Elaina's TWO!!!

Isn't it great that if my house ever burns down and I lose my journal that I am writing for Elaina I know parts of it are hanging out in cyberspace as well as pictures. There is something to be said about that.

Dearest Elaina,                                                                                                                                                  7/25/12

                Two ears, two eyes, two hand, 2 feet and 2 years.  Whew…..thankfully and gratefully you made it to two years old still intact! J  Even though there were plenty of spills and splats along the way that could have prevented that!  This year has gone by so fast.  I’ve tried desperately to hold onto our special moments.  The smell of your little body snuggled up next to mine (I never thought you would learn to like to cuddle but you do!) the way you like to hold my hand when you are going to sleep, the way your slip you hand into mine when we are walking to and fro and even how you clamber up on the chair in my bathroom because you want me to brush your hair.  These moments are ever changing but I I drink them in like warm sunshine because I know they can be gone in a flash. 

                I cannot believe my wobbly little infant is a full blown walking, talking, climbing bundle of energy.  I’m so so grateful you continue to be a fantastic sleeper because I need my shut-eye to keep up with you during the waking hours!  I love how you continue to be a morning person even though your mommy isn’t and you never hold it against me.   I love how you ask for “daddee” with a puzzled look on your face  even though he has already left for work and I think it’s so sweet how excited you are to greet Chaco and Hobbes when we go down for breakfast.  Not sure who gave you that “morning” gene cause it wasn’t from us!

                You still LOVE to study everything and everyone but are much more approachably these days.  You do act a little shy around strangers but with a little bit of persuasion (and I’m not saying what...”balloons”) almost anyone can win a smile.  I think that smile is well worth a bribe because your whole face lights up when you grin that dimpled smile. 

                You amaze me every day at all the new things you can do and say.  I now understand why it is impossible to record every cool thing your kid does cause it’s just impossible to write down 100 things a day.  You physically are growing like a weed.  Your vocabulary is taking off even though half the time we simply just can’t understand what you are trying to tell us….poor girl!  Daddy and Mommy are taking bets on whether you are gonna be a leftie, like daddy, or a rightie like me.  You have perfected the art of a meltdown.  It starts with a WAIL that you swear there must be blood involved and ends with you becoming a dead weight and dropping to the floor.  We are trying to learn to ignore miss drama queen when she rears her obnoxious head!  People don’t realize what a chatterbox you are until you warm up to them.  Pretty much the only time you are quiet these days is when you are up to no good.  Like pulling every piece of clothing from your draws and closet into the middle of the floor or deciding the TP needs to take a bath in the toilet and then back in the basket like nothing happened.  You definitely do need your quiet time.  I watch with fascination as you play happily with your cousins but soon you are off by yourself.  You do this at home sometimes too.  You are happy to remind me to “shhhh, be quiet”  by turning your head away from me and sticking your fingers in your ears.  I quickly became aware that at this point you are just over stimulated and just need to turn everything off. 

                You recently fell in love with a short white dude.  At first I thought it was his dark haired companion but quickly realized that isn’t who brought a smile to your eyes.  Donald is his name and even though he doesn’t have his own show and he has to share the limelight with his pal Mickey you are okay with this.  Somehow you also believe that “Minnie” (what it sounds like you are say but it’s really Mickey) should be available 24/7 on anything that resembles a TV.  What an age we live in because it really is almost available like that. 

                When you aren’t trying to convince me to turn on “Minnie” you are putting on your shoes (yes, by yourself, even though they end up on the wrong foot), getting my keys and coming to tell me you are ready to “go”.  I have NO idea where you want me to take you but normally you just want to be outside.  You don’t mind spending hours in the sweltering heat and get so mad at me when I tell you we need to go in.  You love playing with Chaco and riding horses.  I had hoped you’d enjoy riding but I had no idea your love for it would be so visible at a young age.  You continue to be inquisitive and try playing with toys in a new way.  I love watching you already play “make believe” with your favorite lovies.  I  wish I knew what goes on in that head of yours.

