A New Year!

It's been a while since I updated!  I've been hastily preparing for my return to work from summer vacation.  I've said it to various people in the past few weeks.  I am entering this year with a new, optimistic attitude, ready to conquer life as a mom, a wife, and a teacher.  I'm ready for this new challenge.  As hard as it is leaving Ellie each day, I know that I need to do it, and I've stopped spending every waking moment trying to figure out how to stay home with her.  It's just not doable right now, and that's ok.  She knows I love her, even if I can't home with her 24/7.  She went back to daycare today and totally blew me away!  She did great...played hard, ate well, and napped like a champ!  Such a big girl! 

Crazy Cousins!

Dave's sister, her husband, and our nephew, Jonathan came up from North Carolina this week for a visit!  Jonathan will be three in October, and is LOADS of fun at this age!  He absolutely LOVES his Uncle Dave, and had a blast playing with him in the sprinkler. 

Playing with Uncle Dave in the sprinkler!

Action shot!

Jonathan chasing Uncle Dave!

Pushing Uncle Dave in the sprinkler!

Love that boy!

Gotcha!

Taking a break to show Kirby some love.  He was NOT loving the sprinkler.

Muscles!

All boy!

I think Jonathan was less than impressed with his cousin, Ellie.  She kept "wrecking" his cars and eating them, leading to a little bit of sulking on his part.  I was amused nonetheless.  My little wrecking ball stayed true to her reputation and knocked every car off of the table, stopping here and there to taste a truck or two.  What a great day!

Checking him out!

Leaning in for a kiss!

Oh, I'll just eat his whole face instead :)

Playing nicely together...

My favorite picture of the day!

Taking a break to taste a few trucks...

Jonathan is getting a little antsy...haha...

What'd I do?

"She's wrecking them!  She's wrecking them!"

Her newly acquired skill...

Look, ma!  I did it!

Playing "SO BIG" with Aunt Becky!  Notice the

oh-so-cute 23 week preggo belly :)

Loving Life :)

I just received the photos from our Montana trip, but seeing as though there are nearly 400 pictures, I'm going to give everyone a family update while I contemplate how to share those photos.  It's been a relatively quiet couple of weeks.  I've been spending lots of time at home with Ellie, watching her explore every inch of our 1100 square foot condo.  She's into everything these days, and I'm loving watching her discover new things each day.  Here are some updates on the little things in our lives...

Ellie...

Eating Habits:  Ellie's eating new foods all the time!  She's still nursing 4-5 times a day, one of those feedings being a bottle of about 7 ounces or so.  Yes, the baby who caused me all of this stress because she wouldn't take a bottle has now decided that the bottle is ok.  She's eating a breakfast and lunch of solids, and has added yogurt and eggs to her repertoire of foods.  She's eating a lot more finger foods and less of the pureed fruits and veggies.  Ellie is such an independent little girl already! 

New "Tricks":  Ellie's mobility is increasing each day.  She's crawls around every inch of our house, searching through the carpet for treasures (ex.: pieces of mulch that the dog dragged in), climbing on furniture, and cruising on everything and anything she can.  It's hard to believe that she'll be 9 months in just a few days.  Along with the mobility, Ellie's voice is developing more and more each day.  She seems to acquire new sounds every couple of days, and sure has no problem sharing them with us!  She is one loud little chica!  An exciting new "trick" on Ellie's list is that she is now waving hello and bye-bye!  It's too cute!

Sleep:  For months, Ellie seemed stuck on the same overnight schedule.  Not that it was bad, she just didn't seem any closer to sleeping completely through night.  She'd go to bed between 6 and 7, wake around 4am to eat, then go back to sleep until about 6:30am, when she woke for the day.  Since we returned from Montana, she has been sleeping just about through then night!  She sleeps from 6 or 7pm, wakes around 5:30am to eat, then goes back until 6:30 or 7am.  I don't feel the need to make her sleep through that feeding.  I figure she'll drop it when she's ready.  In addition to her night sleep, she's napping twice a day, each nap being anywhere between 1 and 2 hours.  We can't complain!

Dave:  Dave is finishing up his Field Training this week, so we should know his permanent schedule here shortly.  I'm so excited because Ellie will likely be in daycare only 3 days a week this year since Dave will most likely be able to stay home with her for 2 days a week.  I'm so proud of Dave.  He's worked so hard to be successful in his new job, and he's doing so well. 

Me:  I've been enjoying my time with Ellie so much.  Surprisingly, if I block out the fact that I have to leave my girl each day, I'm feeling optimistic about this school year.  I am optimistic that it's going to be a great year.  A new classroom, a new group of kids, a full year to look forward to are the makings for the fresh start that I'm looking for. 

Here are some recent pictures from life with the Welch family:

My new hobby is making headbands for Ellie.  I LOVE this one!

"Mum Mum!"

She doesn't think I know that SHE was the one who made

the mess in her closet.  Sneaky one!

She loves her new toy!

"Really, mom?  Do you ever put that thing down?"

Playing with her new activity table!

Kirby looks so thrilled...

Ellie loves the swings!  We went to the playground 4 times this week!

Kirby joined us at the park!

\

Now that Ellie is cruising around the playground,

she has a new pair of kicks to protect those tootsies!

Crawling on the bridge!

Looking through the bars on the playground!

She thought it was so funny that I was underneath the bridge!

"Weeeee!"

"Can I have another piece of watermelon, please?"

We went outside to try her dino bike.  She thought

the grass was way more interesting!

More fun in the grass!

"Hi, mommy!"

"Eeeekkk....the sun is bright!"

Another "no more pictures" face :)

"Riding" back home with daddy!

Big Sky Country!

