Elli's Stats

Last Friday we went to he dr. for Elli's 1 year check up. The dr. was really pleased with her development and was especially excited that she is free of bottles and pacifiers. Our main concern was that she is getting to be a picky eater, but he said it was completely normal. He told us that she is now at the age where we can offer her what we are eating and if she refuses then it is ok....we just shouldn't offer her different foods. I'm hoping this will help and she will soon grow out of this stage. Elli got an eye exam at this visit and she has an astigmatism. Right now I don't think there is anything they can do for it, but they referred her to an opthamologist.

She is weighing in at 18 pounds and 8 ounces and is 28.5 inches long. Elli is in the 25-50th percentile for both height and weight.

And while Elli continues to be growing, our next babe is just over 2 inches long and weighs a half an ounce. Wait....What....Huh?? Yep....that's right. I am expecting and I assure you, if you are surprised, we were too! No....more like shocked. But....although I still tend to get overwhelmed from time to time at the thought of having 2 kids 19 months apart....we are excited. Especially when I go back and look at pictures like this....

Elli was just a couple days old in this picture....when did she get so big??

I am due August 16th and we are looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat here in a couple weeks. We had an ultrasound 2 weeks ago and got to see the heartbeat. This pregnancy has been a lot different from Elli's. I was so sick with Elli, but haven't had too much morning sickness with this one. I've only gotten sick a couple times this time around and the nausea has been manageable. These days anything sweet sounds good and I'm pretty sure I'll have my 1st cavity once this pregnancy is over (my candy drawer is filled with gummy worms, twizzlers, etc....YUM). I have had a lot of food aversions, but I always manage to find something to eat. I have been extremely tired, so I'm hoping that I'll get some energy back as I am nearing the beginning of the 2nd trimester.

As of now, I'd like to hold out to the end to find out what we're having. Scott on the other hand is insistent that we find out in March whether it is a boy or girl. We really don't have a preference....

So....that is our news....Elli will be a big sis!

Happy 1st Birthday Elliana

We officially reached Elli's 1st birthday last Wednesday! I was already on my way to work when Elli woke up....so Scott put me on speaker phone and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Elli 1st thing in the morning (Scott video taped her reaction so I could see). I was so sad that I had to work that day instead of spending the day with her. BUT....Elliana had a great day. When I picked her up from daycare, they said she had her best she's ever had there. Scott picked us up some dinner, we skyped with family, and then opened presents. She is getting quite good at opening gifts and really enjoys it!

I can't believe how quickly the year has gone by and how much she has grown. It doesn't seem possible that she is already a 1 year old. She is so much fun and is really developing her own personality!!

The Birthday girl

She kept wanting to put this on her head!

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This past weekend we had Elli's 1 year pictures taken. Scott and I were both sick and Elli was getting over being sick, so I was actually just ready to get the pictures over. This little girl rarely stopped to look at the camera and was ALL OVER the place. She even managed to fall down the stairs and ended up with a pretty banged up face :( We felt horrible, but she took the fall like a champ. She was back to running all around within a couple minutes.

The marks on the left were from the fall....the mark on her cheek was from my fingernail :/

She looks pretty tired in this picture....Elli's friend, Siena, and her mom came over for a play date earlier in the day.


This is her new thing. She covers her eyes to play peek-a-boo. Often she does this while eating....I'm sure you can imagine how much food I clean off her face after she does this.
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Running around after a bath. She hates getting dressed and usually escapes us before we can get clothes on her....

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I finally got around to doing her 12 month photo shoot. I was actually putting this off because I knew how hard it would be to get her to sit still, but I managed to get 1 good smile picture :)

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Elli still wasn't done celebrating her birthday. She got a birthday gift from Sarah and Travis today and obviously enjoyed opening it up.

(I got excited at first....I thought this was for me. See the box...New York & Company)

But the gift was for Elli. Trying out her new headband and me holding her hand so she wouldn't pull it off. Thanks Sarah and Travis.....she loves everything!!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLIANA (ONLY A FEW DAYS LATE)!!

1st Birthday Party

This past weekend we celebrated Elliana's 1st birthday a couple days early with family. Elli's great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins came in for the big celebration. We had a rough week last week, so I wasn't sure how the weekend was going to go. I had the stomach flu, Scott was home sick for a day, and Elli...well....lets just say she didn't have a good week. Elli's had a difficult time sleeping the past week and a half and has been refusing to eat. Although we are still having a little trouble with sleep, Elli is FINALLY getting her appetite back and ate like a champ today!

So.....here was our weekend of celebration....

Friday, Elli's Nana and Papa Lindvall came to our house with her cousins. Elli got an early birthday present....

A table and chairs built by her Papa. She had breakfast at the table with the boys on Saturday morning and looked like such a big girl! I can see many meals (and tea) being served at this table in our future.

Don't worry....we'll teach her to eat with her mouth closed when she's a bit older :)

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The rest of our family came to our house on Saturday....

The princess has arrived to the party with "niney" in hand.

"DON'T TAKE AWAY MY NINEY!!" She's come quite attached to her blanket these days and loves carrying it around and laying her head on it to sleep.
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We had lunch....all of Elli's favorite things were on the menu. Hot dogs (hey....who says you can't grill out in the middle of January), mac and cheese, blueberry muffins, corn casserole, and fruit. Then it was time for.....PRESENTS and some playtime...

"Are all those gifts for me????"

playtime with her cousins....

Balloons were a big hit...

Opening a big gift

She needed some help from her cousins....

New Clothes

SO cute....

Every princess needs a new ride
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Time for Cake

This is a picture of Elli's smashing cake and Grandpa Zurcher's birthday cake....he celebrated his birthday this past Tuesday.

"Its my party and I'll cry if I want to!" I'm just glad she's not dramatic :)

Clothes off for cake....she didn't really like the hat....

She was a big fan of the icing!

All that eating made her tired....

Time for a bath! She loved the cake!!

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Grandpa
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Most everyone left on Saturday, but my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Zurcher, and Carla stayed until Sunday. We went to church, had breakfast/lunch, and then they headed home.

Family Picture after lunch

I'm sure she's loving this!!

We had a great celebration! Thanks everyone for making the trip to Ohio and for all the fun new presents that Elli loves!! Also, thanks to those (our parents) who helped with food and decorations.

I can't believe this 1st year is almost over! She is such a joy!

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This picture didn't turn out very well....I took it with my phone. I had to post it. We've been noticing some consistency for where Elli does her business. Well....it seems that right in front of the fireplace is where Elli feels most comfortable to...well...you know. If this continues....this will be right where we put her potty chair. Speaking of....we got her an Elmo potting training book for her birthday. Its never too early to introduce the subject! :)

Goodbye Paci

This month is just flying by and we are getting closer and closer to Elli's first birthday. With Elliana's first birthday so close, we decided last week that it was time for us to get rid of her pacifiers. She already has 4 teeth, so it was time. Thursday during her nap at daycare was the last time that she had her paci. She only really has ever gotten it in her crib, in the car for naps, or in public when she started to get fussy. Elli has done GREAT without it. The biggest change has been that she has been waking up a little earlier then she typically does. However, I think we are starting to get back to her normal schedule....she slept until 7:30 this morning (8:00 or sometimes 8:30 is normal)!! Also, instead of going straight down for a nap or bed....she might cry for maybe 2-10 minutes. Not bad....it'll get better as time progresses! The mother in me is a tad sad about this....this has comforted her since day 1, but the speech therapist in me is jumping for joy! :) I can honestly say....I never thought about all the transitions we would go through in the first year (breastmilk to formula, bottle to sippy, milk to baby food, baby food to table food, paci to no paci.....). These transitions and/or the anticipations of the transitions were not all easy.

So...here is a tribute to our pacifier....one of the few pictures I have with her and the pacifier. Obviously, this picture was taken a long time ago.
Goodbye paci....you have been a great comfort to our little Elli.

She did this all day today and was pretty proud of herself. Will we have a gymnast on our hands?

We read MANY books throughout the day and often we read the same books. Elli always goes over to her shelf and grabs a book of choice. She always walks over to me just like this picture and holds it right in my face until I grab it to start reading it. This book is a favorite of hers (and mine)....Rudolph's First Christmas....she still doesn't want to admit that Christmas is over!

I love this picture....I'm not sure what she was waiting for....


Grinning from ear to ear-running all over the place.
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Elli ran a fever for a couple days over the weekend (I'm pretty sure it was just more teeth coming in). As a result, we decided to not put her in the nursery at church in case it wasn't teeth and she was contagious. She did quite well in church. She enjoyed the singing and even started singing herself. Elli enjoyed when people would start clapping and eagerly joined in! She spent the 1st part of the service waving 200 times to the guy behind us. Elli then wanted to get out and walk all around....so we took her to the cry room where about 5 other toddlers were including Siena (apparently the nursery was all full that day).

These days she always is carrying around something.


Trying to play with Bella.


Trying to get a good picture of her in her church outfit. I had to start singing for her to look and smile...notice the hands....These days she is really into singing and trying to do hand motions. Her favorite songs with hand motions are: The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! We have had quite a good year and were sad to see it come to an end, but are excited for what is in store for us in the new year! We had a great New Year's Eve celebration with friends at our house. We were up until about 1:30am or 2:00am (this is quite different from our usual nights and we can't believe we made it that long)! This night was no different for Elli....she was in bed by 7:15pm and up by 8:30 in the morning. So....needless to say we were exhausted the next morning, but it was definitely worth it!

The weather was so nice on Friday so we decided to let Elli roam around for a bit outside. She LOVED it! This was her first time walking outside and she enjoyed exploring! She had a little difficulty walking downhill, so we had to move her to an even ground. She wasn't very happy with us when we took her inside and wanted to be out for as long as possible. We're pretty sure our spring/summer will include many trips to the park and ice cream shop (she also downed my ice cream from mcdonalds...grrr....I knew I should have gotten a bigger size)!

So happy to be outside!!

watching Bella catch the ball

"How big is Elli" SOOO Big

Elli doing the "more" sign to request more pears

So....she's making a scary face here, but I had to post it....look at those teeth! She's getting them so quickly I'm losing track of how many she has. At least 4 on top and 1 on bottom.

I haven't posted a picture of this little beauty in a while. She's such a good dog!!

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Elli is growing so quickly! Last year at this time, I was wishing away the month of January....hoping I'd go into labor. This year I find myself wishing the month would go slow. I'm not quite ready for her to be a year yet....just seems way too old!

We are seeing more of her personality each day. Along with this personality we've seen a bit of an attitude....ugh! This girl knows what she wants and will let you know when she isn't happy! Regardless....she's still pretty cute :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We are looking forward to an equally exciting year!