Me and my Girl

There really isn't a lot to say about his other than saying this is me with the cutest little baby in the whole world! Alright, so I may be a little biased but seriously, look how precious she is.

Lets Party!

After working at Intel for 7 years, employees are rewarded with 8 weeks off, PAID! Nate is taking what they call their sabbatical starting this week and we are SO excited. We have a few trips planned, but mostly we just plan to hang out and spend time together. Nate has lots of ideas of what he wants to get done around the house and on pest control stuff but hopefully we have lots of time to just do nothing. I decorated the house for when he came home from work last Friday. I'm pretty dorky! :)

Walking...nope, not yet

We have fun trying to get Elliana to walk but she is still not even close to walking. She is sure cute though as her skinny little legs try so hard to take steps.

Soccer Guy

Nate and I are in a co-ed soccer league that plays every Friday night. I hurt my knee in the last game so I was a cheerleader for this game. It has been a lot of fun and the weather has been perfect!

Yum...

Elliana doesn't like food as much as her mom, but she does love a few things. Here are pictures of her enjoying refried beans, (which she only ate that one day and won't eat again), ice cream cone without the ice cream, and then tofu ice cream. Poor girl with milk allergies. She really loves pears which she would eat every meal but when she does, it's a little too harsh on her system. It's hard having a picky eater!

The Pat Tillman Run...or walk

Every year in Tempe, Arizona there is a huge race to celebrate/raise money for a foundation honoring a former ASU football player who was killed in war, Pat Tillman. Our good friends, Steve and Cyndi have a little boy whose name is Tillman and for the second year in a row we got to run, or I mean walk the 4.2 mile race together. The kids were great and it was so nice to get out and enjoy the cool morning air. I dressed Elli in her pink ASU garb, which is a little too big and off we went. We had to get up at 5:30 so don't mind the bags under my eyes! :)

Fun at the zoo...

We went to the zoo this week while my grandma was visiting from California. It was a great time but holy cow it was hot! I guess I shouldn't complain yet because we haven't even hit the really hot stuff. I need to start preparing myself now because those lovely days are just around the corner. Elliana loved walking around and seeing all the animals. She couldn't really see a lot of them because she didn't know what she was looking for, but she for sure saw the monkeys and loved them, just like me. A zoo would not be fun without the monkeys. They are so cute and fun to watch.

Bow making 101...

Step 5: Okay, so hopefully that helps you Emily! This is the bow that has the tails going down. If you want to konw how to do the other kind, let me know. At this step, you just put the ribbon wire on and fluff it up. I can't wait to see this cute little baby soon! :)

Step 4

Step 3

Step 2

Here you go Emily...

Step 1

My two cute kids!

Look at these faces! This is what keeps me busy all day, but I love it. I'm not sure which one is more work. :)

The Garbage Queen!

I was making dinner tonight and had Elliana playing on the floor nearby and look what she discovered! She was so excited to be able to reach up and grab the overflowing garbage. Also, she has been smiling this cheesy smile showing all her gums and it cracks me up. She wrinkles up her nose, smiles and makes a cute little sound. You can kind of catch a glimpse of it. She is still not crawling but somehow she still manages to scoot a few feet in each direction.

The Battle Wound...

If any of you have had to take your baby to get blood work drawn, then you can totally understand the drama. I had to take Elliana last week to get blood work done to check her thyroid. Wow, was this ever a treat. They had me holding her so she couldn't move and the other two technicans held her arm and did the poking and proding around. Elli looked up at me with the most sad face and it broke my heart. She definitely has me wrapped around her finger. She did great considering what she had to go through and then it was embarrassing to walk through the waiting area because I swear every eye was on us. I guess people have never heard a baby cry?!?! The results came back and she has a milk allergy! So fun. She as to get repeat blood work in two weeks. Yeah! If anyone wants to take her for the experience, let me know. :)

The Doctor's Visit Update

I took Elliana to the doctor today for her 9 month check-up and here is what we discovered. She has had these red cheeks and a rash all over her body for the last couple days. I asked about it and she said, "She probably has 5th disease". What? I had never heard of such a thing. Well, supposedly this is a common childhood illness that just has to run it's course. It really isn't bad other than just having red cheeks and a rash. Nice! So seriously, check out those cheeks! The doctor is still concerned that she is so skinny. I try and try to beef the girl up but I have simply not succeeded. She is 16 pounds (7th percentile) and 29 inches (70th percentile). Her head is still clearly off the charts! Which speaking of, we had a helmet consult the other day and we are still trying to decide if we should put her in the helmet. They told us they couldn't really change much so who knows. I have to take her to get blood work done to make sure everything is good. I tell ya, this parenting stuff can sure be crazy!

Elliana Turned 9 Months Old Today!

A lot of my friends have done a great job on their blog of posting comments of things their kids can do at each age. I am going to copy them and give it a try but no promises on keeping the new tradition alive. :)

Elliana at 9 Months...

* She is trying ever so hard to crawl but really all she does is scoot around in circles

* She likes to make high pitched squeeking noises

* She laughs a lot and is SO easy to get to smile

* She FINALLY sleeps through the night! She sometimes wakes up and cries but then eventually puts herself back to sleep. I couldn't do the every 2 hours of getting up thing anymore, so that was that.

* She is eating solids, but not as good as the doctors would like. I am thinking she is just a stubborn little one and wants to eat only things she can put in her mouth all by herself. She doesn't really love the rice cereals or any jar baby food. We just give her lots of bread, noodles, crackers, and anything else we can think of that she can pick up herself.

* She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. It looks like we have a puppy living in our house when you look at all our belongings...all chewed up.

* She likes to be outside and especially loves her daily walks with dad. She notices a lot more around her, like birds and airplanes.

* She is starting to go through a little seperation anxiety so we think, but still loves to have anyone talk to her. She ALWAYS smiles when people at the store or whatever give her attention.

* She is VERY spoiled by us and has been a little fussy the last couple months. She knows that all she has to do is make a few fussy noises and we come to the rescue.

* I'm sure she does lots more, but that is all my mind can think of right now...

My mom is the best!

Look at this little stinker! She may look like she could cause no harm but she is an active little girl. I have a hard time getting anything done each day, but I love it. My mom has been such a huge help as I have been working more than I would like. I normally work one day a week which she always willingly watches Elliana, but lately I have been working twice a week and she just jumps right in to help. Yesterday while I was at work Elliana was sick all day. When I dropped her off in the morning she was completely normal. She threw up all day for my mom, which if any of you don't know, I have a huge phobia of throw-up so I felt terrible for my mom. I figured out that she is allergic to the formula because this is the second time we gave that formula and this is the second time she was really sick. Thanks mom for helping so much with this little stinker and sorry you had to deal with that yesterday. We love you!

Giggles

Elliana is our little giggler, which doesn't surprise me because I am the same way. Once we get laughing it's just so hard to stop. Nate and Elli were outside yesterday playing on the blanket with blocks and she thought it was so funny when she knocked the tower over. Sorry for my loud laugh in the background but I couldn't control myself.

What pretty little toes!

Aunt Heather watched Elliana for me today while I had to work and this is what I came home to. :) I have no idea how she got Elli to hold still long enough, but how adorable! Heather needs a girl SO bad. She is about as girly as they come. I must admit I have a lot of fun with all the bows and pink, but Heather really needs that. Thanks Heather for watching Elliana.