Ellie and Maggie's World

A Bug Story

2009-01-13T22:22:00.003-05:00

Ellie loves tiny things, whether they be creatures or just small items. She sees them and her voice gets very high pitched and sweet as she scoops it into her cupped hands and croons lovingly "oooh, you're/it is such a tiny little ___________ <---you fill in the blank"

Anyway, I was giving her a quick shower tonight instead of a bath and as she stepped into the tub we noticed a very tiny beetle bug of some type. She immediately scooped it up and told me it was just a tiny little baby bug and wanted to know if she could keep it. I told her we could put it into a cup to look at it after her bath. She excitedly talked about her baby bug throughout her shower and could not wait to be done to be with her bug again. She got out and I told her I thought we needed to get the baby bug outside so she could find her mommy. She insisted that it was not a baby but a mommy bug who had baby bugs and a mommy and daddy and family all outside waiting to find her. I let her carry it around for a little while and she stared and stared at it and would occasionally pick it up to look closer (poor bug!) At one point she said to me with fear and on the edge of crying "mommy, I think my bug is dead!" I assured her it was not and she looked in and said rather panicky, "mommy, I think it is missing some leg-is" I somehow got the little bugger to move to reassure her and told her I would take a picture of her and her bug before letting it go. So we took a photo which is below and you can see how truly proud she is of her bug (it's the larger black speck in the bottom of the cup, the tiny black speck is some of the unfortunate missing leg-is!) We then carried it to the door where we let it go into the dark, frigid night. She was so proud and happy with herself and I was proud of her too for being so good to our littlest creatures. And although the poor little bug had a rather rough ending to it's life and is probably none to happy to be outside tonight after having legs go missing-she meant well and I'm giving her credit for that!

Walk this Way!

2008-12-09T15:10:00.006-05:00

So Miss Maggie has been a busy little thing! We thought Ellie was an active baby but Maggie has given her big sister a run for the money. She never sits still! She has been crawling forever and has been cruising for awhile now too so we've been waiting for her to walk for at least a month and she has finally found her feet! She's definitely a beginner at this point but over the weekend she started walking more than crawling so she's pretty much got it and prefers it over other modes of getting around. Since she is still so tiny (but definitely not skinny if you have held her you would know!) we are hearing the all too familiar comments from strangers about her size and ability and questions about her age and whether she was a preemie. We answered those a million times about Ellie and seems like they just stopped (although we do get them every now and then still about Ellie) and now it's begun again for little Miss Maggie. She is the sweetest little baby around and has the best personality. She is so laid-back and just goes with the flow and is definitely not high maintenance. We thought similar thoughts about Ellie but now realize how much a diva Ellie was compared to Maggie. We drag her everywhere and she is quite happy. She loves her big sister and laughs and laughs at everything she does. She does have a temper and if you happen to make her mad she will let you know in no uncertain terms that she is not happy but most of the time she is just a joy and we love her to pieces! Enjoy a few cute photos of Mags and some videos too. (I'll have to do the videos later, it's not working at the moment . . . stay tuned!)

Sister Act

First Steps (not the actual first ones but some of the first!)

Maggie's tricks

Potty Time!

2008-12-09T14:22:00.003-05:00

Well despite the laziness and non-motivation of her parents, Ellie if for the most part potty trained. We are excited for her but must admit that the newly potty-trained stage is hard. She goes days without accidents but then will out of the blue pee all over everything. School requires we have 6 pairs of panties and at least one complete change of clothing on their hooks at all times, including a pair of shoes. I cannot tell you how much extra laundry this has made while she perfected her art but as far as potty-training goes she was a quick study. Brian and I are trying to feel good about this but do admit that diapers just feel easier for us. I hate public potties and have become even more grossed out trying to fit a tiny little bottom safely and cleanly on the public toilet seats. Ellie has no inhibitions and just grips onto the seat no matter where or what condition and I am trying hard not to bring her into my phobic ways so I just have to take deep breaths and be sure I help her wash her hands really well. She looks so cute in her little panties (pull-ups make up good hats!) and she is so proud of her big-girl self so we are happy for her and proud too!

Welcome Back!

2008-12-09T13:48:00.005-05:00

So obviously I've had no time to keep this up. It's on the bottom of a long list of priorities these days although I really want to keep you up to date on Ellie and Maggie. In addition to just being busy with two kids, house, husband and work I have also started working on my masters using the online program from Indiana Wesleyan University. It's nice to do it online and I'll be done by next January but it is a LOT of work and a lot of busy work that must be done everyday so needless to say it is not much fun and takes up the last remaining free minutes I had in my day. I'll try better to keep this updated and hope you will resume checking back every now and then to look for changes. Enough about me, this blog is about Maggie and Ellie!! I'll write some more later but for now here is a family pic from the Kettering tree lighting ceremony last Friday. It was FREEZING and we were only able to be out for a short time but it was pretty and the kids loved it.

Maggie needs more pictures on here!

2008-06-16T01:42:00.004-04:00

There are not enough pics of Mags on here yet so here are a few-she's so cute!!!

Quads

2008-06-16T01:14:00.003-04:00

Early in the Spring I went to a local church's kids sale and picked up a lot of great clothing and other items for the girls. While there, I found a baggie with four little rag babies in it for $2.00. They were too cute to pass up for that price and I figured Ellie would enjoy them. She LOVES these babies!!!! She quickly named them Ryan, Sarah, Perrin and Maggie. Why those names? We had just been to Chillicothe a few weeks before to visit our friends Chuck and Meva who were in town with their triplets (click here for their blog) and Ellie really enjoyed the visit. Up until this visit, all babies were Maggie only so this was a big honor to the Kennedy triplets and the funny thing is these babies still have those names and Ellie really knows who is who. These babies come along almost everywhere with us and Ellie will play with them and sing songs with them, etc. My favorite thing is that she attaches their little hands (they have Velcro on them) and plays Ring a Round the Rosie with them. Too cute! Lately Ellie has been sharing these babies with Maggie and we will often find Mags with a stack of babies all over her as Ellie has "shared" them with her.

