Firsts for Ellie

Friday morning Ellie experienced her first play date. Kelly was thoughtful enough to include me on the email list and actually hosted the event. She had some delicious streusel cakes and banana muffins - she always has good food! Ellie was passed around from Holly to AmyBeth to Elisha. We had to be home at noon so we left after an hour and half. The Wilsons dropped off our dinner after we had eaten lunch then Ellie and I spent some time making lavender sachets for the women's auction at church. Mom had some lavender sitting around her house and she wanted it used to benefit the auction, so somehow I was agreeing to sew sachets. Fortunately it was simple and Ellie was cooperative and we made six for the cause. After dinner we hung out in the basement and watched "Amazing Grace," which Jon had not watched before. Jon says he thought it was good except for the fact that he was supposed to be a good singer, and he wasn't that good. Which reminds me - Jon was singing The Messiah in the shower this morning and he said he wants to sing it as a special number for Christmas Eve. Well, that the church should ask him to sing it. Got that, Mimi?

The lavender sachets

That afternoon the delivery man dropped off a box from Indiana, and inside was this basket full of personalized diapers for Ellie! There was also a stuffed animal and a pacifier clip. But how much fun are these??

Saturday was Ellie's due date! It's hard to believe that technically she shouldn't have been here the past three weeks! Jon and I agree that we would much rather the element of surprise than to be waiting around for her to come late. It's been a fun three weeks! In the morning Doug called and asked if Jon wanted to join him and Omar for breakfast at the Windmill. Well, Jon is not one to refuse food (even from the Windmill) so he headed out to meet them at 8. Ellie and I pretended we were college students and stayed in bed until after Jon and Omar returned from breakfast. Omar had offered to help Jon on the basement and we never refuse free help! So the two of them wired the electrical in the bathroom as well as installed the insulation. Progress is exciting! While they worked in the basement, I tended to Ellie and also cleaned the bathroom, dusted the first floor, and vacuumed the first floor. I feel as though things are slowly getting back into working order. Having the dishwasher has definitely helped!
Since it was Ellie's due date, I had thrown out the idea that Jon and I should go out to dinner to celebrate. Ok, so I had told Jon that we should go out to dinner on my due date before she was even born, so it was different than I had expected since she is here! Kelly most generously offered to watch her while we went out, so we dropped her off at six and went to Bistro on 10. We had a wonderful time (well, besides our inattentive waitress/slow service) and even stopped by Lowe's to check out sink and shower controls for the basement. We picked Ellie up around eight and Kelly said she behaved, so we were pleased. So Ellie experienced her first babysitter and first time away from her parents!
On Saturday night she continued her usual sleep habits - waking up about every two hours. Well, after the 4:00 feeding I wasn't thinking straight because I was just letting her fuss in her basinet and was just trying to put her pacifier in over and over, so Jon got up and took her into the nursery to put her to sleep. Well the next thing I know I'm hearing her cry over the monitor - Jon had decided to just try out the crib and see how she liked it. Well, she must have had a good first crib experience because she woke up at 7:00. I'll have to let you know how the crib goes tonight!

she likes her carrier!

Ellie pretending to be a college student sleeping in.