Hey there,
If you've noticed the changes around here, that's because Ellie has reached her first birthday and it was time to redecorate!!!
Don't worry, you can still view all the missing pictures! I have moved all the photos from the sidebar (birth to one year) to a new page: Ellie-Vision Photo Gallery
The left hand side bar will now feature monthly pictures as we journey through Ellie's second year!
Thanks for taking the trip with us. Hope you keep reading!
- Stephanie & Elissa
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Updates & Such
I did it again even though I swore I wouldn't. I took over a month away from my personal blog. I'm a jerk.
So here's what you've been missing since then...
#1 - Ellie turned one! She has officially made it to one year and beyond, a milestone that her daddy and I (and a few dozen family and friends) were only too happy to share with her. More on the birthday and my little princess's big pink dress in a later post, I promise.
#2 - Mommy's got some new jobs. I hemmed and hawed and left the one big writing job that was paying most of my bills. Why? Because it was also killing me. My schedule was atrocious. No mom can stay up until 3 AM working then get up at 7 AM with a baby and be happy about it. It's just not possible. I traded that in for some new gigs that I was only too happy to find. Another forthcoming post on this, I promise.
#3 - Get your running shoes, it's almost spring! Eager to get back outside soon, I've become super active Mommy and started training to run a 5K. Crazy, I know. More on that later.
I'm sure there's lots more going on and my new commitment to blogging will capture it all. I promise!
Stay tuned for more in depth posts :)
So here's what you've been missing since then...
#1 - Ellie turned one! She has officially made it to one year and beyond, a milestone that her daddy and I (and a few dozen family and friends) were only too happy to share with her. More on the birthday and my little princess's big pink dress in a later post, I promise.
#2 - Mommy's got some new jobs. I hemmed and hawed and left the one big writing job that was paying most of my bills. Why? Because it was also killing me. My schedule was atrocious. No mom can stay up until 3 AM working then get up at 7 AM with a baby and be happy about it. It's just not possible. I traded that in for some new gigs that I was only too happy to find. Another forthcoming post on this, I promise.
#3 - Get your running shoes, it's almost spring! Eager to get back outside soon, I've become super active Mommy and started training to run a 5K. Crazy, I know. More on that later.
I'm sure there's lots more going on and my new commitment to blogging will capture it all. I promise!
Stay tuned for more in depth posts :)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Good Mom, Meh Friend
I have to be careful how I write this post, so I don't come off as "Oh woe is me!" That's not the point. This is meant to be an observation, a realization maybe, not a whine fest. So please read with that in mind.
Before I was a mom, I like to think I was a good friend. I did my best to always make myself available for a good cry/meltdown/nervous breakdown when my friends needed me. I tried to give good advice from the heart when they asked for it. I gave out hugs like they were going out of style. And I always showed up when and where I said I would. I laughed, cried, and watched stupid movies with my friends. I cooked for them, baked them their favorites if they had a bad day, and hosted parties just for the heck of it ("You woke up cranky today? Let's have a party! That will make you feel better!")
Before I was a mom, I like to think I was a good friend. I did my best to always make myself available for a good cry/meltdown/nervous breakdown when my friends needed me. I tried to give good advice from the heart when they asked for it. I gave out hugs like they were going out of style. And I always showed up when and where I said I would. I laughed, cried, and watched stupid movies with my friends. I cooked for them, baked them their favorites if they had a bad day, and hosted parties just for the heck of it ("You woke up cranky today? Let's have a party! That will make you feel better!")
Monday, January 17, 2011
Life's Mysterious Ways
Not to be cliche, but it's true that sometimes life just works out funny. I've often thought about why things happen, when and how they happen. And with Ellie, it's no different. She came to us exactly the way she was meant to, no accidents. I tried to blame myself for a long time for the unfortunate circumstances around her birth, but no matter how hard I tried, I kept seeing that it couldn't possibly be my fault. After a few months, and especially when she came home, I stopped trying. I just accepted that she got here exactly the right way for her.
Drama queen.
No, but seriously, life does have very mysterious ways about it. Have you ever noticed that you bump into people after many years at exactly the right moment in your life that they would be helpful? Or how you find love when it's unexpected, earn a promotion when you're not trying, or find something long forgotten when it becomes more meaningful than ever before?
When I was pregnant with Ellie, my writing came to a halt. I tried to write, I really did. I blamed my preggo brain for obliterating all my creativity. I said I'd get better after I gave birth. The end result was that my novels - and all my writing projects - sat neglected for over a year.
While I was pregnant with Ellie, I also went for the routine ultrasound, got my little print outs, and promised to treasure them always. Somewhere in the shuffle of our kitchen table, and all the stuff I kept leaving there as a reminder to get some writing done, they disappeared. We moved from that apartment when Ellie was 7 months old, and I still hadn't found them. I gave them up for lost and was just thankful that I scanned them onto my computer. At least I still "had" them, even if I didn't.
