Sharing a little joy with you all today…
Love,
Sarah
Ellie’s Favorite Things…About Our New House.
There are many things Miss Eloise has enjoyed about her new home…the shady front porch with its pots of flowers and cool breeze, the double exits out of her room that both lead to fun places to crawl and play (plus the fact that it involves a new game of Momma chase!), the low windows she can pull herself up to “investigate” the world outside, and our neighbor’s kitty-cats.
The house is still mostly unpacked and we find ourselves too busy with school and work at the moment to fully invest in locating more than the basics, but it’s coming along slowly but surely. Eloise has everything she needs - and more - and has thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the new nooks and crannies. I think she is really comfortable with the one-level aspect of the house, since she often will crawl away to explore what’s in the next room. I love her deepening sense of curiosity and discovery.
These pictures really just highlight a few moments of just such discoveries - including the first morning we woke in our new space and the joys of our neighborhood park.
Love,
Sarah
Ellie enjoying her appetizer before a main course of shrimp and avocado, Mother’s Day 2012.
I know, I know…I’ve been seriously slacking in the blogging arena. I haven’t even posted any more of the amazingly adorable pictures of Ellie’s first birthday party that I promised. Or any from our new house. Or Mother’s Day…you see? There’s just been so much celebrating going on (not to mention WORK!!) that I’ve been too busy to set up shop to show you all the wonderful things we’ve been up to.
So for now, this slightly grainy and not-the-best shot from my camera phone will have to suffice. She’s wearing her “I’m out on the town” bib and her “I’m not sure I’m into being in this highchair” smile, as well as a very beautiful dress gifted from her Auntie.
Love,
Sarah
Oh, one more just because we’re so dang cute.
Eloise’s Birthday Weekend…
Wow. I can’t believe my daughter has passed this amazing milestone and that I didn’t cry cry cry the entire time ;) I have to say, the day of Ellie’s birth I was marking the timeline and really feeling - remembering. It was a surreal and very emotional day for me, though certainly full of happiness, of course. But more on that some other time.
For now, I’m just coming off the amazing long weekend we got to spend with family and friends as we paid homage to our sweet Baby “O.” Boy, did we do it up for her!! (I have over 600 pictures. Ha! Thank you Auntie A :)
There’s no way I can share them all (I’m pretty sure tumblr has a limit anyway), so for now here is just a random sampling of the pre-party shenanigans and I’ll share more soon…
Love, love,
Sarah
Today is the day! I can’t believe it’s already here…your FIRST Birthday :) Momma and Daddy have been so grateful for this past year with you, Baby “O.” You have truly changed our lives forever for the good - you made us into a family, my love.
You are such a beautiful, intelligent, hilarious, observant, compassionate, musical, artistic little girl - already. I have loved every minute of our time together and I can’t wait for the next year and all of the adventures it holds for us :)
We will celebrate tonight with family the anniversary of your arrival into the world and tomorrow we’ll be having a shin-dig at the Big House complete with good company, good food and lots of bubbles! It’ll be a nice way to pay homage to this past year in this house together.
For now, my peanut, just know that we are so very in love with you and we wish you a very Happy Birthday…thank you for letting us be a part of it :)
Love,
Momma
Last year, today, Eloise’s due date had come and gone by 10 days and I was being directed to think about induction by our midwives. This meant a diversion of our birth plan and we decided to take a moment to think it through.
So, a few hours ago, I sat in a restaurant with JJ and my Mom trying to figure out if I was going to be induced that night or not. Ellie made the decision for us when my water broke out of nowhere. There I was - eating waffles and trying to wrap my mind around having a hospital birth (and not in our birth center) when the Universe stepped in and provided the path for us.
I still haven’t written my version of Eloise’s birth story…and I have realized as this day has approached that I really need to. I need to let go of how things swung off course with my desire for a completely natural birth on our own terms. Though in the end, our girl entered this world as she was meant to - as the healthy, beautiful tiny peanut she was - and is.
So, tonight - as I prepare for her birthday tomorrow, I will remember our labor together, how it felt to know it was the last time my body would carry her, how it felt to move beyond fear to determination to birth her safely into our arms.
Breathe.
Love,
Sarah
Ellie,
Somewhere in the early months you started treating me to that most delicious gummy smile as you woke from our naps together. You would stare at me and smile and maybe shake your hands and feet a little to let me know how excited you were to see me.
I would melt. Each and every time.
Now when you wake between Daddy and I - it’s like you have grown into this whole little person overnight. You still stare at us and smile, but now it’s coupled with giggles and hugs and you just love to roll happily and sleepily around between us. And over us. You’ll climb over the pillows to come and throw your head on my chest so your little face is just an inch away. And then you’ll giggle contentedly at your own shenanigans.
