Back home in Indiana!!!

Best. Trip. Ever.  I was able to take Ellie back to Indiana for 3 1/2 weeks and it was awesome!  Landen was able to join us for the first week and I was so glad he had vacation time and was able to go.  We had so much fun.  My parents showed us a great time!!!  They gave us a real vacation and it was much needed.  We packed so much into that first week since Landen was there too.  It started out with a family party with all of my siblings.  It is always great to get together with everyone.  All my nieces and nephews are getting so big.  It's ridiculous.  We had a blast just hanging out and talking and playing games. 

Ellie's First Plane Ride:  She did awesome!!!  On the way home I was alone with her and she was perfect.  The people sitting around me said they had never seen a baby not cry on a plane.  Good job, Ellie!

Family Time!  PIT is a must...and it gets crazy!

Mom and Dad took us on a roadtrip and it was awesome!  I love that Dad is old school and uses maps still :)  We headed to Illinois to visit Carthage Jail and Nauvoo first. It was so great to be able to visit these historical church sites again, it's been a long time for me.  It was Landen's first time.  I'm so grateful we were able to go.  I love the Spirit you feel in these places.  It always strengthens my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the early members of the Church.  I'm so grateful for the sacrifices they made so that we can have the Gospel today.  We are so blessed!  My favorite part was going to the Nauvoo Temple to do a session.  Dad was kind and stayed with Ellie at the hotel so Mom, Landen and I could go.  It was beautiful!!!  This has become one of my favorite temples.  It is gorgeous on the inside.  Wow.  What an incredible opportunity to go!

We then headed to Chicago for a Cubs Game!  Oh it was so great to be at Wrigley Field again.  Another first for Landen.  The weather was perfect!  Ellie had a blast too!  She is so darn cute.  Of course the Cubs lost...in the 9th inning...I would not expect anything else!

From Chicago we drove to Michigan to Aunt Ellen and Uncle Dale's to spend the night.  The next day we went to Columbia City to Aunt Carol and Uncle Mike's for a family party.  Ellie finally got to meet her Great Grandma Barrell.  4 Generations :)  I'm so glad Grandma got to see Ellie, I'm not sure when the next time will be.  We also got to meet baby Claire!!! (Goeff and Chelsey's little girl)  Ellie wasn't sure what to do with her...  It was  really fun day with family.

I always have to get a few pictures of HOME.  It is gorgeous this time of year!

I was able to go visit Theresa and we took a few laps around the lake on the boat.  It was beautiful!  It was so good to catch up!  I love hanging out with good friends.  A few days later I got together with Theresa, Nikki, Kelly and Linda for some card action!  It's not a trip home without a good game of Shanghi Rummy!!!

The last Saturday I was home we watched Bailey, Camryn and Parker and they spent the night.  We had so much fun.  I still can't believe they are getting so big!  We played battleship, foosball, arcade basketball, Spot It, Guesstures and Word on the Street!  Such a fun night.  Those girls are crazy!

This next picture is significant because Grandpa kept trying to feed Ellie solid food!  Ha!

Well, I was so sad this trip came to an end.  Seriously sad.  I love being home with my family.  I'm so grateful I was able to be there for so long this time.  What a blessing it was.  I figured if I was spending the money on a plane ticket I might as well make it worth my while.  And it was totally worth it!  Thanks, Mom and Dad for making it such a great trip!  We love and miss you!

Ellie ~ 5 Months Old

Weight: 15 pounds 3 ounces

Height:  26 1/4 inches

Ellie is so fun right now! 
* She has found my hair...and likes to grab it. OUCH!
* Ellie has been obsessed with my mouth lately.  Especially when I'm putting her to bed or whenever she's tired.  She likes to grab at my mouth.  It is the cutest thing.
* She's becoming a lot more vocal.  I love having little "conversations" with her...yeah, we just make noises back and forth.  It's pretty brilliant.  And her volume is increasing, I think she is starting to realize SHE is making that noise.
* She's starting to recognize people more.  One day we were at Landen's parents' and Grandpa Wayne was holding her and she started crying and looking for me :(  Sad.
* She still hadn't rolled from her stomach to her back very much until last week.  Now she does it all the time and it helps her move around the room...I can't believe she's getting semi-mobile!
* When she's on her stomach she's started to push herself around...but she goes backward!  It's quite funny.  She ended up halfway under the couch one day! 

