Easter Sunday: Round 1

We had a really great Eater that consisted of hanging with Mamaw, Uncle Shawn, Sandra, and Uncle Chiz, eating a LOT, easter egg hunts and eating some more. Shawn came over Saturday afternoon to get some food prepped for the next day and Lily loved being the kitchen helper. She was especially good and helping "Unka Kan" snapping the fresh green beans. Now I may be slightly biased, but it really was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. Go on, see for yourself...

We also stopped by to see our Godson and Lily's cousin, Peter Aaron. Seeing them together is so adorable, Peter Aaron watches Lily with the most loving eyes and Lily loves to help him with his binky. They really are so sweet together, they definitely remind me of a young Holly and Brynt. 

Easter morning was much more interactive than last year. It's so crazy to think of how different things were just one short year ago: 

We spent the morning at church listening to a great service and Lily had fun in the nursery. 

When we got home Shawn and Sandra were slaving away in the kitchen preparing us a delicious Easter breakfast. It was truly amazing, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. While everyone was busy cooking, Lily was busy covering her arm in her Easter stickers. 

After that everyone needed a nap, then Lily opened her Easter baskets from Mamaw and had a lot of fun doing it. 

 One of her favorite presents were the peeps, or as Lily calls them, cookies. 

 I wasn't planning on doing our Easter egg hunt outside because it was cold and raining when we left for church, but only in Michigan does it become warm and sunny in a few short hours. She did a great job and loved looking for more eggs. After she had found them all I started sneaking them out of her basket so she could keep looking for them because she had so much fun doing it. 

This video shows what it's like when there is only one small child in the family. She definitely had her fair share of attention that day!

 After the hunt we came in and relaxed for a bit then started on dinner! Everyone worked together to make another really awesome meal. Needless to say we were all stuffed and tired.

That didn't stop us from enjoying dessert, however. It's Easter, come on! I actually ventured into baking because Brynt really wanted to try a mango carrot cake recipe we had seen in Better Homes and Gardens.  Obviously it didn't come out like the one in the magazine but it was edible so I consider that an accomplishment for myself :)

All-in-all it was a really awesome Easter with great family. We can't wait to do it again in a few weeks with the Schroeder/Zeunen clan.

10 years and 18 months

Wow, so I started writing this blog entry about a month ago... shows how reliable my brain has been lately. Yikes. Nonetheless, it's still worth sharing :)

We celebrated two big milestones at the beginning of March: the 2nd of the month was Lily's 18 month birthday (I know, she was born on August 30th but February only has 28 days so I declared it to be March 2nd) and the 3rd was Brynt and I's 10 year dating anniversary.

We had been trying to plan a night, just the two of us since Lily was about a year old but it never worked out until now so we took that to mean we should go all out and spend our first night away from Lily celebrating our anniversary. We've been through the typical up's and down's of a relationship, but have also been thrown a few extra curve balls that have brought us closer together and made us stronger than ever. We thought that deserved to be celebrated. We got a hotel suite at Weber's in Ann Arbor and enjoyed a bottle of champagne, the poolside room, hot tub, and their incredibly nice restaurant and bar. It was the perfect night away, especially because Lily exceeded all of my expectations and eased all of my worries about being away from her.

 After our weekend away we spent a nice quiet day together on the third (the actual day of our anniversary) treating ourselves to Panera for dinner and a special cookie cake to celebrate our milestones. Lily particularly enjoyed the icing. After we put the babe down to bed we enjoyed our cookie cake with a glass of wine and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which was the movie we saw on our first date. It was the perfect way to wrap up such a momentous occasion and I'm so looking forward the the next one!

A day in the life of a 19 month old

Lily is almost 19 months old and I got some decent footage of what a low-key day is like in her life. She is still babbling away, learning new words every day and continues to be a silly little girl. Enjoy!

