Ellie's First Christmas

Here are Ellie and Aunt Leah on Christmas Eve.

This is my new favorite family picture...taken on Christmas morning.

Here is Ellie playing with her first Nativity given to her by Nan & Pop Pop.

Ellie's favorite thing about Christmas...all the bows, boxes and wrapping paper!

Here she is taking her new wagon for a test drive.

Christmas Day at Granny & Paw's

This year we traveled to Brevard to spend Christmas with Brad's family. Thanks to the snow storm the week before we technically had a White Christmas, although no snow actually fell while we were there. We had a great time visiting with family and watching Ellie experience Christmas for the first time. I realized after the fact that since I was so busy watching her take it all in I didn't take many pictures. Thankfully Brad took some good video footage so we will be able to look back on this Christmas for a long time. Even though Ellie won't remember a thing we will always treasure our first Christmas as a family of three.

10 Months

Our little girl is now 10 months old. She continues to be more and more fun each and every day! Here are some of the new things she is doing these days:

• She is pulling up with a lot more confidence now and starting to cruise along the couch.
• She is waving now unprompted when I tell her we're going bye-bye and when she is glad to see something or someone (she waved when she saw the school bus in our neighborhood today!)
• One of her favorite activities is looking out the window in her room.
• She is feeding herself finger foods more than baby food these days and she loves it.
• She continues to love watching us do just about anything...cook, wash dishes, you name it, she's just so observant and takes everything in so intently.
• We got a push toy down from the attic about a week ago but she's not a big fan yet. She does however like to walk holding on to our hands.
• She loves to play with paper. The other day she played with some coupons contently for a good 20 minutes.
  

We are really looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year with our sweet girl. It's so hard to believe that this time last year we were anxiously preparing for her arrival and now we'll be celebrating her first birthday in a few short months!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Today we helped Ellie's Great Grandpa celebrate his 90th birthday! I truly believe the Lord has honored him with a long life because of his faithfulness to Him. My grandpa is a man who loves the Lord and all of those around him. He has talked for years about living to be 90 and it has finally happened. Now his goal is to reach 100 years old! We love you, Grandpa!

Ellie and the Red Balloon

Last week while we were at the grocery store the cashier saw Ellie smiling at a balloon at the register and gave her one. Let me just say that the balloon was a big hit! She was so cute and for a few days anywhere Ellie crawled she pulled her red balloon right along with her.

Also, here is Ellie in her diaper box "car" that we have been pushing her around the house in. She fits perfectly with room for a few toys. She doesn't get really excited about it, but she doesn't protest either. I think the verdict is still out.

Ellie + Hat = Cute

A visit with Anna & Charley

Last Tuesday night while Brad and Shawn were at the Duke game Ellie and I had a chance to hang out with Anna & Charley. Shawn, Anna, & Charley were visiting from Maryland and we were excited to meet each other's little girls for the first time. Charley is about a month and a half younger than Ellie and it was fun to see them interact. Every time Ellie is around a younger baby that is bigger than her I can't help but wonder if she's getting enough to eat. (Luckily her 9 month appt. was the next morning and the doctor eased my concerns that she is growing at a steady rate for her and is completely fine!) It was interesting to see the differences in Ellie and Charley's personalities...they are pretty much complete opposites, but they had fun together anyway. We had a nice visit and look forward to seeing them again the next time they are in town.

Early Christmas Present

About a month ago Brad and I bought Ellie's big Christmas present because it was on sale at Toys R Us. We decided to go ahead and give it to her now since she will be innundated with other new toys closer to Christmas. She really loves pushing all of the buttons and is really enjoying it so far.

9 Months Old

15.5 pounds

26 3/4 inches

It is crazy to me that Ellie is already 9 months old! This month she has really begun to take off and is now officially crawling! It has been fun to watch her slowly start exploring the house on her own, although she almost always stays as close to her mama as possible. She is getting more confident in her ability to pull up, but is pretty cautious still. We are currently working on teaching her to sit down from standing and she is getting better slowly but surely. She is such a sweet little girl but she has really begun to show a little bit of an attitude this month. It often happens when she can't get something she wants or we take away something she shouldn't be playing with. She continues to be a social butterfly, giving lots of smiles to mostly anyone who will engage her. She loves books with flaps (this usually keeps her entertained for a while), leaves, peek-a-boo, and her "lamby" that we keep in her crib.

Ellie is still nursing 4 times a day and is eating more and more table foods. Her favorites so far are bananas, pears, toast, and goldfish. The other day she picked up a whole handful of cheerios and shoved them in her mouth. Needless to say we are working on just picking up one or two at a time! She is still napping for 1-1&1/2 hours twice a day and sleeping for around 11-12 hours at night. She may be small, but she is full of life and energy!

Long Week

Whew! It's been a long week. Ellie has been sick with her first full blown cold this week and it has been tiring! Wednesday was the worst, she couldn't breathe out of her nose at all and couldn't suck her thumb so she just didn't nap ALL DAY! We took her to the doctor and luckily her ears looked clear. Nights have been rough as a result also and I am praying that she will go back to sleeping well now that she can breathe again. Oh yeah, and I'm the only one she wants to comfort her...with Brad she usually just screams louder. I must admit it's a little sweet, but not so much at 12:00 am. On top of that she's not nursing well either and I am thinking it may be time to wean to formula. Part of it has been the cold but she started having issues before she got sick. The problem is she doesn't like formula...at least she won't take it from me. Ugh! Luckily today is Friday and Ellie's grandparents are coming for a visit this weekend so I should get a little break. Ellie is feeling better and I realize that if a bad week means less sleep, a stuffy baby, and nursing issues than we truly are richly blessed.

