Happy Baby

Tuesday morning I started cleaning out Ellie's closet. As she has been growing I've just been putting her old clothes in a box and opening new toys and activities without any real organization. When Ellie was awake we spent the time taking everything out and putting it back in. Somewhere during this time I decided to take down all my winter decorations. Although it still is February the forty five degree weather made me itch for spring. All I have left is to undecorate the tree outside.
During the day Ellie was like clockwork with her nap schedule. She would sleep an hour and a half or so and then remain awake two hours. When the two hours were complete she would be cranky and unpleasant until she was back in her crib. She has always seemed to want to nap, for which I am thankful.
In the afternoon I taught Brooke her flute lesson while Ellie hung out with Aunt Carol. We headed over to Grandma's house where she spent an hour with them while I taught piano lessons. They said she was a good girl and she drank the entire bottle I gave them, which was six ounces. She is growing!
For dinner Jon and I ate leftovers because he had a missions committee meeting at church. Since he currently is the chairman Jon leaves at 6:30 to make copies and prepare for the meeting. Ellie ate some carrots and applesauce for her dinner and went to bed at 7:00. Since her last nap ended at 3:00 she was very tired. Having the places to go and people to see helped keep her awake.

Messy baby (from Monday morning)

Posing with Daddy before heading out.

After Ellie went to bed I worked on a project for Jon. He wanted to see if the glass etching would work on the project at work he is doing. I also started making dinner for Wednesday since the meat had defrosted overnight and I didn't want to risk keeping it in the fridge too long. Jon came home from his meeting before 10:00 and we went to bed right away in preparation for Ellie's potentially long night.
Ellie slept from 7:00 until 3:45. At 3:45 she went back to sleep ten minutes later but woke up slightly after 4:00. She sounded so sad and pathetic and her forehead was warm so I prepared a small bottle for her and put some Tylenol in it. She drank it right down and went to sleep and didn't wake up until 7:45. It was great! I still don't know if she felt ok or not but I didn't think it'd be nice to try to take her temperature when she was sad and wanted me to nurse her. So I erred on the side of caution and just gave her some meds. It's the first time she's actually gotten the medicine in her stomach since she always spits it out when I try to use the dropper.
In the morning we had our usual Wednesday routine with Precepts at 9:15. I was running a bit late but didn't seem to miss anything. At 10:00 I went and put Ellie down for a nap. When I went into the nursery she was fussing so I prepared a crib, laid her down on her blanket, patted her bottom about four times, and left. She ended up sleeping for 45 minutes. Thank you, Ellie.
After Precepts we stopped at Walmart for a few items. Nothing was really needed but I've been wanting to try some new food on Ellie and I could use bread for our dinner. Ellie sat in the seat of the cart for the first time and loved it. People were obviously humored by such a small baby sitting up front because I received a few comments and laughs. She was kept very busy touching all the bags and containers.
Upon arriving home Ellie took a nap while I finished up dinner and put away the groceries. I made a beef stew with dumplings and I wanted to make sure the potatoes were cooked through but I had piano lessons from 3:30-4:45 so I had to prepare it beforehand. Ellie slept and woke up right before the lessons. During the first piano lesson Ingrid (the mom) held her and she laughed and talked through it all. It was all pleasant and soft. During the second lesson I had her on her playmat or in the activity center and she just droned on and on. When she is getting tired Ellie becomes noisy. Fortunately she did not become cranky-loud until we were finished and they were heading out the door.
Ellie went down for a third nap at 5:00. I set the table and made some baby food for Ellie until Jon came home. I was hoping Ellie thought this third nap was an actual nap since Jon had prayer group at Ryan Frey's and I had Bible Study at Brittany's. She must have thought it was bedtime, though, because Jon had to wake her up when I needed to leave.
During Bible Study Ellie hung out on the floor and kept us entertained. When she would want a new toy or couldn't reach what she was playing with she would make a defined squawk until I would help her out. Ellie did a great job until the end (after she had been awake over two hours) when she was very cranky and cried most of the way home. She is now sleeping soundly and hopefully will remain that way.

Ellieisms:
When I hand Ellie toys or pacifiers she takes them from my hand.
Ellie woke up really happy this morning. She was chuckling in her car seat when I was driving to church. Sometimes I wonder what that baby is thinking about.

Over 6 months old!

She causes her play mat to topple over a lot

Finally signing Daddy's Valentine's Day Card...Oops

Reading it to make sure the message is just right.

Sleep Training Round 1

So after thinking about starting sleep training yesterday I decided after reviewing The Baby Whisperer and communicating some of the main points to Jon to give it a shot last night. Ellie ended up only waking up two times (which is less than usual) and it took thirty minutes to go back to sleep the first time and forty five minutes the second time. For the first time in her life she went all night without nursing. Hopefully tonight goes just as well.
After our relatively long night Jon made breakfast for us after his run. I was so tired that I went back to sleep and he left for work. Ellie woke up at 8:15 which gave me enough time to get us ready and out the door for my class at the gym. Grandma and Grandpa watched Ellie. I was about fifteen minutes late for the class so afterwards I spent fifteen minutes on the orbital to make up for the lost time.