With all this playing and travels, these little ones get dirty so recently when we went to the laundry mat to do a lot of loads at once we stuck them in with the laundry. Elie found it hilarious to see her babies in flipping around in the little "windows." I took these photos because I thought they were so funny. If you look in the first window you will see that the Ryan baby (purple pants) is mooning us! In the second photo I had taken the laundry out of the dryer and was wheeling it to the folding table when I noticed that Perrin was trying to escape, rock-climber style, out of the basket while poor Ryan had lost her purple pants entirely as it modestly covering up her "privates!" You may not find it as amusing as I did but I had to share it anyways!

May

2008-06-16T00:51:00.003-04:00

We've been doing lots of fun things since the weather has gotten nicer and Maggie has become a little more portable! Here are few highlights:

We've got season passes to Kings Island this year and took both of the girls for the first time! Ellie is still too short for most of the kiddie rides but she eagerly rode the ones she could ride over and over again. She as no fear this kid! She's so close to being 32 inches, the "magic" height in kiddie land!!

My aunt Tina was married to her longtime boyfriend Ken over Memorial Day weekend and the wedding was held at my Aunt Terry's beautiful historic home in Tipp City. Here's Ellie on the porch.

A dear old friend Anne Royer came to visit for an evening and ended up staying the night due to several nasty storms and two tornado warnings! She had never met our girls and Ellie was smitten by her new friend Anne. Here's Mags enjohying a meal with Anne.

That Day in May is a annual event in Oakwood, the community we are one block away from. They have a parade and festival that we have never been home for until this year. Ellie LOVED the parade once she realized people were throwing her CANDY!!! She got quite the stash and really enjoyed her first parade experience. We then went to the festival and she really enjoyed riding a few little rides and sitting inside the CareFlight helicopter. A fun little festival and especially nice as it was only a few blocks away!

Old Fashioned Fun

2008-06-16T00:27:00.006-04:00

Last Sunday was the Clodbuster's tournament at Carillon Park. It was our first tournament at the new place and it turned out great. In honor of hosting the tournament, family members of date players were asked to dress up in our old-fashioned duds for the day. I was excited to dress all of us up for the first time this season but as always it was a million degrees on Sunday with tons of humidity-perfect for donning layers of modest clothing! Luckily the girls' dresses are short sleeved and lightweight so they fared pretty well in the heat. Ellie was running around so she was pink cheeked and a curly headed-sweaty mess but it only made her look even more adorable than usual! She honestly looked great in her outfit which I had intended to make but found the parts and pieces at various used clothing stores. Several cranks (fans) and photographers took her picture, I'll share some great ones I got too. The weather kept us from staying all day but we did enjoy our first official outing of dressed up base ball for the season. Check out the Clodbuster schedule here for more information about our team and this season's schedule!

Quick Update

2008-06-16T00:13:00.004-04:00

Hello! Summer is officially here (for teachers, not by calendar!) and Maggie and I are getting to know each other again as we spend our days together now. She is so much fun now as she is very smiley and happy and "talks" to me. She's very interested in the world now and loves strangers and family members and will smile and talk and allow them to hold her but she is definitely a mama's girl and would prefer me to hold her while checking everyone out. She is especially fond of her big sister and follows her every move!! She is rolling over now from tummy to back and back to tummy consistently and can grab things deliberately although she is still not super coordinated with this. We should be having lots of fun this summer together and will get some alone time too since Ellie will still be attending school at least part-time this summer to be with her beloved friends. We are doing well, just very busy and still juggling the change of two kiddos in the household. I'll update more later but wanted to get some fun pictures out while I had a chance. Enjoy!!

First Haircut

2008-05-05T22:02:00.006-04:00

Ellie got her first haircut this past Saturday! She has been bald forever but her hair has finally started growing really well and she was starting to look like a "ragamuffin" no matter how often we brushed her hair! She has beautiful curls in the back too but sometimes they straighten up and just hang there which makes her look like she has a mullet!! She has gone with both Brian and I to get our hair cut and both times our respective hairdressers gave her "pretend" haircuts. Mainly just washing or wetting her hair and then putting her in the chair while they blow-dried and combed it. She loved it though so we knew she wouldn't be scared when it happened for real. We took her to our local "Kiddie Kuts" place for the first haircut to make it more fun and special. She picked a race car to sit in and of course choose her favorite "Finding Nemo" to watch on the little t.v. at her station. She could have cared less what they were doing to her hair, she just wanted the lady out of her view of the movie! Notice the "TV stare" look on her face while she is getting her hair done!! It turned out nice-she still has her curls and her hair looks cute even when it isn't brushed. Such a big girl!! I put the pictures in chronological order: a few before, some during and the two on the bottom are after. So pretty!!!

2

2008-05-05T16:55:00.006-04:00

Ellie is 2 years old!! I can hardly believe it. They always say time flies and it is so true. All those cliche's about children growing up seem to be. I can remember when . . .

Ellie was so excited about being two. She's really been into birthday's lately and we've had many to celebrate. She especially loves watching her first birthday video from this blog and we watch it over and over again with her smiling so big and clapping at the end each time. We've also been working on getting her to show her age with her fingers. At first we had to do it for her but she had it down pat by the time her actual birthday came about and will proudly show anyone who asks her how old she is.

We had a casual, low-key birthday. She took cupcakes, treat bags and Finding Nemo hats/blowers to school to share with her friends and then after school we met some family members at our favorite neighborhood park for pizza and cake. It was nice to just visit and let the kiddos play to their hearts content. The weather was just perfect and we stayed until dark, Ellie playing in the sandbox with some new friends she had made that evening. A perfect day to celebrate our precious girl!

