Christmas Cards

Monday was another rainy, dreary day. Winter is already getting old, in my opinion! Bring on the summer heat. In attempt to help winter pass by quickly, Ellie and I try to stay busy.
Jon went running and he said it was so foggy and dark that they had to run on the road instead of the pathways, even with the headlamp one of the men was wearing. I do not think I will ever be joining Jon on his morning runs. He made us some hot coffee and was off to work.
I had several cups of the tomato tortellini soup left over from Sunday lunch so I texted Mom and Kelly asking them to help me eat some of the leftovers. I then did some Bible study homework and finished up the dishes from our company. Kelly and Clark were first to arrive. Clark loves exploring and was happy when I left the nursery door open so he could go in and out freely. He kept himself well occupied. We prayed for our lunch and I took one bite before Ellie woke up. She is such a content baby so she just watched everyone eat from her perch on my lap. We spent some time discussing the Christmas program and other upcoming events as well as took a few pictures of Ellie for our Christmas card. Our company left around 1:30 so Ellie and I cleaned up the dishes and the house in anticipation for my piano students. My 3:30 student did not show up so when Ellie woke up around 4:00 I took a few more shots for the Christmas card. I have found that it is hard to take pictures of babies! Flattering angles are few and far between.
My 5:00 lesson came and I had just laid Ellie down for a nap as they were walking up to the door. I told Brenda that Ellie should sleep (even though she had only been awake an hour) and to perhaps just pop her pacifier a few times. After the 30 minutes she was asleep and Brenda was able to read her book.
Jon and I had a meeting with some financial advisors at 7:00 so I quickly marinated some chicken while Jon reviewed his information. He grilled it and I pulled out the salad and then made some chocolate chip cookies. We chopped up the chicken and put it on the salad. I actually just googled a lemon-rosemary recipe and it turned out very tasty. It's here if you're interested. It calls to make another spice blend but I just guessed how much it would be and it turned out fine.
Ellie woke up five minutes before 7:00 so I fed her right before the men arrived. She stayed awake for the entire meeting and even had an explosion diaper. I left to change her and ended up not only changing her outfit but rinsing her off in the tub. She was a mess! Both of the men have children (one was Mark DiAddezio) and didn't seem to mind. After our meeting Jon and I watched the very disappointing (as usual) episode of the Amazing Race.
TODAY we had a nice, slow morning. Ellie decided to revert back to her old lifestyle of waking up every two hours and did at least that during the night. For whatever reason Jon and I went to bed at 12:45 last night and I was awake at least 4 or 5 times between 12:45 and 8:30. It was crazy. I wonder if she didn't feel well or if I should have just been popping her pacifier. Hopefully she will do better tonight! Anyway, I turned down breakfast with Jon (even my iced coffee option) so that I could sleep. Ellie was up at 8:30 ready to start the day so I relented.
I spent a long time working on the Christmas card. Perhaps it is due to my indecisive personality but I had a hard time deciding on a card. I went to bed with one decision and I finally ordered a different card this evening. Hopefully they'll turn out.
At 12:00 we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch. Clark was stomping around showing off his shoes and Ellie was smiling at her Aunt Kelly every time Kelly would look her way. Mimi texted and asked for my assistance posting an item on ebay so after eating I went to her house. We took pictures of an oversized Phillies shirt and listed it since mom had a free 5-day listing on ebay. Hopefully it sells! If you know anyone who wears xxl and likes the Phillies, look on ebay for a wonderfully priced Ruiz tshirt.
I put Ellie down for a nap when I arrived at Mimi's so I worked on my Precepts study and hung out kicking the dust while she slept. 3:30 came and Ellie was still sleeping so I went to Stoltzfus' to teach Brooke her flute lesson. Because I usually bring Ellie with me and drop her off after Brooke's lesson at Grandma's, I was running late with the extra traveling. I had to wake Ellie up at Mimi's house and drop her off with Grandma, feeding her before I left. I was only 10 minutes late but my student's Mom said she understood. Hopefully it won't happen again for several weeks.
Picking Ellie up I ran home and made some rice and dressed in "festive attire." Jon and I were invited to the Bradshaw's (our new pastor's home) along with several others for a dinner party. It was a wonderful time! She had us eating with her silver and Christmas china. We had dropped Ellie off at Mimi and Pop's house for the evening so Jon and I had a relaxing night of fellowship. We had shrimp and chicken gumbo (on rice...hence the rice I had to make) along with some tasty drinks and a delicious cake for dessert. We stayed for 3 1/2 hours before heading out to pick up Ellie.
Mimi and Pops said that shortly after we dropped Ellie off she drank 4 oz of her bottle, gulping as though she was famished. She must be growing because I had fed her right before dropping her off.

