Swing, swing, swing...

Eliana loves to swing. When you walk by her in the swing she gives you the biggest smiles. It's hard to resist her charms. Here's a little video of her flashing those grins in the swing.

Laundry Time!

Look what I found in the laundry! Leif brought up a load of clothes and there was a cute little stowaway in the basket. Silly Daddy!


On the food front, Ellie is eating like a little piggy. So far she's eating three meals of solid food daily, in addition to nursing and formula. It's pretty hard to fill her up, but when she does get really full, she gets all cute and dopey and happy. She gets that "Thanksgiving-afternoon" look on her face. So far we've given her rice cereal and avocado, and tomorrow she'll have her first taste of sweet potato. I've been in baby food making mode, cooking, pureeing, and freezing fruits and veggies. Ellie has yet to make yucky faces at her food, so it'll be interesting to see if she turns out to be a baby who eats anything and everything (as she has so far) or if she will develop picky eating habits. Who knows. But for now feeding her is a joy. She doesn't like to drink water, though, so that's something we're working on. We have learned that she is capable of drinking out of a sippy cup, though once she realized it only had water in it she just wanted to play with it. This is once of my favorite pictures of her playing with her cup.

Home at Last

In the last week, we've been to Texas, Kansas, and Roundup. We've seen both sets of grandparents, both sets of great grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles.... and Ellie had three celebrations to commemorate her first Christmas. No travel glitches (despite flying through Denver on the 17th and 24th - completely missed the mayhem there, thankfully) or schedule hangups. Just a wonderful holiday. We spent lots of time with family and just enjoyed the relationships God has given us. We hope you had a wonderful holiday as well. Since we were gone and I haven't posted for a week (I decided not to even try with the dial-up connection in Texas), here's a recap of our holidays:

We left at 6am to drive two hours to the Billings airport. We had a 10:30 flight out and weren't sure what road conditions would be like, so we gave ourselves plenty of time. We met up with a family friend to drop off the car for the week and he took us to the airport. Our flight was delayed (oh - I guess that was a minor travel glitch), so when we landed in Denver, we had 10 minutes to run 35 gates to catch our next flight. We made it to the gate as they were about to close the door, but we made it. Whew. The flights were uneventful and we landed in Dallas safe and sound. Of course, Mommom, Poppy, and Uncle Robert were so happy to see Eliana.

Uncle Robert with Eliana.

Poppy spending some quality time with his granddaughter.

Things at my parents house were a little crazy this trip. They're in the middle of remodeling their kitchen and dining room. The project was supposed to have been done by Christmas, but, well.... a week before we arrived someone ran off the road and drove a truck into my parents' house. Yes, INTO the house. So.... there was a little re-working to do. Despite not having a kitchen (the fridge and microwave were in a spare bedroom and the dishes were washed in the front bathroom) and having extra furniture stashed in the rooms, it still felt like home, thanks to my amazing mom. There weren't the holiday decorations that normally adorn their home at this time of year, but I can't say that it was any less Christmas without them. It was just so wonderful to share part of Ellie's first Christmas with them. Thanks for letting us come visit amidst your remodeling, Mom and Dad. We really enjoyed it. Oh - and the house looks GREAT. Can't wait to see it finished.

Mom even let Leif spread out his computer stuff and build a computer while we were there. He was one happy boy putting together his new toy and then playing games on it for the duration of the trip. The computer even made it home in one piece after being checked as baggage on the plane. I'm not sure it's a good idea, but it worked.

Merry Geeking!

Thursday and Friday my dad flew us all (including Robert) up to see my grandparents in Kansas. This was Eliana's first time riding in a small plane and Poppy's first time taking Ellie up for a flight. She was fine for the flight, but really liked taking off and taxiing. She seems to have a need for speed - definitely Leif's daughter! It was also the first time my grandparents had seen Eliana, so it was doubly special to spend some time with them. We all had dinner with my Aunt Carolyn and cousins Jeff and Steve on Thursday night. Ellie was pretty much tired of being around new people at that point, so we finally had to head back to the hotel so she could go to bed. Again, though, it was so great to spend time, even just a little, with everyone. We flew back to Texas on Friday, but before we left Uncle Lyle and his wife Jan met us at the airport, so they could see Ellie, too. For such a brief trip, we really did manage to see everyone.

