Memorial Day Weekend

What an amazing weekend!  We played hookie a lot but it was quite a lot of fun.  Friday Ben picked me up from work and we headed south.  We made good time and ended up having Lizzy stay with my folks while Ben and I headed out to grab a bite to eat.  The Rock ... one of our favorite establishments both down south and here in Lynn'hood'.  Saturday we hung out with the rents and then headed to Target and Sushi Town (another fan favorite down south). 

Here is where we played hookie again!  Elizabeth ended up staying with mom and dad all afternoon and evening on Saturday while we went and saw a movie and met up with a good friend.  Went and saw Bridesmaids and overall it was pretty damn funny.  Ben and I are big fans of the television show Mike & Molly and we just new that 'Molly' had to be hilarious and she did not disappoint.  We then headed to Farrelli's to meet up with Cody and his girlfriend Kelsey.  This was my first time meeting her and she is just fantastic.  We had a great time, even ended up at a favorite local bar, The Log Cabin.

Sunday Ben and I hit the course, FINALLY.  Ben had yet to hit the Burner's I gave him last year for his birthday and I hadn't played since before I was pregnant (not too easy to swing a golf club with 40 pounds in front of you!).  We played, we sucked, but we had fun!  Ate some tasty lunch with the rents and then headed home.

I'm a firm believer in coming home on the Sunday of a three day weekend.  Always makes it feel like the weekend is just a wee bit longer.  Monday we spent running errands, cleaning, doing laundry, mowing lawns, all the fun homeowner stuff that needs to be done.

Wow ... we are almost a year!

So ... we've effectively taken a two month break from the blog.  To be honest that is mainly because mom is the only one who types and mom has been traveling almost every week.  In fact, I'm writing this from beautiful, sunny, humid Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Oh what fun it is.

Elizabeth is growing like an absolute weed.  She is about 24 pounds and I swear almost three feet tall.  I'll have to double check her stats from her 10 month check up ... bad mommy, I can't remember.  She is scooting everywhere.  We've pretty much decided that she will not crawl, she'll scoot and then probably just stand up and walk.  She is loving cheese and fruit (specifically bananas and pears).  We love reading our ladybug book at night and brushing our teeth and hair before bed time. 

We had another 'head' scare where the pediatrician was very concerned about the size of her noggin.  Essentially because her head continues to grow at a rate that is off the charts they were concerned that she may have hydrocephalus.  I completely feel as this last go around was a CYA (cover-your-ass) move be the pediatrician's office however it is my princess and if something was wrong and we did not get it checked out, how could I live with myself.

So a week ago Monday, May 16th we headed to Children's Hospital to have a CT scan done on her little brain/head and then another appointment to read the scan to ensure nothing was wrong or create a plan of attack if something was incorrect.  I cannot imagine how parents go through dealing with their child being sick or needing treatments at Children's.  I realize you just suck it up and deal with it, because as a parent that is what you do.  But wow, I have a whole new appreciation for how strong you must be.

The CT scan was incredibly short but it was a shock initial that my baby girl would need to have such a thing done.  The machine is huge and they essentially do a 'super swaddle' or better yet it looks as though your child is strapped down and mummified.  So SCARY ... they placed her little head between two wedges so she wouldn't move.  Overall she did amazing.  The first two minutes it was definitely a look of 'what the heck are you doing to me' then it was about three minutes of scared crying.  The tech Ryland (sp?) gave daddy a swirly light up toy and that worked for about 30 seconds but then she figured out it was just a trick! 

We were pretty early but two hours later we finally met with the RN Elizabeth (I saw that as a good sign) and she told us almost immediately that her CT scan was fine, in fact her exact words were 'her head is perfect!'  I couldn't have asked for a more clear cut answer.  Hallelujah!  Her head is fine just genetically huge.  Thanks dad! 

Either way you dice it, it was perfect news to start off a short week as we headed to Vegas for a long weekend and Elizabeth headed to Grandma and Grandpa Swerk's house.  She had a great time from what we can tell ... other than the fact that I'm pretty sure she was incredibly spoiled with being held.  It took us a solid two days to be able to set her down without her crying.  She is so tricky ... but so cute! 

