October Update

Welcome Fall! We're loving the new cool weather. And we're loving our quickly-growing baby girl, Ellie. She shows more and more personality - she may not be able to speak words yet but her varying squeals are a clear form of communication nonetheless. She's sitting up on her own and is loving sweet potatoes for dinner, and this Friday she'll get her 6-month shots.

Just today, I placed her near the kitchen with two toy keys on a toy keyring while I ate lunch, and the next time I turned around this is what I found:

... I already knew that she was able to get the keys off of her keyring, but don't ask me how she ended up with one of them down her shirt. :-) I'm looking forward to dressing her in her little ladybug costume for Halloween - the next post should include a picture. 

The beginning of school this year was kind of a big deal for us, as it is the "beginning of the end" ("dun dun DUN!" - sorry, I had to throw in a reference here to The Croods. :-) Good movie, not crude at all like I had feared.) Kent is VERY busy with school - all technical classes this semester, plus his L3 exam (engineering exam required for graduation), plus job-hunting. We're done next April!

I am enjoying the fact that Ellie finally (!) sleeps through the night, though even with the extra time and sleep I still have too many project ideas and too little time to do them - right now #1 on the list is Christmas stockings, now that we have three members of the family. (Store-bought were fine while it was just Kent and I, but I have really looked forward to doing unique homemade ones when our family started growing!)

This last couple of months have included me throwing a baby shower for my sister-in-law, getting my first passport in preparation for this Christmas break, getting car repairs, needing more car repairs, and lots of spending time with family. They also included Ellie's first solid food, finding her in some interesting positions in her crib, lots of gorgeous little baby-girl smiles and her first real giggles, beautiful Autumn leaves, and a baby who is half-a-year old (where did that 6 months go?).

There were lots of moments of joy, but this last month did also bring great sadness. Prayers for my sister Heather and her husband Greg would be very appreciated. After they have struggled over the last couple of years to conceive, I announced last month on facebook that we were happy to be getting a new niece or nephew next March. Instead we got two little nephews a couple of weeks ago, too early for them to survive the birth. They were named Austin Scott and Daniel Keith, and my sister says they were absolutely perfect and beautiful. They were buried here in Provo. Her own version of their story is filled with incredible faith and hope - 

http://hgzoll.blogspot.com/2013/10/faith-in-zollinger-household-part-2.html

I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and in my family members' lives. I know that the priesthood of God can seal families together not just for this life but for the life that follows this one, through ordinances that take place in temples, some of the holiest places on Earth. I am grateful for my little sister's faith through all of this; she has been such a good example to me because of her strength. My moments of anger melted away the first time I saw her and Greg after they lost their babies - the Holy Spirit was with them and everyone in their presence because of their faith. Hard times will pass eventually, because of the suffering and victory of Jesus Christ through His Atonement and Resurrection, and through our limited faith and His unlimited grace we can be healed of every sorrow and infirmity - I have seen the beginnings of such healing in this instance in my own family. It is a miracle. It should not be possible for such deep hurt to go away, except through our loving Savior. All the same, that doesn't mean something that goes so deep will be a quick fix, and all the prayers and love they can get, whether you know them or not, will help a lot.

Love to you all. --Kami

Happy Patriot's Day - "Remember"

From The American Patriot's Daily Almanac by Bill Bennett:

“On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists, mostly from Saudi Arabia, hijacked four commercial jetliners and turned them into flying bombs. Two of the hijacked planes slammed into the 110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Americans watched their TV screens in horror as the two skyscrapers, among the tallest in the world, collapsed. Another plane hit the Pentagon, and the fourth jet crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, including more than 400 firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical services workers who had rushed to the World Trade Center to help survivors before the buildings fell.

Among the day’s heroes were passengers on board United Flight 93, which had left Newark International Airport for San Francisco but changed course toward Washington, D.C., after four terrorists seized control. Passengers who began making frantic calls on their cell phones learned that other airliners had been hijacked and crashed in suicide missions. Realizing their captors must be headed toward a high-profile target, a group of Flight 93 passengers resolved to stop them.

Passenger Todd Beamer told an operator that he and a few others were going to jump the hijackers. 'Are you guys ready?' the operator heard him say to someone. 'Let’s roll!'

Moments later, Flight 93 went down in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. All aboard were killed. The hijackers’ target was probably the U.S. Capitol building or the White House.

Congress and the president have designated September 11 as Patriot Day. The flag should be flown at half-staff, and Americans are asked to observe a moment of silence to honor the innocent victims who perished during the worst acts of terrorism ever carried out against the United States."

D&C 3:3: 

"Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men..."

