What's New?

Wow!  It's been a while!  Things have been pretty hectic around here lately!  Let me sum up the last few weeks...SICK SICK SICK!  It all started when the stomach flu ransacked our house the week before Christmas.  Then, Ellie came down with "the cold."  It's been neverending.  A small, seemingly harmless cold, turned into the worst cough I have ever heard.  Poor Ellie would cough so hard she would throw up...constantly.  Three weeks, many loads of laundry, TWO antibiotics, and some Benadryl later, I think we're seeing the light at the end of a VERY long and congested tunnel. 

I feel like I haven't done an "Ellie" update in a really long time.  The 13th of January marked the end of her 14th month of life.  I cannot believe how old she is already!  Time really does fly when you have children. 

Motor/Cognitive Skills-Ellie's gross and fine motor skills never cease to amaze me.  At the moment, she's running all over the place!  She loves to climb-the couch is her latest conquest.  Dancing is her absolute favorite pasttime.  The girl wakes up pointing at the radio in her room.  She loves to move!  We joined the local kiddie gym to help her get some of her energy out!  I can't wait for it to get warm again.  She loves playing outside, but it's just too cold to spend any length of time out there.  She's really starting to put things together, too-she knows that the remote controls the TV, that the phone is to talk into, that the bottle is to feed her babydoll with, and so on...  She's even starting to understand thigs we say to her and small directions we give her.  Today I asked her to go and get her cup (which was across the room on the windowsill), and to my surprise, she looked around the room, and went to get it. 

How's this for motor skills? She bent over, walked backwards, and pressed her naked little butt up against the mirror. Look closely for the reflection..haha..

Language-We are surely on the verge of some serious language development!  At the moment, Ellie's words include dada, mama, ooo ooo (for dog and monkey), this, that, hiya (hi), theyago (there you go), na na (snack), bath, wow, and more!  I'm sure I'm missing some!  She's really getting good at showing us what she wants by pointing and trying to use her language skills to tell us.  Luckily, she hasn't learned the dreaded "no" word.  I'm sure she'll learn it today since I wrote that ;)  

Ellie attempting to mock Dave...too funny!

Food-We certainly have one good eater on our hands!  Ellie will eat just about any vegetable or fruit you put in front of her-green beans, peas, bananas, and avocados still top the list of favorites.  Cheese and yogurt are favorites too-we do coconut milk/soy yogurt still since we're still suspecting a possible mild allergy to milk.  Meat is still not something that Ellie likes.  Eggs are on that list too, although I tried hard-boiled eggs instead of scrambled and she ate them right up.  She gets two cups of milk a day, plus water, and sometimes juice (every few days).  We're down to one bottle a day now, at bedtime, which I'm sure she would easily give up.  I feel like I am inadvertantly holding on to it as her last sign of babyhood :(

She even tries to eat the plastic stuff!

Games/Interests- I would have to say that Ellie's second favorite pasttime right now (next to dancing) is "reading" books.  She LOVES them.  If I would let her, that's all she'd do all day long!  I hope that she stays this interested in books as she grows up!  She still loves peek-a-boo, and any toy that has buttons.  She loves rough-housing with her daddy and snuggling up with her mommy!  We can't forget about Kirby.  These two are going to be lifelong friends!  They are so cute together! 

Sleep Habits- Ellie is still taking two hour and a half or so naps a day, and sleeps about 11-12 hours straight overnight (usually about 7-6:30).  I'm so glad that all of our hardwork (aka my anal retentiveness) with her sleep has paid off-we have one good sleeper on our hands!

Dave and I couldn't ask for a better daughter.  She is the light of our lives!  Ellie, I hope you read this one day and realize how truly blessed Daddy and I are to have you in our lives. 

Merry Christmas to All!

Christmas has new meaning now that we're parents.  It's neat being on this side of the whole occasion!  Christmas was perfect this year.  My mom and Keith were here, everyone was happy and healthy (thank goodness the stomach bug swept our house last week!), and the time we spent with family was priceless.  My mom stayed at our house on Christmas Eve since Dave was working-we put out gifts and made food for Christmas day, stayed up entirely too late, and both ended up taking Benadryl at 1am to force ourselves to go to sleep..haha...Christmas morning was wonderful.  Ellie was really excited when she saw all of the gifts and proceeded to take all of the bows off of each and every gift before we started opening them. 

