Hii-ii!

That is the adorableness that is coming out of my child's mouth. "HI!" Two drawn out sylables in the sweetest little sing song voice, accompanied by the cutest, most exuberant one-year old wave you've ever seen.

It started two weeks ago when she said it to me when I came into her room in the morning. Talk about melting my heart!
Then she reportedly said it to every adult, child and toy the whole time she was in childcare during Bible study.
Then she started picking up her phone and saying it.
Now she says it whenever Jason or I come home. If that isn't the best greeting when walking through the door I don't know what is!
And a few days ago she said it to EVERY single person we rolled past...in Wal-Mart...on a Friday afternoon. Yup. I heard it A LOT!

It never gets old. See for yourself!

I have THE best husband.

Here are just a few highlights as of late:

Sensing this stay at home/working mommy needed a break, he booked me 2 nights at an Inn so that I could relax/scrapbook/watch cable TV. He arranged for a good friend to visit me there. (The fact that I cancelled it because we really can't afford it right now, has no bearing on how amazing that was!)

In lieu of said Inn stay, he watched Ella all day on Friday while my friend and I went to a fabulous cafe, perused paint colors, caught up on life and then went to a movie!

Without so much as a mention or asking, he noticed a few staple groceries we were short on and picked them up while he was out!

As a fun little suprise, he brought home a movie that (a long time ago) I had mentioned I'd like to see. (The man has a horrible memory and a knack for slamming his head into things to make memory matters worse...so this was quite amazing!)

AND after sensing that this mommy is slowing losing herself and needing to get back to her passion...knowing I've wanted one ever since college...seeing me save for one for so many years only to watch me have to depleat the savings for things like short paychecks with CCC, getting out of debt after CCC, hospital bills for having Ella etc. etc. etc.....He bought me a DSLR camera!

(Okay, it's used and it's only the body, but that's more than I ever thought I'd have so I'm beyond stoked to be moving in the right direction! He said he crunched all the numbers and we can afford it. I don't know how, but we don't have credit cards anymore so I know it's within our means and that's all I care about!)

I feel very blessed.

Ella Bella!

I think Ella comes by it naturally. Jason and I are both athletic people, played lots of sports growing up, like to stay active. Soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, skiing, and track are in her genes if you put us both together.

My favorite was soccer. Not that I'm pushing one sport or another here, or tryin' to brag or anything...but I was a pretty good goalkeeper for a class A team. Made varsity my freshman year, racked up a few awards regionally and statewide in my day....I see Ella following in her momma's footsteps. Just look at this video. Watch that arm. See how she throws her body with cat-like reflexes and makes a quicks save as the ball comes back at her. And then marvel at her quick redistribution. I'm tellin' ya. She's a child prodigy! ;)

And here is the little sweety feeding her baby a bottle. I didn't even teach her this. Well I kind of did, but not intentionally. When she first got her doll she would just chuck it on the floor. So I would pick it up and rock it and feed it a bottle. Well, two days ago she found the bottle lying on the floor, grabbed it, went and found her baby doll and "fed her a bottle". Now she does it all the time and "rocks" the baby too. Precious!

A few of her new talents are climbing the stairs (which she wants to do ALL of the time) and standing up without holding onto anything (That I've not gotten a video of yet because it happens for just a few seconds at a time).

Scott Brown

So here's my take on Scott Brown being elected...

A lot of my friends...and many other people are very upset about it. But I'd really like people to just take a deep breath...take one giant step back from the whole issue and think about what it says that he got elected.

In a state that is made up of an estimated 10 - 15 % republicans...a republican got elected.

He ran pretty much solely on the platform that he would vote AGAINST the healthcare reform bill that is up for passage.

Ask yourselves what this says.

I'll give you my take. It says that right wing conservatives are not the only ones who oppose this healthcare reform bill!!! It says that a highly liberal, democratic state was willing to elect a republican if it meant that it would stop the healthcare reform bill!!! It says that a lot of people in general want healthcare reform but think that this is NOT reform. It says that people are tired of this bill being railroaded through with earmark after earmark being added to buy the votes they need!