Mommom shows Ellie the world below.

The grin during takeoff.

Grand-Poppy with his great granddaughter before we ever stepped off the tarmac.

Grand-Mommom holds Ellie for the first time.

The cousins: Jeff, Elizabeth, Robert, and Steve

Saturday we celebrated Christmas as a family. We had our traditional Christmas eve dinner of crackers, cheese, and sausage and we opened gifts. To my shock, amazement, and delight, Robert made Ellie the cutest little coat - and a matching one for me! He's pretty much burned out on sewing these days, so the coats are that much more special to me. And seriously - there's nothing better than trying something on for the first time and having it fit perfectly. I don't know how he does it.

Bitikofer Family: Robert, Kathy, Eliana, Lauren, Elizabeth, Leif

Opening gifts - Ellie liked the wrapping paper AND the toy!

Sleeping in heavenly peace...

We flew out of Dallas on Sunday after church and made it to Billings and finally to Roundup at 1am on Christmas day. We stayed at Grandpa and Gayle's that night and went to visit Aunt Lillian first thing Christmas morning. It was amazing to see Aunt Lillian with Eliana. There are 101 years between them. Ellie smiled and grinned as Aunt Lillian held her. It was cute to see. Then we headed back to Grandpa's for brunch and opening gifts. It was just our family this year and we had a wonderful day. It was one of the best visits we've ever had in Roundup and I'm happy Eliana got to spend her first Christmas that way. Around 2:30 we got in the car to drive back to Bozeman. We opened the last of Ellie's gifts (from us) and enjoyed the Christmas lights and were happy to be home.

Eliana with great great aunt Lillian.

Grammee and Grandad with Eliana on Christmas morning.

It was a Merry Christmas indeed.

Since we won't be back before Christmas...

6th Anniversary

To celebrate our 6th anniversary, we went to "She Loves Me" at the Firehouse 5 theater in Livingston. It was good, but it wasn't a play... it was a musical. They did a great job and if there are ever any other musicals I want to see, I'll go there to see them. They were great. Leif wasn't feeling well =( and Ellie screamed for a smidge at Julie's (sorry Julie!), but all in all it was an okay way to celebrate. I just wish Leif weren't feeling ill. He's sleeping right now while I pack for our trip to Texas tomorrow. 5am will come awfully early.... we need to be on the road by 6.

Par-tay!

Last night was the annual Christmas party for RightNow Technologies. It is the one formal event we attend each year. Everyone gets all spiffied up (and that is quite an accomplishment here in Montana) and heads to the Gallatin Gateway Inn for the evening. Most years we leave fairly early - after dinner, about when the band starts playing, and before everyone starts to get drunk. This year we left around 9:30 (we arrived at 6:30) and only left because we needed to go pick up Ellie from the sitter. We had fun this year! I'm not sure why it seemed so much more enjoyable this year - maybe because we actually got there early enough to sit at a table with people we (sort of) knew. Maybe because we actually knew more people this year and I knew enough people that I could go mingle on my own when the geek talk overwhelmed me. =) Maybe because Leif decided that this year he would be comfortable, no matter what he was wearing (the rare tie-sporting event). Whatever the cause, it was fun. The band was pretty good - way too loud, but pretty good. The food was EXCELLENT. Some years the food is just so-so. This year, though? Mmmm.... Salmon and filet mignon, delicious potatoes, green beans almondine, and a spinach salad with locally made feta. And you've gotta love the wait staff walking around with platters of bite-size desserts.

So... that was last night. We picked up Ellie about 9:45 and she was in a great mood. She stayed in a great mood until she went to bed (er... about 11:30) and she was in a great mood all morning. It's wonderful! Such a silly giggly girl.

Today.... well, today is our 6th anniversary. It's hard to believe that we've been married for 6 years already. We're celebrating by going to see a play in Livingston this afternoon. Julie (one of Leif's coworkers) is going to watch Ellie for us. Ellie just loves Julie, so they should have a good time.