I realized that she hasn't made huge strides on anything, but I just love watching her develop day by day.  It's fun to see her change every day.  One day she can't sit up by herself, the next she'll do it for a few seconds.  It's pretty great.  As much as I wish she would stop growing so fast I totally enjoy watching her grow!  I am so grateful for her.

Feeling domestic...

This week I've been trying to get a lot of things done around the house before I leave for 4 weeks to Indiana.  In the midst of my list of things to do my neighbor was nice and brought us fresh corn on the cob.  AH!  There was obviously no way we could eat it all before we left so I decided to freeze it. And I had to document it.  It made me feel quite domestic.  Look at me go!  It was actually really easy to do :)  Now we'll have freezer corn!  I have to admit that I wish it was corn from Indiana, but hey, I'll take what I can get!

Happy 3rd Anniversary

We actually went out for our anniversary this year!  Nita came over and watched Ellie for us so we could have a baby free night.  It was nice to go out on a real date.  We went mini golfing at this new place in Providence and it was really fun.  Landen kicked my butt.  I'll admit it.  Next time I'll get him!  It was overcast and a little windy which was so nice because it was the perfect temperature outside, that made it that much better :)  Then we went out to dinner.  We couldn't decide where to go, big surprise!  Jokingly I suggested Chuck-A-Rama but then it actually was a great idea because then we didn't have to decide on a certain type of food, we could have whatever we wanted!  What sealed the deal was when Landen saw the sign that said it was shrimp night.  He was so happy!  It ended up being delicious.  Glad we went there.  We stopped at Sam's Club on our way home.  Lame, I know.  But hey, it was just nice to be able to go into a store without a baby!  It was much quicker.  Anyway.  It was a good night to just be out together!

I'm so grateful for Landen!  He's been such a great husband.  He puts up with my craziness and emotional rollercoasters...I'm glad he's so laid back.  He definitely is my better half.  He's such a great Dad to Ellie, I love watching them together!  Words just don't really express what he means to me.  I'm one lucky girl to have him for eternity!  Happy 3rd Anniversary.  I love you, babe!

Let's have us some rice cereal!

This weekend I finally got brave enough to start feeding Ellie rice cereal.  I was back and forth on starting her since we're going to Indiana for a month, but then I figured while we're gone I can feed her when I can and days when we're out and busy I won't worry about it and she'll be fine.  So the adventure began yesterday! 

We got her down to her diaper and in the bumbo with a nice big bib on, I even put a towel down on the floor underneath her...I figured this would be messy.  I'm grateful for my preparation :)  She did pretty good considering it was the first go around.  Ellie was not too sure of it at first!  Not at all.  Her face says it all in the pictures.  Day one was okay, introduction to something new always takes some time.  Tonight when we tried it again she was much more interested!  Yeah!  It was hilarious to watch her try to work her tongue...she'll get the hang of it.  But we had much more success.  Eventually she'll have the attention span to eat the whole bowl.  For now I just pour what she doesn't eat in a bottle with some more formula and let her finish eating that way.  It was so fun to see her enjoy eating today!  My baby girl is growing up too fast...

More of Day One:

More of Day Two:



It's starting...

NOOOO!!!  It is starting, Ellie is becoming mobile.  She's not crawling yet by any means, but she is well on her way.  I'm not ready for this...luckily she face plants when she pushes up with her feet! This weekend she has amazed me.  We'll look away for a few seconds and when we turn back she's in a different spot and usually turned at least 180 degrees!  You sit there and think, how did she get there?!  I tried to document it as much as I could.  She changes so much every day.  It is crazy how that happens.  She literally could not roll from her stomach to her back one day and the next day she could do it over and over.  It's craziness.  But anyway, I thought this development deserved a post of its own :)  These were from yesterday and today: