Pictures!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT SARA AND MAMAW!!!

(sorry we're a little late!)

I am in total Aunt and Mommy heaven here!

Papaw was blowing in Elli's ear cracking her up. This is one of my favorite pictures ever!

Oreos are good!

Oreo mustache!!

I love this picture of Addie. Isn't she ADORABLE!?!

Day of Firsts!!!

Elli is officially crawling! I asked Ehrin today if she was crawling and she wouldn't give me a straight answer so as soon as I got home I sat a couple of feet from Elli and she crawled right over to me! I could seriously feel my heart swell. Already I can tell our lives have changed and I'm sure she will only get quicker and quicker in the coming days. Time to baby proof!

A little shout out to cousin Grace here...thanks for all your help teaching Elli how to crawl. We couldn't have done it without you!! Elli loves you SO MUCH!!!

The funny thing is that Elli's favorite thing to do right now is not to crawl, but to walk. She loves to hold on to someone's hands and walk. She just laughs and talks the whole time she's 'walking'. She especially loves to run. Elli gets very mad whenever you stop walking her. It's not pretty. I wish I could figure out a way to download videos on here because I'd love to show how she HIGH steps when she's walking.

We had another first today...Elli had her very own Oreo. I grabbed a cookie for a pre-dinner snack and gave Elli a bite of the filling (that's true love...sharing my Oreo filling). She loved it. When Greg and I were eating dinner I gave Elli some puffs and shared some french fry (Penn Station french fries are the best and very healthy for an almost 9 month old to munch on). Then I told Greg about Elli's deep love for the Oreo filling and teased them both by giving her an entire cookie. Let's just say, Elli was in baby heaven and her clothes were a complete mess (and Greg was about to have a cow but ultimately enjoyed the show). I know I have a flashing neon light over my head saying "BAD MOMMY! BAD MOMMY!" I'm sure Gerber would not recommend Oreo cookies to those Elli's age but you only live once...right!?!? I have some awesome pictures but I can't get them to upload...I'll try again tomorrow...stay tuned.

Last week I LEFT ON A JET PLANE...and Elli didn't even realize I was gone. It was my first time really leaving her. I traveled to CA on a quick 48 hour business trip. I didn't see her for two full days. Luckily, the trip was super quick and busy so I didn't really get too much of a chance to miss Greg and Elli. The trip was at the same time as some things for Greg so my awesome mom came to stay for a couple days to help. I can't decide who had more fun while I was gone - Elli or mom. When Elli woke up on Friday I don't think she knew who she wanted - she was torn between loving on me and then loving on mom.

We were playing in Elli's room that day - Elli and I on the floor and mom in the rocking chair. Mom said something and Elli looked up at her. I was at such an angle that all I saw was Elli's profile looking up. She was completely absorbed looking and listening to mom and it struck me at that moment how much I look up to my grandparents. Greg and I are so blessed to have the grandparents we do and Elli's grandparents are pretty terrific too. We've learned from and been loved by amazing men and women and I am so grateful to have mine and Greg's parents and grandparents who are such amazing Christian people...who love the Lord completely and truly showcase that they love us and that Jesus loves us. I don't think there was ever a time that Grandpa said goodbye without saying "I love you and Jesus loves you" and there was usually a "darlin'" said either before or after the statement. More than anything I want Elli to know that I love her and Jesus loves her.

Aunt Sara's birthday was Saturday...Happy Birthday Aunt Sara! We celebrated the day along with a late celebration for Mamaw Sally whose birthday was the weekend before. Seriously, I don't know how Addie gets cuter every time we see her. It doesn't seem possible, but she truly does. Addie shared some of her new toys with Elli this weekend...thanks Addie! We definitely don't see Addie as much as we want to! Happy Birthday Aunt Sara and Mamaw!! We had so much fun hanging out with you this weekend.

Welcome Daniel!

Check out Elli's new boyfriend!

Daniel Kauffman is beautiful!!!

Elli and I had a fantastic girls day today. She has such a personality and loves to talk, laugh and especially clap for herself. She's start pulling herself up (I've become a jungle gym) and has mastered going from belly to sitting up again. She gets in crawl position but no crawling yet. It's amazing to watch her manuever where she wants to go...somehow she always gets there.

Her new love: puffies! She loves the little puffs that dissolve in your mouth. Elli especially likes to feed herself. She's mastering the use of all her fingers and I've seen her fine motor skills really improve even over the last two weeks.

Her new hate: her changing table / getting her diaper changed. I don't know why or how this change occurred but she hates to get her diaper changed. At least 50% of all diaper changes involve her having a cow and rolling all over so it's almost impossible to get her changed without there being a situation (i.e. pee all over everywhere).

Her are some pictures of Elli helping me 'work' on my computer today and of her on the way to visit Daniel. You can tell she was excited to meet her new boyfriend! :)

Breakfast for Dinner!

Greg and I really need to go to the grocery store. We were struggling for dinner ideas so I suggested my very favorite - breakfast for dinner! I made us pancakes and potatoes. Elli had already eaten but she ended up joining us. Our pediatrician said it was good for Elli to join us at the table for dinner...that she did. She fed herself pancakes and loved them. Elli is such a big girl...it's so funny to see her think through getting the food from her tray to her mouth.

Many Happy Birthdays and Elli's First Official Play Date

I know it's been a while since our last post but in my defense I have tried three separate times to post over the last weeks and each time the entry stuck because I tried uploading videos. We have some great videos of Elli but I have learned my lesson and will stick to just pictures this time.

We've been very busy lately celebrating birthdays (Grandma Lee Ann, Aunt Ehrin and Addie) and just having fun. Elli LOVES to clap and say YAY (or her version of YAY anyway). It's funny because she seems to especially love clapping for herself. She loves to sing, talk, laugh, play and is so full of smiles. She's started kissing too...it's very open mouthed and slobbery but of course we love it.

Rather than me write three thousand pages about all that we've been doing and enjoying lately I'll try to let our pictures do the talking.


The weather got a bit nicer a couple of Friday's ago so Elli and I ventured out for a quick (really, really quick) walk. I bundled her up and she seemed to enjoy it, but I decided it was still too cold. We can't wait for warmer weather to go for walks every day!


Aunt Ehrin's 30th birthday and Grandma Lee Ann's 50 something birthday was celebrated by going up north to the Essenhaus Inn and Restaurant. We had such a fun family time and we found out that Elli loves to swim. We went to the pool late on Saturday night destined to fail (time to eat, time to sleep, grouchy time) and she had a blast. When she wasn't trying to drink the entire pool she was laughing at Grace. The next day we went down to watch dad and Grace swim and decided to take off her pajamas and throw Elli in. Again, she loved every minute of it.


Elli's first official play date happened on Friday morning when Tegegn Ponsler. Tegegn was so much fun and it was fun to talk mommy talk with Sarah.



Happy 1st Birthday Addie! Addie is so adorable and such a sweet little girl. I think Elli tried to out-gibber Addie at times today and she did love playing with Addie's new toys. Addie did excellent with her own personal cake...definitely the best I've seen.







Elli's favorite foods right now: squash, pear sauce, cake and ice cream so she was in heaven!

Elli clapping:


This was the first time Elli was pushing the buttons herself. :)