Family Dynamics

It is so funny to watch four men solve yard work problems and play with new toys. Three sons and a dad have such a stereotypical relationship that it was all I could do to not laugh at them all. You've got the oldest son, Ron, the apprentice eager to learn and try out the new chainsaw. Dad and his eldest took turns chopping up all the fallen trees. The youngest son, Lee, playfully watches while jumping the logs, neither helping or hindering the process. The middle son, Joey, the work horse of the four, diligently collecting and stacking the newly chopped wood. Ella and I of course just sat on the deck and watched the comedy unfold. I love this picture of her, the look says it all...."what the heck are those fools doing down there?" :)
The whole impetus of the new chainsaw was the tree that fell down towards the house the other night, but thankfully it was stopped by another tree and didn't come down on the master bedroom and kitchen. Now both trees are hovering precariously over the house. The new chainsaw was to get the fallen tree off the good tree so they don't both come down. However, it looks like a professional is going to have to do the job...but there were lots of other dead trees that allowed the boys to play with the new toy!
Today was Grandma's birthday and the girls went out to lunch and then went for pedicures while the boys played in the yard. All the ladies loved Ella. She was fascinated with the whole pedicure process and flirted with all the people in the nail shop. I can't wait til she's old enough to get her own pedicure, a mommy-daughter day out.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Home

Today was a day of rest and relaxation. Could Ella be going through another growth spurt? She slept in until 8:30 for the second morning in a row, napped for an hour at 10, for two hours at 12 and another two hours at 4:30! I actually decided to join her at 4:30 and managed a nap for a couple hours too. It's now 9 and she's out and been out since 8:30. To top the whole day off, Grandma cooked dinner and I got to eat a hot meal I didn't have to prepare myself or pay someone else to make for me. How nice is it that!
In my heart I am always home when I'm with my husband and my daughter, no matter where we are, where we go, or what we are doing. But I have truly found a physical home here in Georgia with my in-laws. I have missed having a place to call home since my mother passed away almost two years ago. Going back to the west coast where I grew up, no longer feels the same because my mom isn't there. I have wonderful friends, my mom's friends and my brother so it will always be a place I love. I have learned that home can be a place of refuge, love and security, but only if that place is where your family and your friends reside. Because no matter how great a place is, it will never be home without moms, dads, babies, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters or friends :)

Boyfriend

Today Ella and I went to Peachtree City to see Eli and Leah. How big he's grown! Such a handsome man, all baby chunky! He had a lot to say to Ella but she definitely was playing hard and just starred at him. Girl with an attitude to be sure! It was really nice to see Leah and Eli again, we even got to see Scott for a minute before he was out the door.
We went and had lunch at a little joint that has all you can eat pizza and salad...for like $6. How much fun was that. Ella and Eli behaved very well and Ella seems more and more interested in what I'm eating than eating herself. The doctor said to just keep doing what I'm doing with nursing and formula and she'd see us in September at Ella's 6-month check up. I wish I had asked her about baby food...I was really looking forward to getting messy with Ella when she tries all the new foods. I guess as long as she's growing and healthy I'll just wait til September, well maybe sooner :)

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting....

Ella, Ron and I had lunch with our friend Kelly today at my favorite place, Moe's, yummy Mexican food. Kelly's on vacation from teaching in Korea and we think her and Ella are going to be twins...Kelly is a Maori girl from New Zealand with pretty curly hair and smooth caramel skin. Sooooo jealous. Man, I wish I could tan like her! How fun that Ella's going to be able to play in the sun and not burn up (even though she'll be slathered in sunscreen). We went shopping at Target and then took Kelly to the airport. Erika and Kelly: Have a great time in TO!!

