Merry Christmas!!

We are so excited for Essie's first Christmas....and hoping we get to celebrate it. She has not been feeling well lately. She caught a cold a couple weeks ago. About the time she was improving, mommy caught it. Monday, I think she had a touch of a stomach flu; today she has her cough back again. And, last night, Daddy came home from work sick. I did say I wished we could spend Christmas at home, but this was not what I had in mind!

Please pray for healing for our family! Lord willing, I'll have some great pictures to post in the next couple of days!

Merry Christmas to all!!!!!

Essie met Santa today!!!

So, we haven't decided how we're going to approach the whole Santa Claus thing with our children. But, how could we not take Essie to meet him for the first time and, of course, take a picture? She was so cute - she went right to Santa and sat on his lap, then kept looking from him to me and back again. She had a very inquisitive expression on her face while she was watching him. We tried everything to get her to smile for the picture....no such luck!



I really am going to attempt more frequent posts....probably not until after Christmas though. I'm sure I'll have TONS of pics of Essie's first Christmas!! This has been a busy month! Of course, Nick has a lot going on at the restaurant. Then, we decided to have a mostly homemade Christmas (meaning mommy is making many of the gifts...). Then Essie caught a cold and gave it to mommy. Needless to say, the remaining days until Christmas will be spent finishing the gifts!

I'm hoping Nick can help me finish our Christmas cards tonight so we can have them in the mail tomorrow!!

So much to be thankful for!

Celebrating with Essie through her first Thanksgiving has been so much fun. Its funny how I now look forward to every holiday and every celebration because I get to experience it with Essie for the first time! It seems so crazy that last year at Thanksgiving, we hoped and prayed we would be parents by now - and now our sweet little girl is almost 10 months old! We are so blessed!

I love these pictures! My parents gave her this little baby stroller to help her learn to walk. Tonight she stood up behind it and took about 5 steps without my help! She really might be walking by Christmas!!!!!! Check out the baby in the stroller....this was my cabbage patch kid that my parents found in their basement for Essie. I was so excited ~ and she loves it!

Essie was enjoying her dinner in the second picture. She has been eating a lot of turkey lately! I'm trying to get her to feed herself bite-sized pieces of the foods we eat. So far, she's doing pretty good. The other day she had her first chicken fingers and french fries! She will also eat peas, hard-boiled egg whites and jello. Of course, she will eat anything on mommy's plate.

Notice the high chair she is sitting in? This chair was purchased by my Great, Great Grandparents around 1885. My Great Grandma sat in it when she was little. After being passed through the family, my Grandpa ended up with it and restored it for Essie to use. It is so beautiful!!!!!

New Family Pictures!

We had Essie's 9 month and our family Christmas pictures taken this week. Sharon has them up on her website already!

To view the pictures, click HERE. The password is 'essie'.

As usual, we're going to have a tough time deciding what to buy!!! Hope you like them as much as we do!!!!

Nine Months!

Ok, so I'm a little overdue for the nine month post - or any post for that matter. It's been so hectic with the new restaurant - business is going great. But, that also means Nick is working a ton more hours than before! And, Essie is becoming more active - which means mommy rarely gets to use the computer without little fingers trying to help!

We had Essie's 9 month check up last week. She is doing so well. Eating as she should (of course!) and growing as she should. Some of the rolls are decreasing on her legs! I was so excited she is finally below the 90th percentile for her weight! She's down to 85th...LOL! Her top 2 teeth popped in a couple weeks ago, so we have 4 now! And, she is sleeping through the night consistently. I have to admit, I'm a little sad about that....she's so cuddly in the middle of the night. But, I am sleeping better since I don't have to listen for her to wake up for a bottle!

You know Essie has been crawling for quite a while now. And, she's been pulling herself up on everything for a little over a month. She is starting to walk along the furniture. I really hope we have a walker by Christmas!!!

Speaking of Christmas.....we have our family pictures scheduled for tomorrow morning! I should be able to send everyone to Sharon's website next week to preview them!!

Enough of my babbling, I'm sure you really just want to see some new pictures of our sweet little girl!!





This next picture is too cute! Yesterday was Essie's first bad hair day!!!

