Six Months!!!

A woman in my ward has a photography business and was wanting to expand it to include children. She asked if she could do some photos of Ellie for her website. She took 300 pictures and 200ish were really cute. The video here is of my favorite shots.

It is amazing to think that it has been half a year. I was looking at Ellie's slide shows that we've done in the past and it's amazing the difference a few weeks make. She definitely isn't the helpless infant she was before. She holds herself up, she is sitting (though it's new), she's eating solids (baby food) and is still adorable. What lucky parents. We have our 6 month check up next Tuesday (her actual six month birthday).

As an update:

Michael was going to get a job and do school in the evenings. We thought it would be best and that way Ben (my brother) and Laura (his fiancée) could live in the condo we are in. It was all working out. Michael got a job offer, but we just didn't feel right about it. It didn't make sense. This was what we had planned and prayed for. We prayed again and we knew that we shouldn't take the job. We don't know how things will work out, but we know they will.

So, Michael is studying for his final this week. He'll start taking two classes at a time instead of one and therefore be done with school next May. We are excited for that.

I am going to get my hair cut. I've waited and waited hoping that it would be less tiresome to do as Ellie got older, but that just isn't the case. I'm not getting it cut too short, though.

We are happier now then we've ever been. We don't know how things will all work out, but we do know that all will be fine as long as we stick together and stay close to the gospel.

Ellie Update

We're finally done with the new video! It took forever because there was so much to show! We ended up making a two-ish minute movie but had to cut it to under a minute. Here is the short version.

Ellie has been absolutely wonderful. Cranky some from teething...but overall a delight to have. The video will show why.

Hope you enjoy it!

We had Ellie's blessing yesterday. It was so wonderful. We had it at Grannie and Pop's house after church. Lots of family there to support. Grannie made the dress and bonnet. Ellie was blessed with a lot of wonderful blessings. Some of which include a sweet disposition and character, an eternal outlook and being blessed with the peace of the Holy Ghost. It was really beautiful. Wet eyes all around.

Snow Shoeing and Making Forts

Michael went snow shoeing with his brother-in-law, Tim and had a blast. Sarah stayed home and built a afghan fort with her sister, Tona and also had a blast. Ellie slept most of the time (by the fort).

(For those of you who are curious about why the fort is named Fort MaGa: it's because my name is Mama and Tona's is GaGa (a 'great aunt' and a 'god-aunt'). Hence - Fort MaGa.)

A little clip we made of Ellie from birth to now. I hope you enjoy it.

Ellie changes everyday! She is getting older and more fun to be around. She is a very patient baby, but also a bit picky. She doesn't cry too often, and you can pretty much do what you want with her, but sometimes she really wants to be held a certain way, or to be changed or fed. She loves to smile but still figuring out what making noise is all about. Here are some pictures/video so you can see how much she has changed.

Some Portraits

We had way too much fun taking pictures of Ellie this afternoon:

One of the lesser-known techniques of Kung Fu: Ellie-mantis

Angst

Sweet Eyes

Too Cute for Words

*Sigh*

Queen Ellie the First

Peace!

Ewww!

Ellie-Yo, the DJ

Our Little Sweetie

Have you ever tried to clean a loaded gun?

(Did you notice Mom's blue topaz pendant from Dad?)





Check out this Harry Potter - type picture of Grandma and Grandpa:




Ellie's cord fell off last Sat. or Sun. and healed enough that we were able to give her an immersed bath for the first time yesterday (Sat). She seemed delighted to have the nice warm water around her. She has been growing nicely. She regained her birth weight by last Tuesday and has been eating vigorously and regularly.


I try to wake up and burp Ellie and change her while Sarah gets some more rest right after middle-of-the-night feedings. Diapering has been mostly uneventful except for a couple of blow-outs and a noteworthy experience a few nights ago... I was sitting on the edge of our bed, twisted to the left to help Ellie change what appeared to be a harmless, wet diaper. We noticed that she grunts and mumbles a lot, but especially as she's trying to pass some gas - or worse. However, she makes these little grunts often enough that it can be hard to differentiate them. So, it was like the "Fire Swamp" in Princess Bride. They hear a bit of a "Kkkk Kkkk Kuh" noise before the "Fooooosh" explosion of deadly fire. Well, I thought I heard a bit of grunting from Ellie, but didn't think much of it. And before I knew it, * FFFOOOSH FFOOOOOOOOSH * -- Two explosion-backed streams squirted a foot or so onto my left thigh. It was like someone had stomped on an open bottle of mustard aimed right at me. I just stared at it in shock for a while as the heat of it soaked through to my skin. Being half awake made it worse. Plus, I felt strangely betrayed that absolutely none of it got on the diaper or even the bed. Now, every time I change her I feel like I'm cleaning a loaded gun.