6 months and some nights away from home

This past Monday Elli celebrated her 6 month birthday! She is growing so quickly and enjoys playing with anything that is put in front of her face! She is able to get up on all fours, but hasn't figured out how to move her arms and legs to crawl. I can't imagine how busy she'll be once she figures out how to move. Although we work on it everyday, I'm not so sure I'm ready for her to be mobile! There are tons of things we need to do to this house before she is on the go!

We took her 6 mo. photo shoot a day late since we were in IN on her actually 1/2 b-day. We took the pictures as soon as we got back from our 3 hour drive so it took a lot of work to get some smiles out!

And then I brought out the bear! Focus Elli....Focus on the camera....

Nope, only focusing on the bear....

So....I started doing raspberries, singing, making kissing noises, and brought out Sophie and I finally got a little smile!!

And then she decided to lay down. Ok....I get the hint....we're done!!

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This past weekend Scott's parents came to help us fix the basement! They got lots done and our basement is finally on its way to being an area where we can relax! On Saturday, they took Elli home where she spent a couple nights with them so Scott and I could get some house work done. So....what did we do with our free time? Well....went on a hot date to Wal-Mart and the park, missed Elli, took the dogs on a walk, talked about Elli, cleaned, missed Elli, went to church, took Bella to get ice cream, and missed our little Elli. It was great to have time to get things done, but we certainly missed Elliana. I was so ready to get home to see her!!

Elliana continues to be a good traveler. She slept most of the way home to Columbus, but woke up after about 2 hours. She was a little fussy, so I had to reach in the back and give her a bottle. Ugh....Did she actually get any of the bottle? Who knows....I couldn't see, but it sure felt like she did. Did I almost dislocate my shoulder giving her the bottle? Yes, but I was watching the road the whole time :) We eventually had to stop at a rest stop for a couple minutes and then she was fine! Doing a 3 hour trip with a 6 mo. old isn't exactly easy!!

Elli saw tons of people while she was home....grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. She didn't get many naps, but overall seemed to do really well on little sleep!

Elliana meeting her Great-Grandma Lindvall for the 1st time. I was so happy they finally got to meet each other!!

Sweet picture

Maria and Elli

Tracey and Elli


Some special visitors....Kortnee was home from Florida! Her and Susan came to visit after a nap!

Kortnee even gave Elli a bottle (she wasn't so sure about it, but I made her). Luckily, Elli didn't spit up on her....she got lucky!!

Elli's Great- Grandma and Grandpa Zurcher came down for a quick visit! They were surprised at how big she had gotten!

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We are pretty busy this week getting ready for our big trip to Dale Hollow! It will be a HOT week, but we can't wait to get on the jet ski and boat. This year I'll actually be able to do things....last year I was about 14 weeks (I think) pregnant and obviously had some restrictions! We are looking forward to a relaxing (wait....can you say relaxing when you're going on vacation with a 6 mo. old) week!

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Happy 6 month birthday Elliana Marie. Your smiles brighten our day and your giggle melts our hearts. We're so blessed to have you!!