Ellieisms:
Ellie is very smiley! She frequently gets bored when nobody is around but as soon as she gets eye contact with you and you smile, she's all gums.
Last night the two men were noting how attentive Ellie is - she even makes eye contact. During the entire meeting she was watching whoever was talking and even added in her own input occasionally.

Although I did not take pictures of our day, here are a few out takes from our Christmas card:

When she smiles she looks away. Not helpful

Trying some couch shots

The chair didn't work 

Full body. I needed a bigger blanket.

Weekend Roundup

I apologize for skipping out the last few nights on the blog. I will get you up to date!
Friday morning we had to get out the door around 8:30 because we had a play date with the Grosso's. Charlotte has two kids: Cameron, who turns three in March, and Hannah, who was born in late September. Charlotte had made chocolate muffins and had yogurt, orange juice, and pears. Cameron was very excited about the chocolate muffins but very graciously offered me one. He is such a sweet kid! He also knew all of his colors including pink, gray, and green. What really got to me was that he called Ellie "Miss Ellie." Charlotte told me at church on Sunday that when he woke up from his afternoon nap he asked where Miss Ellie was.

Giving Miss Ellie her pacifier

We spent the entire morning at the Grosso's house and went home for Ellie's nap and some lunch. Having written out my grocery list the day before I had planned to go to Walmart and Bb's. It was a gross, rainy day so following nap time I managed to pack up the car and stopping at Bb's and the bank. I didn't conjure the energy for Walmart so Ellie and I went home. Jon came home shortly thereafter and we ate dinner before heading down to the basement. Having a fire in the basement really draws us down there to hang out. Jon spent some time Christmas shopping on the computer while I worked on my Christmas gifts. We ended the evening browsing our new Amazon Prime membership, watching a few of the free TV shows.
CEFC hosted a Children's Christmas Party on Saturday morning from 9:15-12:15. I signed up to help with registration and wherever I was needed so Ellie and I needed to be at church at 8:30. We were a few minutes late but nobody seemed to notice. Jon stayed behind at home to work on the house. He drilled a hole in the wall behind the TV and pulled the wires through the wall into the closet behind the TV. It's a great set up because he installed electrical outlets in the closet and our internet connection is also in there. The wires go right through the hole to the TV so you cannot see them from the family room. Jon also raked leaves, trimmed hedges, organized the basement closet, and replenished our wood supply inside. At 10:00 he went to his Dad's to help chop down a tree.
Meanwhile, Ellie and I were helping register the children who came to the Christmas Party then we went and watched the Uganda room presentation. Corinne's video was wonderful and I think it was perfect for the room. Donna led the room and it was great to watch her lead the song from the video where they sing the song about worshiping with clapping, jumping, waving, and dancing.

