First Steps

This week Ellie has taken her first steps! Hurrah! She's up to about 5 steps at a time before she plunks down. It's so exciting! I'll try to get a video posted soon. Ellie gets such a kick out of walking around holding my hand. Last night we walked from the living room to her bedroom and when we passed Daddy in the kitchen Ellie just giggled and giggled. Too cute!

In other news, Joe and and have begun the search for a house to buy. We're nervous but every excited about this step. It's taken us quite a while and it will feel so good to really have a place of our own. We're going out this Sunday afternoon with the realtor to see several places. We'll keep you waiting.

I hear that a new member of the Weaver family is on the way! We can't wait to hear the latest news from Texas!

I'll leave you with some photos of Ellie's birthday party. Thanks to Aunt Lisa for these!

I'm One! I'm One!

Can you believe it? It's here already!

Can you believe it? We made it!!!!

I looked back to find the post from this day last year, and can you believe it? There's no post from September 24! I guess I was busy or something. :-)

While I gave Ellie her birthday present about three weeks ago and her real birthday party is going to be this weekend, we did manage to celebrate today. We went to ELLIE's favorite restaurant - the Chinese buffet. She actually really does like it. There's plenty of food on the buffet that she likes, and she's a hit with the waitresses. They keep her so occupied most of the time that I get a nice, relaxing meal. Today, one of them asked how old Ellie is, and I told her that today was her birthday. She brought out a cute little birthday cake with ONE candle and played the birthday song over the P.A. system. There were lots of oohs and aahs throughout the restaurant! It was a great time. I'm glad I keep the little camera in my diaper bag.

Here's Ellie headed off to bed her first night as a one-year-old. Being one is hard work, you know!

A Few Photos

Ellie Experiences Grass

Ellie Experiencs the Slide

A Confession

Okay, if this blog is going to be a record of life at the Weaver Household, then it has to be accurate, right? So I have a confession...

About a month ago, I had a great idea for Ellie's first birthday present. I found out that Cabbage Patch Kids had released 25th Anniversary versions of their original dolls. Can you believe I had one of those originals? My mom tells me that for the Christmas CPKs were BIG, they ordered three dolls for me and received ONE just in time for the BIG day. :-) Cabbage the First ("Cabbage" is all I ever called her.), is still alive and well at Baba Helene's house , so when I learned of the new releases, I knew exactly what Ellie was getting for her birthday.

I poured over the cabbage patch for hours, flipping back and forth between adoption photos until I had made the very difficult decision of who would be joining our family. I placed our "order" and eagerly awaited her arrival. Finally, two weeks ago, she came. I could barely contain myself! Okay, here's the confession. I didn't contain myself. I looked at Joe and said, "I can't wait. Can we please wrap her up and give her to Ellie now?" Yes, it's the truth. One month BEFORE her birthday, Ellie got her present from us. But she was SO CUTE! Take a look at that photo! Even before she was removed from her box, Leatrice Marigold (Cabbage, as she is known) was loved. I have another photo of Ellie kissing her through the plastic. :-) Ellie gives her kisses and hugs and sleeps with her at night, and I couldn't be happier. Happy Birthday!

To keep our record accurate, I would be remiss not to mention that we spent Labor day morning (September 7) at the emergency room. Ellie woke up with a temperature of 104.3. I called our pediatrician who told us to take her in. She didn't have any other symptoms, and he wanted to check for a UTI. It was negative as was the chest x-ray, which, by the way, is absolutely TORTURE for an infant and her mother. We were told to give her Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever down, be sure she had lots of fluids and bring her back if other symptoms developed. After about 36 hours she seemed fine. Who knows? Some kind of virus...

The only issue her illness has caused is a disruption of the beautiful sleep patterns we had finally developed. Gratefully, Ellie still goes to sleep easily, but since she was up several times for meds and nursing during those nights, she expects the Royal Treatment now during the wee hours. Tonight is the first night back to the routine of not getting her up out of the crib upon waking. She's not liking it. This post is being written between 11:30 p.m. and midnight as Ellie is crying. I've been going in every five minutes to reassure her, but not getting her up.... Ahhhh, she's asleep again. We went for about 20 minutes of real screaming. The last time I went in to hug her and put her back down, she whimpered and turned over, consigned to the fact that she wasn't going to get what she wanted. So it's a quick spell check for me and back to bed!

Love!

Miss Piggy

I don't have any explanation...

End of Summer

Alas, summer is over, and I start work this week. I can't really say that the summer was relaxing, but I'm so glad that I had the time to just watch Eliana grow. We got to enjoy a friend's pool yesterday, and I think Eliana would have stayed in all day. She was so cute!

