Ella is a' rollin....

How in the world am I going to reach that fluffy thing??


Reality TV time with mommy.....

Gram buys me stuff that has my name on it for different seasons. I like this.

Smile, Ella! Act like you love your mommy!

Please!? Just one little smile?!

Me and Abbykins. I mean, her dress had pockets. How perfect is this?

Mommy and Daddy are out for the night. We even got in some dancing. Huge!

Close up...

Ella is sucking her thumb. A lot.

Hi. May I help you? You are kind of cramping my style.

Our girl is on the move. From going bananas in her jumperoo or playing on her play mat, one thing is certain- our girl is determined and strong! Her little neck and legs are getting so strong! She is already rolling over from back to front and is starting to roll from her belly to her back. It is so fun to watch her personality develop. She loves to laugh and smile while talking to people or looking at the doggies. She is also quite fascinated by the t.v. She watches only educational stuff, of course =)

This past weekend, Gram was visiting to watch Ella while mommy and daddy went to Abby's wedding! What a fun (and quick) weekend trip for Gram and for us. Ella was a sweet doll for her gram. I think that Gram might be a little smitten by our Ella bella...

Abby's wedding was a blast! You should have seen all of the details Abs took care of; from personalized navy and pink coasters/napkins, to pink wraps for the guests! She went above and beyond and it was the most beautiful wedding. Abby was stunning, as always. We think the world of the Bellgrau's and were honored to be a part of their wedding day! We will have to celebrate once they return from Cabo. Lucky ducks- they will be there for 10 days!
This weekend, Aunt Becky and Uncle Keith are coming to the windy city! We can't wait for them to meet Ella and have her show them around the city.

We hope everyone is having a great week. Love you all!!

SUCH a fun weekend until....

Look at those sweet little red lips!




Concentrating...






I am sitting all by myself!!



Me and Tiff.....



The Vajda Family at the Oyster Fest!



Ella is big enough to face out now!



Ella and Mommy.....Love my girl!

Birthday pints.... Happy Birthday, Daddy!

You are not holding it right, mom. Let me show you!

Bumbo and Ella....she loves her bumbo!

I got food poisoning this weekend at the Oyster Fest on Roscoe..I have been out of commission for 2 full days. This is killing me. I don't do sick. Far too much to do now....especially with a 16 week old. Yes, folks, Ella is 16 weeks old...we still cant believe our little nugget is cooing, laughing and rolling over! She is also sitting up now. She did it for the first time on Sat. night! She put one hand down to steady herself but she totally did it! (Picture above) And, our little independent love bug is holding her bottle, whenever she can, by herself! It is the funniest thing. Proof is in the picture (above). All of these little milestones and glimpses into her personality are the coolest things. I can't imagine not having her in our life. It is such an amazing thing to be a parent...

Daddy turned 32 on Sunday! Too bad we couldn't celebrate...he was too busy taking care of me and Ella! I am making a nice meal for him tonight; hopefully that will make it up for him. Poor guy...

We did get to go out on Friday to one of our favorite Italian places in the city in Old Town (we are big Italian and Mexican foodies) and then went off to the pub for a pint. Perfect birthday celebration for Scott. We found a fabulous babysitter and Ella loves playing with Iwona! I feel so good knowing that Ella is with Iwona....she might be more qualified than I am to watch a baby =) We topped off the night by stopping over at the Vajda's for a drink.

On Saturday, Scott and Marko stained a deck and then we headed to the Oyster Fest on Roscoe. It was so much fun! Ella had quite the time, I think. She loved watching all of the people. SHe is big enough to face out in the Bjorn now and she loves watching everyone and smiling at people. A lot of people stopped to say hello...Ella loved it! After eating my questionable chicken, we headed home. On Sunday, I started feeling sick. It went downhill from there....

I hope everyone has had an amazing week! We love y'all!

Francis Clan

Mid-Week Ella posting

Look at this sweet face....falling asleep on Mommy after eating.....nothing sweeter than this!



Picking Ella up...she fell asleep on my shoulder the SECOND i picked her up..I think she was waiting for mommy to fall sleep.






The Ga/SC game was a real snooze for her, I suppose. She slept through the 4th quarter which was the best quarter I have ever watched! We need to get her more excited about the Dawgs!

Laughing at Daddy while he made funny faces. She loves her little blanket that G-ma Peggy gave her. She likes to rub things while sucking her thumb...Mom: where does she get that from???