Little Ladybug

Happy Halloween!

Eating Like a Big Girl

Ellie enjoying a pumpkin pancake

Lately we have begun expanding Ellie's diet with more finger foods. She is doing pretty well, although she definitely still prefers her baby food most of the time. So far some of her favorites have been plain toast, Ritz Crackers & Goldfish (the graham cracker kind). She loves bananas, but hates the slimy texture so most often than not I end up putting it in the mesh feeder for her to finish off. The other day for lunch I gave her tiny pieces of a chicken tender and cooked carrots. She gummed the soft chicken, but wouldn't swallow it...I guess she's used to eating things that mostly dissolve in her mouth. It seems like it will take a little while before she gets used to swallowing things like that. Monday night we made pumpkin pancakes and I gave Ellie some on Tuesday morning. She ate the whole thing up (it was small)!


I will say that this has been and will continue to be a somewhat scary process for me. I have worked with many infants just learning how to eat and swallow finger foods, but it is so different when it's your own child! I will be thankful when this transition is over and I won't have to watch her so much.

8 Months

It's hard to believe that Ellie turned 8 months old on Sunday. She continues to grow like a little weed and now weighs 16.5 pds (according to the scale at the fair). This month she has learned so much and we are having fun playing together as Ellie becomes more mobile. We are in full baby-proofing mode now as Ellie has just started scooting over the past few days as well. This month Ellie also started eating puffs and wagon wheels and she is loving feeding herself. She is still nursing 4 times a day, although she would rather be playing. One thing I love is how she has learned to turn the pages when we read together...so sweet! Ellie is also talking pretty constantly now. Her favorite sounds to make are blah, blah, blah. I keep on encouraging Ma, Ma, but nothing yet! She is such a fun little girl and so full of energy. We are loving every second of being her parents!

Here she is looking sporty in the Puma outfit that her Aunt Leah gave her.

One of Ellie's favorite activities is pulling all her socks out of the bin.

Here she is practicing her crawling...we're in trouble now!

One Tooth Wonder

Ellie's first tooth finally popped through about 3 weeks ago and I finally got a good picture of it yesterday. Here it is...

It officially feels like fall.

Today Brad, Ellie and I went to pick out some pumpkins. We got a large one for us and two small ones for Ellie (because I couldn't decide which I liked better). I had visions of getting some great pictures of Ellie amongst all the pumpkins while we were there, but it just didn't happen. It turns out our little "pumpkin" wasn't in one of the best moods so we took a few pictures, picked out our pumpkins and headed home. On our way, we stopped by a local nursery and picked up a few mums for our front porch. In my mind nothing says fall is here like pumpkins and mums...oh, and falling leaves, of course!

Ellie Eating Puffs

Ellie has begun eating a few finger foods over the last few weeks and she is loving it! This week I added pieces of banana and crackers to the list. It looks like Ellie is following in her parents footsteps...so far she loves to eat!

Ellie Pulling Up

Pine Knoll Shores 2009

Ellie asked me if she could tell everyone about her experience at the beach this week...

I loved it when my dad did this...

But, I was not so sure about the water this time.
In fact, when my mom put my feet in the ocean I was not a happy camper.

The water was too cold and it scared me!

I didn't like putting my feet in the sand either...it felt weird.

But, I did love sitting in this tiny chair,

and hanging out with all of my older cousins. Here I am with Grant.

They were all so sweet to me and I loved watching them. I can't wait until next year when I can run around with everybody!

Under the Sea

mesmorized by the sea turtles

Ellie checking out the alligator's mouth

Here we are learning about the Horseshoe Crab

A good shot of the Sand Tiger Shark

Here she is wondering why the otters are sleeping

Ellie may be like her Aunt Leah...she loved the snakes.

She really wanted to get her hands on this rattlesnake

My two favorite people

Our little crab

We have been enjoying our time at the beach this week together as a family. The weather has been better that we had expected and we are loving every minute of it. Today we took Ellie to the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium. It was so fun to see her looking at all kinds of different animals for the very first time. We had a nice trip and are already looking forward to taking her back again next year.

7 Months

Lately Ellie has been growing like a little weed. She has mastered the art of sitting up and looks like such a big girl sitting on the floor playing with her toys. One of her favorite things to do these days is to throw her toys. Ellie is now working on pulling herself up into a standing position. She has done it a few times in her bathtub and on her changing table. It looks like we will be lowering her crib in the very near future just to be on the safe side. She has been on her hands and knees a little bit, but her little arms just aren't strong enough to support her weight for very long yet. I am not rushing the crawling stage so this is fine with me!

Ellie is still eating well and is loving her baby food. I have recently started giving her fruit puffs and she is getting good at putting them in her mouth. She is still nursing 4 times a day and eating 3 meals. She is napping twice a day 1-1 & 1/2 hours. Ellie has definitely began to show a preference for her mama, especially at bedtime. When I am not at home to put her down (every Tues. night for Bible study) she won't go down with out letting her daddy know she is not happy. Brad has tried everything, but usually has to resort to giving her a few ounces of breast milk to calm her down so she'll go to sleep. I am thankful for a sweet husband who in spite of this encourages me to go out for some "me time."

Swinging

This morning I took Ellie to our neighborhood playground to see if she was big enough to swing. She loved every second of it! I am so glad I thought to bring my camera with me..these pictures are so sweet!

Wow! I love this!

She kept sticking out her tongue...so funny!