Hanging with Grandpa

Upon arriving at Grandma and Grandpa's Ellie was sitting on Grandpa's lap. She was ready for her nap and Grandma said she had almost fallen asleep while drinking her bottle but it ran out before she was full. I took her and put her to sleep on their bed while we waited for Kelly and Clark. Grandma has definitely been pampering us all with her babysitting and delicious lunches. Kelly ran off for a shot at CVS while we hung out with Clark. He didn't seem to notice she was gone but played ball with Grandpa on the steps and trotted around like he owned the place. Ellie didn't wake up until Kelly was getting Clark ready to go. I had gone to check on her and when I opened the door she was looking right at me from the bed. She must be comfortable at Grandma's house to just hang out in the bedroom like that.

Grandpa threw the ball up the steps and Clark rolled them down

After lunch I stopped by the bank and went home. Ellie ate some carrots and a lot of pears for her lunch. She definitely slurps up her pears happily but is not so impressed with the carrots. I always try the vegetables first. I'm going to need to branch out a bit more since she has only tried five items thus far.
Ellie took a nice two hour nap this afternoon. I wrote emails, prepared dinner, and cleaned up a bit before my five o'clock lesson. Brenda and Brooke always seem to arrive early and today they came right as I was pulling out the vacuum. I quickly pushed it in the corner by my bedroom door and let them in. Ellie had just woken up so Brenda hung out with her while she played in the exersaucer. She would sing along every so often and was overall very chatty.
Dinner was ready when Jon came home and Ellie was eating applesauce when he walked in the door. We ate while she hung out in the highchair and the leaf. I may just be a messy "feeder" but I feel as though a whole bib gown is needed to feed that baby. She reaches for the spoon as I put it towards her mouth and get is all over her fingers, then rubs it on her belly and legs. I suppose laundry will have to be done more often than once a week at this rate.

Jon spent the evening fixing our garage door (the springs broke) and changing my oil. I did the dishes then researched a bit for when Elizabeth Maye, Elizabeth Dyer, and Rachel come next week. I'm very excited for their arrival!

Ellieisms:
When I picked up Ellie from the leaf after doing the dishes her sock was all wet from sucking on it. It was still on her foot, too.

Loving the exersaucer! Thanks, Fentons! (We're borrowing theirs)

The glass etching for Corinne to see

It's not super obvious. For Dorothy's I added a pear.
For Nelah's I just kept it simple.

The bathroom tiling, if you care to see the progress.

Close-up of the detail

Our Weekend

Friday morning Ellie and I went to the gym after Jon left for work. We then went home for her nap while I put together the grocery list and picked up the house. We ate lunch and I put her down before I taught my afternoon piano lesson. I had plans to go to the grocery store when Ellie woke up from her nap but she kept sleeping for close to three hours. Two hours into the nap I decided to make some cookies for dinner tonight. Jon came home from work and we went out for dinner at DiAddezio's. We picked up pizza on the way. Nelah shared the video from Christmas morning when the kids opened their big gift, a Wii, and Joseph said "It's from Jon and Kim Mountz!" Apparently they thought it was from us because they had played our Kinect several weeks prior. After dinner hung around and Ellie fell asleep on their bed.
Saturday morning Peter came over to help Jon tile the shower to "repay" him for the work done at his place last week. Peter cut the tiles while Jon installed them. They stopped for lunch and I made sandwiches and a Mexican chip dip. They worked until the tiles were installed all the way to the ceiling - it is very exciting! The goal is to be finished in time for my college friends who are coming to visit March 10. I'll have to keep you posted.
Peter went home at 4:00 and then Peter, Brittany, and Omar came over for dinner. I made a salad, baked potatoes, and Jon grilled chicken. We had leftover cookies for dessert. The boys played a few rounds of FIFA while Brittany worked on cutting out a pattern for a new bag she's making for her sister and I worked on another 9x13 I was etching for Nelah.
Sunday morning we had to be at church relatively early since we were praying in the service. Ryan Estes was leading worship and Jon wrote up a prayer for us to pray. I really need to work on sleep training Ellie because she is digressing and doing worse and worse with sleeping through the night, or so it seems. She doesn't stop crying when I pick her up or if I pat her bottom or if I just let her go. She just wants to nurse. Kelly's given me some pep talks and I'm going to read the books again to refresh my memory and hopefully will have this thing tackled in the next week and a half before my friends come!
Anyway, Ellie did not sleep at all at church while she was in nursery so she was pooped when we went home. She fell asleep in the car and Jon transfered her to the crib. Jon and I ate lunch and laid down for a nap. When I was almost asleep Ellie woke up. Jon graciously took her for a couple hours while I slept and then we swapped places. It worked out.
We ended up needing to wake Ellie up to get to church on time for prayer. Dad led and we went home right afterwards. She was very hungry when we got home so I shoveled some pears into her mouth while she fussed and then nursed her and put her to bed. I'm hoping that a full stomach will help her sleep better. On that note, I'm going to head to bed. It could be a long night.

Ellieisms:
Ellie refuses the pacifier and I've tried all three types that I have here. She sometimes tries to suck on her thumb but it never lasts long.

Sorry about the lack of pictures.

Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday morning we had our usual routine of going to Precepts in the morning. This time I was motivated to get out the door early since Corinne was going into Jinja and agreed to call me when she arrived at The Keep where she has a good internet connection (good is a relative term here). I dropped Ellie off at the child care while being signed onto my Skype account and Corinne called as I was heading out. It was so nice to talk to her! I found an empty classroom and we talked for thirty minutes before I thought it best to head to class (thirty minutes late...oops). When I walked in I thought they would be starting the lesson after the prayer time but they were listening to stories from Mom's trip to Uganda instead. It was so nice to talk to Corinne even though it was brief!
After Precepts I was hanging around and Kelly invited us over for lunch. Mom was already planning on going since they needed to discuss the music plans for Tyler Estes' wedding. We had Arby's and I hung out until Ellie became cranky and ready for her nap. It was fun to sit around and talk about Uganda, Corinne's wedding, and things Mom missed while away.
My afternoon lesson cancelled and I had planned to try to go to the grocery store. Since we had talked so long, though, and it was snowing, I decided to take Ellie home to nap and skip the store. Jon graciously agreed to eating the same leftovers he had at lunch for dinner. I did a few loads of laundry and cleaned up the house because I was hosting the women's Bible study.
Peter had the flu so I texted Brittany in the afternoon to see if she would prefer if I would host. She said yes so the girls came here. It was nice to be able to put Ellie to sleep in her own bed. She woke up at 8:30, though, and hung out with us. She became cranky again towards the end of the prayer time so I put her back to bed. Jon hosted prayer group at his Mom's house so that the boys could watch a soccer game afterwards. It worked out really well.
Today Jon took the day off because we had a meeting in Willow Grove at 4:00. Ellie woke up twice during the night and Jon tried putting her back to sleep to see if she would settle down without nursing. Both attempts were unsuccessful but she seemed to eat a lot when I finally went in. I really need to get better at feeding her solids. We took advantage of Jon's day off and slept in until Ellie woke up around 8:00.
Jon made pancakes and iced coffees for breakfast to celebrate being home. After we ate I pureed some pears I had cooked last night and fed some to Ellie while freezing the rest in small containers. She didn't seem too excited but I had nursed her only two hours prior. We hung around for the morning keeping Jon company as he did paperwork for our taxes and our meeting. I also gave her a bath.

Trying to roll from her back to her belly

At 1:00 Ellie and I went over to have lunch with Grandma Mountz. Donna had asked if we would be willing to eat with her since everyone would be away for the day until after 2:00 and they don't like Grandma being alone particularly over meals. Ellie smiled and cooed with Grandma while I made some sandwiches and I put Ellie down for a nap after lunch. I had a meeting at church at 2:15 so Donna (who came home by then) agreed to listen for her while I went to church.
Jon met us in Elverson and we headed out to Willow Grove. Jon wanted to put together a Will and Mark DiAddezio recommended the lawyer we met with today. The meeting took a little over thirty minutes but we decided to eat dinner in spite of the early hour. I checked the local restaurants and we settled on Chipotle. I really like what they have to offer and their portions are large. Plus we didn't really want to do a sit-down dinner with a waitress.

Catching on to the smiling at the camera stuff

We split a burrito and serving of chips and salsa. We carried Ellie in (instead of bringing in the car seat) and she sat in the restaurant's highchair. I had brought along a serving of pears and she gobbled it down without protest.

After dinner we headed home but stopped by Elverson to pick up Jon's car. Since we were there, we popped in and talked with Omar and Grandam Mountz. Ellie showed off some of her skills (sitting up, almost rolling over) and Omar witnessed how silly a grown man will act for his child. Jon was trying to encourage Ellie to roll over by demonstrating on the floor. I don't think Ellie caught on.

Giggling with Great-Grandma

Watching Daddy's demonstration

Sitting up

We arrived home around 8:00 and Jon finished up more paperwork while I researched quilt projects to do with Mrs. Saint. I think I have settled on a pattern and color scheme. Hopefully it looks good!

Ellieisms:
Ellie comes so close to rolling over from her back to her belly. No success yet.
Ellie only drinks formula when she is very hungry and tired. Otherwise she refuses it.
Ellie is growing out of her 3-6 month clothes quickly! Some of the one-piece suits are getting tight.

