Spoons

We are trying to let Estelle become more independent with feeding herself, which of course means a very messy mealtime. She still can't really get the food on the spoon herself, but if we hand it to her already loaded up, she does a pretty good job of getting it in her mouth.

 

 

Playdough

We have this wonderful organization called "Parents as Teachers" in Missouri. They send someone to your home 3 times a year to check on the developmental progress of your child. Its a time to discuss problem areas you may be having and brag on your child's achievements.  They make suggestions for different activities and ways to interact with your child that are age appropriate and will help them progress developmentally. It's a wonderful service for first time parents like us. One of the suggestions our lady made last time was to introduce playdough. I've only tried it one with Estelle, and she was definitely more interested in trying to eat it than play with it. Luckily it was a homemade recipe, so it was safe to eat. 

Pregnant Again

It's been awhile since I last posted any pictures or updates. In my defense, I've gone to bed every night for the past 2-3 months at the same time as Estelle. This means I've lost 1-2 hours of productive kid-free time every night. With trying to keep up with day to day tasks and get ready for the holidays, something had to give. The good news is that I'm feeling better and getting some of my energy back. Plus the holiday season is almost over, so I hope to be back to posting 1-2x/week to keep everyone in the loop.

 

As most of you already know we are pregnant again and due in the beginning of June with another Baby GIRL!!. I'm very excited and for Estelle to have a sister. We are going to do a baby naming bracket again and are taking suggestions from friends and family. It was a fun process for both me and Keith and we are looking forward to doing it again.

 

And here's how we announced that Estelle was going to be a big sister....

One Year Photos

Estelle turned one year old on Halloween. I can't believe how fast this first year has gone by and how much she has grown. Here's a picture of Estelle when she was less than an hour old.

 

And here's my big girl sitting up, holding her #1 and talking on the phone. Again I took these pictures before she got her tubes, so many of them did not turn out. But this one is perfect.

 

 

Things about Estelle at one year:

 

- Her first word was "hi".

 

- She is able to stand while holding onto something and able to cruise around on the furniture, but she is not walking yet. She tried to climb on everything.

 

- She is still using her bottle most of the time, but slowly transitioning to a sippy cup.

 

- She loves to eat. So far she's eaten just about everything we've thrown her way including Italian Beef, Pork Chops and Sauer Kraut, Sloppy Joe's and of course any carb and fruit you can think of.

 

- Since getting her tubes she has started sleeping better at night and is getting up only once a night.

 

- She loves to play hide & seek, peek-a-boo and pat a cake.

 

Overall she is such a joy and we love her so much!!

Birthday Cake!

We decided with everything going on to keep her cake simple and got petit fours from our favorite local bakery - Federhofer's. And because that's what Grandma Cindi wanted and Halloween is her birthday too. I think Estelle enjoyed her mini cake and it was more than enough for her to eat. She had a new toy in her right hand and would not release it, so she ate her cake left hand only. Silly girl.

 

Halloween Birthday!

I know it's been along time since I've posted, but we've been busy getting our little one feeling better. She finally got her tubes last Wednesday and has slowly been getting better each day. She's now only getting up once a night, so that's a huge improvement over the past few weeks. Keith and I have also been trying to catch up on our own sleep. Here are some pictures from her Halloween Birthday!! The actual Birthday Party we planned for her had to be cancelled because she was so sick, but we tried to make up for it.

 

Here's Estelle in her Birthday outfit.

 

And her she is in her Halloween costume. This was before tubes and she was not having a good night, so we had trouble capturing our normally photogenic little lady.

 

 

We borrowed cousin Andrew's pirate hat and hook. She was swinging the hook wildly in her left hand and loving it.

 

Opening presents...

 

 

Pumpkins!

A couple of weeks ago I met some friends for lunch and after I found this wonderful fall display, so I tried to grab some quick pictures with Estelle.

 

Trick or Treating - Dry Run

Estelle got this pink pumpkin last year from Cindi and Marty's neighbor JoAnn. We brought it out earlier this month and it has become one of her favorite things to play with. Here she is crawling with it around the house warming up for some trick-or-treating!!

 

Ear Infections & Tubes

We have been very preoccupied with Estelle's health the past few weeks. She has had a persistent ear infections since the beginning of September, which have just continued to worsen. We have had one trip to the ER and two to urgent care in the last few weeks due to fevers and rashes and pink eye and having one fussy baby. We actually had to cancel her first birthday party due to her having pink eye for the second time and still being contagious.

 

Luckily nothing has been very serious, just lots of sleepless nights for me and Keith. We finally went to the ENT yesterday and were told that she will need tubes. I'm actually looking forward to her getting them, but that is still about two weeks away. So hopefully life will settle down at our house again soon.

 

Here's a picture of her when her pink eye was in full swing. Poor thing.

 

A special thanks to my mom and dad who came in town for Estelle's birthday party but ended up helping out with naps for me and Keith.

 

Here's Estelle opening up their presents.

 

Wine Day #2

We had our second trip out to pick grapes last weekend. Estelle did very well while Keith and I worked hard at harvesting the grapes. Here are some great pics of the two of them.

 

Ohio Trip

Estelle and I flew to Ohio two weeks ago. Luckily the flight was not full in either direction and I was able to bring her car seat onto the flight, which really makes flying so much easier. Here she is all tucked in ready for take off.

 

 

Estelle had gotten her first tooth two days before we left for the trip. This was my attempt to get a picture, which didn't work out too well, but I still like the pic.

And here's my sleepy baby

Here she is getting her bottle from Kristen

And playing in the tutu my friend Andrea's daughter Autumn dressed her up in so Estelle could be a princess too.

 

Estelle really loved playing with the balloon I got for free from Old Navy.

And here's my happy girl waiting at the airport for the flight home

 

So while I definitely did not capture everything that happened over the long weekend, we had a wonderful trip visiting with all of our family.

Eleven Month Photos

Estelle turned 11 months almost two weeks ago. The day we took her 11-month photos she was not feeling well and was not her usual photogenic self. I tried to wait and take more pictures another day, but she still isn't feeling 100%. We went back to the doctor yesterday and found out she has a double ear infection (again!!) and started her on another round of antibiotics. I hope this clears it up!!

 

These are the only two pictures I took that day that weren't blurry. I hope she's feeling better soon!!

Ear Infections

 Estelle has been battling ear infections for the past month. At first she had a double ear infection and was on antibiotics x10 days. She did pretty well and we barely noticed she was sick. We went back for a follow-up appointment and found out that while the left side had cleared up, the right had not. So she was started on a new antibiotic x5 days.

 

A couple of days into the new antibiotic Estelle spiked a fever and became very lethargic. We definitely had a sick baby on our hands. I ended up having to take her to the ER on Saturday as our doctor does not have weekend hours. She did great and was started on a new antibiotic. Lucky for us she is starting to feel better and act more like herself.

 

Here she is in the ER, fascinated with her bracelet. 

Wine Making

Keith and I had the pleasure of introducing Estelle to one of our favorite hobbies this weekend... Wine making! We drove out to a beautiful vineyard in the morning and then came home to do the stomp in the afternoon.

 

Here's Estelle during her first official Stomp!

 

 

And here are some pics from earlier in the day