What's new with Ella?

She's walking!

Last Thursday, January 29th, she started practicing how to stand up on her own. Later that evening after Craig got home from work, she took off! She's so proud of herself and giggles when she falls. It's so cute!

I'll post a video soon. Sadly, my camera dropped out of my bag at Brian and Amy's house last weekend. Apparently, as I leaned into the car to buckle Ella in her car seat, the camera fell onto the road. Tragically, somebody, who could have been us, ran over it! Thankfully, the memory card and battery are still salvagable. I should be able to post a video in the next few days.

Sadly, I won't be taking pictures until we get our camera replaced. It stinks to be in the market for a new camera again, especially since we just bought that one less than a year ago!

Welcome

Whether you come in to visit or just rest, when you enter our home may you be blessed! -- unknown

We are blessed to have such loving and supportive family, friends, and neighbors. My wish is that you always feel welcomed to our home. I desire to have an open heart in which I spend time cultivating deep, meaningful relationships with those around me. I believe that as we live in community with each other, we grow individually into a more purposeful and fulfilling life.

Don't worry about calling ahead or planning in advance; stop by whenever you have the chance. I can't promise you that my house will be spotless or that my children are behaving like perfect angels or that I'm beauty-pageant ready, but you're welcomed just the same.

If you're someone who's just stumbled upon my blog, thank you for visiting and sharing life with us. I'd love for you to leave a comment so that I have the privilege of knowing you.

So come on in and make yourself at home!

Flashback Friday

Christmas '06, Santa brought Nolan a piano. I happened to have a tuxedo that my nephew, Cyle, wore to our wedding, so I decided to dress Nolan up in the tux to take some pictures of him playing his piano.

Nolan at nine months:

Christmas Baking Extravaganza '08

Better late than never; right?

Every year, my mom and her daughters get together for a Christmas cookie baking day. This tradition stems back to when my grandmother and her daughters and daughter-in-laws would bake together. Sometimes, their baking day turned into a baking weekend in which they would make cookies and candy several days in a row!

We kicked off our baking day with a toast to kick off our fun day together. (It was early in the morning, so forgive us! Left to right: Julie, Mom, Rebecca, Brittain)


This year, Nolan and Keith enjoyed helping quite a bit. They had their own aprons, baking dishes, and utensils. They were big helpers! (And, of course, we kept their cookies to the side, designated as "the kids' cookies."


My mom has learned how to make Swedish coffee bread, which is a tradition on my dad's side. His mom always made this special bread for every holiday. It's a fond memory of mine, and I'm proud that my mom has chosen to carry on that tradition. (It's very time consuming and tedious to make!) In fact, since the recent passing of my grandmother, I'm even more grateful that we will still have Swedish coffee bread to enjoy and fondly remember Grandma Kling.


John, Britt, and Ella. Even Miss Ella got to help this year. Although, most of her "helping" was just watching. I know she'll be right in the middle of it next year!


Rebecca, Bryan, and Keith. As you could see in the previous picture and this one, the guys participated, too. Although they weren't baking all day, they joined in on occasion.


Nolan had such a great time! He loved the gingerbread cookies this year!


After all was said and done, we spent about 10 hours baking that day. We had a ton of cookies to share, and each family had more than Santa could possibly eat during his brief stop at their house.




What a great time together. I'm grateful for traditions that create wonderful memories. As I have memories of participating in baking days with my mom, grandmother, aunts and cousins, I hope Ella will look forward to this tradition and choose to continue it with her future family.

Ear Tubes

Miss Ella has battled ear infections since she was about four months old. This last infection lasted about eight weeks! Finally, on Friday, January 9, 2009, she had tubes put in to help the fluid in her ears drain.

As of Friday afternoon, you would have never known she was under any kind of anesthesia that morning, much less undergoing surgery. It seems as though her hearing is a bit more accute. She's never been a big fan of the vacuum cleaner, but yesterday, she scooted away in double time! It must have sounded a good deal louder to her now that the fluid that was making her hearing muffled was gone.

Dr. J. Mark Palmer of Cook Children's did a fantastic job. We had complete peace with placing our sweet angel in his care.

This is a fun picture of Ella just before they wheeled her away for surgery. She already had the "goofy juice" they give the babies to relieve the separation anxiety before they're taken away for surgery. Now, if only I could have convinced the nurse to give some of that to me!


Once the "goofy juice" really set in, she became very relaxed, humming to herself, and was a bit funny to watch. I took a video so that I could show Craig how she was acting, and I thought I'd share it with you. (Only one parent could go back to the pre-surgery area, so Craig let me go, and he waited in the waiting room.)


A big thank you to Aunt Amy and Brooke who were such troopers Friday morning. They were at our house before 6:30 so we could take off with Ella. Nolan had a great time playing with Brooke and Aunt Amy. Thank you for helping us out!

The Upside of Sick Babies

I definitely do not enjoy having anybody in my family sick, especially my babies. Unfortunately, for nearly the past five weeks, someone has been sick, and most of the time it's been Ella's ear infections.

Yesterday was yet another trip to our pediatrician to find out both Nolan and Ella have bronchiolitis, which requires breathing treatments for both of them every two to three hours. And Ella's ears are still not clear!

I snapped this picture of Nolan yesterday taking his "dinosaur medicine." I still don't have a picture of Ella because she screams bloody murder while taking her treatment, so she's been a bit more difficult.



It's so easy to focus on the negative things in life. As I've been getting more sleep than I know what to do with exhausted beyond belief, I stopped for a minute and realized that I was getting sucked into the negativity and allowing myself to wallow in a pity party. I decided to pick myself up and reverse my thinking.

If my babies have to be sick, these are the things I cherish about this time:

I feel and am told I'm needed more during sickness than during any other time.
"Mama, 'hole' you, 'hole' you." This is what Nolan begs of me during most of our waking hours when he's not feeling up to par.
As Nolan and Ella take their breathing treatments, it forces me to sit on the couch and relax with them.
I enjoy quietly cuddling and caressing Nolan's and Ella's hair.
While Nolan takes his treatment, I whisper, "I love you, Nolan." He then returns with, "Lush you, Mama."
Allowing my babies to fall asleep in my arms. What a special time!
The feeling of giving all of myself to my babies that I love so much.
Remembering that as much as I may feel sorry for myself, there are those that have much more difficult situations to deal with, and with time, this will pass.
I'm evermore grateful that I'm able to stay home to nurture and care for my babies.

As tired as Craig and I may get, we realize that the day will come soon enough that Nolan and Ella will be grown and need a different kind of loving care. I will make the best of it, thank God for my blessings, and cherish the sweet moments of my days.

Fall

I absolutely love the fall! I love the smell of cooler weather in the air, leaves changing, pumpkin carving, beginning to prep for the holidays, etc. I'm sure some of my love for this season could have to do with the fact that my birthday is in the fall and so is the State Fair of Texas, which is special to me and Craig. (He proposed to me on the ferris wheel back in '02.)

I almost let the season fly past me without taking pictures of the kids playing in the leaves. Since it was so nice yesterday, I raked a few big piles and let them enjoy the beauty of the fallen leaves.


My raked piles didn't last too long, but they had such a great time!

"Mom, I'm not so sure I'd like to have leaves for lunch today if that's all right with you."

Nolan and Ella are interacting more and more these days. They truly enjoy each other's company!

"Mom, no more pictures, please. Don't you think you've taken enough for today?"


Growing up in Illinois, I fondly remember raking leaves into huge piles, jumping in them, throwing them, and enjoying the outside playtime! I also remember the smell of burning leaves, which, to me, just makes the season complete.