When life gives you Lemmons...

cousins

2012-01-26T14:19:00.003-07:00

These pics are from my sister's wedding reception. The cousins (Kilee, Creighton, & Ellie) played really well together. It was hard to get all 3 looking at the camera at the same time though!

Adelle 3 months

2012-01-26T13:34:00.004-07:00

-Addie weighed 14 pounds 13 ounces on our home scale

-She is finding her hands more often, loves looking at those flailing things and finds them very tasty
-She is a big drooler
-Her sleeping often seems to all over the place. The other night I was up with her 4 times during the night. This morning she woke up at 1:30, then 4:30 and again at 5:45. It was at that time that I ignored her, went to the other room and turned on the box fan to drown out her crying. I'm such a meanie. But the good news is, when I was still awake an hour later she wasn't crying anymore and slept until 8am! (I find that even though I can't hear her, knowing that she's crying still causes me anxiety, thus I was still awake, oh well. We'll get her trained better in the not so distant future)

-Addie LOVES to sit up. She'd sit right up from a laying position if she had the muscles and body control.

-Addie has the Lemmon bowels. She's a pooper!
-She eats about 4 ounces of formula every 2-3 hours during the day. She's often a grazer though like her sister was: 2 ounces here, 2 ounces there.
-Ellie has finally mastered Addie's name. It's pretty confusing when you have an aunt named Abby and a sister named Addie! Not to mention a "daddy!"
-The two girls seem to like eachother. Addie likes watching Ellie and Ellie likes giving her kisses occasionally. Sometimes Ellie does get annoyed when Addie's legs will be in her way of mom's lap though

-She has one dimple on the right cheek
-She is getting too long for her 3 month clothes, but I'm not getting out the next size until we move. Hang in there a little longer Addie.
We love this little girl!

Addie 2months (December 22, 2011)

2012-01-14T12:26:00.005-07:00

Those were a very quick 2 months
-Addie decided she didn't like the pacifier after all, much to my dismay. I still try though.
-Addie will sometimes sleep 4-6 hours the first part of the night and then 3 hours at a time the rest of the night. However, she's usually up for about an hour around 5:30am, which gives me just enough time to get her back to sleep right as Ellie is waking up! Oh the irony.

-She weighed 12 pounds 1 oz, measured 23 3/4 inches. Almost 2 feet and almost doubled in weight! She's very healthy and the PA was amazed at just how strong she is.
-She will often have her eyes crossed

-Addie can often be found smiling, which usually involves her tongue hanging out of her mouth.
-She met her Nana and Papa Lemmon during Christmas
-She started "talking" and we've realized we have another very loud child
-She takes great power naps. She will usually have 2 or 3 in the morning (about 20-30 min each) and then takes a longer nap (2-3 hours) in the afternoon.
-She likes motion. To put her to sleep the swing works great and so does rocking her in the carseat.
-She sleeps in her carseat at night because her nostrils have very small openings and she gets congested easily so we found that keeping her more upright while sleeping helped her sleep longer.

We sure love our little Addie! We love having her in our family

Nana and Papa visit!!

2012-01-01T18:37:00.003-07:00

Addie's blessing

2012-01-01T18:32:00.003-07:00

Since Nate's parents were only going to be in town for Christmas Sunday we were able to have Addie blessed on that day. It was a special way to help celebrate Christmas.

Christmas and such

2012-01-01T17:31:00.003-07:00

December 2011

2011-12-11T20:34:00.003-07:00

Three happy travelers, ready to get out of the blizzard in Show Low!

Ellie is a lot more tech saavvy than me!

Daddy's girl

Ellie reading the tree instructions!

Ellie called this her hat

"What's up homey?"

Ellie is 21 months old (I felt guilty not posting about her)

2011-11-26T15:36:00.004-07:00

-The tantrums are in full bloom!
-Ellie is obsessed with toothbrushes and paste. It's the first thing she screams for in the morning
-She has been waking up around 6-6:30am, much to my disapproval. I try to make her fuss it out in her crib until 7am, but usually she's so loud I can't sleep anymore anyways
-She is enjoying her new sister. She likes holding her and gives her soft kisses
-She is a big daddy's girl. Which means dad gets to be drug around the house more than mommy!
-She can open the pantry without any help and pull out all her snacks and the breakfast cereal, which has become a snack
-Her vocabulary is getting quite large, with "come on," "here," and everything is "heavy"
-Unfortunately, she loves watching shows on the tv. Once Addie is a little less demanding I will need to wean her from it
-She eats like a bird, or less than a bird and yet she still manages to have lots of energy
-Ellie is often found with her foot in her mouth, yes she's a toe nail biter!
We love our Ellie!

1 month old

2011-11-26T14:17:00.007-07:00

Adelle is one month old and we love her to pieces.
Granted, she isn't a magical sleeper like some other babies I know, but she's predictable, so we'll take it. Two nights in a row now she has let me sleep for 4 hours straight! It was lovely.

-She sleeps 3-4 hours at a time, in our closet (thanks Mandy for the tip!)
-She generally has no issues with her carseat, though that may be because we usually try to keep her swadled while she's in there. But whatever the reason, we enjoy less crying in the car
-She takes a pacifier!
-After spending over $1000 to try to nurse successfully this time, Addie is bottle fed. Although I was disappointed, the help from Nate at night is very welcome. At least now we know for sure, so next time around we don't have to wonder.

