Ellyanna's first Easter

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I've heard it before and I've found it's true that holidays really do have more meaning once you have a baby. I've really enjoyed Easter this year with planning things to do with Elly. Traditions mean alot to me and I so want to pass them on to Elly. Growing up we always colored eggs on Saturday before Easter. We didn't get around to that this year. I know Elly won't remember, but it's something I want to start with her next year.

Yesterday we went out to Patch Barracks for the Easter Egg Hunt. CYS always puts this on so Sam was out there early setting up for it. Elly and I went out around 9:00. Areas of the main field were roped off for different age groups and then plastic eggs were scattered around. Elly was in the 0-2 year group. It was pretty windy and cold, but we had a nice time.

Family picture with the Easter Bunny.

Ellyanna with the Easter Bunny

Elly hanging out in the stroller trying to stay warm until the egg hunt begins

Still waiting...as you can see we were some of the first people there.

Daddy keeping Elly warm

Ready to get some eggs...

Daddy took her on the field to help her get the eggs

Putting an egg in her basket

All finished and hanging on to her egg

She managed to get two eggs!

Mama and Elly

Getting her eggs out of the basket

Eating a pretzel...egg hunting works up an appetite :)

She was so cute with her Easter basket this morning. There wasn't much in it this year since she doesn't really eat anything....least of all, candy. I bought a stuffed bunny and a couple of books. I added a bunny pen and a thing of skittles just so it looked prettier, but of course she won't be eating those. When I brought her downstairs and showed her the basket she wasn't quite sure what to think.

Ellyanns'a first Easter basket

Still half asleep and wondering what it is...

I think she likes it!

Pulling the bunny out

Good thing she's too little to realize she can't eat these. She just had fun shaking them :)

Today in church was a real milestone for us. Elly actually made it all the way through church without having to be taken out for being too loud. I was so thankful for the opportunity to hear a complete sermon. In order to keep her busy, I stocked her diaper bag with lots of toys and books. She sat on the floor and pulled things out one by one. She kept Sam pretty busy too with coming up and down, but she was much quieter today. Usually, we only make it through the song service before she starts talking loudly. It's been quite a few months since I've sat though an entire church service. It just made me breathe a sigh of relief to think there is hope that Elly will actually get past her yelling one day.

She was so pretty in her Easter dress today! She just gets cuter everyday. I know I'm biased, but I think she's such a doll baby. She has such a beautiful, vibrant personality. Everywhere we go people ask if she's always happy and basically she is. She's a sweetheart, although she has a very strong will that is causing me some concern. I'm praying for wisdom daily it seems because some days I'm just not quite sure what to make of her. I want her to be a nice, respectful child and it would be easy if they just turned into that, but I realize it takes discipline and work because most often nice kids don't just happen. I'm naturally a mild person, so it's been a bit of a challenge having such a strong willed baby. I'm realizing how spoiled I was the first 9 months, because now she's really trying me. As my Mom says - it's a good thing babies are so cute, because just when you think you're at the end of your rope they give you the sweetest smile, which makes you fall in love all over again.

We had to get a couple of pictures before heading to church

Our sweet little girl all ready for church

So cute!

Happy Easter!!!

Teething, strep and gout.....oh my!

As you can tell by the dates, it's taken me awhile to get this post finished. I'm finally ready to hit "publish". Just a quick update though...Elly's 6th tooth popped through on Monday. She's really getting a mouthful now and is just so cute. Anyhow before I go and fail to get this posted...yet again, I'm signing off. Until next time...

9 March 2010
It's so hard to believe that Ellyanna is 10 months old today. Where has the time gone?? Seems like just yesterday I was pregnant and planning for her birth. I have so enjoyed each stage of her life so far. She's so much fun at this age. She's silly and ornery and just so precious. She's had a tough week though. She has 4 teeth and is working on 2 more. They are just under the skin and she has been very fussy because of them. I'm eager for them to pop through so she'll feel better.

It's been a tough week in general. A week ago Sunday Sam woke up with a very sore throat and ear ache so we didn't go to church. He stayed home from work on Monday, which is very rare for him. Tuesday he still wasn't feeling good, but went to work and was able to get an appointment at the clinic. Turns out he had strep throat, so he started on antibiotics. I was concerned about Elly because she loves to drink from Sam's water bottle and did up until we realized he was sick. She's been fussy all week and I've been concerned that she may be getting sick, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly teething related. Night before last she (and I) had a terrible night. She was up every 1/2 hour. I didn't know what was wrong, but gave her Tylenol and Oralgel thinking it was her teeth. She ended up staying in our bed all night. The next day I realized that her tummy had been hurting her. It's so hard at this age because it's a guessing game when trying to figure out what's bothering her.

So, by last Wednesday Sam was on his medicine and on his way to getting better when he started getting pain in his big toe. We both wondered if it might be gout. He's never had it before though so it seemed a little strange. He was home from work Wednesday and Thursday for the strep. Friday, his foot was really hurting, but he crammed his foot in his shoe and headed off to work anyhow (against my advice, I might add). When he got home that evening he was in a lot of pain. I ended up taking him to the emergency room. They put some sort of numbing liquid on his foot and wrapped it good and we headed back home. As of today, it's still hurting quite a bit, but he's able to put more weight on it and is slowly getting better.

Ellyanna is still not crawling. I'm thinking she never will actually crawl. We've been calling her "Gimpy" because she does this crazy little crawl (if it can actually be called that) where she has her one knee down like she's crawling, but the other foot flat on the floor. She uses her foot to push herself forward. It's so funny to watch her get around this way, but at the same time I feel so bad for her because there's an easier way. If only she would learn to put both knees on the ground. She looks so crippled, but manages to get around the house pretty quickly.