Watching Corinne's video

Since plenty of helpers were at the Christmas Party Ellie and I left after peaking our heads into the other rooms. Jon arrived home around the same time so I went outside as he trimmed the hedges and I hung big silver Christmas balls on our tree in the front garden. I had bought six of them on super-Clearance in the fall so it was fun to finally put them to use!
At 1:45 Jon and I had planned to leave for an open house the Hanna's were having but Ellie had just fallen asleep 15 minutes before. Therefore we decided to let her sleep 45 minutes before transferring her to her car seat. The Hanna's moved into their new home this summer but apparently have had an open house every Christmas for their friends and family. I have never attended an open house like this but it was a lot of fun. They had homemade stromboli, which was delicious. A lot of family's with small children were in attendance so Ellie fit right in. We stayed for an hour and a half before heading home.
Since we needed to stop by Walmart to pick up a few items, we were a few minutes late to our evening event. Birdsboro held a "Christmas in Birdsboro" event in the center of town. We and the Bradshaws met up at Peter and Brittany's before all seven of us walked down to the town hall. I picture this even being the Birdsboro rendition of what Wheaton throws - a lot less activities, people, and money. Fortunately it was pleasant weather so we walked around before heading to the local pizza place for dinner. A craft show was being held next door in the town hall so we walked through and I picked up Linda Smith's Christmas present. The local bank was handing out hot chocolate and cookies and a Trolley would drive people from parking to the center of town. After the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at 8:15 (which we missed - we heading back to Mountz's to warm up) they had a fireworks show which was very good.

In front of a craft

At dinner

Following the fireworks I put Ellie to sleep and then the boys played Settlers of Catan while the girls worked on our sewing projects. We had a good time but I wasn't very productive because Ellie woke up after a relatively brief nap so I was working on sewing while trying to keep her content. The Settlers game ended around 11:15 so we headed home shortly thereafter.

Watching me sew from the floor

Sunday morning arrived oh so early after our late night. We had planned on having the DiAddezio's for lunch so Jon told me he would vacuum and clean up the dishes if I took Ellie to church with me for worship practice. It sounded like a wonderful plan so Ellie hung out on the floor of the church by the stage while we went over the songs. I had woken her up to bring her to church so after practice I changed her before dropping her off at nursery. Clark and Ellie are in the same nursery until he turns 2 (I think) so it's a lot of fun when I go in there. He was scooting around when he was playing but would walk, too. We worked on finding his ears for a little bit when I went in after first service worship to feed Ellie. He found his ears a few times but usually pointed at his mouth when I asked him for his nose or ears. Clark was very busy the entire time playing with all of the toys.
After church we headed home and I made the tomato tortellini soup recipe from Mom along with garlic bread and grilled cheese. Nelah brought a salad and some cookies. Her children, Joseph (6) and Nina (4) are great. Joseph kept commenting on how he liked our house: he liked how much space we have and our decorations. It was too funny! They brought along some legos which occupied them while the adults talked in the kitchen. We moved downstairs where Jon had started a fire and sat on those couches. The kids soon came down and played with the toys for a long while. Last time they came Jon taught them how to play the kinect so we played that for quite a while. They ended up leaving right as we needed to head out the door for choir.
While Joseph was at our house he used the bathroom. As he walked in he asked why our bathroom is pink. We wonder the same thing, Joe.

Nina holding Ellie. Ellie was hungry (oops)

I like being predictable so we were our typical 10 minutes late for choir. Sorry Mimi! Ellie loaded her diaper on the way to church but I just put her on a blanket to watch Mimi until she became discontent. Then I changed her diaper and held her in my lap. Instead of church there was caroling but Jon and I decided to forego that option this year and we went to Doug and Donna's house after choir practice. I had Ellie in her Christmas dress and I kept my outfit on from morning church and had Jon change into a white shirt and red tie. Doug and Donna not only offered us dinner but they took several pictures of us in front of their Christmas tree. Jon and I decided to wrap Ellie up in the baby Jesus blanket Donna has and put her in the manger. She was a perfect fit!
After dinner we came home and Jon did some more Christmas shopping online. Expect big gifts from him!

Ellieisms:
Ellie drools a lot. While we were at the open house Jon had her draped over his arm and drool was streaming down and dripping off his arm.
This morning when Ellie woke up Jon went in to get her and he said she was so close to rolling over!