-Addie's 1 month checkup: 9.1 pounds (50th %), 22inches (85th %). I notice her face is filling out a little, but otherwise she's still super tiny and still wearing size Newborn diapers. The majority of her clothes are still too big for her
-She is a snorter, I need to use more saline up her nose
-She likes holding her head up and looking around. She often stares at Ellie

-I have noticed that even though I get minimal sleep and it's all in small chunks, I am functioning okay. The Lord has blessed me with not being a zombie. It also has helped that both girls have been napping around the noon hour, which gives me a few minutes to nap also.
-I bought a double stroller and have started walking around the neighborhood. I think the loop might be a mile long since it takes me 25 minutes to do it while pushing the limosine. It's not the scenic Cesar Chavez loop, but I'm too nervous to take both girls there alone because Ellie likes climbing up the large playground and it has those darn open drop offs.
-I really enjoy being a mom. It's often very noisy here (Ellie is really loud, whether it's while throwing a tantrum or just being loud), lots of diapers, lots of feeding, & cleaning up constant messes. But it sure beats working at the hospital. For now I am planning to go back to work (6x/month) beginning of February. I know it will still seem too soon.

peas and balls

2011-11-20T18:30:00.003-07:00

tonight for dinner Ellie ate peas, which she seemed to like. out of the blue she began calling them balls and since she knows balls are for playing with on the floor she threw it on the floor!

2011-11-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ellie is obsessed with toothbrushes

halloween

2011-11-15T19:46:00.003-07:00

My mom came over to stay with Addie while Nate and I took Ellie to our ward Halloween party. Her wings only lasted a few minutes before she wanted them off. She seemed to have fun and caught on very quickly to the trick or treating concept of hold out your bag and you get candy in it!

Addie's birth, reader's digest version

2011-11-04T18:37:00.003-07:00

I went to OB triage thursday nite and they sent me home with instructions to not come back until my contractions were regularly 5 min. apart or less. i kept contracting all day friday, though only about 2 times an hour, and during the day saturday. saturday was a busy day with nate going to the service project, where we met up with him near the end. we then took ellie to the hospital's birthday party because they had a bounce house which ellie loved at the pumpkin patch. well, she didn't even want to go inside it this time. however, she liked the petting zoo and got to ride a pony. it was very hot out saturday, like upper 90s. we got home around 2:30, nate and ellie both took naps, though ellie's was too short! when ellie got up i took her grocery shopping with me. while in the store i noticed my contractions were more painful. we got home, nate woke up and the two of them ate dinner. i wasn't feeling like eating. i was timing contractions. painful, but still not regular. i told nate to just go to work since they weren't regular and that i'd call him if i needed him. well, he left and i watched tv online during my contractions. however, they were getting more painful so it was basically me lying over my excercise ball moaning, as i timed them. still not regular. finally around 9pm i couldn't stand the pain any longer and asked my sister to come stay with ellie so i could go to the hospital. she lives about 40 minutes away. my mom called and by this time i was in so much pain i could barely think. she decided she'd call my sister in law to come over, since she was only 5 minutes away. and my mom told me to call 9-1-1. i had been talking to nate and he was in the process of getting someone to cover his shift so he could come get me. after talking with my mom though, and having frequent urges to sit on the toilet to have a bowel movement (ha ha, that's not what it was), the incredible amt of pressure and pain, i decided to finally call 9-1-1 and told nate i was going to, that he wouldn't make it home in time. So JackieLee arrived just before the paramedics did and thankfully she did, otherwise it would've been a home birth for not having anyone to stay with ellie. the paramedics stripped me from the waist down and i got on the gurney and we drove off. by the time the paramedics arrived i was finally regular. about 2 minutes apart or less. and boy did it hurt. once in the ambulance i felt the urge to push, to which the paramedics told me not to push, right. so we went through the routine of me saying here comes another contraction, moaning "i need to push," them telling me not to push, and contraction over. then we went over the biggest pot hole ever. when i saw the street sign for van buren i thought "seriously, that's all the further we are?" and the paramedics kept talking amongst themselves saying "she's not going to make it," every time the paramedic would check me. nice guys, thanks for the optimism. it was at this time after them saying i wasn't going to make it that i started to tear up thinking nate wouldn't be there and i'd have my baby in an ambulance. i also started to pray that the baby would be safe and that we'd make it to the hospital. it was a very short prayer as i'm sure i started contracting all over again. and who could pray during that pain? not me. anyways, we made it to the hospital, pushed through the ER, up to the OB floor, through triage (darn triage, you should've just let me have this baby on Thursday when it would've been so much smoother), and then i saw nate. he pulled in to the OB dept just as we were. Hallelujah he wasn't going to miss it. we got into a delivery room, with nurses and doctors waiting for me. i slid over on to the bed and then with the next contraction finally they let me push! after a few pushes, moaning and not holding my breath, they told me to start holding my breath so i could give better pushes. at one point the MD said if i didn't get the baby out soon, they would have to open me up and take her that way. heck no. so, i shut up, beared down and pushed and pushed and pushed. finally there was a huge pop and release of pressure. head was out and my job was DONE. Addie was healthy, breathing, crying, perfect. they laid her on my stomach on a bath blanket, nate cut the cord. the MD asked if i wanted to push to get the placenta out and i said "not really." so she just pulled it out. like i said, i was DONE. so, i didn't get my epidural, didn't get my birth video that i really wanted, didn't get my holding the baby skin to skin right after delivery, didn't get all the cute naked baby pictures, but i did get to have nate there, did deliver a wonderfully healthy baby without much tearing at all, did have a super quick recovery, and do have bragging rights about having a natural childbirth (however, i still want the epidural next time!). Addie is a great baby. She eats about every 3 hours, sleeps a lot during the day and most of the night when she's not eating, takes a pacifier (love it), and is just precious. That's my story, not so short, but trust me, i wrote 6 pages of the story in my journal.

pics

2011-11-04T15:16:00.001-07:00

She's here!