Enjoy the photos and video!

Growing Peanuts

2008-03-27T16:24:00.007-04:00

Well it's been a loooooong three weeks since we figured out that Maggie was losing weight! As I said before, once we went to see the lactation consultant and figured out she wasn't sucking correctly things have been moving along pretty good. She has steadily gained each week since then. With breastfed babies, the general guideline is that they should gain 5-7 oz per week, she has been averaging 4 oz or more. I went back to our pediatrician for her weight check last Tuesday. I was so worried about this weight check in fact that I'm sad to admit that I took Maggie to the post office the night before and weighed her on their self-service scales! According to the post office scales she had gained well so I went into the weight check the next day feeling confident and happy. I had been working so hard to keep her eating good and was feeling so good about her weight gain or our improved breastfeeding. Well, despite her gains and excellent physical examination, they still were not happy wanted to send us to get blood work and urine checked. I held it together in their office but once I got to the car I was a mess. I felt like a failure and was so frustrated, stressed and even angry at the nurse practitioner and doctor. I also was a bit scared for Maggie and wondered if my intuition was failing me and maybe something WAS wrong. After having a good cry and talking to Brian and my mom, I decided to take her to get the blood work done. I hoped it would prove that she was fine and we could move on. We went that day and had it drawn. Maggie did GREAT, only cried when they put the needle in her little vein. The tech was amazing and as the other nurse held her still she got down close to her and reassured her and even KISSED her to calm her down. Kind of weird but I saw it as she just couldn't resist those adorable little cheeks and if I had been in her place I would have done the same thing! Her blood work came back the next day and was okay. Her liver enzymes were the only thing that showed up abnormal, they were a bit high and on the phone they told me they didn't know what that meant (why tell me then???) but that they had referred Maggie to a GI specialist at Children's Hospital to check her out. I was a bit panicked at this point, wondering what high liver enzymes could mean and as many of you know when you google something medical it can get ugly and even scarier so I called my dear friend Meva . Meva is a P.A. and she helped calm me down with her medical knowledge and opinions and also as a friend and mom. So, we went last Friday to see Dr. Mezoff at Children's Hospital. I'll admit, it was rather scary and surreal to be taking MY child to the hospital for the unknown. The appointment went very well though. Dr. Mezoff was VERY GOOD and very calming, reassuring and caring towards Maggie and me. He made sure I understood everything he was telling me and asked me over and over again if I had any questions. His opinion was that Maggie, while not gaining great, was still gaining well and that overall she looked very healthy and alert. He said the elevated liver enzymes were high, but not high enough to cause him to think there was a real problem. His thoughts were that they were up due to her early jaundice and previous weight loss. He was very encouraged that she had gained steadily since fixing her latch and that likely her liver enzymes would continue to decrease as the weeks went by. He ordered an ultrasound of her liver, just to be careful and wanted us to come back for weight checks and more blood work to make sure the numbers continued to decrease. I left his office feeling so good again and with a renewed calm and confidence! We had the ultrasound this past Monday and again, Maggie did great. The hardest part was the four hour fasting prior to the scan. She was so hungry and mad that I wasn't feeding her-poor baby! We got the results in the mail yesterday that all was fine with her ultrasound-more good news! Today we went for her weight check at Dr. Mezoff's office and Miss Maggie was a hefty 8 lbs exactly!! She was 7lbs, 10 oz last week so that is a great gain!!! I'm happy that all seems to be going well and that my intuition has proved good. It is still a struggle though as Maggie just isn't a super eater but I WANT to keep breastfeeding her and know it's best for her so the stubborn part of me will not quit. Please keep us in your thoughts or prayers that Maggie will continue to grow bigger and that breastfeeding will get easier for the two of us. It's important to me and Maggie I think.

Other good news, Maggie is now smiling!!! It's so cute and makes it all so much better!! She is also holding her head up very straight and looking all around. People are stopping me all the time now to ask how old she is since they can't believe such a tiny baby is so alert and strong. I should be used to this I guess since this is exactly what happened with Ellie too. Everyone predicted Brian and I would have huge, fat, hairy babies and instead we seem to create tiny, petite bald peanuts! I love my peanuts!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

2008-03-17T23:49:00.003-04:00

Fun in the Snow!

2008-03-11T23:58:00.003-04:00

Too small

2008-03-05T21:25:00.007-05:00

Maggie has struggled with breastfeeding from the get-go. It didn't help that she was put under the bili-lights for two days after she was born (for her jaundice) so we've been struggling. I had been feeling more and more worried about her eating/feeding and small size lately and finally went with my gut and called the paediatrician from their parking lot to see if I could come in for a weight check. (I had been out running errands and just decided to stop) I'm so glad I did-she was only 6lb, 15 oz which was down from her previous gain back to her birth weight a week ago! I immediately felt horrible and started to cry. I was hoping to go in, be reassured that all was well and leave sheepishly with a pat on my back as a "worried new mommy." So, not the best news but at least my mama's instinct was working and now we are working on plumping Miss Maggie up! I met with our practice's nurse practitioner Deb who is wonderful. She was very reassuring and very pro-breastfeeding and not only gave sound medical advice from her end but strongly encouraged me to call the lactation consultants at the hospital to get some extra help. We did give Maggie some formula in the office and they gave me samples to take home to supplement my feedings on the breast. I used them a few times but then read more online about pumping and supplementing with my own milk instead, so we have been doing that and leaving the formula as only a last resort. So now I feed her until she seems done, then I pump and give her 1-2 oz of expressed milk to "top her off" and make sure I am giving her countable amounts. This has not been easy as she feeds 30-45 minutes on the breast, then I have to pump and then it seems like it's time to start the whole process all over again.