We are really working pretty heavy on sign language now and she does awesome.  She probably has about ten signs or so ... and we are working on about 20 more.  Hopefully by Chelan she can at least partially talk with her cousin Ellie, we will see though.  She does great with hi/bye, milk, drink, bath, oh-no and all done... we do pretty good with more, O's (Cheerio's) and now mommy and daddy need to learn more to teach more! 

Okay enough for tonight, it is 11pm here in Michigan and I really need to go to bed! 

Vegas Baby!

 

 

Just a few highlights from our recent trip to Vegas!!! 

If you head there soon ... go check out the show Absinthe ... best - show - ever!  You can't get closer to the action unless you become one of the actors.  Interactive, hilarious, breathtaking, death-defying ... AMAZING!  Check out a few of the photos from the show below!

Yes .. the blog is still active!

I figured since it had been almost two months since our last post I should at least acknowledge that we are still here ... still kickin' ... just really busy!  Well mom is really busy therefore the blog does not get updated. 

Where to begin ... Lizzy is scooting around on her bum in a circle.  Very cute, much easier on the wood or laminate floor than the carpet!  If we put her on her belly she, more often than not, will still flip right back on her back.  No interest what-so-ever in crawling, scooting, etc.  She will, on occasion, push herself up and then scoot back.  We are not really encouraging movement though because we figure our days our literally numbered until the real 'fun' begins and she is into everything.

She has her two bottom teeth, one tooth on top and about five more that appear to be ready any day.  Elizabeth is probably one of the more calmer kids when it comes to teething.  Just cranky at night and doesn't like to go to sleep.  But she eventually goes down and in morning she is happy as can be!  Her hair is growing ... still spotty at best ... but I can put a small (SMALL) barrette in her hair.  Pretty darn cute if you ask me! 

She will wave hello and goodbye as well as tell you when she wants milk or more food.  Ben and I are working on basic signing with her and actually starting to see it pay off.  Now if we were just home a bit more I think she'd be rivaling her cousin Ellie in short order.  We will see ...

Pictures to follow soon ... currently in Chicago for a week!  Love you all ... email, call or visit anytime!

Eight Months ... Wow!

Where does the time go.  Today Elizabeth is eight months old, at least by the date on the calendar.  What a week we have had.  Last Sunday as I mentioned we saw her roll over from back to tummy for the first time.  That combined with a Green Bay Superbowl win and we were a happy household.  Add on top seeing good friends during the Superbowl and watching it on our 120" HD projector screen ... it was an  AWESOME weekend!

This week was busy, busy, busy.  Busy for Elizabeth as this week Ben and I both noticed huge cognitive differences.  She loves to sit and place her rings on their stand (you know the old Fisher Price toy which I'm sure we all had with the stacked, colored rings).  Her favorite part is honestly to slowly take them off, put them on and then dump all of them on the floor.  Followed by the base going directly in her mouth to chew for awhile!  She also began waving hi and bye bye.  Adorable I tell you ... but it definitely made it a bit harder to leave her at daycare when she and Tryka are in the window waving bye bye!  At least I know she is in good hands. 

We are eating lots now ... between yogurt, bananas, Cheerios and then the normal baby food stash she loves food.  Add to that she is just about able to hold her bottle the entire feeding!  It does crack me up though as some days she is just not into it and pulls the total princess act, i.e. mom you can hold it ... its your job.  For now I will because she is growing so fast and I know I will miss these moments! 

Add in other exciting news that this week we received a phone call from Snohomish County Health District that someone in the infant room at daycare was diagnosed with whooping cough.  Great.  It was strongly encouraged that all infants be put on antibiotics.  Hmmm a common dilemma as a mom, do you give your child drugs that he or she may not need?  Well after the advice of a pediatrician, RN and the county nurse we did do it as a precautionary measure.  At least I know my kid won't be the one passing it around to everyone else!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone ... have a wonderful week!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

No fun pictures just a quick status update ... we are now rolling from back to tummy!  Over and over and over and over.  Ben can lay at one end of our living room and me at the other and she will roll and roll and roll until she gets to one of us.  First time was Sunday morning, we were so excited and definitely not expecting it!  Cap Sunday off with a Packers win and all is right in the world!   Pictures to come soon.  Have a great week everyone!

Toofers have arrived!

You can almost see my toofers in this picture! 

We noticed two a day ago, look closely on the bottom. 

These suckers broke through and we are SO happy now.

Did we mention we also tested positive for RSV. 

It's been a week but now we seem to be ready to rock and roll!