A summer evening

Now that we're having warm weather, I try to take Elly out through the day. She absolutely LOVES being outside. There is so much for her to see and get into. One evening last week we were out enjoying the back yard. Here are a few pictures from that evening.

Out for a walk

We love taking walks around town in the evenings. Here are a few pictures from one of our evening jaunts. Elly loves being outside and seeing all the airplanes flying overhead.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year happened to be the same day as both my and Ellyanna's birthdays. It was a pretty low key day though because of having Elly's party the day before.

After church we had lunch reservations at the Romerhof. Sundays are hard for Elly because church starts just when she's ready to go down for a nap, so she was fussy at the restaurant. I ended up taking her our for a little bit. She finally fell asleep with me holding her, so Sam cut up my meal so I could eat one handed. He's such a sweetheart! :)

As we were heading into the restaurant (which is also a hotel), Sam asked a housekeeper if she would take our picture. She was in a room the next floor up and took the picture out the window, which explains the angle of the pictures.

Flowers from Sam :)

Ellyanna's 1st Birthday

This is the invitation that was ordered, but didn't come in time for her birthday.

They came a week later.

Ellyanna turned one year old last Sunday. I just can't believe a whole year has passed since she was born. It went way too fast. That same day was Mother's Day and I also turned 35. It was interesting sharing my birthday with my daughter. May 9th has always been "my" day, but this year it was more about my baby turning one....as it should have been.

Since everything was falling on Sunday this year, we decided to celebrate Elly's birthday the day before. We had some friends over and cooked burgers and wursts on the grill. We had 14 other people here in addition to us. For our place that was pushing it. Our house is not small, but having the space split between 4 floors makes space a little tight. Thankfully, the weather held out and we were able to sit outside to eat. We moved inside after that though because it was getting quite cloudy and cool.

Elly usually sleeps until 6:30-7:00 and goes back down for her nap by 10:00, which is why we had her party starting at 12:00. She would be rested and ready to party. Of course, it went nothing like that on Saturday. For whatever reason she never really went back to sleep after her 3:00am feeding, so we finally got up with her around 5:00. At that point I knew it wasn't going to be a good day for her. She was tired and went back to sleep at 6:30 and slept until 9:00.....all that to say she should have been going back down for a nap around 12:00....right when her party was starting. That didn't happen, so she was a very tired little girl. I wonder why that happens on important days?? Any other random day it would have been perfectly on schedule...but not that day.

I was going to have someone make Ellyanna's birthday cake, but we don't have alot of choices here. There are a couple of American's that advertise cake decorating, but I just wasn't impressed with what they had to offer. In the end I decided to make her cake. Not because I'm any good at decorating, but because I figured I could make something at least as good as what I'd seen and not have to pay $50 for it. I was happy with how it turned out in the end. I made a big cake for eating and a little one for Elly to have fun with...and she did :) Anyhow, here are a few pictures ~ (I'm a little frustrated that I didn't get pictures of all the guests. I got some of the first ones here, but got too busy later and didn't think to :( )

Me with the cakes

Ellyanna's birthday cakes

The cake/gift table

Nicola and Megan with Elly

We set this pen up in the backyard (using a thin carpet to cover the grass).
It was great for keeping the babies contained.

Nicola, Marika, Sam and Nona

My sweet girl was so tired

Daddy and Mama with our little one year old

♫♪♫ Happy Birthday ♫♪♫

Elly was tired, but after we sang Happy Birthday to her she really got into the cake. She didn't eat much of it, but enjoyed smooshing it in her fingers.

She really enjoyed her cake Here is a short video of her with the cake ~

Time to open gifts

Elly's cake after she was done with it ☺

She received some really nice toys. She has plenty of clothes, but was lacking a little in toys so it was nice to get some more to keep her busy.

Playing with her farm

She loves the musical table from Grandma and Papa Hosier!

When people left I tried to put Elly down for her nap and that girl could not be still. She didn't have that much cake, but it sure did have an effect on her. I brought her downstairs and we all laid on the loveseat (both sides recline). She was being so silly. She really had me laughing because I'd never seen her like that. She was just rolling and could not sit still. She was like that for at least an hour...then she just crashed.

Since Elly was born she has never slept through the night. A couple of times she slept for 5 hours, but that happened maybe 3 times in this whole year. Most of the time she was up every 2-3 hours wanting to nurse. It's gotten to where she gets up about twice through the night, so recently I began weaning her from one of those feedings. It was so hard to hear her cry, but I knew it was necessary. I'm happy to say that from the night of her birthday until now she has been sleeping 7-8 hours during the night before waking me. That is a huge milestone and one I'm very happy to have made.

