10 Months Old

In just a couple of days, Eliana will be 10 months old! And boy, is this kid full of spunk! She's always got a little grin on her face and sometimes a mischevious gleam in her eye. We have learned that when it gets just a bit too quiet, it's time to check on what she's gotten into. Despite the fact that she isn't crawling yet, she can still manage to maneuver herself into something. Also, she has started to "walk" along the furniture. She can't quite pull herself to a standing position yet, but if we let her stand while holding onto something, she will start to shuffle herself along to get at whatever it is she wants. We're waiting for the day that she takes off walking on her own because we're convinced that she will never crawl. :)

This last month has been a busy month for our family. There was yet another inspection on base which required late nights and long weekends for Nick. He was also gone for a week in Colorado Springs for some training (which he actually rather enjoyed - he needed to get away from the base for awhile!). This meant that Ellie has had LOTS of mommy time lately. We have a good time together, but her eyes really shine when daddy gets ahold of her at night. Nick has admitted that he finds her a lot more enjoyable now that she has developed a little personality and their playtime isn't so one-sided. It's fun to just sit back and watch the two of them together now.

We found out some unfortunate news today: Although the dental clinic did great during the inspection, the base as a whole did not pass and so this means more late nights and long weekends for Nick over the next few months. Thankfully he is able to get away for the next 2 weeks for a trip to Korea to visit some friends! He is very excited and we are excited for him as it will be a very enjoyable trip - he deserves it! Stay tuned for photos from his trip...

Sometimes you just gotta have a little faith.

This was our motto when Nick and I decided to go ahead with the purchase of the home we found in Willmar. :) We may or may not regret this decision in the future, but right now we're just going to have faith that the problems with the association are going to be resolved before it comes time for us to sell the house again. We are both in love with the house and decided that this was not something we were going to let stand in our way of the place where we want to call home. So, we're going ahead with the purchase and are now scheduled to close March 15th! Home-ownership, here we come!

Disappointment

Well, we had some disappointing news this last week. Our offer on the house in Minnesota is starting to fall through. We had put a contingency into our purchase agreement stating that the current owners needed to get an ammendment to the bylaws of the association stating that more than 3 people can live in the house we are wanting to buy. They held a vote last week and unfortunately, the ammendment didn't pass - in fact, it missed by 1 vote. So we are very frustrated right now (as are the sellers) and are a bit unsure of where to go from here.

We have the option of going through with the offer and just hoping they will get the vote passed eventually (we were told we could get a waiver in the meantime to have more kids, but they don't want to change the ammendment at this time). The downfall of this, is that if they never end up passing the vote, then we deal with the same issue all over again when it comes time for us to sell. Or we could pull out of our offer completely and start looking for a new house. The third option is that we could keep our offer standing the way it reads with the contingency in hopes that they will pass the vote at their annual association meeting in May. The problem with this option is that if they don't end up passing the vote in May, we lose out on the $8000 tax credit (which let's face it - that's a huge chunk of change).

We really love the house and have said from the beginning that if it weren't for the association, we would have no hesitation towards this house. After this kind of a problem, we wonder whether we should even buy into an association like this. Very frustrating...
If anyone has any advice, we're all ears!

9 Months Old

We had Eliana's well-baby check-up yesterday - it went really well! She's doing great developmentally and is right on track. I was a little worried since she doesn't roll over (we know she can, but she's only done it once in the last several months). However, her pediatrician assured me that she's doing just fine and most likely she doesn't roll because she doesn't like where it gets her or just plain doesn't see the need. Stubborn little thing... She has started to enjoy being on her tummy now, though. Well, for a little while anyway. She pretends she's a fish swimming, will stop, look around, and then rest her head on the ground for a few seconds before continuing to swim. It's so cute!

Otherwise, Ellie is a typical 9 month old. She's a pretty happy child and we love seeing her toothy grin. She has discovered cause and effect - for instance, throwing her cup on the floor and watching mommy or daddy pick it up again. She is a very social little thing and loves getting attention. She hasn't developed any stranger anxiety (yet, anyway) and absolutely LOVES going to her daycare once a week to watch all the older kids run around and play. She also gets to spend 1 hour each day at the activity center at our gym while Nick and I get our workouts in.

Ellie's most favorite thing to do, though, is still to get out of the house and go with mom and dad to wherever it is we are going. Ever since she was a newborn, she has enjoyed getting out and about. Whether it's a restaurant, the grocery store, or a friends house - it can be a couple hours past her bedtime, and she will be happy as a clam so long as she's around all the action. It's actually been quite nice for Nick and I - we've been able to take her with us most places. It saves a ton on babysitting costs! Plus, several of our friends have kids Ellie's age and it's fun to see her around them. (Photos: Jaxyn, Moe, & Ellie; Ellie & Mia)

Ellie's Measurements:
Weight - 19 lbs 7 oz - 65th%
Height - 29.7 inches (More like 30.5 inches) - 99th%
Head - 48 cm - 100% Off The Charts!