Well, as you can see we are back online. We moved into Ron's parents Sunday night and finally got a wireless card for my laptop so we can use the internet. I've missed posting but we've been so busy getting settled in. Yesterday the movers came and packed up our house for Hawaii. Three guys came and boxed, wrapped and loaded the truck, they even took furniture apart. They started at 8:30am and left at 10pm. We were exhausted just watching them...and that's all we did, literally, sat on our butts and watched them. Ella and I left at 7:30pm so we could come home (now at Grandma's and Granddad's) and get ready for bed. I can't imagine having to move ourselves...where'd all our stuff come from!!!

Big Toe

I finally captured her on the camera. She has found her big toe and loves to suck on it when she's able to wrangle her limbs the way she wants. If she's not sucking on her toes, she has her left thumb in her mouth and her right foot in her hand. I love babies! She's getting more and more fun every day! She's still out of sorts from her shots and has a bit of a high temperature so I've been giving her Tylenol to prevent a fever. I'll give it another day before I think it's her teething. She's been drooly and sucking on her fingers to sooth her gums but hasn't shown any real signs of being uncomfortable until yesterday when she got her shots. Hopefully a good night's sleep will be all she needs.
Tonight we took our last bath in our big garden tub. Tomorrow we say good bye to the house, and move into Grandma's and Granddad's. There is so much to do and pack, and we have professional movers coming on Tuesday! Luckily I just have to pack up our personal items to take to my in-laws. The movers get the fun job of packing up the rest of the house. Amazing how much stuff we have! I'll miss having our own place but can't wait to sell this house and be out of the neighborhood for good.
There is a new addition to the family: Congratulations, Lisa and Chuck! Can't wait to meet your new baby girl!!

Baby Shots

Today Ella had her 4-month check up and got her second round of shots, 3 needles in the thighs. Of course I believe it's harder on the moms to watch their baby scream but as soon as you feed them they forget all about it.
Ella is doing great. She's 12lbs. 12oz now and 26 inches! She's grown into the 25 percentile but still 75 for her height. The doctor thinks if she stays that way she will probably be 5'6 or 5'7. How funny that they can predict that. Ella's been out of sorts today, really good but she has a hard time going to sleep. I'm sure it's the shots she had today, her legs are probably sore. We dropped a load of stuff off at Ron's parents and I'm trying to put Ella down. She's just woken up screaming...gotta run and try to put her back to sleep.

Blessed

I'm almost organized and ready for the movers on Tuesday. We'll be at Ron's parents as of Sunday night and though Ella is a perfect little lady, it'll be really nice to have the extra hands to help out. No, we haven't sold the house :( It takes almost 3 months for our stuff to get to the next duty station so that's why we are getting packed up now. We really hope the house sells soon as Ron checks into Hawaii at the end of October; we'll leave for Hawaii that last weekend.
Tonight we went for dinner with an old friend from Korea. Kelly is visiting her fellow NZ friend who is teaching here in Atlanta. It was so great to see her and reminisce on old crazy Korea times. Boy, does she ever have a good memory! So much gossip and funny stories. I totally forgot my camera but will get a picture when I see her again next week. Here are a couple of our Korea pics...seems like yesterday we were there....
Ron and I will forever be grateful for the time we spent in Korea. We not only found each other there, but we made so many good friends and have the greatest memories. Life takes you to the most unexpected places and presents you with the greatest opportunities. I am very blessed to have taken advantage of the opportunities given to me. A little courage, some brains and a whole lot of faith have given me the world: a husband I adore, friends I cherish, family I love, and a baby girl who is my heart.