In the past week she has really taken off walking. I would say she now walks at least80% of the time. It seems like it happened fast once she got the hang of it. I absolutely LOVE watching her walk. It's just the cutest thing!

Here are a few pictures from the past week. Trying to get Gabby who escaped behind the couch

Elly's walking!!

23 April 2010
Elly seems to be growing up at an incredible rate lately. Just 3 days ago (20 April) she took her first steps. Not just one shaky little step, but 4-5 sturdy steps. I never knew I would be so tickled to see my baby take those first steps. I was so excited about it and had to call Sam right away to let him know. Since then she has taken steps every day, but is still not really walking alot. I can tell she loves the feeling of it though. The last couple of days she's just been trying out standing by the couch or a chair without holding on to anything. Or when I'm reading her a book she likes to stand there on her own. I love seeing the little wheels in her head turning! She's really trying to figure things out and it's so cute.

She loves for us to read her books anymore. This just started a couple of weeks ago. Her two favorite books are Baby Giggles and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. She will bring both of those to me probably 15 times a day to have me read them.

I was filling in more pages in her baby book the other night and came across the space for her first word. That one stumps me and I don't really know what to put down as her first word and I really have no idea what the date was. It seems like for quite a few months she's been saying what sounds like "Ma". Maybe it's just me wanting to think she's calling for me, but we both feel that it's her word for Mama. I have no idea when she first said it though.

The next word I remember her distinctly saying is "hi". We were at Kristen's house for a walk just a few weeks ago and as we were getting ready to leave Elly looked at Eva (Kristen's baby) and said "hi". Since then, it seems she says "hi" to everything...the book, Gabby, plants, airplanes...etc. She also says "hey" alot. I think I have to take the blame for that one. Leave it to a child to make you realized how often to say something. It seems to be her preferred greeting and then one day I realized that's what I usually say when I see someone or talk on the phone. She's just mimicking me. I love it!

30 April 2010
Well, I obviously didn't get this posted last week when I started it. Elly is still not walking alot, but she's definitely getting more comfortable with it. Last evening she kept taking little steps by herself. She's really trying to say things now. Last night she got up by Sam and said "Daddy", which comes out more like "ah-gee". I think that really melted his heart :) It was pretty sweet.

Elly and I went to a play date at Anna's on Wednesday. It's always fun to see her with other babies. She really likes being around other kids, but at first just sits back and watches. She's an observer until she gets comfortable in a situation. Whenever we take her places people always comment on how quiet she is. And she is when she's in a new situation, but she is anything but quiet at home.

At the play date, Anna had made enchiladas for lunch. They were really good and I enjoyed them even though in the back of my mind I was hoping they wouldn't bother Elly. I had made them before though with no bad side effects, so I didn't think it would. However, that evening I realized I should not have eaten it.

Elly had been a bit fussy throughout the evening, but an hour after I put her to bed she woke up screaming. There was no consoling her. I kept giving her tummy drops and she eventually starting burping and passing gas. Poor little thing was so miserable. I've never seen her quite like that. We had to hold and try to comfort her for about an hour and then she finally went back to sleep. I fully expected a sleepless night, but she slept for 4 hours, woke up for a feeding and went back to sleep for 4 more hours. I just made sure to give her tummy drops every time I nursed her. Yesterday her tummy was still bothering her, but thankfully at this point she seems to be past that. It sure hurts my heart to see her in pain...especially when it's something I ate that caused it :(

It's so hard for me to believe that my baby is going to be one year old in just over a week. Where has this last year gone?? It just flew by! The other night Sam and I were looking back at some pictures from when Elly was born. For the first time since she was born I could kind of understand the desire one has to have another child. When Elly was born I was so overwhelmed with it all and didn't take the time to really appreciate what I had. Looking at the pictures of that tiny little baby I found myself wishing I had appreciated those days more. They were so fleeting. I think if we do have another baby I will try to relax and just enjoy those days more and realize they won't last forever, even if it feels like it at the time. Before you know it those days are past and time just keeps marching on.

It surprised me a little that I'm even considering having another child. Honestly, after giving birth to Elly my first words were "I'm never doing that again" and I truly felt that. I had never been in so much pain. Even more than just the pain was the complete lack of control I felt. My body just took over and I think the fear I had made the experience worse than it had to be. She came so fast that there was no time for pain relief. At the time everyone I talked to said how lucky I was. I think at the time it frustrated me to hear that. I felt anything but lucky and felt sure everyone that told me how lucky I was must have never given birth naturally....with no pain medication. Otherwise, they wouldn't be saying how lucky I was. However, with time I've come to understand it was a really quick and relatively easy delivery. Now I am able to appreciate how fast and natural my experience was.

