Crawling Ellie - Watch Out Callie!

Ellie is crawling (Army high crawl according to Jesse) now and I caught this moment on video the other day. She is still completely facinated with Callie, and you will see Callie's annoyance with her in this clip. It will only get worse - Poor Callie!

I GOT A JOB!

Yep...you read that right! 2 days after arriving in Knoxville, I met with a lady at Pellissippi State Community College about possibly teaching their College Success course as adjunct (part-time). We talked for a few minutes and then she opened up the class schedule to ask me when I wanted to teach! I was floored. So, I will be teaching 1 or 2 classes this Fall Semester part-time. God truly had a plan when it came to a job. After all the jobs I applied for that I thought I was a shoe-in and they all fell through, God opened up this opportunity through my old co-worker from UT (Tracy - thanks friend) to work part-time and still be able to be home with Ellie! I think we have figured out child care for Ellie on the days I teach so it is looking great for our Fall line-up! Pray for me as I take on this new work adventure - I'm terrified of teaching! This will be quite the challenge for me and I'm looking forward to having my own "thing" again.

From Ft. Campbell Back To Knoxville

The time has finally come - our tranistion out of active duty Army! Jesse has moved us back to our house in Knoxville and it is crazy to have this much space compared to what we were living in on post. My mom came up to Ft. Campbell to help watch Ellie while we loaded the truck and checked out of housing (stressful process). Our last few days at Ft. Campbell went by really fast, filled with sad goodbyes to our Army friends and family and tons of packing and cleaning. Plus, dealing with details from our wreck and details from clearing post filled up every free minute we had.


We have been looking forward to the time we could move back to Knoxville and move on with our lives from the hard years of Army life, but on the day we left, I will admit that it was tough to say goodbye to that world/lifestyle. It's all we have known the past 3+ years and it's a world that we brought our first child into. So, as I drove away from our house and from Gate 1, I reflected on our time there and got a little sad leaving it behind. We made some great friends that we would have only had met through this experience and we hated to say goodbye to our support away from home. Thanks to our OCF family, the Teter's, the Connor's and our great neighbor's the Moore's. We will always remember our time in the Army and the friends we made. I will miss walks with Claire around Werner Park, OCF Bible Study on Tuesday nights, my Austin Peay co-workers and students, cheap meat at the Commisary, the local restaurants we enjoyed (El Bracero, Yamato, Blackhorse Pub, Silke's Bakery) and our little home away from home we made. Goodbye, Ft. Campbell! Hello, Knoxville!

Scariest Moment of My Life

We were on our way to Knoxville for the last time before the final move to finish up a few projects we needed to complete before bringing the rest of our stuff. We stopped to meet the Speaks (our Aberdeen, MD friends) at a McD's and then got back on the road to Knoxville. On our way, we took Briley Parkway to cut through to I-40 East. On the 2-laned entrance ramp to I-40, we were driving next to a semi-truck. Jesse commented that it was going too fast and then all of a sudden he screamed, "Hold on!" I braced myself as a semi-truck fell over on top of us, screaming Ellie's name over and over again. As soon as the craziness halted, I heard Jesse yell to get Ellie and I jumped out and found her covered in dirt, but completely fine. I helped Jesse get out of the car through my door and we yanked Ellie's car seat out and we got away from the car. Jesse was bleeding and having a hard time breathing so I immediately called 911. I checked Ellie out with the help of some ladies that had stopped and then I had cops get her food and diapers out of the car for me. A nurse and soldier had stopped and helped Jesse until the ambulance came. Thankfully, the bleeding was just his right hand but the medics strapped him in and took us all to the ER. We were all checked out, Jesse was stitched up and bandaged and we were able to leave that evening. Our friend Claire was amazing and helped me with Ellie and little details, but also drove us back to Ft. Campbell. We also had the help of Bill and Cindy Mason (holding Ellie in picture on right in ER - she was worn out) and it was so amazing to have them all there with us. Scariest moment of my life - you never want to have the moment of fear for your child's life and I had it. That motherly instinct kicked in high gear. I was shocked that I was more worried about Ellie than Jesse, but Ellie was helpless and Jesse wasn't. We are SO blessed and lucky to have made it out alive and with so little injuries. One day, we will tell Ellie about this wreck and she will see the craziness she experienced at such a young age. I'm so glad she will not remember this! We are now dealing with insurance, therapy for Jesse and the aftermath of stuff we lost in the car. Keep us in your prayers as we try to put this behind us!