2011-10-25T17:57:00.002-07:00

Adelle Katherine Lemmon. 6 lbs 11 oz. 20 inches. Born October 22, 2011. Her arrival story includes an ambulance ride and no epidural (insert sigh here), but she arrived safely (and fortunately at the hospital, not in the ambulance, though it was a very close call), with her daddy present!

39 weeks

2011-10-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

pumpkin patch

2011-10-10T21:35:00.002-07:00

Ellie loved the bounce house at the pumpkin patch we went to. We had to drag her out of it. It was a nice afternoon to be outside, bring on the Fall weather already.

37 weeks

2011-10-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

difference in pregnancies

2011-10-02T16:36:00.001-07:00

this is the difference i think between working 3 nights in a row and hardly working at all! i love the lack of kankles this time around.

this is the life

2011-09-26T21:43:00.002-07:00

I've got my cup, my Blue's Clues, and my chair. And that's all I need.

35 weeks

2011-09-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

32 weeks

2011-09-02T11:20:00.004-07:00

30 weeks...10 to go!

2011-08-18T19:19:00.002-07:00

Can't believe I'm already 30 weeks, yet I can't believe there's STILL 10 to go and the longest 10 at that, ha. I've been crampy, but still feel good. No swelling yet (wish I could remember when it really started with Ellie) and I'm still working out. I've been able to walk 3 miles and do weights at least 3 days a week, and this week has been 4 times so far. Let's hope the very part time working and working out keeps the fluid down. I haven't had any pain in my wrists like I did last time, which I pray will not make an appearance this pregnancy; it was miserable, worse than any normal pregnancy symptoms for sure. Looking forward to meeting our new little lady, holding her, seeing who she looks like, though I'm planning on her looking like Nate as Ellie did. Need to start thinking about getting another crib, but other than that we shouldn't have to buy much...diapers maybe!

our cutie

2011-08-18T19:11:00.003-07:00

Ellie's swimmin' hole!

26 1/2 weeks!

2011-07-24T20:31:00.003-07:00

What a slacker I have been with these belly shots this time around. I think it's because I don't want to walk upstairs to get my "pregnant belly outfit" on. But finally here's a shot, now that I'm almost to the next 28 week picture!

Bubbles!

2011-07-24T20:25:00.003-07:00

I don't know why but I have rarely put bubbles in Ellie's bath, until this week. At one point she had a bubble goatee (of course the camera was downstairs), but these ones are still cute. She is such a cute little girl! We love her muchismimo.

splash park

2011-07-24T20:16:00.003-07:00

We attempted to attend the Zoo's Snow Day, but when we saw there was no close parking we scrapped it and went to Tempe Town Lake's splash pad instead. A much better choice. When we arrived we saw the water wouldn't be on for another 45 minutes but fortunately the guy working there could see the kids pouring in and turned it on 30 minutes early! Ellie loved it. We hadn't planned on her getting so wet, so thus she's not in a swim suit. Good times, until we had to leave and she was past ready for a nap!

July Pics

2011-07-24T20:08:00.003-07:00

More Blues Clues watching

The Science center

She LOVES this blanket

walking in dad's shoes

our scriptorian

Pics from June

2011-07-24T20:01:00.002-07:00

Great Grandma LaRoy

Blues Clues fanatic-it's almost the first thing she asks for in the morning. I created a monster!

Miss Independent

4th of July "camping"

2011-07-24T19:41:00.005-07:00

Instead of attempting to go camping for the 4th we decided to go to a cabin, the best of both: a flushing toilet with shower, but yet still plenty of dirt for Ellie to play in outdoors! We found a cabin near Prescott that suited just fine for the occasion. It was great getting out of the heat for a couple days.

The fire restrictions forced us to use other methods for getting our "smores fix!"

Whose Clues?...

2011-07-14T20:00:00.004-07:00

Nate's Clues! When I woke up this afternoon Nate and Ellie were gone. Nate left me a note in the form of Ellie's favorite cartoon: Blue's Clues!

2011-07-08T21:09:00.001-07:00

Broken treadmill = no exercise. Darn it. But wait we have a gym membership. Darn it.

Date Night Fun!

2011-07-01T21:49:00.002-07:00

Our Friday night date was actually quite fun: reorganizing the pantry so Ellie doesn't drop heavy cans on her toes.

20 weeks (2 weeks ago)

2011-06-20T20:14:00.004-07:00

Feeling good, just a little sleepy, which apparently is from some medication I'm taking. I don't really have any cravings, tryinig to exercise at least 3 times a week so I don't scare my OB with my weight gain! Just trying to keep it under 50 pounds gain. This little girl is starting to kick a lot and even Nate can see it now. She loves to be active when I'm going to bed just like Ellie did. And it's not because I work nights, because I can count on one hand the # of nights I actually work every month! Ellie likes looking at my belly and saying "baby" and then doing the same to hers and Nate's bellies! I bought a maternity swim suit, love it, & have already used it plenty. I'm enjoying this pregnancy, though Ellie will need to learn to stop throwing her food on the floor soon as I'm sure I won't be able to get on my hands and knees to clean it up for too much longer.

crazy hair, crazy shirt, & a few quiet moments!

2011-06-20T20:08:00.004-07:00

This is how Nate found her shirt when getting her out of bed this morning

Happy Father's day

2011-06-20T20:00:00.002-07:00

Wow, she's getting cheesy! We love you Daddy! You're the bestest :)

Cool websites

2011-06-16T02:35:00.001-07:00

http://www.readkiddoread.com (children's book guide with a link for teachers with lesson plans based on books)
www.crayola.com
www.factmonster.com
www.yahooligans.com
www.uptoten.com

It's a...

