30 days of joy + thanks - Day 7

I am posting Day 7 a day late because it was a difficult day. I tried to get on the computer and write out why I was thankful or joyful and for some reason I was having a rough day.

It was one of those days where things just were not going right. I posted about being happy that our house was all decorated for Christmas only to find out yesterday that we have one full strand of lights out on the house. We have only had these on one evening to enjoy. So...that is how the bad day started. Elli was fussy most of the day and we were all tired and grumpy. Then to top it all off Murray got outside and ran off. It was dark and raining and Bryan spent about a half an hour looking for him. We were all very stressed and worried. Thankfully, he finally found him.

So this morning I was cleaning the house and thinking that I still had not posted anything for yesterday and it occurred to me that even though we all had a bad day yesterday, we still have a lot to be thankful for!!! So....

Day 7 - I am thankful for pictures and moments in life that make me smile when I don't really feel like smiling!!

30 days of joy + thanks - Day 6

Day 6 - Today I am thankful for a nice warm, cozy house. It might not be very big, but it is cozy and we have a great yard. Not to many kids can grow up with horses, chickens in the backyard and a Llama that has a sense of humor as well as be able to ride a golf cart around the backyard.
I am thankful for our home and for our Christmas decorations. I love decorating for the holidays before we leave town for Thanksgiving so that all we have to do is turn on the lights when we get home. I can't wait for it to get dark tonight so the tree and the house lights are all lit up.
I love this time of year!!

30 days of joy + thanks - Day 5

Day 5 - Today I am thankful for my inlaws. They put up with our 3 kids and our crazy dog when we come to town to visit.

They always end up with a house full of chaos, whining and usually one kid mad at another kid, but they take it all in stride. I know they must be exhausted when we leave and probably really glad we are gone and they can get back to a quiet life, but we have great times when we come to visit. Thanks for everything!!

Grandma, Grandpa and all the grandkids.

Cade and Elli

Cousins and Best Friends!!

30 days of joy + thanks - Day 4

Day 4 - At the risk of sounding cliche today, I truly am thankful and blessed for my family and friends. I love them all very much. This has been quite the year for us and I am loving every minute of it.
But today I am also going to admit that I am thankful that I am a morning person since I had to get up early and start baking 3 pies for Thanksgiving today and I am very thankful for good coffee!!
Have a great Turkey Day everyone!!! Gobble Gobble

30 days of joy + thanks - Day 3

Day 3 - Today I am grateful for this!! Considering how Ashli reacted when she found out we were pregnant with Elli...this makes my heart smile to see how much Ashli loves Elli and Elli just smiles and laughs at Ashli. I love to see them play!!


And... Just because she is so stinkin cute...here is a picture of Elli.

30 days of joy + thanks - Day 2

Day 2 - Today I am joyful that Ali got really good SAT scores. She got above what she needed to be accepted into the college of her choice. Now the real fun begins!!
Good Job, Ali!!!
On another note, I am very thankful today that Elli does so good in her car seat when we go places. Today we are going to make a trip to the mall and I am so glad that she is such a good baby and so easy to take places. We are very blessed.

30 days of joy + thanks - Day 1

Some of my facebook and other blog friends are participating in a days of joy and thanks project where for x-number of days in a row, they post something they are thankful for. I have decided that so many people would participate in this project in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, but I have decided to do it in the days leading up to Christmas. So many times family and friends get caught up in the hustle and bustle of all of the craziness that Christmas time brings that I think they lose the true focus and joy that this time of the year brings. I love Christmas and today marks my Day 1 of my 30 days of joy + thanks project. I should finish close to Christmas Eve!!

Day 1 - I am thankful for the opportunity to stay home and raise our baby and the older girls. Time has just flown by watching Ali and Ashli grow up and missing so many milestones because of working full time. I am grateful to be able to be home when Ashli gets home from school and to be there for Ali as she journeys through her last days of High School!!

Health and Happiness

Our little Elli bean is growing right on track. She went to the doctor last week for her 4 month check up and she is a very healthy and happy baby.
Weight: 13 pounds, 7.5 ounces
Lenghth: 25 3/8" long
Elli is in the 40-50% for her weight and the 90% for her lenght.
Doctor says she may not be a big eater, but she is otherwise meeting all of her milestones.
She is really starting to become fascinated with her toys and she is getting very vocal and giggly. She loves to laugh and play games. She really starts jabbering when her Daddy talks to her.
She is such a long baby that she is starting to outgrow her cradle. She has slept in for about the past 2 months and has been so good that I was very nervous about trying to let her sleep in her crib all alone in her room, but this past weekend she has slept in her crib by herself in her own room and we have all survived.
She didn't seem to mind at all. Bryan said he could hear her on the monitor at 6:00 am just laughing and playing and the next thing he knew she was sound asleep again. So, I guess she is ready and so are Mommy and Daddy. She did great!
We went to dinner to Red Lobster Saturday night as a thank you from Grandma Iona for helping with everything and Elli was good as usual. She is awake for longer periods of a time, so going out to a restaurant takes a little more advance planning. She ate her cereal at Red Lobster and took her bottle and then got passed around to anyone that wanted to hold her. She even slept through the 45 minute wait that we waited to get seated. Amazing...sure wish I could have slept too!!
She is ready to start solids and so far she has had: oatmeal, rice cereal with apples and carrots. All of which she has really enjoyed.

