Merry Christmas from the Greers!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year! We're doing lots of celebrating and traveling over the next week and will post when we get back. See you in 2009!

Our Christmas Model

We had a blast trying to create the perfect Christmas photos of Ellie. She's SO much fun and quite the little ham! Her first Christmas should be entertaining! :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Meeting with the guy in red

So, the first meeting with Santa went just as expected, Ellie hated it! We know it will get better as she gets older - especially when she learns that Santa delivers her presents on Christmas!

Before After

We've moved!

WE FINALLY MOVED!!!! Come visit us in our new house - it even has Ellie smiling!!! :) How could she not smile with her own play room (see photos below!).

And Mom & Dad's favorite spot.......

Seven months old

Ellie is now seven months old and more active every day! She's starting to scoot backwards and is basically up on all fours. It will be no time at all until she's crawling and then life as we know it is over! Ellie is constantly squealing, smiling and laughing. And still at all hours of the night!!!

Enjoy the seven month photos. I had to put Chicken Dance Elmo in the photos just to keep her attention.

Doesn't this look below just say "Look out Mom, I'm going to be trouble!"

Happy Halloween!

Ellie's first Halloween was so fun - for all of us! Matt & I got to experience all of the fun things that we haven't done since we were kids. We went to Greenfield Village, the DSO and a kids Halloween party. We were scheduled to go to the zoo, but missed it because Ellie wasn't feeling well. I'm sure she had no idea!

Even though she hated her costume and cried every time we laughed at her - we still think she's darn cute!!! Say hello to the cutest monkey ever!

Six Months - AND 20 POUNDS!

Yep, Ellie hit the 20 pound mark, placing her in the 97th percentile for her weight. She's 27.5 inches long as well, putting her in the 97th percentile there too. Pretty proportionate! :) She's doing SO much..... rolling over, sitting on her own, trying to crawl and trying to pull herself up.

EVERYTHING goes in her mouth and she's the most curious little one I've met. We're having so much fun! We're still waiting for teeth, but we're enjoying that toothless grin at the same time!

Taking pictures was a challenge this month as well! She is too curious to leave the six month sign alone, so I just gave up. In the crib shot, the sign is stuck between the slats, she couldn't find it that way!

And we're rolling........

I don't have pictures or a video camera yet to prove it (coming soon), but Ellie is officially rolling over. Yesterday, we left her on her belly and when we came back two minutes later she was on her back. About a half hour later the same thing occurred. Now, neither of us were there to see it, so we didn't REALLY believe it. But, tonight - we saw it! Ellie is rolling from her belly to her back - and almost from her back to her belly.

I will have proof soon!

Five months old

On Tuesday, Ellie turned five months old. She's doing so much now - talking like crazy, trying to sit and stand by herself, trying to crawl. She will not roll over though!! :) She's grabbing everything and trying to put it in her mouth. As you can see below, Ellie wouldn't leave the five month old sign alone and she kept trying to eat it! I can't believe how quickly time is flying. On our next post, we'll be taking pictures from our new house!

Ellie's Baptism

Ellie was baptised last Sunday at Our Lady of the Woods Church in Woodhaven (same place Matt & I got married). It was a great day - Ellie didn't cry once!!

Look Mom, I've found my hands!

Ellie has discovered the use of her hands and is grabbing at everything! We used to be able to eat with her in our laps, those days are over!!! Mostly because everything she grabs, she puts directly in her mouth!

Yum.... cereal

About two weeks ago, we started feeding Ellie rice cereal in the evenings. Our pediatrician suggested we give her a week of rice cereal, a week of barley cereal and then a week of oatmeal. From there, we'll start with green vegetables.

As you may expect, Ellie loves the cereal and pretty much sits with her mouth open the entire time we're feeding her! She gets so excited when its time to eat, its hilarious to watch!

Our Covergirl

You may recall that Ellie had a fabulous photo session just two weeks after she was born. Recently we learned that one of the shots taken is being used on the photographers home page. It's the intro page to her website, so you can see Ellie for about the first 3o seconds!

