Lazy Weekend

This weekend Ron had to work, his last weekend at this job. I can't believe it but we leave in about 3 and a half weeks! Ella and I stayed around the house most of the weekend. Grandma and Grandpa are on a cruise so it was so quiet. The house is big and we are usually hanging out in the basement.

Today, after Uncle Joey left for the day, I had a shower while Ella napped. When I got dressed, I thought I heard someone walking around upstairs. I got Ella up from her nap and left out the back door and called Ron on his cell phone. After a few minutes, I went around to the front and checked it out. Ron was going to come home but as I went through the front door, all was clear. It's just a big house and the air conditioning had kicked in and the change in temperature caused the walls and floor to contract. I was freaked out at first, but then felt kinda stupid. All I could think of were the horror movies where the person goes to see what the noise is and then, bam, they're dead. Joey and Ron thought it was funny but I say better safe than sorry. From now on the alarm will be on.

Tonight I gave Ella a bath in the bathroom sink. The first time and the last time as she's too big for it and likes to play with the taps...I spent more time making sure she didn't turn the hot water on herself. This week I hope to start looking for a renter. Wish us luck!!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Ella!

Today, Ella is 6 months old! It was a full day. Ella and I sold the Jetta and then went with Grandma to get some pictures taken. Ella was such a good little poser! The pictures are gorgeous, but they won't be ready for a week so I will post them as soon as I get them. Gorgeous I tell you (but I'm biased! :) ) Look at how pretty she is in her dress. She was more interested in eating it but the photographer was great and got some great poses. These are pics from today.

We were going to get Ella's ears pierced but I was too scared. The don't have special ones for babies and they seemed too long for her. I'm worried she'll be uncomfortable sleeping on her side and I really didn't want her to suffer for a few days while they healed. Maybe when she's five!

It has been an amazing 6 months! Ella is everything I could have ever dreamed in a little girl. We love her and dream a world of love for her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Erin,

We hope you have a wonderful birthday! You're the baby of the group! The last one with a birthday this year. Ella and I have a card for you...we're just on baby time right now and will get it in the mail soon. Ooops.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I know it will be a good one.
We miss you!!

Love Ron, Tracey and Ella

Co-Workers

Survivor tonight! Whoo-hoo! Sorry, no new pictures today. We had trouble with the digital camera. Ella will be 6 months tomorrow so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures from the day she was born. My how she has grown!

Today, Ella and I met Ron at work and we all went for his goodbye luncheon with everyone from his building. We have known some of his co-workers since we've been here and met so many wonderful people along the way. It's been three wonderful years at Fort Gillem and it is a bittersweet goodbye. We are so sad to leave a good post, but so excited to be going to Hawaii.

I touched on a thank you at lunch but we are deeply grateful to everyone in Ron's building. One of his co-workers gave Ron some advice before we got married, "If your wife is happy, you'll be happy." It really goes both ways. Ron comes home from work everyday happy. He speaks highly of everyone there and really enjoys his job and the people he works with. I am thankful to everyone for making it a wonderful place to work and sending my husband home at the end of the day with a smile on his face. Ella and I are blessed to have Ron home with us, happy to be home and looking forward to another day. I know we are all thankful for the advice and well-wishes over the last three years.

Medical Miracles

Today my alarm clock slept in and she didn't wake up until almost 9am! I am loving this whole baby food thing...it must be keeping her full all night. Ella and I went over to the house to meet an appraiser for the re-financing. Then spent the afternoon doing nothing. Ella ate almost a whole thing of carrots and had some applesauce. She is really getting used to eating food and is now trying to grab my hand to guide the spoon into her mouth herself. Cheeky monkey!

At lunch last Sunday, one of Ron's co-workers told us a trick to get rid of hiccups. He said if we put a bit of red cloth on her forhead, the hiccups will stop. So tonight, after eating her carrots, Ella got the hiccups. I put the bottom of a mini raisin box (red of course) on her forehead and within seconds the hiccups stopped. I am not surprised, but am always amazed with what is probably a middle-eastern home remedy. Eastern medicine and home remedies are fascinating and way ahead of our western medicine. Who would have thought, but you should try it to see if it works for you.