Heavy Heart

Today, my heart is heavy. Earlier this year, my friend Matt, whom I have known since junior high, and his wife Shannon received some heart wrenching news regarding their two children. Their daughter will be 5 soon, and their son will turn 3 right after Christmas. Both children were diagnosed with a terminal disease known as Sanfilippo Syndrome. You can read about their story and learn about the disease here: Matt & Shannon's blog. (Keep the tissues close!)

Some of their college friends set up a website to provide information about the disease and help raise funds for the family. They just moved back to the US after living in London the past year. Matt & Shannon will need to buy a house soon; a great deal of remodeling will likely be necessary as they make it appropriate for the kids and the needs they will have as the disease progresses. There will also be countless medical bills as they seek to provide the best care possible for their precious children. If you feel led to contribute, or would like to learn more please visit A Hundred for a Home.

At minimum, please pray for Matt, Shannon, Waverly and Oliver. I never understood the depth of love a parent feels for a child until Essie came into our lives. And, I can't even begin to understand the pain Matt & Shannon must be feeling in their situation.

I'm going to add a link to Matt & Shannon's blog in our 'great links.' I hope it serves as a reminder for you, and for me, to pray for them often.

Thank you!

PS...Parents, go hug your kids and tell them how much you love them!!

Romper Room!

Our doorbell rang this afternoon and I opened the door to find our friend June and her dog, Misty. Misty is one of Ginger's puppies - the two of them LOVE each other. When they get together, they run and play and kiss; poor Fox doesn't know what to do with himself. They look so much alike, we usually have to check their collars to see who is who!

Today was Essie's first time meeting Misty. She wasn't sure what to think of this other dog that looks just like her Ginny. I think she was even more confused by us letting all the dogs play in her room! (The dogs are not allowed upstairs) As you can tell, I had a little trouble getting everyone to sit still for the pictures, let alone looking at the camera!! :-)

Can you tell which dog is Ginger??

Little Pumpkin

Sharon had a canned food drive tonight for our church food pantry. For a bag of groceries, you could have your child's picture taken in their Halloween costume. We decided our little Punkin would make an adorable pumpkin. So, here they are. Of course the credit for the wonderful pics has to go to Sharon :)

A rare moment....

As soon as Essie became somewhat mobile, the animals learned to run when they see her coming. She doesn't understand how to nicely pet the dogs and cats; she goes at them squealing with delight, grabs a handful of fur and pulls. So, you can imagine my surprise when I witnessed this adoring moment - and actually had time to grab the camera and snap a picture before the cat ran off.

In the second picture, can't you just hear Essie saying, "Kitty, come back!"?

Sharon captured it!

The new Cafe is officially open for business! This past Thursday, a party was held for those who were close to the project. Our favorite photographer, Sharon, was there to capture the evening and some great shots of the new space. She posted some pictures on her Blog, so I thought I'd just pass it along. Her pictures are much better than mine :)

Sharon's Blog

Look at my toothies!

A month after Essie's teeth popped through, I finally got her to sit still and show them off for a picture!

Beep Beep, Here I Come

This is what I hear quite often throughout the day. And, then we sing, "The wheels on the car go round and round...." Essie's Great Aunt Carol brought this little car to us a few months ago - I'm pretty sure it came from Essie's cousins Abbey and Riley. Now that she is big enough to sit up on her own and make it move a little, she loves to play on the car. The horn is a bright yellow smiley face, so of course she wants to touch it and make it beep! Sometimes, we forget to turn the car off when Essie is done playing on it; then it will start playing music and beeping at random times and it startles mommy. As you can see from the pictures, she is already learning to drive with one hand!

Just for Jim

So, the pictures in this post were taken a little over a month ago. The company where my dad works hosted an Air Show for employees, families and friends. This is the three of us with a stunt pilot, Sean Tucker. He flies the bright red, Oracle plane. Our friend Jim works for Oracle. He was a little jealous when I told him we were going to see Sean fly. So, here you go Jim :-)

Smart Mommy, Smarter Baby...

Yes, I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything. Life has gotten more and more crazy as Nick gets closer to the big move! Tomorrow is the last day in the old location; moving begins Sunday!!! I'll get in there next week and do some final pictures to post - the new cafe is absolutely gorgeous!!