                You continue to stretch me in ways I never knew.  You certainly have added a few new gray hairs to my head with your stubbornness and your “DO IT MYSELF” attitude….even when you can’t.  (Your daddy will say he knows where that came from).  I finally figured out what to do with a one year old and now everything is changing again.  We have new challenges on the road ahead of us.  Potty training is just around the corner and I am running from it with all my strength.  You started taking it into your own hands by taking off your PJ’s and diaper for me each morning before I knew you were awake.  It is obvious that you want a clean diaper as SOON as you go and have no patience to wait.  I thought we had foiled you for the moment  but you figured out how to get off the tape we’d wrap around you so we started putting the diaper on backwards but this morning you had it half off.  I’m really not sure if I am ready for this challenge but here we go!  We also are learning a new dance.  How much will mommy let me get away with?  You can be very sneaky when you are doing something you aren’t supposed to and it get’s challenging to catch you in the act.  It amazes me to watch you in a mirror watching me and waiting.  Waiting till I turn and catch your eye and then you do something bad.   You are a thinker and a processor and it has been a challenge for me to figure out how to get through to you some days.   Some days I wonder…”doesn’t she know I will never give up correcting her?”  And I sometimes wonder if you are thinking “doesn’t she know I will never give up trying her?”  That’s okay peanut.  I guess that is what being a parent is all about but some days I wish I could just call up  my mom and say , “I’m sorry”  LOL.

                I’ve learned so much this year.  I’ve learned consistency doesn’t always lead to obedience.  That being a good mom doesn’t equal a well behaved child (I least I pray it doesn’t).  That the moment I treat you like a trained monkey and try to get you to “perform” you will laugh behind my back, stick gum in my hair while still looking cute and innocent.  You’ve taught me…no scratch that….you are teaching me the depths of patience, the strength of true love, and the consistency of prayer.  You taught me to see the simply things of life are often the most beautiful.  That everyday tasks can be joyful and that nothing is better than a good ‘ole chase followed by a tickle fest filled with laughter.

                My prayer for you is that you continue to grow strong and beautiful.  That you come to understand we actually like to say “yes” better then “no”.   That your stubborn streak can be used for good and to glorify Christ.  That you come to understand that we discipline and challenge in love even though it may not seem like it.   That we remember to always ask for forgiveness when we have wronged you and that the Lord covers and protects you when we do not BUT… most of all… that the Lord draws you to Him and you come to understand His love for you. 

                Peanut, I love you more then you will ever know.   You are my sunshine on a cloudy day and my rainbow in the sky.  I will sing the Itsy, Bitsy Spider or the ABC’s everyday of the week to get you to smile.  That I will never truly try to scare you ---only enough to make you laugh and run away shrieking with joy.  That I will kiss every booboo 1000 times if it will make the pain go away.  That I will drive to the moon and back to get your beloved “D.D” or “Gray” so that you will have a peaceful night’s sleep.  I pray I am letting you walk a little bit farther off to let you be alone to explore, to grow, but it’s so very hard my little one.  I want so badly to keep you small and tuck you in my pocket and keep you warm and safe but I know this cannot be and soon you will turn THREE. (didn’t mean to rhyme there)  Let’s not think about that right now.  You have bikes to learn how to ride, fire flies to catch, words to learn and tantrums to throw…lol.  I love you peanut.  You still catch my breath every morning when the sun hits your face.  I don’t know what I did to be so very blessed.

                                                                                                      Hugs and Kisses and Eskimo Kisses,

                                                                                                                                                Mommy            

  

WHAT? I'm in THAT category?

