Bubbles...

I love watching Ellie discover new things for the first time! There was some hesitance at first, but it wasn't long before she was reaching for the bubbles...those pesky things just kept disappearing on her!

Happy Birthday Elina...

Our little pumpkin is 6 months old today! Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!
6 months ago today, our lives changed forever...for better! I remember the moment when this picture was taken...our first family portrait! When Elina was born, the docs/nurses had to whisk her away briefly (which didn't seem so brief) to clean out the meconium from her lungs and stomach. Then...finally...bliss! Sweet Bliss! I remember trying my hardest to look at her and just couldn't get my head down far enough to see her little face (thus the triple chin). I remember thinking, 'oh no, what's wrong with her eyes...they really don't look right'...now I know that she was just trying so hard to look up at us...us!...her mommy and daddy! She was so calm, so tiny, so perfect! I love this memory so much...I makes me cry every time I look at it...I don't remember as much of Jason...Daddy...in this moment, but the picture says it all! He was so proud, overjoyed, and completely in love with both of us! You can see how choked up he was, trying so hard to take it all in...Knowing how his world was flipping upside down as an enormous responsibility just entered the world and landed in our arms...what joy! There's no surprise in the fact that he has far exceeded the role of "Daddyhood"! She lights up for him like no one else.
What an incredible (and incredibly fast) 6 month journey we've been on...and sooo looking forward to the road ahead. I've never claimed to be a writer...hopefully I've done some justice in describing the moment our lives changed forever, just 6 short months ago...we are so completely thankful to our Father who ordained us to be parents of our precious Elina Faith!
I ordered two special ornaments this year...this is one of them...and as we put up our tree this weekend and all the years to follow (Until Jesus comes!) I'll look forward to finding a special place for this moment when we held our first born for the first time!

Oh the Faces...

I just can't get enough of this!!! Is it just me, or is she actually posing!?!? :)

This face seems to show up a lot these days! Love it! Love it!!!

I'm so glad this onesie still fits! Love her in the Layered Look!

Can I just tell you...these lips...are sooo kissable!

Daddy the Handy Man...

**UPDATE: Thanks Val for pointing out my imperfections! :) No seriously...of course I meant fell instead of feel in the second paragraph. It's corrected now, but for those of you who may have read it and laughed at me and then didn't let me know about it! (except Val of course)...I thought you may not notice the correction without this public announcement of my imperfections! Not that I haven't ever had a typo before...ha ha!

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Since Ellie's arrival, most honey dos have been on the back burner (for both mommy and daddy), but recently things have picked back up. Jason asked our friend Richard (who tremendously helped us for 3 months before Ellie was born) to help install a new back door...we feel much safer now! Here's Jason assembling the new hardware for a safe and secure closure!

Then a deal fell into our laps (or is that Jason fell on his back...j/k). We were blessed to receive a new dishwasher at an incredible price...too good to pass up!...so Jason went to work. Here he is pulling the old one out. I happened to walk in the kitchen just in time to see him like this, and yes...I did make him lay there so that I could grab the camera! For some reason that old dishwasher just didn't want to budge, but Daddy the Handy Man beat that stubborn old thing!

However, the dishwasher had the last laugh. When Jason tried to install the new one...we discovered there where no hook ups for a dishwasher anyway! Maybe this is what they meant by dishwasher doesn't work in the homeowner's disclosure. Well, another blessing came our way...our friend Tanner did his best to help install a garbage disposal (which I was wanting anyway) so that the dishwasher would have hook ups. Dispite great efforts (and the help of a vaccume cleaner...I still don't know why they needed that in there) the appliances won again...

So, after a very long weekend...our hot water heater ended up not working (in addition to and not because of everything else)...we had to call a plumber, who went under the house and found decaying pipes which literally fell apart when he tried to disassemble them. He fixed the pipes, which fixed the hot water heater problem, and ultimately put our kitchen back together for us! All in all...Jason/Daddy is still our hero (here on earth anyway!) Thank you honey!

(P.S. Maybe one day I'll get the cabinet doors put up...hopefully before a little somebody becomes mobile!!)

Picture Day...

I mentioned having pictures taken in yesterday's post...here are some of my pics of the day. We traveled to Childress for the pics, and along the way I noticed a store with some great Cinderella Pumpkins (which I had just learned about...who new there was such a thing...I didn't end up getting one, nor did we get a pic...oh well!). Anyway, when I got out of the car to check out the pumpkins, Jason noticed some chickens and roosters coming near me...so of course I had to get Ellie out of the car to see these creatures...and of course I had to get Jason to take some pics...

So here's Ellie's first time to see a rooster. She was truly intrigued! I especially like Jason's photography...thank you honey!

It was a long day, and this is how our little precious fell asleep on the way home...

(this is her favorite toy that she always plays with in the car. It's supposed to just hang from the baby mirror and jingle for the baby to look at and listen to. But Ellie prefers to chew on the clip...always the clip!) I love that Jason suggested that I ride in the back with her this time (no we weren't fighting!) He just thought that it would be fun for her and for me. I haven't riden in the back since she turned 4 months old (Yes! I rode back there for the first 4 months of her life!). I'm so glad I did on this particular trip since I captured this pic! It makes me wonder how many funny expressions, smiles, moments I miss when I ride up front...I guess that's life...we're gonna miss some of it.