I went to the lactation consultant's office on Wednesday and they were wonderful! Right away they could tell that Maggie wasn't latching on fully. She was only nursing on the tip which made her work very hard and use a lot of energy to get the milk and because of this she was also only getting the "skim" milk and not the good fatty milk. She showed me how to make her latch on correctly and right away we heard her gulping and swallowing like crazy. She was fighting me on this "new way" but after a few days of making her do it the new way, she is latching on correctly on her own most of the time. I was relieved to find a reason for her inefficient eating correctly since Wednesday afternoon. She also looks and acts much better.
We went again on Friday for another weight check and she had only gained 2 oz since Monday, they weren't very happy with that but I feel okay about it as we really only had been eating but want to wait until our next weight check on Tuesday, March 11 before making any orders for additional tests. Brian and I have talked about it and as long as she has gained so more we will wait another week before consenting to invasive testing. My gut is saying that she is okay although I do have moments of wavering on this. I am putting a lot of pressure on myself since I am the one providing the food for her. I am stubborn and want her to get the best which is why I am not giving up on the breastfeeding. I am nervous about tomorrow and hope and pray she has gained some sufficient weight to make them happy and me too!!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!! I'll let you know what we find out tomorrow and will add some more photos and updates too.

*******UPDATE******

She was 7.1 Friday and today (Monday) was 7.4 so that is good! They are still being cautious but the doctor said she looks healthy and made decent gains so she is giving us another week before making a recommendation for tests. Keep up the good work Maggie!

Baby Baby

2008-02-27T22:21:00.007-05:00

We are slowly settling into routine with two kiddos. The hardest part we are finding is that Brian and I were so used to "tag-team" type parenting with Ellie which allowed one of us to have a break or rest or get extra sleep, etc. Now, there are no breaks since each of us usually has a kid in our arms to attend to. Maggie is at the stage now where all she wants to do is be held most of the day. I remember this time with Ellie and I'm so glad I held her as much as I did since these days it's hard to hold her in your arms more than a minute or so before she's ready to be down and doing her thing. While this time will be over before I can blink, I must say that in the midst of it all it is a bit tiresome. I've become reacquainted with doing things again with one hand and am again using my collection of baby carriers to allow myself some free hands.

Ellie is doing great and has eagerly accepted the role of big sister. She LOVES baby Maggie and wants to kiss her and hold her all the time. When I pick her up at school now and have Maggie with me, she runs over to us, totally ignoring me, and sticks her face straight into Maggie's car seat to give her a kiss and tell her hello. She is quick to find a paci when Maggie cries and tries to force it into her mouth while telling her "don't cry Maggie!"

One of the funniest things that Ellie is doing during this adjustment is that she asks to do many things that baby Maggie is doing. It's classic, but still fun to see! I've been giving Maggie sponge baths on a towel in the bathroom and one Saturday Ellie was there to watch and after I was finished, she wanted me to take off her clothes and give her a bath too. She had to lay on the towel and I had to use the bowl and washcloth just like I did for Maggie. Tonight we gave Maggie her first ever bathtub bath and I asked Ellie to help. I knew Ellie would want to get in the big tub too so I filled it up along with Maggie's tub. Ellie helped Mommy and kept telling Maggie "good job" for not crying. Once I handed Maggie over to Daddy, Ellie laid down in Maggie's tub and insisted that I give her a bath just like Maggie! Adorable! Other then that, she often takes one of Maggie's paci's and pops it in her mouth-note this is the child who almost never used a paci in the first place-she looks so funny with it in her mouth! Another thing Ellie has asked to do a few times is to breastfeed. I was prepared for this as really she only weaned 3-4 months ago herself. So the last two times she has asked, she has laid across my lap on the boppy pillow and I've let her try to nurse. The funny thing is that she really doesn't remember how to nurse anymore but she tries anyway. Apparently, she no longer cares for the taste of mommy milk and has emphatically shared that "booby milk is yucky!"

All in all we are sleepy but very happy and blessed by our two girls. Enjoy this last picture-it's cute even if we look a little rough around the edges!

Big Sister Ellie!

2008-02-11T13:17:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, February 2, 2008 at 3:44 pm, Ellie became a big sister to Margaret Amelia. Maggie weighed 7lbs, 4 oz and was 21 inches long (although her pediatrician disagrees with these stats!) Maggie looks somewhat like her big sister but mostly just looks like Maggie right now. She has dark hair and her eyes have blue in them so we might have a blue-eyed girl! Ellie's eyes were very dark from the beginning and have stayed that way. So far, Maggie is a very easy baby. She's so easy in fact that she worries me a bit because she has slept most the night a few nights without waking me to eat and that is not normal for a breast-fed baby! Ellie seems to be taking it all in stride much like Brian and suspected. She is very curious about Maggie and likes to poke her in the eye and kiss her and always wants to know where baby Maggie is. Ellie is fighting a yucky virus this week which has been hard as we are trying to keep her from being "too close" to Maggie but are trying to encourage her to do as much with her as she wants. We hope Maggie stays strong and can avoid this bug exposure!!

It's been forever since I've updated this and I feel bad about it. I hope to do better but as I have never had two babies before I am not sure I'll still be able to keep up with it. I figure I can at least post some photos if nothing else-that doesn't take too long!

Ellie is now 21 months old and is just as delightful as ever. Brian and I just can't imagine her getting any cuter. She has been talking forever it seems and now speaks in at least 4 word sentences. She just recently started using the word "I" instead of Ellie when referring to herself which sounds so grown-up! It used to be "Ellie wants a piece of candy" and now it's "I want a piece of candy." Speaking of candy, she has become quite the candy fiend lately and it's often the first thing she asks for in the morning upon waking. I think we will blame this one on her Nana who always seems to have candy floating around in her purse! She now comes and asks us for candy, "Just one candy" she will say with her one finger up by her cheek and really emphasizing the word "ONE"-how can anyone resist that???!! Despite this interest in candy she still remains our little peanut and weighs 21 1/2 lbs right now. I'm not sure how tall she is but I do know she has grown as many clothes that would still fit her everywhere else are too short for her. Where she got the skinny genes we don't know!!