Tomorrow we fly to Texas to see my folks for the holidays. I'm hoping the roads are clear since we're flying out of Billings for this trip. That means a 2 hour drive to the airport. Our snow was all gone, so it wouldn't have been a problem. But we got like 3 inches of snow in about an hour yesterday, so now there's no telling. Crazy weather! It went from being almost 50* yesterday morning to absolutely white-out blizzarding about an hour and a half later. Crazy.

Oooo! And speaking of crazy weather.... it's been really windy here lately. So windy, in fact, that they clocked record wind speeds up near Glacier National Park. 165 mph winds. Yeah.... that's category 5 hurricane wind speeds. On the news this morning they were reporting it and they also mentioned that the wind blew over a couple elderly people elsewhere in the state. I thought that was a funny thing to mention on the news and got a giggle out of it.

Well, I really ought to get packing and stuff before we head to town today. It's been a while since I'd posted, so I just wanted to catch everyone up on the latest happenings! Have a great weekend!

Eliana's First Cereal

Here's a video of Eliana's first "real" meal. She's having rice cereal and loving it.

Eliana's First "Solid" Food!

Today we gave Ellie some rice cereal for the first time. Everything indicated her readiness, so we took the plunge, even though it was about a month earlier than we'd planned. She's 20 1/2 weeks and she LOVED the food. She fussed when we put her in the chair (she's not very patient when she's hungry), but once that first bite of cereal hit her lips, she was content for the rest of the feeding. She was like a little bird, opening her mouth in anticipation of the spoon for each bite. She had plenty of cereal dribbling down her chin by the time we were finished, but it went well. As far as I can tell, she was definitely ready for food. It was a momentous occasion. Our baby is growing up. *sniff* *sniff*

Recently in Ellie's World

Ellie has been doing a few things of note lately. First, if she wants to get out of something (like the swing, or your lap), she has started arching her back and trying to scoot out of her spot. I'm not entirely sure what she thinks will happen when she scoots onto the floor, but she definitely lets us know when she's tired of sitting there. If she wants us to pick her up out of the swing, she does the same thing, only with her arms raised. It's too cute and I usually can't resist.

Pick me up, please!

She has also started grabbing for things with two hands. We were at Cosmic Pizza the other day for lunch and Zuzanna (who was eating with us) was holding the pepper flakes container and it had Ellie's attention. She reached for it and tried to grab it from both sides with her little hands. It kept her (and us!) amused for quite a long time.

the two-handed grab

Ellie has started to become very interested in watching us eat, too. We used to be able to eat with her sitting on our laps, but now that is more difficult. She wants to put her hands in our food and watches us very carefully while we are putting food into our mouths and chewing. It's pretty cute. Last night she woke up hungry during the night for the first time in a long time, even after eating much more than usual during the day, so she might be getting ready for solid foods. I wasn't planning on starting her on them for another month, but we may start sooner with the way she's acting!

The teething has more or less subsided, and the little white bump of a tooth we could see and feel has now disappeared! I was looking forward to it popping through, but I guess I get to enjoy her toothless grin for a while longer now. She started being much snugglier when she was teething, though, and that has stayed. She's very good at putting her arms around your neck and nuzzling her head into your shoulder. It's about the best feeling in the world. I love my snuggly girl.

Eliana plays with anything she can get her hands on these days. If we're at the table, she plays with the tablecloth. If we're laying in bed, she plays with the blankets. If she's got a dress on, she plays with her skirt. If she's just in a jumper, she plays with her pacifier strap. She's definitely starting to explore her world, which means she should be pretty fun for Christmas. She'll definitely have a few new places to explore.

A Mr. K kind of day

Yesterday Leif took off from work. We dropped Ellie off with a babysitter and headed to Big Sky to go skiing. We got frequent skier cards this year and yesterday was the last of the ski free days. The snow coverage was pretty rotten - lots of rocks sticking through, and there wasn't much terrain open, but we had a great time anyway. Leif was kind enough to ski with me for most of the day, until I told him to go ski something a little more challenging than Mr. K. And yes, I did spend the entire time skiing that one green run. It had good coverage and gave me the opportunity to remember how to ski. The last time I skied was two years ago, and since then I've had a baby and haven't been particularly active. I was taking it easy and yet I'm still incredibly sore today. My legs hurt like crazy, but it's a good kind of hurt - it's that hurt that says I got to go skiing yesterday for the first time in a long time. Woohoo!

