Rainy Days

Wednesday morning Ellie and I had Precepts at church. Since we had something going on Ellie decided to sleep in - I ended up waking her up from her deep slumber and we still were five minutes late. I made pancakes while she slept and dressed her and handed her over to Corinne in the childcare with the pancakes for breakfast. Thanks, Corinne, for taking care of Ellie.
Following Precepts Kelly was looking at a house in Elverson that was up for sale and she invited Mom and I along since we were all at church anyway. The house was very exciting for Clark and Ellie with the staircase and lack of furniture. Clark would keep me aware of Ellie's doings with "uh-oh!" as she would move in any direction away from me. He'll be a good big brother.
On our way home Ellie and I stopped by the Dollar Tree to pick up disposable dishes for dropping off meals. She napped and I made pumpkin bread until my piano student showed up at 3:00. Ellie woke up at 3:30 and I made the meal for a family with a new baby. We called and warned her that we were on our way then dropped it off. We came home and made our own dinner (same dinner) then Jon arrived. He played with Ellie and stacked wood in the basement and prepped the fireplace.
I had Bible Study at Brittany's house and Tara met up with me at my house to carpool. At 6:00 Aunt Esther called and asked if Nick's girlfriend, Dani, could also carpool with me. The three of us went out and were gone until almost 10:00. I had put Ellie to bed before leaving but it didn't work because I received a picture text and a video from Jon of the two of them hanging out in the basement watching the fire. I think Ellie knows when Dad's in charge so she can stay up late and hang out with him.

Thursday morning it was rainy and gross. We went over to the Grosso's house and spent time with Charlotte and her daughter Hannah, who is six weeks younger than Ellie (they were supposed to be one week apart). The girls played nicely with next to each other. Ellie really liked their keyboard and she banged away for a while.

Concentration

The girls must have played hard because they were tired and cranky by 10:30 so we cleaned up and said goodbye. We went home and I fed Ellie lunch then put her down for a nap. Mom came at 11:45 and stayed at the house while Jon and I went to a meeting at church about the building campaign. I was back home in an hour and I made caramelitas until Ellie woke up.
That baby was out of sorts and cranky today. I don't know if it was the cold and rainy weather but she was not happy. While I worked in the kitchen she was clinging to my legs moaning and crying. I would take her into the living room and play for a few minutes and she would stay behind but not for long. The meal I was making took longer than it needed to but we finished. Ellie and I ate dinner then dropped this meal off and took advantage of having some free time by stopping at a used furniture store. They had a lot of stuff but the prices weren't quite to my liking so we left without any purchases.
Ellie was spending the evening with Nana and Poppop while Jon and I went to small group. I dropped her off and left when she was eating more dinner in the highchair. She wasn't sad to see me leave.
 I picked up Jon and we were at small group until 9:30. When we picked Ellie back up she was sitting between Nana and Poppop on the couch just hanging out. She had slept for about an hour but was woken up when Poppop walked up the steps (they are a bit creaky). She received a good review and went right to sleep when we came home. Now Jon and I are appreciating our new fireplace insert in the toasty, 75 degree basement.

Snagged this from Char's Instagram

Ellieisms:
Ellie points to her nose when I ask her where her nose is. We practice this in the car (she watches me in the review mirror) and even demonstrated it to Nana and Poppop this evening. Sometimes her finger lands up her nose.
While we were driving around this afternoon I was feeding Ellie goldfish and she would fuss when she wanted more. I would say "more" over and over and eventually she was saying "muwa" when she wanted another fish. We'll see if it happens again.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Carly!

Last night Ellie woke up at 1:15 and I didn't get her back to sleep until 3:45. I felt like she was a newborn once again. When I'm woken up in the middle of the night I don't think properly so I hope there wasn't an obvious need I was missing but she went back to sleep and slept until 10:30. When I went to check to make sure she was still breathing she was sitting in her crib reading a book in the dark.
Hunter showed up at 9:00 and played with the trains and toys until Ellie woke up. Then I made pancakes for Ellie and I for breakfast and Hunter ate a few, too. It was a nice day outside (thought feeling more like fall!) so the three of us spent Hunter's last hour here playing in the driveway.
Ellie started out walking with her walker but went straight to the big kid riding toys and tried to play with the tricycle. I gave her a ride for a few minutes and when I stopped she was so angry! That baby knows what she wants.