Can't wait to see everyone for Thanksgiving!!

I'm 4 months old (By Elli)

Getting so big

And SO happy!!

I've really started getting a big personality this month!

New things this month:

I have lots of things to say and I am startin to talk a lot.

I am starting to grab at some of my toys. My favorite is still "Tebby" my bear blanket.

Everything goes straight into my mouth.

I can roll from my back to my tummy and my tummy to my back. I am getting very mobile.

I have started outgrowing some of my 3 month clothes.

I love to try and sit up by myself and I am very happy Mamma and Daddy got me a bumbo seat to help me.

I still sleep through the night and I am starting to have an earlier bedtime.

Mommy and Daddy can't believe how grown up I am starting to look and how much I change every day. Everyone keeps saying I look like my Daddy!

I really love playing with my sisters too. They take very good care of me and even my sissy's friends love to play with me too. Mommy says that might change when I get a little older.

I really enjoy eating my cereal too. I can't wait to try some new foods soon.

Love,

Elli

Bumbo Seat

Elli has a new love it's called a Bumbo seat. She loves it. She sits up like a big girl and looks at us like she is hot stuff. I debated for a long time about buying one, not knowing if we would get any use out of it. I think we will and I think it was $$ well spent!!

"Mom....what have you put me in"?

"Hey this is pretty cool. I can sit up like a big girl"

"Ok Mom, ENOUGH pictures with the Bumbo seat"

In other Worman family news. Ashli is sick AGAIN!! That poor girl can't catch a break. First it was an ulcer, then shingles, and now the flu! She is running a fever and has a stomach flu that we are hoping is just a 24 hour thing like Ali had last week. Either way, we just want everyone to get healthy again. I have been buying the stores out of Lysol to disinfect all of the germs our of our house!

Ali is healthy and back to going 24/7 again!! :) She took her SAT tests on Saturday. Crossing our fingers for high test scores!

My step-Grandma lost her battle with cancer on Thursday of this past week. She had been pretty sick for a while and her heart gave out. She passed away Thursday of heart failure. We have been busy helping my parents get her house cleaned out and get things cleaned up to put her house on the market. One thing I will never regret is taking Elli to the hospital to see her. She had been grouchy all day and when I came in with the baby, her face lit up. Elli will not remember her Grandma Iona, but I will always remember being able to put a smile on her face that day.

Also, I think Elli might be getting the hang of going to bed a little earlier in the evenings. Last night it was 10:00 and tonight it was 9:30. Much better than 11 or 11:30 since Bryan and I neither one are night owls. Let's hope this trend continues!!

Also...can you believe this beautiful weather? 70 degrees in November. We love it!! Let's hope it is nice next weekend too. Bryan has to put up the Christmas lights outside. That is always an adventure!

Trick or Treat

Wow...I am really behind in posting. I can blame it on going back to work but the truth is that I have just been negligent in posting. Work has nothing to do with it. :)

Elli has reached a new milestone and rolls everywhere. We lay her on her play mat to play and 5 minutes later she is off the the playmat and in the middle of the living room floor. She is rolling from her back to her stomach and then back to her back again. I think it amuses her that she is more mobile now because she spends more time playing on the floor and less time demanding to be held.

She still sleeps great at night. She goes to bed anywhere between 10 and 11 and sleeps until 10 or 11 the next morning. She doesn't take long naps during the day, just a cap nap here or there but we can't complain.

She is full of giggles and loves for Bryan or I to sing and play games with her. I stick to the more traditional songs and games of patty cake and Bryan makes up silly songs to sing to her.

Ali and Ashli are both finally feeling better. What a long week and a half. Ashli developed shingles and was out of school for that for 3 days. Then she came down with a massive headache and all over body ache and just basically could not function. She missed an entire week of school. Ali had the stomach flu Monday night and Tuesday so she missed a day of school with that. I am so glad they are both feeling better and so far so good that Elli has not gotten any of it!!

Ali had a college visit at Indiana State Wednesday and she loved it there. They told her what grade point average she needed to maintain and what she had to score on her SAT's which she takes Saturday morning. I still can't believe Ali is going to be graduating High School. It truly seems like I just delivered her yesterday!!

I haven't really taken any good pictures in a while but here are the trick or treat pictures of the girls.

Ali as zombie Bryan!!! Notice the running medals on her neck. :)
Ali as Juno.

Ashli is a pretty fifties girl. Don't you think?

And...our little glow worm.