and I had tickets to see Wicked! Ella stayed at home with Roy and she did pretty good. She refused a couple of bottles, so I now have a nice milk stash in the freezer finally! I was so worried about her at night without me, but she did sleep through the night. She will go with us next time I hope!

Musicals!

I need to blog about last weekend, but first I have to mention what I have been doing. I saw Legally Blonde the Musical last weekend at WAC. It was fantastic! I've been wanting to watch this musical since the Search for Elle Woods last summer. The girl who played Elle (Becky Gulsvig) was great!

Last Saturday, we drove to Tulsa to see Wicked! My parents met us there and my mom joined me to watch it (her birthday gift). It was AMAZING!!!! I've been dying to see it since Idina Menzel won the Tony probably 5 years ago. I almost drove to Kansas City last year to see it until I heard it was going to be in Tulsa this summer. I still want to fly to New York to see it on actual Broadway (whenever I can leave Ella for a few days). I was so impressed with the lead Marcie Dodd. Her voice was just amazing. Everyone, go out to see it in Tulsa! I wish I could see it again!

I absolutely love musicals. It puts me in a great mood and I do have a lot of Soundtracks on my IPod. I once had a secret dream to be on Broadway, but I got some stage fright my senior year in college and lost my confidence. I first went to see West Side Story around junior high age, which first started my love of musicals. In high school, I got a part in Oliver with a wonderful director! I'm not too good with the acting part, but I do love to sing and dance. I also was in Music Man. In college, our choir mostly did classical music. We did a Gilbert and Sullivan show, which was a lot of fun. I was in mostly operas there (yes me). I began to love opera, but my voice is more mezzosoprano than the "real" opera voice. I still love Broadway musicals. I did try out for a local Sound of Music production and got a role as one of the nuns singing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria". I guess I will have to live my dream singing "Defying Gravity" in my car... :)

Edit to note: Someone asked about The Sound of Music. I performed in it over 10 years ago in Fort Smith, so I haven't done theater since then. :)

6 months old!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone! I'm 6 months old today!!! No, she can't wave yet but this is totally cute!

As you can see with her feet, she is in constant movement! :)

We picked up a little treat for us to celebrate Ella's 6 month birthday. She really wanted to try it, but she will have to wait 6 more months to try it. :)

6 Months Stats:

Weight: 15 lbs. 2 oz (30th %ile)

Length: 25 in. (25th %ile)

What you are doing:

* babbling a lot- sometimes it sounds like you say "mama". She is a mommy's girl for sure! :)

* You have been nursing for 6 months now! We'll see how the next 6 months goes.

* You LOVE rice cereal and love daddy to feed you it. We started some vegetable this week and you aren't liking it yet. We mix it with rice cereal, so you are eating more now. I know she'll be a fruit girl like her sister!

* she is sitting up by herself! She isn't a 100%, so I have to be right there next to her

* she rolls around all over the place. One time, we thought she was going to crawl. She "scoots" forward sometimes.

* she LOVES her toys, music, sister, sometimes she'll watch Baby Einstein when big sister lets her.

* she has 2 bottom teeth.

We love you so much!

Busy, busy

Cute sisters love each other (in some of the outfits Aunt Neha and Uncle Matt sent)!

Doing the science project Uncle Jeff sent her for her birthday. She creates some crystals!

Emily did so good during her swim lessons this year!

Ah, isn't she sweet?

Doing her pose as usual

We are really enjoying the summer. Ella has been in the pool twice and really likes it! I haven't captured it on camera yet since I'm in the pool with her. :) I will have to get someone to take a picture for me soon. I hope to get caught up on my posting.

4th of July

Ella's 1st 4th of July! She saw a few fireworks that night!

We had a fun-filled 4th of July weekend. We spent Friday at Roy's parent's house. They live out in the country, so we were able to have a nice little fireworks show. Emily loved playing with her cousin Ava. Emily spent the rest of the weekend with my parents. I know they probably have a ton of pictures of their day with Emily. We had a great cookout to celebrate!

2 bottom teeth!

On a walk while Emily was riding her new bike!

After church last Sunday after she sang her Vacation Bible School songs.

She now LOVES rice cereal and applesauce! We are starting on vegetables this week!!!

Riding her new bike!

Ella's 2 bottom teeth have broken through this weekend! I can't believe it! I haven't been able to capture them on camera yet, so I need to keep trying.

I will post pictures from the 4th soon! We had a wonderful weekend!

Please pray for this little 5 year-old girl named Kate. I've been following her CaringBridge site all weekend. They found a tumor in her brain and they find out Tuesday the results of the pathology report. I can't imagine what the parents are going through, so just please pray for them!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate/journal/1