She loves him....yeah...yeah...yeah

Miles loves to have Ella and I do "bedtime" for him.

Hahahaha brother...keeping it warm for you in here....if you know what I mean....

Oh good there you are...

IS THIS NOT THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER??

She sure loves her big brother.  I can almost see her at his age now....crying because her buddy is off to college/mission.  I hate to say I told him so...Miles sooooo wanted a brother but he adores baby Ella.  Yeah, and she adores him right back.

They are siblings

Well here are some shots of our Ella....oh wait!  I mean her brothers.  Yes, she came out looking like Quincy's twin, but she has them all in her!  Here are some shots that look really similar.  

Ahhh...until I pulled up these pictures I didn't realize that Ella looks like Miles.  

 This is identical to what Ella looked like at birth.  This is Quincy coming home from the hospital.

 oh wow...Ella and Miles....wait a minute.  Miles isn't 2 anymore.  That's Quincy!

This is the only picture that fooled Porter when I showed them all to him.  He thought this was Ella, but these next 3 pictures are him.

Yes, Porter, Ella got her Raptor capabilities from you!!  Looks just like her.

Ahhh Ella, it will be fun to see a beautiful version of our handsome boys!

Ella's many faces

When I get super organized, I am going to post some pictures to show how much Ella looks like her brothers, but for now, some shots of our 2 month old.

BTW, she has Miles' toes and kicking ability, Quincy's good looks, and Porter's raptor noises.  She is a good mix of the boys...

just in case you think she is calm all the time...heehe

this is my view of Ella most of the time...cradled in my arms...ahh loving it!  

She is so cute and look at those chubby cheeks...just want to squeeze them...

Don't grow too fast baby girl.  

Nicknames at 2 months:

Baby cakes

Ella Bella

Miles turns 9

Miles is 9....is that really possible? 

We had a fun day.  Summer birthdays are exciting at our house because dad can take off work!  We had presents, Colorado Rockies cake, mini golf, batting cages, and games.  What more could we want?  

We decorated his room for when he woke up....at 6:30am his wake up time since he was little!

Presents included baseball gloves, a basketball, MONEY, his own Spicy Nacho Doritos, and a new Colorado Rockies baseball hat....thank goodness because his old one was "well loved" aka hideous!

9 Things I LOVE about Miles:

1. How kind he is to others.  He's made gifts for the neighbor mom.  He is a great friend and people like Miles because of his kindness.

2. His laugh...it's giggly and I don't see that side of him very often so I love the giggles!

3. He's a wonderful brother.  He puts up with younger bros tagging a long and you should see him with Ella.  He adores her.

4. He really talks at bedtime.  He likes to talk in bed.  You know how boys are: How was your day? fine.  That's it.  But at bedtime he will really talk.

5. His eye rolling.  reminds me that he is my child and a lot like I was when I was a kid.

6. He is smart.  but not conceited about it.

7. His dedication to sports.  He works hard and will practice 23 hours a day if possible!

8. Love to hear him go into "sports radio" mode.  He has been watching sports highlights before school since he was in kindergarten.  He has to talk sports with adults...most kids can't keep up with the "facts".  I still can't figure out what he is talking about sometimes!

9. He is my buddy boy...and will always be my baby.  I love how I can tell he loves my hugs and kisses even though he pretends to hate them!

Ella at 2 months

How can my Ella Bella be 2 months old?  wow!  It goes so fast.  Ella is loved.  That's all there is to it.  The boys ADORE her...they constantly want to see her and hug her and talk to her.  They love that she is smiling and "talking" to them.  What a JOY she is.

Ella is sleeping all night long on a consistent basis...WAHOO!  She has been our easiest to transition to night time sleeping.  

I love to see her wide eyes as I talk to her.  She moves her lips and tongue around and then vocalizes.  Can't wait to teach her some signs.
Super fun to go get her out of her crib and see her smiling!!

Ella is not fond of the carseat.  

We will find out her weight/etc...next week when we have her next Dr. appt.  She is chubby though, which we all love.

Ella, our family can't imagine life without you sweetie.  We love you.  Thanks for bringing so much JOY to our home.

Quincy's TBALL

Quincy was thrilled beyond thrilled to be able to FINALLY play baseball this year!

GOOOO RAPTORS!!!

He is quite the little player.  He is getting good at using his mitt and he runs really fast.  We love you Quincy.  We are so proud of you.

