Lunch at the DiAddezio's

I think that Jon, Ellie and I are progressing in our ability to get ready for church and arrive on time. Today we were a little over five minutes late, which doesn't matter for Sunday School since the first fifteen minutes is just social (at least in my class). I attend the women's class which I just nurse in instead of leaving and going to the nursing room. Ellie was hungry right at the end of class, which was perfect for going into the service. 

During the second service two babies were dedicated, Eliana Sorrenson and Adam Hanna. Eliana was the first of the three girls born this past year and her parents are relatively new to the church. Hopefully Eliana, Hannah (Grosso), and Ellie are friends because they're it so far!

Uncle Steve is traveling in New England this week so Matt Carter preached. If Uncle Steve had been preaching Ellie would have made it through her first service without needing to be taken out. However, Matt Carter went almost thirty minutes over and Ellie started protesting at about 12:10. I took her to the nursing room and Jon came and got us after the service ended. The biggest bummer was that we missed  communion. Perhaps next time. 

A few days ago Nelah DiAddezio emailed and asked if "your family" wanted to go over for lunch this afternoon. At first I was confused about who my family meant...then I realized that meant Jon, me, & Ellie. We're a little family! So we headed over there right after church. Nelah made a delicious spread of a cranberry pork roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, and broccoli. It really hit the spot. Jon and I really enjoy spending time with their family. Yesterday Joseph had his sixth birthday party so he was working on some lego sets. One of them, a Star Wars set, was for 8-14 year olds. Joe just turned 6! It was fun to "help" him out (I was in charge of hunting down the needed pieces for each set). He's a sweet kid. 

Ellie was not on her best behavior while we were there. She fell asleep while we waited for dinner to be ready and then woke up just as we were sitting down to pray. She was crying through the prayer so I finally just took her and nursed her. She didn't eat a whole lot but was falling asleep, so I went back to the table. I ended up going back and forth trying to figure out what she wanted. After Jon was finished eating he held her at bay while I ate. Fortunately Joseph was a crier (he was colicky) so Mark and Nelah didn't seem to mind her cries. 

We stayed at Mark and Nelah's until around 4:00 when we headed home. Jon took a nap while Ellie and I hung out in the living room. We left for prayer at 5:45 and arrived before it began (a first for Ellie). Rick Renninger was giving a report on his trip to Ghana.

Upon arriving home Jon wanted to catch some highlights of the Barcelona vs. Madrid game that happened this afternoon. He asked me to find a video on FootyTube that would show the highlights. He asked me to find it because frequently they'll have the score in the title. Well I found a great 10 minute video for him to watch and I set it up all excited. Jon pushed play and right there on the screen, front and center, was the final score. Whoops. Fail. 

Ellieisms: 

Ellie has tears when she cries. I haven't seen them streaming down her face yet, but her eyes get wet! There's something about tears that make the crying seem more legitimate. 

Smile-training still in progress...

Pre-lunch nap

Trying to get a picture of her tears...you can kind of
see them in her right eye.

Naked baby!

Outie? It sticks out more when she's crying. 

