A Really Fun Family Day

First of all, I know Veronica is reading this and thinking, "I thought WEDNESDAYS were Family Days!" Well, all our private students cancelled, so today is family day, too! Since its Rosh Hashanah, we didn't have school today. Elliot had her pedi appointment this morning, but we made this afternoon our priority.

We found a nice sounding corn maze out East (at Stakey's Farm), and headed out that way. On the way there, we passed many more corn mazes, but we kept truckin'! I'm so glad we did. We had a really good time going through the maze (pictures to follow). Afterward we bought 3 LARGE mums for only $10! They are beautiful! One is orange, another pink with yellow centers and another dark red with yellow centers. I can't wait to set them up outside with my new pumpkins! On the way home, we stopped by Briarmere Farms to get PIE! Yum! We've never been to Briarmere, but we've had pie from there before. I was shocked to see two lines out the door to buy pies! I got peach/cherry and Davey got strawberry/rhubarb. Elliot enjoyed bites from each. :)

Then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa J's to check out their new porch and skylights. They've had a lot of beautiful work done on their house. It really looks fantastic! Congrats Grandma and Grandpa!

Now we're all settled in for the night, relaxing (Elle's sleeping!) A long wonderful day as a happy family...

Elliot and Mommy with the Baby Bjorn preparing to enter the corn maze:
(P.S. Next time, take Daddy's advice and DON'T wear flip-flops!)


Elli our flower!:


Wait! What are you guys doing to me?


Daisy Mommy:


Crazy Daddy:


Uh-oh! Wrong way!:


Dead end! The right way is not behind this door!:


Daddy took a wrong turn!:


Mommy and her buddy:


Elliot's new Mum.....s:

Happy 15-Month Birthday, Elli!

Elliot is fifteen months old now! She is doing so many things now, its tough to tell what's new!

*She's walking MOST of the time now. She definitely is excited to walk and is testing it out everywhere we go!

*She can tell you what a dog says ("voof"), what a cat says ("rowr!"), what a monkey says ("oo oo oo"), what a cow says ("boo!"), and what a sheep says ("aaaa").

*She can tell you "Duck Duck Goose!" She calls most birds "duck-duck!"

*She says, "Wow!" when something surprises her.

*She has eight teeth.

*She calls shoes "socks." Actually, she does this silly lisp thing when she says it, so she says, "Shocksh."

*She tries to do headstands. She rolls around on the floor, she'll be in gymnastics in a year!

*She loves pillows. She is much more cuddly than she used to be.

*She loves her Baby Bailey, and gives her kisses and pats her back.

*She toots on a recorder. She has also played a real harmonica, and tried the kazoo, but couldn't figure out to sing into it.

***Okay, the stats are in! 20 lbs, 4 oz. (15th %); 29.5 in. (25th%)***

Poop Floats!

That's right! Poop floats in the tub! Unless you have one of those kids who seldom poops solids, then it clouds up the water. That, too. Yuck. Thanks, Elle.

Because of the poo in the tub incident, Elliot has now had her first shower. She didn't like it. Maybe she won't poo in the tub anymore?

I LOVE these one day weeks!

We had a busy Saturday and Sunday as usual. Back at work today. However, this Monday wasn't too hard to bear. Tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday we have no school, because of Rosh Hashanah (Sorry, Amy! And thanks for the correction!). Of course, our days are packed full anyway, but its so nice to go to work for a day and have two more off. We've got school Thursday and Friday, then Monday through Wednesday next week. Mommy has Thursday and Friday and Monday off, Daddy has Thursday and Monday off. Mommy and Ella are flying out to Nana and Poppop's in Ohio on Wednesday after school. Friday evening, they'll pick Daddy up at the airport when he joins them!

Tomorrow is Elliot's 15 month (that's right!) pedi appointment. Updates on weight and height after that. Wednesday we're having a playdate at our house for all our stay-at-home friends that we miss now that we're back to work!