Trying to be a big kid

Busy kids.

When Hunter went home Ellie and I drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house where the Fentons were already hanging out. Maya is such a happy baby and was sitting in Grandma's lap playing with her pacifier and smiling. Grandma had made soup and we ate and played until Ellie was too tired to function at 1:15.

Ellie napped while I rested (I had been awake with her for 2 1/2 hours and also didn't get the benefit of her sleeping in until 10:30). She woke up after a too-short nap and was cranky but refused to go back to sleep. We played then headed to Grandpa and Grandma's again.
Grandpa and Grandma's house must be a piece of Heaven for Ellie because she is always smiling when we pull in and she knows exactly where her toys are located. She grabs a toy then drags it back to Grandma's lap and plays and plays with two people doting on her. As I said, Heaven.
I came back after an hour and picked up Ellie then we went to Walmart for a few groceries. My next lessons had cancelled which allowed for me to attend my first gym class since before Corinne's wedding - it had been two months. It was brutal, let me tell you. I would much rather work out in the morning before I'm tired.
Ellie and I got home at 7:00 and Jon had dinner all warmed up (leftovers) and the kitchen cleaned up (no small feat). It was a wonderful surprise. We had our finance review night where Jon logs in all the receipts, see where we spent our money, then we review our progress. I cleaned the supper dishes and did a load of laundry.
Today was Carly's birthday! Happy Birthday, Aunt Carly! Carly always goes above and beyond to make it to special events and we really appreciate every 12 hour car ride she has done for us. We love when they come to visit! We hope you had a good birthday.
I have dozens of pictures of Carly's kids from my camera but hardly any of Carly with us. Sorry, Carly! I need to work on that.

Visiting with Aunt Elsie

Holding the babies

When she came out to see Maya

 Happy Birthday, Carly!!

Ellie enjoying the Johnny Jumpup yesterday:

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

Warm & Sunny Days

Thursday Ellie and I had another slow morning as we wrote up a grocery list and cleaned the house for our company coming over on Friday. Around 11:00 we went out to Shady Maple for our various items for Friday dinner. At Shady we saw people from church who we don't normally see apart form church, which is always fun! Ellie loves the grocery store because there is so much auction to watch. While I was chatting she was intently watching a man unload onions. We tried to get her attention but her eyes were glued on watching him work.
We came home and Ellie fell asleep in the car. I transfered her to the crib and finished cleaning up the house (bathroom, kitchen floor, etc) until she woke up three hours later. We played until 5:00 when we went to Jon's work to see his project for Bue Sky Days.
Once a year Iron Mountains has a competition where everyone can come up with their own new or improved idea for a baby product. Kelly came up with the idea of a remote controlled bouncer seat and Jon was challenged to make it happen. We went to his work to see the project and pick him up for our family night out.
Every few months we try to visit Jon's Grandpop in West Chester. He lives in an apartment in center city and we arrived shortly after dinner. Ellie behaved and passed the time sitting in his recliner, reading her books, and playing with the plastic blocks toy the Fentons gave her for her birthday. At the evening Grandpop even held her for a bit.

We headed home when she was starting to fuss and popped by Chickfila for dinner. Ellie was too tired to eat chicken but she had eaten her dinner before we left. She chatted and drank milk on the way home and went right to sleep once she got into her crib.

Friday morning Ellie and I were invited by Katie and Wyeth to get together at Livingood for a bit. We arrived at 9:00 and really enjoyed the beautiful weather in the empty park. Although Ellie and Wyeth were both a bit cranky but they held it together well and played nicely. They did push each other around a bit especially with the steering wheels but nobody was injured.
We were sitting in the grass for a change (from the mulch) and Ellie crawled over to the bottom of the slide and started crawling up it. Fortunately her slippery pants didn't allow her to climb very far.

