Recap

Well, my 12 week "vacation" is over. Monday I start back to work. I can't believe it's gone so fast. I'm a little nervous and ready for the first day to be over with. I think I'm partly worried that I've forgotten everything smart I once knew and partly nervous that I won't like it anymore and partly afraid that it will be too much to do and I won't have enough time to spend with Ella. Here's an example of why I'm worried about losing my mind. I went to Wal-Mart the other day and when I got to the car I couldn't find my keys anywhere. I spent an hour looking around Wal-Mart, asking people, I even looked in the car several times. I finally got a hold of Brad and he sent Mike to come give me a set of keys. Right after I got off the phone I looked one more time and they were right there in my shopping bag

But on the positive side, we found a great girl to come over and watch Ella. She's also going to help out around the house which should make things a whole lot easier. I'll probably end up with more time that I know what to do with and will have been worried about nothing.

I thought this would be a good time to see how I did on my "to do" list:
1. Pray and read my Bible every day - OK, I put this one first because I thought it was the most important and unfortunately I didn't do so well on it. I probably only read my Bible 1/4 of the days. It is hard to be honest about not doing so good, so next list maybe I'll stick to it better.

2. Relax and hold Ella - I did quite a bit of this, especially the first 2 months when she slept so much. It was so nice to have her fall asleep on my chest while I read or took a nap.

3. Read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand - I finished this long book (1,000 pages)and really enjoyed it even though I didn't totally agree with all her conclusions. It was an interesting story line which she used to demonstrate her philosphies. I thought she had a lot of good points about capitalism in America and the illustrations which probably seemed grossly exaggerated in the 50's don't sound so far off now, especially with all the bailout stuff that has been going on. I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in philosphy and politcal science.

4. Read "Democracy in America" by Alexis De Tocqueville - I've only made it through the first part of the Part I. I really like it so far although there are sections that get a little dry. It is interesting to read a foreigner's perspective on our country almost 180 years ago. The biggest dfference I've noticed between our country then and now is the role of the Federal government. It was VERY limited back then with most of the laws made at the state level and most of the administration done at what he calls the "township" level. The titles of later sections look interesting so I'm excited to finish the book.

5. Read "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burrows - I took this book to Seattle with me and spilled half a glass of water on it which totally ruined it. I've got another copy on the way.

6. Consistently update blog - I guess that's kind of subjective...

7. Keep up with Ella's baby book - I finished her baby book and left a page to write all her "firsts" down.

8. Memorize the first 2 chapters of Philippians - I didn't do so well on this either. I made it through the first 12 verses and then got distracted with other things. I'll have to move this to the next list.

9. Make a book summarizing our 2008 - I did this while we were in Seattle. I'm just waiting on a couple more pictures from friends and then I can order it.

10. Finish researching client software for the Crisis Pregnancy Center and make recommendation - I worked with the center Director and we decided to go with Way Cool software. The Board approved our decsion and we ordered it last week. Now we have the big task of implementing it and putting all the old records in so we have at least one calendar year in the database.

11. Find a good arrangement for Ella for when I return to work - Done. I'm so excited about Johanna. She is a girl who goes to our church and is graduating from high school this May.

12. Organize my socks and underware - I did this and it's such a good feeling every time I open the draweres. I ordered some dividers which will be here Monday so hopefully everything will stay nice and neat.

13. Make my bed every day - I actually surprised myself with this one and made my bed almost every day. I think its a habit I'll keep because it makes the room so much nicer looking throughout the day.

OK, that was probably way more info than anyone wanted to know, but I've decided this blogging thing is kind of theraputic.

I Get It

I finally understand how people can get so excited over the littlest things that their kids do. The night before last Ella reached for something in Brad's hand. Granted, it was a Miller Lite can, but it was still exciting. Yesterday I decided to try it out with a rattle and she went for it. I guess it's so fun because she's starting to respond to things. It makes all the hard work worth it.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I thought I'd make a list of some of my favorite baby things (and some not so favorite ones). That way when I need to buy a baby gift I can remember what I liked instead of sitting there not being able to think of a single thing.

1. Fisher Price Papasan swing - I don't know what I'd do without this swing. She loves it!
2. Battery Adapter - It made my day when I found this. Because she uses the swing so much, we were going through quite a few batteries. This goes in the battery holder and plugs in the wall, eliminating the need for any batteries! It works for most swings and other things that take batteries. Not only does it save a ton of money, it's green too.
3. Post-pregnancy Workout DVD - OK, so I haven't done it nearly as often as I should, but it's a great workout that kills your abs.
4. Constellation Nightlight - Right now, I like this way more than Ella does, but that's OK. I love hanging out in her room at night and pretending it's helping her go to sleep.
5. ERGO baby carrier - I like this carrier because you can use it in front or back and it carries infants (with the infant insert) all the way up to 40lbs (if you feel like carrying your 40lb child around).
6. Medela Lactina Pump - This thing is awesome. I picked mine up on Craigslist for $300. They've been making this same machine for over 15 years and it's made to be shared and lasts forever.
7. My Royal Henie Diaper Bag - I like this bag because it's small enough to fit in a large purse and holds about 3 diapers, some wipes you can grab from a refill pack (which won't go dry in the special case), a changing pad (included) and a onesie or burp cloth(just in case).
8. My favorite website, www.mom4life.com - she lives about 30 miles away and only sells stuff invented by moms. There's some pretty creative stuff out there. Check this out, I can't stop laughing every time I look at the picture.
9. Then of course all the usual stuff, Bumbo seat, Boppy pillow, Diaper Genie

The one thing I really don't like:
1. Baby Trend car seat and stroller - OK, I bought this at a garage sale without doing any research and it sucks. It's in good condition, they just did a bad job designing it. You have to hold both side buckles together to buckle it, the handle is really hard to put up and down and you can't put anything in the stroller basket unless the car seat is off. It was obviously designed by someone who has never had a need for a car seat before.