Beautiful One Year Pictures

"Aunt" Vikki comes through for us again! Not only did she watch Elliot on Monday and Tuesday this week, at our house, since Grandma and Grandpa are having a porch put on their house, but she brought the pics from her one year photo shoot. Vik took the pics in our backyard with a black and a white backdrop. Mommy got creative with props (pink duck, pink ball, and red bike - the bike, of course, is even from Aunt Vik!) The pics came out BEAUTIFULLY!!! We're SO EXCITED!

So Long! Farewell!

Goodbye George! And happy birthday!

Today was George's last day. He turns 55 on Sunday.

Now I am officially on my own as the elementary band director. I've been mostly on my own anyway, what with George's multiple (and very sad) family emergencies. But now, he'll be sleeping in on Monday while I am teaching advanced clarinets. :)


We went to his house for a happy hour party today. Elliot was TERRIBLE! She was so tired that she was miserable, thereby making Dave and I miserable. We ended up leaving before we wanted to, but at least we made an appearance!

Family Night

Dave and I have declared Wednesday nights to be "Family Night." I am SO GLAD that we did! Every night he or I or both of us teach lessons, have a rehearsal, and/or have some other event. Wednesdays are nice, because we know we'll be together as a family. We keep it free so its all for us. Tonight, we took the doggies to Petco to get them a couple of new toys, then went on a walk with them when we got home. We stopped by Kim and Sienna's house to say hi, then finished our walk home. We played for a bit then got dinner ready. Ella got ready for bed, and now Dave and I are relaxing.

T.G.I.Wednesday!

Elliot Loves to Read!

Elliot has been spending a lot of her time lately reading books. She has shown a lot of interest in great classics, such as "Moo, Baa, La La La!" and "The Adventures of SuperCat" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." Here are some pics of her reading (she never sits still when she reads), and now there are some videos of her reading on YouTube. Lots of new videos on YouTube!

TGI Friday!

Yay, Friday!

Elliot has been hard to leave in the mornings this week. She cries when I leave Miss V's, but I know she's fine 30 seconds later. I don't know how she is when Dave leaves her at Grandma's. We had quite the rough night earlier this week, too. But today when I picked her up, she was so delightful! She was having a snack of frozen peas and an apple wagon wheel, and she waved and smiled and got all excited, gave me kisses and kept on snacking. She was cuddling Miss V and her two daughters and gave them kisses before we left. So while I know its hard on all of us, I also know she's happy there.

We have a big weekend ahead of us. Tonight I have lessons (which seem not so important now that I'm getting "real" paychecks). Tomorrow, Elli and I are going to go play at the library, then we're going to Kristen's Pig Roast! Sunday, hopefully we can sit around and relax a bit. I thought we were going to a concert, but Dave apologized this morning and told me that its next weekend instead.

Elliot is walking and talking up a storm. Her current record for walking is 11 steps. She is choosing to walk on her own quite often now. Its so exciting! And yesterday morning - I LOVE THIS STORY - she was reading the book "Moo, Baa, La La La!" upside down and pointing to pictures and babbling. I thought it was adorable! I wish had gotten the camera, because she turned the page, pointed to a pic, babbled, then burst into laughter! What a funny girl!

And she's still lavishing us with kisses, hugs, and cuddles!

3:15 AM - Poor girl!

It is now 3:59 AM. Right around 3:15 AM, Elliot woke up crying. I know it is because of transitioning to daycare. I feel awful about it, of course, so I go in to her room to rock and nurse her. She doesn't want to rock, she wants to play. I think she thinks that if she gets up earlier, she'll have more time with us. Ever since we've gone back to work, she's been up between 5 and 5:15, instead of her normal 6 or 6:30. Now, at 4:02, she's still complaining and pausing to hear if David or I are coming. It was 3:30 when I put her back in her crib. I feel terrible because I know this is my fault because I've gone back to work, and she's used to being home. I just want to go in and cuddle and love her, but I know she won't sleep, she just wants to play. I couldn't lay in bed anymore and listen to her. My heart literally aches.

I didn't know it would be this hard.

Snzzz...

The worst part of going back to work is how tired it makes me. Then my time with Elliot is not as quality as I'd like it to be. Bummer.

