HOLLYWOOD ...

Oh, I'm so excited!! Dan Klepper, the photographer who did Ellie's photos today, sent me two "fun" photos that are not going to be used by the client and said that it was OK for me to publish them on my blog. He must know that I'm busting to show someone what a great job he did and how cute Ellie is!!! Funny thing is that he called these her "Hollywood" photos. Whenever I put sunglasses on her (from when she was little bitty), I'd say to her, "Ooooh, look, it's Hollywood!!" She'd giggle and take them off and put them on me, and I'd say, "Oooooh, look, mama is Hollywood."

And, quite frankly, she is definitely Hollywood in these.

The first is her "serious" look; the second ... all Ellie!!

Photos are copyright of Dan Klepper Photography 2009.

Funny Video of Ellie

I have tried multiple times to post this video. I will try, yet again. This is Ellie "talking" to Joshua one night after dinner. Then, well, you'll see what happens after that. She will kill me one day for having this on the blog, but man, it's funny!

Ok, so blogger has taken almost THREE HOURS and the video is still not uploaded. I have now given up and uploaded it to youtube (which only took 25 minutes, by the way).

Ellie - Cover Girl or Clingy Girl?

Last week, I saw a posting looking for an Asian girl to model for a local Christian publishing company's 2010 materials. I figured it wouldn't hurt to send in Ellie's pictures -- just to see. Imagine our surprise and excitement when she was chosen to be the cover for the Summer 2010 curriculum.

Today, we went to Franklin (at the unbelievable hour of 8:00 a.m.) and met with this photographer and took photos for her "cover". Her fun concept was watermelon -- can you get more summery than that? She had cute little red watermelon shorts, a green watermelon shirt that said, "Naturally Sweet" and what I call her "Asian piggy tales" (like this from a few weeks ago).

Well, I'd love to say that she was the perfect model, smiling on cue, holding her watermelon just perfectly, sitting still -- except, that she wasn't. She probably was the normal baby model. She spent a lot of the first little while staring at us like we were from outer space since she was sitting in the grass and we were all standing away from her, the photographer was lying on the ground and we were all clapping, laughing and making general idiots of ourselves.

She didn't have a CLUE what to do with the watermelon wedges, but did warm up to rubbing it all over her at one point. *smile* And, of course, when we finally did get her to smile, her eyes disappeared!! Josh was a great help getting her to smile by singing and encouraging her to do the motions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider and playing peek-a-boo with her.

It was a lot of fun and I'm sure with the photographer's skills, she will be absolutely a beauty!! Unfortunately, I won't be able to post photos on the blog when I get them, but I'll let you know how they turn out!!

This may be her only modeling opportunity, but, who knows, we might be surprised!! We think she's terribly cute.

On a separate note, I'm not sure if it's a developmental stage or what, but she has just recently developed a fear of strangers. We walked over to the neighbors and she had a meltdown right in their house and clung to me like they were axe murders. She's never done that before. Then, that night at the local Gymboree store, same reaction with the sales lady -- only with big crocodile tears. Five minutes later when the sales lady went about her way, she was giggling again. She clings to us like super glue when we are out in public and someone talks to her. THIS from the girl who made her rounds at the ball park visiting with first one stranger and then the other only two weeks ago.

According the the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Between the ages of eight and twelve months, your child sometimes may seem like two separate babies. First there’s the one who’s open, affectionate, and outgoing with you. But then there’s another who’s anxious, clinging, and easily frightened around unfamiliar people or objects. Some people may tell you that your child is fearful or shy because you’re “spoiling” her, but don’t believe it. Her widely diverse behavior patterns aren’t caused by you or your parenting style; they occur because she’s now, for the first time, able to tell the difference between familiar and unfamiliar situations. If anything, the predictable anxieties of this period are evidence of her healthy relationship with you.

Separation anxiety usually peaks between ten and eighteen months and then fades during the last half of the second year. In some ways, this phase of your child’s emotional development will be especially tender for both of you, while in others, it will be painful. After all, her desire to be with you is a sign of her attachment to her first and greatest love—namely you. The intensity of her feeling as she hurtles into your arms is irresistible, especially when you realize that no one—including your child herself— will ever again think you are quite as perfect as she does at this age. On the other hand, you may feel suffocated by her constant clinging, while experiencing guilt whenever you leave her crying for you. Fortunately, this emotional roller coaster eventually will subside along with her separation anxiety.

