Our little bug grows up...

When you're a slacker, it's all about slideshows. That means you'll either be bored with the amount of footage or overjoyed to finally see some)! You'll see that Ellie has changed quite a bit since she's figured out how to crawl. Freedom, for her, is priceless. For us it is pricey....in time, patience, and this weekend, financially (gotta get the gates, socket covers, cabinet and toilet locks, etc.) But all that aside, we wouldn't change a thing because she is so wicked cute!

She has become quite chompy lately and those pink gums are alot more prominent. We think she is really beginning the teething thing this time. I say that because we have thought this many times in the past. Maybe that's because we need something to blame when our perfect baby seems "off". She's beginning to abandon the bottle more often for "big girl food" and she loves to be part of our meals by chewing on fresh fruits and veggies. One of her favorites is asparagus- we have pictures to prove it! Although, you can see from the pics that pretty much anything goes...like apples, carrots, fingers and other peoples' feet (first slide show). Bath time has become a challenge. Ellie still really likes her bath, but she has figured out how to splash and stand up in her tub, so the baby bath tub in the sink is not an option anymore. She still uses 'ole blue, but we've transferred it to the tub upstairs so that she can splash all she wants without soaking the coffeemaker, grinder, window, floor, etc. Call us fun-haters, but those of you that have kids and know how much work it is to keep up with them and everything else, can probably appreciate this.

Standing up...something Ellie really wishes she could do on her own. Well, she can sometimes. One afternoon, I put her down for her usual nap and quickly went to the bathroom for a much needed break. I thought to myself...."hmmmm, that was awfully easy and she's so quiet in there. Must have been a really tired little bump." When I went in to check on her she was standing up in her crib, smiling at me and very proud of herself. I could not help but laugh out loud. Good thing I went to the bathroom first! So you'll see in the slide show, the development of standing up. It starts with grabbing on to something, and pulling up with arms, then kneeling, and before you know it, standing. She pretty much has this down now as long as she has something to hold on to. Won't be long, though, and she'll be able to stand on her own. She has tried several times already. This usually occurs with a proud lift of the buttocks to the ceiling as she crawls along. Won't be long...


Some of you are curious about our new house. We're STILL getting settled. We felt we had to do some fun stuff in the midst of house projects (see pink wall) so we hit the festival scene this summer/fall. Uncle Beaver (Phil) came up for one of these with Lilley (the dog) and Ellie enjoyed the music and people watching. She takes after mommy that way. One thing that is really a bonus with the new house is the amount of space for toys, crawling, and dancing..... Yes, I said dancing. One of Ellie's favorite activities is dancing with Daddy. Their tune of choice... That's Amore, by Dean Martin, sung by Daddy. She laughs and smiles with every note Daddy sings, no matter how flat the note! Doesn't have the same effect when Mommy tries it.

Anyway, that's all for now....enjoy the pics and hopefully we'll get better at keeping up along the way....



Slideshow (click here)

Ellie Crawls!!

Ellie learned to crawl over the weekend. Here is some footage showing cruising around the living room chasing a paint roller. (she also chases floyd, beer, and wall outlets)

I guess we've put off 'baby proofing' the house for long enough. Time to get serious. She's now the 'bump on the run'

Meet Rae!

Meet our daycare provider, Rae from"Rae's Home Daycare."

We found Rae through our friend Jon, and what a lucky find. She is just what we were looking for. Ellie seems to be fond of her, too. They spend the day playing peek-a-boo (one of Ellie's favorites), walking, bouncing, talking, and playing with all Rae's toys. She treats Ellie as if she were her own and for that we are grateful. "Clarkie" is Rae's husband. From what I hear, he and Ellie are ole chums, too. Sometimes when I call, I can hear the bump laughing in the background from Clarkie's antics. He's quite a joker. We missed Rae and Clarkie when they went on vacation last month. We gave Rae a picture of Ellie that she brought with them, they brought Ellie back a pink bear! Thanks Rae and Clarkie! We also want to congratulate them.....won't be long before they have their first grandbaby, with a second not far behind!

New Outfit-

Here are some pics of Ellie wearing the Kimono from Aunt Lori and Uncle Roger. The kimono reminded Kristin of a pair of medical scrubs so she completed the outfit by letting Ellie try out her stethoscope before work.

The rest of the Family Visit....

As usual, we're way behind! Here are some pics from the latter part of the "Family Visit- 8/2006" featuring the trip to the fair as well as other miscellaneous pics.

Slideshow (click here)