A Gift From a Bob

Today, Ella was given a name and blessing at Church. Eric gave the blessing and we were honored to have his dad - David, my Grandpa Pedro and Uncle Gareld stand in the circle as well as Bishop Blake and another member of the bishopric, Brother Edwards. 

Unlike some religions, we don't baptize kids into the church until the age of eight. However, a father - or other worthy male priesthood holder (I was blessed by my Grandpa Pedro) - can and should offer up a name and blessing for babies. The purpose is to name the child before God and record the name in the Church records, the blessing is more like a father's blessing. 

For more on priesthood blessings, see this page.

Ella was flashing some 80s style. 

She wore my blessing dress from 1987.  

Four generations!
Maur Jeanne Pedro, Alexa Lee Lougee, Sandra Maur Lee and Ella Maur Lougee. 

Ella with Great Grandparents. 

My husband is always so serious. Also, El is looking at him funnily.

During the blessing, the men stand in a circle around the baby - right hands lightly under the baby and left hands on the shoulder of the brother to his left (as seen here) - and while Eric was speaking into the microphone, Ella decided to put in her two cents. You could hear her little noises from time to time during the blessing. Uncle Gareld said he thought about putting the binky back in her mouth, but didn't. 

It was a nice moment for our little family. It is fun to see how with the addition of a person to a family, especially a child, love just seems to multiply. 

Three Fortnights

Our girl is 6 weeks and 1 day old and has surpassed the 9 pound mark at a whopping 9 lbs 3 ounces (which, I will note, was my sister Zoey's birth weight). We took a trip to the pediatrician today and Baby El and I took our first trip to the pharmacy. She's been prescribed Zantac for reflux. For more deets, check out this post. 

And now that she's six weeks old, we gave her the gift of sleeping in her crib instead of the cradle at night. And bigger nipple holes for bottles. 

Now for some eye candy. 

Squishy baby.

Little Zoey all grown up! 

Well, my gift of gab is currently escaping me, so that's it for now. Peace out. 

Fantastic Friday

I neglected to show you the beautiful dozen long stemmed roses my Valentine got me, 

so here's a sample. 

And now for a few photos from our fantastic Friday. 

We ran some family errands to the Wal-Mart. 

 Here is my very handsome husbando. It's hard to keep the PDA to a 

minimum when he's looking so cute. 

 Our bounty. 

Baby Ella was so good! She slept most of the way through the store and made cute eyes at the lady behind us at the checkout stand. She was also called beautiful and alert ... the top two adjectives used to describe her by strangers. 

Not pictured... a trip to Home Depot for some supplies for Relief Society's activity next month. 

And then on to Quizno's where we redeemed some coupons Eric got while we were in the hospital having baby El. 

 Quizno Baby. 

Quizno Momma. 

Unfortunately this is where the photos stop, but not the fun! Wow, I'm feeling a bit corny...

We met up with our Beloved Barkers for dinner at El Tapatio. Mmm. Delicious Meh-he-can food was consumed, stomachs were stuffed and the restaurant staff fawned over my sweet girl. 

Then we played three rounds of Rumikub. 

I lost every round. 

Ella bonded with Holly and her baby bump. 

Eric and Burdette played the Rumikub rule police. 

And then bid adieud and retired to bed.

I may have also shown Ella a Justin Bieber video on my phone, and I swear to you, she watched 

the whole thing. 

Early case of Bieber fever?  

Looking forward to the rest of our long weekend together. 

Ella's looking forward to being spoiled by both grandmothers. 

And I'm looking forward to some Diet Pepsi, obviously. 

L-O-V-E

Ella & Co. wish you a Happy Valentine's Day! 

P.S. If you're in for a little mush and silliness, I dedicated this video to my love. 

I'm one of those people.

Last night Eric and I were watching a little 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper interviewing Adele. At one point the segment talked about how Adele's songs have been spoofed on SNL because of how many people seem to get so emotional when listening to them. Eric snickered as they showed some of the SNL skits and said something like, "It's true, there really are people like that." I said, "Like what?" and he said, "That get all into and emotional during a song." I then punched him in the arm, because I am one of those people who can really get into and emotional during a song. I judge music on whether it makes me feel something (besides annoyance or distaste for the song). Whether its the lyrics or the tune, if a song makes me feel elation or love or nostalgia or sadness, that's a good tune to me.