Ellie's sleeping position of choice

Cat nap before picture time

Chubby baby 

In the manger

Family shot

Laughing Baby

Last night I went to bed late and finally crawled in shortly after midnight. I would have probably made a bigger effort to go to sleep earlier had I known that Ellie was going to revert back to her newborn stage and wake up three times before 7:00. Yes, three times in less than seven hours. Therefore I definitely took advantage of having nothing on my agenda and went back to sleep after Jon left for work. Ellie began stirring around 9:15 so I woke up, ate breakfast, and did my precepts before she woke up around 10:00. Our morning was very relaxed until I tried putting her back to sleep an hour and a half later. I was wanting her to fall asleep early since Mom was coming at 1:00 for us to go out to Reading. I should know by now that Ellie does not fall asleep when she doesn't want to! So I struggled on and off with her until she finally was tired enough to sleep at noon and I hopped in the shower and prepared for Mom's arrival.
Since I had gone to the Lorah Family Meat stand at the Reading Fairground Market a few weeks back I had been telling Mom about the Market. So we went and stopped at a store for her to pick up a gift before heading to the Reading Fairground Market. Mimi led the way and we wove in and out all of the isles and I ended up spending a lot more money than I intended, but I am stocked with all the meat I will need for the next two weeks. One of the vendors asked me what baby's name was and when I said "Ellie" she said that was her name, but it was short for Elinor. Same name, different spelling. She was about 65 or so, which says something about Ellie's name...
We also made a stop at Burlington Coat and picked up a gift for Ellie and Jon for Christmas. We were gone almost 5 hours when we returned home but Mom had given me some leftovers for our dinner and she had picked up some prepared food for her dinner, so it worked out just fine. Ellie was exhausted since she had only slept briefly at the Market so I put her right in the crib. She woke up when Jon came home and watched us eat dinner before we went out to small group.
Last week Ellie had a difficult time during small group since I was trying to get her to sleep in the other room. This week I decided to hold her to sleep and see if I was more successful. Fortunately I was and she fell asleep about 15 minutes into the lesson so I could sit down for the rest. She woke up during prayer requests so I fed her and she then sat and just gabbed. She was very happy! We stayed until 9:45. I changed Ellie's diaper before bed and was saying "boo" to her and she started laughing! I think she must have been tired because shortly thereafter she seemed like she was almost crying and her eyes were all red. After putting Ellie to bed I ate a big bowl of ice cream because Mom said that might help "fatten" up my milk for Ellie. I don't know if that is supported in the medical field, but I will give it a try. Any excuse to eat more ice cream!

Ellieisms:
Ellie has her tongue out a lot. Like, a lot a lot.

Ellie moves a lot in her crib while sleeping. I probably should
start using the sleep sacks instead of her blankets...

Sticking out her tongue, as usual.

See? 

Again.

Sassy 

An Explosion

Today was the normal drill. Jon went for a run, waking me up when he was ready for breakfast and had the iced coffees ready. Ellie woke up shortly afterwards but went back to sleep after eating. I was thankful since I needed my hands free to get dinner in the crockpot. Last night the girl who babysits for Wednesday morning Bible Study told me that I could drop her off at the beginning of the study instead of waiting until she becomes noisy if I wanted. I thought that was really sweet! This morning that did not work out, though, since I had to wake her up as I was ready to leave and therefore needed to feed her during the beginning of study. A long time is spent on prayer requests so I left during a pause between requests and came back right as mom was finishing her requests about Corinne. It worked out just fine. I gave the girls a bottle just in case Ellie was fussy since she has been eating a lot lately.

