A November to Remember

It was a fun month for the Wray's and the beginning of the "holiday season".  But before we could think about Thanksgiving, we rejoiced in the news that Adam's Brother Lance would be returning home from his 5-month deployment in Afghanistan!  It was a great homecoming and we were so honored to be a part of it!

Tired of sitting any longer, Ella has found her legs!  When Julia walked in to get Ella up from a nap, this is what she found:

She wasn't finished there - this was only the beginning:

Ella's also getting tired of just liquids and pureed food and was ready for more…solids?  While shopping at Target through the baby isle, she spotted some Puffs and just had to have them.  Obviously Julia was scared for her to try them, but quickly got over it…

Ella also got her first experience at Chuck E. Cheese with our good friends Brent, Rachel, & Lilli.  After we enjoyed some pizza and a show, Lilli took Ella out for a ride.  They were both pretty excited about it.

Halloween!

We took Ella to Madison C of C's Fall Festival on Wednesday and she got to debut her UT Cheerleading outfit.  Though she was a little young to participate in all the fun, she still enjoyed seeing all of her friends.  I'm not sure she knew what to think of this clown though...

 

On Saturday night, we went to our friends the Goostrees and Hawkins for a costume party.  Though Ella stuck with her UT outfit, Mom & Dad went with the Insurance look: Mayhem from the Allstate commercials and Flo from Progressive.

I think Ella's going to like Mustard

 

Will saying hello

On Halloween night we took Ella to see her Grandmas and cousins, wearing - what do you know - the cheerleading outfit!  This was more strategic since we would also be surprising Nan & DJ.

8 Months Old!

Ella is 8-months old! It was such a beautiful day so we decided to have a little photo shoot in the park.  Of course, Ella was excited about it :)

Ok I'm ready…what are we doing?

Hooray for getting older!

Can you see me?

What's Out There?

Ella is beginning to pull up in her bed to see over the bumper pad.  Clearly her next move is to stand all the way up! We've already had to move her mattress down 2 notches...

NICU Reunion

Today we attended an annual event at Centennial Hospital for all former NICU patients.  Since Ella spent the first 2 weeks of her life there, we got the invite! Though we did not get reimbursed for those expenses (as I was expecting) we still had a great time!

There were tons of activities (mostly for bigger kids) and lots of freebies. 

Ella did participate in a "crawling contest" to which she took first prize (of course). As you'll see in the video, she left her competition in the dust (poor fella)...

  

Ella got to meet one of her doctors while there. I think she even unbuttoned his shirt when we weren't looking…

Another highlight of the day was meeting Fred Flintstone, though he didn't have any buttons on his shirt…

After an hour, it proved too much for Ella, as she passed 

out in my arms.  A great time though and we look forward to attending next year!

Dallas!

On Friday (9/16) we flew to Dallas to see Jason & Kelly (Julia's brother & Sister'n law).  Even though it wasn't a direct flight, Ella did great on both the flight to Houston and connecting flight to Dallas!

First stop for us was IN-N-OUT Burger! We got hooked while in San Francisco a few years ago and couldn't wait to try it again in Dallas. If you haven't had it, and are ever near one, get one…you won't be disappointed…

Then it was back to the Whitely cottage to check our blood pressure (a family tradition).

She likes to pose.

Ella also got to meet Carra for the first time.

Ella likes the close-up shots.

Saturday it was off to Oktoberfest in Addison….

Lots of interesting things to eat…we didn't stop here.

Ella being tempted by some German Sausage

Meeting new and interesting people.

Sunday, while Julia, Kelly, & Ella went shopping, Jason & I took in the tour at the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium.  Absolutely incredible place!  Well worth the time and money, if you're in the area.

Before we new it, it was time to head home.  Though Julia & I weren't ready, Ella seemed anxious to get packed…

Fun on the plane.

Meeting new friends - Ella was very excited.

And…she's out. 

Ella did so well traveling and we're excited to take her to other places.

AW

Ella's New Trick

Ella is finally starting to crawl!  We noticed on Tuesday night (9/13/11) while some friends were over that she was starting to "Army crawl" and on Thursday we were able to entice her with the crinkly sound of a bag of chips to crawl towards us!  While we're excited about this new milestone, it comes with mixed emotions, as we now have to watch her even closer...