January 16th

I never blogged about January 16th. It was a very special day for out family. First of all, it was Macie's 4th birthday. Here she is at church with Grandpa John that morning.



We also dedicated Ellie at church that morning. Because we attend a Baptist church, we dedicate our babies. We are making a commitment to raise our kids in church and teach them about Jesus so they can come to accept Him as Savior.



It was also they day that Carson was baptized. When Carson was in Kindergarten, he told us that he had asked Jesus into his heart. We have talked to him about his decision a lot. Carson did a class at church for kids who are new believers or who have questions about faith. We were convinced that he was ready. He understand what it means to put your faith in Jesus. He was ready to make the public profession of faith.



I am just going to post a bunch of pictures from the service. We had many people there to support us that day. In addition to our family, the Macdonalds and the Morrows came to church with us. It as also very special to have our long time church family. We really appreciated to families who had moved churches or out of town who came to support us that day.







Our family before the service.





These are from the dedication part of the service. Carson was ready to go upstairs for his baptism. We didn't dress him in a white gown!











I really love the last two of the kids praying. It was such a precious day.

15 Months

Ellie is now 15 months. It is so amazing to me how much a child learns in just a short period of time.



Ellie is talking a lot. She says Mamma and Dada or daddy. She says kick kick kick when she is in the pool. I think her favorite word is shoes. She loves to say it and she loves her shoes. Honestly, she says a ton if you really listen. She is repeating what you say it just isn't very clear.



Ellie also loves a telephone and anything else that Macie is playing with at the moment. It scares me to think what life if going to be like with the amount of jealousy and fighting that already occur between the two of them.




Ellie really started walking at about 13 1/2 months. She still does something fully with her right leg, so we are going to talk about it at her doctors appointment this week. It does not slow her down very much. But, if there is a minor issue, it would be so much easier to correct it now that when she gets older.



Ellie loves to play outside. It has been hard because it is so hot right now. She is going to love it when the weather cools off and we can be outside more. The day I took these pictures we were loving the cooler temperatures after being close to 100 several days in a row.





We are working on moving to one nap a day. But, it is a hard transition. I decided this week, we are going to try to keep her out of the car until afternoon. I am hoping I can keep her up until noon and she will take one long nap. I think I might just be making myself crazy!



Ellie has a mouth full of teeth. She is working on her last two canines and we will be finished until the 2 year molars. She uses them well because she wants to eat everything Carson and Macie have.



Ellie is just the sweetest thing. Her personality is coming out and we are really excited to see how she continues to grow.

So stinkin cute!

There are days that it amuses me that Ellie is my third child. The things she learns and picks up on right now just amaze me. I guess I have forgotten how quickly babies can learn and change. All of these pictures are from Saturday. Jeff took Carson and Macie to see a movie. I took Ellie outside for a little while. The stories don't go with the pictures, but I want to share then too.

Playing in the Cozi Coupe.



Ellie has learned to shake her head NO. She does not say yes, but if she does not say no she means yes.



The other day, I put her to bed and she was screaming. I went in and picked her up. I tried to give her the cup of milk I had tried to give her earlier, but she shook her head No. I asked if she would drink it from a bottle, she said NO. I asked if she wanted to just go night night, she said NO. I asked if she just wanted to hang out with Mommy, and she gave me a big hug.



Saturday night, she was up late. On Sunday around 8:45AM, she walks up to me and says nighnigh. I could not say to to a request for a nap!



Ellie loves blueberries and strawberries. If you get them out of the refrigerator, she immediately starts screaming until she gets them. She does the same thing if Carson or Macie have a lollipop, but it is much cuter when she does it for fruit.



The next few pictures were taken when I pulled out the infant seat to take some pictures. I want to sell it on Craig's List soon, so while we had the camera outside I figured I would get some pictures. When Ellie saw if she climbed in. Let me know if you know anyone who wants to buy a Graco Sungride 35.










One final picture and story. I told Ellie we needed to change her diaper. She was playing with something while I went to get the diaper and wipes. When I can back, she was lying on her back in the middle of the floor waiting for me!

One!

Happy Birthday sweet Ellie. Today you turn on. It is hard to believe a year ago daddy and I were spending out 2 night vacation at Northside with you. You have brought us so much joy this past year. You are such a smiling little girl. As long as you have your way you will flash everyone your big grin. You love to play with your brother and sister and to play outside.

On your first birthday, you have 8 teeth. You are moving to taking one nap a day and sleeping about 12 hours at night. You like to eat regular food and shake your head a big no if we are giving you something you don't want to eat. Today was the first night I got you to drink a bottle of whole milk. You still won't drink it out of a cup, but I am sure you will get there. You love to drink water. You are not walking, but you do stand on your own for up to about 15 seconds. You can get anywhere crawling and often crawl off and find something to play with on your own.