New Students and Big Bottom

Monday morning Jon had a breakfast meeting with men from church so I actually had to wake up to my alarm to make it to the gym in time for the 9:15 class. Grandpa and Grandma watched Ellie during it and I picked her up at 10:30. I would have loved to stay for lunch but the piano tuner was coming to my house at 11:30 and I needed to shower. Last time he came it was over a year ago and he arrived early (I remember because he came right after I had gotten out of the shower and I had to rush to the door). The piano was in dire need of a tuning and he recommended I get a piano humidifier thing since we have hot water baseboard heating. We'll see.
The tuner left after an hour and Ellie slept the entire time he was working until 1:00. My new piano students, two kids from church (Josh and Nina Faber) arrived at 1:30. Ellie hung out in the exersaucer, on the floor, and in my lap for the hour they were here. Then we hung out until my next lesson thirty minutes later. Aunt Carol Hoke always hangs out with Ellie during Abby's lesson and I was especially grateful this week because she was getting tired and wanted some attention. It really worked out well.
After we said goodbye to the Hoke's we went to Brittany's house. They didn't have school due to Presidents Day so she invited me and Dorothy over to work on our crafts. I finished etching a 9x13 dish and then focused on trying to put Ellie down for a nap. I failed with the nap and at one point went upstairs to console her and Peter was leaning over the cradle trying to get her to stop crying. He seemed concerned that she may not be able to breathe with the blanket in her face (she lays on her belly). It was sweet! I had to head back home for my final piano lesson so I just took her back downstairs with me.
Ellie graciously fell asleep on the car ride home. I arrived and my student was early so I let them in and put Ellie in her crib. She fell asleep and slept until Jon came home from work at 6:00 when we woke Ellie up and headed back to Peter and Brittany's house. They invited us over for some soup along with the Bradshaw's. The soup was good and Ellie even gobbled some down. She was tired and clingy (since we woke her up) so I had her on my lap. Although I had just fed her before dinner, Ellie seemed interested in the soup so I fed her some while I was eating. I think she liked it!
Jon spent the evening helping Peter install the garbage disposal while the ladies talked. Ellie went to sleep so I was free to just chat. The boys finished their project and we hung out a bit longer before heading home at 10:30. Ellie was wide awake by the time we arrived home so I tried to feed her some sweet potatoes. She was not impressed and dramatically pushed it out of her mouth with a gag. She'll have to change her mind on something soon!
Today I had my second appointment with the trainer at the fitness center. I arrived a few minutes late because Jon graciously allowed me to sleep in while he woke up and ate breakfast. I hadn't told him about my appointment so when he came to say goodbye at 8:20 I jumped out of bed to try to prepare for the day.
After the session I tried to run on the treadmill. I decided to go for a mile and just pick speeds to go at for one minute at a time. Through this little exercise I realized that I need to do a lot more training before I run the 5K in April.
Ellie went down for a nap when we came home and slept right through lunch. Jon came home and ate with me and I think was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to hang out with baby. After her nap I was changing Ellie and thought that I should take some pictures of her big bottom. It's like a Kelsey bottom.
Ellie was set to go down for her next nap right before I would leave for my piano lessons that I teach in Elverson. I called Grandma and asked if I could bring her by early and put her down for a nap so that I wouldn't have to wake her up. Grandma said sure so I left at 3:00 and took Ellie to Grandma's. I think Grandma forgot that she actually had a student coming because at 3:15 her student arrived and so I took Ellie into the bedroom. Grandpa said he'd stay with her so I left her on the bed and went to teach Brooke. When I came back almost 45 minutes later Grandma was rocking her and just finishing up the bottle. I fed her and tried to put her down for her nap before my next lessons. I left and she was crying but Grandpa shooed me out the door and said they'd be fine.
When I picked up Ellie an hour and a half later Grandpa was sitting in the kitchen with Ellie on his knee. He told me she didn't sleep one wink but was a good girl. Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma for watching her!
Mom and Dad came over for dinner since they just came home and Mom leaves Thursday for Chicago. They brought along their pictures from Africa so that Jon could see them and I could also see more. Ellie decided she didn't want to sleep so she stayed awake the entire time they were here in spite of my efforts to put her down. After they left Jon hung out with her a while and I tried feeding her bananas. She was just so tired but didn't know it. I nursed her and laid her in the crib. Ten minutes later she was still sad in her crib so Jon took a turn and he rubbed her back and talked to her and she eventually calmed down and fell asleep. I hope that she sleeps a lot tonight since her last real nap today ended at 1:30 and she finally fell asleep for the night at 9:30. The only other time she slept was falling asleep nursing (briefly) and sleeping in the car from Elverson to Geigertown (ten minutes). I will have to keep you posted tomorrow.

Ellieisms:
Ellie loves to lay on her back. She was a bit fussy during dinner so I changed her diaper and just left her on the floor. She scooted around until she did a 180.

Crazy eyes

She has a crease across her waist on the backside. 

Mimi & Pops Come Home & Happy Birthday, Haley!

Saturday morning Jon planned to help Peter install a faucet in his kitchen sink. Peter had attempted the feat himself but had realized some valves were leaking and needed replacing. On Tuesday evening Jon had looked at the valves and agreed with Peter along with some other pipes that needed fixing. So at 8:45 Jon left to spend the morning in Birdsboro. 

I wanted Ellie to sleep as long as possible since she was recovering from her sick Thursday. Having missed the gym on Friday I toyed with the idea of going for a class but decided against it. A holiday weekend always produces nice sales and Ellie needs clothes the next size up (9 months) so we prepared to go to the outlets after her morning nap. We packed up and went out to the car and I realized that I had somehow locked the keys in the car. Plan B. 

Calling Jon I told him about the keys and he said he would bring his set over to unlock the car when there was a lull in their project. It was nearing 1:00 and the end was not in sight. In fact, he would probably be helping all day. Mom and dad had arrived in Elverson at this point so I encouraged him to find an excuse to come home as soon as possible so I could hear some stories! 

Ellie and I headed over to Elverson around 3:00. Mimi and Pops shared stores and pictures from their trip. It really made me miss Corinne! I am so glad that Mom and Dad were able to visit her, though. Kelly, Josh, and Clark were also there and Mimi gave us our gifts. Ellie loves her stuffed elephant.

We had scheduled a game night with Doug, Donna, Peter and Brittany at Donna's but the project and Peter's was getting bigger and more complicated so we pushed the game night to Sunday evening. Ellie and I headed home but later decided to stop by and inspect the boys' work. It was quite a project! We went to bed before Jon came home since we had church in the morning. 

Sunday morning Jon got Ellie ready for church as usual. I pick out her outfit for him and he does the rest. It's a good arrangement, in my opinion. Somehow I still caused us to be a few minutes late to church. 