Talking to Mom the other night I realized that Elly's birth went exactly how I wanted it to, even though I didn't realize it at the time. Throughout pregnancy I told Sam that I wanted to labor at home for as long as I could and I wanted to try to have a natural birth. Well...that's exactly what happened and for that I'm thankful. If we do have another baby though I will probably try to get to the hospital a little earlier so I can be more relaxed when it hits. I had no problem with labor. It was uncomfortable, but certainly nothing I couldn't handle. It was just after my water broke that the pain really set it and things progressed so quickly.

I guess with her birthday just around the corner it's hard not to reminisce about her birth. It feels like it was just the other day. I can't help but think back on that day a year ago and think about how our lives have changed. We are so blessed.

Speaking of Elly's birthday....we're planning to have her party on Saturday. Her birthday is actually Sunday, but that's also Mother's Day and my birthday as well, so I figured we would spread it all out a little. I ordered invitations and wouldn't you know I still don't have them. Yikes! I think they would have been here if it hadn't been for that volcano in Iceland that stopped the mail for a few days. I guess I'll have to end up calling people to invite them.

We plan to keep it simple. We're going to cook burgers and wursts on the grill. I was going to have someone else make Elly's cake, but just couldn't find anyone I was really happy with. Since Mom has always made such pretty cakes my standard it pretty high if I'm going to actually pay someone to make a cake for me. In the end I figured I could make a cake as good as any I saw...so that's what I'm doing. It will be a very simple cake because I certainly don't claim to be a cake decorator, but I think it'll turn out alright.

5 May 2010
Ok, so I am getting ready to post this, but just wanted to update real quick. The biggest update is that Elly is really walking now! Just in the last couple of days she's really gotten the hang of it and is toddling around. So, so cute!! I just love seeing her walk.

I still don't have the birthday invitations :( 3 days before the party and no invitations.....that's frustrating. Well, next year I'll have to be more on top of things and get them ordered a couple of months in advance just to make sure I have them. I really don't know what's taking so long though because part of that order came a couple of weeks ago. I thought for sure the invitations would come just a few days later. Oh well, I can't do anything about it, so I'm not going to let it stress me.

I'm hoping for nice weather on Saturday. We were having really great weather and then this week it decided to start raining. Doesn't that just figure? Oh well, something else I have no control over. If it's raining we'll stay inside and pull the grill under the awning.

Today I hope to get Elly's cake made. Things are going pretty smoothly and I don't expect it to take too much time. It's a simple cake and should go together easily....knock on wood.

Ok, so I'm going to stop rambling so I can get this posted today. Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks.

Hanging out with Daddy while he works on the fence

Ready for church

She's growing up so fast!

Mama and Elly

This is the result of having ponytails in her hair :)

A month or so ago I noticed a yellow spot on one of Elly's front teeth. It really concerned me and I wondered how she could have decay on her teeth at such a young age, especially when I've always been consistent about brushing her teeth. Anyhow, we took her to a dentist and was told that the spot is the result of my taking antibiotics during pregnancy. I took them a couple of times when I was having kidney problems. From what I understand, if antibiotics are taken during the time the teeth are forming in the baby that it could cause the enamel not to form properly on the tooth. It's frustrating to me, but thankfully it's not decay and she shouldn't have any problems with her permanent teeth. We were very happy with this dentist though and will definitely take her back there. They were very friendly and spoke good English. Both of which are hard to come by at times.

One afternoon while Sam was watering the yard we took Elly out in her walker. She loves it outside and especially loves airplanes. We hear them go over our house all the time thanks to being in the direct path to the airport. Every time Elly hears a plane she points up and grunts.

At one point Elly was getting into all the cabinets in the living room so I emptied one for her toys. She's very good about not getting in the other cabinets, but knows she's allowed in this one. We haven't put locks on any of our cabinets and probably won't except for maybe the one where we keep cleaners. She's been very good about staying out of them....with a little direction from us of course.

She LOVES books at this point. She brings them to me all through the day so I can read them to her.

Some of her first ponytails :)

We had a really warm day and it was perfect for a little sundress and sandals.

We're having some battles with keeping anything in her hair lately. She used to not even notice if I had a barrette in her hair, but now she always wants to feel what's there and pull on it. Being a little girl she is going to learn to have her hair fixed, but it's just going to take some persistence from me. I just love her ponytails! :)

This is the 3rd summer we've had our lilac tree and it's finally putting out quite a few blooms. I love the smell of lilacs and am so happy that our tree is finally getting bigger.