Ellie's other big news right now is that she is has taken quite an interest in using the potty! She is now in the class at school that introduces and eventually helps the kids become potty trained. They don't move up to the next class until they are potty-trained so the kids stay in this class the longest. It is divided up into two groups, one for the younger and the other for the older ones. Ellie and her friends are the newest members of this class and one thing they start having them do early on is they sit on the potty and try when they go for a diaper change. Brian and I are so grateful for this and figured we would be ready to work with her this summer on becoming fully trained. Ellie has had other ideas, she has started asking us to use the potty or telling us that she has to poopy before she goes. She also has become quite obsessed with a book we have about using the potty so we decided to humor her and bought her a tiny pink beginner Bjorn potty (the regular size one was too big for her little behind!) She LOVES this pink potty and carries it around the house to wherever we are hanging out and will ask us to take off her clothes (which means EVERYTHING, you can't even sit with socks on apparently!) So far she has pooped and peed in the potty for us once. Brian and I were so excited and cheered her on but both times she was scared and close to tears-she doesn't seem to like the "yucky stuff in her potty" and want me clean it right away. So, she's by no means close to being potty-trained right now and while we are not encouraging her too much right now we do listen to her and let her sit whenever she tells us she needs to. She may just potty-train herself despite her parents' efforts!

Well, Miss Maggie has let me know that she would like to have a little lunch so I will post this and be happy for the time being. Let me know if you have anything you want to see picture wise on here or news you would like to hear about.

Exciting News!

2007-08-14T08:30:00.000-04:00

Ellie would like to announce that she is gonna be a big sister!! Mommy is due on Valentine's Day and has just entered the second trimester! We will not be finding out the sex until birth (just like we did with Ellie!) We are excited and think Ellie will be a FANTASTIC big sister!!

Eleanor and Honest Abe

2007-07-27T00:25:00.000-04:00

Every summer we travel to Akron for the Akron Cup tournament with vintage base ball on the ground of Stan Hywet Hall. As always, president Lincoln attends the festivities and last summer we had Ellie's picture taken with him. I hope to continue this tradition every year although Ellie was a little unsure about her meeting this year!

Last summer:

This summer:

Summertime Slackers

2007-07-26T23:25:00.000-04:00

Well, as several people have recently reminded me, I have been a slacker with Ellie's blog. It's summer and besides truly being busy at the beginning of the summer with a HUGE time-consuming commitment I undertook, we have been busy traveling and just hanging out enjoying those long, hot summer days! Ellie has gone to "half-time" daycare this summer so that mommy can spend extra time with her while she's off for the summer but then she also stays used to going to school and the routines there too. Frankly, she loves school right now and they do so much that I think she gets bored staying home with me some days!

Ellie turned 15 months old last weekend and is becoming more fun everyday. She runs, she does things purposefully silly to make us laugh, is talking up a storm and repeating most anything we ask of her and understands most everything we say to her. It's so awesome and Brian and I are enjoying this fun stage! She now has 6 teeth and so far they have all come in in pairs of two at the exact same time! She has four on the top and two on the bottom. She continues to be very interested in breastfeeding still although if busy enough she will forget about it until she gets sleepy. I'm okay letting her wean when she wants, so we'll keep going until she let's me know she's ready. She remains a little peanut, weighting 18lbs, 4 oz last week when I weighed her at my doctor's appointment. So, small but definitely healthy and progressing well!

I think I'll try to get more photos in the next couple of entries and not worry so much about the words that go with it. Enjoy the pictures of some of Ellie's summertime antics!

Cutie Pie!!!

2007-05-28T22:51:00.001-04:00

Along with spaghetti, Ellie apparently likes pie . . . lemon meringue to be exact! She found our nearly empty pie pan and went to town helping herself to the leftovers. I especially like the licking the pan shot!!

Spaghetti

2007-05-26T15:06:00.000-04:00

Recently Brian fixed spaghetti for dinner. I ran out to do a quick errand while dinner was still cooking and when I returned I found Ellie enjoying a plate of spaghetti . . . in more ways then one! Enjoy the pictures and videos!!

Spaghetti Monster, part I

Spaghetti Monster, part II

Birthday Girl

2007-05-20T23:25:00.000-04:00

So, it's only been a month since her birthday and I'm just now getting photos up. Beware, there are lots of pictures in this post. Ellie had a great and very busy birthday weekend. For starters the weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect all weekend long. It was sunny and warm, but not too warm

Friday, Daddy finally got to take his daughter to her first Cincinnati Reds game. Ellie has been to a lot of ball games in her life already with cousin Joey's t-ball, mommy and daddy's vintage base ball and the Dayton Dragons, but I think she was a little overwhelmed with her first major league game. She didn't cry, but she clung to me and didn't let go while we were in the stands. She just looked wide-eyed around her at all the people. When the crowed roared and clapped, she would look around and start clapping too. It was cute! After a while though mommy, cousin Joey (who also came with us) and Ellie went to the courtyard area of the park to play on the jungle gym and check out the interactive exhibits. While nursing, the Reds got a home run that sent fireworks into the air. Ellie never stopped nursing but turned her eyes to watch them above her head-dinner and a show!! Ellie also got her second Reds shirt (the first was last summer even though she never went to a game) a black Adam Dunn shirt to match mommy! Here are a few photos from the game.

Saturday we started the day having and early lunch with our friends Jolie and Lily who were visiting from Michigan. Jolie is a long time friend of mine from camp and Lily is her daughter who is just a few months older then Ellie. It was fun to catch up and see each other as our last visit with them was in August.Here's a picture of all of us after our meal.