Jon and I came home, ate lunch, then took solid naps. I slept whenever Ellie was asleep and Jon slept over two hours. He must have been really sleeping because he didn't hear Ellie crying at all. We headed to evening church which was a communion service. Kelly sung a solo and also played a few pieces on her violin. We went to Doug and Donna's for the game night afterwards. 

For Valentine's Day Donna had received Ticket to Ride: Europe. Ticket to Ride has a few variations and I enjoyed both I have played. It's less involved than Settlers but it's still a lot of fun. What also made it even better was I came in first and Jon was a close second. Ellie fell asleep a few minutes into the game and slept until Jon brought her down for us to go home. 

Today was Haley's second birthday -- I can't believe it has been two years since Pops, Kelly (pregnant with Clark) and I drove through the night to see her! And we arrived before she was born. We love you, Haley!

Our first picture together!

I'd thought I'd add one with Aunt Rin

I like this one. Perhaps it's Kelsey's bottom right next to her cute face.

Ellieisms: 

When I feed Ellie sweet potatoes she completely overreacts and spits it out and gags. I put it on her hands and gave her the spoon in hopes that she would get some of it in her mouth voluntarily. 

Ellie seems healthy again!

I wonder if Ellie is teething because she drools enough that I sometimes change her clothes. Before I would keep her in the same outfit for bed but now I definitely change her outfit and onesie before bed so she can go to sleep dry. 

In honor of Haley's birthday Ellie woke up and had a bloody nose. 

A Very Sad Valentine and a Sitter

Wednesday night was a very long night. Poor Ellie cried and cried unless she was being held or her back was being rubbed - she was so sad! Initially Jon thought she was just used to being coddled and wanting attention but as the night progressed we knew she was sick. She had been seeming a bit under the weather on Wednesday. I was up so much that I eventually took her to the living room so that we could lay down (Jon has a strict no-baby-in-our-bed policy). She fell asleep in her own bed at 5:30 and slept until 8:30 without making a peep. Poor baby.

Thursday morning Ellie's eyes and nose were all red and puffy. Her nose was running and her voice hoarse, too. I managed to take a shower and do a little bit of my Bible Study homework during the morning but otherwise held the poor little girl. Since it was Valentine's Day and I didn't have any lunch food, Jon and I decided to meet up for lunch at AJ's whenever Ellie woke up from her morning nap. We ended up eating around 1:00. Jon ordered lunch and I ran over to the Dollar Tree for a last minute Valentine's project I came up with. 

Following lunch Ellie cried the entire trip home. She slept for a bit and I worked on cutting out the men's initials from our small group. I was cutting them with an exacto knife onto vinyl that had a sticky back. Then I used transfer paper to put the newly-made stencil onto these huge glass mugs. Using a class etching cream the initials were permanently etched into the glass. I made a mug for each of the men.
It was a lot of fun and poor, sick, little Ellie watched me work. Fortunately she took some decent naps. I think Ellie must have had a bad cold because she never seemed to have a fever (at least from the trick Carly taught me and her forehead never felt burning hot). She was definitely unhappy, though. I finally gave her Tylenol at 3:30 to see if that would help her out but she spat must of it out. I really do not know if any made it into her system, but I tried.
Jon came home around 5:45 and helped clean up the house. Because of the mug-making project and Ellie's sick state I had run short on time. I was glad we celebrated Valentine's Day on Tuesday night at the Mexican restaurant because I didn't even make dinner!
For small group we decided that everyone could bring something to contribute for snack. I provided drinks and others brought brownies, ice cream, chips and dip, and sundae toppings. We still did a study lesson but we hung out for a while afterwards. Jon and I put the mugs in the freezer so that they could have "frosted glasses" for the drinks. When we gave out the mugs Paul couldn't believe I put his initials on his - why would I want a mug with his initials? Um, Paul, you can keep it.
Towards the end of the study portion of our evening (we listen to half of a sermon then discuss it) Ellie woke up. She was really crying upstairs so I decided to see if she would stop if she had something to look at (people). She did and sat very still on my lap, watching whoever was talking. She looked so sad and pathetic! After about thirty minutes she started pouting so I took her upstairs and put her back to bed.
Friday morning I had the lofty goal of going to the gym before attending a Valentine's Day playdate at my friend AmyBeth's. Since Ellie had been sick the day before I decided that we would only go to the gym if she woke up in time (by 9:00 since the class begins at 9:15). That baby ended up sleeping until almost 10:00! I had told AmyBeth that we would be a bit late to the playdate because I had wanted to go to the gym but we were late because Ellie slept so long. I tried giving Ellie some Tylenol before we left just in case she wasn't feeling well but she choked and gagged until it was all over her belly instead of in her stomach.
AmyBeth had a Valentine's Day craft for the kids so Ellie and I watched everyone put together these heart puppets. Then she pulled out cupcakes for decorating. I was grateful that she thought to include us even though Ellie is too young to participate. I still ate a cupcake, though.
After two hours Ellie was getting tired and I wanted to make sure she continued to get all the sleep she needed. She was looking a lot better and wasn't crying our pouting, so that was good. During the afternoon I made another glass-etching project for a gift for Dorothy.
Jere Scott was throwing a surprise party for Dorothy hosted by Peter and Brittany. I etched "Bradshaw" into the side of a 9x13 as her gift (I got the idea off of Pinterest). I also had volunteered to bring a cake, dessert, and salad. In hindsight I really should have only done two things since I ended up forgetting about the salad dressing. Oh well.
I took two recipes I found online (thanks again, Pinterest) and made Rolo cupcakes and a salted-caramel cake. I wish I would have taken pictures to compare to the actual pictures...I do not know how people ice cupcakes and make them look so nice. I do not have the touch! Both recipes were fairly involved so I was thankful when Ellie slept a solid two hours.
Jon came home at 5:30 and saved the day by cleaning up the kitchen. I was having our first ever non-family babysitter. I had texted someone and called another family and the youth were all tied up with the progressive dinner. Well Mrs. Jackin's called me back and said that she would love to watch Ellie for us. I questioned her to make sure she was serious and she convinced me that she wanted to do it. The kitchen looked like a hurricane had occurred when Jon arrived and when Mrs. Jackin's came an hour later he not only had cleaned up the kitchen while I finished up the desserts but changed Ellie's explosion diaper. He's the man.
The birthday party was an enjoyable time. We came back after three hours or so and Mrs. Jackin's said that Ellie drank both the bottles and had fought sleep the first go-around. She said Ellie started crying the minute they walked into the bedroom - she knew what was coming! The second time she fed her the bottle in the room with the lights off and Ellie fell asleep eating. So success with the first sitter!