Chatting with Mimi

After study Ellie was obviously tired and the girls said she only took a brief nap while sitting in the swing. I had planned to go to the grocery store but thought that I should allow Ellie a good nap in her bed since she was awake for so long. Putting her to sleep was a breeze and I then sat down to enjoy my gourmet lunch: a slice of Elios pizza and a coke. I regretted my lunch decision shortly afterwards as my waist is still quite soft and...fluffy.
Kelly had offered to watch Ellie while I taught my piano lesson this afternoon so she brought Clark over at 2:45. They hung out in the basement and Clark was walking around seeming very comfortable with his new skill. After the lesson I walked behind Clark as we went up the steps and when he arrived in the kitchen he pointed at the fan and started squawking. He didn't stop until I turned it on. Kelly put her mothering skills to use on Ellie and put her to sleep in the crib.
Since I had skipped the grocery store Kelly graciously offered to pick up a few items for me while she was at Walmart. I needed milk, chicken, and salad since I was planning on making a meal for a family in our church.  I thanked her with a bit of our dinner since I had more than enough to split between us. I made the pork and peppers crockpot meal that Carly sent around several months ago - I love it. It's easy and always seems to turn out. I even threw a tomato and baby carrots in there and it was still good. Thanks, Carly!
Jon arrived home and we ate shortly after. Someone from church emailed and asked if they could switch dates for taking a meal to this family so I'm off the hook until next week. While Jon and I were sitting at the table after dinner Ellie was obviously working on filling her diaper. I was holding her and didn't think much of it until I got up to change her diaper. Ellie had something slimy on her pants and I looked and she had leaked all over her pants onto my shirt, pants, and jacket. Oh boy! I hollered for Jon's assistance and started the bath tub. Jon held Ellie up while I stripped her down and rinsed her legs off and my hands. That was definitely the biggest mess Ellie has made to date. She prefers to store things up inside and create a scene when we least expect it. I'm just glad we were home!

Ellie came along with me to Bible Study and I put her down to sleep at 7:35 in the cradle. She went sleep and only woke up once and wanted her pacifier. Upon being woken up to come home, she tried to stay asleep and then proclaimed her dissatisfaction with me the entire way home. Pops was at our house picking up the bassinet that Mimi lent us and discussing refinancing with Jon. Now Jon and I are hanging out in the basement enjoying the fire he built in the fireplace. 

Somedays I don't know what color her eyes are.

She's wearing a track suit from Cat

She fell asleep in the car on the way to Brittany's.
Apparently she doesn't mind sleeping like an old man on the beach.