2011-06-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

GIRL!

a couple blurry ones, but you get the idea

2011-06-06T21:15:00.003-07:00

"zoned out with her marshmallows"

intently focused on that song

popsicle "first-timer"

she's been educating us on how to use our cell phone, seriously.

bring on the bulge!

2011-05-10T19:34:00.003-07:00

Weight wise I didn't start out more than 2-3 pounds heavier than when I got pregnant wtih Ellie. However, distribution wise (ie fat vs muscle) is a different story! I decided to just keep wearing the same skin tight outfit I did with Ellie's pregnancy pictures to capture the real deal, folds and all! Tonight I told Nate: "I'm not really this fat, I just don't want to suck in anymore." With buttton-less pants there's not much to keep this belly in anymore.

I have been very fortunate with this pregnancy. I've had very minimal nausea and when I did, it was when heading to bed for the night so I slept it off. I haven't had the terrible headaches I did with Ellie (or at least not yet, knock on wood). The one thing I have noticed with this pregnancy was how tired/exhausted I was the first trimester. But I imagine a lot of that was also for chasing Ellie around. I am a little concerned that my wrists are going to give me the same trouble they did with Ellie. This time though I'm not sure how to deal with it since I will have Ellie to care for. I don't think steroid shots are recommended while pregnant, but I will definitely find out.

16 weeks

8 weeks

In Tha Muthahood

2011-05-10T18:42:00.005-07:00

I linked my fb account to a youtube video of this same title and loved it. I'm in my own little hood here with Ellie, some days are rougher than others, but everyday comes with little treats reminding me how important my "job" is. I put Ellie to bed about 30 minutes ago and I'm sitting downstairs listening to her on the monitor repeat over and over "no, no, no." I think she heard that one quite a few times from me today!
On a different note, these roses were from Costco, which are a great price for 2 dozen roses and normally we've never had a problem. This bunch however started falling apart by Sunday and not even a week after buying them they're already in the trash. I could've taken them back, but a trip that way just for dying flowers (which are intended to die) just couldn't be justified. oh well, we'll stick to Safeway's flowers from now on.

some of ellie's favorite places!

2011-05-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

fashion show by ellie

2011-05-05T19:01:00.002-07:00

These are mostly all outfits compliment of grandma!

zoo

2011-05-05T18:58:00.001-07:00

we saw some animals, but Ellie liked the splash pad the best!

Utah/Oregon trip 2011

2011-04-19T19:07:00.004-07:00

random march pictures

2011-04-19T19:04:00.001-07:00

1 year pictures

2011-03-20T18:58:00.004-07:00

My friend Holly did a wonderful job with Ellie's 1 yr pictures. I really wanted to do the balloon thing and try as we did it didn't go over so well with Ellie. She kept pushing them away because she didn't like them. oh well. It was fun trying though! And Ellie LOVES her bears. She hugs them and kisses them more than she will us. I love her chunks!

I love this kid, but she's driving me NUTS!

2011-03-17T19:03:00.005-07:00

I hope that it's the current cold she has Or maybe it's that she's obviously DONE with 2 good naps a day but Ellie has been a BRAT! It's been one fit and tantrum after the next. This has been going on for about a week, though yesterday she seemed to be getting less moody. The other thing is her clinging. Holy cow. I took her to the park twice this week and the only thing she wanted to do was hug my leg. She cried when I tried to make her play at the park! Man I'm so mean. I sure hope she continues to have an attitude adjustment, since we will be spending way too much time in the van driving to Oregon in a couple weeks. Memories.

Oh Poop!

2011-02-28T21:57:00.002-07:00

All of a sudden Ellie seems to be waiting to empty her bowels until she's in the bathtub. She's done this probably 5 times in the past 10 days. Fortunately, I've noticed "that look" and have been able to catch it (washcloth in hand mind you. I am a nurse, but I'm not about to touch even my own kids' poop if I don't have to) before it gets all over. Except a couple days ago. She even almost grabbed it. I know you all thank me for not posting pictures on this one!

Party Time

2011-02-27T20:07:00.004-07:00

Ellie looking up at her hanging butterflies

She really liked her banana cake. She ate a lot of that huge piece.

Some of my family, Debbie with her 2 girls, and Nate's parents (via Skype) came to her party. Thanks for celebrating with us!

Birthday Girl

2011-02-27T19:53:00.004-07:00

The Beatles said it oh so well:

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

We decided to take Ellie to the zoo for her first time on her first birthday. It was fun, probably more so for us watching her watching animals than actually for her. We ended up buying a membership so now we have a years worth of zoo trips ahead!

This is Ellie telling us she was DONE!

A Year.

2011-02-27T18:26:00.009-07:00

I went from this body to this one

To this beautiful miracle

February 25, 2010. 8 pounds, 19 inches

One month

Two months

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

Ten months

Eleven months

Twelve months

What a change in her hair! That's one of the first things that comes to my mind when I see these pictures. She is definitely not lacking hair. It's so crazy to think that about 2 years ago we were getting ready to start the in vitro process. I don't think I truely believed it would work, not the first time at least. The Lord sure proved me wrong. I'm so grateful He did. Ellie fits in to our family perfectly. She has quite the personality. She loves when her daddy comes home from work in the morning and can hardly wait for him to shower/change out of his work clothes before attacking him. She chases him around most mornings. She has her little 1 year old temper that is very evident already, especially when she doesn't get what she wants (ie the cell phone, computer, camera, etc). She loves mimicking us when we make noises, she loves giving hugs to her stuffed animals and our legs (while we're standing up), and kisses to everything, books, bears, dolls, except her parents! She will give us kisses at night when she's really tired and forgets I think! She is getting her 4th tooth on bottom and has 2 on top. She weighed 22.6 pounds and was 29 inches while we wrestled her to lay still tonight. She started walking almost 2 weeks ago and LOVES it. She still usually takes 2 naps a day, though I see that may not last too much longer (boo hoo). She loves eating the paint off her crib. I finally taped the guards to it tonight so she can't pull them off anymore, hopefully. At least the paint doesn't have lead in it! I'm really thankful that Ellie is a happy girl. She usually has a smile on her face and loves to laugh. We love chasing her around the house and eating her up. I can't say enough about the joy she has brought to our life. We LOVE LOVE LOVE Ellie.

happy valentine's day

2011-02-15T20:56:00.002-07:00

tried to have ellie hold this heart so i could take a picture and send a text to her grandparents. not so easy to get a 1 year old to hold the paper still, not eat it, and keep herself still!

