Iowa!

We had a great time in Iowa. Ellie, mom and I left on Sunday May 24th for a week and Jason met us there on Thursday. Ellie is a super flying baby! She loved the hum and vibration of the plane and slept for each of the four legs of our travels. I was worried about her ears but she didn't seem bothered at all. We ended up bringing the big stroller with the carseat carrier which is GIANT but the airline was great and let us gate check both the stroller and carseat. It was really nice to have the big stroller in the airport but not so nice in the rental car!


We flew into Moline, Illinois because it is the cheap airport. We had to drive a few hours to Cedar Falls, Iowa where my grandparents live. Unfortunately our plane left Raleigh super super early which was good for Ellie's sleep schedule but meant that I stayed up most of the night packing and was really tired. We went the cheap route and didn't want to pay the extra $100 to have mom added as a driver of the rental car which looking back was maybe kind of dumb. So I was really tired and had to drive through the very not exciting Iowa countryside. We made lots of stops (including Ellie's first Maid-Rite...yum!) and got to Cedar Falls Sunday night. It was the first time Ellie got to meet her Great Grandma Hansen and the second visit with the Flemings.
We had a really nice time. We checked out the community theatre where my Grandpa volunteers on set construction, visited the new Goodwill, checked out the new very cool baby store, went to the yummy yummy Brown Bottle restaurant (a Cedar Falls classic), the new casino and visited Joensies for the famous Iowa tenderloin sandwich. My dad, Zoe and Logan came up for a couple of days before the big Odyssey of the Mind tournament which was in Ames, Iowa.

Wednesday afternoon we drove down to Washington, Iowa to my Aunt Lori and Uncle Bob's house. We stopped at Joensies again and had tenderloins and the yummiest rhubarb custard dessert. So good...I need to learn how to make that! We took a very long time to make the trip because Ellie for some reason was not real happy about being in the car. Riding in the car with a screaming baby is pretty much brutal. We did make it finally and then Thursday morning drove back to Moline to pick up Jason and Carissa from the airport. Jesse, Mike, Vera and Alex arrived just before we left the house. We ended up staying at some little cabins not to far away from Washington at the state park. The only downside was they didn't have individual bathrooms but it ended up being just fine.

Saturday morning we went up to Kalona, Iowa which has the largest Amish settlement west of the Mississippi. We had a yummy giant cinnamon role at the bakery, visited the cheese facorty and bought "squeaky cheese", went to an Amish yardsale, and then stopped by the Stringtown Grocery Store.

The main reason for the trip was Matt (my cousin) and Bethany's wedding which was Saturday night. We had a lot of fun spending time with family and preparing for the wedding. Ellie and Vera wore matching outfits that mom and I found on one of our roadstops. Too cute. Jason had a great time taking pictures for the wedding and got some really nice shots. He is becoming quite the talented photographer.


We had a really nice trip and enjoyed seeing so much family. Travelling with a baby is tiring and you have to take way too much stuff. Unfortunately I feel like I need a "vacation from my vacation" but we are super glad we went.

5 Months Old!

It really is hard to believe...5 months have come and gone so quickly. Everyone tells you that but I never knew quite the extent that it was true until I realized that now we have a "big baby." Five months is a super fun age. Our lives are filled with joy and pretty much sleep (which is really nice). We are so blessed to have such a happy and healthy little girl.


Highlights of the last month:

-Cereal-Ellie got her first try at solid food. She seemed to like eating it but she had a hard time getting it out of her system. So...we decided to wait a little while. But she sure did enjoy the first few times we gave it to her. And she actually got pretty good at eating it.

-Working in her office. Ellie loves to work in her office. A space we set up for her to be safe away from the dogs. My mom coined the term office and I think it is very appropriate. We know it won't work out long in the current location...bricks+baby's heads=bad. So Eleanor Claire's office will be moving soon!

-Daddy's Graduation- Jason graduated from NCSU this month. We are so proud. Maybe Ellie will be a Wolfpack fan...we'll see! Now we are hoping that he can find a good job in this terrible economy.

-Rollover, rollover... Ellie rolled over this month! Now we sing "There were ten in the bed and the little one said "rollover, rollover" all the time! She can go from her tummy to her back by kicking her legs wildly.

-The wonderful world of toys (and drool)- Ellie picks up everything she can reach and it goes directly into her mouth. Which of course means if she can't get something she stuffs her fist into her mouth. This results in a lot of slime everywhere! We don't mind...it is pretty cute! She even tries desperately to get her pacifier into her mouth. She doesn't know yet that there is a right and wrong way to do that so often she just sucks on the handle.

-Springtime! Ellie loves to be outside so spring has been nice. She is pretty content walking around, checking out the garden or even just sitting out on the front step.

-Ellie's favorite things this month: 1. Rainstick toys (lifesavers for us!)- she absolutely loves hearing the little beads hit the plastic all the way down. It is an instant quiet-maker! 2. Mirrors-Ellie loves to smile at the baby looking at her in the mirror. Too cute. 3. Her smiling star- this toy I found at Babies r' Us and it is just a star washcloth with hard corners for teething and crinkle fabric inside. Again...she loves it! Sometimes if we hold it up to her she just grins at smiling star to show her love. 4. Mr. Chicken- a very cute stuffed toy chicken with teething rings for hands. Ellie goes directly for the beak with her mouth. Gotcha! Sometimes she even sleeps with Mr. Chicken in her hand:


-Ellie's song- Ellie seems to enjoy singing so we are constantly trying to come up with tunes to entertain her. Our most used song "Who is the baby, the happy, happy baby, who is the baby the happy girl?" Then response..."Ellie is the baby, the happy, happy baby, Ellis is the baby the happy girl!" She loves it. We sometimes have to change happy to...sassy, grumpy, stinking...use your imagination!