Katie had to head home at 11:00 to start work soon so Ellie and I drove home a long route and hit up a couple yardsales. We didn't have any success finding what I needed (dresser/chests for storage) and we made it home before noon and Ellie fell asleep.
I relaxed a bit since I had done my cleaning yesterday then spent time organizing my fabric and craft stuff in the basement. I vacuumed down there (for the first time, thanks to Jon doing it regularly) and after Ellie woke up we started preparing dinner.
At 5:30 Jon came home and his coworker JP (Jonathan Pacella - they have so many Jonathan's at work that he goes by his initials) and his family came shortly thereafter. I was still preparing the chili and cornbread but they were very patient. They have four kids, two biological and two adopted, three boys and one girl, ages 7, 7, 5, and 4. The adopted kids have just been adopted this past year but they were all very well behaved and Jon and I really enjoyed our time with their family. They are a vegetarian family and the little girl (age 5) has to eat gluten free so I went with vegetarian chili and gluten free corn bread. I had cheese, sour cream, Fritos, and rice to go with the chili and I heard the little girl (Addy) ask "are the chips gluten free?" (they were) Poor little thing! I would hate to be worried about eating, especially at such a young age. JP made a delicious Italian Love Cake for dessert. Following dinner the kids played Kinect in the basement and they left around 8:30 to head back home to Downingtown. I felt bad they had to travel so far (I had no idea where they lived when I invited them).
The nice part about having company with young kids is that when they leave early we have enough time to do all the dishes and watch a movie before bed! I had put Ellie to sleep right after dinner and before dessert so she was out of the picture. I also spent some time ironing the clothes and figuring out what I needed to bring to Ellie's photo shoot with Ben on Saturday morning.

Practicing for Saturday morning's pictures

Ellieisms:
Ellie does a weird Mowgli-like crawl when she's wearing dresses and can't crawl like a normal baby.

Ellie Makes Her First Phone Call

Tuesday morning Hunter came and spend the morning with us again. We spent time playing in the living room before heading outside once it warmed up. In the middle of the morning we headed over to the Geigertown train "museum" down the street to take a closer look at the trains. Hunter loves trains - he wears a hat like a railway man and knows all about Thomas and his friends. His first question was what the trains' names were in Geigertown. I told him we needed to name them, which did not excite him.

The gnats were very annoying so I peeled Hunter away from the trains and we headed home. We ate lunch and cleaned up the living room with the promise of watching a movie once we were picked up. At one point when I was eating lunch Ellie was playing with the telephone and I noticed on my phone (we have two sets) that it said "line in use" so I picked up and and said "hello" thinking it would go to Ellie and Jon responded. Apparently Ellie called him while she was messing around with the telephone. Jon didn't mind.

Dressed like orphan Annie

Hunter's dad ended up having an incident at work and Elisha needed to go to the hospital with him so I agreed to take Hunter home to stay with his grandfather. The main downer: Ellie had just fallen asleep and I had to teach piano lessons later that afternoon. If piano lessons hadn't been on the horizon, I would have woken her up. Instead I called Jon and he agreed to come home and work from home while I ran Hunter to Morgantown. It worked out (for me, at least).
I had my piano lessons and Jon picked up Ellie from Grandpa and Grandma's house. She had a good review and he started the spaghetti for dinner. Jon says that when Ellie sits in his car in her other car seat she sits extremely still and doesn't move a muscle, just shifts her eyes. She sat this way the entire way home - he feels really bad for her because she looks so emotionally uncomfortable (his words). Oh Ellie.
We ate dinner together then Ellie went to bed and Jon worked on his Sunday School lesson briefly before we went to bed.

Wednesday morning Ellie and I had Precepts at church. Once again she spent time with Aunt Corinne (no Uncle Daniel, though) for childcare. Corinne goes to BBs after study so I decided to go, too. Bad choice. An accident occurred at 11:00 a hundred yards past the BBs entrance and traffic was completely blocked and at a standstill. Corinne and I tried to cut past by going back roads but it wasn't happening. We parted ways and I took Ellie home to nap.
She slept until 3:00 when my piano student arrived. After the lesson we went to BBs for groceries and then made dinner. Jon took care of Ellie while I went to Bible Study at Brittany's house in Birdsboro. He said that she was very chatty at bedtime and would put her cup up near his mouth and smack her lips, pretending like he was drinking it. She talked and talked, telling Jon about her day, until he put her in bed.

Ellieisms:
Jon still loves how Ellie breathes really loud while squinting her nose when she's excited.
Today (Friday) Jon said to Ellie "let's go outside and play" and Ellie mimicked "play" back to him.

