noah&katie

While I'm not sure if this is normal for other babies, Ellie spent the morning with 20 of her favorite college women! 

A student hosted "Mugs & Muffins" this morning where girls come and bring a mug (for hot drinks) and $1 (for muffins! We then enjoy great fellowship, testimonies, time of sharing and prayer, and of course great muffins!

Noah is out of town so I decided to take Ellie along. We weren't able to stay for the whole time, but she did awesome (considering it was her nap time!) The girls there commented on how it was "too early in the morning" to be up.... and Ellie is thinking, what? I've been up for hours, it's nap time!

Despite the fact that we've had more thunderstorms than snow, and had to do more raking than shoveling, it still is Ellie's first winter :) 

Time Flies.... Our baby is 9 months old! Hard to believe!

I haven't posted much lately, and while it isn't intentional, it might just be a result of the fact that I'm in hibernation.  Not exactly, but after my first semester of being both mom and Navs staff, I needed a break. The last two weeks at home have been incredible. Noah has been able to work "normal" hours and be home more in the evenings. He traveled last weekend for a conference, but Ellie and I have stayed put. It's been much needed and greatly appreciated. Ellie continues to love her sleep and her food. She plays in her johnny jump-up a lot! She can sit up very well, but often prefers to just lay down.  She's starting to make strange a bit, and preferring mom or dad over "strangers."  She LOVES Gerber Puffs and is proud of herself for getting them in her mouth. She's learning to smile for the camera and show off for grandma and grandpa on skype. 

Yesterday was my official "Hibernation Day" -- I didn't even leave the house! We even got snow, so it was perfect! Our life will pick up full speed very soon as Saturday our regional leader is coming to visit and Monday we have a meeting with student leaders. Classes start up on Tuesday, Noah is speaking at our first Nav Night is Thursday and our welcome-back social is Friday. :)  While I am excited, I don't know if I'm ready but is anyone every ready to come out of Hibernation? :) 

Oh, and Ellie FINALLY got to "play" in the snow. :)  
Happy 2012!

I haven't gotten a chance to update on Christmas yet... We celebrated just the three of us at home before Christmas then we spent time at both of our parents houses in Wisconsin! Highlights of the last month include seeing all of our siblings (even Brady in China via skype), time with Ellie's only cousin Claire, enjoying one more "Rogers Christmas" making a gingerbread house, doing Advent as a family each night, celebrating Ellie's 8 month birthday on Christmas day, time with the Buchmanns,  and as you can see... lots and lots of pictures (and presents too!)

is my two front teeth! Last week Noah was out of town and I was 'flying-solo' for the first time with Ellie. Of course, this is when her two front teeth decided to work their way through. She was in a lot of pain last weekend and definitely not herself, but I can now feel the tips of some sharp pearly whites and my guess is they'll be here by Christmas! 

Who knew we could be more excited for Christmas than we have EVER been thanks to little Ms. Ellie. Noah and I are looking for to our gingerbread house tradition this week... I don't think Ellie will be able to contribute much yet, but that's okay! I've been sooo eager to wrap her presents (and we finally did yesterday!). We're doing our best not to spoil her, but in my enthusiasm I wanted to fill her stocking... so she's getting a hairbrush, hair bows, Gerber Puffs, batteries, etc in her stocking. Anything she needs that will fit :)

The tree is up, the presents are wrapped, we've been enjoying a family advent devotional time each night before bed.... all we need is some SNOW! (We're hoping we can find that in Wisconsin!)

Time continues to fly-- it's hard to believe Ellie will be 8 months old on Christmas day! y. She is starting to roll over (without being coaxed) :) She continues to love her cereal, and hasn't turned down any of the baby food we've offered her :) She's generally very happy and laid back, but is starting to get a bit nervous around familiar places or unfamiliar people.  I tease Noah that we're just playing house as she continues to be a pretty laid back baby. 

P.S. For those of you who are wondering if you have been taken off of our Christmas Card list-- no worries! You'll still be getting your Christmas card, we're just more behind than we've ever been. Here's a "sneak peek" of the beautiful pictures you'll be seeing :)

and the other half UNPACKING! 

We have had quite the fall. Lots and lots of travel (far more than we had anticipated!) It has meant that every 10 days or so we are loading up for another trip. That being said, I have yet to really get into a good routine. Ellie has been a trooper through it all and we have thoroughly enjoyed all of the people we have seen and things we have done! 5 trips, 6 states. 7 weeks. Let me just say "There's no place like home!" Especially at Christmastime!! 

Time has flown which means an update on our precious baby is long overdue! Ellie is now 7 months old. She loves her cereal, and is continuing to try new baby foods. She is adorable when she eats- her legs just kick, kick, kick and her hands move constantly (it looks like she is driving/revving up a motorcycle). As soon as she sees the bowl she starts to move, and she doesn't stop until the food is done. It is so precious!