Next we went to watch cousin Joey's first t-ball game of the season, his opening day. Last year Ellie arrived 5 hours before his opening day parade, just in time for Aunt Amy and everyone else to get home and watch-wasn't that nice of her!! Ellie enjoyed being outside and playing with Emma and Great-Grandma and the rest of the family who came to watch Joey play. Afterward we had to stop and get some ice cream of course!

Sunday was the BIG DAY! Ellie's first birthday. Ellie was born at 4:00 am on April 22nd. When Brian was little, his parents would take a picture of each of the kids at the exact time of their birth. Brian and I thought that would be fun, but we never bargained for a middle of the night baby and even though we set our alarm with good intentions, I'm sad to report we did not get a picture of Ellie at her birth time, although we did get one when she first woke up. Maybe next year!!!

Ellie's birthday party was held at Aunt Amy's house. She has more room for all of us there. Ellie was lucky to have great-grandparents, grandparents, great aunts/uncles, aunt/uncle, cousins, and family friend Uncle Peach there to celebrate with her. She did as I predicted she would with the cake. She poked at it a bit but overall didn't care for her hands being covered in icing and just wanted mommy to wipe them off. I don't think she appreciated everyone staring right at her either. We didn't get a lot of pictures of the cake-eating as we were too busy enjoying watching her. Here are a few videos to enjoy also.

Happy Birthday to You

Cake?

She got lots of fun presents and overall just enjoyed running around inside and outside with her cousins and everyone she loves so much. It was a great weekend full of all the things we enjoy the most-family and friends, baseball, cake and ice cream! The year went by quicker than we thought and we can't imagine our lives without our beautiful baby girl. We love you Ellie!!

The D Word

2007-04-18T18:34:00.000-04:00

"Sliding into first and your pants begin to burst . . . " You know how the song goes, right?! That might as well have become our theme song here in the world of Ellie! We just spent the last three weeks dealing with the nasty rotavirus, which for Ellie meant a slight fever and LOTS of diarrhea. She had it for a week, was well for a week, and got it again for another entire week. The entire process was messy and inconvenient as she couldn't attend daycare, but through it all you would have never really known she was sick at all if it weren't for her bottom. She was as happy as could be and enjoyed spending extra time at home with mommy, daddy, Grandma and Grandpa, and Nana who all took turns caring for her. I'm glad to say all is well again.

In the midst of the nasty virus, Ellie started in her new class at school. She is just blossoming in there as she has been opened up to so many new and exciting activities. Her teacher is great, a younger gal named Miss Amanda and Ellie has taken to her right away. We already have quite the collection of art projects and paintings as they do one every day in her class. She LOVES sitting at the table in her own little chair to eat too. I think her favorite thing in the new class however is the outside play time. When I arrive to pick her up, her class is out on the playground. It's so weird to see her out there climbing on the equipment and playing outside like a big girl! Because she loves it so much, it's hard to get her to leave so we usually spend 20-30 minutes playing together on the playground before I drag her off crying. She is doing great though and it's fun to hear the big kids and teachers call her by name now and tell her goodbye. We are just so blessed to have such a great place to take her everyday!

Easter came in the midst of nasty cold weather and snowflakes so Ellie wasn't too keen on the two or three Easter Egg hunts we dragged her to. I thought she would love to pick up the pretty eggs off the ground, but instead she just stood there looking at them and pointing at them, afraid to pick them up and then cried. Aunt Amy and I tried to get her to see the fun in it but she wanted nothing of the eggs or the giant Easter Bunny running around. Her cousins however did enjoy the hunts and Joey was lucky enough to find the grand prize egg which won him a brand new bike at the Easter Egg Hunt we went to on his birthday! What a special 6th birthday!!

Last weekend mommy had a meeting in Cleveland so we took a family trip there and stayed with Aunt Renee and her family for the weekend. Ellie enjoyed playing with her big cousins Sarah, Kristen and Evan and especially loved their big dog Tucker. Their stairs and piano were also a great source of fun and adventure as she hasn't had a lot of experience with either before. The weekend was too short but luckily it isn't too far away so we can visit again soon.

Sunday is Ellie's first birthday and I can hardly believe it! I can still remember almost every detail of the day she was born. Stay tuned soon for lots of fun birthday pictures. Here are a few more videos:

*Self-Awareness

*Perseverance

*Kissing Cousins

And We're Off . . .

2007-03-25T01:21:00.000-04:00

Wow! A lot has happened since our last blog entry. Ellie turned 11 months old last Thursday and decided it was finally time to start walking! She's been cruising since October and started taking small steps here and there a couple of weeks ago but this week, she's just walking all around! Last night we went to the mall for our usual Friday night outing with my mom, sister, Brian, Joey and Emma and the kids went to play in the new kids play place. Ellie walked around the entire time just in total bliss surrounded by all of those noisy, busy kids. People kept looking at her in amazement and asking how old she was since she is so tiny. Yes, despite her love of eating big people foods and breastfeeding a lot, she is still just a tiny thing probably still weighing 17lbs or so. I can tell that she is growing though and I think her features are starting to change and mature-our little baby will be one in just a few weeks!!! Here are two short videos of her taking some steps.

* Kitchen Escape * Toddler

Speaking of changes, Ellie will be moving up to the next room at daycare in one more week. I have been talking with her new teacher and visited her new classroom last week. She will be in a room with three other girls who are just a couple of months older then her. There are only four babies so the numbers are nice and low. They each have their own crib still but sit at a tiny table and chairs for lunch and various projects. The biggest difference in this room will be that they now have a lesson plan and set schedule. They go outside twice a day or play out in the big long hallway if the weather doesn't cooperate. They go on wagon rides outside, have an art project everyday and on Tuesday's she will start going to chapel with Pastor John. He tells stories, plays his guitar and sends them off with a hug blessing. I'm so excited for her and think she is going to have so much fun in her new big girl class.