I don't really have many updates for everyone, so I'll just leave you with some photos and videos that I haven't posted yet.

Love!

Sweet Ellie and crazy Mama.

Ellie loves her books.

Splish Splash!

Uncle Jimmy is SO BIG!

Ellie as Princess Leia at Eddie's birthday.

Get me out of here and feed me!

Peek-a-boo!

A refreshing beverage on a long trip

Waiting for the parade to start

Grammy

Please get this off my nose. I look ridiculous!

Baba Helene

Pettin' the pigs at Uncle Franklin's

In Memory

My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. My middle name (Jean) was hers as well. She was dying when my mom was pregnant with me, so I was named after her. She was healed that year, and I had 33 wonderful years with her. She was amazing.

The above photo was taken just two weeks before Grandma died. I asked her to sit down and tell Eliana about Jesus. The recording I made from that day is absolutely precious. Here is a link to the file. Feel free to listen and send it to anyone who would be blessed. Grandma Vivian

Obituary from The Times Reporter

Johnson, Vivian J.

On Friday, July 24, 2009, Vivian was caught up into the arms of her blessed Savior as she knelt at her bed praying. She served Jesus faithfully and with great passion ever since He came into her life when she was only 11 years old. Friday, she was a few days short of her 90th birthday. Her mind was still sharp, and she was in good health when Jesus took her. She had lived in supernatural, divine health since the day that God instantly healed her of terminal illness in the spring of 1976 at the Foursquare Gospel Church in Dennison. In all the years since that evening, she had never been to a doctor nor taken any medication, not even an aspirin. Her life was spent serving God and pouring herself out for her family. She had a powerful ministry of intercessory prayer, which changed the lives of many people. Now she has finished her course and the One she longed for and constantly talked about, Jesus, has rewarded her by taking her into His arms. Her joy is unimaginable.

Vivian Jean Johnson, age 89, of Uhrichsville, O. was born Aug. 4, 1919, at Uhrichsville, O. She was the daughter of the late Carl G. and Blanche G. (Jackson) McGrew. Vivian was employed at the Timken Company during World War II and was an elementary teacher for Claymont and Conotton Valley Schools for 10 years. She was also a homemaker. Vivian was a member of the Uhrichsville Christian Fellowship Church.

Vivian was preceded in death by her husband, James F. Johnson, whom she married on Nov. 9, 1940, in Massillon, O. Mr. Johnson passed away Jan. 22, 2005. One brother, Carl G. McGrew, also preceded Vivian in death. She is survived by her only child, James M. (Tracy) Johnson of Tippecanoe, O.; four grandchildren, James (Melanie) Johnson of Uhrichsville, O., Heather (Joseph) Weaver of New Philadelphia, O., McKenna Johnson and Shiloh Johnson of Tippecanoe, O.; and three great-grandchildren, Eddie and Andy Johnson and Eliana Weaver.

Mobility and Maxillary Lateral Incisors

Eliana at her 1st parade. She loved the horses!

Gnadenhutten, Ohio

Wow! Where did the first month of summer go? We're past July 4, and I feel like summer is starting to wrap up already (more on that later). I did such a great job at keeping new posts coming weekly, and then with summer my schedule totally disintegrated. What happened? Oh wait, I remember. Eliana started CRAWLING and PULLING UP on things. So much for working at the computer while Ellie stares at the ceiling fan. She is on-the-go big time! I'm snatching a few moments during her nap to ....can you believe it? Just as I typed that, she woke up!

Okay, it's one hour later, and Eliana is now sleeping on my lap. While her sleeping skills have gone up and down over the last nine months, this past week has been excruciating. I'm owing it to teeth numbers five and six. I saw them today for the first time, but based on their size and Elle's behavior, I'd guess that they broke through about four days ago.

Month nine has brought amazing developments to our little girl. She has perfected crawling, pulling up to standing, waving, and making kisses. She will not, however, always perform them on command. She's also learning her voice. She says, "Ma-ma," and, "Da-da," and has learned how to yell. :-) Here are a few quick videos:

Joe and I have joined a local gym and are loving it! I tell Ellie that I'm dropping off my fat and Daddy's picking up his muscles. They have childcare available and Ellie has come to love playing with the other kids. It's so good for her. When I went to get her today, there was another little girl her age and they were sitting on the floor with each other, toys all over the place, and they were touching each other's faces...too cute! I wish I had a camera. I've been taking Zumba and spinning classes. They are tough, especially the spinning, but I've lost about 9 pounds in the 5 weeks that we've been there. It feels great! Joe is looking pretty buff too, I must add.