I think she's tried to say "ball" and "mama". Well, actually her "mama" comes out as a very LOUD "MA!!!" I love hearing her jabber though. Lately, she's been saying "Ba!" over and over. Not sure if that is Ball or what, but it sure sounds cute.

She's waving "Hi" to us all the time now. I love it! It's just so cute. Last week Sam was on the back patio grilling hamburgers and Elly pulled back the curtain and sat there waving at her Daddy. It was just the cutest thing. She's actually trying to say Hi when she waves too.

17 March 2010
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!! I am such a bad blogger anymore. It's really a shame I don't keep up with it like I should. It takes time to post pictures so I put it off and by the time I get back to it I need to write another update. It's much easier to post pictures in Facebook, but I'm really more of a blogger. I love the journaling aspect of it. I always kept a journal growing up and love the idea of the blog being a glorified journal. I actually go so far as to save all my posts in a Word document in case anything ever happens to Blogger. Maybe someday Elly will enjoy reading about our life at this point. Oh well! I'm going to try to get this done today.

Elly is STILL not feeling well. I think she may have a bit of a cold on top of teething. The nasal asperator I have is no good. I've checked the Apoteke and they just have what I already have. I've ordered a couple from Amazon, but that will take a little while. I'm borrowing one from a friend today because at night Elly seems to have some trouble with the mucus in her nose. Poor little baby. Overall, she's doing much better with sleeping at night. Normally, I might get 3-4 hours in between being woke up. That's much better than 2 hours.

She's started grinding her teeth, which is driving me CRAZY!!! I hate that sound, but try not to make an issue out of it because I think it would just make her do it more....or longer. Anything I've read suggests that babies grind their teeth when they're teething because of the pain in their mouths. I'm hoping that it just subsides when she gets past this phase of teething.

Sam is still having pain from the gout. It's been two weeks now, but he still can hardly move his toe. He doesn't think it's actually gout pain though. He thinks maybe he pulled a toe muscle from holding his foot a certain way when he was in so much pain.

18 March 2010
Well, I obviously didn't get this posted yesterday, but am hopeful that I can get it done today. Sam's foot started hurting really bad again last night so he went back on the medicine. We went with him to his doctor's appointment this morning. He had blood drawn. We'll find out tomorrow if his uric acid levels are high. If it is then he'll have to go on a maintenance medicine to help keep in lower. He really doesn't want to do that, but I'm sure he'll do what he needs to get rid of this pain.

Elly's still not feeling great. She's napping right now, but when she gets up we're going to meet a friend at the German mall. It'll be nice to just get out and about for a little while. Well, before I go and fail to post this again I better get some pictures uploaded. These are just some snapshots from the last few weeks.

22 March 2010
Ok, so this is getting embarrassing now. See what I mean about not being able to get a blog posted?! Every day I think there's no reason I can't get it done, but before I know it I've walked away from the computer yet again without finishing. So...I have no excuse not to get it done today. All the pictures are posted....Elly's sleeping...no interruptions.

Yesterday was the first day in a couple of weeks that Elly really seemed to feel a lot better. Her nose was finally not running and she seemed pretty contented. She is getting to the age of trying us though. I think she got into a habit of fussing at me when she wasn't feeling good, so I'm trying to break her of it now. It has a way of wearing on one's nerves. I'm sure other moms know exactly what I'm talking about.

Sam's foot is feeling better, but still pretty swollen. He is going to be on a maintenance drug for a couple of months to help lower his uric acid levels. The blood test showed that it was a little high, but not as high as you would imagine. I really don't understand why he's had the gout for almost 3 weeks now. Poor guy.

Spring is definitely here it seems. Crocuses and daffodils are blooming everywhere. I love springtime in Germany. It's so beautiful with the flowers popping up all over. Well, here are some pictures from the last month or so. Hope you enjoy!

So sweet!

I love her in her little jeans and sweater :)

She LOVES this corner of the living room. I've since moved the magazine rack because she loved going through them all.

Mama caught her!

Remotes are the best!

She wakes up this happy all the time. She is so fun to get out of bed after naptime or in the morning. She's just full of smiles.

Look at those teeth! She has 6 now.

February 8th was Sam's birthday. His actual birthday was on Monday, but we kind of celebrated all weekend since he wanted the cake on Saturday.

She can't be in her crib anymore without standing up and she's always so proud of her accomplishment.

This was the first time she ever went from her back to her belly. She was napping on our bed and when I checked on her this is how I found her. She started out in the middle of the bed and as you can see she worked her way pretty close to the edge and went over on her belly. She sleeps on her belly all the time anymore.

Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby??

Nothing is safe in this house anymore. She's into absolutely everything.

She looks like she got caught...

Ellyanna's very first Valentine came from Oma and Opa Thompson.

Happy Valentine's Day!

She's such a stinker :)

I couldn't ask for a happier, sweeter baby

I LOVE those chubby little legs!

Trying strawberries for the first time. After this I realized baby's are not supposed to eat strawberries until after one year because they could have an alergic reaction to it....bad mommy:(

I guess it's a good thing she doesn't eat her food and just plays with it. I doubt much actually went in her tummy.

Time to clean up. Next time I will take off her white tights...they had red stains all over them.

Ready and and just waiting on Mama

This is so Sam...relaxing on the floor with her feet propped up on the couch.

Elly and Daddy

Poor little Gabby tries her best to hide these days.

Sam said we matched in our pink and jeans :)

Ready to head out the door to church which, by the way, is not near as enjoyable as it used to be. I don't think I've heard a sermon in several months. Elly is so loud that we usually spend the service out in another room. It's just hard to get it through to a baby that she needs to be quiet. I don't think she understands whispering yet.

Such an ornery little booger.

Another happy wake up :) I go in and she's talking to her animals or her blanket. So cute!