Hanging out at Grandma's

Before heading off to work Jon popped into Ellie's room to say goodbye. Usually this entails walking in, seeing her cute little bottom sticking in the air, and leaving. Today Jon went up to her and patted her bottom while saying good morning audibly. Oh boy. I can't say I don't blame him because she is a lot of fun to be around and he hardly sees her awake while he is home during the work week. I kindly reminded him that he will have plenty of quality time with her tonight while I am away at the women's Christmas social. Ellie graciously slept for another 30 minutes while I worked on my Precepts. After Ellie woke up she ate and we hung out before I tried to put her back to sleep. Generally she sleeps in until 9:30 or 10:00 so I thought she would go back to sleep fairly soon after waking up. I tried on and off trying to put her to sleep for an hour and a half since we had an appointment at Iron Mountains to test out a few products. I told Jon I would come between 10:00 and 11:00. That stinker did not fall asleep until 10:15! So I hopped in the shower and got ready to go, waking her up at 11:00 so she could at least get a sleep cycle in (apparently a baby's sleep cycle is 45 minutes).
At work Ellie was testing this fun basinet-style swing. It operates just like the swing we had at home for the past 3 months (Jon took it back today) but there's a basinet the baby lays in instead of a seat. Ellie seemed to be content. We stood around it and I gave my opinion (why do they need 6 speed settings? Does anyone really use numbers 1 through 3??) and Ellie flirted with the engineers by looking at them and smiling really big. Jon joined us even though he is not on the project.
Since we were in the office anyway they had us try out a napper Jon worked on in the past. It sets on a pack-n-play bassinet as well as removes and rocks on the floor. I really like the idea! Ellie was a bit large for the item but it was helpful to see where they needed improvements for larger babies. In case you care Ellie weighed in (with clothes and a wet diaper) at 12 lbs 6 oz and was 23 1/2 inches long.
Yesterday Grandma, who is recovering from pneumonia with Grandpa, asked me to come to lunch today along with Kelly. Since Ellie had woken up later than I expected from her morning nap and we arrived at Iron Mountains late we were late to Grandma's house. Kelly and Clark had just recently arrived and when I came in Grandpa told me I had just missed Clark walking in from the living room into the kitchen. Clark pretended to not know what Grandpa was talking about as he scooted around the kitchen. We ate lunch and then really got a show from Clark. That boy toddled all over the foyer and living room like a pro! It's uncanny. Ellie watched on in admiration until she became tired so I put her down to sleep on Grandma's bed.
Grandma had found out that I needed to stop by the church to prepare for the women's social so she asked me to leave Ellie at her house to nap. I put her down at 12:30 and went to church from 12:45 to 1:45. When I arrived back Ellie was still sleeping so I wrote a few thank you notes and brainstormed my grocery list. Ellie was still sleeping at 2:45 so I went out and talked to Grandma and Grandpa who had made their way to the living room. I had a piano lesson to teach at 3:30 so when she started stirring around 3:15 I got her up and fed her. Usually I take her along while I teach Brooke Stoltzfus but Grandma wanted me to leave her since I drop her off at their house for my next lesson at 4:15 anyway. I went and taught and came back and little Ellie had just started being a cranky booger so I fed her and took her home. I am so grateful to have Grandma and Grandpa so close by and always wanting to watch Ellie!
Arriving home at 5:45 I started boiling water, preheated the oven, and opened a jar of tomato sauce. Ellie was content in her carseat so I left her there while preparing our gourmet meal of ravioli with Texas Toast. Jon came home right as everything was ready so he took Ellie out of her seat and we ate dinner. Actually, Jon watched me scarf down my food before I grabbed Ellie, fed her, and put her to sleep. I was out the door by 6:15 and heading to church for the women's social. The flutes and clarinets ran though our two special numbers before I sang carols along with 7 or 8 other women at the front door to greet the women as the came in. Kathy Eberly and Sonia Barber spoke and Kelly, Elisha, and Katie sang a trio. I think the evening went rather well with over 100 women in attendance. Afterwards I texted Jon and found out that Ellie was sleeping so I stayed a bit longer to help clean up.
Jon reported that his time with Ellie went fairly well. She was a bit high maintenance but he eventually got her to sleep. At one point in the evening he changed her diaper and put her in a more comfortable outfit - a little Puma workout outfit Cat gave to her. It's hilarious! I love it. I'll take a picture of her in it tomorrow (she's sleeping now).

Ellieism:
Ellie was a little cranky when I was driving home from Grandma's and when we got inside I realized she had pulled her hat down over her eyes. No wonder!

 I quickly took this picture while Jon's working. Nate Saint is directly to my left and the other engineer was behind Jon. I think they saw what I was doing. I didn't want to admit I wanted a picture for my blog...

Spring in Fall

Today we received the weather from Chicago with the forecast calling for 63 degree weather with sunshine. As a result I texted Mom and Kelly and set up a time to walk - 10:30. In the morning Jon made us iced-caramel coffees before heading to work: a wonderful way to start the week. After completing my Precepts and Bible Study (sense a pattern here?) I did the dishes then packed Ellie up. We arrived at Mimi's house and nursed before Clark and Kelly came ready to walk.

You'd never know it was 60 degrees by Mom's outfit...

Tending to baby

Mimi led the way pushing Ellie and I pushed Clark so that Kelly wouldn't get completely wiped out. We went through Summerfield and cut past the retirement quarters and through Mrs. Wynn's old property. Clark was relaxing with his legs crossed the entire time only making a comment here and there as we traveled along. Ellie lasted until Hopewell Manor where I put her in the Bjorn while we finished up. Tallying 2.65 miles Mimi offered to make us lunch as a reward. Ham and cheese sandwiches hit the spot and I was off to take tired little Ellie home.
Ellie took a nice 2 1/2 hour nap while I finished up a Christmas gift and put the living room back into order. The kitchen table was hard to find so I also spent some time clearing that off before doing some Christmas shopping online. Ellie woke up and I fed her then tried to keep her awake as I bathed her then showered and prepared for my piano student. She fell asleep at 4:40 which worked out perfectly for my 5:00 lesson since she slept the entire time.