Nothing like a valentine's day pickle!

Our valentine's tulips. oh i miss the northwest!

ellie's nana and papa sent her a valentine card with an oragami dollar bill

Pajamas...again!

2011-02-11T18:53:00.003-07:00

Since I've been off work I think I've spent more time in my pajamas than not. But Ellie and I sure have fun playing, no matter what we're wearing!

3 hours, a helpful husband and a few easy recipes. It doesn't look like much but it's at least 15 main dishes.

Moody girl

2011-02-07T20:30:00.002-07:00

Ellie had a good nap this morning, but as soon as she got up she was cranky. After about an hour of that I had reached my limit, so she got to go back into her crib for a time out. It worked. After about 20 minutes Nate took her out and she was in a much better mood, very playful even. That's when these pictures happened, after her time out!

Ellie and Daddy

2011-02-07T20:22:00.004-07:00

Dad is ALWAYS more rowdy with Ellie than Mom is, surprise surprise! But he does a great job of tiring her out for bedtime.

Ellie and Mama

2011-02-05T20:22:00.003-07:00

Ellie with her sleeping bear. She's getting quite attached to it.

caught red-handed; me not Ellie! She's a stealth-like pooper sometimes, so I have to use more than my nose occasionally to investigate

Ellie loves books, and the easier to rip, the more she likes it.

We braved a very frigid day and fed the ducks at the park. Ellie didn't seem to mind the wind chill, but it was very reminiscent of our days living in the Columbia Gorge.

3rd generation nurse?

Yum.

2011-02-05T20:19:00.001-07:00

I saw this recipe online and tried it tonight. It turned out great. A very healthy and delicious meal. It was only lacking a fresh baguette for dipping.

finally...finger foods!

2011-02-01T19:31:00.003-07:00

Ellie finally seems to be able to eat more than puree food, hallelujah. I was getting a little concerned and even schedule a swallow study. But about 3 weeks ago she seemed to get the hang of it. She is able to eat jam sandwiches and all sorts of crackers now, in addition to dry cereals and bananas. She is still a picky eater, but at least now I don't have to worry about her vomitting while eating. I think her problem was she would get the food to the back of her mouth too soon and wasn't able to push it back forward to mash it up better. But, it seems she can do this now. And just in time too. She will be able to eat birthday cake afterall! And that really is the most important reason.

Little girl...

2011-01-22T19:55:00.002-07:00

Well, this first picture is just funny because Ellie got away from Nate while he was changing her diaper and it "cracked" me up to see her crawling around half naked half dressed. But the other 2 pictures are so cute. The bad thing is that as I look at them I realize how less and less like a baby she looks and more and more like a little girl. sigh.

2011-01-12T19:26:00.003-07:00

Nate enjoyed carrying her around in the laundry basket this afternoon. She seemed to like it too.

Generally speaking, whenever we go in to get Ellie out of bed we will find her standing in this corner, and sometimes with her head resting on her hands on top of the railing like she's waiting for us! She's funny.

Ellie's unwrapping

2011-01-03T21:16:00.002-07:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ellie's first Christmas!

2011-01-03T19:53:00.004-07:00

It was so much fun to watch Ellie with her presents. She seemed to enjoy the paper wrapping and eating the cardboard boxes the most. She did play with her few toys though, gave hugs to her doll and doggie. We didn't get a family picture on Christmas until I was already in bed, but at least it was taken! And of course, Ellie's tongue is hangin' out like a dog.

double trouble!

2011-01-02T20:41:00.003-07:00

Ellie's cousin Kilee (2 weeks older) came to visit for Christmas. Ellie enjoyed chasing her around and pulling her hair. Sorry Kilee, hope you recover!

check out that killer look ellie is giving! i don't think it was to me.

2011-01-02T20:31:00.003-07:00

i love this girl. i love that she loves to laugh and smile a lot

first toothbrush

2010-12-13T08:52:00.003-07:00

Ellie got her first toothbrush at our dental appointments the other day. She loves that thing; will suck on it forever. She looks "psycho" about it!

7 years and $10

2010-12-13T08:46:00.002-07:00

We had our 7 year anniversary December 5th. It was a Sunday and I worked that night so we "celebrated" on Saturday. Once Ellie went to bed Nate bought us Subway and got a movie from redbox. Nothing too impressive but nice to be home together without having to run around keeping Ellie out of everything. Thanks for seven wonderful years, I love you first!

can't think of a fun title, so there isn't one

2010-12-06T20:19:00.003-07:00

well, i'm sitting here with a couple loads of laundry beside me. thinking since i haven't started in on them yet, they'll get to wait until tomorrow. i got sidetracked looking at cute pictures on other blogs/facebook. sure wish i could just get some non-blurry pictures of ellie. she either moves way too fast or i need to figure out how to adjust my camera settings. since i don't think she'll slow down, i better find that instruction manual. nate and i exercised at the same time this afternoon after putting ellie down for a nap. him on the treadmill, me with my long lost friend...the step. i love that step. i was introduced to step aerobics in 10th grade and lost about 30-40 pounds. no more fat alyssa. my step was hibernating at my mom's house and i decided it was time to dust it off and bring it home. i have a vhs (yes it's so old) rebok video that is only a 30 minute workout, but it includes using weights and so when i don't have a ton of time it is a great way to get my heart rate up and do weights. of course, ellie woke up 20 minutes into my 30 minute workout so she got to sit in her little stationary chair thing (whatever it's called) while i finished.

lady in red

2010-12-04T19:16:00.001-07:00

food poisoning?

