A few pictures

Just a couple pictures to post today! Elli got sent home from daycare last Wednesday with a fever. Luckily, Scott was able to stay home with her on Thursday while I went to work. I ended up getting whatever she had this weekend and am still dealing with it today. It seems that sickness has flooded our house lately and at least 1 of us is sick each week. We are looking forward to spring and were disappointed to see the snow falling last night. HURRY UP SPRING! So....instead of spending her naptime blogging or cleaning, I'm actually going to just sit and watch a movie! But here are a couple pictures from this week....

Elli tends to give us huge smiles while eating!

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We try and take advantage of every warm day we've had recently! Going outside to play on Friday!

Happy Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! Elli and I have had such a great Valentine's day! We spent the whole day playing and then Elli took a marathon nap (2.5 hours) this afternoon!!!!

Elli will have quite an exciting week. I picked her up from daycare last Thursday and found a sign on her locker saying "Congratulations, your child has met her milestones and is ready to move up to the toddler room." I told Scott and he said the exact thing I was thinking "Can Miss Maureen move up with her?" Miss Maureen is one of the teachers in Elli's room. She LOVES Maureen and instantly goes to her once we drop her off. The transitioning will begin this week and it will probably be a couple weeks before she is in the toddler room full-time. I hope she will enjoy this room.

These days, Elli's favorite things are playing with her baby and watching videos on the computer. She especially loves watching Sesame Street clips (don't worry....she only spends a couple minutes each day watching them) and skyping on the computer. All I have to say is "Do you want to see Nana and Grandpa" and she runs into the office smiling and staring up at the computer.

Scott came home today and brought us all Valentine's gifts.

Bells got a bone.


Elli got jewelry. I wish I could have gotten her reaction on video. She squealed the second Scott showed her....had a huge smile on her face and started dancing all around.

Scott got me a pregnancy massage!! I can't wait to use it!!
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Just some pictures from the day....

Elli spent a lot of the day riding around on this. She had to have her bear come with her.

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So....the dr. had told me a couple weeks ago that Elli would probably drop down to 1 nap during the day. The past couple of days/weeks her naps have been 2 short naps (about 45 min. each). I figured I'd try and see how she did with 1 nap today. She did great!! She was so tired at lunch that she ended up falling asleep! BUT....she slept for 2.5 hours and was in such a good mood when she woke up! I'll be interested to see how she sleeps tonight!

Lunch....I kept having to call her name to wake her up. Falling asleep picking up a banana

Banana is in the mouth....trying to chew it but asleep again.

And she just couldn't do it anymore

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This is how she likes to crawl up on her chair

Show me your tongue, Elli
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It was finally nice enough to go outside on Sunday and Elliana loved it. She walked all around.

Waving to me. If you know Elli....you know that she LOVES to wave and will wave to anyone and everyone!

Scott had to go pick her up and carry her back because she kept turning around wanting to walk further.

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Last Friday, Elli was really into walking all around the house with not 1, but 2 coats on. She HAD to have both of her coats on :) She's so funny these days!!

Big Girl

Elliana is becoming such a big girl! This past weekend we turned around her carseat and she LOVES it. It has made running errands or going places much easier! We still use her infant carseat when I pick her up from daycare on Wednesdays since she still fits in it, but soon we will be taking that out of the car and storing it for the next baby. Her eating still continues to be inconsistent. She is a good eater at some meals and doesn't eat much at others. Scott took her and I out on a date on Saturday night and we were shocked at how much she put away! She especially loved the ice cream we gave her at the end (she loves all kinds of sweets)! Elli has been drinking out of a straw now for a while and it is so nice to not have to pack a sippy cup for her, as she can just drink out of a straw at restaurants. She typically only drinks water and milk throughout the day and doesn't care for juice. Elli is completely on whole milk now which she loves. It has been great not having to pack sippy cups of formula for daycare. She gets regular whole milk at daycare and organic at home. I am so used to spending so much money on formula that spending an extra few bucks per gallon on organic doesn't bother me at all. I figure one day I will switch her to regular whole milk, but for now I like knowing she's not getting all those hormones with the organic.

Elli loves to play with her toys and we typically play with all of them it seems throughout the day. Her toys are taking up our family room. We are going to get her toy room set up in the basement the weekend of the 18th when my parents come for a visit....hoping they will be keeping her busy while we get to work!

She is understanding so much more and doing a great job following directions ("give ___ to bella" or "go get ____"). She loves to play with her baby doll and gives her doll a bottle, pacifier, or sippy. If I am holding baby, she ALWAYS has to come sit on my lap....sometimes she lets baby stay with us and other times she throws the baby on the floor (this might cause some problems come August).

Elli loves putting things on her head (or having us put them on her head) and walks all around. This is a game for her....we put something on....she walks around and takes it off.....and then she wants it on again.

Bella's collar is a favorite headband

because she can shake her head and the tags make noise!

Princess Elli!

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I woke up on Friday and felt like I had so much more energy than I'd had in the past 6 or so weeks. I definitely welcomed the energy!

So we celebrated on Friday by making finger paints! Elli wasn't a fan of getting it on her hands (ha....what's the point of finger paints then?), but she did enjoy banging the spoon on the table for awhile :) My hope was that we could make some valentine's. We were able to get one made for the #1 man in her life (which Scott later found and let her play with....now we can't find it :) ). We'll try finger painting some more when she gets a tad older.

Obviously it was edible....I knew she'd try and put it in her mouth.

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Elli was such a big girl at church this past Sunday. She got moved up to the toddler room and actually enjoyed it! We dropped her off and immediately left to try and eliminate tears. We waited and watched through the window for a bit to see what she would do. For awhile she just stood there staring, looking completely shocked. We both felt so bad for her and I even got a little teary eyed (it kind of felt like dropping her off at daycare for the 1st time when she didn't have any clue what was going on). BUT......she stayed in there the whole service and when Scott went to go get her she was sitting at the table playing with a doll. They said she did great.....we were so proud of her!

Giving Bella hugs....she loves Bella!!

Playing with Daddy! She loves playing with Scott and he can usually get her laughing pretty hard. She doesn't like him leaving for work in the mornings, but will reluctantly send him off with a wave.

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! :)