Happy Father's Day!!

Well, it was my first Mother's Day, and now it's Josh's first Father's Day! So, a look back at 9 months as a daddy...

Happy first Father's Day, love of my life... It has been a joy to watch you become a daddy! :)

And happy Father's Day to my dad! Thanks for helping me be a better parent!

Week 39 & 9 Months!

Well, the beginning of week 39 was a little rough for poor Miss Elena. This is what she looked like last Wednesday night:

So, obviously she didn't feel very good. Her Aunt Yaya watched her on Thursday, and I took her to the doctor Thursday afternoon. The verdict was not great: she had a double ear infection (AGAIN) AND hand, foot, and mouth disease. I hadn't ever heard of such a thing, but apparently it's a virus, and there had been a few cases of it at her daycare. So, the result of that virus is a mouth full of blisters. Poor Miss Elena was not doing so hot, that's for sure! So it was off to D&H to get more antibiotics- Augmentin again, this time for two weeks instead of 10 days.

The other rough part of the hand, foot, and mouth disease was that last weekend we were headed to Windermere for the annual family reunion on Josh's side of the family, including baby Leila, who we didn't want to get the virus. We just decided to keep them separate, and wash hands often!!

Other than the fear of spreading the virus, the family reunion was lots of fun with Elena along! We got to do all kinds! of fun things with her. There's a church up on a hill that you can see from all over the camp that Josh has always wanted to hike up to. So we strapped Elena to his chest, and headed out Saturday morning. It was a long hike straight up on the way there, but the view from the top was awesome.

Daddy and his little girl at the top!

Inside the church... everybody's looking a little tired!

But the best new thing we got to do with Elena was GO SWIMMING! Swimming is always one of the main attractions at Windermere, and this year was obviously Elena's first swimming experience! To put it mildly, she LOVED the pool! Poor thing was absolutely passed out when we got there- she had fallen asleep before we left the cabin, and was totally rag doll. We didn't let that stop us, though, we took her right on over to the kiddie pool! She woke right up when she hit that water, but it was awful bright!

Still not totally awake...

I like this water thing... but it sure is bright out here!

After we got her sunglasses she did much better, and she even started leaving them on! I guess she figured out they were helping her see better. Once she was pretty accustomed to the kiddie pool, we broke out her floatie and took her into the big pool. This little girl was in HEAVEN! The little float we bought her is awesome, it's a little crab that has its own sunshade, a place for her legs to go through, and a little section for toys. So Elena was set to go for swimming!

Mommy, Daddy, and Elena in the pool!

Playing with her toys... by the next day she had just the tiniest bit of a sunburn on her forearms... after looking back at the pictures, I can see why! Next time we'll have to make sure that the shade covers her arms, too!

When you're all tuckered out from swimming, what's more fun than hanging out next to the pool, chillaxin' and playing with your toys?! I LOVE this picture. Check out the mohawk, courtesy of Grandma Looten!

Well, all the pictures in the world can't show how much fun Elena really had in the pool... but a video does a much better job! Enjoy! Listen close for the giggling, it's hard to hear with all of the background noise!

Other than swimming and hiking, the reunion was filled mostly with hanging out with the family. The younger kids LOVED Elena, so she was never short for company!

Here she is hanging out with 2 cousins from Texas. This is her new thing- she is constantly pulling up and standing while holding on to someone's legs.

And telling Uncle Tim what's going on...

It was a great but tiring weekend, and we were happy to be home Sunday! This week, Elena also turned 9 months old on Thursday! I can't believe that my little girl is getting so big!! Now that the antibiotics have kicked in, I'm amazed at how much better she feels! She is way more active and talkative. Of course, she's impossible to watch now, too! She is just EVERYWHERE! And now that she's mastered crawling, she's no longer happy with moving along the floor... now she's pulling up on EVERYTHING SHE CAN SEE! Look how big she is...

The pack-n-play has been a lifesaver, because we can't always be standing right next to her- like when we're getting ready in the mornings! One morning, I had the feeling I was being watched. I looked over at the play pen, and this is what I saw...

Pretty adorable... and SOO BIG! She has definitely become a maniac with the whole pulling up thing. We had to take the tablecloth off of the coffee table because she was grabbing it and yanking it (and everything on the table) off onto her head! And now we have moved everything that isn't "baby proof" off of that same table- so no remotes, no coasters, etc! It's a whole new life now! Elena is also learning to dislike being told no... It's hard not to cave when you tell her no and she looks at you and starts crying that "you broke my heart" cry... but she's bordering on spoiled anyway, so we have to! She really bounces back pretty quick- she finds something new to play with!

I don't have any pictures, but we also got to see Great-Grandma De this week! She was passing through on her way to Iowa to visit family, so we hung out on Friday night, then again on Tuesday night when she was headed back home. It was great to see her; the last time Grandma De saw Elena she was not crawling yet, so it was a huge change! We are excited to spend some time with that side of the family in July, when we are heading to Springfield for a couple of days!

I still just can't believe that my baby is 9 months old! That just seems so big! I've been thinking about her birthday, because it's coming so fast! Only 3 more months!! FYI, you can all mark your calendars for September 13th! Not sure about much else, but we'll have the party that day for sure!

Week 38

Well, I was going to do the last two weeks together, but I started picking out pictures, and there were way too many for one post! So, here's last week's, and (hopefully) tomorrow I'll do this week's! I'm kind of looking forward to September, when I get to go to one blog!!

Anyway, last week was a great one for fun events... We spent Saturday at the Cards game, which was rainy and miserable, but still fun. And it was 'Lena's first game, so we had to take lots of pictures! The story's on the other blog, but here are a few more pictures of just The Lena.

All dressed and ready to go...

Hanging out at the MDA tailgate with Aunt Jane!

...and Aunt Jenny!
In Busch Stadium!! Obviously this is before the rain started!
Elena stayed the driest of all of us taking a nap on Aunt Yaya!
The days of taking pictures of Miss Elena sitting nicely are over... now she's off as soon as you set her down! This is the adorable new dress Aunt Ruthie got her!
She did pause for a moment when she found her bottle.

Kinda like a cat, babies love boxes! Elena loved playing in the big box our Wii came in. Right after this she leaned down on the front flap and flipped out of the box altogether! But it didn't faze her at all... she's a tough little girl!

On Sunday we had a campfire night with the youth. We went out to the Scott's house and went fishing, had a fish fry, and just hung out. Mary Scott LOVES Elena, so she really took care of her and Josh and I both got to fish and hang out with the kids some. But Elena did come over to check out her first fish! She wasn't scared at all. I'm just glad the fish didn't flip or flop!

Elena also got to meet her first horse! Which she thought was just like a kitty-cat or a puppy only BIGGER, which made it that much cooler!! This horse is one of the oldest that the Scotts have, so it's very well behaved...
...so Elena just decided to take a ride, too! She was absolutely THRILLED!

No real reason for this picture, except that she was totally adorable in this hat!!

Week 38 was a pretty fun week, but Elena was still feeling pretty yucky. She never really got over her last ear infection. She's an amazingly happy little girl, though, even when she is sick. She has gotten so good at crawling, she's absolutely a maniac!

It's hard to separate the last few weeks, so there will be more in the next post, but now at least half of the pictures are caught up!! Stay tuned...

Fun Videos

Well, I told you about Elena's new tricks in the last post, but I thought it might be more fun for you guys to see them for yourselves! Enjoy!! :)

Crawling... she's getting pretty good now!

And patty-cake!! She grins like a wild woman when you actually do the nursery rhyme with her. Especially if you do the "fast as you can" part as fast as you can! :)