GrannyLyn's Memorial

This morning Ellie allowed me to sleep in until 7:00. Of course this occurred on a day where I could have probably used extra time to get ready, but I'll take the sleep. GrannyLyn's funeral was split up into two parts: a private ceremony with the family at the graveside followed by the memorial service at the church. Initially I didn't think we would go to the graveside service since it began at 9:00 in West Chester, but Ellie is still so transportable and so we decided to go. Although we were out the door ten minutes later than I had planned we arrived with several minutes to spare. Ellie was due for some breakfast so I stayed in the car to nurse her. She didn't take very long to eat, just long enough for us to walk down to the grave site when the pastor was finishing up. We made it in for the pictures, so nobody will (hopefully) remember our late arrival a few years down the road.
After spending some time taking pictures and catching up with relatives we headed over to the church. There was an hour from 10:00-11:00 when people could come greet the family and look at pictures and memorabilia. Mimi and Pops came during this time so we said hi to them. The memorial service, which started at 11:00, was right when Ellie needed to eat. Instead of risking her disrupting the service I kept her out and nursed her for the first twenty minutes or so before heading into the sanctuary. Although I missed most of the special music and Doug's Scripture reading I fortunately heard the message and Donna and Aunt Pam's contribution. About five years ago they had given GrannyLynn a book with memories and tidbits about what they enjoyed/appreciated about her for Mother's Day. They took excerpts from this book and shared their answers with us today, which was a wonderful way for me to learn more about who GrannyLyn was and her personality. At the very end of the service the choir sang the benediction that we would sing at the end of Csehy concerts - I really like that one.
Following the service, which lasted about an hour, was a luncheon everyone was invited to. We sat at a table with Jon's siblings and spouses and Ellen Ruggerio. After walking into the fellowship hall I did not hold Ellie again until after people were heading home. It was nice to eat lunch with both of my hands free! She was a good girl and didn't fuss until it was time for her to eat. I fed her, we said goodbye to Grandpop, and we headed home. Apparently I hadn't fed Ellie enough (she fell asleep eating) because she woke up very sad in the car. I had brought a bottle so I fed her a couple ounces and Jon pulled over so I could burp her, since she was still unsettled. Well that did the trick because she fell asleep for the rest of the trip home.
On our way home we decided to ask if we could get dinner for Doug and Donna. When I called to see if they had figured dinner out, Donna told me that they had passed a chicken BBQ in Loag's Corner and asked if we wanted to join THEM for dinner. I decided to offer them all to come here if that would help in any way. After we had that figured out Ellie and I took a nap while Jon mowed and trimmed the lawn. I woke up to Jon's alarm of a duck quacking going off at 4:15. I ignored it for about ten minutes before I couldn't stand it anymore so Ellie and I woke up and cleaned up the house a bit in preparation for our company.
The easiest company to host is company who brings the food. We all pigged out on our chicken BBQ dinners and cookies. Somehow we forgot the cupcakes that came with the dinner and Donna left all of them here. I don't think I'm ever going to lose this baby weight at this rate!
Omar hung around afterwards and played FIFA with Jon before we all watched another episode of....you guessed it, Band of Brothers.

Today definitely felt like fall, but it was a beautiful day. Our neighbor with all of the decrepit trains had an auction today while we were at the memorial service. Jon and I are interested to see if he actually sold any of his heaps.

Ellieisms: 

I put Ellie in her crib end to end but when I went in to get her this morning I found her like this:

 

Singing "higher higher higher" in her sleep

Family Picture

Hanging out with Mom

Moms Together

Last night Ellie decided she missed me and wanted to spend time with me every two hours. I do not know how people who have difficulty falling asleep function after nights like that. The last time she woke up, around 6:00, I brought her to our room until I had to take a shower at 7:15. The early wake-up time (for me) was due to wanting to be on time for Moms Together. I had the goal of actually arriving fifteen minutes early to help out, and surprisingly I was right on schedule. Probably because Ellie was a gem while I was getting ready and hung out in the boppy the whole time.

This outfit only lasted her 3 hours. 

Mom really pulled off another wonderful Moms Together. From the china dishes, to the delicious food, the adorable favor, to the engaging speaker: it was a success. Ellie and I arrived and I put her next to the wall near my table. Charlotte Grosso, who had her baby on Saturday, arrived shortly after with Hannah and she sat right next to her. Then in came AmyBeth Hanna, who had her son Adam last Tuesday (on the side of 202 on the way to the hospital). Adam was 9lb 8 oz when he was born so he looked comparable to Ellie, which made Hannah look even smaller. It was fun to see the future friends!