I suspect with her prematurity, she is about at the developmental level of a 12 month old (just walking, talking some and developing this fear of strangers. In many, many ways it is comforting because it does mean her attachment level is at a healthy one.

In the Spirit of Honesty...

Sometimes I come clean on my blog. Other times, I suppose I figure if I leave it unsaid, it's ok. However, I have felt God's call for me to come clean on this one -- hopefully in the spirit of motivating others to examine their hearts as I have mine.

As many of you know, I am a Christian. I have been a Christian since I was in my early teens. It will not shock anyone who knows me well to know that I don't have a clue what age I was or the date I was baptized. My mother could tell you. It's probably on that calendar that hangs in her bathroom where she records all kinds of fascinating information.

As I wrote in my last post, I have always been a voracious reader (well, until the children came along and took a large part of my free time). I still try to read when I can and if I get my teeth in a good book I can finish it very quickly.

So, my heart is sad to report that I have never read the entire Bible all the way through. There. I've said it. It is out in the open. Feeling convicted about this, and knowing that when I stand in front of God on Judgement Day, I do not want to have to answer the question of why I read hundreds (possibly thousands) of books and yet never managed to fully read HIS WORD, after claiming to be a Christian. Now, mind you, I've read large chunks of the Bible and have studied many parts of the Bible, but I've never read it all. I've started the task many times in early January, only to fall by the wayside by March.

So, by posting on the blog, I'm hopeful that I will have some accountability to finish this time. I'm hopeful that in three months, someone will leave a comment saying, "Hey, how's the Bible reading coming?"; that in nine months someone will tap me and remind me, "You remember you wanted accountability" and that finally in about a year from now (or sooner would be great too), I can report that I am one of ONLY 10% of CHRISTIANS WHO CAN REPORT THEY'VE READ THE ENTIRE BIBLE. That statistic was staggering to me. I got that statistic here. I'm sure it's an estimate, but sadly, probably true.

So far, every night, I have been excited to read my sections. The Bible I'm reading has a passage from the Old Testament; one from the New Testament; one from Psalms and one from Proverbs. In all honesty, I've been most fascinated by the Old Testament. God has spoken to me every night, and I can't wait to hear His voice as I study Him through His letters to me.

So, have you read the Bible all the way through? Will you keep me in your prayers as I endeavor to complete this journey? Will you be my accountability partner as I work through this process? I hope you will join me if you haven't already.

Free Movies

Summer has officially started for us because we went to our first free movie. Regal does free summer movies here each summer and we've been going f.o.r.e.v.e.r. Today was our first outing. Ellie was at MDO; I don't trust her to sit through a movie yet. Although, she is a HUGE, HUGE fan of Hap Palmer's Baby Songs videos. She'll watch an entire video of that and never move from her little chair. I digress.

Today, Josh and I saw Daddy Daycare. Of course, we've seen it multiple times (even have the DVD), but Josh got his moms love for movies and likes to go. There is just something about seeing a movie on "the big screen" that just is better than seeing it at home. I'm also pretty fond of movie popcorn too.

After the movies, we went to the library. Josh couldn't find a book he wanted to read (how come he didn't get that trait from me???) and ended up getting three videos. *sigh* I, however, DID, get a book (when will I read it??) from the juvenile section. There is nothing I love more than a good book!! This one is called Word Nerd. Yes, I have higher literary abilities and sometimes higher aspirations in the reading category, but this one just reached out a grabbed me (although it didn't Josh -- even when I made him read to me the first two pages). It will be a quick read. I also got a couple of books on CD to listen to while I work this week.

After the library, we picked up The Princess from MDO and made a stop by McDonalds for ice cream and to play in the play land. Well, THAT didn't go as planned because our church's summer group was there and playing and I just didn't feel comfortable letting Ellie play with a lot of kids. While we were there, we had a horrible storm and we were under tornado warning. And, I left my phone in the car. *sigh* We made it home fine, and there was no damage.

Tonight Josh worked on cleaning out the cars, and I worked on cleaning out the office. We worked for many hours and can't see a lot of progress. How do things get so messy???

And, that, is pretty much a boring tale of a boring, normal day (with NO photos). It's these kinds of days, however, that make up life and I wouldn't trade the boring for all the exciting.

Oh, and for those who don't know: Ellie is walking up a storm. She is every where!! The one thing I've noticed though -- before I could hear her crawling and know where she was. Now, when she walks she is stealthily quiet and can get away from you very quickly. My guard is even higher now!!

Play Date at the Park - UPDATED with photos!