As we were parking at the resort yesterday, we noticed a group of protesters and I found out that this round of the Free Trade Agreement talks between South Korea and the US were taking place at the Big Sky resort. Apparently they came to Big Sky in part because it's a difficult place for a large number of protesters to assemble and because it's an uncomfortable place for them to protest outside. Did I mention that it was really warm yesterday (almost 40 degrees)? I didn't get to see any famous people from the talks, but there were an unusually large number of Koreans on the slopes.

Apparently Ellie was fine being at a babysitter's house for 6 hours yesterday. It's the first time we've left her with a paid sitter, not a friend or family member. She was sleeping when we dropped her off, and sleeping when we picked her up, but she managed to drink two bottles in the time we were gone, so I assume she woke up and played between the two naps. It was so nice to have someone watch Ellie so we had the freedom to get out and do something together.

Leif saw on the news that there's an El Nino forming, which means a warm, dry winter for Montana. That means we won't have much snow. In fact, our snow in the valley is almost all gone already, just from the past couple warm days we've had. It's sad, but maybe I'd prefer more snow during a year that Ellie will actually get to play in it anyway.

An Inconvenient Truth

Last night we watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. If you haven't seen it, it's worth a look. I posted some of my thoughts on it here, if anyone is interested.

Updated Sidebar Links

I updated the sidebar links since our Target registry was no longer active. Now you can see Ellie's wishlist instead! =) Here's a picture for your viewing pleasure. Happy Monday!

Christmas Stroll

Bozeman's annual Christmas Stroll was this evening. They block of Main Street and thousands of people wander around downtown in ten degree weather eating, drinking, and doing their Christmas shopping. It's usually pretty chilly and this year was no exception. We bundled Ellie up in her cute pink and white bunting bag, put her in the stroller, and off we went. She was much warmer than we were; that's for sure. We stopped into just about every store we could to warm up as we strolled down the street. (As a side note, we saw a guy wearing shorts despite the sub-freezing temperatures - crazy Montanans.) We got some cider and some hot chocolate, and even got to see a woman perform "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" from memory. Most children get their picture taken with Santa around Christmas time... Our little Ellie got her picture taken with the Grinch. =)

The Wonder of Christmas

We took some Christmas photos of Eliana today. She wore her Ralph Lauren Christmas outfit from Mommom (cute as can be, but whose idea was it to put tiny buttons down the legs instead of snaps??) and we even got a couple smiles. Of course, she moved her head when she smiled, so those photos are blurry. =) I got some great pictures for scrapbooking. These are some of my favorites.

It's a go!

It looks like we'll be heading to Billings today after all. The roads look okay and the weather should behave. It's Ellie's first trip to the "Big City". Here we go!

Happy 80th Birthday, Great-Grandpa Rolan!
We love you.

She did it!!

Eliana finally, for the first time today, took her pacifier out of her mouth, then put it back in. She's been pulling it out for some time now, but today is the first time she was able to put it back. Woohoooo!

She's also been rolling over onto her stomach for a few days now (finally not getting her arm stuck under her anymore!) and it's so cute to see her "swimming" on the floor. Tummy time is easier now, too, since she rolls herself over and plays and chews on things.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

Well, with a few inches of snow on the ground, more to come, and a high of 5 degrees today, it seems that WINTER has finally arrived. We're at -2 degrees right now, and everything is absolutely beautiful covered with a fresh blanket of snow. I've almost got all the Christmas decorations up, and it's starting to feel like the holidays. We're supposed to drive to Billings tonight for Grandpa's 80th birthday dinner, so we'll have to see at noon what the weather is planning on doing. I guess if the weather/roads are bad we won't be going. We'll see. Well, here's a picture of our rosy-cheeked girl in pink. Have a great Tuesday!!

Ellie and Lily

On Sunday night we had Kendra and Zack and their 2 year old daughter Lily over for dinner. Ellie and Lily were great together. Lily kept wanting to hug and kiss Ellie, and when she talked, Ellie giggled. Ellie loves to be around little girls. It's cute.