Ellieisms:
Ellie is very sad when she's sick. I can't help but feel so bad for her!
Ellie is not very impressed with applesauce...yet.

I apologize once again for no pictures. My camera is not cooperating and it's not transferring the pictures.

Celebrating Valentine's Day

After our busy Monday I took Tuesday to recover. I spent a lot of time researching and planning my menu and other desserts I'm going to be making over the weekend. Ellie took a nice nap in the morning and early afternoon. My first piano lesson cancelled so we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house at 4:00. Grandma was teaching a piano lesson so Grandpa took care of Ellie while she finished up. I taught Dr. Kane but during his lesson his son hurt his head playing hockey in their basement so I was able to go home early. Ellie behaved for Grandpa: he said he took her to the bedroom and hung out on the bed chatting and whatnot.
Ellie and I headed home and I did some of my Bible Study homework until it was time to take Ellie to the Fenton's.  Jon and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day early since our weekend was shaping up to be busy. Since Jon loves Mexican food and I just had my choice of restaurant for my birthday, I suggested that we go to Taqueria El Carreton.
The restaurant was empty and we had a quiet, relaxing dinner just the two of us. We ordered tacos, five seasoned pork and five roast pork, and chips and salsa. Jon prefers the seasoned ones and I like the roast ones. They only carry the authentic homemade Mexican drinks on the weekend so we had some Mexican soda. After dinner we stopped by Peter and Brittany's house since Peter was trying to replace their kitchen faucet and ran into some trouble.
We picked up Ellie after being away three hours. Thank you, Kelly, for watching her! I can relax when I know she's in good hands. She woke up when we transfered her into the car seat and had trouble getting back to sleep at home. Jon fed her a bottle that Kelly had heated up but Ellie had refused earlier and then put her to sleep. She was so tired but didn't want to fall asleep in her crib so Jon held her until she was snoozing away. She's spoiled!
I'm hoping that Ellie is growing because she woke up every two hours last night. A few times I tried to put her back to sleep but she wanted to nurse. It made for a long night! Jon went running and I woke up when he was all ready for work and eating breakfast.
Ellie slept while I prepared for Precepts and we made it to church just in time for class. Ellie hadn't eaten breakfast yet (nursed) so I kept her with me until after she was finished eating. She survived the rest of the class in the childcare then we headed home for her nap.
During naptime I ordered my shopping list by rows and figured out what I wanted to purchase from the craft store. I called two places and the second place had the items I needed. When Ellie woke up I packed her up and headed to Michael's in Pottstown after she ate. I purchased more items than I intended (I've been needing another muffin pan and it seemed like a good price!) and was home in under two hours. Ellie was seeming tired and I didn't want to push her and go straight to the grocery store. She napped but I think was woken up early by a loud truck at the intersection because it was only thirty minutes later. I should have turned on the sound machine.
When she woke up I quickly went to the grocery store for the items. It took about an hour and Ellie was tired because she cried the entire way home. Fortunately it was not a wailing but I still felt pressure and I was behind a car driving ten under the speed limit. Why does that always seem to happen when Ellie is crying?
Ellie seemed to cheer up when she was out of her carseat. I emptied the groceries and carried her around while picking up the house. I cleaned the bathroom while she hung out in the living room but she soon sounded cranky. Since she woke up so much last night I went ahead and fed her again before putting her down for another nap.
Jon had to work late for the third night in a row. He came home earlier than the other nights, which was nice; around six thirty. We had a pathetic meal of chicken strips since I didn't want to push my time limit and put together a salad like I had envisioned when I purchased them. Oh well. Jon didn't seem to mind.
Ellie was still sleeping when it was time to leave for Bible Study so I made her a bottle and carpooled with Tara. I forgot my phone at home so I hoped Jon wouldn't have any type of emergency.
Jon missed probably three quarters of his prayer group that he was hosting since he had to take care of Ellie. Next week he is leading the prayer time so Ellie will be coming with me. When I came home Ellie had just finished her bottle so I put her to bed.

