Snow baby

We woke up to a bunch of fresh white stuff Monday morning and it kept snowing until noon. 

So, after El's morning snooze I decided to take her out in it. For a bit she just sat there, moving her legs back and forth in the snow. I tried to lay her back to do a snow angel, but her face looked like she was being tortured. So I sat her back up. Eventually she tried to crawl, but it was so deep and she had on so many layers that she kind of gave up. Plus, she got distracted by the snow. 

And eventually she was just doing this for extended periods of time..... 

 sampling the snow! 

She seriously had her head down so much I had like ten photos of her in this pose. 

A few bites later she was ready to be out of the snow. So, we went inside and I quickly took her out of the snowy clothing and shook it out. She went around picking up all the clumps of snow and eating them - a handy girl, that one. 

I also slipped and fell on my arse for the first time since I lived in Rexbrrrrrg. 

Luckily, it didn't hurt so much, must be all that extra stuffing I got going on in back since I got married and had a kid. 

Sunday Sermon

"one of woman’s greatest privileges, blessings, and opportunities is to be a co-partner with God in bringing his spirit children into the world." - N. Eldon Tanner

I highly recommend reading the whole address.

Fever Pitch

So, everyone I know is pregnant.

There's Jessica (Simpson), Kim (Kardashian), Kate (Middleton), and my girl Shakira.

Not to mention like a bajillion of my FB friends. Seriously. A bajillion.

And while my baby is still a baby (not a year until the 10th), I'll admit, I've got a bit of a baby fever. I am hoping that by admitting it to the world (yes, my blog is about as international as I can get currently) that it will help to break the fever.

I do want more babies, I do.

And have you seen my first attempt? Instead of discouraging me to tempt the fates with ANOTHER deliciously adorable child, she has encouraged me to make more!

Plus, I have like the best co-parent ever. I mean, I'm serious here. All sarcasm aside, he's been way more than I expected and I'm pretty sure he's one in a million in how hands on, attentive and helpful he his when it comes to parenting.

What's the problem then?

Well, I don't know.

One being that I vowed to myself before I ever got married that I would never be in my last trimester of pregnancy during the hottest months of the year - July, August, September. So, if I got pregnant anytime in the very near future, I'd be very much pregnant and uncomfortable in the heat of the summer.

Another being finally feeling like my body is mine. No pregnancy, no breastfeeding . . . I'm still getting used to how having a baby has changed my body. Also, I'd like to get my body in a more healthy state before it becomes inhabited again. I'd like to eat a little better, feel a little stronger, take a daily vitamin, fit it into non-stretch pants...

And finally, I'm still so enjoying all this one-on-one time I get with Ella Roo. I feel like I'm hitting a tiny stride in my role as mother. I'm enjoying being able to have time to myself while Eric entertains our girl. And I want to relish in this time a little bit longer.

But still, I feel the baby fever.

Not even nights of a sick baby crying has lowered the temp.

So, how to ride it out?

I guess remember those things I wrote above.

Remember labor.

And the all day morning sickiness....oh yes, THAT is helping quell the fires.

And....any suggestions you may have are welcome!

The best part of waking up....

....is bedhead.

This is the most crazy I've ever seen E's hair. I couldn't stop laughing. 

Also, now that it's January, I'm totally over winter. Ready for some spring! 

Too bad winter officially began only like 16 days ago. Crap. 

In the mean time, I open up my blinds in the mornings when there is blue sky and pretend spring is nearly here. 

Plus, with the holidays gone and the cold settled in, it forces you to think about inside projects - like organizing. 

I have a few projects I can get done while the weather is a brisk 20 degrees as a high. 

Plus, E's first birthday is in six, SIX, days and her first birthday party is in eight. 

Plenty I could do for that. 

But, Hart of Dixie on Netflix is calling my name - so maybe I'll get to all that productive stuff later. 

Christmas Letter 2012: The E-dition

December 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

This year started out with a bang for our little family. Ella Maur Lougee was born on Tuesday, January 10^th at 1:09am. She came after only 5 hours of labor and so fast that I couldn’t get any pain medication if I wanted to!

I was on maternity leave from the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce over the next 12 weeks while Eric continued to work at the Morrow County Alternative School and take classes through Blue Mountain Community College.

In February, Eric celebrated his 25^th birthday and went to go watch a Blazer’s game in Portland with an old mission companion.

In March, over spring break, we took a trip up to Seattle. It was Ella’s first longer car ride and she did great.  We had a great time exploring the city and many people commented on our beautiful, blue-eyed baby. On the way home, Eric and I started talking about how I could finish my bachelor’s degree. It was then we formulated a plan to go to Utah for the summer so I could take my last two classes and graduate from Brigham Young University.

