Leslie gets Hitched & Ella starts PreK

Shortly after returning home from Paris on a Saturday, we washed clothes, repacked, and headed back out the following Thursday to the airport to catch a direct flight to Charlotte, NC for Tim's first cousin Leslie Grommersch's wedding! Ella was excited to be a flower girl again and we were so happy that Leslie asked Ella to be a part of her special day. We flew direct from Memphis - Charlotte which was nice and Big Daddy picked us up at the airport. The girls and I had a shower to attend Thursday evening while the boys and Ella went out to Uncle Tom and Aunt Karen's for dinner, swimming, and introducing Ella to Buck, Uncle Tom's horse! The next morning Ella and I joined the girls for pedicures & manicures. Ella was right in the middle of the girls - sitting in Leslie's lap for the entire pedicure! What can I say? The cousins spoil her!

Ella ready to practice at Rehearsal

Tim & John

Practicing with Matron of Honor, Mrs Meagan :)

After Rehearsal and Dinner at George's Brasserie, we all headed back to the hotel for some sleep before the big day. On Saturday morning, we woke up and relaxed around the hotel, had some lunch, got showers, and let Ella get a good nap in before "show time." We had to be at the church by 4:15 p.m. The wedding started at 5 and Ella did great. She even walked down the aisle all by herself and followed all her instructions so well! (This took some bribing on Daddy's part and Aunt Karen's--Let's just say there was a goody bag full of candy in the back of the church and I think a promise of getting the latest Elsa Frozen Dress at the Disney store before she made her successful walk! Hey, whatever it took at that point...... :) 

w/ Mr. & Mrs. Mitch Rieck!

Sweet Flower Girl donning her glow bracelets that were also part of the Aunt Karen "bribery" gift bag! Good work, Aunt Karen!

w/ Mommy after the ceremony :)

Beautiful wedding party

Now, that looks like TROUBLE

 

1st Dance as Mr. and Mrs.

Reception Hall @ the Marriot

Dancing w/ Daddy - we couldn't keep this girl off of the dance floor!

We flew home early Sunday morning and rested all afternoon. Started the week off with Ella having her first day at school. Tim and I both pass by Faith Lutheran everyday on our way to and from work on Byhalia Rd so we love the convenience of her new PreK! Ella was super excited and did phenomenal. She, nor I, shed a single tear. I was super proud of her (& myself!). She has already come home singing her months of the year and telling us what all she is learning. We couldn't be more pleased with our choice of sending her there.

Thumbs up with Daddy on our 1st Day

She went to take a pic with me and put her hand on Baby Henry - soooo sweet! She already loves her brother so much. :)

& posing with "her babies" as she calls Lucy and Pete - she loves those Bostons!

We're glad to be back HOME for the remainder of the year pretty much. With a newborn arriving in the next 6 weeks, our travel days have pretty much stopped until next spring, and I am A-Ok with that! We have had a wonderful summer with Ella. She is at such a fun stage and age. She learned to swim on her own with no floaties towards the end of the summer, moved upstairs to her big girl room, started preK, etc.....And all with virtually no problems! The list goes on and on.....STOP growing up sweet baby girl! So glad that kids adapt so much better to changes than adults....they make us look weak!

Looking forward to a new addition and all of the joy a baby will bring....Lots of changes this fall! I will try and keep in touch between now and D-Day! Until next time......

Trip to Europe

Well we survived traveling to Europe for 9 days with me @ 29 weeks pregnant and carrying our 3.5 year old! Everything went smoothly except for one snafu.....Ella got strep throat while we were there so we had to have the concierge call an english speaking french doctor to our hotel on Monday afternoon, but after she got a good round of antibiotics in her she was back to the old Ella. I carried her to our pediatrician when we got home for a "once over" and according to her she had the "textbook" definition of strep (they called it tonsillitis) - red throat w/ spots, strawberry tongue, high fever, and a rash from head to toe! We were just so thankful that she bounced back as quickly as she did....Being sick away from home is never fun! Special thanks to Dr. Geiger for texting me back at all hours and helping me convert from the metric system for dosages!!!! EEEK!

I'll let the pictures below tell mostly about our trip.....

Tim & Ella at Memphis airport waiting to board our flight :)

We left here on a Thurs. afternoon - July 17th and flew all night to Amsterdam (they're 7 hours ahead of us on time). Ella slept 5 of the 7 hours and did phenomenal. Tim and I were completely wired & didn't sleep a wink!

We've arrived! Outside Schipol Airport. (Ella is inside the circle on the "d!") Jaldert and Annet were there to pick us up and carry us around the city and back to Emmen to stay the next 2 nights with his parents.

Posing in front of one of the canals in Amsterdam. It was beautiful! Ella getting a little antsy.

