Rediscovering Me

Thursday night, we played in a tent

2013-05-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

Daddy needed to air it out for a weekend trip, and Elly got a kick out playing in it. The best part? She snorts when she's laughing really hard. SUPER love this girl!!!!!

Mother's Day in the park

2013-05-15T22:47:00.000-04:00

On Mother's Day, Elly (Daddy) let me sleep in all the way until 9:00!! Then I got two very sweet cards and breakfast. After some cuddle/play time and a short nap, the four of us went to the park. Surprisingly, we were the only people there, so Ramona and Elly got the run of the place!

Cute Elly had too much fun!

Elly found out what markers can do

2013-05-13T22:46:00.002-04:00

And she made this for me tonight!

Then she bit the top off the brown marker and squeezed the marker juice out all over her hands. But, it was the washable kind and it came right off!

Hello, Beautiful.

2013-04-23T20:56:00.001-04:00

Elly is 18-months old, now! I haven't taken her photos yet. But, here are some others. And also my new car. Hooray!

New Baby Must-haves #1

2013-04-12T15:09:00.000-04:00

Someone very dear to me is having her first baby in October - yay! I got to thinking about all the reading and researching I did before Elly's arrival and wanted to compile some lists of things I loved having, just to make it a little easier to wade through everything.

This is List #1, which will focus on health products I used. I'll also put together lists of baby gear, diapering, getting around, and whatever else I can think of...

one: coconut oil

This is a miracle product! I'm pretty sure I'll use it for the rest of my life. Seriously. I cloth diaper Elly and she would occasionally suffer from diaper rash when she was younger. You can't use regular diaper rash cream with cloth diapers because it makes the diapers repel water. I read somewhere that coconut oil was good for that. And oh my, was it! It's also the BEST product I found for sore, breastfeeding nipples. THE.BEST. Turns out, it's also great for acne, skin toning, and as an antibiotic cream. And it lasts forever! I bought a 16-oz jar when Elly was around 2 months old, and I haven't finished the jar, yet!

two: burt's bees baby bee diaper ointment

So, even though I cloth diaper, I didn't start until Elly was a month old. The disposables gave her really bad rashes, and I tried just about every product out there. This was absolutely the most effective - plus it's 100% natural and smells great, too!

three: nellie's all-natural laundry soda

Again, because of the cloth diapering, we wanted to find a laundry detergent that would not irritate Elly's sensitive little bum. We tried this detergent and now use it for all of our laundry! This 100-load tin costs around $16 and lasts forever - you just use one scoop per load. We have a regular washing machine, but it's also good for HE washers. If you just LOVE the smell of laundry detergent, well, this doesn't have that. There is virtually no odor at all, which I very much prefer. I find the smell of regular laundry detergent and fabric softener artificial, so this is awesome for me. They also make lavender-scented dryer sticks if you want an added scent... I haven't tried it, though.

four: biokleen bac-out sprayer

Another attempt to reduce the use of chemicals in the home, this cleaner has been awesome. It smells like lime and I feel comfortable using it both around the dog and the baby. Plus, it gets out stains surprisingly well!

five: maty's all natural baby chest rub

This is a superb, all-natural alternative to Vick's. I first purchased it to rub on Elly's chest when she had a cold, but now I put it on her most nights. The smell is so soothing and I think it really helps her fall asleep. And she still smells super tasty in the morning :)

six: alba un-petroleum jelly

I don't know why I didn't realize it first, but once I realized that petroleum jelly was made with, well, petroleum, I quickly looked for a safer alternative. This un-petroleum jelly feels and looks just like regular petroleum jelly, but without the oiliness or the skin-suffocating petroleum. It's made of castor oil, coconut oil, beeswax, and vitamin e. That's it! And it's good for mommy, too.

Seventeen Months and full of fun

2013-03-21T21:32:00.001-04:00

OMG I STILL HAVE NOT TAKEN ELLY'S 16 MONTH PHOTOS

2013-02-28T20:29:00.001-05:00

That is all. I better get on it before she's 17 months...

