Races and Faces

It's been a pretty good couple of weeks for us. Adam found
out he's been accepted to the Physical Therapy program
at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. We still would
like to go to Baylor and do the Army program, but have to
wait and see if a spot opens up for us. But it's nice to have at
least one school to count on! Yay Adam! Ellie has been doing
great. She's loud and hilarious and still loves attention from
anyone who is willing. Her thing the last month or so is to
get all smiley and start jumping or bouncing against you when
someone gives her attention. She is one energetic girl.

The family went and ran a 5k today. Adam made this
shirt for fun.... but since he kicked butt and won the whole
thing, I don't know if anyone really got to see it. I pushed
Ellie in the stroller and finished in 33:25... much faster than
I thought I could do pushing her. We had fun though.

Looking cute... looks like she is asking something... or just
looking to be picked up, but she usually reaches much farther
and stronger for that.

We've been loving the Spring weather and the chances to hang
out outdoors. Ellie was looking cute in her pretty green shirt.

Another bonus to the warm weather... Ellie is happy after
a bath! She always likes the bath itself, but usually is cold
and unhappy until I can get her dressed. This time she
just wanted to play.

Her hair is getting thicker... and is still a lovely red!

Hanging out with Dad at the park.

More outside time.

Mmmm... peaches.

Rockin' out at the piano. She used to just reach for the books
on top, but now she sits and bangs on the keys happily.

Ellie wanted to thank her Uncle Jake for the awesome onesie!
She likes to feel like a rocker chick!

She had to check out the awesomeness for herself.

She's also very ticklish...

And happy.

I don't know why the lighting was so weird on this...
but I really liked the picture... so here are my two
crazy people!

This one had bad lighting too.... but I thought it was cute...
Ellie and 3 of her cousins sat and watched Pinocchio together
last week. They all seemed pretty intrigued for a while.

Sitting and Chewing

It's only been two weeks since we last posted something, but
it feels like so much has changed already... at least with Ellie.
She will be 6 months old Wednesday, which just seems crazy
to me! Over the last two weeks, she has done a number of new
things, including growing her first tooth and learning to sit up
all on her own. She screams and shrieks all day long just to be
heard... or to get what she wants... it varies. But she is as funny
and goofy as ever, and we love watching her grow and explore.

She likes playing in her crib every now and then.... I think she
just enjoys a change of scenery for playtime... that girl gets
bored so fast!

We had fun playing with each other through the bars.

She sat and ate crackers the other night while I baked. It's
nice that she eats so well... gives me another option to occupy
her boredom... a constant endeavor in my daily life.

I'm thankful that one of the best solutions is running.
She loves it and always falls asleep, and it gets me back
in shape. I am proud to say that I ran over 10 miles
this past week. Looking forward to more!

She loves to be in control... even when it comes to what we
watch on tv.

We went out to the park but didn't stay long since the weather
turned kind of ugly after a short while.

Ellie wasn't a big fan of the wind or sunlight in her eyes.

Looking cute with Daddy, as always.

Push ups are fun. She's working really hard to crawl. She has
all the separate motions down pretty well, but just can't get them
put together quite yet.

Then of course, working the lower body also.

Loving her food time. Working that sharp little tooth of hers.

Just being cute... she's a pro at that. She'll smile at almost
anyone who gives her the attention she craves so much!

She's a goof.

An earlier stage of sitting up, back when she wasn't so

balanced and confident... but she's way too cool for that now.

She still loves her bouncer.. most the time.

Hanging out with Dad at her first baseball game. She had fun
for an inning or two, then I wrapped her up and she fell asleep.

I laid her in the crib after coming in from a run last week when
she was very much asleep, then went to bring the stroller down
to our apartment, and came back to find her looking for an escape.
At least she was in a good mood.

Stuff...

Ellie is slowly but surely getting over her bronchiolitis this week.
She's not wheezy at all anymore, just has the occasional
couging and a stuffy nose from time to time, of course
mostly when she tries to sleep.. which makes
for more fun nights for mommy. yay. I am very happy to see
her improving though. Here are some pics from the last week or two.

This one is actually from before our trip. This face cracked me up!

Feeding is not se easy to do in a bouncer, but she's not too messy.

Looking all cute in her hearts for Valentine's day!

She enjoyed finishing our leftover tortilla last week. I also
gave her a piece of pancake tonight, and she loved holding it
and just going at it for like 5 minutes.

Hanging out with Daddy.

She decided to model her "all grown up" look in jeans
and a polo! Thanks for the sweet clothes Grandma and
Grandpa G!

We finally got a high chair! Feeding is much easier now, at least
until Ellie gets hold of the spoon and won't let go. What a goof!

AND---I finally gave in and got a youtube account since the videos
load so much faster and look so much nicer. There's one of Ellie
cracking up during a game of peekaboo if anyone is interested.

SO MANY PICTURES!

I know... I've been slow to post lately. But better late than
never, I suppose. We are doing well. We took a week long
trip to Virginia for grad school interviews and grandparents!
We had a blast, but alas, we are back home, and poor Ellie
is sick. Turns out she has bronchiolitis... so she has to breathe
in funny things, and get her gunk suctioned out at the hospital
once or twice a day. We're told it usually lasts two weeks,
and we're about halfway through that... so hopefully things
will be back to normal next week.. the poor girl.

Ellie had a blast in Virginia... and hurray for Grandma's
endless supply of things to play with. M&M's are fun,
until Tex steals them away... you can see he is waiting
patiently for his chance.

There was lots of activity... so she conked out now and then.

She LOVED Grandma's walker... she just stood herself right
up and walked back and forth through the kitchen like
it was nothing... crazy girl.

Ellie is a doggy girl. She was a little nervous when we first
arrived, but warmed up quickly... even with big Tank and
his giant, messy tongue.

Me and the girl.

With Grandma after church.

Cousin Isabella came for a visit and was all smiles...

until Ellie pulled her hair and made her question babies everywhere.

Grandma even had to show that babies do that to
everyone, so it's okay. Sorry Izzie. She pulls mine too.

Adam looking all GQ'd up for his interviews.
I married such a hottie...

Another dog... Hi Ho Texaco!

Walking around with Gramps.

Hanging around with Gramps.

Man, Gramps is awesome!

Happy to be fed. She's loving this whole solid food idea.

Ellie's first ride on the DC metro. Going to the car show!

Loving all of Grandma's devoted attention. I don't know
how we survive normal life without her around!

Munching.

With Daddy by the new Camaro... mmm.

Oh, the Challenger.... it's not that we would ever need to go
170 on the highway, but it would be nice to know that we could.

Lots of car rides on this trip, but Ellie took it pretty well... for Ellie.

And yet another dog! KiKi was her favorite because she
has lots of long hair to pull. Good things she's such a
sweet and patient little dog.

More food... always a good time.

OH! And of course... I must announce that the week before
our trip, Adam ran a 10k in Orem... and won!!! Not just his
age group or anything like that. He flat out won the race!

Here he is receiving his awards with his
biggest fan!