We are having your birthday party tomorrow with a few neighbors. I promise to post pictures and to come back with your stats after your doctors appointment on Monday.

We love you baby girl!

11 Months

Sweet girl is just one month away from celebrating her first birthday (have you done your taxes yet?) It really amazes me how quickly babies turn into little people. She is starting to develop her personality. I think she is going to all somewhere between Macie and Carson. She lets you know when she is not happy with what you are doing, but she can entertain herself for a good amount of time.



Ellie has discovered a love for being outside. It is so nice to be outside this time of year, so we are out most afternoons. She has also discovered she likes pretzels and cheese its. I guess that is the benefit of having an older brother and sister. She is becoming a little more picky with what she will eat.

Ellie had her first stomach bug this month. It was not very bad, but it seemed to make her reflux kick back in. She continued to throw up randomly until we really got her back on her medicine. She also got another ear infections and lost close to a pound being sick (she is just under 18 pounds). But, she is still happy most of time.



She isn't walking yet. I don't think she will hit this milestone before she turns one. She can stand alone for a few seconds, and she walks a little bit with a walker. But, she does not look like she is in a hurry. She will get there though.

She is doing a little better being left. We have even made it through church without being paged. She still cries, but she survives! She is just such a sweet little thing! Now, its time for mommy to start planning a party.

10 Months

Our sweet girl is 10 months old today.



Getting pictures is getting hard now that she is on the move and getting to be a big girl.



She loves to be outside, so we moved outside to take the rest of the pictures. The weather has been great this week. Ellie loves to go sit outside and watch all the big kids play.



Don't you love how she is lifting her foot to get it out of the grass?



This month, Ellie has gotten 5 teeth. She is up to 8 now! She also had her first antibiotic. She has a double ear infection that was also in her eye.



Macie taught Ellie how to crawl out of the room this month. She looks so adorable crawling around the house. Today, she grabbed a sippy cup of water in her mouth and crawled back to the family room. She is not pulling up yet, but she loves to stand. She is starting to take a couple steps holding on to my fingers. It should be a while before she is walking . But, she still manages to get in some trouble.



Ellie finished nursing this last week. Like her brother she just quit. I don't think she was getting much milk anyway, but she finally just turned away. But, she eats like a champ. I think she would eat and entire chicken if I let her! She is just such a joy.

This last picture I took for Joy of Love on the Kiss day. I have not decided if I will use it, but I kind of like the way it turned out. I just held out the camera and snapped. Those of you doing the class with me can weigh in on what you think.

What is the cause?

3 of the last 5 nights Ellie has been up crying and spent a couple hours a wake. It did not help to bring her to bed with me or let her cry. She just stayed up. She also has not napped well.

She has also had a watery eye for several days. But, yesterday morning it looked gunky. I decided to take her to the doctor to get it checked.

She has a double ear infection and an eye infection. She started on eye drops and antibiotic. She only got one dose before she went to bed last night. But, she only woke up at 10 and went right back to sleep with just a little cuddle.

This morning, I discovered she has 2 more new teeth. (That makes 5 she has gotten since January 20th)

Do you think she did not sleep because of the teeth or the ears or the lack of naps? This is why I say kids need indicator lights like we have on cars.

Yummy

Can you tell what we had for dinner Monday night?





This last one is to show you how Ellie's hair looks most of the time!

9 Months

What happens when you try to get a 9 month old baby to sit still to take a few pictures? You resort to props and trying to keep your hand close enough to catch her if she takes a nose dive.Ellie is 9 months old. She is turning in to such a big girl. She now has 3 teeth. The Saturday before Christmas (12/18) she got a top tooth to go with the bottom 2.
She might not have any back teeth, but she can certainly eat. She would much rather eat table food than baby food. She loves chicken of any kind and will really try anything.
We had a week of snow that started in 1/9. It basically kept us at home for the week. Ellie took the week to really start crawling. She has not started to get in to trouble yet, but I bet it is coming. (Unless you put her in a chair and want her to sit for a picture.)
Ellie can not pull herself up yet, but she loves to stand if you put her on her feet. She really loves to stand and look out the window at the other kids playing.
Ellie is back to being a good sleeper. If there are not interruptions, she will usually sleep about 12 hours at night and then take 2 good naps during the day. She usually just lets you plop her in her crib, and she will fall asleep.
She is doing much better at not being with mommy. I made it through MOPS and even a couple of Sundays at church without being called. Since she is crawling now, she will be moving up at church, so we will see how she does.
Ellie is just the smiliest little baby. She gives us big grins all the time. She is so happy. If she is fussy you know there is something wrong. Usually she is tired, hungry or needs to poop!
She is our sweet angel. Here are her 9 month stats. Height 28 inches (50-75%), Weight 16 pounds 12 ounces (10-25%) and head 44 1/4 cm (50%). She is the same height as Macie was, but she weighs about a pound less than she did!