our special Christmas present

Yesterday we accepted a counter-offer on this house. We are so excited!! Please pray with us that escrow would go smoothly. It looks like we'll be closing mid-february, just in time for Elliana's first birthday!

You know your two year old is in the Christmas spirit when...

he sings the following, "Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O, and on that farm he had a Reindeer, E-I-E-I-O." Yes, it's official Noah is ready for Christmas.

All about "E"

When I first started blogging, most of my posts were all about Noah. I would blog about his milestones, personality, my frustrations and so on. Now that I have two (and my life seems that much more hectic) I realize that my blogging is less frequent, mostly pics, and rarely about either one of my children individually. Since I just got back from Elliana's 9 month well-baby checkup, I thought I'd blog all about my sweet baby girl.

Elliana is 9 months and 6 days old. I can hardly believe it! When my dr. said that the next time we'd see him was at her 1 year checkup, it really hit me...my baby is growing up...much too quickly.

My sweet Elliana is so much fun. She's as content as can be playing with her toys, crawling all over, and pulling herself up on anything and everything that she can. She's been "talking" more and more; we've heard ma-ma and da-da....but she's not actually referring to us, just practicing. She has also started to "dance" to music and especially loves to join her big brother while he dances. :)

Speaking of her big brother, she LOVES him! And guess what? He LOVES her too. It's the sweetest thing. Many mornings when he hears her wake up he wants to be the one to welcome her to a new day. He'll say to me, "I go get her?" When he goes in her room I hear him say something like, "Good morning, Princess", "Hi, sister", "Hi, Elliana. How are you?" Her happy squeals let us all know that she's equally excited to see her big brother. I love how Noah refersto her by one of the nicknames we've given her; it's adorable. Many times when he goes to "get her" in the morning, he ends up in her crib and together they have a ball. :) It usually includes snuggling, singing, laughing and maybe even a little bouncing. ;)

I said that Elliana is very content...and she is. She's generally the happiest little baby. Except when she's not. :) I usually tell people she's perfectly happy 99% of the time...but that 1%? She will let you know that she's NOT happy. I wonder if this is part of her female genetic make up? She's been a great sleeper, however, I feel like we've had a bit of regression lately. :( Unfortunately she's started to wake up in the middle of the night...and some nights 2 times. The good thing is that this is exactly when Noah did the same thing. You may remember this post, I was sooo confused at what was happening. Fortunately only 4 or 5 hard nights and he was back to his normal sleeping. It's been a little bit longer for Elliana, specifically because of some traveling for the holidays and a couple late nights out (I'm much more of a softy when she's not in her normal enviornment or routine). I hate having her cry it out...especially when I know that in a couple of nights we'll be messing up her routine again. However, since we're going to be home for the next 2 weeks with no real travel plans, I think we'll be able to get back into routine, and after a couple hard nights, I'm sure we'll be back on track. :)

She continues to be at the top of the charts for height (29 inches) but has thinned out (haha, the drs. words) and is in the 50th percentile for weight (19 lbs 6 oz). The first few months she was bigger and longer than Noah was at each of her check ups. However, starting at 6 months, she started weighing less than he did, but is still just as long as he was. She loves to eat, but is intent on eating big people food too. If it's just me feeding her lunch, she's pretty content eating baby food, but when we're all sitting down to dinner, she'll spit out her food and whine until I give her some finger foods. She likes most fruits and veggies except green beans and bananas. I know, what baby doesn't like bananas?? :)

Elliana is such a joy. She adds so much to our family...I can't imagine life without her. I look forward to hearing her happy squeals in the morning, and love the sweet cuddle times we have. She has a smile that could melt any heart (and often works it on anyone who will take a second to look) and has definitely caused our hearts to grow and grow.