Adam, Hannah, and Ellie

The speaker for Moms Together was Dr. Chris Schreier and he spoke on children's physical, emotional, and spiritual health. He has such a wonderful presence and encouraged people to ask questions as he was going through his slides. After the event Ellie and I hung around and helped Mom with clean-up - at least when Ellie wasn't nursing.
We headed to Mom's house afterwards where Clark was napping. Ellie had an appointment at Iron Mountains to test out a product so we headed that way after a diaper change and another snack. The product I was able to test was really neat: it was a swing with the capacity to remove the seat that then became a bouncer. I told the engineer, JP, that I would definitely like the product since it take two separate products and combines them into one. He asked if I would like the product instead of using my swing and bouncer and I told him I didn't have either product....yet. That reminded me though that I was going to borrow Kelly's swing for Ellie instead of buying one, since babies really don't use swings that long.
Ellie and I decided to swing by Walmart on our way back to Mom's house to pick up strawberries, candy corn, brown sugar, and nail polish. It was a random list but I wanted strawberries for tonight, brown sugar for tomorrow, nail polish for life, and candy corn because it's fall. We hung out at Mom's house and actually got to hear a bit about Carly's life through Mom's phone conversation. Around 4:00 I texted Jon and asked that he stop by the Fenton's to pick up the swing. He asked if I wanted to borrow theirs or if he could just bring one home from work. I told him whatever worked for me. Apparently he asked JP (the engineer from earlier) if there were any swings hanging around that he could take home and he gave him a brand new glider swing that will be on the market in a month or two. We are cutting edge around here, folks!
Heading home we arrived shortly before Jon, in time to pull out the leftover Tomatillo Chicken (for the fourth time). Fortunately we polished it off tonight! I suppose I need to start cooking again.
After dinner I threw the dishes in the dishwasher, sliced up the strawberries, and we were off to Peter and Brittany's. Brittany had texted this morning asking if we wanted to come by for some ice cream Sundaes tonight. I am almost up for ice cream and Jon and I both enjoy spending time with those two, so it was a great way to end the week. We ended up being there over three hours before heading home.
Tomorrow is GrannyLyn's funeral. The graveside service begins at 9:00 so we have an early morning. I better pack Ellie's bag and figure out what we all are wearing!

Listening to Mimi introduce the speaker

Playing with her Boo Boo Bunny 

Enjoying her new glider swing

Ellieisms:
Ellie was tooting very loudly today in public. First, at Moms Together she was distracting some of the moms then again at Peter & Brittany's. We'll have to work on her manners.

Setting up Mom's Together

This fall has been filled with weird weather. Today it was hot and dreary, an odd combination. Since we had a late night last night Ellie and I decided to take a nap after breakfast. And, quite frankly, we didn't have anything better to do. Kelly emailed us and asked if we wanted to come over for grilled cheese and tomato soup, so we went over there around 11:15. Clark was a cheerful chap when we arrived and showed off his tricks with his little cars. Ellie was fighting sleep the entire time and didn't fall asleep the entire two hours we were there. After Clark had been sleeping for over an hour I thought it would be best that we head out so that Kelly could enjoy some alone time before he woke up. So we texted Mom.
Mom is hosting a Moms Together event tomorrow morning so today she was getting ready for it. We stopped by the church to help set up the tables. Mimi grabbed a swing from the nursery for Ellie and she finally fell asleep after sitting in there for a while. By that time she had been awake over three hours. What a stinker!
We set up all the tables and Mom came up with a list of things she needed to bring tomorrow and I made a promise to try to arrive by 9:00 (the event starts at 9:15) to figure out the coffee. Hopefully Ellie heard that promise and will help me out. We went back to Mom's where Kelly and Clark had just arrived after his nap. Mommom stopped by with fresh bread and we all ate a slice or two for a snack - all of us except for Clark and Ellie. Clark was begging for some but as soon as that fresh, soft bread touched his lips he jerked his hand away and gave the piece back. He doesn't know what he's missing!
The Mary Kay box had arrived so I went through it and handed out the makeup orders and wrote Kelly's receipt. Jon was working late so Ellie and I ended up hanging around until 5:15. Dinner was leftover soup, french bread, and cheese and crackers. Fortunately Jon is easy to please!
I'm really looking forward to the Moms Together tomorrow morning. I've been fortunate to be related to the hostess because I have been at every event, even though this is my first one with an actual baby. Thanks, Mom!

Ellie's favorite napping position

Trying to take a picture to send to Jon.
Whoops. let's try that again.

Much better.
Her outfit is from the Canche's. She loves it.