Fall Season

I love this time of year! The weather was a little cooler today with a breeze. Ella and I relaxed all day...again and went for a walk in the afternoon. I had the bedroom window open and our bedroom now smells like fresh outdoors. As I kid, I remember drying my sheets on the line and crawling into bed to the smell of pure, clean, airy freshness. Yum!
Now, watching "Dancing With the Stars", I am getting excited about all the new season debuts coming up. In particular, "The Unit", "Desperate Housewives", "The Amazing Race", "Grey's Anatomy", and most exciting "Survivor"! Oooh, I can't wait! "Survivor" was a Friday night staple in Korea. My first year in Seoul, Kelly and I used to go for dinner and then come back and watch it. The following seasons, Kendall, Christine and I made a night of it and would watch it religiously over beers. I miss that. Now I have to deal with Ron asking me questions...we all know you can't talk during "Survivor"! Geesh! :)

Big Decisions

Oooh, I'm so happy the ticker worked! Ella and I rested all day today, it was wonderful. We have made some major decisions this weekend. We are shipping the Honda to Hawaii and selling my beloved Jetta. (Christin - by selling the Jetta, we get rid of a $500 car payment. The Honda is paid off and we hear drivers in Hawaii are terrible so why ruin a brand new car. Plus we want to buy a minivan as soon as we get back, the Jetta is just too small.)
We still haven't been able to sell the house. As a matter of fact, there hasn't even been anyone to look at it in the last two months. So we are contacting a property management company tomorrow and putting it up for rent. Renting will still be a little stressful but not as stressful as it sitting on the market for who knows how long. We can't afford not to rent it at this point. Maybe we will put it back on the market in a year or two. Time is flying by so rapidly! We leave for Hawaii in about 4-5 weeks. I can't believe it. You'd better be getting your plans together for a visit next year!!!!

Love It

Okay, I got this off Amy's Blog and it took me a minute to figure out how to get this placed. Hopefully it works. You should be able to see this "ticker" on the top of the blog. It will tell you exactly how old Ella is every time you log in. I thought it was soooooo cute!


We got the Jetta appraised at CarMax today and they offered us more than we owe on it. Awesome! We are going to ship the Honda to Hawaii and sell the Jetta this week. It is enough to get rid of the car note and give us a little extra. We'll get a rental car until we leave. This way, we no longer have to make payments on a car and once we get back from Hawaii, we'll succumb to the suburban trend and get us...ahhhh, a minivan! I can't wait! After our road trip, we definitely need something to carry all our (and by that I mean Ella's) stuff.

Oh So Close

Ella is doing so well and growing so much but she still can't roll over. She gets this far and then lays back. She seems totally uninterested in the whole thing and would rather try to sit herself up (she looks like she's doing crunches) than learn to roll over. Hopefully soon she'll get it.



Ella had her doctors appointment this morning and all is well. Her UTI has been totally cleared up and her little body took the antibiotics perfectly. We are going to have the ultrasound to check her kidneys just to be 100% sure. We really love our pediatrician, Dr. Ahn, and I'm glad she likes to rule everything out. She is sure the UTI was nothing out of the ordinary so not to worry.



We've started feeding Ella baby food again. This week we've had oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast, sweet potatoes and prunes for dinner. I've been mixing them and that seems to work. Today we had peas for lunch and dinner and Ella loves them. She's finally getting the whole food thing and actually opens her mouth rather than stick out her tongue. She's also able to sit up on her own as long as she's not distracted by anything. Once she looses concentration, she tips over. Such milestones today!

Computer Geek

Okay, Okay. Ella is her father's child. Could she be anything else looking at this picture?? I know they say kids these days start computers early and learn quick but the computer geek gene must run strong in this family. She looks like she'll take after both her father and grandfather. Ella loves to bang away at the computer like she knows what she's doing...smarty pants.

Tonight we had dinner with some old friends of Ron's. I can't believe Ella's almost six months and this is the first time Lorene and Megan have met her! It was nice to have dinner with them and Liz.

Tomorrow it's off to the pediatrician to check on Ella's UTI. Hopefully the tests come back clean and she is totally cured. Otherwise they'll have to check her bladder to see if it's refluxing into her kidneys and causing the UTI. All these things to worry about with babies!