Ellie the Artist

I had to share this... Ellie came home from school yesterday with her first masterpieces. I have to admit, I think that they are wonderful!! Not that I am biased or anything! Who knows, we may have the next Picasso on our hands!

Sick Ellie
As I write this I can say with great confidence that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course Ellie is back at daycare and almost 100% better and I am just now begining to catch up on a weeks worth of lost sleep. It was a long haul but we all made it and I am sure that we are all better for it. She had viral toncilitis / flu for almost a week. We had highs and lows. By highs I mean temps (105-106) and by lows I mean moods!!
She was actually content to just hang out with me on the floor while I read and she watched her stories. As you can see toys and juice are close at hand. Schatzie was loving on her every chance that she got to try to make Ellie feel better. What a good girl!!
You can tell she is not feeling good, this is the only time that she will be a cuddle bug. I know Bill was eating up every minute!! As much as I wanted to take her sick away and have it myself, it was nice to have her just curl up on you and nap!
I don't know which was worse, the four straight days of fever or the rash that followed! I felt so bad for her, this photo doesn't do it any justice. She was covered in red bumps and sh ejust cried and iched. Bill and I joked that she looked like her favorite Backyardigan character, Uniqua. On Monday we went back to the doctor and he said to try Benadhryl. It worked, she stopped itching and we all slept... happily ever after (or until the next sickness)!

Let the games begin....

I know that I mentioned this in my last post but it is so exciting that I had to say it again!! Ellie is walking and my life as I know it is over!! The baby gates have gone up and there is no sitting still at our house any more! The teachers at school were even saying she was all over the place at school yesterday. WAY TO GO ELLIE!!

Ellie's first week on at school on the toddler side and big news!!
August 7-11, 2006

So here we are, Ellie's first week being moved up with the big kids and things couldn't be going better!! She is eating new foods like pancakes, grits , and lima beans (yummy!). I am also told that she is really enjoying "circle time" where everyone sings and claps. She is even participating by clapping and dancing in her seat. The biggest thing however happened today, and you say wait this is Saturday and you are talking about excing things afrom school I don't see how they go together.
Well, here goes... from hanging out with the big kids all week she has been watching and learning, we all know thatEllie is a nosy baby, but she started walking today! I am not talking a few steps here and there with lots of falling over. I am talking walking from the chair to the couch or from the den to the kitchen and she will stop to steady herself! I guess I am really in for it now! Here is Ellie and Bill on Monday afternoon after she got home from her first big day at school!

Ellie is just crawling around in the morning when I dropped her off.

"Hey Mom, look no hands!! Can I come to work with you today? I promise I won't get into much!"

Oma and Opa's Visit
August 3-7, 2006

Oma and Opa were finally able to make it to High Point to spend some much needed one on one Ellie time. After the first day or so she was going right to them! We all had such a nice time. We had fun and always entertaining family dinners and quite a day at the mall. We made the mistake of going on tax-free weekend but it did make for some interesting people watching! We always have such a nice time, I can't wait to see them again!

Here are all of the Lysse Ladies (left to right: Abbey, Jessica, Oma, Deb, Ellie, and Mary Beth) and you know, come to think of it Ellie is the only one there with Lysse blood, all of the rest of us married (or adopted) into the fun! Lucky us!!

Here is everyone at breakfast on Saturday morning at Grateful Bread in High Point. We all had a fantastic breakfast but the true highlight was when Bill tried to switch omelets with Jer without him knowing, I really thought that Bill was going to pee in his pants trying to keep a straight face before Jer figured it out!!
Oma brought a musical lamb that plays "Jesus loves me" for Ellie and as you can see Ellie loves him! What a wonderful gift that was giben with love. An older couple had given it to Oma when she was in the hospital and now she gave it to Ellie. It just so happens that when I was young, I had a lamb that has gotten missplaced over the years and his name was Lammie Pie. Well, Now Ellie has her own Lammie Pie with a special story!
Here is everyone! Oma, Deb, Ellie (in her pjs) and Jess are watching Mike, Bill, and Opa play the hottest Lysse summer craze... Bocce! It looks like Opa is already claiming victory. In the backround Jer is walking Abbey home.

Ellie and Schatzie...
They say that children learn from what they see, well I can believe that! The older Ellie gets I see more and more of Schatzie's influences! Some days they are like two peas in a pod. We are really lucky that they get along so well! Ellie can take stuff right out of Schatzie's mouth, but when Schatzie goes to take stuff away from Ellie it doesn't always go so well (really it just depends on what it is!). Just last night we had a half hour battle over one of Ellie's teeting biscuits.
Last night Ellie grabbed her sippy cup in the kitchen with her teeth and crawled into the den. How else do you bring a cup into the other room when you need your hands for other things like crawling?
Oh the joys of dog food, you can almost hear her thinking "Maybe this stuff tastes better than my dog food... maybe I should just try it to make sure!!"
Sometimes you just need a friend to share your food with, sharing is good, right?? This is almost a nightly occurance once I look away, even for a second!
And speaking of sharing Schatzie was kind enough to share her bone with Ellie. Apparently dog bones come in very handy when you are teething! That was so nice of Schatzie!