Ellie is 6 Months!

How has a half a year gone by?  This baby is 6 months old and tomorrow will be closer to a 1 year old than a newborn.  I cannot be sad about her growing up though because I adore the stage that she is in right now.  I could eat her up on a daily basis!

 We go to the doctor tomorrow afternoon for her 6 month well visit so I'll know better stats then but last week I had to take her to the doctor and she weighed 13 lbs, 3 oz!  Dr. Dobson looked it up on the charts and she was in the 7th percentile...he was impressed with how she is growing and said we were moving on up!

 Ellie's typical daily schedule looks like:

7/7:30: Wake up and bottle

8:30: Oatmeal and fruit

9-11ish: Nap #1

11: Bottle

12:30: Rice Cereal and Veggies

2:00: Nap #2

4: Bottle

cat nap somewhere in here...

7: Start bedtime routine of bath and bottle

7:30: Bedtime

 Today she is in size 1 diapers but tomorrow she starts size 2!

Clothing: 0-3 and some brands she can wear 3-6--however they are typically still too big.

 She is still taking 5-6 oz/milk a bottle.  3oz breastmilk/the rest formula.

Yes, still pumping.

Veggies she has tried: peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, butternut squash

Fruits she has tried: Pears, Bananas, Avocados, Apples, Mangos

She loves them ALL.  Not a picky eater at all!

 Big milestones this month:

Consistently rolling over from tummy to back

Sitting up by herself

 Ellie loves standing up (with our help, of course) on our laps, on her changing table, on the floor...pretty much anywhere.

She still likes sitting in her bumbo.  

She has started liking a new playmat that someone let us borrow and will play on in it independently for a while.  (not a great independent player)

Some of our names for Ellie: Bugs, Bugsy, Scoot-a-boot, Scoot Boots, Goose

 She is now sitting in her high chair for her meals and loves sitting in it when I am cooking or washing dishes.  

She is very nosy (or as Grammy says, she is curious)...always wants to be looking and watching whatever is going on.

When her daddy comes home from work she lights up and gives him the biggest smile when she sees his face.

 The picture above..."Oh...you've been sitting beside me the past 6 months?"

Ellie celebrated her first Thanksgiving with lots of family.

She is a pretty good car rider and typically falls asleep, especially on trips to Lexington and back.

She is showing definite signs of teething: putting everything and anything in her mouth, drooling, some fussiness that cannot be contributed to anything else...we'll see when her little teeth decide to pop up!

 Ellie's favorite toys are her Sophie giraffe and this dumb puppy vibrating dog that plays music.  It is one of (if not THE) most pointless toy I have ever seen in my life but she loves it and has learned to press his heart to make him move and sing.

She is so ticklish...especially in her hands and underneath her arms.

She has started anticipating actions like when we're coming to "get her"--she will start giggling before we even touch her.

 She still loves looking at books as they are being read to her.  

She likes to be thrown up in the air or bounced on the bed.

She loves to watch tv--especially football!

 She has become quite the smiley baby.

Ellie receives the most comments from others about her eyelashes and how long they are.  I sure wish they were mine!  One of my granny's best friends asked her if we put fake ones on her. :)

 She has experienced some stranger anxiety...and she's not a huge fan of men.

She is "talking" more and more...lots of vowel sounds and some consonant sounds.

We had to go to the doctor twice this month for a little cold and then for her and Mrs. Denise clashing into one another.  She was sitting in her bumbo and Mrs. D bent down to pick her up and as she did Ellie bucked her back up in the bumbo causing Ellie's head to crash into Mrs. D's cheekbone.  Thankfully they are both fine--E just has a small goose egg on her head!  It was silly to take her in honestly, but I slept better having a doctor tell me what I really already knew.

and we will end with Ellie's monster face as she is playing with her elephant!

Happy 6 months, Bugsy!  We love you!

Clemson/Carolina

Below is how Ellie feels about how this game is going tonight...YUCK!!!  I knew it wasn't going to be a pretty game as Clemson has played terrible the past several weeks.  We'll see if we have a turn around!

 Here's Ellie this morning in her reindeer pj's!  She didn't have the greatest night sleep (woke up at 5:30) and we paid for it the rest of the day!

 Although, look at this face...you can't really tell that she's grumpy!

 This picture cracks me up--Gracie in the background, her top is too big and she looks like she has shoulder pads, and her little legs are lost underneath the length of the shirt.  But the grin sure is sweet!

and why in the world is Ellie in garnet and black colors?  Not because we are cheering for the cocks but because we have dressed Ellie in her tiger gear for the past several weeks and the outcome hasn't been favorable, so we changed it up today.

 We did practice our Clemson cheers and chants today though--her favorite is moving her arms and saying "CU" just like the cheerleaders do.  We also do C-L-E-M-S-O-N T-I-G-E-RRRRR-S!

 We hope we'll be able to tell her that her Tigers won when she wakes up in the morning!

 and day 24...

We are thankful to live in Greenville (well, really close to Greenville).

We have access to a beautiful downtown, great restaurants, great schools, close to the mountains, lots of cultural and art events and festivals and only an hour and fifteen minutes from Lexington :)  (sorry...had to throw that last one in there).  

I have always said that if I can't live in Lexington that Greenville is the next best thing.  

this little girl ends this post with, "GOOOOO TIGERS!!!"

Black Friday!

We had a great Black Friday!  Ellie is ready for Christmas festivities to begin!

Josh said it was a little too soon to pull out the Christmas attire but I quickly convinced him that we have limited time to wear our Santa wear and we have to put it to good use!

