Ella Claire

Ella Is Here!

Ella Claire Burley

Born Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:27 p.m.

8 lbs., 3 oz. , 19 inches

She is beautiful, and all three of us are in love.

I will post more pictures, her birth story, and some other info later this week!

Ella's Nursery

I'm sure my lack of blogging has led some of you to believe that Ella made her grand entrance. No such luck, unfortunately! We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, though, so we're hoping to have a plan of action after that! Until there are pictures of Ella to share, I thought I'd post some pics of her nursery. There are still a few things here and there we'll eventually get like some decor for the wall, etc., but we're just waiting until we find something we're really in love with. So, here is our almost finished nursery!

Coming home outfit

Ella's crib

The perfect mobile for a little princess
Ready and waiting for a sweet little baby!

Close up of the bedding
Our rocking corner

Shelf we had made to match the one in Camryn's room

Waiting for the perfect picture

The changing table

Wall hanging that hung in Camryn's nursery as well

Awesome diaper bag I am in love with

Closet full of clothes - and there are more you can't see in the picture!

My diaper and wipes stash .... I started buying the week we found out I was pregnant!

OK, Miss Ella Claire! We are ready whenever you are!

8 Years

Eight years ago today I married my best friend, and the one God made just for me. I love him more and more every day.

Happy Birthday, Keller!

Today is our nephew, Keller's, first birthday! He is such a cutie, and we just love him to pieces. He always has a way of making you smile or laugh any time you're around him. He is just precious! Happy Birthday, Keller! We love you!

Camryn's First Big Girl Purchase

One of the lessons we took away from Financial Peace University earlier this year was the importance of teaching your children about money. We want to instill solid financial principles in Camryn (and Ella, one day) at an early age so she will hopefully make good choices about money when she is older. We decided right after her 4th birthday that she would be old enough to start earning a commission - not an allowance, as Dave says, because how many of us in life get money for free?!? She earns a commission each week for the chores she completes, just like adults earn money for the jobs we do.

Camryn has three opportunities each week to earn $1 - one for folding towels over the weekend, one for being my kitchen helper on Tuesday nights, and one for making her bed on Thursday mornings. When we started this process, we bought three small containers for Camryn to keep her money in. She divides her $3 evenly between the boxes - the first dollar of the week always goes to God, the second goes to Savings, and the third is her money to spend however she chooses.



Not long after she started earning her commission, Camryn asked us to buy her some Silly Bandz, because a lot of her friends at school had them and shared them with her during the day. We decided this would be the perfect teachable moment about how to save and spend your money on things that you want. We explained to her we would not buy them for her, but she would have to save her "Camryn money" to buy them on her own. We found out Silly Bandz were $4.50 a package, so she saved for 4 weeks, then earned a few extra dollars from things she sold at our yard sale this past Saturday. I took her yesterday, with her Camryn box, to pick out the Silly Bandz, and she was just giddy with excitement. She paid the lady at the store, and walked out doing a half hopping, skipping, dancing kind of move. I was very proud of her, and she was one happy little girl.

Blowfish Game

Last Thursday night was Camryn's first baseball game. We went with Jason's parents and his sister and her family to a Columbia Blowfish baseball game. We were really excited to take Camryn, but the most exciting part of the night was that former Atlanta Brave, Dale Murphy, was also there signing autographs. Jason has idolized Dale Murphy since he was a kid, so meeting him and shaking his hand was a big deal. Here are some pictures of our fun outing.

Ready to head out to the game

Supper at the ballpark

Jason shaking Dale Murphy's hand

Getting an autograph

Grandma played teacher for most of the night and explained the game to Camryn

The Blowfish lost, but the game was still fun to watch

Camryn and Blowie, the mascot

A few family pics

Caleb and Camryn shared their first game together