Naked Baby

We've been pretty productive now that I'm feeling 100% again. I took a load of stuff over to my in-laws and we went bed shopping with Grandma. She found one she likes and it will be delivered before we get there on Sunday so we have a place to lay our head. I've been organizing and sorting and trying to figure out what the heck we're going to do with all the winter clothes we have. Obviously keep them for the next duty station in case it's cold, but we have loads of clothes! All that cheap shopping in Korea is now becoming a pain in the butt. I also have to sort through and divided into what is being shipped on Tuesday (pretty much everything) and what will ship in September (a set of sheets, extra clothes, crib, Ella's toys). As of September we will only have the clothes on our backs and the clothes we can fit into the suitcases we are taking on the plane. We'll be living out of suitcases for 6 weeks, yuck! Thank goodness we have Ron's family so at least it'll feel like home.
We are planning a trip to Toronto (via Virginia and Philadelphia) mid-August. We are going to visit my family and have Ella christened on August 27th. We had hoped to get to the west coast before Hawaii too but it doesn't look like we are going to make it unless the house sells. Once we're in Hawaii we can catch a military flight to Seattle. This will probably be the last trip to Toronto for a long time as it's just too expensive to travel across the country.
Ella's newest milestone: chewing on her toes. She's too cute and has learned to chomp on her big toe to sooth those aching gums (she's teething). I tried to get a picture of her as we were getting ready for bed but she finally wore herself out.

Phew!

Oh my goodness! What a week...and weekend! My last post, I felt like I was on the mend and the doctor had said I could stop my medicine. By Saturday, I was back to being so ill, only this time it wasn't vomiting that was the problem. Ughhh! I was either laying down or on the toilet and nothing was working. I called the doctor as I seriously thought I needed to go to the hospital and was trying to figure out how I would possibly make the 15 minute car ride to the ER. The doctor said my body was purging the infection and I just needed to stick it out and eat BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). Taking anything to stop the symptoms would just prolong the infection in my body. I felt so awful but luckily Ron was able to entertain Kendall and Christine...obviously not the best weekend to come see me! Sorry guys:( But they got to visit with Ella and catch up with each other. They all went to Moe's for lunch (my favorite Mexican place)and I was so jealous! I ate BRAT and by Sunday I was on the mend again. We went to the Blue Willow Inn for a traditional southern buffet. Ron had to pick family up from the airport so he wasn't able to go. Without him I definitely didn't get my $$$ worth. I had a small plate and some peach cobbler. Kendall got a cute heart pendant with Ella's name on it and I'll wear it until Ella's old enough to wear it herself. It's so cute! It was nice to catch up with the girls. They headed home today and Ella and I slept the afternoon away. One more week until the movers come; we'll be at my in-laws by Sunday. So much to do and clean and organize! Phew! I'm exhausted!

We're Back...sort of

Just a quick note as Kendall is here and Christine arrives tomorrow, so I may not post til Monday. We have been very, very sick! On Wednesday morning I came down with a little nausea...and full-on projectile vomiting. Ron had to come home from work after lunch because I was so weak I could barely pick up Ella. Granddad and Grandma came over that evening to watch Ella while Ron took me to the doctor. I apparently had a bacterial infection. Did I mention I found out our neighborhood pool hadn't been cleaned???? Oh my god! What a nightmare. Ella is fine, as are Nolan and Amy, thank god! Though my doctor thinks the pool is not the culprit of my infection....hummm? And the neighborhood association has since assured me that it is cleaned regularly...hummm again? It obviously wasn't as Ron woke up Thursday with the same thing and wound up in the ER. He was sent home with some meds and slept 18 hours yesterday. It's been a very rough couple of days and we're both feeling about 80%...just weak from no food for days. But feel better with each bite.
It was a big week of firsts for Ella. First days without nursing (my meds pass through so I have to pump and dump until tomorrow)and her first sleep-over at Grandma and Granddad's. It gave Ron and I some recovery time and I wanted to make sure Ella didn't catch what we had. She seems to have come out unscathed. She did so well and Grandma kicked Grandddad out to the couch and the girls had the whole bed to themselves. A real sleep-over!
It was an emotional time for me as it was the first night without Ella and with being so dehydrated I had no milk supply. I really wasn't emotionally ready to let that part of my baby go just yet. But since I've been drinking it's been slowly returning. I plan on nursing at least 6 months. As Auntie Stephanie says: "Teeth are god's way of saying it's time to stop nursing!" :)
Anyway, that's why there's been no posts or pics....more to come with friends visiting this weekend.