Stepping Up to the Plate

John has been itching to coach something for a while, and when no one volunteered to coach the 7-year old coach-pitch group Trent plays, well it was the perfect opportunity for him to "step up to the plate!"

Little did he know exactly how much work it is to teach 13 7-year-olds how to play baseball!  He has been to meetings, and teaching sessions, done research, etc. all in preparation for the first practice!  Luckily several other dads signed up to help him (it's very necessary when trying to keep the attention of 13 7-year-olds!).  The first practice was rained out, but we were able to get 2 good ones in before the first game this weekend.  So far everyone is doing well and having fun playing.  Here are a few pictures of the first game (taken by one of the parents with an awesome camera!)
 

first time up at bat



second time at bat



running home

Ella at 6 Months

Ella is such a joy to be around. I truly am in awe of her daily. She is growing and changing constantly. It's hard to keep up with all of the new things she's doing now! She is very entertained by the big boys - it's really cute to watch how much she enjoys them.

Ella's 6 Months Stats (6/3/2011):

• Height: 25 1/2 inches (45th %)
• Weight: 13 8/14 lbs. (10 %)
• Head: 42.4 cm (35th %)

What Ella is Doing Now:

• Saying "ba" and "da" sounds
• Loves to play with and suck on her own feet
• Rolling from back to belly (but not yet consistently)
• Sitting up less-assisted for longer periods of time
• Reaching for and grabbing everything
• Squeeling/singing a lot
• She "sings" along with me now when I rock her at bedtime (cooing while i'm singing, quiet during the breaks in the song - it's so cute!)
• She loves to listen to me recite "Good Night Moon" while I get her dressed for bed (she prefers to watch my mouth instead of look at the book).  I love how her eyes light up as soon as I start to recite it.
• She has time each night to watch her bird mobile while I prepare her room for bedtime. After she eats, I say "IIIIIIIIt's Birdie Time!" and she responds with a big smile, laugh and lots of kicking while she watches the birdies
• She loves to be outside. We put her in her saucer outside while we work/play out there and she can be out there for hours playing and watching everything.
• Still waking up at least once to eat during the night. I guess she just loves my company so much that she can't stand to go all night without seeing me! :) And I guess the feeling is mutual!



Sitting up!



grabing for everything (much to dad's schagrin)



first time with a cup

Memorial Weekend 2011

As soon as school was out for Trent, we loaded up the car and headed East back to Oklahoma for the long weekend.  Just a few days before we left, Ella caught her first virus and resulting ear infection.  Luckily we started some antibiotics before we left or the trip could have been a lot worse!  Ella was not the happiest little traveler in the condition she was in, so mom had to spend several hours riding next to her playing music and thinking of other distractions.  After almost 13 hours on the road, we made it!

As always, we didn't get to see everyone as much as we would have liked (we pretty much need to live there to do that!) but we got some good quality time with our immediate family - which was awesome!

Though this was not Ella's first trip back to OK, she was much more engaged with everyone this time around.  She loved getting all of the attention and was happy to be held by everyone.

On this trip, Jake stayed behind in Oklahoma with his grandparents and we brought Gavin (Trent's brother) home with us to visit for the week.  It was so hard to leave Jake but he was so excited to stay behind and have the time with his grandparents and cousins!

Here are some of the many pictures we took while we were gone...

Ella and her Ong Ba Co (John's Grandma)

Ella and Grandma Rosie (my Grandma)

Happy to be passed around!

Jake lovin' the hot tub pool

Ella and her Ba Noi (Grandma)

Cousins Drew and Eli

Ella and her Paw Paw (with his sail boat)

Crazy cousins in the "pool"

Cousin Drew

4 cute cousins

Gavin, Trent, Drew, Jake

Oh May, Oh My!

May has come (and gone!)  Here are some of the things we did last month.  I am still trying to get the hang of working/momming again - hence the reason for the absent posts (and the title)!  I am hoping to be organized with it all again soon, but summer is already shaping up to be quite busy (so no promises!)

All three of them are growing like weeds.  It was quite cold for May around here so they have been forced to wear their winter clothes a little longer than I would have liked.  Since it's raining all of the time, I guess we can blame the shortness of their pants on the fact that we actually have been "expecting a flood".

School is out for summer! Trent is officially a 2nd grader!! He had a great first grade year. He is reading above grade level and excelling at math and other subjects too. It's still so amazing to me the transformation from (almost) 2 years ago. He's doing so well and we are so very proud of him!

Stylin' Baby

Mother's Day at the Zoo (A Pham Family Tradition)

Jake and Cousins Chloe and Trent (waiting for the Zoo train)

Riding the train

Big 2nd Grader!!

Monkeys at the Zoo!

First Mother's Day w/ Ella

Night Out! (Accenture Spring Formal)

Bathing Beauty

I call this her Shirley Temple impression

Still loving the saucer!