Grant County Fair

Last weekend we made the annual trip to the Grant County Fair, but it was Ellie's first trip! I made sure to have a spaceburger, but didn't think to get a picture of all of its yummyness!

Ellie went to look at all the farm animals. Having had a bit of experience at Auntie Sherry's, we thought we would go look at the chickens (which she hated at Sherry's). She did much better, but still a bit apprehensive about them. Then we checked out the turkeys. That was not such a good experience. She cried and cried, as you can see in the picture. The pigs got the same reaction, and the cows she was nervous about (similar to the chickens). But we had a great time!

So Smart!

Several weeks ago, Ellie really started rolling to get around. She rolls all across the living room, back and forth. Well the other day I left her for 30 seconds, and this is what I came back to find.....smart girl.

9 Months Old

Well hard to believe, but little Ellie is 9 months old today! We had her checkup on Monday and she's still petite. 14.5 lbs (1%ile), 27.25 inches (43%), and her head circumfrence is 17cm (29%). All and all a pretty good checkup.

We visited a new doctor since this is her first checkup in Spokane. Needless to say we will be on the hunt for someone for her 1 year checkup. Ellie had such a special relationship with her doctor in Seattle. She would smile at him and laugh, plus you could really see the genuine care he had for her in the way he held her. This was almost a 180 difference. Ellie pulled away from this doctor (actually an ARNP), and she (ARNP) didn't even want to hold or pick up Ellie. Just different styles of practice I guess.

In terms of development Ellie has made such strides this month. She is rolling all over the place! Not just one or two rolls, but literally covering the entire distance of the family room, turning and going back. She is also really starting to have noticable imitations of words. Kitty is one of those that you could swear actually sounds like kitty - she loves them. She also has sorta started to wave hi/bye, but only when she feels like it. She said straight up da-da, when she was playing with Jared, not just rambling da-da-da-da like before. I am certain that we will see more crawling attempts soon, since she has gone back to childcare (a nanny who also watches a 1 year old) so she can keep up with her.

Family Gathering

This past weekend we got together with my dad's cousins primarily to go through some family photos that my grandmother had. Growing up I could always remember going to Quincy and hanging out with Great-Grandma Ted, Grandma K, her brother John, and then the cousins, and 2nd cousins. We haven't really gotten together with them since Uncle John turned 75 (which I think was 5 or 6 years ago). Even though all the 2nd cousins couldn't be there, we had a great time. Brady and his wife had just had a baby girl, Mia, just a week or so earlier, and Ryan is deployed in the middle east and I think Curran is also deployed.

Here's a picture of the second cousins, plus Ellie and Jared.


Ellie showing off her hair, long enough to sport a clip.

Oops - our bad....

So Tuesday had an interesting and scary start for us! As we were getting ready, I headed out to the car to grab something and realized we left the garage door open over night. Of course the car was unlocked since the door is usually closed. As I opened the car, I noticed the glove box was opened and the contents of the jockey box were on the passenger seat. At first I thought, did Jared dig for something last night and then realized what happened. After going through the contents of the car we thought only the change container was missing (about 10 bucks). Jared started to pull out of the driveway and then it clicked.....my work computer and my wallet were in the car and now missing!! Let's start with how this all came to happen.....

Yesterday I got home with Ellie and realized that the garage door wouldn't open. We went in through the front door and then left later to go to the grocery store. Jared got home (both cars parked in driveway) and we troubleshooted the issue (ended up being a tripped outlet). I unloaded the groceries into the house through the front door and subsequently forgot about my wallet and computer in trying to fix the garage. Jared pulled the car in, leaving the jeep outside. Then that evening I thought Jared asked me to get the keys so he could pull it in and he infact asked me to do it - a pretty bizarre set of occurences to end up with the cars outside in the first place.

Now to the contents of my wallet....no cash, debit card, credit cards, gift card for babies r us, starbucks gift card, rewards cards, drivers license, and to top it off, something that I NEVER, EVER carry with me....my social security card! Yup, I had just taken it to work that day to fill out my I-9. Great!

Fortunately there was nothing else from the garage taken and even more thankful that we were not hurt as the door into the house was unlocked. Needless to say we will certainly be changing the way we head to bed at night. After 2 hours on the phone cancelling credit cards, calling the credit bureau and dealing with work about my computer and then a 1 hour and 45 min wait at the DOL, I do not want to have to do this ever again!

Back to Daycare

Last Thursday was my first day of work back at Moss Adams. Ellie got to hang out with Grandma Cindy for the morning! They met daddy for lunch and then we had a nice afternoon of shopping! Friday, Cindy had to be back in ML for an appointment, so she just took Ellie with her since we were going to be headed there that afternoon anyways. She had a fun time with Cousins Carter and Case!!

Monday was her first day back at a child care place. We were referred to a nanny from a friend from high school who uses her on the weekend. So far so good! She is soo great with Ellie and only has one other child (besides her 6 year old) that she nannys for. Plus her house is only a couple blocks from us!! Huge perk.

The only challenge so far has been that Ellie is refusing to go back to taking a bottle, or try a sippy cup. She actually fights you, pushing the bottle away with force! Crazy how strong she is for such a tiny thing. Teresa (the nanny) keeps trying and each day Ellie is getting a little bit of milk more. Fortunately for her, Ellie doesn't get irritable without her milk. She just gets some solids to supplement the 1 oz of milk she'll take and she's only missing one feeding since I am working part-time. Eventually we will get there and let me tell you, never will I stop giving her a bottle again!

Here's a cute picture of her and the other little girl playing!

Ponytail

Check out my ponytail!! Soooo cute....