Silly Lily Moment

I have decided to start posting the random things Lily does because they are always so silly! I haven't hung out with a ton of babies, so I'm not sure if they all do stuff like this, but I figured it's best to document it just in case.

Yesterday she found a few cough drops by my bedside and I let her hold them because she didn't try to put them on her mouth. She went over to play with an old small chest of mine with lots of drawers and one of the knobs comes off so she thought it was fun to put the knob and her cough drops in the drawers. It didn't get really interesting, however, until she found the dryer sheet in the closet and proceeded to wrap up her "prizes" inside of said dryer sheet repeatedly. I had asked her in a soft and slightly amazed voice, "Wow, Lily, what's in there?" so she kept using soft surprised voice gibber gabber every time she reopened the dryer sheet full of cough drops and a knob. She's pretty cute, what can I say?!

Look what I can do!

I haven't updated Lily's progress in a while, so I thought I had better document some of the super cute things she is doing now or I will soon forget.

I'm deciding her first real sentence was, "All better!" (or as Lily would say "Ahh bebba"). Her vocabulary has expanded so much since I wrote about things like this, I could fill this blog with the new words and phrases she says. Some of my favorites have to be please (pea) and thank you (ank yew) because they make me so proud when she uses them! By far her favorite words to say are the names of her immediate family members, which is so sweet because she loves them all so much.  

She knows hot and cold and will say "tahhh" with her hand out in front of her when something is hot and "brrrr" when she feel something cold.
She can say "I don't know" (aye nuh nuh with hand out to the side), "where are you" (ah yew), "another one" (ah nuh nuh nuh), "all done" (ah duh) and the list goes on.
She can say a multitude of words that I won't bother listing here but for some reason she can not say "milk." She calls it "gna" which is slowly progressing into a "no" sound which I can't figure out for the life of me.
She loves loves loves to make animal noises. I can show her almost any animal and she doesn't usually say what the animal is but will make the noise it makes. The exception now being that all elephants are apparently Dumbo, but the elephant was the first animal noise she learned and she's been doing it for so long now that I let that one go. She also says puppy for dog and pippo for hippo.

 Her favorite movies are Dumbo and Aristocats because she loves elephants and cats (and those were the movies I didn't mind watching repeatedly).  You can tell we had watched this movie pretty much continuously the whole time she was sick because she started memorizing parts of it. In this video she is watching her favorite part of Aristocats where Berleous slides the keys and pinches Marie's tail so she says, "Mama he did it again!" in which Lily simultaneously says, "Mama!" Burleous then sulks saying, "tattletale" and Lily says the same. They then go on to sing their scales and arpeggios. She usually says the parts before they do, but she was distracted by the camera. 

She has become increasingly interested in potty related things and is always changing her stuffed animal's diapers. Here you can see her thoroughly wipe and then diaper the bear. We attempted potty training for about a week but she seemed uninterested. She also has terribly dry skin and ended up scratching herself until she bled so we are keeping her fully clothed until we can get that under control.

This is just a snippet of some of the random things she does throughout the day. I had her help me with potatoes the other day at dinner and she loved it. So the next day I gave her the leftovers to put in a bowl and stir while I cooked. I noticed at one point that she was no longer at my feet, which was strange, so I peeked around the corner to find her burying the potatoes under a pile of pillows, play with something else for a few minutes, then throw the pillows off to rearrange them slightly. 

The list of things she can do truly feels endless, everything she does makes me laugh (well almost everything...) and everything she says is adorable. I'm sure I will think of a million things more and will hopefully remember to write them here! 

Suddenly

This song spoke to my heart this evening and I feel it says it all. 

Suddenly- Les Miserables

Suddenly I see

Suddenly it starts

When two anxious hearts 

Beat as one.

Yesterday I was alone

Today you walk beside me

Something still unclear

Something not yet here

Has begun.

Suddenly the world 

Seems a different place

Somehow full of grace

Full of light.

How was I to know

That so much hope

Was held inside me?