Clean baby

I ended up waking Ellie up while I transfered her to the car seat. Kelly had invited Jon and I over for dinner since she had a lot of ham balls that she made. Josh had to work late, which worked out perfectly since Jon was also caught up in finishing up a task at work until close to 6:30. Ellie and I drove separately from Jon and had some free time before the men came from work so we hung out with Kelly and Clark. Clark gave Ellie a high five but only when her fingers were extended. When she had her hand in a fist he just looked at it. Uh, that's not how you high five, Ellie.

Clark teaching Ellie the necessary skills for life.

Clark went down for bed right as we started eating. Ellie had spent some time laying down in the loft but she didn't fall asleep so I brought her down and she sat in the bouncer seat while we ate.
After dinner Clark was upstairs talking and Josh wanted to see him so he brought him back down to join us. He was such a happy camper! I drank his milk and laughed a lot before heading back to bed right before Jon and I left to put Ellie to sleep. She was getting cranky, which was understandable since she had been awake over 2 hours.
Jon and I watched the Amazing Race episode for this week (go James & Jaymes!) and now Jon is apparently Christmas shopping on his cell phone. Whatever it takes.

Ellieisms:
I weighed Ellie after her bath and she was right around 12 pounds.

Happy baby!

She's looks so long in her stripes!

The First Weekend in December

Saturday morning Jon was out of the house before I woke up. He had signed up for the last roofing day at church to finish up the shingles. Since he was due to be gone all day Mimi and I planned to go to an open house in Geigertown and a Christmas tree tour at Poole's Forge around noon. During the morning Ellie and I did some work for the women's Christmas social and got ready for the day. Mimi arrived around noon and I fed Ellie before we headed to the open house.
Last Christmas I had missed the open house so I had no idea what to expect. Basically someone just opened their house and asked people who sold goods (Pampered Chef, Silpada, homemade stuffed owls, etc) to have their stuff out for people to see and buy. Quite frankly I thought it was going to be more of a meet and greet type event but oh well. Andi Colmery was selling Pampered Chef so we ate some of her food she had out and purchased a thing or two. We then headed out to Poole's Forge.
I have never been to Poole's Forge so I didn't know what this event was, either. Basically there is an old farm house and few other buildings at the park and in the farm house they had Christmas trees decorated extravagantly throughout the rooms. They also had music and informational sheets to enjoy as you looked at all the trees and picked your favorite. Then we went into one of the other old buildings and enjoyed apple cider and cookies while we cast our vote. Mom and I both voted for the Nicholas Stoltzfus tree since we're related. We think we were probably the only two to vote for his since it wasn't very exciting. The event was to raise money to put towards renovating the house someday and was put on by the Poole's Forge Historical Committee.
On our way home we stopped by a new consignment shop and Lowe's. The consignment shop was full of outdated clothes and fairly expensive (in my opinion) furniture and home decor. Mom bought salad tongs. At Lowe's mom gave me her input on what tile to purchase for the basement bathroom. It didn't help my decision much because she pointed out two totally different ideas from the two I was considering and both of hers are good ideas. Oh boy it might take me until Christmas to make the decision!
Ellie was tired by the time we arrived home so I fed her and put her to bed. I spent some time Christmas shopping online before getting ready for the Christmas party we had at Dan and Amanda's house in the evening. Although Jon was supposed to come home at dark, the roofing took longer than he expected so he asked me to bring his clothes to Mom and Dad's house when I dropped off Ellie. He took a shower at his parent's house and we met up in Elverson.
Dan and Amanda were hosting a Christmas Bunco party. Bunco is a game that involves zero skill - even less skill than Yatzee. You sit at a table with two sets of partners and you roll three die until (in the first round) you do not roll a one. For every one you roll you receive a point. If all three die are ones you get "Bunco" and receive 21 points and the round is over. Then you move on to twos and so forth up to six. Between every round, though, you switch tables and partners. It was a bit confusing when they first began explaining it but we soon caught on.