Other than walking, she is really staring to get her personality now. She does things now to make us laugh and is purposefully (an not so purposefully) being silly. She is talking a lot, although most of it is still gibberish but now and then a few real words are popping out. Her favorite term right now is "hi da-da!" but she can say ma-ma, da-da, uh-oh, and no, no, no. Here is a video of her saying no (which we find ironic as we have been very deliberate in not using no for every little thing!) Anyway it is cute, at least for now!

Speaking of cute, Ellie has now attached herself to a lovey for the first time. She hasn't used a pacifier forever, never cared for a blankie but has fallen in love with her bear from Aunt Sharon. She picked a good lovey as he is made from extremely soft, squishy material and is super cute to boot. For a few weeks, she was desperately holding onto him when we went out of the house or when she went to school. It didn't take long for his nice pink outfit to start looking a little black and gray and I worried about what would happen if he were lost or needed a bath so I went ahead and bought two more identical bears which we now rotate often and have back-ups. Every once in a while she will see them all together and seems overwhelmed with love and affection!! Her infatuation is not as intense these days but she still prefers to have him close by and will stop, lay her head down on him and say "ahhhhh" if she passes by him while playing.

Otherwise, we are enjoying the warmer weather and being outside again. Ellie LOVES taking walks in her stroller and going to the park. She often cries when we get home and go to get her out and she will point or go to her stroller when we go by it as if to say-let's go! Spring break is the week after this coming one and hopefully we can find some fun, outside adventures to get in to! We welcome your comments and feedback!!

Spring is in the Air!

2007-03-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we got our first taste of SPRING and it was glorious! The temperatures were in the 60's, the sun was shining and everyone was out and about soaking it up! Sherry, Ellie and I were feeling the urge to get outside so we headed out on a walk to our local park. This park is actually in the affluent Oakwood neighborhood and is two blocks from our house (our neighborhood is called "Oakwood View!") Ellie had not been in her stroller since last summer and she really didn't care for it then more than 15 minutes at a time. Yesterday, she LOVED it! She sat up like a big girl, kicked her feet, smiled at everyone we passed and just looked at the world around her. I have been waiting for the day to take my own kids to this park as it is so cool. Joey and Emma have longed loved it. It has a huge sandbox; play gyms and swings for little and big kids; a picnic shelter; basketball, handball, and tennis courts; a baseball diamond; restrooms; and the coolest thing is the wading pool which is staffed with a lifegaurd in the summer! While most parks have all these things, this park is right in the middle of a little neighborhood, surrounded by houses and is contained in one block and has no parking lot. It's a fun place, close to home and a short walk away. I though Ellie would love to try out the baby swings and boy was I right! She LOVED the swings and LOVED looking around at the other kids and babies running all around her. Here's a video of her swinging.

This past week was rough as Ellie was sent home from daycare Monday with diarrhea which then continued for the rest of the week. You would have never known she was sick as she never fussed or acted cranky or tired. Brian stayed with her Monday and Tuesday and then I took my turn on Wednesday. I woke up Wednesday morning not feeling too great and it progressed quickly to full fledged, knock out illness that had me on the floor. Poor Brian had to leave work yet again to come home and take care of both of us through Thursday. Friday we were happy to all return to work and school but the daycare called again due to Ellie having goopy eyes so Brian was back home again! Ellie was cleared by the doctor and hasn't missed a beat this week. She is even more verbal, "talking" all the time and took a few steps the other night. She's an eating machine and while she still loves to nurse, she is a big fan of big people food too. She found a pack of girl scout trefoils the other night and proclaimed them good with one in each hand and a smile on her face (cookie schmootz too!)

It's almost Ellie's first birthday and we can hardly believe it! We had the pleasure of celebrating our friend Beth's birthday yesterday with a surprise birthday party at Spaghetti Warehouse-Ellie's first surprise party! A good time was had by all and Beth really was surprised. Speaking of birthdays, today Ellie has a special message for her Grandma who is out in New Jersey taking care of the triplets and Emre:

Three and a Friend

2007-03-04T00:20:00.000-05:00

I have had little time to update the blog so obviously we haven't had any snow days lately! Two weekends ago we FINALLY got to visit with Meva and Chuck and their triplets Ryan, Sarah and Perrin. This was the first time for all of us to see each others babies! We had babies everywhere and luckily Ellie was the only mobile one. The triplets are 8 months old (around 6 months adjusted age) and are all bigger then Ellie already! They can all roll over and pull themselves around and are very sociable and cute. Brian and I seemed to already have parent amnesia about that immobile stage as we kept trying to sit them up or stand them up on the floor-which of course didn't work! Ellie seemed interested in her new friends and would kiss them and pat them on their heads. Here is a video of Ellie kissing Sarah. Ellie especially enjoyed checking out her new surroundings and toys and seemed to have a knack for finding the grossest things possible to chew on such as Gus the dog's rubber duckie and Ryan's snot sucker! Ewwwww! She also showed a subtle bit of jealousy. If I held another baby on my lap, she would crawl over and climb into my lap also, right on top of the other baby!

On Sunday we took oue maiden voyage to Ikea. I LOVE Ikea and am excited that we are getting one very close to us in Spring 2008 but I had never been to one yet. Meva and Chuck live about 15 minutes from one and we decided to make a visit with all of the babies. It was a fun adventure getting four babies ready to go, including all of their gear. We all fit into the mini van quite nicely and I had the privilege of sitting in the back with all the babies. I had a very attentive, smiley, adorably cute audience for most of the trip until the babies one by one fell asleep. Here's a video of the napping car. Ikea was awesome and I had so much fun looking at all the cool things and had to restrain myself in only getting a few smaller items. Our gaggle of babies seemed to attract quite a bit of attention as we moved through the store, especially with Meva pushing her big triplet stroller. We heard the words for three and four babies in many different languages as people walked by and tried to guess whether they were triplets or quadruplets. When we were asked, we would reply "triplets and a friend!" It's amazing the questions and comments people would make, some very personal!! The babies were all very good during our excursion and all in all it was successful and enjoyable.
Our visit with the Kennedy's was great but not nearly long enough. We know there will be many trips and visits in the future as our babies become great friends just like their mommies and daddies!