So, my little nugget is officially the sweetest, most curious baby ever. I am told she is very observant during the day and is the most mellow of all the babies at Alex's house! She is becoming so much happier and WE couldn't be happier. I love to spend as much time at night with her as possible. I miss her like crazy during the day. It is getting a little easier but is still really hard....

She is smiling all the time now and "talking" away. She has the sweetest babble ever. She has also begun laughing which completely melts my heart. She loves tummy kisses and starts howling with laughter as soon as we kiss her!

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Xoxo,

Nicole

Busy Busy Busy!

Ella is such a thumbsucker! I LOVE IT!

Look at these seats!

All of the boys.

Me and Scotty

Todd and Scotty

Gramma Peg and Ella the morning she left....

Out to dinner at our all time favorite, Rose Angelis.

This past week, Gramma Peg was here to watch Ella for the week. They both had such an amazing time together. I think Gramma is a little bit smitten with Ella...Ella had her wrapped around her little finger before too long....We loved having both of our moms here the past 2 weeks.

We cannot wait to see y'all again soon! We will be heading down to Atlanta in October and out west for Thanksgiving. We are so excited for Ella to meet more family!

Scott's friends were out for a bachelor party and we were able to see Todd! I was so happy to see him; such a great guy! It is so funny to tag along with the boys and to hear funny stories of my husband and of his silly antics. I married such a fun guy! We got a chance to hang out with some of the other guys Scott went to school with at Santa Clara at the cubs game. That is one thing we don't do enough of- Cubs games. We had seats in the bleachers and I got a little, well, a lot, burned. Even with the sun burned legs, we had such a great time!!! Nothing like a seat in the bleachers, a beer and an italian sausage. So. good.

We cannot wait to go out with all of the SF folks when we are back home in the east bay for Thanksgiving!

Ella has had a big week. Not only has she become and avid fan of thumbs and of sucking them, but she also rolled over on Friday!! Yes! Our little baby rolled over from her back to her tummy. All while, may I add, sucking her thumb. Daddy was here to witness it....We will have to get it on video soon!

Becky and Keith are coming to Chicago this weekend to meet Ella! We are so excited to have her aunt and uncle out. Also, Scott's birthday is this weekend! The big 3-2. He is not excited about it which I think is so silly! He has accomplished a lot in his 32 years and should be proud. He scored a fabulous/humble wife and precious baby...what more could a guy ask for?

We are hanging in for the rest of the weekend watching the GA game, catching up on housework and meeting up with friends. Another gorgeous week ahead...

Hugs and kisses from Chicago,

N, S and Ella

Happenings around the Francis house

Happy Birthday, BL!

Festival girls!

Ella, look alive!

Gram and her little lollipop.

She loves smocking and matching bows. Can't you tell?

On our way to pick up Gram!

Mommy, Ella, and happy Olivia!

Ella's new toy...jumperoo!

Mommy is home from bday celebrations..

So fresh and so clean.

Well, we are all back to work and it, well, sucks. I feel so weird being without her during the day. It feels completely unnatural and sad! By the time Thursday rolled around, I was ok but still struggling. It is hard to think of anything but my little one...she is like an extension of myself. I know that she is fine during the day, no matter what, but I am the one that is really struggling with the transition. I will most likely buy an RV and follow her to whaetever school she ends up at and camp out for half of the year. I kid, I kid....not such a bad idea though, right?

We were so happy to have our gram here this weekend but sad that Daddy was away in San Diego. Actually, we were really sad that we couldn't make the trip to San Diego with Daddy for Timmy's wedding! We just thought that between Ella's colic and a 5 hour flight, we would be worse for the wear. I think hanging here in Chicago with Gram turned out to be a great time but we wished we could have gotten out to the west coast! We will get to head west for Thanksgiving and I am PRAYING that Ella will be a perfect little angel by then...wishful thinking...

On Thursday night, we met our friends, the Stefls, for dinner. We love love our friends and always have the best time gabbing with our girlfriends, Olivia and Holly (and Tim!) Olivia is, without a doubt, the happiest baby we have ever met! I love that Ella and O are just 3 months apart! They will have some fun together....

A couple of weeks ago, we went out to dinner to celebrate my friend Beth's birthday! I love this girl! It was a little loud in the bar, but we had a good time toasting to Beth!

Last weekend, we got to the Bucktown Art Fest. We met up with Sam and Erica and Ella loved hanging with them. The best part of the festival was the food..yum! One of my favorite things about this city are the festivals. Next year, I will be a ton better about getting out to the festivals. We have had just a little bit going on the past year....

I hope all of you had an amazing weekend! Mazel Tov and love to the Jaynes!