WOW. It's really sad that representatives have minimized the amount of people who actually disagree with this bill. It's really sad that they are pushing their own agendas and not listening to and doing what their constituants want. THAT IS THEIR JOB YOU KNOW! It's sad that it took this and came down to this but Halleluiah that Scott Brown will the the vote needed to halt this maddness!

Karma's a @#$%&

Do you all recall my post about discovering that Jason had lost his wedding ring and hadn't been wearing one since April? (Click here if you missed that. It's a good one!)

Well, shortly after that we ordered him a $17 titanium wedding band online. Despite using their handy ring sizer, it didn't fit him. Couldn't return it and from all I had read, titanium can't be resized either.

A few months later...after getting hit on AGAIN, by ANOTHER nurse at the shipyard blood drive he decided to take action. He went to the local jeweler and ordered a cheap silver band. They also informed him that his Titanium ring could be resized one 1/2 size smaller which is exactly what he needed. So he had that done too...so he'd have a back up.

On Saturday the rings from the jeweler were ready. He picked them up, slipped one on his finger and voila! We're married again!

Yesterday (Monday) he went ice fishing with some friends on his day off. He came home, head hung kind of low, looking up at me with his best puppy dog eyes and said, "You'll never guess what I found." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you guessed it! That original ring that he had "taken off at school and put in his desk drawer" that "some kid must have stolen" was in the pocket of his ice fishing coat this whole time!

"So what the heck are you going to do with three rings?" I asked.

"Keep them all," he replied, "I have a feeling I'll need all three!"

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!! WE GOT THE HOUSE!!! WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!

...In case you missed that....ummmm we got the house....aaaand I'm really excited about it! Jason on the other displayed the enthusiasm of a rock, as I danced around the room while calling to tell him, and replied, "Yeah, I had pretty much figured that." But that's a whole different post about repressed emotions blah, blah, blah.

Our Fabulous, wondrous, magnificent realtor Gesine (who has worked so hard and more than earned her keep showing us house upon house upon house!) called yesterday afternoon to tell us the bank accepted our offer and wants to close Feb 13th! Mortgage broker says no problem. Home inspection tomorrow at 10am! Landlord already got back to us saying that leaving end of February will be fine (that's a praise!) I can hardly believe it's actually happening!!!


As with all of our moves, we have tried to bathe this in prayer, asking for guidance, direction and wisdom the whole way. Still, in there it's often hard to separate sometimes if it's God's voice saying "yes" or your own desires saying "go ahead!"


But we really do believe this is of God and from God for many reasons. We have seen his hand all throughout the process in ways to lengthy to detail right now.


There is no way that we could afford such a HUGE (6 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, on almost 3 acres on a dead end road), beautiful (9 foot celings, wood and tile floor, woodstove hearth, master suite etc. etc.) house at true market value. We feel BEYOND humbled and blessed to be getting such a wonderful home for such a small price tag. We feel that He is providing us with this house so that He can have us use it for His glory in some way. We have thrown around ideas of what that might be, but continue to wait for His plan in that! We definitely keep pinching ourselves and I'm not sure I truly believe it's real until the papers are signed and keys are in hand!

A Fun Illustration!

Maine's annual wife carrying contest was the illustration for Today's Family Life Marriage Devotion (It's in the bottom righthand corner). Fun! And thought provoking. Check it out!

Ingenuity

Ahh, the little one still has a ways to go in balance. But she did let go and stand alone for 2 seconds yesterday! She was very excited about it. She tried over and over to do it again, but to no avail. And then she came up with this one all on her own. Her very own walker. Such a cutie!

A Little Plug

A conversation with a few friends got me thinking about this again...

From the very first weeks of Ella's life we've tried to establish healthy routines for her. In all of my research and all my experience working with children I've found that this is what they thrive on. In order to do this, we decided to impliment the techniques outlined in Babywise. Essentially it helps you to help your baby get into a routine of sleep/eat/wake while helping you learn what your baby's cries mean and learn how to better meet their needs. It also helps your baby learn to sleep, which was an added bonus for us. Countless mothers that I know have used this with children of all different personalities and have had similar, positive results. (There are a lot of people out there, writing outlandish criticizms of the book. Many a claim which I've found to be downright lies. So...don't knock it until you have at least READ it for yourself and at best, tried it.)