Ellie's first email

Eliana sent her first email today. =) Well, I sent it, but she typed this little note to her daddy:

m,,999999iggggggg\p.$,kl
[oilllZ;/'.....;/..//////./ RFCCF]]]]E

Eliana says "hi". =)

4 month checkup

Well, in all of the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving, I forgot to blog about Ellie's 4 month checkup! Everything looks really good - she's healthy, happy, and well adjusted. Dr. Benda's words? "She looks FABULOUS." Music to a mommy's ears.

So here are the stats:

weight: 11 lb 4 oz (25th percentile)
length: 24 in (50th percentile)
head circumference: 16 in (50th percentile)

It DOES appear that she's teething, based on her symptoms and behavior. So... Dr. Benda's only real instructions this time around are that if she wakes up during the night (as she has a couple of times in the recent past), DON'T feed her. She's not waking up because she's hungry - her gums just probably hurt. Just try to get her back to sleep so that she doesn't form a habit of waking up to be fed in the middle of the night again. After having her sleep all night for 3 months now, I certainly don't want that to be broken!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Uncle Eric, Great-grandpa Rolan, Gayle, Grandad (Terry), Grammee (Wenda), Elizabeth, Eliana, and Leif.

Great-grandpa and Gayle with Ellie


Deep frying the turkey (and yes, that IS Leif wearing shorts in the snow.)


Into the fryer!


Leif and Ellie

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Leif's family - the whole family was here! Great-grandpa Rolan and Eric got to hold Eliana for the first time, and Gayle got to see her for the first time. We had enough food to feed an army. I made a ham and a turkey breast ahead of time, plus all the side dishes (and four pies!) and Terry was given a 17 lb. turkey from his workplace. The men were in charge of frying the turkey, which went off without a hitch and tasted delicious, and we had a wonderful time eating (though I'm always saddened by how little I manage to eat before I'm full on Thanksgiving) and fellowshipping. We have tons of leftovers (Mmmmm...) - well, what would you expect after serving 20 lbs of turkey, plus ham, for 7 people??

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. We have so much to be thankful for and this year in particular we feel blessed to have a beautiful, healthy baby girl, family with whom to celebrate the holidays, a job for Leif that allows me to stay home to raise our daughter, salvation, and life abundant. Thank you, Father, for all you have given.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! (Let the Christmas season begin!)

Virtual Open House

Since our basement is finished now, I thought we could give everyone a little peak at what it looks like. We still need to put some art on the walls, but it's pretty much done!

Teething?

For the past couple days Ellie has been really clingy, fussy, drooly, and has been gnawing on everything. And today she's got a bit of a runny nose. She doesn't seem sick (no cough, sneezing, etc.) - maybe she's teething? Dr. Benda said to look for it starting around 4 months and she'll be 4 months on Sunday. I can't feel any teeth in her gums, but she sure is interested in chewing on anything that gets near her mouth! (Especially the side of her swing. Silly girl!)

She's growing up *sniff* *sniff*

Last night Ellie held her own bottle for the first time. Our little girl is growing up.

The outfit from "Grandma" Bennie

Sitting Up

Attempt #4

I've tried to post three times over the last few days and my computer has freaked out and shut off. So I'm trying again. This time I won't post any pictures and we'll see how it goes.

Things are good. I haven't had a whole lot to say lately, but we're good. Ellie's more interested in playing with toys and she's more observant every day. I was able to get an exersaucer for her at a garage sale (woohoo!) and she likes being in that. Her feet can touch the ground in that one, so she stands up for a second, then loses her balance and falls back into the seat, then repeats the process. As I said, she likes observing the world around her and is no longer happy to stare at the ceiling. So... she likes to sit up a lot. Thankfully, though she can't sit up by herself yet, she can sit with the help of the boppy around her to support her back and she's very happy that way. Yay! I'm finding that the more interested she gets in things, the harder it is to find stuff for her to do... She's not content to lay in her bouncy seat all day anymore!

We went to the Children's Museum again Tuesday and Ellie enjoyed watching the other kids. We read a couple books, played with a toy or two, but mostly just watched all the activity. Then, since we were in town anyway, we headed to the mall to get a couple things and walk around. In Joann's (because you just can't take a trip to the mall without visiting the craft store...) I met another mom with a baby and we got to talking and found out we live just a couple streets from eachother! She's a stay-at-home-mom, too, and scrapbooks, so we might try to get together and craft sometime. It's funny how having a baby means you talk to many people that you wouldn't otherwise. Most of the time it's good, but there are the occasional scary people who come over and talk to your baby as you try to quickly, but not rudely, run away before they reach out and touch. =) Friends can touch my baby. Strangers? That's a little weird.