And I melt.
Love,
Momma
We Bought a House!
I must apologize for the web silence as of late, but as you might imagine, it has been an amazingly busy couple of weeks for us. The reason being, as this post title clearly states - WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!! And not just one house, but two, actually…there is a little cottage that sits on the back end of our property. We had been waiting anxiously for the deal to go through - for what seemed like forever - because it was a bank-owned property and the paperwork - ugh. Then - wham! we got it all in a hurry and we’ve been madly trying to get both places fixed up and ready for move-ins in May!
We are so excited to have our very own home, especially for Miss Ellie. We have been making lots of plans to make the place comfortable for her and I can already picture her running around in the backyard and swinging on the front porch swing.
It does mean, of course, that we will be moving out of the Big House. We’ve been very blessed to have had this space to raise our daughter in her first year of life (whew -more on that soon!). It’s been so easy and comfortable and a little luxurious, honestly. It will definitely take some getting use to the “reality” of living in a place more related to our pay scale!
I took what might be one of the last walks around our neighborhood with Ellie today. The sun is blazing away this afternoon and it reminds me so very much of all last spring and summer when our little one and Motherhood was so very new to me. I took countless walks down the same streets, thinking about how much my life and my relationships had changed - all for the better.
This is such a challenge - home ownership - but such a wonderful one. I am acutely aware of how lucky I am to have these pieces of my life so full - a home, a family.
Love,
Sarah
Ellie’s First…Easter!
Ellie definitely has had a full weekend full of celebrations and photo ops! Here are just a few of her in her Easter best with us. We celebrated with friends and their extended family on one of the warmest days this spring.
Like Ellie, I also grew up in a mixed faith house. My experience with Easter was limited to egg and candy hunts and big family dinners, but I always appreciated the celebration of spring and beginning anew.
Here’s to flowers blooming, opening the windows wide and sun-warmed baby skin.
Love,
Sarah
I love this holiday. It’s a beautiful reminder of my ancestry and I have very fond memories of celebrations throughout my life. I love sharing this part of Ellie’s culture with her in such a concrete way. We sat at a table bursting with good food and crammed with good friends. Ellie was the youngest, and as tradition dictates, was charged with reading the “Four Questions” of why we celebrate Passover and why it is different from all other nights. She babbled happily while the next youngest at the table actually read and generally was delighted at the singing and conversation and the very cute doggie eating up the food she dropped under the table.
She had her first matzo cracker and loved it…Momma teared up when the section in the haggadah speaks of the Jewish lineage and how important it is we celebrate - so we remember not just the plight of our people, but of how we finally gained our freedom. We celebrate to teach the new generations that their freedom came from strife and persecution and that as a people, the Jews were steadfast and unified against those that sought to destroy our culture and way of life. We celebrate rebirth and the spring, essentially. It is fitting to me that this holiday falls within Ellie’s birth month…and so I celebrate her.
Love,
Sarah
For the second night in a row, I have been able to put Ellie down in her crib, fully awake.
And then…
She falls asleep on her own without fussing.
I wonder if we’re setting up some sort of precedent. Or maybe it’s the comfort of cuddling the GIANT teddy bear her Grandfather got her.
I’m not going to tempt fate so that bear is staying by her side from now on.
Love,
Sarah
Ellie’s Word Repertoire.
Momma.
Dadda.
Ba. (Ball)
Buh. (Book)
Bir. (Bird)
Ba-Ba. (Bye-Bye)
Hi. (More like a HI!!!!!!!)
Appa. (Apple)
Up.
Sigh…(That one’s from me most days :)
Love,
Sarah
Ellie and Her Daddy.
It has been such a joy lately to watch Miss Ellie’s personality develop. She is incredibly charming and is interested in everything everyone is doing…not to be nosy, but it seems because she wants to join in on the fun. I take her to coffee shops and grocery stores, and just chuckle at how she will ‘flirt’ with everyone that passes by, shouting her hellos and giggling at their responses. I have never seen a single person ignore her gorgeous laugh.
And that’s with strangers.
But with her Daddy, oh boy. She sure is in love with him. Any minute she’s in my arms and he walks by, you better believe she practically leaps out of them just to see what he’s up to…and when their eyes meet and he smiles at her, I can feel her whole body wriggling with joy.
It’s been love at first sight with these two, for sure.
Love,
Sarah
Ellie vs. the Stairs
Ellie wins!
Love,
Sarah
P.S. Sorry for the wonky videography :)