In November, finally, I got back into writing. I wrote a new novel, one that I have high hopes for, and I set myself to the task of getting published again. And, you know, not only did I start to feel like myself again, but something amazing happened.
This morning, I opened one of my favorite books on writing and I found it. There they were, the ultrasound pictures. Somehow, I had tucked them inside this book, whether on purpose or by accident I don't know. But something precious to me was sitting inside this book, waiting for me to find them. Ellie was in my book on writing. Two parts of my life kept each other company when I thought they were lost.
And now I know that everything is happening exactly as it's supposed to.
Drama queen.
No, but seriously, life does have very mysterious ways about it. Have you ever noticed that you bump into people after many years at exactly the right moment in your life that they would be helpful? Or how you find love when it's unexpected, earn a promotion when you're not trying, or find something long forgotten when it becomes more meaningful than ever before?
When I was pregnant with Ellie, my writing came to a halt. I tried to write, I really did. I blamed my preggo brain for obliterating all my creativity. I said I'd get better after I gave birth. The end result was that my novels - and all my writing projects - sat neglected for over a year.
While I was pregnant with Ellie, I also went for the routine ultrasound, got my little print outs, and promised to treasure them always. Somewhere in the shuffle of our kitchen table, and all the stuff I kept leaving there as a reminder to get some writing done, they disappeared. We moved from that apartment when Ellie was 7 months old, and I still hadn't found them. I gave them up for lost and was just thankful that I scanned them onto my computer. At least I still "had" them, even if I didn't.
In November, finally, I got back into writing. I wrote a new novel, one that I have high hopes for, and I set myself to the task of getting published again. And, you know, not only did I start to feel like myself again, but something amazing happened.
This morning, I opened one of my favorite books on writing and I found it. There they were, the ultrasound pictures. Somehow, I had tucked them inside this book, whether on purpose or by accident I don't know. But something precious to me was sitting inside this book, waiting for me to find them. Ellie was in my book on writing. Two parts of my life kept each other company when I thought they were lost.
And now I know that everything is happening exactly as it's supposed to.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Parenting Mistake #1 - Underestimating Your Baby
I have called my daughter many things: Dragon Baby, Destructo-Baby, Hulk Baby (she's very strong), and even Houdini Baby. She's got super powers, I swear to you. And as she grows and develops, I too have had to learn a few things. Lesson number one, never underestimate your baby's abilities.
My daughter is ten months old and yet she can unscrew the top of her hearing aid container. She's successfully negotiated a zipper on a few occasions. She can open draws and cabinets, pull open the blinds on the sliding glass door, move her baby gate, tip the dog's water bowl, open the toilet lid, and climb into the bath tub. She can get down off the bed and off the couch. She can almost climb back up - almost. But I know that as soon as I don't think she can do such a thing, she'll figure it out.
This little girl is tenacious, curious, and stubborn - a potent combination that makes her a disaster waiting to happen. Think she can't reach that cup of coffee on the table? Think again. Or maybe she won't notice that cell phone over there.... hmmm, even if she does, could she get to it? Yes. The answer is always yes.
When I was a little girl, I was an angel. My mother extolls my virtues often, saying that she could sit me in the middle of the room, say "Stay here." and I would obey, no questions asked. It's not that I wasn't curious, I was just obedient. Ellie understands the word "No," but sees it as an option not an imperative. She looks at you, cracks a smile, then resumes the forbidden activity with renewed vigor. This child is a boundary-tester. This child is her father's daughter.
You see, my husband was the opposite of me as a child. Into everything, curious about how it works, curious how far he could push it before his mother intervened. Ellie invites you to chase her, hopes you'll get up off the couch and stop her. She wants to be in trouble.
I have absolutely no idea how to combat this. Such personality traits are foreign to me. But step one is to always think ahead of the baby, never assume she can't figure out how to do exactly what she isn't supposed to do. So far, I've diffused many harmful scenarios and I've developed tactics that help me distract her. I'm just never leaving her alone. Ever.
My daughter is ten months old and yet she can unscrew the top of her hearing aid container. She's successfully negotiated a zipper on a few occasions. She can open draws and cabinets, pull open the blinds on the sliding glass door, move her baby gate, tip the dog's water bowl, open the toilet lid, and climb into the bath tub. She can get down off the bed and off the couch. She can almost climb back up - almost. But I know that as soon as I don't think she can do such a thing, she'll figure it out.
This little girl is tenacious, curious, and stubborn - a potent combination that makes her a disaster waiting to happen. Think she can't reach that cup of coffee on the table? Think again. Or maybe she won't notice that cell phone over there.... hmmm, even if she does, could she get to it? Yes. The answer is always yes.
