Christmas 1/6

This last weekend, the Gutts piled into a van and headed East towards Green Bay to visit Grandpa and Ruth. We had a great family Christmas with Ella as the star. There were even some birthday surprises such as a cake to share with Uncle Nathan who was also celebrating a birthday.

Ella tried some cake, but of course, it was too messy for her.

She was busy playing and entertaining the crowd most of the night.

But was gracious enough to take a break in the entertainment to open some birthday and Christmas gifts.

Ella got a nice table and chair set for her playhouse and some bake ware so she can start entertaining friends!

She was even a good girl when we dressed her up like Santa. She was a little sweaty and a little squished in the 9mos outfit, but she looked so dang adorable!

But now, it's back to reality. Ella seems to either be teething or coming down with something. I had her into the doctor just to make sure it wasn't more serious. Luckily, her ears and throat are fine. Her gums are a little swollen which indicates teething activity, but it also means that a tooth could come tomorrow, or in four months. There is a virus going around which she could be coming down with, but we'll hope it's not that option. She's just not very hungry and very clingy and sad. Not like typical, happy Ella.

The other crappy news is that she hasn't really put on weight since we were at the doctor for her 9 month exam. So, we have to calorie pack her food. I wish I had that same problem. It just makes me feel bad that I apparently haven't been feeding her well enough - even though I put a lot of thought into her meals to make sure they're healthy. Ella's now going on the Krispie Kreme diet. She'll have gained 4 pounds by the time she goes back to the doctor...in two weeks! :)

Onward towards the big first birthday - hopefully we'll all be healthy! I'm having a lot of reflective moments as we near Ella's birthday. I was reading posts from last year at this time when she was huge and moving so much and I was so miserable. It seems like a lifetime since all of that, but it's been one short year. It's amazing how much she's grown, how much Loran and I have grown as parents. What a great year.