She liked helping to open the gifts far more than I thought she would, and got excited about each of her gifts.  She especially liked the ride-on toy that Grandma got her.  She sat on it before we even took it out of the box. 

Here are a few more pictures from the morning...

Heading out to Uncle "Poppy" Wayne and Aunt Kathy's house...

In case you're wondering...this is a carrot...

we're getting molars...

Whoops...we burnt the broccoli casserole...



There are more pictures coming from my mom's camera, but I don't have them yet.  The day was great!  Can't wait for next year!

SNOW!

After last year's unprecedented snowfall of 4+ feet, you'd think that we'd be all snowed out in these parts, but I still can't help but love the first snow of the winter!  Yes, it was only a few inches, and it did make my ride home on Thursday night no fun at all, but my little snowbunny got to play in it, which made it all worth while!



Tis' the Season!

Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely LOVE Christmas!  I love the music, the family, the decorations, and of course that feeling you get deep in your gut right around this time of year-that magical feeling that Christmas seems to bring back, even as an adult.  All of that becomes even more important now that I get to be on the parent side of it all.  I get to be the one to make that magic happen for Ellie.  I love traditions.  We started our first family Christmas tradition last year when we went to Barnes and Noble on Christmas Eve to buy our copy of The Night Before Christmas.  This year, we decided to start making ornaments for the tree.  For anyone who's interested in making some super cute, super cheap holiday ornaments, here's a great "recipe!"  

Ingredients: 

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

3/4 cup of water (give or take a little)

5-10 tsp. cinnamon (for color and scent)

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients together.  Add the water, little by litte, until a dough forms.  If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.  If it is too dry/crumbly, add a little more water.  You'll find a happy medium! 

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to stiffen up for about 30 minutes. 

On a floured surface, roll out the dough out to 1/4"-1/2" thick.  Use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes that you want.  Use a straw to punch out the hole that the top for ribbon. 

Place the cut out shapes on parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour until the ornaments are dry.  Allow them to cool. 

Once the ornaments are cool, decorate them!  We used Ellie's handprints to make Santa Claus! 

Thread ribbon through the hole and hang your ornament on your Christmas tree!

Giving Thanks

As I look back on the last year, I have such an abundance of things to be thankful for.  I thought I'd take a few minutes to list my top ten. 

10.  I am thankful that I have a secure job I enjoy and that allows me to share equally with Dave in providing for our family.  

9.  As much as I complain that we'll be stuck in our condo for a million years, I am so very thankful that I have a comfortable home to return to each night. 

8.  I'm thankful that in this tough economy, Dave and I are never late on any of our bills, and have enough extra to enjoy life. 

7.  As emotionally difficult as my miscarriage was, I am thankful that it happened.  Without that experience, I wouldn't have my angel of a daughter in my life. 

6.  My mom is my best friend in the world.  I am so thankful for the relationship that we have. 

5.  Keith has been an incredible addition to our family.  I'm not sure I really realized the full extent of my feelings towards him until Ellie was born.  Ellie has one Grandpa, and a fantastic one at that. 

4.  I'm thankful for the power that a new baby has to bring people together.  The past year has really helped me to reconnect with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Wayne.  I love them so much.   

3.  Being a mom is the most incredible challenge I've ever taken on.  Believe me, Ellie's personality will surely make motherhood a challenge :)  I'm thankful to have the opportunity to take it on!   

2.  I'm unbelievably thankful for my husband.  He's been my rock for 9 years, my husband for 3.  I couldn't ask for a man who loves me more, who takes care of me better, who thinks of me all the time, and who puts me ahead of anything else.  I love you, Dave. 

1.  We can all guess what my #1 is.  Ellie is the joy of my life.  I hear daily what a happy little girl she is.  I hope that her feisty, happy-go-lucky personality follows her through life.  She makes me want to be a better person, and I am so thankful that I can say that I am the mother of this amazing little being. 

Take a few to think about what you're thankful for.  It's important to look at the good in your lives...