So, about Essie....her feet are cold most of the time. Especially now that the weather is turning cooler. We can't keep socks on her for anything. We put them on, she takes them off. As we are putting one on, she takes the other off. Put her in her car seat and the first thing she does is remove her socks. You get the picture.

Yesterday, I thought I was smart! She has an outfit with pants that have feet - no need to worry about her pulling her socks off, right? Nick put her down for her morning nap. I went in after she had been asleep for a few minutes to check on her - her pants are missing! Little booger took them off! I went to check on her during her afternoon nap, too and the pants were missing again! She is a smart little thing!

She loves her food!

Essie has been doing really well with her foods. She loves any fruit we put on her spoon. Veggies have not been as easy. Sweet potatoes are her favorite. She also really likes green beans and will eat carrots most days. We tried squash the other day, but it made her so gassy she was up during the night with a belly ache. She didn't like peas when we tried them a couple weeks ago. We'll try again soon!

A couple days ago, I gave her mac 'n cheese. I was pretty excited about her trying it - who doesn't love it, right? Well, I forgot she is lactose intolerant. Most of it came back up - all over daddy. Oops. We won't do that again!

The New Cafe

Ok, I'm going to make another post that has nothing to do with Essie or adoption. Although, one could argue it does have to do with Essie since it's about the business that will one day pay for her college education....Anyway, I thought I'd give all you out-of-towners a little sneak peak of the progress on the new building. Things are going very well. The grand opening is scheduled for Tuesday, October 14.

A little over two years ago, 5/3 Bank closed the downtown location and sold the building to the Tipp City Library. The library owned it for about a year, using it for storage and the annual book sale. These first pictures are of the inside when we first purchased it from the library in August 2007.

This was where the loan officers and account specialists sat. It is now Nick's kitchen!

Here's a peek inside the vault. Yes, we kept the door - it weighs nearly 12,000 pounds!

This was the bank lobby. The two columns are part of the main dining room.

This small teller line was open on Saturday's back in the day. There was a partition that would close off the remaining area of the bank so customers could only walk to this front area. Now, it is the bar.

This is the big teller line, looking into the lobby. The area behind the teller line is now a long hallway, leading to the stairs going up to the banquet room.

The new pictures were taken today. There is still a lot of finish work to be done, but the transformation has been amazing!
The bar area.

Nick's new kitchen!

The main dining room. The fireplace is 2-sided, so it can be seen from the waiting area as well as in the dining room.

The vault will be a second dining area.

Ever wondered how thick the walls of a bank vault are? About 18" of solid concrete! Since it will be a dining area, fire code requires a second means of exiting the room.

The outside of the building a year ago....

And today....

Obviously, the ugly tree came down. And, the windows on the second floor need to be re-installed.

Phase 2 of the project. The second floor above the restaurant used to be a dentist office. The walls have all been torn out to open it up for a banquet facility. It will seat about 85 people. This will probably open toward the end of 2009.


Phase 3 of the project is an outdoor patio. This is the roof above the vault. This final phase is probably 2-3 years off.


I'll snap some final pictures to post just before the opening!!

Wwwweeeeeee

Essie loves to swing at the park! A couple weeks ago, I took her to the city park - I was really just looking for a way to kill time. She has an attention span about as long as mine! I know the swings are meant for kids over 1, but we tried it anyway. She gets the biggest smile on her face! So, now we try to go swing almost every day. I don't know what we're going to do when it gets too cold for this! Our subdivision has a mini-park with an Essie sized swing. It's about 2 blocks from our house, so most days, we go there.

Six month check-up

Ok, I know Essie will be 7 months old next week. We actually had her 6 month check-up over a week ago and I'm just now getting around to posting about it :) She weighs 19 pounds, 5 ounces and is 26 1/2 inches long. Her weight is still in the 90th percentile, but at least her height is catching up with her; it is now in the 70th percentile.

Everything went well with the check-up. The doctor asked if she was starting to sit up if I propped her up with pillows. I said, 'no, she's completely sitting on her own.' Then, the doctor asked if she is starting to scoot around a little. I said, 'no, she's crawling everywhere.' So, I asked the doctor what the normal age is for crawling around - she said between 8-9 months. I believe Essie is going to be walking by then!

I have more posting to catch up on - I'll try to do it in the next couple of days. Right now, I'm exhausted. So, I'll leave you with a couple pictures.....