 Ellie was on best behavior today as we drug her all over Greenville.  We hit up BuyBuyBaby (48 jars of Earth's Best baby food for 11 dollars!), Smith and James for Josh's Christmas present, Strossner's for lunch, Target for a new camera memory card and a baby doll for our Angel Tree child, and Michael's for some craft items and frames.  It was a successful shopping day and a great time we had spending it together.

 Ellie also rode in the stroller frontward facing today!  Josh took a picture from his camera phone to document but she seemed to love looking around and soaking in her surroundings.  

and I'm going to try to remember to complete the rest of the month with my thankfulness posts...

Day 23:

I am so thankful for this blog.  I know that it seems so cheesy but as much as I keep it up for our family and friends I also do it for me and Josh.  It is the best journal that I keep of our daily lives and it's fun to look back from when I started this blog at the beginning of our marriage and see how we have grown in 4 years.  I love that it tells the ins and outs of Ellie's little life.  I meticulously document in her baby book as well--but honestly, all the minute details are in this blog, not in her baby book.  I love looking back on my posts throughout pregnancy and seeing answered prayer after answered prayer.  It is a treasure, for sure.

and the above picture isn't great--but I had to show that there are Santa on her feet and it took forever for me to get her to look at me because she was mesmerized by the Santa feet!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ellie had a fantastic first thanksgiving!

 We started off the day at our home and mid-way through her first nap we loaded up and hit the road to Lexington.  E was a fantastic traveler today with no crying while we were driving.

E was able to visit with my dad and Kim along with Banks and Mom...a full day with family!

 I got a big carried away with the camera and snapping pictures of E in her turkey dress.  Mrs. Debra gave her this sweet outfit when she was born and I just love it on her...I'm hoping she can wear it as a swing top with pants next year.

 Can't forget the bloomers :)

 and just as I posted yesterday on how she was so close to sitting by herself...she mastered it today!  Such a big girl!  She got slightly excited (above) when she realized she was sitting up with no help from us!

 After a photo shoot and a visit with Ms Judy, we packed up and headed back to Greenville to our home where we had dinner with Josh's parents.  To say we are stuffed is an understatement!

 This was my most favorite Thanksgiving yet!  Nothing sweeter than sharing it with our families and our sweet baby girl.

 Josh and I always go out on Black Friday to people watch and look around...we'll see if we attempt the crowds tomorrow.  By no means do we get up early to head out and we're not looking for anything specific but it's fun to get in the holiday spirit!

Catching Up

We have much catching up to do...

Day 17:

I am thankful for undivided time with Josh.

It is rare and far between these days but when we have the opportunity to go on a date alone, I relish the time.  This past Sunday he willingly went to see Breaking Dawn with me.  Movies are our date of choice since Ellie has been born--we have always loved movies and now that we just can't drop what we're doing and go anytime we please, it makes us love them even more!

Day 18:

I am thankful for time to do fun things with Ellie.  We made turkey cards out of her handprint Monday night with the help of daddy!  I am hopeful that we will do this every Thanksgiving as she and her bitty hand grows.

Day 19:

We are thankful for our Uncle Banks aka Uncle Bubba.  Right now, he pretty much just rubs her head when he sees her and talks to her (a bit intimidated by the whole baby phase) she will have him wrapped around his little finger in no time.  They already have big plans together for Gator rides around the baseball field after his games in the spring.

Day 20:

I am thankful that my KitchenAid mixer still works.  My beloved stand mixer that hasn't been turned on in more than 6 months.  I have always loved baking but haven't been too much into it (besides a package of brownie mix) since E has been born.  I baked my annual pumpkin cheesecake for tomorrow's dessert and we'll see tomorrow how it tastes but I'm hoping this one is my best one yet.

Day 21:

We are thankful for Aunt Carolyn and for each day we have her here with us!  She shares a birthday with Banks so the 23rd of November is certainly a special day in our family.

Day 22:

Thankful for each new milestone that Ellie meets.  It really makes each stage so much fun.  Can you see the concentration in her face as she is working on sitting up?  Depending upon her mood, she is able to sit up independently quite well.  Consistently on our laps with no support--inconsistently on the floor.  I don't trust her yet with not being right beside her to catch her when/if she loses her balance but she is so close to mastering.  It sure is fun to watch this baby girl grow!

uh-oh...down we go!!! 

We hope everyone has the most happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day tomorrow and that you are able to spend it with the ones you love the most.

John Knox and Babies

Day 15:

We are thankful for our church, John Knox.

(these pictures are Ellie in her new high chair...we went with the Space Saver and we are a fan!)

We are so thankful for our wonderful church home.  Everything from the people to the worship to our sunday school have blessed us tremendously since the first day we stepped foot in the church.  Our pastor is my mom's college roomie's brother (did you catch that?) and also a friend from high school's uncle and he is hands down one of my most favorite people to be around.  He is compassionate and funny and he ministers to our family in a way that makes it seem he writes sermons specifically for us.

Our Sunday School class have become some of our greatest friends in Greenville and we love our monthly socials with them as well as our bible studies together on Sunday mornings.  We have fantastic mentors that we adore.

and our church family?  When we have a prayer concern for our family I will make a call or an email and within 24 hours I have emails of encouragement and phone calls letting know that we are being prayed for.  Our church home is an answer to prayer as we spent many years searching for the perfect place that we could grow in.  

Day 16:

Babies!

Is it possible that Ellie looks like a giant next to a baby?  No worries...sweet Henry is a mere 2 weeks old and Ellie is a week away from 6 months!  I went to visit with the Kelowitz' and to meet baby Henry today.  He is a precious, precious baby that was so sweet and cuddly.  There is nothing like holding a newborn and smelling its sweet smell.  I could have loved on that sweet boy all day long (although I have already forgotten that 2 week olds don't have neck control yet...how quickly we do forget!)  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have friends share their new babies with me!