I like this

2013-02-12T23:02:00.001-05:00

It reminds me a lot of the YouTube channel BoredShorts, which seriously crack me up. For example:

Two in One Day -- Fifteen Months

2013-01-20T14:50:00.001-05:00

My little babe is now 15 months old! She is awesome. She walks/runs, talks, makes animal sounds (her favorite is "ah ah ah" for a monkey), imitates us, knows how to be silly to make us laugh, dances her heart out, laughs, shares, plays, climbs up and down stairs, loves her bath and her bunny, is becoming better pals with Ramona, makes friends wherever we go, plays ball, follows directions, carries her lunch box, and most especially loves her Dada and Mama!

Some things around the house

2013-01-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

I put some cute things on the walls, recently. Here they are.

Stick-on letters above Elly's crib.

Needlepoint by my mom and paintings by Claudio Olivos.

Another painting by Claudia and an owl bank from Daddy.

Family photos we had done by Jud McCrehin (who also did our wedding).

Cuter (and more fun!) by the day

2013-01-06T15:41:00.000-05:00

Elly L.O.V.E.S. to dance. She doesn't even need music! But, it helps :). And any little ditty will do!

Hi and Bye

2012-12-06T23:43:00.000-05:00

Thirteen Months

2012-11-25T18:38:00.004-05:00

Elly turned ONE last month, and hit 13 months last week. Here are some photos of Elly at 13 months.

Eleven months

2012-09-20T20:27:00.001-04:00

It's unbelievably true!

Baby Elly + Oma Elly

2012-09-19T22:22:00.000-04:00

Elly's First Vacation!!!

2012-09-11T17:51:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow we're taking off on a week-long trip to Holland! It'll be Elly's first real vacation, and first time on a plane! The flight over is about 7 hours and overnight, so I'm hoping she can sleep through most of it. And I'm hoping that I'm so used to sleeplessness at this point, that I won't have a problem with the time difference and the fact that I'll be HOLDING my sleeping baby for the duration of the flight.

My uncle is getting married on Friday, which mandated the dates of our trip... and baby Elly gets to meet her Oma Elly, who she's named after, for the first time! Yay!

Details upon our return...

A Thousand Words

2012-09-03T09:49:00.001-04:00

Now, how can you deny that apes are part human?

Walking practice

2012-09-01T21:15:00.001-04:00

Ten Months and Things I know

2012-08-20T20:43:00.002-04:00

My little bean is 10 months old! She gets more wonderful by the day. Here are a few photos from today.

You can see one of her little top teeth in this one!

Things I know about Elly:

She has teeth! Last month, she didn't have a single tooth, nor was there any sign that they would be coming anytime soon. Four weeks later, and she has three of them! Her bottom right tooth and both of her top front teeth.
She LOVES to stand! She pulls up to stand on anything she can get ahold of. She can also cruise along the couch, and once or twice ventured from the couch to my shoulder (while I was sitting on the floor against the couch). I can tell she wants to let go and stand on her own, but she's still a bit too nervous for that.
She doesn't cry very often, and usually only when she is REALLY tired or in real pain. It's been happening more often of late with those teeth coming in. It is such a sad, heartbreaking sound! Luckily, it can usually be solved by some cuddles with Mommy.
She loves to look at and play with other kids. She wants to touch them and be near them and do what they're doing (especially if they're older than her!). She adores both of her cousins, Alivia and Blake. She definitely inherited Daddy's social personality!
She waves at everyone, especially at herself in the mirror and at the dog. For a while, she just kind of stuck her arm straight out, but didn't actually wave it up and down. We had our friends Agnieszka and Bryan over for dinner one night, and every time she stuck her arm out, Bryan would kiss her hand all the way up to her shoulder. She would giggle and hold her arm back out for more! Such a flirt :)
I'm positive that she says "Ramona." It's more like "neh-neh," but she says it every time she sees the dog, and then waves. We were at my parents' house this weekend, and she also said "neh-neh" whenever she saw their dog! So, for now at least, it looks like every dog might be a "Ramona."
She gets distracted by every sound she hears, especially when I'm trying to nurse her. She loves to pop off and look around to find the source of whatever it was she just heard. Her favorite is when she pops off and sees Daddy right there. She gets a huge smile on face and leans back to get a better look at him.
She still goes down for naps and at bedtime great, but hasn't improved at all on her nighttime wakings. We're working on it.
Black beans and chicken are some of her favorite foods right now. Oh, she also loves to eat her little cereal puffs out of the snack container. It's the kind with the rubber flaps that let her take the cereal out but prevents it from just spilling. She tries to grab an entire fistful and pull out as many as she can at once. Then, she'll go in for more, not realizing that she still has one or two pieces in her other hand.
She still loves water. I'm so glad! I'm going to hold off on giving her any kind of juice for as long as possible. As long as she'll take plain water with such gusto, I'll let her at it!
This girl LOVES to eat paper. Now that she has teeth on the top and bottom, her paper-destruction skills are significantly improved. She can spot the teeniest piece of paper on the carpet and will make a beeline for it, stuffing it straight into her mouth. At least it always makes it out the other end...!
We upgraded her to the convertible car seat this month. She just seemed to uncomfortable in the infant carrier. We'll still take that one with us to Holland next month, and she'll be fine, but for every day travel, it's so much better to have the bigger, more upright seat. When it arrived and I took it out of the box, she crawled right over to it and wanted to get in. So, I buckled her up and took some pictures. She loved it!
She is so respectful of the dog's space, which is great, but she CANNOT keep her hands out of the water bowl! Usually, she crawls up to it and reaches up with one arm to splash in the water. Yesterday, though, I found her up on her knees with both hands in the bowl, splashing to her heart's content! It was cute, but we really have to work on that!
And finally, if I didn't mention it before (I did), teething is no fun. My poor, poor little babe.

Oh my heart, my love, my joy!!

Oh my god, I love her

2012-08-10T13:21:00.001-04:00

This face!

Hello!

2012-08-04T11:27:00.001-04:00

This week, Elly started waving! And who was the very first person she waved at? Herself, of course! In the mirror :)

Babies!!!

2012-08-02T12:15:00.004-04:00

I know a CRAZY LARGE amount people that have had babies this summer. It's bonkers!

Avett, April 12
Connor, May ?? (oops!)
Darby, July 5
Hykie, July 5
Emmett, July 5
Scarlett, July 11
Katelyn, July 26
Noah, August 2
Claire, August 2
Gilad, August 2 (if all goes as planned, today!)
Joshua, coming any day!
GIRL, due in September
Ellie, due in December

Now, I guarantee I forgot someone! But look! That's a long list! And girls!!

On another, somewhat related note, I saw a post about this the other day. It's a Chrome extension that claims the following for your Facebook feed:

INSTALL. Hit that giant button down there and configure the extension.
BROWSE. Refresh Facebook. Any baby pics will now be cats.
REJOICE. Now you don't have to look at all your friends' annoying kids.

HA! Classic.

Here's what Elly thinks of that idea.... :)

Swimming Class

2012-07-31T16:34:00.004-04:00

Last week, Elly and I started a 2-week "Waterbabies" class at the high school pool. This little one is such a fishy - she has no fear when it comes to the water! She definitely seems to be having the most fun of all the babies in the class. I'm not sure which she likes better, splashing Mama in the face or flying up in the air and splashing back down in the water.

On the second day of the class, the instructor wanted us to try submerging the babies all the way under water if we felt they were ready. She had Elly be her example baby since she was so obviously ready to go under water! She loved it - when we came back up out of the water, she shook her head and then started splashing for more!

I can just imagine her squealing, "BEST.BATH.EVER!"

PS. Speaking of the bath, she had her first bath in the big tub without anything to sit on or in (besides a little bath mat). I love this pic - look at the water splashing over her legs!

9 Months, and Things I Know

2012-07-26T12:15:00.002-04:00

Here is sweet Elly bean at 9 months (+1 day). It is extremely hard to take a picture of this girl now that she's on the move! She thought it was HILARIOUS that I would catch her every time she crawled off the edge of the chair. I'll have to enlist the help of Daddy at the 10 month photo shoot!

Once again, I had so much trouble picking my favorites! This girl has so much personality!

This is the one I have as my desktop background this month:

Eventually I just let her down on the floor and was able to take a couple of good shots, there. Look at her standing!

Things I know about Elly:

She's crawling! Once she finally figured out that forward motion, there was no stopping her! However, she still likes to be where Mama is, so I don't really have to go chasing her around. Rather, she's crawling after me as I run back and forth between the living room and kitchen!
She loves to climb over peoples' legs... and up onto Mama. We've become her own personal obstacle course!
She was able to pull herself up to standing at 9 months, 1 day, so I'm counting that this month. Rather, it was more like pushing up to standing... but now that she's done it, she already prefers the view from up there over what she sees on her hands and knees. She's practicing pulling herself up with the help of the couch. I haven't caught her doing it in her crib, yet, but I'm sure I'll find her stuck standing up in there any day now!
She may have said "dada" before "mama," but she more than makes up for that, now! She's definitely a Mama's girl right now. I'll take it! If she is anything like I was, she'll be wrapped around her Daddy soon enough - let me enjoy it while she's still mine :)
She is so, so, so happy. Even when she's sick, she's still able to laugh and smile. It's so heartwarming to have such a sweet, pleasant babe.
I mentioned last month how much this girl loves men. This love has only gotten stronger this month! It's so funny to watch her stare at them, willing them to look her way. And she's usually successful in not only getting their attention, but encouraging them to make silly faces and act a fool as she giggles in response. She knows how to get what she wants!
She absolutely loves to have dance parties! I was singing Brown-Eyed Girl to her one evening (of course changing the lyrics for my sweet, blue-eyed girl), and she totally started grooving along with the Sha La La's! I've created a Pandora station based on that song that we play and dance along to together. She's got pretty decent taste in music, that's for sure!
She figured out that if she hands her food over to Ramona, she'll get to touch the dog! She laughs and laughs whenever Ramona gets close to her, especially if she's pulling something out of Elly's hand. Ramona is very careful not to bite Elly as she's taking the food. So sweet!
This month, she has started screaming in protest whenever her diaper is being changed or she is being put into her car seat. She does not like to be pinned down!
She stopped taking a bottle all on her own. Her sitter told me she just wasn't interested in sitting still and laying back to drink from her bottle anymore. So, now she gets her milk from a straw cup, instead. Just like that!
She is still a super cuddler, especially when she's tired. I just love when she snuggles her head into my neck.
She still doesn't have any teeth, so I've been supplementing her BLW solids with the pureed food pouches. I felt like she was still really hungry after "eating" since she can't chew her food, so I started offering her the pouches. She just sucks it right out of the pouch, and usually has 1/2 - 3/4 of the pouch at a time. She usually has 2-3 of those at the sitter's in addition to 4-8 oz of milk.
She LOVES water! Her little lips are SO CUTE when she's drinking out of her straw cup. She likes the straw so much better than a regular sippy cup because she doesn't have to tip it back. We'll work on that eventually, but for now the straw cups are great!
This month she had her first weekend without Mama (I went to the beach with my girlfriends for four days!) and her own first trip to the beach. She was a little unsure about both, but did so great! And Daddy now feels much more confident taking care of his little babe!

At her 9-month check-up, she was 20 lb 10 oz (85%) and 27.4 in (75%). She got her final HepB shot and had her blood drawn to check her iron, blood count, etc. All was normal - but she sure had some big, fat tears rolling down her sweet cheeks!

I love being this girl's Mama.

Missing Pictures

2012-07-21T08:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Elly's 9 Monthiversary! We both have colds and I didn't get her pics taken. That will be happening today, at which time I will update with the pics and things I know about her.

In the meantime, look at what I did!

At one of my baby showers, we decorated little onesies for Elly. Here she is in a few :)

She's already outgrown them all, but I wanted to be able to keep them for her. Many of them have her name on them, plus they were all made especially for her, so they couldn't go to anyone else. And who wants to keep a stack of onesies to look through some day?

I just cut out the fronts of the onesies, arranged them so that the columns were about even in length, sewed them together, and used receiving blankets to edge the front and create the backing. I love it!