7 Months Old

Well, today our baby turned 7 months old - time is passing by so fast! I write this with such joy that she is alive and safe after the past week (will post on that topic later, once it's all settled). Ellie is a fantastic baby and we just love to show her off to our friends and family. So here is an updated list of things about her:

1. Her two teeth are much more noticeable and are sharp when she bites down!
2. She is 17lbs now, about to be upgraded to size 3 diapers once we finish up her size 2's.
3. She can get on all fours and rock back and forth (yep, about to crawl) but she can definitely roll and scooch forward to get wherever she wants.
4. She still loves to jump on people's lap and in her jumper.
5. She is still a GREAT sleeper at night and during her naps in the morning and afternoon.
6. She's become a travel trooper and takes great naps on our trips to Knoxville.
7. She eats 2 ice cubes of fruit and 2 ice cubes of vegetables every day.
8. She has started to learn to drink out of the sippy cup.
9. She recently has started making the "da da da da" sound so I think I'm out of luck on getting her to say "ma ma" first.
10. She giggles out loud a lot more and can amuse herself with toys and books.
11. She has graduated to the sitting position in her tub, but she's not yet able to sit completely on her own - still working on that one. She likes to stand more than sit.
12. We have lowered her crib so my nightmares of her falling out are relieved.
13. She is about to graduate from her 3-6 month clothing into her 6 month clothes!
14. She likes to smile at men - a lot quicker than smiling at women other than from her family. Not sure what to think of that!

God has blessed us and we are so thankful to have Ellie in our lives. Jesse can't wait to heal so he can get back to being more involved with her (I can't either!). She still loves to smile at her daddy and loves to be held by her mommy. The past week I have held her more than usual just because I can. We love our baby girl and can't wait to see what this next month holds! :)

6 Month Pictures

In mid-June, we were able to have Abby Berg take photos of Ellie again but this time in Knoxville. We wanted to share some of our favorites from that day.

July 4th - Hardwick Style!

For July 4th weekend, us kids (Jonathan, Jennifer, Jesse and I) wanted to do something special for my parents since they celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this year. So we used the long weekend as an excuse to get us all together (which is rare) and surprise them with a little dinner party. We ended up doing it at my brother's house in Cincinnati and it turned out to be such a great weekend. We all arrived on Friday night and spent the evening with Jennifer (Jonathan didn't get home from work until late that night). Saturday was a relaxed day of just hanging out together and letting Ellie get to know my side of the family. She took a quick liking to Jonathan. That afternoon, Jonathan got our parents out of the house for a bit so Jennifer and I could decorate and get the food ready. We had YUMMY ribeye steaks, roasted asparagus, baked potatoes and rolls (courtesy of Jonathan and Jennifer). We were able to decorate using the color red for the 40th year and even used some of Jennifer's beautiful hydrangia's for a centerpiece. Mom and Dad were very happily surprised for the dinner party and we enjoyed it outside on my bro's beautiful patio. The night was topped off with a delicious cake and Graeter's ice cream. :)

For the 4th, we all went to church in the morning and then came back to the house and grilled out hamburgers, hot dogs and brauts (grody). We also made the famous Hardwick vanilla ice cream to enjoy with fresh peaches mom and dad had picked up on the way to Cincinnati. Jonathan pretty much stayed outside to shoot off fireworks from mid-afternoon on until the evening. I don't know how he does it for so long, but every year he can't get enough. Ellie got to see her first fireworks (in the form of sparklers and some spinny things Jonathan had) and she liked watching, until Jonathan broke out the noisy ones that screech when they go up in the air. We put Ellie down for the night (yep, she slept through the fireworks that were going off all around the neighborhood) and enjoyed the neighborhood fireworks and ate some smores. It was a great time, just sitting around talking and being together.

On Monday, we all parted ways, but not before taking some family pictures while we were all together. It was a great way to cap off a fun weekend together. I loved how Ellie got to know my family a little better since she's not around them very much. Thanks for hosting, Jonathan & Jennifer! Your house is beautiful with all of your renovations!