When I was a little girl, I was an angel. My mother extolls my virtues often, saying that she could sit me in the middle of the room, say "Stay here." and I would obey, no questions asked. It's not that I wasn't curious, I was just obedient. Ellie understands the word "No," but sees it as an option not an imperative. She looks at you, cracks a smile, then resumes the forbidden activity with renewed vigor. This child is a boundary-tester. This child is her father's daughter.
You see, my husband was the opposite of me as a child. Into everything, curious about how it works, curious how far he could push it before his mother intervened. Ellie invites you to chase her, hopes you'll get up off the couch and stop her. She wants to be in trouble.
I have absolutely no idea how to combat this. Such personality traits are foreign to me. But step one is to always think ahead of the baby, never assume she can't figure out how to do exactly what she isn't supposed to do. So far, I've diffused many harmful scenarios and I've developed tactics that help me distract her. I'm just never leaving her alone. Ever.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Baby's First Christmas
I have a feeling this is just the beginning...
Anyway, she opened some presents, played in some boxes, and tried out as many of her new toys as Mommy and Grandma could wrestle from the parent-proof packaging. Seriously, why are they trying to keep us out of there so badly?
Elissa also got her very first Patriots jersey thanks to 'Auntie' Kate, who gets huge points in my book. Now we've got a miniature Tom Brady fan on our hands. I'm just jealous that I don't have my own jersey to coordinate on game day!And of course, Ellie's first rocking horse (from Uncle Derek) was a big hit. My little princess just can't get enough of this toy... I'm not looking forward to the Christmas when she asks for a real pony...
Ellie also got her very first purse (it's a learning toy, okay?) from Santa, an adorable Cabbage Patch doll from Aunt Sammi (her new travel companion on all car trips), her first Build-a-Bear, lots of loud music-making toys, and a gigantic teddy bear that will be bigger than her until she reaches the second grade, at least. And that's only about 1/5 of the list!
Thanks to EVERYONE for making Elissa's first Christmas such a big success, and a day that we'll look back on for years to come. I already can't wait for next year!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Mommy Time...
So it's been a while since I've been here, and for that I apologize. We've had a lot going on in the past couple of weeks:
She also can't go to bed unless I put her down for the night. She either screams in Mike's face for nearly an hour or she wakes up every 30-60 minutes until after midnight. On Sunday, she did this until 3 AM and even though I was the one rocking her back to sleep, she'd still wake up half an hour later.
It's hard on Mike because he wants to help me and he wants to spend time with her after a whole day apart. It's hard on me because I have a writing job I'm supposed to be doing at night and I can't get any work done if she's either A) awake and screaming because I'm not sitting with her or B) screaming in the other room because she doesn't want Daddy to put her to bed. And it's obviously hard on her because it's like a complete breakdown occurs, like she's overrun with anxiety about me being away.
Meanwhile, she's started hitting and scratching and biting (all unintentional, I think) which means I get the crap beaten out of me all day long. All. Day. Long. I have the marks to prove it, too!
Well, whatever this is, I hope it's just a phase. I trust it's just a phase, otherwise I'd probably go nuts. This will pass eventually... but it sure would be nice if we could all just take a day off. It'd be nice not to be so needed for even an hour.
Ugh.
- We traveled to Buffalo to spend Ellie's first Thanksgiving with my family.
- I spent the last couple of days of November writing furiously to complete NaNoWriMo. I wrote a new novel, Otherwise Engaged, which I also blogged about on another Blogger page.
- Ellie is making it harder and harder for me to even touch a keyboard...
She also can't go to bed unless I put her down for the night. She either screams in Mike's face for nearly an hour or she wakes up every 30-60 minutes until after midnight. On Sunday, she did this until 3 AM and even though I was the one rocking her back to sleep, she'd still wake up half an hour later.
It's hard on Mike because he wants to help me and he wants to spend time with her after a whole day apart. It's hard on me because I have a writing job I'm supposed to be doing at night and I can't get any work done if she's either A) awake and screaming because I'm not sitting with her or B) screaming in the other room because she doesn't want Daddy to put her to bed. And it's obviously hard on her because it's like a complete breakdown occurs, like she's overrun with anxiety about me being away.
Meanwhile, she's started hitting and scratching and biting (all unintentional, I think) which means I get the crap beaten out of me all day long. All. Day. Long. I have the marks to prove it, too!
Well, whatever this is, I hope it's just a phase. I trust it's just a phase, otherwise I'd probably go nuts. This will pass eventually... but it sure would be nice if we could all just take a day off. It'd be nice not to be so needed for even an hour.
Ugh.
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