Ellie is finally getting big enough to wear some of the clothes we were given at showers and I'm loving it! She is so cute in all these adorable, pink, frilly and fuzzy outfits. I wasn't sure about the pink before she was born, but now that I see her in it - bring it on! She is definitely a pink girl, which I never thought I'd have. Funny how things change.

Okay. We'll see if this posts, then I'll try a couple picture posts and we'll see how it goes. Hopefully there will be a picture of Ellie in her fuzzy pink outfit from "Grandma" Bennie and one of her sitting up assisted by the boppy. Here goes!

Get out and VOTE!

If you haven't voted yet - go do it! My neighbor Stephanie and I swapped kids while the other voted. It was a good deal. Plus, by going in the middle of the day (2:30ish) we were able to avoid the before work, after work, and lunchtime rushes. Yay!

This morning Eliana and I went to the children's museum for a playgroup. We have several friends who meet there every Tuesday. I have been waiting until Eliana is old enough before we joined the group. But while we were in Texas I noticed how much Ellie loved being around other kids and how much she just liked watching them. So we went today and had fun. She just looked around and took everything in. There were even a couple little things she took interest in playing with. We got a membership to the museum, so hopefully we'll be making this a weekly outing. Something to do outside the house now that it's getting colder and a way for her to get a little more kid interaction. And some time for me to get a little more adult interaction with the other moms. =)

Giggles!

I was talking on the phone to my mom today and I put it on speaker phone so Ellie could talk too. She was being silly so I roared at her and she giggled. I managed to get some of the giggling on video (yay!), and it went on for some time. This is the first time she's giggled for me!! Very exciting.

A peek into the future...

It amazes me that in the next year and a half Eliana will go from what she is now to this. We had Kendra and Zack over for dinner on Saturday night. We hadn't seen them since August, and in that time their daughter Lily has gone from being a baby to a little girl. She's not yet two and it absolutely stuns me that our little girl, too, will change that quickly. Wow.

Eliana Squealing

This is from a few weeks ago, but we finally got it saved to my computer. Ellie was just in the happiest mood one day and she was squealing like crazy. It was too cute. (The video is a little stretched because I had to rotate it and it got a little distorted. I guess it's better than watching it sideways, though.)

Some Favorites...

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Texas...

Ellie helping Mommy unpack.

Ellie got to ride in a real pram while we were in Texas. One of Mommom's friends let us borrow it. We even took it on a walk with us one evening. Now I can officially say that my daughter has ridden in a bouncing baby buggy!

Story time with Poppy. Ellie loves being read to and my dad bought this book before we were even expecting Ellie, knowing that one day he would be able to read it to his grandchild. It is a new copy of The Bible Time Nursery Rhyme Book that he read to me when I was a little girl.

Play time with Mommom. I think the look on my mom's face says it all.

Grins for Mommy. Ellie loves having her diaper changed and she's always full of smiles and grins when it happens. (She is NOT fond of having her clothes changed, however...)

That's the smile of a baby being spoiled by her grandparents. She loved every minute of it, and so did they.

And this is Ellie with "Grandma" Benny. Benny is my mom's dear friend who doesn't have any grandkids of her own, so we're glad to let her claim Ellie.

Hee hee! Ellie grew some hair while we were in Texas! Well, she really did grow some more hair, but we just couldn't resist getting her a little wig when we saw one. She wore it home to meet Daddy at the airport. Surprise!

Angie gave Ellie some new books while we were down there and "Barnyard Dance" by Sandra Boynton was Ellie's favorite. We also got to spend time with Charlotte and Alyse a few times. This is me reading to Ellie and Alyse while Charlotte looks on. We had a room full of people (Mom, Dad, Charlotte, Alyse, Michelle, Josh, Rebecca, Matt, and Robert), so I felt very silly reading a silly book aloud. Sandra Boynton does have delightfully silly books. Our other favorite (also thanks to Angie) is The Belly Button Book.