Today we had a play date scheduled with some of our bloggy friends!! It was so cool to meet them in real life. Interestingly enough, they look JUST LIKE they do on their blogs!! *smile*

When I got there, however, I realized my battery was dead on my camera so I have NO pictures. Well, that's not totally true because I did take some with my cell phone. I will send them to myself soon and post some. I've also been told several folks will send me some of theirs to share. So, have patience!!

Let me just say, Ellie and I had a great time with some of the cutest kids I have EVER seen. The countries represented were: Kyrgyzstan, Russia (although technically Kyrygzstan too), Ethopia and Vietnam -- beautiful little girls and boys everywhere.

Ellie developed a serious love for the swings while she was there. Every time I would take her out, she would point to it and whine. Near the end, she nearly fell asleep in the swing.

PHOTOS as promised. Thanks so much to Daphne and Julie. I suspect I will get some more as folks get back home and get time so stay tuned!!

This is one of my favorites. It so sweet how Ellie and Stephen-Paul are looking at each other ...

Lest anyone think this was an easy picture to take, DON'T. It was a constant battle of one kid or another running off, standing up, crawling off, etc. From left: Ben, Aiden, Lana, Ellie and Stephen-Paul. Every child had an animal cracker (or 12) during this picture! (And why is my kid the only one who felt the need to remove her shoes???)

Ellie's favorite thing to do at the park was swing -- look at this face!!!

Ellie and Aiden -- they played so well together -- if you don't count the times they were trying to take the toys away from each other. *smile* His mom, Kelli, and I became friends when we were waiting for an adoption in Vietnam. I'm so glad Kelli got to bring Aiden home and even more so that we got to finally meet them this weekend!

And this is sweet Lana!! I just found her mommy's blog not to long ago (through Kelli, of course) and was just so excited to find that Lana is Kyrgyz!!! Isn't she cute as a doll????

Unfortunately, our friends, Kat, Charlie and Jia had to leave right as we arrived. There was a METAL slide (why, why, why???) at the park and Charlie managed to get up on it and go down before mom could check it. It was a swirly slide and he managed to flip over on his stomach and get a second degree burn on his stomach. This happened right as we were arriving. Kat left to go to the pharmacy and eventually ended up in the ER for treatment. Poor, poor Charlie. WHY do parks put metal slides in the hot sun???

Walking and Pitching

Tonight's ballgame was a big deal all around. Ellie took off walking and did more than her normal one-two-three steps. She went long distances and you could tell the light finally "clicked on" with her because everytime she did it, her face would light up and she'd clap. After the game, we went to eat and she walked half way across the restaurant.

Also, Josh got to pitch in tonight's game for one inning. He's not a pitcher by any means, but he loves to try. I think with some coaching he could do a pretty good job. He has speed and strength. He just needs to develop form and accuracy. The camera battery had died by this point. The irony of taking multiple hundreds of photos all year long at baseball games and not being able to have a camera when I NEED it to take pictures of my own child is not lost on me. I did manage to get two pictures before the camera refused to power up any more.

Tonight's game was the last one for the season. The Mets won 8-7. It was a winning season for Josh's team with them coming in first place in the park. It was a fun year. In six weeks, football starts. Oh well, I can enjoy those six weeks!!!

You Can't Photograph Sticky

Today at the bank drive-thru, Ellie and Josh got suckers. Not thinking (remember, I have and am used to an 11 year old most of the time), I unwrapped and handed Ellie her sucker and drove home. HAHA!! Let's all take a moment to laugh because what I did was so stupid!

When we got home and I went to get her out, her right eye was closed. WHAT??? I'm wondering what is wrong with her eye when I reach up and touch it and it's ... [guess] sticky. She apparently had rubbed her eye with her sticky hand and "glued" her eye shut.

I went in to clean her up and sat her on the counter to wipe her down. There was a bag of steamed broccoli I had made right before we went out to the bank. I had forgotten to put it up [but it had only been out a short time]. Ellie reached over, tossed her sucker down and picked up a huge hunk of broccoli and started chowing down. She LOVES broccoli and sat there contentedly eating it until I got done. I know the pix are a bit blurry, but they are funny -- especially the one with her sticky hair standing straight up. I finally gave up and took her upstairs and gave her a bath.

First Major Boo-Boo

Ellie has had a few bumps and bruises in the last few months -- mostly minor. But tonight, she got a good one. We were at the funeral home for visitation for one of Kevin's cousins who had passed away.