Ella has a great routine throughout the day. It is the same sleep/eat/wake cycle we started her on when she was an infant, there were just many more cycles of it when she was younger!
~She wakes up 7 or 8 a.m./eats breakfast/plays.
~Naps/wakes up/eats lunch/plays.
~Naps/wakes up/eats a snack,/plays/has dinner/bedtime routine/in bed by 6-6:30 out like a light. Sleeps through the night. Always.

It keeps us all healthy and happy. She gets the sleep her little brain needs to develop, we all know whats coming next which keeps chaos from ever ensuing and it definitely helps Jason and I keep a great relationship going because we have every evening after 6:30pm to spend together.

And Ella knows her routine well. For instance, if she ever starts getting fussy in the evening (which she was just prior to this video), all you have to do is tell her whats happening next, she'll sign it and light right up, then it's one happy kiddo again and off to the tub!

There's my plug for Babywise...go ahead, give it a try! And enjoy this little video while you're at it!

Life Update

So, the beautiful house we offered on Dec. 23rd is still on the table. It's in process. We just need the bank to approve our offer. The necessary septic design was done, in our hot little hands, and we're getting estimates. The bank sent out it's appraiser yesterday and "The bank looks to be moving quickly as they promised" says the realtor! The "deadline" for their decision is the end of next week but all involved are hopeful we'll know before then! Here's another sneak peek of it!I am continuing to rock my healthy eating and exercise with the exception of an indulgent brunch yesterday. It was fabulous to hang out with good friends, have good coversations and watch Miss Ella play so well with all the kiddos! She's growing up so fast! She crawls where she wants to go, stands up next to the other little toddlers, initiates play with them! She'll soon not be a baby anymore! It's bitter sweet! Women's Bible study and Mommy Time start up again in a few weeks here, excited about that because we'll get out of the house more. And I also hope to volunteer for set design at church and get my artistic juices flowing!

Jason is slowly finding some fishing buddies down here and some local places to fish. He and his friend Peter had a great time opening day of ice fishing. Small group is starting up again this week and we've been enjoying gamenights and get togethers with friends. Jason is finally working 4 10's now which is the schedule he wanted so that's great. When he's not working comp. or overtime and I'm not working Fridays, we'll have three day weekends together!

And Miss Ella. She is just too much! In a good way! I can't even put words to it! She is cruising along all the furniture, transfering from piece to piece with ease. She will hold onto our pant legs and walk forward a little if she shuffle with her. If I let go of her hands she'll stand alone for a split second. Her signage and vocabulary is just exploding. She now signs for bath and brush teeth and tons others that I've probably mentioned. She can now say, mama, "nana" for banana, and "nigh-nigh" for night, night and bye-bye.

I'm Fat!

"I'm Fat!" those were the words that I heard through the haze of my sleepy slumber as my husband trudged back into the bedroom at 5am. "My pants don't fit me. I can't even tuck my shirt in. I'm fat!" He changed his pants and headed off to work.

Now seriously...if you know my husband, then you know that there is no WAY he is fat and that he must just have some SERIOUSLY skinny jeans he was tryin' to wiggle into this a.m.

But I will give him this... both Jason and I have gotten a little squishy around the middle as of late. Last year around this time I had just had a baby, was thrilled that I fit into my regular jeans within weeks, and hadn't a care in the world about it further than that. This summer we were out and about all the time, hiking, walking, swimming, playing, and eating healthy. With those things in play and me still nursing up a storm, I was dropping pounds faster than I could blink and lovin' it!

But alas, three things seem to have happened all at once...winter arrived and exercize decreased, the holidays hit and healthy eating flew right out the window, and I'm only nursing 2x a day now so those calories are not being burned on overdrive anymore. Jason only has the first two excuses to lean on so HA!

My plan is this: eat healthier and exercize more. I've got lots of specifics for myself and ways to keep me on track but I won't bore you with those details. I'll just say that today was a great start and the Lotte Berk Method workout (essential the way dancers work out - trying something new to spice things up) kicked my rear and I loved it.

And Jason, well I'm sure he'll eat like one less pretzel a day and lose 10 pounds by the end of this week!