18 Months Old!

What a milestone! After having Ellie's 18 month check-up and shots, she weights 25 lbs and is over 32 inches tall. Such a big girl! Lots has changed over the last month, including having her daddy home, and even Jesse commented on how much she has changed and grown in the last few weeks. Here are some of the changes:

1. Ellie will no longer sit in a high chair in a restaurant - it's either a booster seat or on the regular seat like a big girl. It was like a switch went off and she just couldn't be confined like that any longer.

2. She has added at least 4 more teeth to the mix (all 4 dagger teeth are about 1/2 way in).

3. Her vocabulary is growing weekly - Dada is now Daaayee, Memememe is now Mom, etc. Also, she is now saying words like kitty, bye bye, bear, all done, cheese and Boz. Of course, none of them sound the way you read it, but we at least are expanding the communication!

4. She ate something "bad" and had a throw-up weekend which was no fun for mommy and daddy. She also had an abscess that we had to take her in for recently and she was a total trooper with the doctor.

5. She drinks her milk by herself while she walks around instead of sitting in Mommy's lap (sigh).

6. She has had 3 swim lessons and is really starting to catch on to the pool.

7. She loves playing outside with her mini-pool and gardening tools.

8. She's back to eating lots of fruit and even has a "fruit dance" that she does when she eats it.

It has been so great having Daddy home to share all of these new things with us. Ellie is totally smitten with him and calls his name looking for him when he's not around. This next goodbye is going to be a tough one - she is very aware of his presence or lack thereof. We can't believe that she is this old already, but we are enjoying every minute of it! Praise God for a Daddy at home and a healthy, happy little girl!

He's Back! (Temporarily)

For those of you that might read my blog and not my husbands, the reasons for Jesse being home can be found on his blog (realtnvolunteer.blogspot.com) so catch up! It has been a great time for Jesse to be home with us and we are cherishing EVERY moment. I wanted to post this video - proof of a little change since Daddy left in April!

More Videos for Jesse

Ellie's New trick on Daddy's chair

Ellie eating with a fork but being surprised by a tomato

Ellie eating her dinner with a fork like a BIG girl

Ellie eating her lime that she couldn't put down for a second

Videos for Jesse

The best way for Jesse to see videos of Ellie is through my blog, so I'm posting a few funny videos of her recently.

Grammie's game of chasing the ball with Ellie

Ellie walking in Mommy's shoes

Ellie & Kinsley hugging

Civil Affars Graduation - The Goodbye

My last visit to Ft. Bragg, NC was with Jesse's parents (Ellie stayed back in Knoxville with my Mom who so graciously watched her for 2 full days). We went over for Jesse's graduation from the Civil Affairs qualification course that Jesse had to take to be in this new branch and to also be able to go on the deployment. Jesse was 2 points away from being in the top 20% of the class, but he was totally fine with it seeing how he finished writing 2 HUGE doctorate papers for UTK during this class. We came in the day before the ceremony and had the afternoon and evening with him. It was great to have a double dinner date with his parents of adult time and just be able to focus on Jesse. I was able to spend the evening with him so we could have some quality time together and get geared up for this next year apart. The next day, we went to Jesse's graduation ceremony and saw him get his certificate. They also had a really good speaker, a retired Army Civil Affairs officer who had a ton of experience in this branch.

We checked out of our hotel rooms and did a few errands before going to Schlotsky's for lunch (a Cragwall favorite)! We took Jesse home and said our goodbyes and got back on the road to Knoxville. I'm so thankful Glenn and Karen were there because it forced me to not grieve for too long and have some support to move on. Jesse and I have said goodbye a lot to each other the last 2 months and it was one of the hardest things I've had to do when I had to leave him, but I know God has a plan for this deployment and our time apart. We have really talked about wanting to glorify God in this time away from each other and not just put our lives on hold for a year. I have a great support system of friends and family here and I know we will be taken care of. I worry more for Jesse's safety, but I have confidence in him as a soldier and know he will make great decisions when needed. He's a great leader and really wants to take care of the guys he is around. So, pray for his safety and time over there, but also pray for our communication as a family and for our time apart to glorify God. I LOVE MY SOLDIER!!!

17 Months Old

Yep - another month has passed! Ellie is growing up so fast these days. This past month feels like it's gone by faster than the rest with all the trips we had, goodbyes and visitors. With Jesse out of town for training, starting a routine hasn't been as easy with the trips we have taken to see him. Ellie has done really well at adapting to new places - I can't complain! We've had a weird eating spell and some toddler tantrums have begun, but overall she's such a happy baby girl and pretty easy to take care of. I do think that she knows that Daddy is gone and things are a little different. Ellie has added some new words to her vocabulary like "eyes", "ice cream", "cookies", "my ball", "bow", and a few others. Of course, they don't exactly sound like the way we would say them, but they definitely get the point across. It's been fun to look back at previous posts to see what changes she has made -so glad I've kept track of it. Until next month...

New Summer Job

During the school year, I teach College Success 1500 at Pellissippi State. BUT, I have gotten a summer job to fill the months I'm not teaching and keep me busy a few hours a week during Ellie's Mother's Day Out program. I have been contracted out to do academic advising for Pellissippi State! When I was job searching, my top job choice was to do academic advising at UTK, but that didn't pan out for me. That's when I started teaching part-time, but little did I know that I could also do advising! It's a job that I love to do, primarily because it is DETAILS, DETAILS and some more DETAILS! I have a lot to learn, but training started for me today and I am really looking forward to doing it. So, YAY for a summer job! :)