Before we left on the trip, I placed Ellie on our brick flowerbed wall for some pics infront of the flowers (since her sweater matched perfectly! Thanks Carol Anne!)...Although the light wasn't great...it was better when we arrived home...so of course...we paused for another photo shoot! Although she did manage to pick one of the pretty flowers that daddy planted (notice the empty stem still in hand)...doesn't it look precious behind her ear!...sorry daddy!

Milky Makes it ALL Better!

How histerical is this picture!...hope you aren't completely grossed out when you read the rest of this story...

When Ellie had an infection in her thumb nail bed as a newborn, I was told to put breast milk on it because of all the antibodies the milk contains. It actually worked! Since then, if Ellie gets a boo boo I put some milk on it. Well, on this particular day, she woke up with scratches all over her face (since I hadn't trimmed her nails in a while...it's not one of my nor Ellie's favorite tasks). We were scheduled to have pics taken the next day, so I really didn't want her to have scratches on her pretty little face. Milky to the Rescue! Normally we don't go to such extremes, but I wanted the milk to have a little more time to do the trick. So, while she was sleeping, I placed these butterfly strips over the boo boos. Jason was socked when we went to pick him up for lunch and he saw her in the car seat like this! Pretty funny! For the record...no scratches for the photo shoot!

(P.S. Thank you Aunt Kari for the sweet onsie...we wear it all the time!...recently found festive penguin socks to match...so fun!)

Standing Alone

"Look Mama, No Hands!

(Mama's leg!...always there for ya baby girl!)

Push...

Maybe this will explain what I meant about Ellie cracking up at the word Push...

Peek-A-Boo

So I was putting away laundry in my bedroom and had Ellie in the room with me...(background: often times I or Jason will say something to Ellie and she'll just crack up. Most often the words peek-a-boo, push, or hiccup will do the trick) So I startd saying peek-a-boo and not only did she smile and giggle, but she played along! I couldn't believe it, so I stopped and started again...same thing! Seriously!?!?...can a five & 1/2 month old really play peek-a-boo on her own!?! I thought I knew/understood that babies grow so fast in their first few years, but I didn't really get it! This is happening soooo fast!

I love her!...I love everything she does!...I love that God picked us just for her...how humbling...what a blessing!...Isn't she precious!!!

Shots...

This was the first time Ellie has gotten TWO shots on the same day...since we delayed her vaccines a few months. Prior to this she has only had two shots total...one in the hospital and one last month. She barely even fussed last month so I was very curious about how this time would go. Wouldn't you know it, she cried as soon as she saw the nurse this time! She cried after each shot, but quickly recovered!...what a trooper! I wish they would have two nurses in the room so that she could get them both at the same time...just to get it over with! I think my aunt said that's how they did it at her kids pedi.

Anyway, here she is before...(isn't this a precious pic that Jason captured!)

and after...

I seriously pray for her about these vaccines...you here so much these days about so many risks...Praise the Lord that Ellie has done so well so far!...I am truly thankful! She had a small red spot at the injection sight on one leg, but that was the only reaction and no symptoms of any other problems...not even fever...I didn't even have to give her Tylenol that day! God is so good! Some make wonder why I make such a big deal of this, but it is a big deal to me when we are talking about putting chemicals into my child's body! I'm thankful that vaccines are available to protect her from diseases, I just want to also do my best to protect her from the risks of the vaccines!

First Foods...

We were going to wait until Ellie was six months to give her solid foods, but I was growing anxious since I realized how much fun it could be and she is almost six months anyway! Even though she shows no interest while we are at the table, she is showing some signs of fod readiness so we thought we might offer her something.

I started with mashed Bananas...She wasn't so sure about what I was going to give her...
The first "feeding" was all of two tiny spoonfuls...
The second feeding went a little better...about 2-3 resonably sized spoonfuls...(the third feeding went a lot better, just a few bites, no pics though)...
Still, Ellie would prefer to sit in her high chair chewing on her straps or toys!

Chewie...

Can you tell that this is Ellie's absolute favorite teething ring?! She's also laying on her new favorite blanket...this was a baby gift that has her name embroidered on it (which I love!), but Ellie is most fond of the edges...perfect for tasting! I beginning to wonder if my child will ever like food! :)...she seems to prefer the taste of fabrics!

Tights...

I've fallen pretty hard for baby tights these days!...I'm so glad that we still get to show of these yummy shubby legs even though it's getting cold outside!

Grandma and Grandpa...

Grandma and Grandpa came for an impromptu visit last Sunday. We had a lot of fun playing with them...and were very excited that Ellie only cried once when Grandpa held her this time! (it was right after her nap so that doesn't really even count...she was still sleepy!)

High Five Grandpa!!!

Grandma (just outside the pic) sure is silly!

Bath Time...

Ellie always manages to find this toy during her bath...she loves it!

Playing in her Crib...

One day I set Ellie in her crib so I could do something and this is what I saw when I came back to get her! She hadn't moved and was just sitting there smiling at me!...I love it!

On a different day, I laid her down for a nap...although I did place her bear under her arm, I thought this was too cute not to capture. A family from our church brought us a precious box of goodies when we were in the hospital after Elina was born...this bear was part of that gift. The family had gone shopping together to pick things out for our new baby and the little boy said that every baby needs a Teddy Bear! Thank you Brysan...Ellie loves her Teddy! (she especially loves the tag on his bo bo!)