That image above this sentence is a link to some spanking fresh videos of Ella which I'd really like to share with you. But, thanks to the Snapfish marketing team, I can't.
I thought I'd upload a video to Snapfish for a change, since the software tends to upload photos in a fraction of the time it takes to upload them to Photobucket. I was hoping that it would work the same way for videos, too (turns out it took about three quarters of forever, which is about the same upload speed as the other site).
After waiting so long for the process to complete, I was ready to create a post here and link to it, instantly sharing cute videos of a certain little puddle making wobbly tracks across the living room, a sight sure to strike feelings of awe, joy, and other warm and fuzzy feelings in the hearts of millions of people. Unfortunately, it was at this point that I learned that while the site will let you upload videos, it will not allow you to watch them -- or share them -- without first purchasing a paid account. You also don't learn about this until after you've already put in a good portion of your evening uploading the files.
So if you're wondering why there aren't any sparkling new videos of your beloved granddaughter [or cousin, or friend's brother's kid, or fellow homeschooling mom's son's daughter, or offspring of a complete stranger] cued up and ready for you to watch at your leisure today, well, you can thank the fine folks over at Snapfish for choosing to hold my home videos hostage.
[Edit:] I'm holding Ella while writing this post. Tuckered out after a long day of playin', crawlin' and jabberin', she fell asleep in my lap and is now laying strewn across the desk in a very comfortable and half-hazard fashion. This effectively increases her cuteness quotient by a factor of four.
The Vidnappers
A Day at the Beach
Friday turned out abruptly pleasant, so we packed a bag...
... and headed out to the beach. It was a little overcast at first, but it soon cleared off and warmed up.
A stiff breeze provided some choppy waves that completed the experience.
Ella LOVED the beach, and she thought kicking her feet in the sand was FUNNY, and the wind was AMAZING, but standing on the shore with the surf lapping at her toes was THE BEST THING EVER.
The Boy

It's so very hard to get good pictures of Shiloh. I snapped this one the other day, and to my surprise it turned out very nicely.
Have Diaper, Will Travel
For weeks, Ella has been struggling to move by reaching forward and dragging herself across the floor with her arms. That all changed today, though. After staying with the grandparents for a couple of hours, Ella was delighted to see her Mom and Dad come back to get her. In a rush to get to Daddy, her arms and legs started pumping and all of a sudden she was crawling. Her feet are still tangle-prone, but she's making good headway and has already covered quite a distance. So look out, folks -- Ella's officially on the lam.
The Dress

This picture is of Julie at eight months old.
This is Ella in the same spot at six months, wearing the same dress.