Quincy and his buddy Sam were on the same team!

St. Petersburg Florida EFY 2012

We hesitated about doing EFY this year because of baby Ella, but we decided to do it with her.  We love helping out at EFY.  The youth are amazing and we learn so much from them.  St. Pete FLA was a fun adventure....humid, spanish moss, BEACH, huge bugs, and the friendliest and most polite people in the world.  We want our sons to marry a girl from the South.  (Allen was sure worried about meeting up with a gator on campus...heehee)

Look at us on campus...we look like missionaries...someday we hope!

Ever contemplate doing an EFY with a 7 week old....

Yeah it was pretty tiring!  

Ella was a trouper...until about Thurs afternoon and then she was done and ready to be home!

Our hotel room was like a dorm room and she was very patient with us bathing her in the sink!  Mom, I am too big for this small sink!  Our room also had regular lizard friends too! :)

 Daddy got to have his first dance with Ella at EFY...how cool is that!!?

Ella got to feel the ocean between her toes...

Wish we would've had more time to spend at the beach....sigh.

Of course, the boys with their spoils from Florida!  They requested Florida Orange juice and twinkies (layover in Chicago where they make them), and a Gator shirt for Miles. (sunglasses are Porter's "prize") Thanks a TON to Grandpa and Grandma Matthews for taking such good care of our boys while we were gone.

 Now to implement some Southern manners into these crazy wonderful boys of ours....hmmmm we'll let you know how that goes!!

Laundry Lady Needed

How you can tell I need to do laundry at my house...

Anyone interested in doing it for me....so poor Ella doesn't have to use the truck blanket!??

Summer Hikes

One of Allen's summertime traditions is taking the boys on hikes.  He picks certain ones that the boys can do and they go out and work hard and have fun!  The boys sure love these adventures with dad.

Poor Allen started this tradition when Miles was little and baby Quincy was too small to go along.  Then Dad only had one boy to hike with.  Every time there is a new baby in the house, summertime includes HIKES!  Now he has 3 boys to take!  They love it!  Can't you tell!?

6 weeks old

Ella is still not giving us too many smiles, but this morning I was sure trying.  NO LUCK!  Then, Miles walks over and talks to her, BAM....there it is!

Ella is so fun.  My favorite "newborn" thing is when she arches her back and stretches with her arms over her head and the foot thumps at the same time!  (have loved this with all the kids)

Ella still prefers her left side.  She loves to eat and gets very offended if you don't feed her when she's ready...but she will give you plenty of cues so mom has to be paying attention.  All of the boys love her to pieces...they are always BURSTING into the room when she's eating and kiss her...sometimes scaring her!  But as you can see from the picture, she does like Miles, a lot!  We love having baby Ella at our house!  Having a baby is sure high maintenance...but oh so worth it!

Finally....the FORT

If any of you know Quincy, you know he has been talking about "the fort" for over a year.  Well, Grandpa and Grandma were here for a week to meet Ella and make a fort for the boys!

Here is the finished product...well, kind of.  The boys would like a steering wheel and telescope! (if you have either of those that you are trying to get rid of, let me know)

 Boy does that Fort building make Grandpa super duper tired!

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for helping build a wonderful hideout!  Girls are not allowed though, sorry!  (unless you are a member of the family...they added that later) :)

"Lady of Light"

Ella Joy Matthews was blessed by her daddy on Sunday June 3, 2012.

Daddy gave her a beautiful blessing.  He talked about her becoming a "lady of light".  I love that phrase.  Dad also asked Miles what he thought should be said in the blessing.  Miles said he thought the blessing should include her being "strong".  Allen said, "Like so she can beat you up?" Miles said more like being strong to Choose the Right!  Love it Miles.  

We love our "lady of light"!

So so thankful to have the Priesthood on the earth today to bless our family.  I know I am biased, but I think my kids have the best daddy ever.  I hope my kids know how lucky they are. 

We are so thankful that Grandpa and Grandma Hansen could be here for Ella's blessing.

I love my baby girl.

I am so impressed with my boys.  They love Ella and want to hold her and kiss her often.

Ella and her daddy

Wondering how our 4 year old is adjusting to not being the baby anymore?  He has been doing very well, but does have a pretty short fuse.  Notice his presence in our "family" picture?  Yeah, that was one of those moments!

We love you baby Ella!