And We're Back!

Okay! We’re finally back on the blog after a very long break. So much is going on and has happened, you won’t even recognize us.

This pic was taken during a visit to Uncle Reece's new apartment sometime mid August. Elayna looks as though she's never seen a camera case before. Sometimes, I just don't even know about her.


First things first, ELAYNA TOOK HER FIRST STEPS two days ago. That’s right, and I MISSED it. While I was working out at the PAC, Grandmother and Grandaddy got to see Little Miss EV take three steps. (She’s been taking one whopping step for quite some time, but she wouldn't brave a second or heaven-forbid a third unless you’re supporting her.) They made a pact not to tell me since they knew how important it was, but Renee blurted it out as soon as I walked into the room. Isn’t she funny? As soon as she saw me, Elayna made a mad dash of a crawl to get to greet me. We hugged and then I stood her on her feet. People, she took ELEVEN consecutive steps away from me and back towards Grandmother. She didn’t get very far, and I was counting each time she lifted her foot of the ground regardless of how much progress she made. Holy cow, my child is mobile. (And like a crap-tastic parent, I don't have a single picture of it. However, Grandmother has tons WITH video, so we'll be getting copies very soon.)

The following pics and events work their way backwards from the most recent to when we first moved back to KY almost three months ago. (Wow, 3 months down, 9 more to go before Ryan’s home!)

Elayna celebrated her 1st Birthday on the 19th this month. She is such a fortunate little girl, absolutely surrounded by people, family, and friends who love and adore her. (She’s nearly spoiled by all the attention she gets.) Her birthday party had a “bumblebee” theme. (There’s a story to go with that and I’ll share it with you later down the timeline.) This girl hit the mother load of presents... and cake. You won’t believe the cakes our very own Vana Harrison made. She created two for the party and guests. One was a giant pink and yellow bee. Its wings said “Happy Bee-Day Elayna.” The other cake was a giant daisy with a mini bee sitting on it. And Vana also made Elayna her own little bumblebee; it was about the size of a cupcake and was seriously the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. EV already had a practice round of birthday cake when our congregation celebrated September birthdays. She knew exactly what to do with her mini bee. She dug her chubby hands right in and ate all 2 pounds worth of frosting. Folks, that was not fun to revisit later. Not to mention how hyped up she was the rest of the afternoon. Evening. Night. Middle of the night. Wee hours of the morning. Early morning. And the next day. Fortunately, her late night shenanigans wore her out enough to take a nap during the sermon on Sunday morning. This is the FIRST nap she has ever taken during the worship service. Sundays are normally her devil days, because worship service is exactly when she would normally take a nap. But this child is not about to fall asleep, even if her life depended on it, because she might miss someone smiling at her from the back of the auditorium. (Or sticking their tongues out at her, or winking, or waving, or the list goes on and on. Sounds distracting, but I’m so grateful for those people who brave chastisement from their neighbors to help keep Elayna entertained and quiet during the sermon.) So because she doesn’t get the morning nap, she’s completely thrown off her groove for the rest of the day. Woe. Is. Me. So, again I say --and emphasis-- FORTUNATELY, her late night shenanigans wore her out enough to take a nap during the sermon.

Here's her "practice" round of bday cake from the congregation's birthday celebration:


What a crazy girl. She was the life of the party that night. It's funny to watch how a little girl can grab the attention of so many adults and children alike and turn them into babbling baby adorers. And she was even funnier on the sugar high.

And here are her bday pics. (Great-Grandma O, we need to get copies of what you have.) Well, okay there WOULD be pics here, except they're taking an extraordinarily long time to upload. I'll try again tomorrow.

Besides walking, Elayna mimics EVERYTHING I say and do. She's my very own miniature version of me. There are even things she'll copy that I don't want her to. Such as, ahem, when Priscilla thought Elayna was patting her own chest and saying "boob." I think she was actually saying "boo." But now that "boobie" is a part of her vocabulary, my daughter learned last night how to touch her own girlies and announce to the world what they were. Thanks a lot Bala.

Let's see, what else does she do? Oh yes, she's signing more fluently and I think she actually understands what the signs mean too. But since most all the signs revolve around food and drink, odds are you're safe if you just give her something ot eat when she throws you a sign. She can sign eat, drink (which also very closely resembles please), more, all done, dog, and love. She'll play peek-a-boo like a cheater, eyeing you through her fingers. Or sometimes, her hands don't even make it to her face and just land on top of her head. She gets really excited and anticipates the "BOO."

I'm so happy to report she's finally back on a schedule of sorts. She takes two naps a day, one at 10am and another at 3pm. Each last about 2 hours. However, the past two days, she feels as though it is okay to be exempt from these much needed times of rest and relaxation. (Shame on her since Mama needs her rest too.) For example, it's 5:30pm and while normally at this time she sleeps like a rock, today she has gone on a nap strike and sits in her crib playing and talking to herself.)

***However*** Lately, she hasn't not been taking her naps. She instead lays in bed, sometimes quietly, sometimes screaming her lights out. And I think she's doing this because she's just cut another tooth. It's a little freaky to see how things progress. This morning (10/7), I could see the white through her gums. This evening, I can see the very tip and white of her tooth. It's all good while her teeth are coming in, but I DON'T want to be the parent that helps her pull her baby teeth. Ugh! I've got whole body shivers just thinking about it!

Mati is still a crazy nut. The other day, she was throwing her burlap sack at me, it landed on my arm, and like a crazy psycho she goes to grab it and gets my arm inside the sack. I exclaim, she very quickly lets go, backs up and looks at me as if to say, "I'm so sorry. I know exactly what I did and I'm sorry. Will you please pet me?" I remember the breeder and trainers saying how Malinois owners get snipped or accidentally bitten by their dogs, but I thought that was a user error, not so much a hyped up dog behavior. And the Malinois clack! Don't get me started on that. I thought that was a myth too. Mati, when she's really excited and eager to please, she'll clack (snap her teeth together once or twice or three times). If I didn't know the breed did this, I would think she was being sassy and snapping at the air to refute my decisions. This dog is awesome. She is eager to please and follows direction almost to a T. And for her to still be a "puppy" and be able to do all of this. Can I just say my dog is awesome?

Well I had every intention of posting pictures too. I figure I'll get this up and then revise it later. So check back later. I'll have pics up as soon as possible. lots of pics. Lots of Elayna.