Darth Mal in pink!!!!!! I totally got the chills and had nightmares for a week when I took this. That was the first and last time I'll give Ella a bath!
All these pictures were snapped with my cell phone. This is one of my all time favorites. We call it the Chubba wubba. Madeline calls it the Buddha Baby.
Ella smiles at us every morning just like that. She swallow that binky whole if she wanted.

Ella, already picking her nose.

Ella's first taste of broccoli reminds me of my first time and every time I taste squash... Madeline doesn't like how much I don't like squash because we had squash tonight and she wants me to like it!!
This is Ella and our other baby Zucc. We grew her out in the garden next to the concrete. The zuccini plant is threatening to take over the front yard so we're hoping it dies soon. I wish I could show you a picture of our jalepeno plant!!!!!! I'm a proud parent of much produce and a daughter who gives me the most joy.



Ella has moves!! Definetly hereditary from her dad's side.

Bloglight: Daily Candy

Wow it's been a LONG time. Life just takes over sometimes and I got lost in the joys of being a parent and just never had time to share it with you. Lots of exciting things are going on in my life and the life of my family but that will be shared at another time... 

For now it is about time for a Bloglight! Gee it has been a long time since I have done one of

 these. I just recently re-found this online publication called the Daily Candy. It is a sweet site with adorable little watercolor looking illustrations. They have a Daily Candy for people everywhere and in different walks of life too - Atlanta to Boston - Chicago to Dallas - London to LA, and New York to San Francisco (to name a few) They also have daily candy editions for those with Kids, those who Travel, and those getting married soon too! 

Daily Candy covers everything from Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle, House and Home, Food and Drink, and Arts and Culture. In the kids area they cover a few different sections like Fun and Tips. 

You can either go to their website and check things out each day or they have an e-mail newsletter they will send out to you daily! 

I totally suggest perusing around this site and the various locations as well. Oh and if you are getting ready to travel - you have to hit this site too for all the tips and info you need about traveling your destination in ultimate style! 

Have fun checking out this place and if you have any suggestions for a site/blog that would make a great bloglight just e-mail me the site at eyesofmad [at] gmail [dot] com. I can't wait to hear what websites you love and want bloglighted! I have a little file of sites and so there are many more to come but reader input is so much more fun! 

Hopefully you are all enjoying the end of spring (it is pretty much summer here already... ugh!) 

Easter!

Happy Late Easter from Ella and Little Nutbrown Hare. 

So i am a little behind the times right now as far as posting goes... Ella is now two months old and goes in for her immunization shots tomorrow :S - I don't think I am ready for that - 

 

Our Easter went well - we stayed over at Peter's parents the night before and that morning I made a Hungarian dish for brunch. After we got back from church we had our Passover meal which I thought was delicious, I am not so sure the pickier eaters thought the same...

I don't think I would make the Brisket with 36 cloves of garlic, it wasn't my favorite. The salad we created was amazing though! Oh and the Black Bean Hummus was delish! 

What did you and your family do for Easter/Passover? Any fun traditions that you enjoy? 

One tradition that my mom started years ago was that she would make my sister and I Easter dresses. We would wear them to church on Easter Sunday and although I was (and still am) very against matching, I loved having those homemade dresses. 

So to carry on the tradition, I took up the suit of Mom and made Ella an adorable Easter dress! I found this pattern online (for FREE) and it worked beautifully! This lady's dress turned out a bit nicer but hey, she made up the pattern! My only qualm with this dress was that I had to make my own bias tape and that was kind of a pain (especially since I sewed it on the wrong way...) I also made this adorable little headband to match!

Oh it is so fun to have a girl. I am not too sure what I would have done with a boy... I mean no dresses, headbands and adorable little shoes and tights! - By the way, those polka dot tights were purchased from Old Navy but they were on clearance so I'm not sure they are still there - 

And as you can tell from the pictures above, Ella is fully smiling now and cooing lots and lots. It is SO much fun now to just sit and "talk" with her. She is such a chatty cathy! He he... I think she is on the verge of giggling any day now! I am such a lucky mom - she is an AMAZING baby. She has already started sleeping through the night (at least 6 hrs at a time!) She has never had a problem sleeping really, like 2 or 3 nights her entire life has she woken up irregularly. She is eating TONS and TONS too - good thing mom has lots of good milk! We will se how much she weighs tomorrow (I am guessing over 11 lbs.) 

