Ellie's 1-year pictures

Saturday morning we set alarms and were up at 7:15 to prepare for our photo shoot with Ben at 9:00. I had done some research of where we could meet and decided French Creek Golf Club would be easiest since we are familiar with the property and all the national parks are closed (thanks, Obama). Ben was very gracious because he drove thirty-five minutes to meet up with us.
It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day which was fortunate since Ellie's feet have grown since August and her shoes no longer fit. The warm weather was gorgeous for being outside but made it harder for Ben since he had to deal with shadows and whatnot, but he did an awesome job. We were done within an hour and Ben transfered the pictures right onto a CD while we were waiting so we could take them home. BAM. That's service.

On our way back to Geigertown we hit up a couple children's consignment sales. One was at my gym and wasn't great and the other was at a big church out on 401 past route 100 and it was awesome! We arrived around 10:45 and they had closed the doors and we were waiting until 11:00 when all of their merchandize was half price. And goodness did they have nice stuff for cheap! We came home with quite a load for Ellie. When we were driving home I was showing Jon and I held up a feather lined vest (it's hilarious but was only $2!) Ellie "asked" for it and played with it until we got home. I think she thought it was a stuffed animal.

Pointing to her nose while holding on to her new vest

I put her down for a nap and ran up the road to a yardsale. When I came back (there wasn't much) Jon left and hung out with a guy from small group for a couple hours. He came home at 3:30 and I asked if we could go to a fair in New Holland which I had heard about via Facebook. We called up a couple friends from our small group and met up with them there.
If you want to take part in a cultural experience go to the New Holland fair. We were surrounded by Amish, trashy teens, tattoo-ridden parents of young children, cigarettes, and lots of carnival games. Our friend, Dave, loves games of chance like carnival games so he and his kids played quite a few (maybe six?) but I have never played any so it was a different experience. Ellie had only taken a brief nap but she was very attentive the entire time we were there. She enjoyed eating the french fries, fried oreos, root beer float, and pulled pork sandwich with Jon and I. The highlights of my night were when Ellie leaned in and kissed me when Jon was holding her. She leans and smacks her lips really loud to make the deed obvious. By the time we were driving home it was dark but Ellie stayed up and talked the entire way home. When she was in her crib she was out like a light.

Sunday morning Ellie woke up at 5:45 and was crying. When I went into her room it smelled terrible because she had vomited in her crib. The poor baby! I cuddled with her and refilled her milk before covering up her sheet with a thick blanket and putting her back down. She fell asleep for a few hours and when she woke up I was more attentive (I don't think straight super early in the morning otherwise I would have changed the sheets and her PJs, I hope). She was sick! Her nose was runny and she was really hot. I changed her out of the smelly pajamas and changed her sheets before we cuddled and laid low all morning while Jon went to church.

Climbing up to get a closer look

Pointing out her favorite picture

Our afternoon was similar to our morning except Jon was around. Jon hadn't slept well after eating all the gross food at the carnival so he took a nap. I had nursery in the evening and Ellie was seeming better so we went to church and I hung out with her, two other workers, and six other kids. We came home afterwards and Daniel and Corinne came over for dinner.
We grilled chicken and vegetables for dinner and German chocolate, pumpkin bread, and mulled apple cider for dessert. Ellie went to sleep after eating and Corinne and Daniel hung around until after 11:00. Corinne helped pick out our Christmas card and Jon and Daniel played a few rounds of FIFA. We enjoyed spending time with them while we have them close by!

Monday morning I wanted to lay low for Ellie's sake. She slept really well but she was out of sorts. I spent a lot of the morning on the floor with Ellie playing on my lap. Sometimes when you're sick you just need to be close to someone. At 11:00 she was standing by the door fussing so we went to BBs for some groceries.
We came home and Ellie and I split a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch (I at other things, too) then she slept. My lessons came and she woke up towards the end of them then we hung out and prepped a salad until Jon came home from work. At 5:30 Jon came home and we left for Corinne and Daniel's house for dinner.
Corinne invited the Fentons, Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Mommom and us over for dinner. Clark and Ellie played very well and Corinne hosted a great dinner. Mom brought oven roasted potatoes and Corinne made baked beans, hot dogs, and dessert. Daniel was really the one in charge of the hot dogs and he grilled them under Grandpa's supervision on their charcoal grill. Ellie ate three quarters of a hot dog and a lot of chocolate pudding for dessert. Poor Grandma hardly got any because Ellie ate probably half of her bowl.

Hanging with the adults

The Fentons left at 7:30 and we hung out about thirty minutes longer. Ellie liked standing on their baseboard heaters and peering out their windows much to Grandma's dismay (she was very worried). She definitely enjoyed the attention (Ellie, not Grandma) and Corinne had her giggling with some tickling and we left when she was just not remaining happy and needed to go to bed. She stayed awake the entire drive home (thirty minutes) but went right down. Jon is working on his Sunday School lesson for church now then we'll head to bed.

Ellieisms:
Ellie plays with her helicopters and trucks and now makes noises to accompany them.
She (usually) points to her nose and high-fives when she is prompted.

Some outtakes from the photo-shoot

A typical Ellie look