Twenty-two people were at the party and Jon and I had a wonderful time. Having Ellie stay with Mimi and Pop's was wonderful because I knew I did not have to worry about her and I could focus on getting to know people and playing the game. I did not win and Jon most likely lost (he was having a tough game - no luck). We stayed there until almost 11:00 before heading out to pick up Ellie. She was sleeping in the basement while Mom and Dad watched TV. We packed her up and transfered her right into her crib when we arrived at home.
I was very surprised when Ellie did not wake up until 6:00 this morning for her first feeding. I think that is a record! She was sleeping at least 8 hours since Mom said she had been sleeping over an hour when we picked her up. Although she woke up a bit when we transfered her I did not feed her, so that's the longest she's lasted without eating. Let's she how she does tonight!
After Jon's long day on the roof and our late night at the party Jon slept in past his alarm and we woke up too late to attend Sunday School (whoops!). We arrived at church and I put Ellie in the nursery with the instructions for them to page me as soon as she gets fussy since I knew she'd be hungry. No use having her cry if I know the solution! She lasted the entire worship service and woke up right as Uncle Steve was introducing the sermon. When I arrived in the nursery Ellie had stopped crying but three or four other babies were crying. It was chaos! I fed Ellie and decided to put her to sleep myself since the nursery workers were having such a hard morning. By the time I left two other babies had fallen asleep so it was a lot more peaceful.
After the service the Hanna's asked us over for lunch. Ellie was still sleeping which worked out since I needed to run over the song for the Christmas social with the other flute players. We arrived at the Hanna's and Shaun was grilling some chicken for a salad. It was a very good lunch and it was nice to be invited over to someone's home after church. I need to remember to try to do that. They have an almost 3 month old son, Adam (the one born on the side of the road), and a 2 year old daughter, Gwen. We couldn't stay long because I had a Pampered Chef party to attend at 2:00.
We left around 2:00 and when we stopped at home I called the girl hosting the party to say I was on my way. Melissa Patton attends our church and had invited me almost a month ago via facebook and I had finally RSVPed yesterday saying I would go. I was very glad I went since not many were in attendance and the Pampered Chef consultant lives down the street from me. I had never met her prior but she works with Tara Frey. We baked cookies and browsed the catalog for a couple hours and I was once again baby-free.
While I was out shopping Jon held down the fort with Ellie. She was due for a nap and although I fed her before I left she was wound up from her long morning. Jon said she fussed for a while before he decided to just feed her the bottle I had left behind. After she ate she settled and finally fell asleep. I arrived home after she had been sleeping for almost an hour and Jon was listening to a CD on financial planning on the couch. I gave Jon some of the cookies we had made then we once again packed up and headed out the door to choir practice.
Since Ellie had been sleeping and I hadn't fed her I left her with me for choir practice. She really enjoyed watching Mimi swing her arms around! When she became discontent I tried to discreetly feed her (Jon didn't notice - success). Afterwards she was happy and smiley. I tried to put her to sleep before heading up to prayer but she was still awake but lying down. I wrote directions on her back "Should be tired but has a bottle in her bag if needed." None of the workers were there, only someone filling in until they arrived, so I thought it'd be best to write down what she might need. It worked out because although she didn't sleep in the pack-n-play she was fed and snoozing in Dawn Kimball's arms when I came to pick her up. She took a long time to unwind and finally fall asleep - she took almost an hour once we came home. Hopefully she sleeps for a long time tonight!

Ellieisms:
She is really grabbing things now. It started last week with my hair but now she'll clench on to anything she reaches: my necklace, her toys, or her car seat straps.
Ellie can stay entertained indefinitely if something is moving around in front of her. Like Mimi's flailing arms at choir...

Nap buddies