So April and May were spent packing up our apartment and making preparations to go to Utah. I officially left my position at the Chamber of Commerce. Also, at the end of May we took another trip, this time to Portland. It was there we bought a new car! At least new to us. We also got to see lots of family members and take Ella to the Portland Temple where we were married. Then we moved almost everything we had into a 10x10 storage unit in La Grande.

We spent the first week of June living with Eric’s parents in Umatilla while he finished up work. We spent the second week of June living in my vintage camp trailer in my Mom’s yard in La Grande and celebrating my 25^th birthday. It wasn’t really roughing it, as we had the TV and Wii connected out in the trailer. It was also at this time that we found out our car needed a $1200 repair! But, we were blessed with extra money from the Morrow County School District that we hadn’t known about and were able to afford to fix our car and head off to Utah.

Uncle Ken and Aunt Jan graciously hosted the three of us for the next eight weeks. My days were spent commuting to and from class and doing homework. Eric adjusted quite well to his role as stay at home dad. On the weekends we took trips and explored Utah. Some of the highlights were the zoo, the Bingham Copper Mines, visiting Stan, Elizabeth and Ella’s first cousin Travis in Rexburg, seeing four bears at Yellowstone, going to a Bee’s baseball game on the 4^th of July, and the Mower Family Reunion. As a graduation gift to myself I went down to Las Vegas with a good friend to see Celine Dion in concert. Life changing experience. We also attended the Las Vegas Temple while there. We loved our adventures in Utah and getting to introduce Ella to lots of friends and family.

In August, I graduated from BYU! It was a great feeling. My cousin Morgan traveled up to Utah to help us celebrate. The day after graduation we all went to Lagoon. Ella enjoyed the baby pool at the water park and the train ride past all the animals. From there we came back to Oregon and moved into a little house in La Grande.

Eric started out driving school buses (a skill acquired at Morrow County) but quickly found a new job as a special education paraprofessional (teacher’s aide) at my old elementary school. It’s a rough job – recess, dodgeball, crafts, music, reading time, etc. He loves his job, so much so he almost considered majoring in elementary education, but ultimately decided to stay with his Spanish major and an ESOL minor. He also took a full schedule of classes at Eastern Oregon University and really enjoyed his Intro to Art class. Eric has also been busy as the Elder’s Quorum Secretary. He spends his Tuesdays in presidency meetings and making home visits to families in our ward, this has helped him get to know the town and the people in our ward.

Meanwhile, I stay busy with Ella. She’s my little buddy. We enjoy story time at the library on Thursdays and taking walks down to my mom’s house. I’ve also started cooking a lot more and trying to get better at providing delicious food for my family. I’ve also started a little hobby business doing design work. I have a little shop on Etsy selling digital photo cards.

Next month we will celebrate Ella’s first birthday. We can’t believe how quickly a year has gone by and how much has happened. We’ve been very blessed this year and recognize our Heavenly Father’s hand in our lives. We’ve learned more of our Father’s love as we’ve become parents and have felt such love and joy from having Ella as a part of our family. We recognize the gift of happiness and peace that comes from our Savior, the example his life left for us and his sacrifice on our behalf.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and fulfilling New Year. We count you a blessing in our lives and hope you know we love you.

Sincerely,

The Lougees

December First

Apparently I didn't do well with my month of gratitude. Oh well, on to the next holiday. 

And let's face it, blogging is really hard to get to. So consider yourselves lucky. 

We went up into the mountains with the Elder's Quorum and after lots (and I mean lots) of searching, as well as getting lots (and I mean lots) of mud on our new tires we found this little guy. He's really pretty perfect for our small home. I apologized to him because he might've grown to be a big beautiful tree. But then again, he was kind of squished in a cluster of other trees and I'm not sure he would've thrived after all. So, I guess we did the Oregonian thing to do and put an end to his potential misery and are letting him die with dignity....

I am happy to report that Eric's stint in boy scouts has paid off and the tree stayed on top of the car while flying down the freeway. 

We then did something that used to be a fairly regular tradition in my family and that is going to the Festival of Trees. Santa and Ella had their first meeting and as you'll see by the photos taken with Eric's cell phone, it went quite well. 

She did get a candy cane (which she'll enjoy this evening) and I promised Santa she'd be better next year. 

But, do you see the size of that guy? I'da had a hard time sitting there too, without getting scared. 

Happy December First, Ella!