Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, y'all! Wow, this has been an awesome year...solely because Ellie was born in 2006!

We are being pretty low-key tonight. Ellie crashed around 6:30. She was exhausted from being out late last night celebrating Grandma Judy's birthday at Papadeaux. Then today she went to church with me and afterwards we hung out with my parents who are in town for a few days. My mom made her traditional Sunday dinner of roast and mashed potatos. Yum! Ellie loves mashed potatos with my Dad's famous gravy. But back to tonight's celebrations. I am chillin' at home, wearing my cozy polka dot pajama pants, waiting for Tom to get back from walking the devil-dogs so we can start our Dawsons Creek marathon. Yep, that's right...we are having a Dawsons Creek marathon for NYE. How cool (read: lame) are we?! I am the proud owner of all 6 seasons and let me just say...they all ROCK!!! Thank heavens Pacey and Joey ended up together in the end. :) I think our pal Alex will be making an appearance tonight. We have celebrated the last several New Years with him. I am hoping we can talk him into doing a little Karaoke Revolution for us. Oh. My. Gosh. My NYE is Dawsons Creek and karaoke. I am not really sure what that says about me, but it can't be good.

Have a Happy New Year!!!

Still teething

Bipolar baby

Teething has made Ellie crazy. She goes from happy to sad to mad within seconds. Take this picture below, for example. She was on the floor doing her sad cry when I started saying her name in a really happy voice and she gives me this great big smile. But immediately after the picture she started doing her angry pick-me-up-now-or-die cry. I miss my happy, sunshine baby. Why oh why was I so eager for Ellie to get her teeth? Who needs teeth? Her Uncle Mark could have just made her some dentures and we could have bypassed this whole painful process.

Boring post about teething

Ellie's first tooth finally poked through yesterday. I could feel the little sharp point with my finger. It is obviously still causing her pain, though, as she woke up no fewer than 4 times last night. When she cries out for us, she mixes in Dada with her cries. So it is like, "waaaa DADA waaaaa DADA." And I am talking SCREAMING here. So each time I roll over and tell Tom that she is calling him in the hopes that he will find it adorable and let me sleep through this round. But...the little booger will not go back to sleep for him. She just gets more and more angry until I go in there, manually roll her onto her side, and rub her cheek a few times. Then she goes right back to sleep. Only 19 more teeth to go.

Ellie is showing a real stubborn streak these days. Now that she can pull up on everything in sight, she insists on standing at all times. Try to sit her on the floor to play with her toys and her body goes rigid and she starts yelling at you. Once she is standing she is all smiles and bounces. The kid will probably never crawl, but she sure is getting good at maneuvering around her toys while standing. Yesterday, she was in her feeted (is that a word?) pajamas that are slippery on the carpet so she went down in a perfect split. Seriously, legs straight out on either side of her. Oh to be that flexible.

Christmas recap

Whew, Christmas is over! Not that it wasn't fun. But it is nice to be hanging out in my pajamas this morning with nowhere to go and nobody to see!

Christmas Eve, Tom and I took Ellie to Mass. Back when Tom and I were in high school, I used to always go to Midnight Mass with him on Christmas Eve. It was pretty exciting for me because it meant I got to stay out past my traditional 12pm curfew. We kept up the tradition every year, even after we got married, but this year we thought midnight would be a little late for Ellie so we bumped the time up to 5:30. After Mass, we came home and put Ellie to bed and then sat down to watch our favorite Christmas movie of all time...Love Actually. Our Christmas Eve meal was just a smorgasbord of finger foods...yum! We also opened our gifts to each other so the next day we could just focus on Ellie.

Christmas morning, Ellie woke us up early as usual and we got right to work opening her gifts. She didn't seem as interested in the paper as much as I thought she's be. She just kinda waited til we unwrapped the presents for her and then she would bat at her toys and whatnot. She got a few big toys this year and she LOVES them. It is amazing to me how quickly she figures out what buttons to push, which gadgets to spin, or panels to open in order to continue the annoying song that each toy emits.




Christmas Day we went over to Grandma Judy's where we had lots more presents to open. I had opened my big gift from her earlier...a baby jogger, yay! Ellie got this Sit n Spin Zebra thing that she loves. Later that evening, we went back to our place and Grandpa Tom, Uncle Mike, Aunt Tara, and Brannon came over to finish up celebrating Christmas. We weren't really planning it so the only food I had were leftovers from the night before. Oh, just in case you are wondering...Pizza Hut, Dominos, and Papa Johns are all closed on Christmas Day, but the Chinese buffet place down the road is open.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas ramblings

Yay! Today is Friday! I don't have to return to work til next Wednesday! How's that for Christmas cheer?