I'm looking toward next school year already. I was offered either full or part-time, but I've decided to work 4 days a week for one more year. I just feel like I have waited so long for Ellie, that I want to spend as much time with her as possible. I will begin two weeks before classes start with a couple days each week to get prepared for the teachers to "arrive." I've come to the realization that I will need some help with Ellie in order to give the quality of work that I want to. It was much easier last year when she just laid around all day. :-) No more of that! So my job for the next month is to find some child-care providers who will come to our house to help me out. Please pray that God would lead me to the right person/people. It's not what I originally envisioned in my naivete, but it's so much better than going in to the school to work!

Well, I think that about catches you up with everything. I'll try to not let another month go by before I add another post...

Oh, I almost forgot, I've entered Ellie into a cute baby contest (I think she qualifies) at the request of her papa. So feel free to come by the contest and vote! To vote, click the dot along to top to show how cute you think Ellie is! Voting is open through July. http://beautifulbabies.trb.com/wjw/babies_home_gallery,0,5306465,permalink.ugcphotogallery?u=weaverh

Love!

Swing, Baby Baby, Swing!

We visited Tuscora again, and it's amazing what a difference a month makes. This time, Eliana was really into the swings! This was her first ride. I have a feeling that the park will be our second home this summer! Enjoy some photos from the evening...

Ellie really enjoyed watching Joe feed the geese.

Last Day of Work

I awoke this morning to glorious sunshine on my last day of work. Ellie and I will be headed to the porch for sure! I can't believe how quickly this school year has flown. Albeit, I did get started a bit late. Working for TDA has been wonderful--a true gift from God.

Eliana has really been growing and changing in the last two weeks. She can now feed herself small pieces of food as is evidenced by the video. She can also pull herself up to a steady sitting position from lying flat, and I'm pretty sure that by the end of the day today, she will be officially crawling. I'll be sure to let you know!

First Mother's Day

I had an absolutely wonderful first Mother's Day yesterday. Joe snapped this photo for me before we headed off to church. I realized that I don't have very many photos of Eliana and myself because I'm always behind the camera. Joe did a great job here, though! I think this may be my favorite photo of Eliana yet!

See for Yourself!

Ellie's First Teeth

With a Special Guest Appearance

In just two short weeks, Eliana went from zero teeth to FOUR! That was a fun two weeks. If you want to check out her new pearly whites for yourself, take a look at our video. Since the teeth are pretty little, you'll want to click on the video to view it from YouTube at full screen size. Otherwise, you'll never see them. Also, you'll have to forgive the videography. I was recording and playing in her mouth at the same time.

(For posterity, the teeth came bottom right then left and top right then left.)

Al Dente - April 10, 2009

On the verge of seven months, Ellie cut her first tooth!!!!! It is her lower, right front tooth and is oh, so cute! It caused about four sleepless nights but is finally here. She is now working on number two already. Bring on the apples!

We had our 6 month pediatrician appointment last week. Here are the vital statistics: 21 pounds, 14 ounces; 28 1/2 inches long; 108% for height and weight. Ellie is really big for her age, but since height and weight are proportional, the doctor says she is doing great and is very healthy! She had three more shots and was quite a trooper. She only cried for about 10 seconds and then was smiling at the nurses again.

We had a wonderful Saturday, enjoying the 76 degree weather and gorgeous sunshine. We went to the Creamery (owned by the family of Ellie's babysitter, Michelle), and indulged in some fantastic ice cream while sitting at the picnic benches. Then we went to Tuscora park for the first time together. I remember going last summer, VERY pregnant, with my nephews, thinking, Next summer, I'll be bringing Ellie here. Well, it's next summer already, and we had a great time! Joe fed the ducks and geese and Ellie "talked" to them, waving her arms all around. After walking around and watching the other kids play, we went home and relaxed on the porch, playing mancala, pass the pigs, and dice.

Ellie is getting so vocal these days. Ba, ma, and vvvvvvvv seem to be her favorite sounds of the moment. During the second service today she was having way too much fun jabbering, so she went to the nursery for the first time. The workers said she did great for almost the entire time. Just as the message was ending, I heard her screaming, so I went to rescue the workers. :-) She's had a bit of a rough day since that second tooth is coming, otherwise, I think she would have been fine playing with all the kids. She is almost sitting up on her own now. She'll be sitting and then turn to look at something and topple over with no chance of getting back up on her own. I had planned on not sending Ellie to the nursery until she could sit up and play on her own, but her voice is a bit ahead of her balance. Oh well. :-)

It's 8:30 p.m. and time for me to hit the hay.

Love!

Not Far from The Tree

So, who do you think she takes after more?