Saturday night marked the return from an amazing trip to Montana to visit my family.  I was really nervous about the trip beforehand, thinking that Ellie would be an overtired mess, but she proved me wrong.  She was a great little traveler, and really adjusted well!  She's also a much more sound sleeper than I ever imagined.  There was quite a bit of commotion going on at my mom and Keith's house at times, and she never woke, not once!  I vowed to make it a low-key visit so that Ellie didn't miss naps and didn't get too overtired.  We did a lot of things close to home, which was fine with me!  Visiting with my family is what I wanted to do most.  We visited some overlooks, did a little hiking, walked through town, drove some scary roads (eeek!), had some great photos taken, and visited the local parks for Miss Thing.  Ellie discovered a love for sand at River Park and Lake Como...pictures to come!  Next year, Ellie will likely be taking only one nap a day, so we can venture out a bit more!  Towards the middle of our trip, my aunt and cousins from British Columbia came down for a visit.  It's been a few years since I've seen them, so it was a long time coming!  I suppose that's one upside to my mom living on the other side of the country.  Chris joined us after they left, and is staying until this coming Wednesay.  I guess that's tomorrow :)  All of my pictures from the trip are on my mom's computer, so as soon as I get them, I'll have plenty to show you all! 

Traveling somewhere different has really put my life into perspective and has created a bit of a dilemma.  I grew up in the Washington area and now live right outside of Baltimore, so I've never known anything other than a fast-paced, career-driven, busy lifestlye.  I've always known that I've wanted something different than that, but visiting a place like Hamilton, MT made me realize how done with this area I am truly am.  Life is just a little bit slower.  People wave to each other as they drive by, they go to Farmer's Markets on Saturday mornings, and the right things are priority there.  Kids grow up in a community that cares about them, and they learn empathy and kindness.  It's much more the type of life that I want to live and raise my children in.  The dilemma is that we're stuck here for now.  We're stuck in our house.  Dave needs a few years under his belt with his new job.  I think a big change might be in our lives in the next few years, but I guess only time will tell. 

As good as the trip was, coming home, for the reasons that I just talked about, as well as the separation from my family yet again, is always difficult.  This time, it's hit me particularly hard.  I spent the last three days in quite a funk.  I feel like life is just too short to be this far away from some of the people who I care about most.  I am so ready to be close to my mom and Keith again.  I don't necessarily want that to be here in Maryland, because I know that they would not be happy here, but 2,700 miles is just too much.  We see each other for a week or so, only to separate again for months at a time, to see each other for just another week, repeat, repeat.  There's no other way to describe it other than it sucks.  I miss them terribly all the time and am feeling this increasingly large void in my life and Ellie's not having them here.

So, that's were we're at in life right now.  Ellie's readjusted to life at home, sleeping completely through the night for two nights in a row.  Dave's readjusted back at work.  I'm still in the process of accepting the fact that we won't see mom and Keith again until December.  I'm sure I'll feel better eventually, but I think I've got a long road ahead of me.   

Pictures will be up shortly...

A Great Week!

You'll have to excuse me ahead of time.  This post is going to be unbelievably long.  It's been a busy week so far!  I am enjoying summer so much this year!  I was thinking about it the other day, and this really is the first summer that I've ever stayed home.  I've either worked summer school or camps, or taken grad classes.  It feels nice that I've got 8 1/2 weeks of lounging with my family and friends to look forward to! 

This week has been very busy so far!  On Monday, Miss E and I went to the pool.  Tuesday, we had our first playdate with my friend, Erin, and her 8 1/2 month old daughter, Hailey.  On Wednesday, my good friend Robyn came over for a visit, and today, Dave and I walked with Ellie and our neighbor, Mary, on the new trail that they've built behind our development.  Pictures are coming!  You'll have to deal with  my wordiness today :) 

Developmentally, Ellie is going full steam ahead!  I swear this girl learns something new everyday.  She's full blown crawling these days, and just this week, she's learned to pull herself up to standing.  You'll notice in the pictures that she is standing on EVERYTHING!  She's even taken little steps while holding on to Dave!  This week we added watermelon, prunes, and little pieces of avocado and banana into Ellie's diet.  She seems to like it all, although she's still getting used to having to chew her food rather than just swallowing the puree.  OH, and she said "mama!"  I don't know if she's actually referring to me, but she's saying it!  Ellie is one happy, well-adjusted kid.  She eats well, sleeps well, and plays hard.  We couldn't ask for anything better. 

We leave in 6 days for a 10 day adventure in Montana to visit my parents.  I am SOO excited!  We started planning the "packing list" for things to bring for Ellie.  Holy crap.  Traveling is going to be a different experience than it's ever been.  More of that later.  Here are some pictures from the week so far...

Little lady has discovered the windows! Standing, of course.

Little Miss Independent

Banging on the windows-a new favorite pastime :)

Ellie and her buddy!

Ellie's first playdate...standing, yet again...

Sharing so nicely!

She standing again?  No!

Stink Face :)

My favorite picture from Ellie and Hailey's playdate!

Enjoying the pool again!

Ahhh...relaxing :)

Look at my cool toy, mom!

Notice that the sign says "Trail is for hiking and cross country skiing." 

Really?  Cross country skiing in Maryland? 

Going on a walk on the new trail!

Say cheese :)

Family shot!

There we go :)

Finishing up our walk with daddy!

My loves :)

Something must have been funny!

Well, well, well.  Standing again.

She's got the giggles today!

They call me White Fang.

I knew we'd have a football fan on our hands.  First down!

Lovin' some prunes for the first time!

Hmmm...

Silly girl proceeded to wipe prunes, sweet potato, and peas all over her face.

And she was very pleased with herself!