Whirlwind Wednesday

By average standards today would seem like a typical day. For me, who sat around basically doing nothing yesterday, today seemed a bit like a whirlwind. Fortunately in a positive way. I woke up in time to shower before Jon had to leave for work so he could watch Ellie. I can take a shower while Ellie is sleeping, I just never know when that will be. I had precepts at 9:15 so my goal was to be on my way before 9:00. At 8:55 I was vacuuming the kitchen, starting up the crockpot, and trying to look presentable. I drove out the driveway at 9:03, which isn't too shabby. Although we were not late to Precepts about 6 other people were so we didn't end up starting until almost 9:30. Ellie did much better this week, starting out the class with a nurse and then sleeping the rest of the time.
A few days ago my friend Sarah emailed and said that she would like to get together to spend time with Ellie and me and take some pictures of her, if I didn't mind. Um, no! Her and her husband are frequently asked to take family pictures or even wedding pictures for people, so she has the equipment and the editing skills. I served the leftover soup and bread from last night's dinner for lunch and we then ended up hanging out until 3:30 - almost 4 hours! It was enjoyable and it reminded me that I should have people over for lunch more often.

After Sarah left I prepared the rest of the dinner for the Grossos. Out of the 12 or so babies born this past year, Ellie and Hannah Grosso are two of three girls. Hopefully they will be close friends! I made them Tomatillo Chicken, which is a really easy crockpot recipe that you shred the chicken, make the juice into a sauce, cook some rice, add some fresh vegetables and put it in a burrito with cilantro and lime juice. Jon and I enjoy it and it's hard to mess up. The biggest downer is that it makes a LOT of food and now Jon and I still have leftovers and we've eaten it about 4 times (once with Mom and Dad). I should have halved the recipe or frozen some, but oh well!
Ellie had fallen asleep before Sarah left and woke up as I was chopping tomatoes so I put her in the Bjorn and wore her around the kitchen until everything was packed in the car. We were able to go inside and spend some time with Charlotte, Cameron (her 2 year old son) and Hannah. Hannah looks so small! I think she is a similar size to when Ellie was born. It's amazing how much babies grow in six weeks! We didn't stay long since Frank came home from work and we needed to come home and heat up dinner for Jon and me before our prayer group and women's study.

Ellie - 6 1/2 weeks, Hannah- 5 days

We were able to eat dinner and get out the door on time but I left the kitchen a complete mess. Then we ended up staying at the women's study until 10:00! Ellie sat with Hannah Kurtz for the first hour or so before needing to eat.
Jon's prayer group only went to about 8:30 so he was home first and he graciously devoted I don't know how much time to clean up the filthy kitchen! It was not only our dinner mess but the prep left from the Grosso's meal. I had forgotten about the mess until I walked in the door and was so thankful to see a spotless kitchen. Jon's a keeper. But it doesn't end there. I went downstairs to thank him and ask about prayer group and he had hung the new cabinet we bought in the laundry room. I am thrilled!

My new cabinets!

A typical Ellie expression with a bit of a cross-eyed look

Ellie Smiles at Jon

Two things I neglected to mention yesterday:
1) Happy Birthday, Jonathan!
2) Mom said that she got Ellie to smile at her during Brooke's piano lesson! I'll have to put that in her baby book.

Today was a very dreary, rainy day. Ellie and I ate breakfast with Jon and after we were done Jon spent some time trying to get her to smile, and he says he was successful! Three times she started smiling while I was doing the dishes. When I went over to give it a shot she looked at me like I was crazy. Ellie and I were planning on going to the grocery store in the morning but the heavy rain and puddles really deterred us. In the morning I worked on Ellie's baptism invitation and Precepts homework instead. When lunch time rolled around I realized I didn't have much to offer Jon so I threw a frozen pizza in the oven. Jon then told me that he would go with me to Walmart after work if I wanted. Um, yes!
In the afternoon Ellie ate a lot and slept...but only in my arms. It seemed like whenever I put her down she would wake up five minutes later. Fortunately I didn't have much to do so it worked out. I did write up the grocery list than split it into two lists based on location in Walmart for me and Jon to use. I'm not sure what else I did other than write a few thank you notes.
Jon came home around 5:30 and we had a quick snack before heading out to Walmart. I thought that a rainy evening at 6:00 wouldn't mean a busy store but it was pretty terrible. Between the two of us we gathered the groceries and kept Ellie happy and came home. I had decided to make a soup that mom had given me a recipe of earlier this week - it was a creamy tomato tortellini soup. Perfect for a rainy day! And very easy.
After dinner Jon took care of Ellie while I did the dishes, made banana bread, and put together a dinner for the Grosso's for tomorrow. Then as I was cleaning up Jon started vacuuming the basement and carpet upstairs with Ellie. He looked like a pro! By the end he was sweating up a storm and Ellie was zonked out.