Posing inside the massive wooden shoe outside of a souvenir shop

Jumping with the kids at dinner in Erm....This blow up bouncy house was outside of the restaurant. We ate outside and it was so nice....Pancakes, dutch style!

With Yoran & Bjorn at dinner

And Ella held a chicken at dinner! They were walking around. Jouke got such a kick out of the fact that she wasn't scared of animals!

The next day was Saturday and Jaldert and Annet had rented a boat to float the canals on the nearby lake. The water felt so good and the scenery was beautiful. Different from our version of a lake though ;)

Ella was a little smitten with Yoran :)

With the boys at a Dutch BBQ - It's a Barbie! This was taken in Jaldert and Annet's backyard.

Breakfast the next morning in Jouke and Dinneka's backyard. Beautiful fresh flowers, coffee, and a homemade apple coffee cake made from the apple tree in the backyard.

Tim showing Dinneke and Jouke some picts on his phone.

Mom & me posing on the love lock bridge during our 2 hour walking tour of the city on Monday.

We traveled to Paris from Holland via train on Sunday afternoon (when Ella developed the high fever, rash, and later a red throat).....

LOVE LOCK BRIDGE

Tim and I with Christine above at a local Italian restaurant in the city. She lives in Paris and went to school with Tim in Finland back in 2001. First time for them to see one another in 13 years! Christine was a life saver- she translated for us when Ella saw the french doctor in our hotel room and helped translate at the nearby pharmacy too- I kept calling her our angel! French people want you to speak FRENCH so if you can't, you're kind of in a bind! And when your toddler is sick and there is a language barrier, you (ok I) tend to get a little annoyed with the french people!!!

Tim & Dad toured Normandy ALL DAY on Tuesday while Ella, Bibby, & I strolled the streets going in and out of some nice local shops. Ella was still in recovery mode so I was really glad she and I had not signed up for the tour! I was glad Tim got to go though b/c his grandfather who is 91 and still living came in on the beaches of Normandy (Utah Beach) all those many years ago....Very special!

On Wednesday, we climbed the Eiffel Tower. Above is our fearless leader Ella. She climbed all 300 stairs to the 2nd level all by herself & she was so proud!

We made it to the top!

We went back to the love lock bridge on Thursday and put on our lock on the bridge. Don't worry.....I wrote Henry's name on the bottom of the lock ;)

See?

Daddy & Ella getting ready to toss our key in the Seine River

State Farm knows how to throw a party and they didn't disappoint at the Departure Banquet.....Fresh macaroons above- Prob my fave part about french food!

Balloon Animals for the kids

Men on stilts!

Our last day in Paris we decided to conquer Disneyland. It was only a short 30 minute metro train ride outside the city so off we went!

Meeting and hugging Mickey!

The massive cotton candy Ella got her hands on- I don't know who was more excited- Daddy or Ella?!

By this time, a Disney worker had come up to me and noticed I was obviously pregnant. He said "You know that if you're pregnant you and your family can skip to the front of every line (rides and meet and greets!)." Of course, we had no clue, so I walked a short distance to an info booth and voila! We went to the front of every line and it was heaven! The french people definitely respect their expecting mama's. We also got to skip the lines and ride the elevator earlier on the tour of the Eiffel Tower tour and skip security lines at the airport on our departure that following Saturday- amazing!

Meeting Minnie and a little teased.... :)

Her FAVE!

Riding one of the space ship rides

& the teacups with Daddy!

Riding Dumbo

Telling Brother what we're about to do.....She loves to "talk" to him often.

Waving at Mickey, Minnie, and Friends during the parade!

In front of the princess castle.... #eurodisney

We took probably 400 pictures, so this is just a small glimpse of our trip. We had a great time, but we were definitely happy to get home to our own bed after a 9 day trip away from home. Ella did fantastic and Baby Henry cooperated (yes we finally named Baby Brother- well, Ella did- we must have been dragging our feet too long) for me. I learned 2 things I will never take for granted anymore here in the states - an unlimited supply of ice for my fountain drinks and air conditioning being a norm everywhere we go! Oh, the little things!

32 Weeks - GEEZE! #mylittleNBAplayer

Here is Baby Henry! We couldn't decide between Timothy David Jr (going by David) or Henry David (going by Henry) and about a week before we left for Paris, Ella told us that she had decided that she had named Brother and I quote "Henry, yep Baby Henry!" She followed it up with a middle name later on the following week. We thought it was cute and still hadn't fully decided to go with it; however, when she started telling complete strangers in the elevator in Paris that "This was her Baby Brother and she had named him Henry David" (while pointing to her my tummy)-we figured there was no turning back now! LOL Thankfully, she picked one of our options. You know with kids - once they make up their minds, that's it! So glad to finally have a name and it makes it even sweeter that she picked it. Henry is Tim's great grandfathers name on the Grommersch side and David is both he and his Dad's middle name so it's neat to be carrying down that tradition as well. :)