So yesterday I received a survey in the mail.  You know the kind, where they ask you every question from what toothpaste you use to how many times you eat out in a week.  They say it only takes a few minutes but you know it will probably take about 15min or more and in the end you'll probably get tons of junk mail!  Yeah, one of those!  Well, my momma always filled them out and actually got money from filling them out.  Yes, I said money!!! This one didn't promise any money except entering you into a sweepstakes.  Yeah, like that will actually happen, HAH!  Since I've been married I have filled them out.  Not sure if I'm "doing my part" but I worked for the census one year and I KNOW how hard it is to get surveys filled out so I kinda feel guilty if I don't fill them out.  I digress.  I started filling out the form, don't smoke, don't drink, yes use toothpaste at least 1x a week and my choice for cereal was "do I buy 1 or more times a week" or "less then 1x in 6 months" WHAT???? Who comes up with these things? Or how about clean your bathroom more then 1x a week or 1x in 3 months.   It MUST be a man writing this!    Like I said before ...it took me about 30min to fill it out between dealing with the dog and cat fighting and Elaina getting into stuff she shouldn't have been into.  At the end of the form was a box to fill out information about yourself.  Female: Check, Married: Check, Children: Check, Pets: Check, Home Owner: Check, Work: Homemaker is at the bottom of 20 choices before OTHER, Car Owner: Check.  Then it asked what AGE category I was in.  I've never paid much attention on other forms and just checked what box that held my age.  I checked the box and realized it was the 2nd to last box.  Right before 50+.  The age categories were 0-18 (I wanted very badly at this time to have NOT filled the form out but let my 18 month old use the survey as a coloring book.  As if anyone in this age category could or WOULD fill out this survey)  The next group of age was 20-24.  I'm not joking.  Apparently age 19 doesn't exist or they feel that a 1yr old or 16 yr old would have much more insight into what kind of car oil we use or should use.  Regardless, I found this rather a bit peculiar.....to say nothing of the poor 19yr old who just filled out the survey and then discovered they were considered non-existent.  Thankfully, no one else was left out.  I can sleep better at night after I saw that.  After the 20-24 we had  25-30, and then 30-35.  Then we got to my category 35-50.  The biggest spread except for the 51+.  I'm one box away from the final box....WHAT??  Granted these are all just numbers but to think that they clump my choice of cereal in with a 50 year old choice was slightly eye opening.  I am 100% in my middle age.....at least, according to this survey.  Except I realized something when I checked that little box.  I realized I'm okay with it.  I really am.  I don't feel like I missed out on something.  I had an amazing 20's with tons of travel, college graduation, finding my best friend and building a house.  My early 30's had heartache with the lose of my mom, the sweetness of welcoming my brother's son, and the unexplainable joy of giving birth to my amazing daughter.  If the rest of my life is a little bit more quiet....that is okay with me. So, here is to hoping I'm in that same state of acceptance and peace when I hit 40.  Okay...who are we kidding?  I'll probably be locked in the bathroom for a week when I turn 40, but here is to hoping and praying!

So this middle aged mom finally got to take Elaina sledding for the first time.  We've had a SUPER mild winter but we finally had about 4" one day and was able to take her out and try out her new sled.  Thanks Uncle Bruce, Aunt Greta and Cousin Caleb.  She LOVED it! 



Elaina has been growing in leaps and bounds.  She surprises me everyday of what new thing she does.

Recently I am seeing a mischievous side.  It can be cute but somewhat annoying.  It's hard to decipher between letting her personality shine through or correcting something that may be, down the road, a heart issue.  She has recently started to give amazing hugs and JUST the other day started giving kisses (well, her idea of a kiss lolWell, I've been at this a little to long and Elaina needs to eat.  So I'll end this a little abruptly.  Hey...I just realized it's been less then a month since I last posted! YEAH!!!   Here is one last picture I took today.  They always want to grow up so fast and we want them to stay small.     

I'm horrible at blogging.

I've come to realize how very bad I am at blogging.  I thought I'd do this biweekly or at least once a month.  I can't even do that.  Life is going at a blazing speed and I'm just hanging on for dear life.  Today I'm putting on the breaks and trying to write down a few things so that I can look back one day and say...."yeah, I remember that."  It's been about 3 months since I last wrote.  Elaina is 17 months and growing like a weed.  I can honestly say I want things to slow down.  There are days she seems like such a mini grown-up that it makes me cry.  Even though my heart yearns for those quieter moments there is nothing quite like a momma's pride when her little bunny takes a giant leap forward in life.  Elaina  never wanted to snuggle as a baby but a few months ago she started to seek out snuggles from mom and dad....even if it was in the middle of the night.  It was hard for us to try and let our champion sleeper "cry it out" instead of rocking her to sleep.  It wasn't just me that caved on any given night!!!  We realized quickly that we couldn't let the "snuggles" happen at 3am no matter HOW much we delighted in them. Ben said how hard it has become to walk away when she is leaning over the side of the crib when you answer her yells and she immediately stops crying and coos and say's "da dee".  If kids only knew how "on the verge" we are of letting them get away with just about anything at 3am in the morning they'd never give up! LOL.   These days I find myself trying to get housework and errands done in between keeping up with a bouncing toddler.  To say I am tired at the end of the day is to put it loosely.  I really am looking forward to the days where she can understand that mommy needs a break and understands it doesn't mean the world is ending because of that.  Elaina is a fairly quiet child but the vocabulary is starting even if most things still sounds like "da".  She says momma and daddy, "da" for down and "da" for up, cha KA (for chaco), "ket" for hobbes (kitty), "eese" for cheese, and "eese" for please, hi is very clear, and "ah" for bye.  She can moo and quack but never when you ask for her to do it.  Recently she has started to show her bashfulness around groups of people.  Hiding her head and ducking into our shoulders.  I'm not sure which is better....this or staring at them like she use to do. 