If you want to read more about the triplets, visit their blog here. Below are a few more pictures from our weekend. There were too many cute ones to post them all! Enjoy!!

A Foot and Teeth

2007-02-16T00:33:00.000-05:00

Well, this week has been exciting! Monday night through Wednesday we got a foot of snow! Brian's work was closed on Tuesday and he was allowed to work from home Wednesday; Ellie's school was closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Wright State University was closed Tuesday and Wednesday so Sherry was home, and I haven't had school this week since Monday (it's Thursday night now!) That meant that for two days our whole family was snug as bugs in our house, no one leaving to go anywhere which was cozy and nice for a change! This also means I have missed a whole lot of school with last week's closings so we are now officially adding on to the end of the year-bummer!!

Most exciting this week was the arrival of Ellie's two bottom teeth!!! We wondered last week if it was finally going to happen as she wasn't quite herself and was very clingy. I have been checking her mouth daily and Monday night-there they were!! Hopefully we'll get some pictures soon but right now she's not too willing to show off her pearly whites!! We leave tomorrow night to visit the Kennedy Triplets. We are excited to finally meet them in person. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to share after our weekend! Enjoy these pictures of Ellie enjoying her snow days.

Happy Weekend!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2007-02-14T16:09:00.000-05:00

Love,
Heather, Brian and Eleanor

2007-02-11T00:41:00.000-05:00

Snow Pictures 2007 album

Baby It's Cold Outside!

2007-02-10T23:14:00.000-05:00

Well anyone living here in the Midwest already knows this but MAN is it cold this week!! Last weekend and Monday and Tuesday the high temps were in the single digits, the HIGHS!!!Schools were closed on Monday and Tuesday due to the cold (our first "snow days" this year!) and then we got 6 inches of snow Tuesday night through Wednesday morning so we were out again. Thursday and Friday we had two hour delays due to the windchill (our elementary starts at 7:20 am so it's dark and too cold to wait for the buses)-so a great, relaxing week for me! Ellie did go to school on Monday and Tuesday so that mommy could clean, clean and clean. Our house has been in desperate need of this. Wednesday Ellie and mommy just hung out all day in our pajamas which was cozy and fun! I felt a little guilty sending her the first two days, but she really LOVES school now. I will rush to pick her up after school and she smiles and is happy to see me but then wants down to play again or will reach for her favorite teacher Miss Mandy. I'm so glad she is happy there and I feel comfortable leaving her there a little longer some days while I stay and get stuff done at school. She is now one of the three oldest babies in the nursery! I can hardly believe it! There are five new babies and they look so tiny-not that Ellie is huge but she can do so much and seems so old compared to them! Ellie is very interested in the new babies and her teacher's are impressed by how gentle she is around them.

In other Ellie news . . . we are beginning to think she may finally be getting a tooth. She has been not quite herself this week, kind of clingy and fragile. Her tongue is out constantly and she is doing funny things with her mouth. Her gums look hard and white too. She has fooled us in the past but perhaps this is truly it! We'll let you know when those pearly whites emerge!

We hope you are enjoying the blog and feel free to leave a comment after this post. Just look for the word comment under the end of this message and click on it.

This post's pictures are of Ellie in her first snow at Nana's house with her cousins Joey and Emma and in her new pink snowsuit at Young's Dairy last weekend (it's never too cold for ice cream!)

Click Joey's picture above to see more snow pictures.

And here is one more videos of Ellie crawling (she really fast now!)

Oh, and lest we forget Happy 15th Birthday Cousin Sarah!!!

Nine Months, give or take

2007-02-05T23:21:00.000-05:00

Ellie had her nine month check up last week and the doctor only confirmed what we already knew - "she's perfect!" Perfect she is. We couldn't have ordered a more perfect baby if we had tried. She is truly a happy baby nearly 98% of the time. We drag her everywhere we go and she just moves with the flow of things and checks out the new scenery. We are so thankful for that as we love to be out and about a lot.
Somehow Brian and I created a petite child. Our little peanut weighed in at 15 lbs, 15 oz (5-10%) and was 27 inches long (50%). The doc was not at all concerned about her weight as she has followed the same growth curve since birth. Despite the lack of heft, she does have nice chubby thighs and good baby fat everywhere so she's not a skinny minny. He was impressed with her milestones as she is ahead in most. So, a good visit was had by all with the exception of poor Ellie who had to have her 6 month shots (yeah, we were a little behind!)

Because of her size, we guess, she is extremely agile and mobile and has been for some time. She has been crawling for a while but really prefers to stand and cruise around the furniture or whatever else she can hold onto. She was pulling herself up and standing before the crawling and still prefers it that way. This week she has started to stand unassisted for a short amount of time before her legs give out and she goes to the floor. I think she will be walking soon, she certainly wants to! Here's a familiar scene each day in our living room as Ellie plays with her house. She loves to just stand on the "sitting" stump and hang out!

She is constantly busy and constantly "talking" these days too. She says a lot of mama, dada, nana, etc but it's not clear still whether she really intends them to mean us or not-but I like to pretend she does anyway!

She is amazing and perfect and just every other great word you can think of times 100! I still cannot believe that she is here and is all ours.

Here are a few of our recent favorite video clips:

Giggle Box (I was spitting her pacifier out of my mouth and hitting her in the face-a desperate measure on my part in keeping her happy after a very long car ride on our New Year's trip.)

Yea! (this was around Christmas, her first claps!)

Piggies (a favorite song right now)