catching up

With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the new year all passing by in a whirl, I have a few pics to post and catch up with day-to-day life here. We had about a foot of snow before Christmas, as you can see in the first pic, which melted all at once during a freak 60-degree day, as you can see in the second pic, and then I went on a very brief excursion to Philadelphia for one day of the ALA Midwinter conference (American Library Association - and third pic.) That particular photo was taken from my 27th floor balcony.
It was nice to get a full night's sleep... although I missed Justin and Ellie, and was exhausted from the whirlwind travel.
Other than that, work has been busy, church has been a little crazy, and we are still trying to get ourselves together for a Christmas / New Year's / Thank-you-note picture that needed to go out weeks ago. Ellie is now nine months old- hard to believe. It will be April and her first birthday before we know it.

adventures in opticianry

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the optical profession... In the over 30 years my dad has been in business, I have to say this is the strangest thing that's ever happened at his shop. Luckily, no one was hurt... but I think someone is about to lose a driver's license.

Original story from the New London Day

15 minutes...

Stephen and Stacey's dog is not the only one who is a "local celebrity." This little blurb ran in our campus paper, the State News, this morning. Good thing you can't see the picture!
Hello, my name is Sara Miller

Ellie's First Christmas Video

a young diva

second coming

I love this pic!

second coming
Originally uploaded by amandajane

imitation

Ellie has been learning for about a month now how to play peek-a-boo herself, by holding up the blanket in front of her face. It seems that Daddy has taught Ellie how to clap now! She has been imitating him by banging her hands together... it's the cutest thing. Seeing her being able to physically imitate us now feels like a whole new stage. It's also bringing into focus for me the fact that she is absorbing the world like a sponge. My mom always used to say "Monkey see, monkey do." Ellie will soon imitate everything she sees, and it's up to us to help her evaluate and interpret what she sees, as much as we have the power to do so.

I've always been a verbally and symbolically-oriented person, and I find myself excited for the time when Ellie can talk. When I think about it, what I'm really looking forward to is the time when she can reason. I dream about conversing with her about the way the world works, about Jesus and the Bible, and about what things that happen in her young life mean. It's going to be a while. I realize that I'm already conversing with her nonverbally, and I just pray that what's coming across is right and good. Watching her imitate her dad as best she can is heartwarming for me - and it reminds me to trust our family to God even more. Only He sees everything, every stimulus that goes into her little mind - how it all bounces around in there, and what will result from it. I'm so glad He knows her, and us, so perfectly. It's quite a relief for her mom.

the wheel

This photo was actually taken a few months ago. For all you Navigators, I thought you would enjoy seeing Ellie's first exposure to the Wheel illustration. She demonstrated that she is an "Obedient Christian in Action" by promptly tearing the sheet in half and trying to eat it. After, of course, praying, reading our bible, witnessing, and fellowshipping. :-)

more dada... and starting to pull up

dada...

Ellie is definitely a daddy's girl...

in the cart

Ellie sat in the cart for the first time today when we went to Meijer for groceries. She did so well! It was great not having to lug her car seat into the store, and the cart cover that I bought has a shoulder harness so she won't tip over to the side. Mom will be proud that I didn't get BABIES' DIAPER GERMS on the seat, nor did I let any existing ones get on Ellie or any of our produce!

Mr. & Mrs. Kidd

Here is a photo of the happy couple from their Oct. 13th wedding. You can't see in this photo but they're both wearing matching red and white Nike Shox sneakers. It was very cute.

They cruised to Bermuda for their honeymoon and are now firmly ensconced back in the booming metropolis of Bath. It's very nice to have Kadee around during the week now!

playing on halloween

Ellie and Jackson... learning to share???

(Sorry about the extra photo - I think it's the fault of my old-school template.)

for locals only :-)

There is actually a quiz for people from Mystic. It's pretty funny. I was a little surprised I didn't score higher, but it HAS been 15 years since I lived there (yikes!)

I scored a 86% on the "How Mystic, Connecticut Are You?" Quizie! What about you?

Mama, Dada... Poop?

It seems like Ellie will stay the same for a while, and then all of a sudden she's hit so many milestones it's hard to keep track. For about a week now she has been saying ma-ma-ma and da-da-da nonstop. I could swear that she said "poop" the other day too which would be quite fitting for our household. It might be my imagination but I think I've heard "Ellie, Doggie, and Baby" in there too. I guess the rule is she has to repeat it, but I haven't heard repeats on "Ellie" or "Doggie" yet. Her diet has expanded to include sweet potatoes and carrots, but she has decidedly rejected peas (see picture) and green beans. Her face at the first taste of green beans was priceless.