Ben's schedule has been pretty heavy at work and he gets very little time with her during the week.  We try to keep a fri or sat free to spend it as a family but it seems there is always something that sneaks in.  Thankfully the holidays are passed and things should breath a little bit easier around here. 

Over Christmas the whole family was in town and Elaina and her cousin Caleb has a LOT of fun playing together.  For some reason, when Elaina is with Caleb, she grows in leaps and bounds and trying things she never has done before.  She is with other kids, including her other cousins but I think it's the 24/7 of being around him for several days straight that helps with it. 

Christmas is always hard for me because Mom and I did SO much together from thanksgiving to Christmas.  We loved to decorate and get our Christmas trees and shop for presents.  It's such an enormous hole that is there for me.  For some reason, I felt it more this year then any of the years past.  I know that this is part of God's plan...there is no doubt.....and I cling to that during the dark moments. Speaking of mom, the most amazing gift was giving to me this Christmas.  I hope to remember to post a pic at the bottom of this blog.  The background to this is that my mom LOVED to cross stitch.  Even after she lost the use of her arm so learned how to do it with her right hand.  I remember someone giving me a beautiful cross stitch framed for my bridal shower and on the back it said "This is in honor of your mom who would do this if she could."  What they didn't know is....she was working on one and did give Ben and I a cross stitched marriage "announcement".  It probably took her double the time the one she did for Bruce and Greta but that didn't hold her back.  After mom passed we found completed cross stitched pictures and sayings that she had been working on.  Things for friends and family for "down the rd".  I didn't see all of them but I know that Dad has been working on framing some of them and presenting them to people he knew Mom had in mind when she worked on them.  Apparently, even though at the time, neither Greta nor I were pregnant mom had completed a cross stitch.  It was done in pink which was the luck of the draw because it could of just as easily been blue and then Bruce and Greta would have received it.  Most of you are familiar with the saying.

Sometimes you get discouraged,
because I am so small
And leave my little fingerprints
On furniture and walls.
But everyday I'm growing
And soon will be so tall
That all these little fingerprints
Will be difficult to recall.
So here's a little handprint
That you can put away
So you will know how my fingers looked
That you can put away
So you will know how my fingers looked
On this special day.

Mom had cross stitched this in pink.  Dad and Dana matted it and got Elaina to put a pink hand print at the bottom of the mat.  The gift was from "Elaina".  To have something my mother did.....without her ever having knowledge of elaina.......with Elaina's handprint was the most precious gift.   Mom didn't have a clue, I'm sure, when she did the cross stitch but God did and it shows how much He cares about me.  Dad still needs to finish the back of the frame but I can't wait to put it up.  What a story I will be able to tell elaina as she grows up.  That it was a gift from her and her grandma....and that I know, that if she accepts the gift of salvation, she'll get to meet that grandma one day.  
It brought me closer to understanding that God doesn't forget and that He has a plan for everything.....even something as simple as a mother working on cross stitch for "someone" with a little girl down the rd.  If mom only had known.......

Our "Christmas" .  She did really well opening gifts

She now loves to ROCK

Family pic on Christmas day

Caleb and Elaina enjoying Elaina's sled that Uncle Bruce, Aunt Greta, and
 Caleb had gotten her.  Now all we need is some snow!

Elaina enjoyed pickles for the first time and her Christmas gift to mommy
and daddy was that she ate, for the first time, using a spoon and did amazing!
Before that she would just play with it and never try to use it for food.

It's raining again.......