Barn Raisings, Sunday Company, and Uncle David Comes to Town

Saturday morning Jon was up early and off to help Mr. Frey at his barn raising. After giving Ellie a bottle around 6:30 she slept three more hours, with me waking her up at 9:20 to head to Elverson. Mom's former piano student, Shannon Smith, was in town during her Mom's craft show in Honeybrook. Kelly and I met up at Mom's and took my car to the event. The first thirty minutes were spent meeting Shannon and catching up. Shannon also babysat us but I don't recall much from anything before age ten. Apparently Mom gave Shannon Corinne's blog information and Shannon has since caught up on our lives through the blogs (Shannon, this is a shout out to you!). I was impressed by her memory and a bit embarrassed since the amount of time I spend on writing and editing (I usually skip editing) is paltry. We shopped around the stands and Kelly and Mom picked up some gifts and I snagged a pair of gloves that are handmade from recycled wool. They are for Ellie and I think they're adorable.
Following the craft show we drove back to Elverson and Mom, Ellie, and I went to the Frey's to check in on the barn raisers. Mom had agreed to help Mrs. Frey with lunch and had made cookies for the event. Mrs. Baskin was also there to help so we watched the men work and saw their progress before setting up lunch. Laurel McDermott (formerly Shirey) was there with her son Hunter and at one point we were all looking at Hunter pet the dog, Zoey, and Ellie must have realized the attention was on him because she started waving, then she clapped, then she blew kisses. Oh goodness. Jon ate lunch with Ellie on his lap and I pretended to help serve the lunch. We headed home and left Jon to work more once the baby girl started to fuss.

Loving the tractor

The men did the top part

Enjoying the warm sun

Following the barn raising (anyone quoting Seven Brides for Seven Brothers yet?) Jon and his dad went and picked up some wood for our stockpile. He cleaned up and our family headed over to Doug and Donna's for dinner to celebrate Jon's 33rd birthday since he had been away over his actual birthdate.
Jon grilled steak (provided by Doug and Donna) and Donna made a salad, french fries, and had a potato salad. Grandma Mountz and Omar were also present. Ellie refused to show off her walking skills but ate a good bit of dinner. We left at 8:30 since Ellie was cranky. It was fun to celebrate Jon's birthday again.

Sunday morning we went to first service worship and second service Sunday School. I had signed up to bring a casserole to Sunday School so I baked it during the service and it was ready to go for Sunday School. Ellie behaved in nursery but she was pooped when I picked her up. Jon and I went home and Ellie went down for bed while Jon and I prepared for our guests.
Olivia DeWalt and Nate Hupal (her fiance) came for lunch following church. I needed to try a recipe I'm making for company later this week so I used Olivia and Nate as my gineau pigs. I made a vegetarian chili and corn bread. I personally didn't miss the meat (there were three types of beans, two peppers, onions, stuff like that) but Jon did mention that the meal made him appreciate meat. Haha. More leftovers for me, I suppose.
Olivia and Nate gave us an update on their lives and we enjoyed hearing about their goals and desires. Nate works with Jon at Iron Mountains, Llc on the marketing spectrum so we were able to discuss work stuff, too. They stayed until around 3:00.
Ellie woke up before our guests left and Jon and I took turns hanging out with the baby and taking naps. He got the first nap and mine was a bit short...I'm not bitter or anything. We left at 5:45 for prayer meeting.
Following evening prayer meeting Jon and I came home and put Ellie to bed before eating some dinner and heading to bed early ourselves. We probably watched a bit of our favorite TV show in bed (Foyles War - check it out on PBS.com but be warned because it is in the seventh season).