2010-12-04T19:06:00.002-07:00

So a couple nights ago I fed Ellie her bottle getting ready to put her to bed. She finished, laid her head on my shoulder, and then all of a sudden made those all too familiar faces of something coming back up. Then she spewed everything back onto me, my nice white bed linens (yes, i know i've learned now that white is not a great color for me to wear, or apparently for my bed to wear, with a small child), and the night stand. I screamed for Nate's help (the one night we were actually both home together, hallelujah) and Ellie gave him a big grin when he arrived. At least she was in good spirits! So, he stripped her down, put new pjs on her and then he put her to bed, empty stomach now. I just didn't know where to start with the cleanup. I stripped down the bed, then jumped in the shower (#2 for the day).
So, fortunately, it must have been some random food poisoning because she never had a fever, nor any other symptoms. Weird.

9 months old and cheap fun

2010-11-30T21:25:00.004-07:00

This kept her entertained for quite a while, I just have to make sure she's not eating pieces of plastic. Ellie has learned another tongue trick...purring. She can roll her tongue fast now so that she sounds like a purring cat! She cracks me up. Tonight we had FHE and she was the activity. Nate and I watched her, laughed and played with her for quite a while before the lesson. She loves to climb on top of us as her ladder, giving her access to oh so many fun things, like the laptop. She caught Nate's cold late last week, so we've been having fun sucking out her snot. It seriously is a torture session. I have to pin her whole body between my legs, keeping her head contained, while Nate then sucks out her nose (of course with the bulb syringe, though he says once on the mission he saw a mother suck out her kids nose with her mouth, ugh. I think he said she was either South American or African. Definitely not a Spaniard thing). Well, on that pleasant thought, I'm off to bed.

last minute adventure

2010-11-22T19:42:00.002-07:00

I got a tip last week from my sister in law about a child's hiking backpack she saw on craig'slist and we ended up buying it. It can be used as a stroller in addition to the pack. I was driving home from visiting teaching last Friday morning, windows down, wind blowing through my hair and I thought "this would be a great day to try out that new pack and go on a hike." I got inside the house and Ellie was in bed. So, after telling Nate of my plan for the afternoon, we put together a sack lunch (which we ended up eating in the car on the way home), a bag for Ellie's stuff (man, the bigger she gets, the more stuff goes into that bag. Glad that once she hits a certain age she'll be able to carry all her stuff in her very own big girl bag), and then we waited for her to wake up. Once up, we hit the road. We found a quick hike not too far from the PIR. Our last hike was in the Provo Canyon, so this hike was a little anti climatic, being in the barren wasteland we live in. But, as Nate said, if you stop long enough and are still you can find life, and quite a bit of it, out there in that saguaro cemetery. At least there was plenty of quail, if anyone ever wants to go quail hunting, though I don't know if they do that here or not. Anyways, the pack worked great, we enjoyed our short 2 mile hike in the not hot weather, and then raced back home for the rest of our scheduled day. When I got back and had to use my dirty bathroom I remembered all the things on my cleaning list. But, those will always be there; nice weather and a mid morning with nothing "scheduled" rarely happens!

"where's the baby?"

what daddy and ellie do while mommy is sleeping

2010-11-22T19:29:00.002-07:00

getting so big

2010-11-20T20:32:00.004-07:00

nate calls this her "lord of the dance" look

good at throwing tantrums

still deciding if she likes the dog...she finally warmed up to her.

Ellie's busy morning

2010-11-09T14:17:00.006-07:00

playing with the recycling, walking around the table, practicing with her sippy cup, playing with her toy, going for a walk, being pensive, reading a book, helping mom with the dishes, phew!

What Ellie has been up to...

2010-11-09T13:57:00.003-07:00

She has found the stairs, the vcr/dvd player, and she loves eating her bananas!

First Halloween

2010-11-01T20:03:00.003-07:00

2010-10-14T19:02:00.002-07:00

"Peek..."

"A..."

"Boo!"

"I'm king of the mountain called "daddy"

"Oh this looks like fun!"

"I love that flash thing mama always points my direction"

"We love purple"

"This is what happens when mama gives me total control of my bottle! yum"

First road trip

2010-10-07T19:59:00.005-07:00

Nate and I thought driving to Utah would be a fun thing to do in October. Boy was it! Travi went with us too and we got to see Katie in Provo and Grandparents/Aunts in SLC. Overall a good trip, but glad we're not doing another one until Ellie is a year old.

Gpa Meryhew

Tiffanie Player (they're "sisters"!)

relaxing in the love sac

"what?"

These are all from our hike to Stewart Falls in the Provo Canyon. Beautiful Fall colors

Ellie asleep, hiking must have tired her out!