We got home from the Lougee fam's house around 7pm last night and I was able to plug in my phone and check Facebook. I started seeing all these tributes to Whitney Houston. I was stunned to learn she'd died. I scurried down the hall to tell Eric the unbelievable news. To him it was old news ... apparently it had been discussed while I was in a back room nursing Ella earlier in the day. What was more frustrating was his seeming lack of distraughtness!

Sure, she'd had several issues and it wasn't necessarily a shock, but I loved Whitney Houston. I loved her voice. Her voice evoked emotion. Admittedly, I've seen the R rated 'Bodyguard.' And because of that movie, "I Will Always Love You" became one of those songs I never tired of hearing, especially when done by Madam Whitney.

And so, as I continue to mourn a little this Monday morning, I offer you a scene from the Bodyguard.




Life is short and unpredictable. I often take it for granted. And so, since tomorrow is a day to celebrate love, I encourage you all to hug your loves a little tighter and to sing that song on the radio a little louder.

And, in case you're interested, here are two songs I currently approve of:

Song #1
Song #2

Rubber Ducky

Look at our squishy ducky after her bath!

Poor girl now has some baby acne. 

We went shopping with my mom and youngest siblings in Tri-Cities on Friday and Ella was a rockstar. Eric carried her around in a front carrier. I warned him that with a ring and a baby he'd be a chick magnet. Sure enough, women would chat him up! 

We also got striped shirts at Old Navy. 

Cute! 

Live

Ella has completed her fourth week of life outside the womb!

In her honor, here are a few videos of my girl.

While you were out...

Eric's gift for his big 2-4 was to go see the Blazer/Nuggets game on Saturday with his mission buddy Brad. 

And you know what they say, while Daddy's away the girls will play! 

I introduced Ella to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. We watched their first film together "Too Many Girls." I hadn't seen it before, but it definitely wasn't their funniest. I recommend "The Long Long Trailer." 

Baby El was riveted. 

I then had a very healthy dinner.

Chocolate cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Sometimes being an adult has its perks.

We wrapped up the night by blasting some Sugar Ray "Fly" over Eric's big speakers and watching some 'Khloe & Kourtney Take Miami' on Netflix. It was epic. 

HELP

Okay, so .... as posted before ... now that I'm not pregnant, I'm dying to get my hair did. 

I made an appointment on Wednesday with my trusty gal for color and cut. 

Now what? 

I feel matronly, and while I'm now a mom, I don't feel like I need to look like "mom." Whatever that looks like. Maybe spit up on every shirt or a diaper bag in tow gives me away ... I don't need my hair to do that, too. 

I want to go shorter ... my hair is thin - so short is best. 

Other than that, I'm not sure. So, I need suggestions. Feel free to post ideas on my FB timeline. 

Please, whatever you do, don't post ideas that will make me look like Diane Keaton. 

Or this poor girl. 

I like this cut. I would never intentionally pose like this though. Or wear  so much pink altogether.
But, I'm slightly bored by it. 

Adore this look. But I'm not bold enough, currently. 

This has potential, if it weren't presented so dramatically. 

Phil's a Phony

I'm not sure what that groundhog was smoking, but all signs point to an early spring here in Hermiston. 

Ella and I took a walk on a beautiful, brisk February day. And, I'm not even gonna run these photos through any kind of editing, it was just that clear and beautiful. 

A dual purpose pasture - for horses and machines.

Walks really enliven her. Also, I can't believe a child of mine has such long eyelashes. I'm totally jealous! 

Sympathy

Eric turned 24 yesterday. When he got home from work I asked him if he felt older ... he groaned, "Yesss!" and then told me he could now sympathize with me (I've been 24 since June). 

Ella and I went to his work at the Alternative School to say "Hi" in he afternoon. Bringing him a balloon and a Dr. Pepper. All the females at school fawned over little Ella and Eric beamed like a proud papa should. 

That evening we made a return trip to the Chuckwagon Cafe. It just happened to be Italian night, so we stuffed ourselves on pasta before heading to Umatilla to eat cake with the Lougee fam. 

Lots of cake (including some diabetes inducing Paula Deen chocolate cake) and American Idol later, we returned home and gave baby girl her nightly bath. 

Looking forward to another year with my D!