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.
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.
2 comments:
Hi Misty,
So very nice ~~ thank you for sharing your lives with us. We are very much looking forward to seeing you all. Elly is just precious!! How neat that she is walking and enjoying so many things!
Thanks!
Cheryl
Hi Misty, I agree with Cheryl. We are so happy that you are sharing your life, your daughter with us. She is adorable! My favorite photo in this group is the one of her on the patio (in brown jacket) looking for a plane? Thanks and aloha, Mom/Oma & Dad/Opa
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