-Laughs! We can actually get Ellie laughing now. It is quite a bit of work, she doesn't think everything is funny. Most likely to make her laugh: 1. her daddy 2. flying her above your head and bringing her up and down towards your nose 3. kisses on her cheeks! Here is a video of her laughing...although I couldn't get her face and fly her above my head, you can at least hear the cuteness.


-Iowa trip!!! Details to follow...

Too Busy...

We have been way too busy! Life is crazy right now and I don't really know why. I guess because we have a almost 5 month old baby! Tomorrow Ellie and I are flying out to Iowa to see my grandparents and for my cousins wedding next Saturday. Jason will meet us on Thursday.

Some photo highlights of the past few weeks:

Gardening with Grandma
The Exersaucer! She's still a little too small....
Bathtime is still her favorite
"Henside the Beltline Chicken Tour"
Family Photo after graduation

Mother's Day

My very first official Mother's Day. Honestly it is kind of weird....but I'm super happy to be a mom. Last year I was pregnant but we didn't know it yet which is just crazy.

We had a really busy day. First thing I taught Sunday School and Jason kept the baby. He usually watches her during Sunday School and then we take her to the nursery and go to church. Well apparently Ellie wanted to spend time with her Mother on Mother's Day and threw a complete fit for Jason the entire time I was teaching...so...Jason decided we had better get her happy and we ended up feeding her, grabbing lunch and then heading out to Smithfield to see Jason's Great Grandmommie.


It was great to see Grandmommie. She hasn't seen Ellie since she was a few weeks old and so we decided to surprise her on Mother's Day. She was so sweet and so excited to see the baby. It was wonderful.

Ellie got me a beautiful necklace for Mother's Day. Great job Jason :) For my birthday last year Jason bought me a pair of blue earrings with the idea that we could give them to the baby when she was older. They were blue to match my eyes and also in case she decided she wanted to wear them for "something blue" in her wedding. So for Mother's Day Jason bought me the matching necklace. The cool thing...we picked out the earrings because of the color, didn't care about the whole birthstone thing and well--- when Jason went to get the necklace he realized that Blue Topaz is in fact the December birthstone. We NEVER thought the baby would be born in December so it was an extra sweet little detail. I love love love my earrings and necklace. It was such a nice surprise!

Happy Graduation Daddy!

Jason is all done and we are sooo proud! We totally surprised him Friday night with an ice cream party with a bunch of friends and family. The actual graduation ceremony was really nice. Ellie decided early on that it wasn't her thing so I tried to go out in the hall and feed her. Unfortunately she was in a very rare for her very mad mood...Pretty soon my mom came and got her so that at least I could see Jason get his diploma (err...fake diploma but you know). Luckily Ellie got tired of crying and my mom came in the auditorium with a sleeping baby and we all got to see Jason's part of the ceremony. We are so glad it is all over.

It's Sunday Night Again...

Sunday nights come so fast now. It is a bummer.

We had a great weekend. Saturday morning mom, Ellie and I set out for yard sales early. I didn't get much but did score a $2.00 infant shade tent and some great toys. Her favorite is a plastic rain-stick thing that makes the perfect shhh-ing baby noise. I turned it over a few times in the car and she fell asleep instantly! Glenn and Elizabeth came over and Glenn helped us get our gate and water spicket fixed which is awesome! Saturday afternoon Jason took care of Ellie while mom and I got manicures and pedicures. It was great! That was my treat for Jason being done with school :) The funny thing is the last time I had a pedicure was THE day that Ellie was born. It was pretty obvious because I also had the same nail polish on. A friend of mine told me today that calf massage and pressing on the big toe can trigger labor so maybe that was why she was born. I think I'll still blame the fumes! Saturday night Jason, Ellie and I went out to dinner. Ellie slept on the table the whole time so it was practically like having a babysitter...we know our days our limited on eating peacefully at a restaurant!


Today I worked outside...I decided (with my neighbors help) to start a little vegetable garden behind our fence. Ellie came out with me and laid in her little tent and played until she fell asleep. I got the garden pretty much done and Jason went out and bought me some stone edging which looks really good. Tonight I went out and planted 3 zucchini plants, a cucumber, a green pepper and basil so we'll see. I haven't really been that great about growing plants in the past. We also have a few tomato plants that are going to be in pots around the garden.

Before (well kinda, I forgot to take a picture before I dug up the weeds):


So it was a busy but productive and nice weekend.

All Done!

Today was Jason's very last exam. He is done and we are so proud and so happy for him. I think this will probably drastically change the amount of time we see each other and overall the atmosphere of our house. I'm so excited!

We are going to go out to dinner at some point this weekend to celebrate. We are also going to try to take some family portraits, fix up a garden in the backyard, and Glenn is going to help us fix the gate and the water spicket. Other than that we are going to try to take it easy.