The last month has been eventful! Ellie can sit up on her own but only for a brief bit. We still put the boppy pillow around her and stay nearby. She has rolled over both from back to front and front to back, but she much prefers to just stay put. She loves her johnny jump up and looking at herself in the mirror. She has started trying to turn pages or lift flaps when we read books. She love to babble, I hear her babbling to herself a lot when she's in independent play time. She's starting to say one consonant noises like mamamama. And the cutest thing is that she has starting "singing" when we sing to her. It's absolutely precious! She's learning lots of new things, its been a joy to watch her explore her world! We laugh as she's still very content to just lay on her back and play with her toys. We'll see how long that lasts. :)

With all of the new people and new places, we've noticed that Ellie is consistently very reserved around new things. She doesn't cry, but she just looks and looks, taking it all in. When she's away from home she's much more quiet and much less smiley! Once we get som

I've never been more excited for Christmas than this year, everything is just more fun when we are doing it as a family of 3! 

Someday I hope Ellie (and any other future children we are blessed with) are able to look back on their life as a "Nav Kid" and be grateful for the way that so many awesome college students have invested in them!

Let me give you a small taste of "Life as a Nav Kid" :) Ellie is one of the only 6 months I know who "hangs out" on campus :) :) She has already been to campus a LOT of times.. whether for prayer walks, volleyball games, visiting students in the dorms, Quad Day, other events, or in the case of the last two days- to tag along with me as I meet with students. Both yesterday and today it just worked out that Ellie would just come with me to campus... I was a little nervous, but she did awesome!! She sat on my lap for part of the time, and then sat in her carseat playing with toys. I think she is so enthralled by all of the commotion, that she is pretty content. I know these days won't last forever... I'm enjoying them while I can :)

Life as a Nav Kid (so far) has involved lots of travel, many evenings at home without daddy or mommy or both, conferences, students in and out of our home, and a whole lot of LOVE from many, many college students. I think Ellie would say, "So far, so good" At least I hope so :) 

It's been a very crazy month for us.... We started off October by flying to MN for my cousin's wedding. We then took a last minute road trip to Platteville to be with my dear friend Lindsey whose husband (of a few months, he is also a childhood friend) was severely wounded in Afghanistan. We then packed up and headed over to Indiana for Fall Conference. Then my parents came down for a few days and then Noah's parents came down for a few days (they overlapped for 24 hours). Now this week we head to Kentucky for a Navs National Staff Conference. WHEW!

Ellie got used to having someone new here every time she woke up from a nap :) I think I'm more tired than she is! We also had a very fun month of milestones (sitting up, rolling over, eating baby food, first Halloween, multiple trips to the pumpkin patch, etc. etc.) Here's a few pictures :)

Such a big girl!

This book was purchased at the Champaign Library in the honor of her birth (Her name is inside the cover!)

Talk about learning to sit in a chair ;)

Our sweet pea!

Happy Halloween Ellie! (Hard to see but the smile says Ellie)

Have I mentioned that this girl loves her thumb? And her blanket? And her crib? :)

Confession: I used to be obsessed with country music back in high school. It's true- just ask my family or my best high school friend Lindsey. :) An old song came to my head today when I was playing with Ellie.. It's written to describe love between a man and woman, but it totally fits with my (our) love for Ellie, too :) One of the verses goes like this...

How do I love you
Well count the ways
There ain't no number high 
   enough
To end this phrase
Baby, Completely
Wrapped up in you

It's amazing how 6 months changes everything! I knew I loved Ellie before she was born, but this kind of love is impossible to define!

I love how she is always so happy. Seriously, I can't believe how much it takes for her to get worked up. She is content 99.9% of the time. I looked down the other day and realized she had been on the floor for quite a while and I had never even given  her a toy, oh well, she was happy :)

I love how she gets so excited to see us when we go wake her up from naps or in the morning. She turns her head as far back as she can and just grins. I don't know about you, but there isn't much that makes me smile when I wake up in the morning...... {enough said!}

I love how she sucks her thumbs... We may have a bad habit to break someday down the road, but you just can't stop her. She loves them. The best is when we put her in her crib- we have a fleece sleep sack we put her in and by the time we lay her down, she already has her thumb in her mouth. We have to take her thumb out of her mouth to put it through the sleeve of the sleep sack. She doesn't like that, but 1.5 seconds later she has found her other free thumb and is then happy as a clam.

I'm sure this is just like every other parent's love for their child, but isn't it awesome? Yesterday it was Orphan Sunday at church and it has really got me thinking.  What about all of these kids who don't have parents to love them? I heard a story once about a grown man who was doing impressively well in life despite being bounced around from foster care to foster care as a child. He was quoted as saying, "Wouldn't you think someone would be proud to be able to call me their son?" But, he has no parents. I know how much  my parents love me and know I've had the chance to show that love to my baby. It just doesn't seem right that other babies don't know that love of a parent....