I put Ellie to sleep in her pack'n'play and then
noticed all the other random junk in there!

Vacuuming one handed!

All that work put her to sleep.

Ellie's Baptism invitation

Morning Coffee

This morning began with a cup of coffee and a bagel with Jon for breakfast. Jon noted that we used to drink coffee once a week - on Sundays. Now it has become almost a daily occurrence. It is nice to enjoy some time together before he heads off to work, though. Especially with some caramel and french vanilla creamer. If I don't lose the baby weight, you'll know why. 

I lazed around the house doing the dishes and picking up her room a bit. Laundry was also on the agenda so I put a load or two through. After Ellie soiled the sheets the other day I want to make sure the spare set is always clean! 

Kelly texted around 9:00 and said that we were invited to Grandma's house for lunch and that she and Clark would head over around 11:00. Ellie and I made it over around 11:15 and Grandma held Ellie for a bit before lunch. At one point of time Clark found Ellie's pacifier in her car seat and he took it over and held it close to Ellie's face until Grandma took it and pretended to give it to Ellie (Ellie was asleep). What a good cousin! Before lunch Grandma put Ellie down for a nap on her bed and she ended up sleeping for a while!

When we were sitting around talking after lunch we got on the subject of garages and Kelly said something about wanting to open her car windows since her car smelled like the trash in their garage. Grandpa generously offered to go out and put down her windows so that Clark would not get upset in Kelly's absence. Well, in an unfortunate turn of events Grandpa accidentally locked the keys in her car. Whoops! So Kelly left in search of a house key at Mom's without any luck. Fortunately this happened in Elverson so Kelly and Clark just hitched a ride over to Mom and Dad's where Clark took a nap and Kelly relaxed for a bit, since she couldn't do anything else (that works out!:). I stopped by at Mom's and nursed Ellie before heading home to clean up a bit more. 

My main reason for cleaning up (other than for Jon's sake) was I had a piano lesson today and Mom was babysitting Ellie. With Mom was babysitting Ellie at 5:00 I thought I should invite her and Dad over for dinner, since she had a Women's Committee meeting at 7:00. It was wonderful to have Mom watch Ellie during my 30 minute lesson since 5:00 tends to be a fussier time for the little girl. My lesson arrived 10 minutes early (well, closer to 15 minutes early but we started at ten til!) and those first ten minutes were interesting with Ellie wanting my attention. Ha. Oh well! Brooke, a third grader I teach (not Stoltzfus) didn't seem to mind. It helps that she has a one year old sister, I would think. 

Mom and Dad joined us in eating leftovers from Sunday lunch. I personally think it was just as good the second time around and Dad noted that they weren't leftovers to him since he hadn't eaten them before. They are easy to please! Mom headed out right after dinner and Dad hung around and chatted while holding Ellie until 7:45. After he left Jon had me log onto a website where we could watch GenSpan do some research. GenSpan is the research and development department at Iron Mountains. This week they are having first time expectant mom's come in and give their opinion on a slew of swings and similar products. We watched one woman who was interesting...I don't think she has much experience with babies. After observing the one "client" (which was about 45 minutes) Jon hung up the valances in Ellie's bedroom. Now I just need to hang her new stuff on the wall. Mom, Kelly - I need your help. 

Jon is getting deliriously silly. It's time for bed. 

Delivering Ellie's pacifier

Nap time on Grandma's bed

Hanging out.

Jonisms:
Jon says I need more followers. Apparently 2 aren't enough for his high blogging standards.