Ellie, being her busy bee self, lauched herself toward the chair in front of me -- trying to see or get the attention of the women in front of her -- and busted her lip on the chair. She bled and bled. One of the men working there got her some ice and thanks to MeeMee, who taught her to eat ice, she sucked and sucked on it. I think that's probably what has kept her from having a big old fat lip.

Poor baby; I'm surprised she hasn't had more boo boos with her activity level.

No photos; it seemed inappropriate to be taking pictures of her at the funeral home.

14 Minutes in the Life of a 14 month old ...

Warning ... photo heavy post (ha -- when are mine not?)

This afternoon while Josh, Kevin and Braiden were busy replacing an inner tube on Josh's dirt bike wheel, I decided to follow Ellie around for a few minutes to document what life with a little one is like (lest I ever forget, eh?).

The following are the results of just 14 minutes with our Princess (and while I didn't actually time it, it was a very, very short time span) . . .

Playing with her kitchen:

Followed by watching out the window looking for Bubba:

She then started to climb the stairs.

She got distracted with Josh's AWANA book and decided to stop and read a bit.

After throwing her shoes off the steps and being carried back down, she found her way over to ride on her "Ellie"phant.

She got bored with that very quickly and moved over and found Uncle Derrek's picture and looked at it.

Fortunately (for her anyway), the picture was close to the dog's water bowl (always a no-no) and she had to attempt to ram her hands down in that.

After being physically removed from the doggy water area, she decided to pet the dog, Sunshine.

Then she went back to the area I had just removed her from and, with the cat's supervision, took the air vent out of the floor.

After I put the air vent back, I found her walking along the cabinets trying to open them. Thank goodness for child locks.

Then it was around the corner to the living room and her books. She picked several up, dropping them on the floor until she found one she could tolerate for a few seconds.

That quickly bored her and she opened the diaper genie.

Beside the diaper genie she found two balls and practiced banging them together.

Then, she took one of the balls back to where she started, at her kitchen, and played with them, dropping them through the shute.

The ball rolled under and piece of furniture and she tried to find it.

Unable to find her ball, she went back to pat the cat and look out the front door.

Finding nothing of interest, she decided to see if she was tall enough to reach the door knob. Thank goodness, she is not, yet ...

She sat down and became immensely interested in her toes that we had painted a few days before.

She found another ball and practiced dropping it in a box and looking for it, then eating it.

She went over to her "toy box" (a stool with storage) and dug deep to find a toy and chewed on it.

After boring of the toy, she discovered her toes -- again -- and sat fascinated with them for a bit.

Upon realizing she was close to the refrigerator, she pulled the bottom vent off.

And, to end our time, she went back over to the back door and stared out at her daddy and brother up in the back yard.

She's a busy, busy, busy little girl. Can't WAIT for her to start walking well.

Bittersweet Endings

Wasn't it just yesterday that I was writing about how baseball season was gearing up? If not, it certainly seems like it. We are down to our last game on Thursday night and while it's a bit bittersweet to end a season, I'm always happy to have that part of my life back for a month before football season takes over our lives from mid-July until early November.

Tonight's game was incredible with the Mets winning 16-0. Josh had two great hits and one strike-out. He and his team have had a good year this year.

Ellie had a great time and is taking more and more steps independently. The little stinker, however, will only walk for others. We try and try and occasionally she will take a step or two for us, but let someone else work with her and she'll take 3-4-5 steps. She's very close though. Knowing how active she is, we will certainly have our hands full then. I'm sad to see the crawling stage end because it means my little one is growing up.

She and another little boy were playing tonight at the ballpark. They were playing and laughing and smiling and clapping. It was so sweet. Then, a few minutes later, they were fighting over a toy and Ellie was pushing him off her blanket. The joys of toddlers' personalities!! I suspect the social butterfly will miss the ballgames as it was her opportunity to "work the crowd" and get tons of attention from all the adults. *smile*

I wonder what she's tyring to show him (or teach him as it looks) in these pictures?? She's really turning on that personality, you can tell!

VBS has started at our church. Another bittersweet year as this is Joshua's last year for VBS. After school ends next year, he will officially be in the YOUTH group. HOW???? I remember his first years at VBS at New Hope. I remember working and taking the kids I was keeping to VBS every day. It was a sweet, sweet time.

Time moves fast, moms -- cherish it while you can!!

Tomorrow is VBS, Braiden is spending the night, we are going to see the new movie UP! and I need to work. I'm tired already. I wouldn't have it any other way, I suppose and I'm thankful that God allows me to lead a life that is busy or I would be terribly bored.