What is past is gone

Now we journey on

through the night.

How was I to know at last

That happiness can come so fast?

Trusting me the way you do

I'm so afraid of failing you.

Just a child who cannot know 

That danger follows where I go

There are shadows everywhere

And memories I cannot share.

Nevermore alone

Nevermore apart

You have warmed my heart

Like the sun.

You have brought the gift of life

And love so long denied me.

Suddenly I see

What I could not see

Something suddenly 

Has begun.

We're sick

This winter seems to be plaguing us much more than usual with sickness. We can't seem to evade it for more than a few days and had our biggest scare the other night when we took Lily to the ER for the first time. She had a high fever for over 24 hours that we couldn't seem to get down; we tried tylenol, cold baths, ice, cool rags and nothing seemed to work. She had finally fallen asleep in my arms watching Dumbo around 7:30 p.m. so I laid her in her crib and she awoke several times within the next half hour. Brynt suggested we take her temperature and thank goodness we did because it was at 105.2. I quickly threw her in a cold bath while Brynt called the doctor. I knew having a high fever was not good but I wasn't entirely sure why so that uncertainty pared with my daughter sitting in a cold bath crying, "Momma, Mommy" weakened my resolve to be strong and brave for her. Tears ran down my face as I watched her so miserable and felt her skin so hot. A few minutes later Brynt came in and said to take her out, the doctor said we need to get to the ER immediately. I had imagined this scenario in my mind before, as I'm sure most mother's have, and of course it didn't happen the way it had in my mind. The fear was there but I had a goal to get my daughter to the hospital as safely, quickly, and calmly as possible and it was this goal that did not let the fear overcome me. I will admit the calmness did not last as I sat in the backseat taking in everything that is wonderful about my Lily when Brynt told me to make sure she stayed responsive. The looming feelings that came from that statement sent a few more tears cascading down my cheeks as I sat contemplating the possible scenarios we would encounter that night.

We pulled up to the Children's ER and I was pleased to see there was no wait and the staff were pleasant and calming. Some of the fears came flooding back as she cried my name when they put her identification wrist band on but things were happening quickly so I didn't really have time to process that. An attending came in right away and told us she would have to have an IV to rehydrate her and they would give her Motrin as it tends to work better and last longer (we were surprised to hear this as we did not even know she could have Motrin at her age.) Then the doctor came in and said he didn't want an IV because he wanted to see if the motrin worked well enough that she could rehydrate herself but he did want to put in a catheter to check for a UTI and do an xray to check for pneumonia. Of course this frightened the daylights out of me as she lost it every time they listened to her lungs and couldn't even stand the pulse monitor on her toe. By the grace of God all they ended up doing was the catheter which only lasted a few seconds and that was the only time I wasn't able to hold her, even then I was right by her side. That came back clear and once the motrin kicked in she drank quite a bit of milk and fell asleep. The doctor said she had taken in enough fluids and her lungs sounded good, we only ended up being there three hours with minimal testing and invasiveness.

I have built up quite a tolerance for uneasiness over the years, I can usually watch gory bloody shows, listen to descriptive nurse talk during a meal and have changed my fair of rank diapers without blinking an eye. After my baby was tucked into bed and I myself laid down to rest, however, I was surprised to find myself quite queasy from the night's events. The ups and downs of motherhood continue to surprise me as I'm sure they always will. For now I thank God that my daughter is safe, healthy and has quite successfully experienced her first ER visit.

The lulling effects of proper medication in the ER

 

A Day in the Life of Lily

I thought I'd post some of the random goings-on of our day-to-day life here in the Ellis home. I don't post often so when I do it's usually about big events, but it's the every day things I want to cherish here.

I didn't see her actually doing this until she was done, 

but one minute I was doing dishes and the next I had

looked over and saw her carefully place the last balloon on 

the bottom step, then gently sit down in the small opening

she had clearly left for herself. I almost feel silly to write it, 

but I have to admit it was a proud Mommy moment.