Tom, Ellie, and I are planning on spending a quiet Christmas at home this year. Normally, the holiday is pretty hectic with trying juggle visits to my parents, Tom's mom, and Tom's dad. But since my parents decided to move to Aruba for a few years (mean! so mean! how could you move so far?!), we are staying home Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Then, Christmas day will be spent with Grandma Judy and Christmas day eve will be spent with Grandpa Tom. I am so excited for Ellie to open her presents...even though she probably won't get past the thrill of playing with the wrapping paper. Christmas is just so much more exciting when you have a kid...maybe that is why my parents had seven? I always kinda thought is was for the slave-factor, but maybe they were just addicted to the excitement of Christmas that children add? :)

I bought Ellie a little santa hat and booties yesterday and tried them on her last night. She wasn't a big fan of the hat, but she sure will look cute on Christmas Day!

(I drew a Santa hat on Tom so he wouldn't feel left out. I have mad paint skillz.)

Little Miss Chatterbox

Last week, Ellie started say "dog" whenever she would see the dogs. Even though she stresses the D and the G, it is obvious what she is saying. So...now she can say Dada, hi, and dog...but still no freakin' Mama. Yesterday, she learned Nana and she says it almost as much as Dada. I have a feeling that Ellie will probably be speaking in complete sentences (and possibly doing simple math) before she says Mama.

Edit: Ok, I swear Ellie reads my blog and does her best to contradict me everytime I post something. Right after I published the above, Tom called me to say that he had been saying "Mmmmm" to Ellie all day so she would learn the M sound and now she says "MmmmmAh MmmmmAh" He put her on the phone so I could hear. Sounds close enough to Mama to make me happy!

Crazy long legs (and I don't mean the spider)

Ok, to follow up on yesterday's post, I walked in the door last night to find Tom scrubbing the baseboards in our kitchen! I didn't even realize Tom knew we had baseboards, much less that you have to clean them. I was all like, "Are you cheating on me? Cuz I like it!"

Ok, returning focus to Ellie...I am having a bit of a shower dilemna. Every morning I place Ellie in her bouncer while I take a shower. But now she has totally outgrown it. When she drops a toy, she will sit up in it and lean forward to grab the toy. I just know that one day she will flip the thing right over. Plus, look at how far her feet dangle over the edge! Since when did this kid get so tall?

I need to find a new method of restraining her while I shower. I thought about bringing her exersaucer into the bathroom, but there really isn't space for it. Then I thought about throwing a blanket down in my big whirlpool tub and letting her play in there, but it just sounds a little crazy. Any ideas?

Househusbands and Valentine's Day

Tom is acting as a stay-at-home Dad til January 2nd when he has to go back to work. I wish I had as much time off for Christmas, but I do love that Ellie gets this great bonding time with her dad. Plus, it was really nice coming home yesterday to a clean house, freshly bathed baby, and dinner marinating. Tom makes a great househusband (how come people say housewife and not househusband?).

I went to Target today to look for a cute Christmas sweater for Ellie. All their Christmas stuff was pretty much gone, but they did have out clothes for Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day? I still haven't even hung up my Christmas lights (and it doesn't look like I am going to, but whatever). Anyway, who buys clothes specifically for Valentine's Day? Ok, I may have bought one of the tops (the super cute black and white striped one with the red heart on the front), but only because I plan on dressing Ellie up in it all sorts of times...not just V-day :)

All I want for Christmas is Ellie's 2 bottom teeth

Only 1 week til Christmas! Tom and I took Ellie Christmas shopping Saturday. She seems to really like riding in the shopping carts, but I always forget to bring the floppy seat so I have to wipe down the seats with a baby wipe and try to keep her from licking the handlebar. Ugh. She picked out a stuffed penguin at Old Navy. I was going to put it back but then she spit up on it so I was "forced" to buy it. She really loves that crocheted penguin, though. We even took it with us to church yesterday. I really miss the days when she would sit so calmly in my lap for the whole 3 hours. She is going through this phase where she refuses to sit. Or play on the floor. She just wants to stand and bounce and talk loudly. Preferably holding onto the back of the pew and facing everyone behind us. It was exhausting. Oh, here is the conversation I had with Mia at church yesterday:

Mia: Aunt Holly, where is Uncle Tom?
Me: Uncle Tom is at my house.
Mia: Aunt Holly, how come Uncle Tom doesn't come to church with you?
Me: Because Uncle Tom goes to his own church.
Mia (incredulously): You have church at your house?
Me: No, Uncle Tom's church doesn't start until later.
Mia: Well, how come Uncle Tom doesn't come to church with you?

I love my conversations with little Mia. We tend to just go round and round in circles.

