Fun with Christian and Kara

Eliana loved having her Uncle Christian and his wonderful girlfriend Kara come visit us from Penn State for the weekend!

We enjoyed showing Christian and Kara around our town.

Eating at North Market

At a family-friendly Oktoberfest

Nice authentic German decor, right?? hehe :) Jeff and I did actually get to put to use the Polka skills we learned oh-so-many years ago in a Grove City ballroom dancing lesson.

Uncle Christian also really enjoyed playing with Eliana's blocks and made some pretty impressive creations.

Ellie enjoyed toppling the towers!

(As back story to the picture above, Eliana is naked in this pic because of a nasty case of diaper rash. Her pediatrician recommended she go au naturale as much as possible. She'll hate me for taking these pictures when she's older!)

Eliana loved hanging out with Christian and Kara -- come back soon! :)

Park of Roses

We recently went to a local garden -- the Park of Roses -- for the first time. It was beautiful! I think Eliana enjoyed the scenery. :)

Great Grammy and Aunt Michelle

This past week was full with OSU orientation/teacher-training activities, and we were blessed to have some very special people -- Great Grammy Lambert and Aunt Michelle -- come stay with us for a few days to play with Ellie while I was at school. She obviously had a wonderful time with them!

Ellie misses you both and we do to! We love you!

Projects

It has been wonderful to have had about a month to settle into our new home before the craziness of school ensues! In addition to using this time to learn where the nearest grocery store, gas station, and Panera are (priorities, right??), I have taken the opportunity to do a few projects. Once I am a full-time Mommy & doctoral student, time for projects will be more challenging to come by. So I thought I would share. :)
I found a cute vintage table on Craigslist to use as an entryway table in our home. However, the white color didn't really 'pop' against the cream-colored walls. (Hint -- you know you have watched too much HGTV when you throw around terms like 'pops of color' ... hehe!). I decided to go bold with red. I forgot to take a before pic, so here is the table during and after painting:

I also re-covered some bar stools that had been left at the house by the previous people living here. They were in great shape structurally, but the upholstery was a little ... gross. So, I purchased an inexpensive stain-resistant tablecloth to use as the re-covering fabric. I think they look a lot better!


Last, I actually made this dress and headband for Eliana earlier in the summer, but never posted it here. It is getting a little short now, so I thought I would keep it going through the fall by having Ellie participate in the tunic with leggings trend. :) My beautiful model:

A Cousin

We are absolutely thrilled that Jeff's brother Kevin and his wife Krista are expecting!!! Eliana will have a cousin in April! :)

Here is Sweet Pea Jones' first picture ... so precious:

We are so excited you'll be joining our family!

"Stats" + Labor Day Weekend

Eliana had her 9 month well-baby visit at her new pediatrician's today and really seemed to like Dr. O'Brien. This could have had something to do with the fact that Ellie didn't need any shots this time. :) We are happy to report that Eliana is a healthy, happy nine-month old. She weighs 15lbs, 7 oz and is 26 1/2 inches long, placing her in about the 10th percentile for both weight and height. Her pediatrician thinks everything is fine, but Eliana is going to have a pediatric ophthalmologist look at the hemangioma (small cluster of blood vessels) on her left eye lid to ensure that it is not interfering with her vision.
With her 'stats' reported, I wanted to share that we had a great Labor Day weekend. My parents came for a visit, and we enjoyed relaxing, visiting the North Market, getting together with our good college friends Brad and Kelli as well as Brad's brother Brett and his wife Katy, going to a local arts festival, eating good food, and celebrating Jeff and my Dad's birthday on the 6th.

Hanging out with Grammy and Papaw

With Brad and Kelli's beautiful daughter Emmalyn. Unfortunately, this was the best pic I could get of the girls ... taking pictures of babies is challenging! :)

The Birthday Boys + a baby

Nine Months

Our beautiful Eliana turned nine months over the weekend! She continues to be a joy to us and, if it's possible, I think we enjoy her more each day as we get to know her little personality better.
She has her nine month well-baby visit at her new pediatrician's tomorrow, so I'll report her 'stats' then. Eliana is learning new things daily and we know that soon she'll really be on the move! Still no crawling, but she can get pretty much anywhere she wants by doing many consecutive rolls. She also is pulling up and has started to 'cruise' on furniture. She loves to feed herself cheerios, puffs, cheese, bananas, etc. and has a good appetite. She enjoys babbling, swinging at the nearby playground, playing with blocks and other toys, and reading stories. We love our little girl!

Our nine month old:

To My Two Favorite Guys

Happy birthday to the two most important men in my life -- my amazing husband and my wonderful Dad!!! I love you both like crazy and Eliana does too!

Thanks!

Thanks to Jeff, Eliana, family and friends for a wonderful birthday! Love you all!

Thanks for making me a yummy dinner, Jeff!