I will do better in keeping things up. I am in the middle of a new blog conception... I will ask your opinion once I get things a little more solidified. 

Ella's Blessing

On April 4th we blessed our little Ella. It was such a special day for us and we had so much support from friends and family. The day was wonderful because it was General Conference weekend (it is a world wide conference our church holds semi-annually. It is broadcast on TV and radio across the country and into almost every country in the world!) The day was already filled with the spirit as we listened to those who spoke during General Conference give their address. 

We held the blessing at my sweet in-law's home and that made it even more special. We had my cute sister and brother-in-law sing a duet of "I am a Child of God" which was just beautiful and made me cry. I sing that song to Ella when she can't sleep and nearly get choked up everytime... I have turned into such a blubber face since she has been born. 

One thing that made it so special is that Ella wore the blessing dress that I was blessed in all those years ago. She looked adorable and it made her even more of an angel than she already is. 

And Peter topped it all of with a most beautiful blessing. I hope I shall never forget that day. 

Thank you to all the loving family members who traveled to be there for this - it was such a treat to have so many people there.

 

Features!

Hello All...

Seems as though people LOVE Dr. Seuss! I have been featured four times for the Dr. Seuss Baby Shower I threw!

The first was my sweet mom - love ya mom! - She brought a lot of attention to the party and I got so many wonderful compliments! Next was the inspirier herself, Amy at Stem Parties. And just recently I have had two more come about - Tip Junkie and keep an eye out on Toni's blog Design Dazzle for an upcoming feature!

 

Honestly, if you really want to see some rockin' parties, ideas, inspiration, design, and all other things crafty and beautiful you should check out these lady's sites! It is such an honor to be featured by each one of you! Thanks a bunch!

It's Easter and Passover again -

I don't know how many of you remember this post from last year's Passover dinner that Peter and I hosted for our family but it was wonderful and the request has been made to do it again this year! I am pretty excited because I am thinking we are going to throw a little twist in things to make the whole experience a bit more interactive! 

I have gone through the items on a Sedar plate and have found corresponding menu items to represent each one! (See this blog post for explanations of the Sedar plate and what each item represents.)

Charoset -  Candied Walnut Charoset. (We have combined this with the Chazeret to make a salad!) 

Karpas - Parmesan Roasted Asparagus

Beitzah - Griddled Eggs

Zeroah - Braised Brisket with Thirty-Six Cloves of Garlic

Mar'or - Hummus

Chazeret - Salad Greens (along with the Charoset.)

Matzo - Pita Bread (served with the Hummus) 

We are also throwing in one other menu item mainly because my husband LOVES this dish, Potato Leek Fritters. (They are a Jewish dish but traditionally served during Hanukkah... oh well.)

For dessert here are a few different options depending on your personal tastes:

1. Chocolate-Honey Tart

2. Lemon-Ginger Pound Cake

3. Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

I love Easter time with its welcome of spring and joy of remembrance of our Savior Jesus Christ. Now that I have my own child I can understand an inkling of what it would be like to give up your only Begotton Son to save the world. How greatful I am though for that sinless sacrifice so that I can again live with my family both earlthy and heavenly one day.

If you have time I would highly recommend listening to this message to help bring the true meaning of Easter back into remembrance. 

1 month old!

How fast the time truly does fly. Ella is one month old today! I can't even believe it! She has also started smiling too! She has been right on the verge of cracking that grin for a while now and then finally yesterday she gave an all out, for real smile! She has the cutest smile in the world! This morning Peter and I laid in bed with her figuring out all the ways we could make her smile - it was a blast! 

I don't really know what else to say other than this is the fastest month I have ever experienced - I hope (but deep down I know) her childhood doesn't fly by this fast! I hardly have time to stop and smell the roses. We are doing better at taking each day one at a time and not letting the time slip too quickly and now that she is smiling - it makes it all the better. 

Enjoy these couple of pictures from our outing at the park with Dad.