I am pretty certain Ellie is getting her two bottom teeth. I feel them both pressing through. Plus, she has been waking up crying several times a night for the past few nights and it is difficult to calm her. We have started dosing her up with cycles of Tylonel and Ibuprofen. I am hoping those teeth pop out soon so Tom and I can quit arguing in the middle of the night about who got up last. I have no memory of Tom waking up to calm her, but he always insists that he was "just in there for THIRTY minutes!"

How time flies

From this


to this

to this

Just one of those days

When I went to see Ellie over my lunch hour, the daycare ladies informed me that she has been "terrible. a little pill." Yeah, don't sugar coat it for me, thanks. Apparently, she refused to take a nap and was wanting to be held and cuddled the whole time. And with six other babies in the infant room, they aren't able to do that. Poor Ellie. She has this terrible sounding cough that makes her gag and throw up. I keep having these moments where I stop and think, "Oh my gosh. I am a real mom." Like when Ellie throws up on my work shirt and it doesn't even faze me.

After my visit with Ellie, I had 15 minutes to run into Target to buy more diapers, wipes, baby food, and check the clearance racks for cute outfits. Then, at the register the lady in front of me faints and somehow manages to hurt her leg in the fall. My cashier starts crying, all pandemonium breaks loose, and I am all like "shoot, I have to get back to work." So I go to another register. Only to discover that my wallet isn't in my purse. Then I think I might have thrown it in Target's trashcan outside with my McDonalds bag. So, as two ambulances pull up to Target, I am outside digging through the nasty trash. I am surprised they didn't try to cart me away as well. Turns out I left my wallet at the other register with the crying cashier. So...I am 30 minutes late returning to work for my meeting with my boss where one of the topics on the agenda is tardiness. And how we have to start docking our pay for being late. Just one of those days.

Happy 8 months, Ellie!

Dear Elizabeth,

Happy 8 months! This past week, I realized I have never once called you by your full name. It is always “Ellie” or “Choo-choo” or something that sounds like “Basoofah.” I don’t want you to grow up and see your birth certificate one day and be all shocked so I have started calling you Elizabeth as well as Ellie. But you don’t really look like an Elizabeth and it seems too grown up for you. And mostly I just named you that because I wanted a name to go with the nickname Ellie. And I really, really love Pride & Prejudice.

This past month you learned how to pull yourself up to a standing position. Ok, actually that was yesterday. It was like you knew I would be writing out your monthly milestones today and wanted to slip that one in at the last moment. You also seem to realize now that when you say “Da-da” you are referring to your daddy. Just last night you pulled your paci out of your mouth, looked directly at your dad, and said “Da-da” and then smiled like you were oh so proud of yourself. I keep trying to get you to say mama, but you just laugh like it is the funniest thing in the world and say dada again.

Despite all your impressive talents (like drinking from a sippy cup like a pro and feeding yourself finger foods without dropping a single piece), you still haven’t mastered the art of crawling. I tried having a conversation with you about it. I explained how you would have so much more direction and control with crawling then you do with rolling. I also explained that with crawling you wouldn’t roll on top of your toys and then get mad and cry about it. Seriously, you are such a baby. If you barely bump your head, your lower lip quivers and you look at me and emit the most pitiful cry. It is amazing how quickly you learned that by making that adorable sad face, I will drop everything and rush right over to comfort you. Mommy is just a big puppet at your disposal. But I guess I don’t mind you discovering this ability to bring me running. I want you to always know that whenever you get hurt, whenever you need me, I will always be there for you.

Happy eight months.

Love you forever,
Mama

Continuing to blog every second of her life

Ellie and I are just chillin' at home this morning. The antibiotics seem to have kicked in because she woke up happy and fever-free! I know I get so dramatic when she is sick. I don't know what I'll be like if she ever gets anything more serious then a cold or ear infection :)

Ellie is so lucky. She will know the exact dates of all the important events in her life. Like when she had each and every cold. Or when she had a big blow out in her diaper. Then, of course, the second child will come along and one day this Child #2 will ask me how old he/she was when he/she learned to walk and I'll be all "Oh, I am sure you started walking before kindgergarten. Yes, that's right. Because you looked so cute walking out to the bus stop on your first day of school. I would have taken a picture, but y'know how it is."

Doctor visit

We took Ellie to the doctor today. I was right, she has another ear infection (btw, her weight is now at 18lbs, 3 oz). This whole doctor thing is such a struggle for me. I feel like I am taking her too much and she is getting put on antibiotics too much. So I tell myself that I will wait 4-5 days and see if it gets better on its own. I know most things are viral and antibiotics don't help with viral infections. And I don't want her to build a resistance to antibiotics that she might really need later in life. And then there is that study that says children treated with antibiotics under the age of one are twice as likely to develop asthma in childhood (asthma study).
But then I see my baby, so miserable and sick. And I just want to do something, give her something, anything to make her feel better again.

