In the box, then out

Not only is Elli walking and hiding from me...she loves to pull out drawers and throw the contents of them all ofer the floors. Luckily, she only got into my sock drawers this time. :)























She also loves boxes - putting things in, pullling them out. So it is often that we scatter them around too.
(And - I made her leggings...aren't they cute with this dress?)

Well, here she is! She walks! It's been a long time since this post. (sorry that it is sideways...and I guess I didn't upload the best video....oh well, it takes too long...I'll get another one later)It is so funny - she just really makes me laugh. I keep telling her I hope that she doesn't always walk like this. :) She just walks everywhere now! She has bruises all over herself, but that's the trade off when you are learning to get around on two feet!

This is my 100th post! That's pretty crazy. I know that I am not a "big deal" blogger - I'm not on the "A-list", and I have "no-value" as far as a blog goes, but I have enjoyed this none-the-less. I hope you haven't minded my rants about work and being exhuasted, or that every other post is about Elliza. I have family who cares! :) It's a good way to keep people up to date on the baby - who by the way is going to be 1 year old THIS MONTH! Where has time gone?

Thanks for reading! Can't wait to get to 200!

Internet Television

I don't have cable television. I only get one channel - WTAP...at least it is affiliated with NBC, so I get some decent TV now and then. I hate Dr. Phil, but love most of the evening shows...so it balances out. I decided to check out some of my favorite tv channel's (HGTV, FOOD, Style, TLC, etc.) websites. I found myself on the ABC site and checking out their shows on there that everyone talks about - like Dancing with the stars, Greys Anatomy, and some other ones. Lucky me! I can watch these shows on my computer! Mike can hook up his laptop to our tv and we can watch from there with HALF of the commercials. Pretty cool.
Today I watched an episode of "Extreme Home Makeover." Apparently I felt like getting in a good cry today. Every single time I come across that show, I cry...several times. I absolutely LOVE this show, so I watch it anyway. It was a good one..."The Carter Family." You should check it out!

Pics of Elli

Just a couple pictures of the cutest little girl ever!

And she's off!

Elli definitely is favoring her feet rather than her knees now. She's realized how fast she can get around. She is a maniac! She's crazy! It's hysterical! I love it! I have been trying all evening to post a video of her walking, but it isn't letting me- so instead of throwing my computer around, I will try again another time.

I really do love it (her walking)....except when I am trying to get ready for this stupid craft fair this weekend. I seriously don't know why I do this to myself. I think this time, I may really have something sellable....I think that everytime, though. But really - this time I am selling diaper and wipe holders for your diaper bag. I got one and copied it - mine are so much cuter. I've embellished them and I am going to sell them for $10. Then I've made this clip thing that can hold shoes, pacifiers, or create a bib out of a towel for all of those times that you've forgotten your baby (or husband's) bib at home...selling those for $2.50. And ofcourse I have my silk play wings and baby legwarmers I'm selling too.....gosh...I hope that I sell something. PLEASE GOD!! Let me sell something!!!! I am driving my family and myself crazy!

Anniversary trip

Mike and I packed up our little girl and headed out for a few days to celebrate our 4th anniversary. It was a really nice time away from the regulars of life around here. We went to "Amish Country" in Ohio - about 2 hours away. Elli was great in the car (as usual). We are truely blessed. Here is a picture of our little "villa" that we stayed in. It was really nice. It was 2 story, had a kitchenette, and was so clean! I felt okay with Elli crawling all over the place in it. She loved the stairs. We were glad that we brought our baby gate by the end of the trip.


So there isn't much to do in Amish Country except shop, eat cheese, and look at horse-and-buggies go by. Seriously... all there is to do is eat cheese...and see how it's made...and sample and buy cheese. We didn't realize this until we went out looking for something to do. We went to Heini's Cheese Chalet and watched them mix up stuff and then we ate some cheese - all while avoiding the hundreds of senior citizens that swarm this place. Well, sortof avoiding them. I got SO mad at the old people there - listen, those of you that I know who read this, I mean no disrespect by saying "old people" ...I actually LIKE you. :) They were so rude! I had a baby in a stroller and seriously, no one held a door for me. Not once. But boy did I get looks for bringing a stroller and having such a big thing in the way - excuse me?! Why don't you get your big cheese eating rear-end out of the way?! THEN you can look at me about taking up space. 95% of the "old people" were self absorbed and nasty and looking to buy cheese and crafty crap with all their money and not care who they trampled if someone's in the way. So we quickly exited the buildings - Mike could tell I was NOT happy...and looked for lunch.
Everywhere was packed, but we ended up in this little place that actually wasn't crowded, played Christian music (God knew I needed it), and had nice senior citizens in it...I was pleasantly suprised. Elli showed off her cuteness and got lots of smiles. We took this picture BEFORE we were atacked by big bees wanting to sting us just because it's the way our day was going. We seriously fought them for at least 5 minutes in the parking lot. Everytime we would shoo one out of our car, another one would come in another door...it was rediculous.


We decided it was time to go back to our shack and take a nap. We all slept for at least an hour or so, woke up, gave ourselves a pep talk and got out to face the crowds again. Everything was closed. Apparently Amish shops don't stay open long. So we window shopped, walked around, and then headed back to the villa ordered pizza and watched food network until bed. That was my favorite part of this whole trip. Just hanging out with no one calling us....oh yeah....except that one time when Jackie called to tell me that someone broke into my little red car and her car the previous night while she was house sitting and getting awakened at 2 in the morning with the police banging on the door. GEEZ!!!
But it was a great time without work or schedules and just time to be us.

Art lessons

Today I tought are lessons for a couple of home schooled families. It was pretty, um, caotic. There were 11 kids from the ages of 4-16. That was pretty challenging...that is, to find an art project that the kids of ALL ages could work on. They were really good though. We did some printmaking. It was a lot of messy fun. We first drew some pictures onto styrofoam plates so there was the image in the plate, painted it up, then transferred that image to a piece of paper. It was so messy! But then, we used some cd cases and painted on the back side of those, and wiped away some of the paint to make prints of those images on the paper. One of the moms bought some cheap canvas bags that we got to paint on as the last thing using one of the techniques they learned. I hope that they enjoyed it. I think the kids did. I am just worried that the moms expected more. I could just email and ask them, I suppose. I stressed myself out about it leading up to the whole thing, and now I am worrying about whether or not they liked the class. I need something to help me relax. I worry too much. Here are a few pictures from the big event!

Elli plays football

Oh yes... she loves to throw things! I bought her this football from Old Navy (which I can't find anywhere right now - so if it's at anyone's house that I go to, lte me know). She thinks it is pretty fun to toss, suck on, hug, or give to Cali. This evening we were playing with it - she was having a great time. Ignore the fact that I am in my pajamas and looking like a slob, please. :)

Sleeping heads

Seriously...how sweet is this?

Elli's new toy!

So this is Elli's new toy! It is the Playskool Busy Ball Popper...so fun! She just absolutely loves this thing. She is at the point now where she will collect the balls and put them in all by herself! Woohoo!!! She likes to do that to - she get's upset if I try to help...so she collects them all and puts them down the hole in the top...she hasn't really figured out how to start it though (pushing the red button), so I get to help her with that. It is a good time because when it's on, it plays music and there's a small fan that blows the balls right out the top - and if we are lucky, some will land in the tray and roll down the slide back into the base and come out again. Usually, we chase them. :) It's all good.

On a side note...aren't her leggings cute with her bibs?!