Manitou Springs/Pike's Peak

Last weekend we went to Manitou Springs to see the cliff dwellings and then hiked up Pike's Peak for a picnic. The cliff dwellings were amazing! Ella and Simba had so much fun climbing around inside the different rooms:) Then we found a trail to hike on Pike's Peak. We couldn't make it very far...considering that we had a three year old, a 10 week old puppy and a pregnant lady!! We had a picnic half way through though which was a nice rest!

Tornado!!!

We just had a tornado! We were out doing yard work when it started to rain. We came inside and the tornado warnings came on the TV saying that it was right in our area. We looked outside and it was directly above our neighbors!! We probably should have been in the basement by this point but it was way too cool and we started taking pictures as it grew. It got really scary and we went down to the basement. As soon as we got down there, enormous hail began hitting the house and we lost power. Thankfully it did not touch down in our subdivision but just across the street, it hit our shopping center Southlands. There is a lot of damage over there and all the news helicopters are now flying by. Our power finally just came back on after a couple of hours. The biggest pain of this whole storm is that we had mulch delivered for our backyard and it was dumped in our driveway. Well...our cars were parked in the street becasue of the mulch and we couldn't get them into our garage so now we have some lovely hail damage to both cars!! Totally sucks! After the tornado was gone, Josh wanted to run out and get some of the monster hail balls to look at. It was still coming down so he put a plastic bowl on his head to wear as a helmet...as soon as he went outside he got pelted in the back with one. It was hilarious! Thankfully also, Ella was not here with us. She spent the day with Mimi at the museum and watching a movie. She would have been so freaked out because I for sure was!

Simba

I know...we are completely CRAZY but we added a new little puppy into our lives:) We have been looking for awhile now but never though we'd actually do it right now, especially with having a baby soon. After having to give up our other dogs (due to their agression after Ella was born) we have missed having a dog ever since. Ella has had a fear of animals that we wanted to do anything we could to help her get over. We went to a house in the country that had a litter of 10 Golden Retriever puppies! They were ADORABLE!! We knew they would be a great family and running dog. Ella was thrilled to be around them and loved every second of it! We decided that we were for sure insane but let her pick one out. Actually, he ended up picking her:) She instantly fell in love and wanted to bring him home! He is such a sweet, loving, cuddly little guy!! He has been SO good and the perfect addition to our family! Ella has been AMAZING with him! They are the best of friends already and she loves that he follows her everywhere! He really is such a sweet little dog:) He loves to cuddle and has to be around people, especially kids. He is very laid back and just wants to snuggle. Ella named him Simba because he looks like The Lion King:) Between me, Ella and the new little girl on the way...Josh said we needed some more testosterone in the house so he is of course a MALE puppy!!

Girl's Night Out with Taylor:)

My friend Lesley and I had a "girl's night out" while the guys played in their softball game last week. We took the girls shopping and then out to dinner. It was so much fun! Ella and Taylor are so cute together:) We were shopping for maternity clothes (we are due the same week) and the girls were running around like CRAZY!! We were totally "those" moms who let their kids run all over the place while we got some shopping done but we didn't even care! They were having so much fun and no one else was in the store so it was fine. The ladies that worked there got a kick out of them:)

Cute Little Ty and Ella:)

Random Ella

Nick and Brittany's Wedding/Dinosaur Egg

We went to a friend's wedding in Fort Collins last weekend. We had a great time and were also able to enjoy a night away from Ella...she spent the night at her friend Ty's house. The wedding was a lot of fun, congratulations Nick and Britt!! On our way home the next morning we stopped by Cracker Barrel for breakfast and found some fun toys for Ella. The coolest toy ever was a big dinosaur egg that actually hatches a dinosaur! We were so excited to give it to her! You put the egg in water for a few days, the dinosaur grows and the egg hatches:) Ella loved checking it every morning!

Dinosaur Song

IT'S A GIRL!!

We found out this morning that we are having a girl:) They couldn't get a very good picture so I don't have one to post. When I was pregnant with Ella, she began to measure small and the placenta started to die. I had to go on bed rest until they induced me 6 weeks early. Today, they checked everything out in depth and there are NO signs of anything that happened to me with Ella!! That was FANTASTIC news! The doctor told us to RELAX and enjoy a healthy pregnancy this time around:)

I have been having a lot of heart palpitations though. I had an EKG done and all that showed was that I have a higher resting heart rate right now. I see a cardiologist next week and I'll have to wear a heart monitor around for a few days to check things out. Other than that, things are going great:) Ella is of course thrilled to know that she will be having a baby sister! She said she is excited to help decorate her new room and that she wants to see her right now:)

Marcus and Shavonne Vist

Marcus and Shavonne came to visit last week!! They moved to Australia over a year ago and we have missed them so much! It was so nice to see them! The week went by so fast though and it was sad to say good-bye again:( Thanks for coming to visit Shav and Marcus! We miss you already!! P.S. Barbie comes along with us everywhere and she freaks people out all the time, she looks so real it's scary!
Ella's favorite snack at the Rockies Games
Rockie's Game
Sushi Den: Marcus, Packy, Josh and James
Sushi Den: Linny and Shavonne
Sushi Den: Brittany and Kate
Walking to the Park


Shavonne and Marcus took Ella to Toys R Us and spoiled her! Here is her new Barbie:)
Fun with Shavonne
Chalk with Marcus