Did someone say pool party?!

Ellie has proven to be our little water baby!  She got to test our her new swimsuit and we got to see what these swimmer diapers are all about.  If they are so great at holding in the poo...I really think maybe all diapers should swimmer diapers??  Anyway, Ellie sported her athletic side with the wetsuit look this year...and her birthday suit.  She LOVED the water.  She played in the fountain spring in the kiddie pool, chased her cousin Lucas in the big kid pool, and took a tour of an adult pool in her yellow submarine.  Hopefully we can upload some video and more pictures soon!

 Ellie's first trip to Black Butte and her first time in the swimming pool.  Don't let that apprehensive look fool you, she was quite the fish!

 Skinny 

 Dipping

Ellie decided to hang out poolside at home when we had a bit of a heat wave.  I think she would like to request this be her new bathtub.

Getting ready to take a dip at Grandma Cassandra's house...luckily for Ellie our water baby Grandma has indoor and outdoor pool options!

 "Oh Cousin Lukie I see you have a pool...mind if I take a dip?!?"

Playing at home in our own pool.

Ellie's Summer Concerts

Ellie's Summer Concert Series

We got a bit of a late start on the summer concert circuit, but we're hooked!  Elli's first concert at the park was at Foothills park in LO next to Grandma Cassandra's place.  To our surprise, it was a Michael Jackson tribute band!  Yes there is video and Ellie is showing off her moves to Beat It.

Two days later Greg wanted to go wander around on a nice warm Friday evening, so we ended up at the Portland Rose Garden...no not where the Blazers play, but where the roses are!  Attempting to get pictures of babies with flowers proved to be a little more difficult than we both thought.  Pretty sure they would not appreciate Ellie's attempts at picking (errr destroying) every flower she saw!  

                                  

Apparently Greg could see her face in the first picture and couldn't stop laughing...we sorta got it together on the second one.

Just another Friday hanging with dad amongst the roses listening to some tunes.

Garden Time!

Ellie was feeling quite zen a few weeks ago, so we packed up the baby bjorn, the always necessary minnie mouse sunglasses, and a very important accessory these days - a bib - and headed to the Japanese Gardens here in Portland.  Ellie had a great time smelling flowers and giggling.  And apparently it was such a relaxing walk, she couldn't keep her eyes open by the end of the morning!

Oh what?!?  I think I see a little "oh snap" in this picture

Moms and their babies :-)

She is usually quite the sleep ninja, but the power of the baby bjorn always wins!!  Thank you Sweden!

First Trip to the Beach

Ellie has had quite the summer.  She has had lots of "firsts" including this first trip to Cannon Beach!  Grandma Cassandra wanted to spend a girls day at the beach to celebrate our birthdays...my 32nd and Ellie's 6 months!!  It was an absolute beautiful day!  Ellie sported her usual sunglass wear, but decided to go sans glasses playing in the sand.  We found a perfect shady area to picnic and then ventured down to the sunny sand for a few pics to capture the day!

 I feel like in this picture she is getting ready to say something in a really matter of fact tone.  "Did you know Sand is formed as a result of weathering and decomposition of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks?" 

  Wow Ellie nice use of metamorphic!

 I hope I can always make her laugh...even if it requires some dorky mom moves when she's older!

 Giggle pants!

Sleepy pants!

Photo session in Idaho

While in Idaho Auntie Jenn did a little impromptu photo session with Ellie while we were all just hanging out by the pool.  We just fell in love with these pictures...she definitely captured the many faces of our munchkin!

Is that a camera?  Yes I will smile!

So Greg!

I feel like this is more of a senior portrait smile.

I think this is her questioning whether or not she likes having pool water sprinkled on her.

Super relaxed and pretty content...

...and then there's the "don't mess with this baby" look

How did I do? Are we done yet?

Where is the time going?!

We've had an awful lot of fun with this little lady over the past month.  As her 6 month birthday approaches it is amazing to see how much she has changed!  She's passed the 20lb mark and is moving into her 9 month outfits.  We're finding that what may not appear to be in her reach, actually is and that everything goes in her mouth!  She's just about ready to sit completely on her own and can't get enough of her bouncy chair - an activity we encourage in the evening to tucker her out.  She also got to meet most of her Miller family and Great Grandma Cannon.  It's been a very busy month filled with tons of fun.  Can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for us!

Time to air dry!  Just hanging in her crib after a nice warm bath

First road trip!  We went to Sunriver over Father's Day weekend.  

After a long day of school, a warm bath, a session in the bouncy chair, and a full tummy - somebody crashed!

Delicious rice crackers!  Ellie was a big fan of the banana flavor.  I don't think solids are too far off...and I thinks she's going to be a pretty good eater :-)

First plane ride!!  We flew to Idaho to see Uncle Jeff, Aunt Jenn, cousins Sam & Eli, Grandpa Jerry, Grandma Sandy, and Great Grandma Cannon!  She did great on the plane.  Keeping our fingers crossed that we have a traveler who likes planes, trains, and automobiles!

After some hair pulling (oh those silly babies) Uncle Jeff captured a great picture of the cousins! 

Hanging out with Grandma Sandy poolside.

Just hanging out with dad while mom's at work...