Thanks a Bundle, Fisher-Price!!!

More scenes from yesterday's fun party!

John and Silas, Elliot and Lizzie:


Gracie playing with the Crawl and Cruise Jungle:


Silas and Mommy Leah playing with the 2-in-1 Learning Kitchen:


Ellen and Jessica playing with the kitchen, Allison and Baby Tramontana hanging out on the chair:


"Aunt" Vik and Elliot (who mostly wanted to eat veggie straws rather than play with her own toys...too much stimulation?):


Kelly and Ethan:


Elliot and Vik:


Kelly and Ethan (worn out after all that playing!):


Elle giving "Aunt" Vik a kiss for taking care of her while Mommy helped the other Mommies and babies:

Yeah, Fisher-Price! A Fun Time Was Had By All!!!

Today was the day of our Fisher-Price House Party! We had a great time! Surprisingly, it was not that chaotic!

We had 11 Mommies and 10 babies there, if you don't count Allison's little girl who will join us in November! I tried posting pics on the HouseParty website (www.houseparty.com), but I can't seem to load them. I am assuming that since there were 1000 Fisher-Price parties today, everyone is trying to post pics and videos. I will post here tonight and try there again tomorrow.

Thanks, Fisher-Price!


Ready....


Set....


Go!!!!


Mommies and Babies Lovin' Fisher-Price!!!


Ethan, Lizzie, and Olivia:


Jessica with the Cruisin' Lion!


Elliot with her Farm Truck:


Kyle and Grace with the Spinning Zoo:


Olivia with the 2-in-1 Learning Kitchen:


MORE TO COME!!!

6 6 7 2

Nana requested more posts :) so here goes!

Elliot took six steps tonight while Dave was teaching a cello lesson. I was so excited! She eventually crawled in to see him, and as I was telling him about it, she did it again! Then later during the same lesson, she took seven! Then I turned my back and turned back around and took two more! The two more at the end were my favorites, though, because we weren't telling her to do it, she just stood up and tried it on her own! Yay, Elli!

We have survived three days of work now. I had no idea HOW EXHAUSTED I would be! And it makes me really sad that I just don't get that much time with her! In order to actually function without losing my mind, I get home and make our lunches for the next day, iron David's clothes for the next day, restock the diaper bag, set up the coffee maker, and do laundry. Then I make dinner, we eat, Elli plays a little bit, then goes to bed. Wow, I miss that kid already! At least she did well both at Grandma & Grandpa's house and at Veronica's house.

I thought my job would be much less stressful, as I don't actually have students yet, and George hasn't actually retired yet. Today, which was to be a stressful day to start with, became MUCH more stressful when George called nice and early to tell me that his BIL (Brother-in-Law for all you non-bloggers) passed away, and he wouldn't be in today or tomorrow. I was left to handle everything today, and I need to run out and get a card for George!

Elliot's off to bed, Dave is painting in the basement where we cut holes into the wall to run wires, and I'm about to continue getting ready for the Fisher-Price party to be held Saturday. During the hurricane! (It shouldn't be that bad, and the bad weather won't hit 'til Saturday night, or so they say right now...) Instead of 6 or 8 Moms and babies, and hoping for 10, I now have around 14 or 15 I think! Much more work than I had intended but PLENTY of fun! I can't wait! It's so close!

*Sniff Sniff* Denial Over

Well, I have put it off this long. It is Monday night before I go back to work on Tuesday morning for the first time in fourteen months. I am so lucky to have had that time. But as I put my angel to bed tonight (I rocked her and sang to her and she fell asleep in my arms), I couldn't help but think that she could be a different kid than this. I always told myself that she is such a happy, loving kid because she is surrounded by her parents showering happiness and love on her. I know the folks watching her will be loving with her, too, but they're not her parents! I hope I still have my sweet girl when this is over. Its a good thing I got ready all day to go back to work, because now I'm wreck!

I had managed to be in denial about returning to work until this evening. This will easily be the hardest thing I've ever done.