Not only did she have to place them there so they would stay,

she put them in a row and even left a spot for herself.

That's my girl!

She has recently rediscovered her love for bananas, but she will

only eat one if she can carry it around. Don't even try

to put her in a high chair with a banana. I can't say I mind

as a banana is at least a healthy snack, the only problem is she

loves to sit on the couch (suede does not agree with bananas) 

and lay on our large, hairy and always shedding Sophie

while she eats it. This results in a lot of consumed dog

hair, but she finds so much joy in it, and I don't think

Sophie minds either. (And yes, that is a tattoo on her belly.

I put it on in one of those "I will do anything to get you to

stop whining right now" moments.)

 Winter is long and cold. I didn't realize how much 

we participated in outside activities during the summer 

until it became so cold, wet and rainy. 

In a moment of panicked boredom I 

found a website that has fun craft ideas for kids

Lily's age. The first one we decided to try was paint

because it was easiest and most accessible. She obviously 

loved it because it's colorful and messy (her two favorite things).

She wanted to do more, but I wanted to save some of the other

colors for later and that kind of paint was not cheap.

 Luckily I found a recipie for "edible" finger paint that 

we are going to try next. 

We have yet to try that, however, as soon after she got the flu and an

ear infection, but be looking out for more crafty pictures!

Night Night
Cheese

Lily has been trying on our shoes for quite a while now, but it wasn't until the other day she actually got both of her feet in and was able to walk around. She expirimented first in my shoes, then in Daddy's when he got home. I picked the top two pictures because her faces are so funny. The one on the left she is saying "night night" (her binkie and blankie and called night night's) and in the left one she is saying "cheese". She is silly. The one on the bottom in Daddy's shoes is her normal "cheese" face, though.

And last, but certainly not least, are the dance parties.

We like to clear the living room, turn up the music

and just let loose. We taught her how to "raise the roof"

which is depicted in this picture here. :)

Things that happened in December besides Christmas

While we all know most of December is filled with gift shopping, Christmas parties and baking, I was able to capture a few other moments on film as well. 

Even though Brynt's birthday is two days after Christmas we were still able to get a few people out of their post-Christmas exhaustion to come celebrate. We had a delicious dinner at the Pizza House, Harry Potter cookie cake from Mrs. Fields and homemade butter beer. Oh, and also awesome Gryffindor scarf. Anyone notice a theme?

Snow

Lily got to truly experience her very first snow. I'm not sure how kids usually feel about it, but she loves the stuff. Kicking it, rolling in it, and mostly eating it. I must admit, there aren't too many things that can take me back to my childhood like eating a big ball of snow does. I knew the snow would be too deep for her to walk in and we didn't have any sleds handy, but I was determined to find a substitute and managed to come up with this inflatable pool we had hidden away from this summer and alas, a sled is born! Well, it was good enough for Lily at least. She pretty much refused to get out until we offered to pull her around in her wagon instead. 

Silly Lily Moments

Here are just some other odds and ends moments.

I was making a tray for New Years Eve with olives and of course Lily had to try one. I was surprised when she ate it and actually asked for another. So I obviously had to teach her what every awesome kid does with whole olives; put them on her fingers. She then proceeded to put all four in her mouth at the same time, then spit them all over the carpet after being chewed to bits. 

Accessorizing

She wasn't a fan of me trying to eat my breakfast all by my lonesome, 

so she likes to sit by me and help me eat it now. 

Just a snippet of what our nap times have been like.

I won't even get into that.

I was so excited when she finally started eating her yogurt on her own.

It's amazing how much more I can get done when she feeds herself. 

She has recently, however, taken to using her hands to eat her yogurt. 

The spoon being a simple accessory in her hand. Needless to say,

that's been interesting. I will have to post a video of that next time. 

This is just too cute not to share. She loves her Pop Pop.