It's raining.....again.  I feel like this month has been nothing but rain.  There has been so much flooding around us but we seem to be in a "safe zone" for some reason.  A lot of  natural incidents  have been happening to us as well.  We felt our first ever earthquake on Aug. 23rd and a few weeks before that I watched a funnel start to form across the field from our house.  Thankfully it didn't touch down but I discovered that our county has an emergency call system set up.  Within seconds of seeing that funnel start to form my phone rang and I was told from a recording that there was "rotation" occuring and a tornado "may or may not be on the ground" and that we should take cover immediately.  The dog, the cat, Elaina and I spent the next 30 min in our basement until Ben got home from work.  I was a bit freaked out about that one I might add.  Then about 2 weeks ago Elaina and I  had just gotten home from church one evening and ended up being in the midst of the worse lightening storm I have ever encountered.   While trying to get into the house I actually felt my hair stand on end and then heard the ear splitting crack and saw nothing but white....hot, glaring white.  I felt a slight shock run up through my body and Elaina, who I was holding at the moment, started screaming.  I'm not sure if she felt what I felt or she was just reacting to the noise and me freaking out.  To say I was a little scared at that moment was to speak lightly on how I was feeling.  I have always loved storms but there was nothing warm and fuzzy to me about this particular one.  I felt like I was standing inside one of those plasma balls that we all have liked to play with.  When I finally got inside the house I could not calm my racing heart.  Poor Ben had to talk my down on the phone because I was almost in full panic mode. 

It is very unusal for me to panic physically over something.  I tend to become very methodical when things start to escalate.  That is until I became a parent.  I have put the "pedal to the metal" and ignored many a stop sign after Elaina's fever was pushing 105 degrees.   Fear practically paralyzed me during the time spent in the basement.  My mind flashing over the stories that came out of Joplin, MI.  The story of that little toddler riped from his mother's arms.  It's the kind of fear I've never felt.  I was almost frozen when I was trying to open the door when the lightening struck near us.   Becoming a parent has brought about a true realization of how little control we really do have.  "Our children are in the Lord's hands" is very easy to say and feel when everything is hunky-dory but they really are and it can be a hard pill to swallow sometimes.  So needless to say.......I have discovered ANOTHER area in which  I need to trust the Lord completely with!  LOL

Onto a lighter note.  Elaina is now 14 months old as of Sunday.  She can now be classified a tried and true toddler since she is finally up on her feet on a daily basis.  It took her  awhile to start to try to walk from one thing to another but now all she wants to do is walk.  She is, in no way, a pro at it yet  and spends most of the day falling on her bum or her head.  Talk about something ELSE to be fearful of!  After spending weeks trying to sit on everything from the dog to the cat to pillows to even the vacuum cleaner we finally got her a small inflatable chair.   She loves it.....even if half the time she is trying to drag it everywhere with her instead of sit on it.

She also is trying to talk  more but a lot of the words she says sound exactly the same  "dada".   Ben is dada, the dog is dada, Aunt Dana is dada.  So sometimes it is hard to know if she is just babbeling or actually trying to say something.  She is starting to say "doggie" a little bit better or sometimes she actually says something that sounds like "chaco" so I normally know when she is talking abou the dog.  We discovered recently that Chaco and Hobbes aren't the only animals she loves.  We were able to take her to the York Fair last week and she was loving on all the animals she saw.  From bunnies, to chickens, to  pigs.                                                                                                                                       

  

At the fair, she also had her first sip of soda (a sprite), her first carnival ride (the carousel), and for the first time EVER....much to mommy and daddy's surprise.......she fell asleep in her stroller! :)

 

So that is all that has been happening in this neck of the woods.  As we head into the fall I look forward to spending cozy nights by the fireplace.  Just my hunny, my little bunny, and me! :)

A year already???

Dearest Elaina,

I remember the moment I realized you were coming. I was getting ready for bed and went to use the bathroom. In those few moments I'm sure my heart skipped a beat....maybe a few actually. Was I ready for this? I thought I would go late....everyone said so.....and here we were 11 days early. As I do in most instances of extreme situations I turned off the flood of emotions of fear and excitement  and simply stated to your dad we needed to call the Dr. I put out of my mind that I wasn't yet packed for the hospital and your nursery wasn't totally done and how am I gonna do this??? You didn't arrive quite like I expected. I had spent hours researching, reading, birthing classes, and even going to a chiropractor to prepare myself physically and emotionally for a natural birth. The Lord had other plans and your mommy and daddy had NO idea what a miracle you really were until Dr. Oh told us while I was still laying on the operating table that I had a double uterus and all those exercises to try to flip you head down were for naught. That this...this was probably the reasons for so many of my problems before and throughout my pregnancy. I didn't care.....none of it matter........you were here and healthy. You came out screaming and peeing on the Dr. I couldn't wait to hold you and I remember being afraid I would drop you because I still felt medicated. I kissed that tiny, perfect face and those long fingers and toes. You were pretty quiet and have continued to be so. Those first few weeks I didn't have a single clue what I was doing. (I still don't) I did what I thought all babies liked. I tried rocking you to sleep, holding you tight and swaddling you. We quickly learned you weren't exactly a textbook baby (not sure who is) and I learned you needed alone time to fall asleep. How quickly things changed when I started to learn your cues and follow them. I went from feeling frazzled and frustrated to feeling happy and peaceful. You gave me the best birthday present in early September when you started to smile at us and that smile lifts my heart every day. I remember thinking when your first teeth were coming in how sad I was going to be to see your toothless grin disappear but you haven't lost your charm. In fact, you are even more endearing with those grins these days. When you are trying to touch something you shouldn't and I catch you at it. Your little mischievous look makes me almost not be able to correct you.

You love to study everything and everyone. It is rare that a stranger gets a smile from you. People always say you are grumpy. They don't realize that you are just checking them out. "Should I trust you or not?” you are asking. You study everything you can get your hands on. I'm always so curious what is going on in that brain of yours. Being so inquisitive makes you a bit slower to achieve something but when you understand it you truly "get it".

I've watched you go from a wobbly, dependent little bundle to an adventurous explorer crawling, standing, and now trying to take some wobbly steps.

You've taught me SO much over this past year. You've taught me that cheerios are a main food group, that a spotted towel is fascinating, that tupperware makes a good chew toy, that a plastic water bottle can keep you quiet in a car for hours, and that time isn't relevant. You've taught me a kind of love I never knew existed, patience I never knew I had and terrible fear. Reaching you a second to late after a bad fall, hovering over your crib making sure you were breathing through your coughs, driving way over the speed limit, praying so hard for you and that there would be no police to get you to the doctor because you were so lifeless and you temperature was so high. Every day brings me to my knees in gratefulness and thankfulness for his grace and mercy in your life.

And so, my dearest darling, on the anniversary of the day my life turned topsy turvy when they placed that tiny bundle in my arms. My prayer for you is that you continue to grow strong and healthy. That you always feel loved and cherished by your family. That you keep your wonder and finding joy in small things like sunshine dancing across the wall or Chaco chasing her toy. Most of all that the Lord draws you to Him and protects you for He is the author and finisher. I am your biggest fan and will always be here to catch you when you stumble, to play peek-a-boo for the 100th time, to change another stinky diaper, to soothe you when you wake, crying, at 4am because your teeth are hurting. I will always hold you and smoother you with kisses even when you don't want them. I will try to let you go, to explore, to discover. I will be there to wipe away the tears and kiss the hurts. To draw out a smile and do anything to get a giggle. I love you peanut. I wish you could know how much your dad and I love you. Here is to the next amazing year of your life!

Love, love, love and lots of kisses

Mommy

A one year old??? Not yet!

Summer Time

So I must admit I'm pretty bad at posting to this blog.  I thought I'd be much better, but alas, am not.  The months are flying by and nothing I can do seems to stop them! :)  Elaina will be a year old in 2 weeks.  I can't believe it!  Where has my little baby gone?  This morning I was changing her and thinking about the fact that she is "helping me" get her dressed.  She gets a little frustrated because she tries to put her hands through the clothing but normally she gets it trapped in the folds of the cloth.  I have to pull her hand down and realign it.  She doesn't like this and yells at me about it.  The days of her loving to lay and laugh and giggle on the changing table are over.  She wants up as quickly as possible so she can  go,go,go!!!  I have to admit......she keeps me pretty exhausted these days.  I tip my hat to those with more then one kid.  It's the most rewarding time of my life but also the most tiring. :) 
We were blessed to take 2 beach trips this year.  The first was to Bethany Beach, DE (right outside of Ocean City, Md).  Ben and I had wanted to get away just the 3 of us but haven't been able to afford it.  Some friends have a beach house and offered it to our family the first week of June.  We jumped at the chance.  Dana and Dad came down for a few days but the three of us were able to enjoy a few days alone as our little family unit.  It was Elaina's first time at the ocean.  She didn't seem to impressed with it but as the days progressed we saw she really liked the water and would make her happy noises as we helped her walk towards it. 

first moments on the sand

LOVED to walk to the water

She learned to pull herself up that week

   We came home for a week and then left again for our planned family vacation in OBX.   The week was wonderful and Elaina LOVED playing with her cousin Caleb.  She gained a lot of confidence in her crawling and pulling up that week.  That week we celebrated Ben's first father's day.  Our 7th wedding anniversary and Elaina's 11 month b-day.  It was such a wonderful time!

 

 

So that's what we've been up to!!   Elaina is growing like a weed.  At 11 months she is 22lbs, 30 1/4" long, 19" head.  I can't believe a year ago this week I was working on getting her nursery done.  I truly understand why people say "enjoy it because it's fleeting".  I have tried to enjoy every moment with our little girl.  I've enjoyed watching her grow from an infant that depended on us for everything into this little bundle of energy that is SO positive she can do everything on her own.  I praise God for his blessings he bestows on us daily even though we are in no way deserving of them.  Happy SUMMER!!!

Spring is in the air!



Sleeping in our bed after getting sick in hers

Recently Ben was called to Gastonia, NC for a work trip.  Since I'm not working right now it was a perfect chance for Elaina and me to go with him.  The trip was not exactly what we had hoped for.  On the first full day down there Ben wacked his head on  a metal box and we spent a few hours in urgent care getting him stitched up.  Day 2 went by without incident and we even got to take Elaina swimming for the first time in the hotel pool but by 3am on day 3 Elaina woke us when she started throwing up in her packnplay.  She spent the next 7 hrs or so throwing up every 30min or so.  Without going into the gross details it was NOT an easy thing to deal with in a hotel room.  Ben ended up going into work the next day around lunch time.  Elaina seemed to be doing better but wasn't much interested in food.  We were supposed to head out that evening to go spend the weekend with Kari and Jay but we stayed the extra night to see how Elaina would be in the morning.  Friday, Day 4, we headed a couple hrs NE to start our visit.  We got there a little after 12pm and while Ben and Elaina took a nap Kari and I had some sister bonding time.  We had decided to take Kari out for her birthday that night once Jay got home from work.  We headed into Raleigh and ate at Firebirds

Whats for dinner?

By the time we made it home that evening I had gotten the stomach bug.  I was violently ill through most of the night and my sweet husband took care of me.  To add injure to insult, Elaina also throw up one time that night and after messing her packnplay ended up back in bed with us.  Ben never got as sick as we did but he was exhausted on Sat and slept a large chunk of it.  I missed seeing Mr. and Mrs. Leonard who had popped in to meet Elaina.  Everyone said she was a perfect angel for them!

We finally headed back out on Sunday.  I was still feeling kinda yucky but we needed to get back on the road.  I heard from Kari on Monday that Jay had come down with what we had on Sunday night.  All I can say is...."I'm SO VERY sorry!"  :(

Needless to say Elaina was very happy to be back in her crib and so were mommy and daddy! :)  Elaina still wasn't eating right and on Tuesday vomited again and also on Wednesday.  I finally took her to the Dr's on Wed. and she just felt it was taking Elaina awhile for her stomach to adjust.  I'm happy to report that was the last time she vomited.  (Mommy's happy too because the last time cost me dry cleaning our king comforter)  On top of all this, we discovered Elaina is getting her two top teeth.  They are slowly but surely coming in.  So between not eating for stomach issues and teething, being sick, and drooling like crazy we added another fun "parent moment" to our resume!  Without going into the gory details...Elaina ended up with an impacted bowel that we had to deal with.  A lovely story I will be SURE to pass on to any future suitors! :)  I also have been under the weather due to sinus issues and sore throats etc...  I'm hoping that we are all finally on the mend and that this new week will bring health to the Pugh household!



Elaina is now 8 1/2 months old.  She was 19lbs 6oz but lost some weight due to the sickness and on Wed was 18lbs 4oz.   She is just shy of 29" long and and 18" head.  She is not crawling yet and doesn't even really get on her hands and knees.  She is starting to move around more then she had been which leads to a lot of face plants etc...  I'm happy to put her down in one place and her still be there when I get back.

We had a break the other day from all the issues and I took a moment to snap a few pics.  Enjoy!