Take a look - http://www.serendipityphotographyllc.com/

FOUR MONTHS!

On August 23rd, we celebrated two special occassions, Grandpa Bobby's birthday (we won't divulge his age) and Ellie's four month birthday. Gosh time flies! You'll see from the photo below, Ms. Ellie isn't so small! At her doctor's appointment on Monday, she weighed 17 pounds, 8 ounces (97% ile) and is 26 inches long (also 97% ile). The doctor commented on her strength and the fact that she looks older than she is!

She's doing SO much now! She talks and smiles like crazy (except when I have the camera) and wants to be a part of everything. She's ready to eat (look for videos and photos soon) and we think she's starting the teething process.

Here are some of her favorite things:

Ms. Independent is already trying to stand on her own:

She LOVES her exersaucer:

And, she is practically holding her own bottle:

I will be adding more this week - first rice cereal meal is tomorrow - veggies in just a few weeks!

Ellie goes to work

Since having Mom at work is such a new thing for Ellie, we decided to let her give it a try! Last Friday, I had a meeting scheduled with a friend of mine from UAW, Linda Lash. Linda was great enough to invite Ellie along - we had a great time. Ellie was a hit and was great through the meeting. She was all smiles for Linda (except for when I had the camera of course)!!

Then, since Grandpa Bobby works right down the street, we stopped in to see him and spend some time letting him show Ellie off! Again, she was great - but started to get pretty tired at the end. Next time, we're having Grandpa take us to lunch!

A Quarter of A Year

Ellie is three months old today!! Time has flown by..... it'll be hard for Mom to return to work next week. :(

She's doing so much now and every day is so much more fun! I've attached some photos of Ellie doing her favorite activities - playing in her bouncy seat, sitting in her bumbo chair and her new obsession, watching her feet!

Chauncey - Ellie's "big brother"

Most of the time, our dog Chauncey wants nothing to do with Ellie. She doesn't play with him, doesn't feed him and hogs all of the attention he used to get! But there are some random times when Chauncey needs to be right by Ellie, and won't leave her side.



I can't imagine how laying on that metal pole is comfortable, but we won't argue with him! I'm sure Chauncey is looking forward to the day when Ellie can start pulling on his tail.

4th of July

Last weekend, we traveled to Grandma & Grandpa Greer's house in Manistee for Ellie's first 4th of July. It was a blast hanging out with family, relaxing, trying out the beach (not so successful yet, we're still a tad too young!), going to the Manistee Art Fair on the 4th and staring at the ceiling fans (Ellie's new obsession). Even Aunt Liss was able to visit from Ludington with her family. We hope to do much more as Ellie gets older! We'll be traveling back to Manistee over Labor Day weekend - we'll try the beach out then! Until then, Mom & Dad will still get to rest!

Two months old

Ellie is two months old.... and growing up FAST. At her doctor's appointment on Monday, she received her vaccinations and was naturally pretty upset. I think it was harder on Mom than it was on her though. I actually cried! Though she was fussy at night, overall we think she did great.

Our surprise at the visit was finding out that our "little" girl isn't so little... Ms. Ellie weighs 13 lbs., 9 ounces, putting her in the 97th percentile for her age. Wait, we're not done. Ms. Ellie is 24 inches long, placing her in the 95th percentile for her age. Needless to say, our "little" girl is growing like a weed. When asking questions, our doctor kept making reference to her healthy appetite! :) She's growing out of her 0-3 month clothes quickly and is on her last days of a size one diaper (only Swaddlers fit!).

Fathers Day = Big Smiles!

We're a little behind in posts here. Ellie is up more now a days and my time is somewhat limited!

Matt's first Father's Day was filled with great people! It began with meeting the Greers and Schoolmasters at Slo's BBQ in Detroit for lunch. After a brief intermission, we met the Hoffmans at Longhorn Steakhouse in Allen Park for dinner. As you can see, Ellie loved being with her Dad and was most happy to be with her grandparents! :)

Just some new photos

I have been going crazy with the camera lately and wanted to show off some new photos of Ellie! No special posts, just showing her off!!! I will get more creative as she does new things. :)