Our Puppy Dog

Thursday morning Ellie and I hung around the house and I gave her a bath before her nap. Recently I have been hearing that BBs has offered fruit and vegetables at low prices so we went up to check out what they had to offer after Ellie woke up. One downer about discount food stores is it is hit or miss - I never know if it will be a good day or a bad day. I stocked up on Turkey Hill iced tea, Gatorade, sweet potatoes, and limes. Sweet Potatoes were $0.10 a pound so I grabbed six knowing that if we didn't eat them I could make baby food for Ellie. While we were loading the car the Mom and one of the daughters from Dunkin Donuts walked by and saw me. They waved and came over and held Ellie and Momma Dunkin kept saying that Ellie looks like Corinne ("She look like you sista. You younga sista."). Proof that we went to Dunkin Donuts way too often.
Ellie went down for her second nap and I changed the sheets and picked up before my piano lesson from 3:00-3:30. Immediately following the lesson Ellie and I went up to High Point to watch the last home game for the middle school girls' soccer team. Alyssa Gibson is on the team along with several other girls I taught music to. They are undefeated and they played another undefeated team, Salem Bible (where we have DeWalt family reunions). I had to leave before the game ended, though, because Jon and I had a night out with our small group.
Kelly graciously agreed to watch Ellie during our small group outing and it worked out that Jon dropped me and Ellie off while he went and picked up Paul who was carpooling with us. I thought I'd nurse Ellie before I left but she was not interested in me at all. When Clark is in the room Ellie watches him like a hawk. Fortunately she hasn't had separation anxiety so leaving her places is uneventful and drama-free.
Our small group consists of five couples: DiAddezios, Culberts (Dave & Joie), Rus', Estes', and us. We went out to a restaurant in Leola that has happy hour until six o'clock and ordered drinks and appetizers. We shared our appetizers and had plenty of food to go around, even having leftovers. Following dinner we went to Brock & Nebin's house for dessert and coffee. We hung around until 9:15 and headed out and picked up Ellie.
I felt bad for Kelly because Ellie gave her trouble. I have realized that Ellie has gotten more difficult with going to sleep but she really gave Kelly a hard time. Thank you, Kelly, for dealing with her!

Friday morning Ellie woke up at 6:30 so I nursed her and she slept for another hour. Jon said when he went to shower she was just hanging out in her crib and she saw him and just "kept about her business,"as Jon recounts. She started hollering when he was still in the bathroom so I brought her into the bed with me and then the three of us just hung out for a while until Jon had to head to work. Ellie loves hanging out on the bed and she just wiggles and rolls around chatting to herself.
Since Ellie woke up at 7:30 she was due for a nap as my class at the gym would start. I decided to try to put her down instead of going to the gym but she was just talking and then starting complaining so we went to the gym. I arrived close to a half hour late but I'm glad that I went. Some exercise is better than none! Plus, the instructor had me demonstrate "the perfect lunge" for the class because apparently I had impressed her on Monday.
On our way home I kept Ellie awake as she fought sleep the last few minutes. She went down for a nap and I did laundry and cleaned the house. Her nap lasted for a little over two and a half hours, which was wonderful. We went to Reading and hit up the Fairground Market and Redner's for a quick grocery stop. While we were at the market Ellie was infatuated by the hustle and bustle of everything. Several people stopped to talk to her and a few mentioned how well she sat up. Ellie even smiled at a few people as we maneuvered through the crowd.
We arrived home and did a couple loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, washed the floors, and started prepping the food for our guests: the Fentons. Ellie must have known I had stuff to do because she did not want to go to sleep. She finally fell asleep but slept for only twenty minutes. For dinner I made hamburgers (Jon grilled them) and sweet potato fries. Kelly brought salad and dessert. Clark was a gem while Ellie was a stinker, fussing and carrying on through dinner. I tried to put her to bed but she cried in protest for a while. Finally I relented and she hung out nicely until the Fentons left at 8:45.
It took a while to settle Ellie down which was convenient because Jon did the dishes while I wrestled with the baby. Having a clean kitchen when I wake up is always so wonderful! I have since researched some yard sales that I might try to hit up tomorrow morning if I feel adventurous.

Ellieisms:
Ellie frequently just sits there with her tongue hanging out. Jon and I call her our puppy dog.

Puppy dog 

Watching the cashier at BBs.