I'd love to hear what stuff everyone else likes.

Falling in Love

OK,so this is totally cheesy, but this last week while we were in Seattle I realized that I've completely fallen for Ella. Here are some of the things I love about her:
- She's excited to see me when she wakes up (most of the time)
- She gets out of breath when she's eating because she might starve to death if she slowed down
- She loves to be moving. She's that kid in the Volkswagon commercial who cries at every red light and stops as soon as we start moving again.
- She's very generous with the smiles with two big dimples on both sides
- She's learned how to cry and smile at the same time. Then she looks at you out of the orner of her eye to see if you're paying attention to her.
- She opens her mouth when you go to give her a kiss

OK, on to the update...
Brad had a class at Boeing in Seattle last week so Ella and I tagged along and had fun shopping in the big city. I've missed craigslist in a big town not to mention stores like Babystyle, Paper Source and Ikea. Unfortunately I lost my camera battery charger and it died after two pictures. We didn't do anything for Easter so I don't have any pictures of that either.

We had a great time hanging out with Brad's friends from the Air Force Chris, Jill, Ryan and Ann. Here's Ella chilling with the boys.


On the way home we stopped to see Brad's Aunt Lynn in Bellingham


I couldn't get her to be happy for this picture, but the weather was nice this weekend and I wanted grandma to see a picture of her in the pretty dress she made.


Today Ella had a picnic with Brad and his friend Hal from work


Yeah, Bumbo seat!

2 Months Old

Ella turned 2 (months old) on Friday and we happened to be at McDonald's with some friends so I snapped her picture with Ronald.





She also had to have her first round of shots on Saturday. Brad was the brave one who held her. I think next time I'd rather hold her so I don't have to watch.


On Monday she had a nice dream about milk. (Warning! You may want to watch the videos on mute. I had no idea my voice could go so high.)


She loves to lay on the ground and kick her right leg (I asked the Dr and she said it's nothing to worry about).

Breakin' the Law

We had a layover in Las Vegas on our way back home and thought if we started her gambling early she wouldn't be as interested when she's older :) Brad put $1 in a video poker machine and we snapped this picture and video. Right afterwards, someone who worked there came over and with her mouth wide open in surprise said "you can't have a baby over here! You must be at least 15 feet away" Never mind we were about 30 feet from our gate. Then we went to find some food and the only place open was the Fox Sports Bar. After about 1 hour in there, the manager came up to us and told us we had to leave because no one under 21 was allowed. So before she was even 8 weeks old she got kicked out of two places in Vegas. What a rebel.





By the way, does anyone know an easy way to rotate vidoes?

Meet the Stevens

While we were in Tucson, Ella had the chance to meet the rest of her grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Here she is with her Grandpa Stevens and Great Grandma Stevens


Here she is with her Great Grandma and Grandpa McCulloch


Here she is with her Aunt Sarah


And here she is with Aunt Elizabeth


Grandma and Grandpa Stevens


We took a ton of pictures in Tucson so click here to see all of them.

Family Photos

After leaving Steve's house we headed to Tucson to meet the rest of Brad's family. While we were there we looked at everyone's baby pictures and found out who Ella looks like.
Here's Brad with his sister Elizabeth in 1986

Here's his sister Sarah in 1992


And of course I found some great pictures of Brad I HAD to share...

Here he is pumping some iron in 1991

Here he is turning 12 in 1987

What a cute kid in 1986!

Texas Farm Girl

Monday night after Ethan's Eagle ceremony we drove to Normangee, Texas to see Brad's brother Steve. He lives on 50+ acres and has cows and lots of big boy toys. He and Brad spent the day digging a big hole with the excavator and moving the dirt with the dump truck.



Here she is with Uncle Steve

Meet the Geers

We're finally back from our trip and I have a little time to catch up on all the events.
On Friday March 20th we went to the arboretum.

All the flowers were in bloom and were so pretty


On Sunday, my aunt Barb drove down from Arkansas with my grandparent's to visit. It was great to see them and introduce them to Ella. She loved listening to great grandma geer sing to her.


Here she is with Great Grandma Geer and Great Aunt Barb

Here she is with Great Aunt Caroline

Great Grandpa Geer

Grandpa Geer

Here's a picture with Uncle Clayton's hand

Uncle Isaac

Uncle Clayton

And all four great grandparents on my side on the family


On Monday night, my brother Ethan received his Eagle Scout badge. Here's my 4th brother to get his Eagle. Here's a video of parts of the ceremony.


And here's Ella with 4 of her uncles