Sorry, no pictures! Lame, I know.

Ellieisms:
Ellie really likes Kelly. She always smiles really big for her.
I use a baby-bullet to make Ellie's baby food. Whenever I turn it on to chop up the food Ellie's eyes get really big and her entire body shakes. If she's tired she will burst out crying.

Unhappy in the Car

Sunday morning we didn't have any obligations so I went to my Sunday School and Jon went to his and we met up before second service. I had popped my head in at nursery and Ellie was fussy but had already eaten her bottle so I told them I would come nurse her and try to put her to sleep before the service started. Thinking that she would probably not sleep, I attempted to put her down and left her laying quietly in the pack'n'play. Usually when I do that she starts crying a few minutes later and it was all futile. This week Ellie decided a nap was necessary and slept for forty-five minutes.

Jon's trying to tell me we don't have time for pictures.
We need to get ready for church!

Before her nap we took pictures together because we matched. She was a bit cranky, if you can't tell. Not the most flattering pictures.

Jon invited Omar over for lunch so I cooked some chili and cornbread for us to enjoy. Ellie fell asleep and woke up just as we finished lunch. I hung out with her while the boys worked on a project for Efra. When they moved to the family room for FIFA I put Ellie in the exersaucer and she watched their game for a while.
Omar headed home when Jon and I needed to go to evening church. Ellie hung out in nursery along with a larger-than-normal group but apparently she enjoyed the entertainment. When I went to pick her up Clark was very excited to help me pack her up and he even performed "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" for everyone. Jon and I went right home afterwards and ate some leftovers before heading to bed early.
I am so thankful I went to bed early last night because Ellie woke up at least four times before 8:00. Grandma wants to watch Ellie while I go to the gym to keep her away from the germs so I dropped her off at 9:00. Grandpa was standing in the garage ready to help unload her. I felt terrible because I was late! Sorry, Grandpa. I didn't have a bottle pumped so I left a container of formula and an empty bottle at their house because they like to give her a bottle while I'm away (it doesn't matter if I just fed her an hour before - they like to make sure her belly is full!). Apparently it was quite a conundrum. It took a while to figure out the bottle and then once Grandpa made it Grandma knew it seemed thicker than usual. When I returned I told her that it was because I usually gave her breast milk! Ellie didn't take the bottle so perhaps she doesn't like formula. That could be a bummer.
Following the workout I gained back any lost calories plus some because Grandma invited us to stay for lunch. I put Ellie down for a nap and Kelly and Clark came over. Grandma showed me some of her old quilts and we stumbled upon her extra piano lesson books. She offered to loan me some so I went through the stack. Lunch was delicious and Clark was in high spirits. He didn't seem to notice having all the attention since Ellie was sleeping the entire time he was there.
Since Ellie was still sleeping after the Fenton's left Grandma told me to run any errands on my list. I picked up the dry cleaning and stopped by the dollar store for a few things. When I returned Grandma said Ellie had woken up just fifteen minutes before, meaning she slept for almost two and a half hours. Feeling ambitious I changed into some clean clothes and drove out to Ephrata.
Betsy Kreider, a lady from our church (she's in a wheel chair as is her husband Earl), is recovering in a rehab center and has been there for weeks. Aunt Carol Hoke visits her and has asked us to pray for her at our Wednesday morning Precepts class. Before Ellie was born I was talking with someone about how a baby can lift spirits (if the person likes them) and always provides something to talk about. So I thought I should go visit Betsy since she was feeling a bit down about having to stay in rehab a lot longer than they thought and wasn't progressing very quickly.

Snoozing on the way to Ephrata

I arrived around 2:30 and fed Ellie in the car. Of course she decided to boo so I changed her diaper discreetly in a corner near the lobby. We stayed until around 3:45 when Mr. Kreider arrived. He asked to hold Ellie and he took her out of the room and showed her around. She looked up at him and touched his face and mustache. Before I gave him over she was getting a bit cranky but remained quiet while with him. Perhaps she just wanted a change of scenery!
On our way home I stopped by a store called Carson's In the Corn Fields. It has a lot of flea-market type stuff but is very clean and orderly. I headed home at 4:15 to make it back in time for my 5:00 piano lesson. Ellie decided that she does not like the car because she wailed the last twenty minutes home. Carly, I know feel your pain. If she would do that all the time I do not know if I would ever leave the house except for on foot! I nursed her and put her to sleep before Brooke arrived.
Jon had to work late tonight so I showered (finally after working out - yucky) and ate leftover chili then packed some up for Jon. Ellie wailed the entire trip to Iron Mountains then back to Geigertown. I picked up Tara Frey to head over to the craft night and Ellie continued to wail. She was not happy!
But she was tired so I put her on the floor to hang out with Wyeth Estes while I brought up a pack'n'play from the nursery. I set her up in the library which is right next to the gathering room and I nursed her and put her to sleep. She cried pathetically for a few minutes before zonking out the rest of the evening. But she was not happy again on the ride home two hours later! If Tara never has children we know who to blame...

Ellieisms:
I put Ellie on the couch and went to the other room. When I came back I was a bit nervous when I saw her flailing around since she was actually moving a little bit. This baby may some day roll over!

Hanging with Wyeth at craft night

He scooted closer to hold her hand...

...and then give her a smooch!

