Up and Running!

So we are up and running again, so I'm happy about that! And as you can tell from Ellie's cute smile, she's happy, too! And in the most important news first...SHE SAID "MA MA!!!!" She said it yesterday and it was really exciting! And then I got out the camera to get it on tape and as soon as I got it ready, all she would say was "Da Da". Oh well...I'll get it on camera soon! ;-)
Aunt Jill got Ellie the "My Aunt Loves Me" shirt that she is wearing in this picture. She is also playing with one of her new favorite toys in this picture, the shape sorter. And for the record, this shape sorter plays MUSIC at TWO volumes! I'm pretty sure that when I was a kid, our shape sorters were made of wood and did not play music, let alone at two different volumes. However, Ellie loves it, so I'm happy with it, too!
Ellie prefers to be walking everywhere now. She is pulling herself up and walking by holding on to things all over the place. It's really fun to watch but she moves SO FAST! I could tell story after story about how that girl moves faster than I expect her to and it's been pretty interesting... I had just changed her diaper in this picture and she got away from me before I could put her pants back on. She obviously thought this was very funny! :-)
In the last day or two, she has figured out how to walk with her little walker/pusher thing. She used to take these HUGE strides and she would fall over, but she's got the hang of it now! She pushed this into the wall this afternoon and she could not figure out why it wouldn't keep moving when she was moving her feet! It was so cute because she kept picking up her feet trying to walk and laughing and laughing because it wasn't going anywhere! I love that little girl!
And this is Justin and me in front of our Christmas tree. We were getting ready to go on a date and it was fun! Tomorrow Ellie is going to Justin's parents house for 2 whole days and we will meet them in Springfield on Saturday! I have never been away from Ellie for that long! But Justin and I never got a chance to go away and do anything before she was born because I was on bedrest for so long. So we decided we should try to get away sooner this time. And we planned this weekend a while ago, but as it turns out, State Farm decided that Justin would need to take this special test for work in the middle of the day on Friday, so we're not going anywhere super exciting, but we're going to have fun anyway and enjoy our freedom! Tomorrow we are going to go to Arthur and Tuscola to see the Amish people. We've never been there, but we thought it might be a fun day trip. My Grandpa and Grandma Odom used to go there a lot together and I really regret that I didn't get to make the trip over there with them while she was still with us. I'm kind of excited to see what Grandma liked to go visit so much! And I'm not sure what we're going to do on Friday, but Justin's test is going to take up most of the day. And Saturday....Jill is having us all over for brunch and then we are going to the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield. I've been wanting to go since it opened, so I'm excited that we have the chance to go!
And in more baby news...I was still having the contractions, but they have stopped! There is this new shot that is available (they didn't even have it when I was pregnant with Ellie!) and it stops the contractions! We didn't think that insurance would cover it at first, but as it turns out, they do! So, now I am in "Dr. Nord's Weekly Shot Club" and I have to go to his office and get a shot every week from here on out, but at least I'm not having contractions! YEA! And, still no name for the baby, but we'll figure it out soon enough, I guess!
Pregnancy seems to be very contagious lately because I just found out my friend Meghan Breeze is pregnant, too! Wow! BABIES ARE EVERYWHERE!
Well, that's it for us. You can be thinking and praying for Justin and me in our days without Ellie! I know it seems silly, and I'm super grateful that we have the chance to be by ourselves, but I know I'll miss her! It would probably be different if we were actually going somewhere as we had actually planned, but since we going to be staying at home....it will be really weird that she's not sleeping in her room. Hope everyone is doing well! :-)