These faces pretty much capture her time in the car seat: happy, to delirious, to crazy, to insane from the sleep deprivation torture we put her through!

catching up

2010-10-07T19:13:00.005-07:00

Ellie is 7 months now, holy cow. She is so much fun. She is crawling everywhere, eating everything she shouldn't including computer cords, and she is pulling herself up to a standing position. crazy. we really have to start baby-proofing this place! she loves eating and sometimes we can't get it in her mouth fast enough. she loves to scrunch her nose and breathe heavily through her nose. i think she likes the sound she can make while doing it. she is definitely a mama's girl. she cries whenever i get up to throw away her diaper, sheesh,i'm still in the same room :) she is a good baby, makes us laugh a lot and is so much fun to snuggle, when she holds still long enough to let us!

"I didn't do it!"

Ladies in red

twins Marc and James came over to play for a while, Ellie loved the company

breaking in the new highchair

Four generations of girls

livin' on the edge!

new feats (pun intended!)

2010-09-14T20:27:00.004-07:00

look who's sitting all by herself!

a quiet moment with dad

bathtime fun

who needs baby food? i have feet to eat!

sorry Katie, Nate couldn't resist putting it on her head :) she's enthralled!

ouch!

2010-09-14T20:25:00.004-07:00

Today was dental day! I had molds taken today to get a new retainer to get my teeth back straight. Four plus years of not wearing your retainers that never fit right to begin with will do that to you. Then I had a filling done. I'm trying to decide if it was the 10 shots needed to get my mouth numb, the drilling, or keeping my mouth open that long that is now killing me. I'm thinking it was all the stabbing. I should take some drugs.

Oregon trip Aug 2010

2010-09-05T11:55:00.004-07:00

relaxin' in the outdoors! something we never do in AZ

she loved all the attention!

Kodee, Ellie, Avery

this is why we love the Northwest, we'll be back!

swingin' on my birthday

Yesenia made us both beautiful, I love getting my hair done and Ellie looks pleased with her embellishments too!

Nana and Papa

Ellie trying to eat her cousin Avery

Great Grandma Brown

Great Grandma Lemmon

Uncle Adam

The center of attention

Nana and Ellie

Avery made her giggle and giggle

asleep on the plane, thank you!

oh what do you do at 2am in the morning when all your patients are asleep?

2010-08-30T02:12:00.003-07:00

well, i catch up on everyone's blogs, admiring all the cute kiddos. i try to stay awake, until i can't anymore and then i just lay my head down and take a quick nap until one of my patients calls for something. if it's a "good" night, no one wants anything until about 5am. if it's a "bad" night, i never sit down. tonight is a "good" night so far.

i'm thinking about all the fun stories to post about our Oregon vacation. But, maybe i'll just make a list. i like lists, especially if i get to cross things off of it!
• Ellie did better than expected for her first time flying, slept 2 hours on the return flight
• I accidentally scheduled the rental car for the day after our arrival, so to save the $300 extra they wanted to charge us for the one day, we stayed at a $90 hotel in Portland!
• We surprised Nate’s mom for her birthday, on her birthday, and of course the first thing she did was go for Ellie
• Ellie started to giggle and giggle when she met her 1yr old cousin, Avery. Avery just stood there, but it was hilarious to Ellie, and hilarious for us to watch
• Ellie cut her 2nd tooth in Oregon, thankfully it wasn’t too terrible
• The weather was GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS. I don’t think it got warmer than 90, if that even, and there was a nice breeze all the time. Ellie loved being outside with the wind blowing on her
• Ellie was a hit among her cousins, aunts/uncles, & nana and papa, they all especially loved her hair!
• I turned 32, which was fun. Ellie stayed with her nana while Nate and I picked up boxed lunches and ate at the park alongside the Columbia river, another gorgeous day. We sat on the swings, haven’t done that in a very long time. We like our dates without Ellie, but we always are happy to go back home to her
• All of Nate’s siblings and their families had a campout in Nana and Papa’s back yard; we were happy to sleep inside 
Our trip was great, we’re already planning our next trip in April and this time a trip to the coast is on the agenda with 3 nights in a cabin on the coast. And, we’ll be driving next time. Should be interesting: 2 days one way in a van with a child who doesn’t like being in the car. Hopefully, since she’ll be forward facing by then it will be much better, and she’ll be over a year old.

ellie is 6 months old, has 2 teeth on bottom, and when we bring her into our bed in the morning she gives us lots of smiles as she rolls all around, back to front, front to back, and then over and over again. she will be crawling anytime now. she has been getting in the mood with her new Pilates plank moves. she only knows how to move backwards so far, but fortunately, she doesn't seem to get too frustrated. she's been eating cereal now for a few weeks and we just started her on peas. i tasted them and they're not that bad, though i won't make a habit of them. tomorrow it's pears!

more random pictures

2010-08-12T20:59:00.006-07:00

aunt katie striking a pose (at Goodwill!)

Girls' Day (well, mostly, Cory was the photographer, our honorary girl)

she loved looking up at grandma!

aunt abby is always a favorite!

finally, she enjoys being in the wrap, now that she doesn't have to stare at me!

first feeding!

trial run with shoes, didn't last long

dad picked out this outfit! i love the headband!

really, pictures of ellie is what everyone wants to see anyways, so why waste time posting anything else?!

new way to sleep

2010-07-19T20:02:00.002-07:00

swimming

2010-07-19T19:59:00.002-07:00

suck, suck, suck

2010-07-19T19:42:00.003-07:00

Ellie loves to suck on anything. Nate's hairy leg, my arm while trying to put her to sleep, toys, clothes, etc, etc.

Nate doing homework!

2010-07-19T19:36:00.002-07:00

some days he's so tired from working and not sleeping well, that doing homework turns into an all day event of trying to do homeowork and not fall asleep. the sleep usually wins out. but, only 2 more weeks to go and he's DONE!!!!! at least until next year. Yeah BSN, too bad it doesn't mean more money.

to exercise or not to exercise?

