Where's the boy?

I looked back over the pictures I had posted lately and Elli has definitely been the one behind the camera lately. Ethan has been down the last 5 days with high fever of over104F and some incredibly watery stool. He also has had a mild case of conjunctivitis in his right eye (I guess not so photogenic as of late). But this recent illness has helped me see deeper into my little 3 1/2 year old's heart and mind. Almost daily he has told me "Mommy, I'm sad. I miss my bed. I miss our house, etc." There's nothing like being sick to make you miss what is comfortable and known. I've gathered a long list of the things Ethan loved about his bunk bed and we've agreed when we get to our new house, Ethan will help Daddy find his new bed. He was excited to find out that his blanket (the comforter cover) I sewed for him is in our trunks downstairs. I'm so glad I packed every little homey piece that I did. And the family is all in agreement, we can't wait to unpack it all and start making a home.

Baby Botox

My active little girl has fallen more times than I can keep track. But lately it has inflicted it's share of pain to her mouth. First, only upon arriving in TJK several hours before, she fell and bashed her face into the little coffee table. It was a pretty bloody wound and for a brief moment I thought she had done some serious damage to the roof of her mouth. The bleeding stopped and all was fine. This is her most recent wipe out. It swelled up instantly, as she split her lip. She already has what I call "juicy lips," but this just made them all the juicier! :) It's been several days and all is back to normal. It's probably about time for another minor accident.

Print Worthy!

Some cuddle time on the couch yielded some great pictures I thought were good enough to share. One has now become my background wallpaper on my desktop and everytime I start up my computer I can't help but say "I LOVE my kids!" They bring my heart such great joy. (Reality is they also bring my body great exhaustion, but it's all easily forgotten by the day's end).

Mission "Plumpify"

I just took Elli in for her 1 year check-up. She weighed in at 19 pounds and a little over 29 inches long. She is around the 30%, a dip since December when she weighed in closer to 50%. Granted we were eating American food and celebrated how many different Christmas meals. After charting her height and weight the Dr. informed me: "She is petite. Is her father petite? You must feed her more solids." I assured him that her father was average and that she was a very active little girl. So we are working hard to make her sit still long enough to "eat more solids." Granted her determination to feed herself everything definitely slows down the process.
Yet, petite as she is, this little girl has managed to develop a fungal rash in her neck that we are trying to get rid. Probably from all the changes back and forth from summer to winter. I guess she carries all her weight in her "chins."

Related or what?

There have been several times as of late that a little facial expression has come over Elli's face and I've thought "she looks a lot like her cousin." Now there is no doubt that she has the beautiful bald little Amershek head! I wish I had digital pictures to show you how similar she looks to Emily, Lauren and especially her Daddy. But I thought this little grin was fun, as I remember seeing it on Malia's face when she was just a little bit older than Elli is now. A lot more hair, I realize, but do you see the resemblance?

Jammin' at the Music table

Ethan and Elli singing and dancing their hearts out at the new music table. Ethan has already found his favorite song and loves to belt it out into the microphone. Elli loves to sway and dance along with the music. May they grow to sing His praise!

Happy Birthday!

Even though we have celebrated her birthday 2 other times, while we were on our trip, it didn't feel right as a mama not to make her cake or birthday dinner. And we had waited to do her birthday presents until we were in our "home" (more loosely defined now than ever before).

This was my attempt at a bunch of balloons. Being in a temporary housing situation, meant that I borrowed cupcake pans from 3 different locations to make the cake.

But Elli was excited! After sampling 2 other cakes, she new what to expect.

This was Elli's little visitor for her birthday. All the other guests were 5 and older. This little gal is 2 months younger than Elli and was staying next door. We did their baby dedication together in July and got to celebrate a birthday together. A fun gift!

Ethan found a fun beauty set for Elli including sunglasses, a compact and lipstick all to go in her little purse. We found her a little interactive music table that big brother is as equally interested in playing with.


But the winner gift was her baby doll and stroller. Mommy helped put baby in the stroller and soon Elli was determined to figure it out on her own.