Monday morning David Canche was set to be at Mom and Dad's house so Ellie and I planned to go to Elverson as soon as Hunter came for babysitting. His mom dropped him off at 9:00 and we were in the car by 9:05 heading towards Mimi's. I explained who Mimi was to Hunter and told him that Clark and Kelly would also be there (Hunter knows Clark and loves Kelly). Dad had made my favorite breakfast for us all - pancakes. Hunter polished off eight (I only ate six) one at a time, asking politely for more. Mimi was very impressed. We played with toys, caught up with David, heard exciting news, and ate pizza for lunch. Mimi and Pops not only provided breakfast but bought Giovanni's pizza, since David really likes Elverson's pizza.
Elisha picked up Hunter at Mimi's house and Ellie and I left soon after lunch since she was tired and I had piano lessons at 2:00. She slept until right after the lesson ended, which was wonderful. We cleaned up the house and played outside. My third lesson of the day came at five and Ellie played with Brenda during it. Jon was working over dinner (he had some sort of seminar he had to attend) so Ellie and I grabbed a quick dinner then headed to Walmart.

Trying to play with the big kid toys

I bought apples, caramel, popcorn, and M&Ms for the craft night snacks. I somehow got signed up to be in charge of them (Mom) which is fine with me. It was a small group but I enjoyed myself. Ellie helped set up (picture her cruising around the church with her walker) and Jon came after he was finished the seminar at work.
Jon took Ellie to his parents' house and they did some walking practice. She took ten steps from Nana to Pop-pop, her first time showing off her skills to them. He took her home and had her in bed by the time I came back at 9:30.

My snoozer 

Ellieisms:
Ellie has really been rocking the walker. She loved the open hallways of church and once I followed her into the foyer and she was backing up with the walker. She needs to drop the whole "I can't walk" act and just move.
Today Jon was playing with Ellie with her little people and she played with the car making rumbling truck noises. I'm not sure where she learned to do that. Maybe she's a genius (probably not).

Visiting Terre Hill

Thursday we stayed home for most of the day. Ellie took a nice nap and throughout the day I organized some of my cabinets, finished decorating for the fall, and generally just cleaned up. It was quite unexciting. Actually, I was excited to have clean and organized cabinets as well as a clean house. It just is boring to read about. Ellie was having a bad day so we had quite a bit of crying and fussing.

How can a fussy baby be annoying when they're
decked out in red velour?

Thursday evening I dropped Ellie off at Mom's house while Jon and I went to small group. Our group meets from 6:30 until around 9:30. We rotate homes and I really should get a babysitter so Ellie can go to bed but I'm avoiding having to pay someone especially after the bad experience on Monday (Ellie doesn't like to go to sleep for other people, even her Dad, really. We need to work on that). Plus it's wonderful to arrive at Mom and Dad's house and hear Dad messing around with Ellie and see her lounging on the couch holding the remote control (her form of heaven). I believe she was royally spoiled.
Friday I had arranged with Corinne to go visit her in Terre Hill and Mom agreed to go along with me (after she asked, "why are we going again?" Um, do we need a reason other than Corinne?). It was a beautiful day and we made it to Terre Hill around 10:30. We parked at the Iya's apartment and walked up the road to the Terre Hill Memorial Park. Ellie definitely didn't appreciate the greatness the park had to offer, but I think the adults did. Five other local moms and their kids were enjoying the playground and had even packed a lunch, something we wish we would have thought to do when we realized we had arrived at 11:30. We talked and hung out until Ellie became cranky then we walked back to the Iya's apartment.

Yes, we bring her walker everywhere.

Her favorite spot

Center of attention

Corinne generously offered lunch to Mom and I and we were smart enough to say yes. She made eggs, heated up lunch meat in barbeque sauce, and slice onions, tomatoes, and lettuce for toppings. It was quite a treat! (I don't usually make sandwiches because they are too much work). Grandma needs to watch out because Corinne also knows how to make a mean sandwich!
After lunch Mom helped clean up then Mom and I stopped by a local lady's shop for some mums and cut flowers for me. We went home and Ellie fell asleep on the drive back to Geigertown. I did not have to make dinner so I relaxed and enjoyed my book that Kelly lent to me.
When Jon came home we had a little down time before going to the DiAddezio's for dinner (I bought the cut flowers for Nelah). Joe sat between me and his Dad and once he got over not sitting next to his sister (it didn't take long) he said he was sitting next to two of his favorite people (SCORE!). We hung out and headed home after 9:00, which felt late to Ellie because she was tired.

Ellieisms:
Ellie's new favorite little "toy" is a plastic Easter egg I found when I was organizing the cabinets.
When Ellie was with Mom and Dad Thursday evening she kept making a fish face. I'm not sure where that came from.