Modeling her hat and jacket from Nana (Donna)

Congratulations Corinne & Daniel!

Thursday proved to be a typical day. I had one of my free consultations with a trainer at the gym. When I signed up I received two free workout consultations and one free nutritional. Poor Ellie was sad in the childcare services but the girl in there was very patient and up for the task. Halfway through the trainer received a phone call so I went and calmed Ellie down. It helped. The employee told me that Ellie would generally stop crying when she was watching the Zumba class dancing.
We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch and Ellie took a nice nap on Grandma's bed. Grandma and Grandpa were raving about the Badger's game they watched the night before (I believe) and how well Ben played. They didn't initially agree on how many overtimes were involved but they said Ben played very well and that he looks just like Jonathan. Kelly and Clark also joined us for lunch and we hung out for a while until heading home. I had big plans for cleaning and grocery shopping in the afternoon but that was put on hold when Lauren called from Austria! We ended up talking close to three and a half hours. It was so nice to catch up.
Jon came home for dinner and we ate and then went out to Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up a shower gift for Brittney's bridal shower on Saturday. We also ordered a wedding gift. Jon sat in the car with Ellie until she became cranky and he said when he walked into the store she became silent and just looked around quietly until we left. We arrived home relatively early but went straight to bed since we were both feeling tired from our late nights.
I caught up a bit on my to do list on Friday. I cleaned up the house and even cleared out a corner of my bedroom after Carly's motivational text. Ellie also took a bath which was a necessity as she was starting to smell like a wet diaper. Clark came around lunchtime since Kelly had a doctor appointment in Collegeville. He is such a good boy! I held off his nap for a bit since Kelly said he generally sleeps two hours and I had a piano lesson at 2:00 and it would work best for him to be sleeping during it. He went down at 12:45 and woke up right near 2:30. He was a nice distraction for Ellie, who actually took a nice long nap over the piano lesson, too.

Admiring herself

I guess it's not vanity when she doesn't even know that's her own reflection

Clark showing off his skills

Kelly came after her appointment and hung out for a bit before heading home. I continued some laundry until Peter and Brittany came at 6:30. They brought along some Joe Corbi's pizza from a fundraiser at their school and we watched the rest of Season 3 of Downton Abbey. While we were watching the final episode we heard a loud noise outside. Peter and Jon went upstairs to see if they could see anything and they concluded it was a snow plow. About thirty minutes later our doorbell rang and it was our neighbor telling us about the car accident that occurred in our yard. A lady was driving on Haycreek Road and lost control rolling her car in our ditch. She flipped it once and the car was definitely totaled. I tried to sneak some pictures through the blinds in the bathroom. I wasn't very successful.

Since the weather was nasty from the snow and the car accident was disconcerting, Peter and Brittany decided to spend the night at our house. The hunkered down in the basement by the fire since we don't have an extra bedroom and I'm sure they wouldn't have wanted to share Ellie's!
When I woke up at 8:00 on Saturday morning Peter and Brittany were already home. I had my second consultation scheduled but the trainer called to see if I was able to drive in and I said I felt safer staying home after seeing the accident. In reality, I just didn't want to get out of bed earlier than necessary and then also risk being late to the bridal shower at 11:00. It was a win-win cancelation.

The wall he just repaired this summer. It took over 9 hours of work. 

Jon took pictures of the damage to our stone wall during the morning and I hung out with Ellie and prepared for the shower. I put Ellie to sleep before leaving at 10:15 and hollered some directions and wished him good luck.

Playing the piano for Ellie

To economize I went to Brittany Mountz's house and we carpooled to Kelly Estes' for the shower. It was a very nice shower with maybe 25-30 people present. After the gifts were opened I checked my phone for any message from Jon and Brittany looked at Facebook. She showed me a picture of Corinne and Daniel and said, "Did this just happen?" Confused it took me a while to realize it wasn't just a cute picture but their engagement picture! She probably wonders why I hardly reacted (sorry, Corinne) but I think I was just trying to figure it out. I sent out a text to the siblings just in case they hadn't seen instagram or Facebook. When I realized what was happening I told Kelsey, Marianne, and Hannah Kurtz who were also at the shower and they were really excited. Aunt Sharon, Mom-mom, Aunt Carol Hoke, Aunt Carol Stoltzfus, and others all wanted to see the picture. I was asked what happened and when they planned to get married which I had no response for. So let us know, Corinne! We are all very excited for you and Daniel!! Congratulations!!
After the shower Brittany wanted to stop by Aldi's so I went in, too. Brittany had thoughtfully brought some bags for me and I purchased much more than I anticipated. I had told Kelly that we could watch Clark tonight if she wanted to do something with Josh and she took me up on the offer so I picked up some vegetable chips for Clark. We were in and out in pretty good time and I was home by 2:30.
Ellie apparently had some difficult spells with Jon but they survived. When I arrived she seemed content hanging out in the Bjorn and Jon had finished eating lunch. I took over with baby so Jon could work on the taxes. Clark joined us around 4:15 and in the evening we ate dinner, played with Clark, and Jon worked on more tiling. We're making progress!

Clark showing Ellie how to eat vegetable chips
(I put our highchair low down so he could see her. He's not a giant)

Cousins playing

I am so excited for Corinne and Daniel's engagement! I can't wait for Mom and Dad to come home and give us the details of everything. We love you both!