2010-07-05T22:06:00.002-07:00

well, i decided to NOT exercise. here was my thought process on this one: i am tired from working last night, i got ellie to bed at 8:30, started the laundry and dishwasher. then, as i looked at the treadmill i asked myself "do i really want to get sweaty and have to shower again tonight before going to bed?" and my response was "NO WAY!", plus if i work out so late tonight then chances are i won't want to work out very early tomorrow nor as hard and i know that tomorrow i will do a good workout (right?). so, i opted to not work out and instead, posted pictures of our stinkin' cute baby! a much better choice :) oh, i did exercise 3 times last week, so this weeks goal is at least 3, but shooting for 4 (tues, wed, fri, sat). i'll let you (whomever "you" are) know how it goes!

random pics & she's 4mo old now

2010-07-05T22:00:00.002-07:00

shot day, not so fun

cute outfit from when we were babies

caught by surprise

slouching

feet are so yummy!

2010-07-05T21:56:00.003-07:00

she loves her feet and even more so if she can manage to get them in her mouth! i agree with ellie, her feet are yummy!

pretty in pink

2010-07-05T21:50:00.003-07:00

so, i'm thankful for not passing on ugly genes to ellie, i know that's vain, but who wants an ugly kid? not me.

2010-06-16T11:20:00.001-07:00

enjoying the sunny outdoors!

this is what happens when you try to take pix of a 3 1/2 mo olds feet!

finally!

Nude art, is it just art?

2010-06-08T11:09:00.002-07:00

I posted recently that we went to the art museum and that I was tired of seeing all the nude paintings. One friend said it's just art depicting the beauty of the human body. I agree 100% that the human body is beautiful and by no means do I get embarrassed or whatever with nudity, I see it all the time at work and it's no big deal to me. However, the human body is also sacred. As Nate and I were discussing this issue last night he brought up a good point: we know that sexual sin has been around since the beginning of time and do we really need to guess whether or not that included lusting after the body? Today we have magazines, internet and television rampant with pornography. In centuries past they didn't have these mediums but are we really to assume that pornography wasn't an issue then? No. So, I agree that painting the human body can be a work of art and I have been impressed with many paintings of the human form. However, I don't agree that all nude paintings are art. I think that many of the nude paintings throughout time have been pornography of the time. What was the artists purpose, desire with the outcome? I doubt every artist had pure intentions when painting this theme, just like today. Now I'm not going to be hanging nude paintings in my home but I also don't intend to keep my kids from the art museum. I think this is just a personal choice for each family.

Phoenix Art Museum

2010-06-05T16:21:00.002-07:00

Trent has been in town from Iraq and we wanted to see him one more time before he has to go back this next week, so we decided to go to the museum. I wanted to see the Ansel Adams exhibit (which we all decided we actually like his color photography more than his B&W photos, but he mostly did B&W). Once that completely bored my 3 younger siblings in the teenage years, we asked one of the workers if there was anything more interesting. She sent us to the contemporary section that housed the "weird stuff." And most of it was pretty darn weird. We had to ignore the multiple nude paintings (why do people think that's a good subject for art!), but found some pretty cool stuff.

these are all pieces of burnt wood

definitely qualifies as "weird"- nate thinks it's a naked mole rat on the ladies face

She's 3 months old

2010-06-05T12:42:00.005-07:00

Ellie loves her tongue, loves sticking her hands as far in her mouth as she can and after she makes herself gag she'll stick them right back in. We're working on letting her cry herself to sleep. Some days are better than others. She must be having a growth spurt because she's been resorting back to her terrible sleep habits this past week and eating 2-3 ounces every 2 hours at night. And i think she has insomnia. Seriously, to the minute, for her naps she wakes up 45 minutes after falling asleep. Even when she takes her 2 hour nap in the mid afternoon, she'll still wake up at 45 minutes and then have to fall back asleep. What is with that? It's annoying. I'm also trying to get her out of her swing (though not during this growth spurt). I'll make her take at least 2 of her naps in her crib. i haven't quite worked up the nerve to put her in there at night. Maybe in a few weeks. I just love sleeping, so knowing that she'll probably not like the change is making me reluctant. Oh I'm such a bad influence on her habits.

teething already?

2010-05-26T09:13:00.003-07:00

(just chillin'. i love this picture of her zoning out)

So I can't believe she's already teething. I think she actually started a couple weeks ago, when she began to slobber everywhere. It took me a while to realize that she was teething. I would've been fine if she'd waited another 3 months, but heck we're already not sleeping so bring it on! She sure is super cute though. We're taking her to Target for her 3 month pictures tomorrow, hopefully she's in a good mood at our scheduled time. It's hard to find a time when she won't be sleepy since during the day she usually starts getting tired 1 1/2 -2 hours after she wakes up from a nap. We'll hope for the best though.

any ideas welcome

2010-05-10T12:46:00.002-07:00

we're still having a heck of a time trying to get her to sleep at night. she usually will sleep fine from about 7-11pm, then eat maybe 2 ounces and goes back to sleep fine. but then she wakes up pretty much the rest of the night anywhere from every 1-2 hours. at times i've resorted to letting her just cry, but i don't want to have to do that everytime. if anyone has any ideas i'm very open to anything.
sincerely,
need to sleep

new pictures

2010-05-10T11:15:00.003-07:00

first pool experience. the water was only 76 degrees so she wasn't a huge fan. i did get her wet up to her waist without too much fuss though. once it's warmer i know she'll love it since she loves her baths

she's trying out the bumbo chair for the first time. she generally likes it

2 month check up, including 4 shots, ouch.

our little cocoon

she likes playing on her play mat, though is not a big fan of the music maker, i think it's too loud for her liking.