Christmas 2009

Well, a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! As you can see, I've become a bit behind in my blog postings. But after 3 whole weeks in Minnesota, I am back and trying to play catch-up. So here's what the Marcus family was up to over the holidays!

As I mentioned, Ellie and I were fortunate enough to be able to spend 3 weeks in Minnesota over the holidays this year. Nick was able to join us there 3 days after we got there and stayed for about a week. We stayed with my parents and I know they truly enjoyed getting to know Ellie even more now that she is developing quite a little personality. Our trip to MN was so much fun, and although we enjoyed the majority of it, it also came with a few hiccups. After a long day of traveling (first by plane and then by car) and an evening filled with lots of love by both sets of grandparents, our first night was met with a screaming baby (the WHOLE night) with which we discovered the next morning that Ellie was battling a terrible ear infection. Two days later, while celebrating the Hoppe family Christmas, Ellie broke out in hives, itching like crazy, and we discovered that she was allergic to the Amoxicillin. So she got to spend the day doped up on Benedryl - which wasn't all bad, because it made for a VERY tired baby who was willing to be held by everyone.

After recovering from the allergic reaction, Ellie then proceeded to cut tooth #5. Again, very cranky. Thankfully, she was recovered in time for Christmas Eve when we celebrated with the Marcus side! I know Great-Grandma Marcus had fun holding Ellie and the rest of us enjoyed watching her "open" her presents. Despite the blizzard conditions and approx 2 feet of snow that accumulated, we made it to church in Prinsburg where Grandma Bev enjoyed showing Ellie off and holding her in church. Ellie sure did look precious in her Christmas dress!

On Christmas Day, we celebrated again - this time with the Wyffels' family. We were very thankful that despite the heavy snowfall, Amanda, Steve, Heather, & John were all able to make it back to Willmar to celebrate with us. We received a visit from a very handsome Santa, but after about 2 minutes on his lap, Ellie had decided it was naptime and wasn't even interested in opening her gifts. :( Fortunately, Santa didn't take it to heart and promised he would be back again next year. The rest of the day was spent enjoying time together as a family and celebrating Jesus' birth. Oh - and eating... :)

The next day, we all (Amanda, Steve, Heather, John, Nick, and I) headed to the Twin Cities for a "Sibling Date Night". We enjoyed a wonderful night out in downtown Minneapolis at Brit's Pub, eating and playing pool (girls won - twice!), and then caught a show at Acme Comedy Club. It was a wonderful night and I can honestly say hanging out with our siblings and having more date nights with them are something Nick and I are really looking forward to doing more often when we move back to MN!

My parents babysat Ellie that night while Nick and I stayed in the Cities. Then the next day, they drove her to Waconia where we met up with them at the Wyffels Family Christmas. Unfortunately, because of the weather, only about half the family was able to make it, but we still really enjoyed ourselves! Nick had to fly back to Montana that night, so Ellie and I headed back to Willmar with my parents.

I didn't mention this before, but everyday that Nick and I didn't spend celebrating Christmas with family, or taking care of a sick baby, we spent house-hunting for the home that we will move into when Nick's military commitment is done in August. Well, we found the house! So the next few days of our trip (after Nick left) were spent getting the purchase agreement written, finalized, and signed, and the home inspection done. Assuming everything goes smoothly, we hope to close the end of February! We are very excited about becoming home-owners, though we are a bit bummed that we won't be able to move into the house until August, but I guess that's just the way things go sometimes.

So now it's back to a sick baby: Ellie cuts tooth #6! But despite a cranky baby, we were still able to get a few visits in with friends - though certainly not as many as we were hoping! We also made it to Marshall on New Year's Day to visit Great-Grandma Wyffels and Alicia! Then... sick Mommy AND sick Baby. :( Ellie and I both caught colds - which was really only a matter of time, being that it was below zero pretty much our entire trip. And just as we were starting to feel better - it's time to head back to Montana! All I can say is: Thank you, Moms, Dads, and Siblings for all your help! I guess if you ever have to have a sick child on a vacation, the best time to have it is when you have your family around to help! And Ellie didn't mind - she loved all the attention she got. Especially her early morning time with Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Dave before they left for work in the mornings.

So as you can see, we had a VERY eventful holiday season this year! We fought a few illnesses, celebrated several family Christmases, found time to catch up with some friends, and bought a house! As it always does, it went FAR too fast, but we are looking forward to next year when we will no longer have to travel and fit our visits into a certain time-frame! We wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season!