Why is my baby ALWAYS sick?!

Ellie is sick again. Not her normal cold-sick, but 102.4 fever, fussy, sleep all day and cry all night sick. I am pretty sure she has an ear infection again. Bleh. I made a doctor's appointment for Tuesday morning because I am hoping that she will get better before then. I just don't want her to be on antibiotics for the fourth time.

Last night we went to Mark and Rosie's to celebrate Leilani's and my birthdays. Clearly, I like to drag out my birthdays as long as possible. Daniel and Sabrina gave me this cool snowflake decoration that has pics of my whole family in it...even the devil-dogs! I love it so much that I am contemplating keeping it up all year long. :)

2nd attempt and too much flash

Ok, so I don't get my camera. I turn the flash off and all my pictures are blurry. Then I put it on autoflash and open all the blinds and turn on all the lights and the flash still goes off. Grrr. I think I am going to drop Ellie off at Aunt Rosie's next Wednesday adn tell her to snap away!

Attempt at Christmas pics

I decided to ignore that fact that I am terrible at taking pictures and barely know how to work the camera and attempted to take some Christmas pics of Ellie this morning. Ellie soon grew tired of my failed attempts at photography and decided to throw a fit.



I think I will try again when she wakes up. Some people just never learn.

Rockin' the bedhead

This is what Ellie looked like when she woke up this morning. Check out that crazy hair! Her hair is finally growing long enough to have to brush down in the mornings. Still not enough to put a cute clip in, but getting close!

On a side note, Ellie has slept straight through the night for the past 2 nights. We put her down around 8:00pm and she just rolls over and goes to sleep til 6:00am! Ahhhh, the good life.

Christmas presents

I am so excited about Ellie's first Christmas! It is weird, but this will be the first time I have purchased any toys for her. They toys she has now were either hand-me-downs from Aunt Rosie or given to me at my baby shower. And Ellie loves them! I can sit her in front of her basket of toys and she will play happily for hours (ok, not hours. but for like 20 minutes. which is hours in baby-time). Anyway, I have already ordered this for her from Amazon.com:

And then I found these two Fisher Price toys on Craigslist for only $8 each and they are in great condition!

Then, Tom came home with two really soft stuffed animals that he picked up at Old Navy for Ellie since she really likes sleeping with her soft monkey. So, I think this is going to be a fun Christmas for Ellie. Even though I am pretty sure her favorite toys will be the boxes and wrapping paper.

My birthday dinner and yet another cold

Ellie enjoyed her dinner at Olive Garden last night. She was asleep when we arrived, but she soon woke up to join us at the table. She tried to eat a whole breadstick, but I took it away from her and broke it into small pieces because I didn't want to practice the heimlich maneuver in public. The people at the table next to us kept trying to talk to Ellie. And then the busboy/lady came up and asked if she could touch Ellie. I am not kidding. She wanted to touch her. I was like, ok. So she rubbed Ellie's arm a few times. Very odd.

Ellie slept straight through the night for like a week straight, but now she is back to her old antics. She has been waking up around 3:30-4:00 every morning and then sleeping restlessly after that. She has yet another cold so that might have something to do with it. Poor baby, she tries to breathe out of her mouth, but then she loses her pacifier so she starts searching her crib for it. The past few nights we have gone in there and she is on her belly, rotated so she is facing out of the crib. She is getting pretty good at maneuvering around on her belly and then rolling to whatever it is she wants. She especially wants Tom's playstation. And the remote control.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my 28th birthday! It started off with our dog, Hank, getting out of the kitchen and peeing all over the study. I've been meaning to sort through those boxes and clear out some space. Thanks, Hank, for making the decision of what to throw out a whole lot easier.

I have today off from work since I worked on Saturday. Yay! No work on my birthday! Ellie helped me decorate the Christmas tree this morning. Ok, she sat in her exersaucer and watched while I attempted to string up lights and whatnot. My tree? Looks like crap. Really, it does. I know I have no decorating skills and apparently that pertains to Christmas decorations as well.

Ellie, Tom, and I are going to the Olive Garden for dinner tonight. I picked Olive Garden because we never get to eat there since Tom hates it. But it's my birthday so I am all powerful! Daniel and Sabrina offered to babysit tonight, but I like the thought of spending my birthday with the two people I love the most in the world. Plus, Ellie really loves going out to eat so I would hate to deprive her off that fun. I think I will bring my camera tonight so that I can get a pic of Ellie in all her dining glory.