August Update

Yes, we're all still alive here in the Nelson household. Just thought I'd share that since it's been almost a month since my last post. We haven't had anything really out of the ordinary to share - like my sister Heather's fun posts about church history sites Nauvoo and Kirtland on their cross-country trip home from Florida!

Well, on second thought, I do want to share that we were unusually blessed when our car broke down at the beginning of the month. Of all days for me to forget my cell phone, too - but a nice woman working at the Target where I happened to be parked let me use her phone, and when neither of the two numbers I could remember off the top of my head worked (how embarrassing is that - a case of cell phone reliance, anyone?), she called her sister and got me a ride home with my poor hot and tired baby in tow. Then my sister-in-law Serena drove me back later that day and we tried to jump the car - no luck. Then the next day my sister Brittany drove me back - again we tried to jump the car, again no luck. But it still sounded like a battery problem to Kent and I since the power locking wasn't working (and to my Dad, who was advising us over the phone) and so instead of wasting money on a tow truck we drove the battery to an auto shop to be tested, and - miracle of miracles! - it was indeed the battery that was -quote- "so dead that it's no wonder jumping it didn't even work." (That was a good thing - because if it hadn't been the battery that means it would have been one of a couple things that were much more expensive to replace and we wouldn't have known for sure what it was until towing it to a mechanic.) And through all of this we also got help from a nice policeman who helped us break into our car (like I said, power locking wasn't working and we never got a key that works in the door when we bought the car) and also help from a nice random young man who happened to have the tools and know-how to take our old battery out of the car. And a lot of other nice people who offered help throughout the day as well. Plus we're very grateful for all the help we got from family members! My faith in humanity took a MAJOR boost throughout that day. Soooo glad we were able to get it taken care of without Kent having to take time off work and without towing it!

Other more recent news: this Sunday we celebrated Ellie's being FOUR months old! How did we celebrate? Does my joining her for a nap today (when I planned to be sewing and should have been cleaning) count? (We'll get her sleeping 6-hour-stretches again at night soon!) At least I have a plan forming in mind for her 6-month birthday: half a cake for half a year (get it?) - I'll use the other half of the cake to make it double-layered or to make cake bites or something. More on whether my good intentions come through in a successful experiment this October. Since she won't be able to eat her spoils yet it will be more for pictures and family members than for her anyway.

More news: we're looking forward to the beginning of the end - the beginning of our LAST fall semester! (...for a while, anyway.) And we're looking forward to having my parents here at the end of next week for a couple of days when they bring up some of my sister Lauren's things.

Another development since my last post is that I have finally finished my "I'm a Mormon" profile that our bishopric asked ward members to do a month or two ago. It's nothing too exciting, but here it is:

http://mormon.org/me/CVKV

Now I just need someone to walk me through adding the "I'm a Mormon" button to my blog through Blogger's new and "improved" design interface that seems to just be taking me in circles - grrrr.

And then, of course, there must be pictures before we conclude :-)

 So adorable when she's asleep:

... and when she's awake. We think she might be getting my blue-green eyes...?

  She loves being with her Daddy:

... and he sure loves being with her! :-)

 She looks like she's showing some attitude in this one...

And it was nice that for nearly a whole week this month, we were able to see my sister Brittany almost every afternoon/evening while Brad was in Texas doing a couple of med school interviews and Kent was at work:

 

Aunt Lauren came to visit a couple of times too!

And Heather and Greg finally got to meet Ellie in person when they were down from Idaho for a weekend! Yay! Now that they've moved back to Provo again we're looking forward to one more school year with all the Dalton girls together.

She's getting so big and strong!

I feel so honored and undeserving to be able to watch our little girl grow up a little at a time. One thing she loves to do right now is to pay a visit to her little friend "Ellie-in-the-mirror." Her little face just lights up every time. I don't know whether she's starting to grasp yet that she's looking at herself, but she definitely recognizes Mommy and Daddy holding her and gives the most beautiful smiles up at our reflections.

Well, I seem to have had more to share than I'd thought - I'm off to bed, hopefully for at least 5 more hours ... wish me luck. :-)

Just Some Pictures. All at Home. Nothing Huge.

The above and below are pictures of Ellie hanging out at home:

She has the most beautiful smiles, but apparently doesn't like smiling when the camera's out ... these next couple are some of the closest things I have to one of her all-out smiles:

With Daddy before he has to go to work:

With Aunt Serena & Uncle Andrew. Kent and I had our first ever date out of the house since Ellie was born this last Saturday, and these two troopers watched her for us. They need the practice - November's coming up quick! ;-) This is what we came home to:

Just some more hanging around the house:

Outside the apartment, talking with the neighbors and watching ward members playing volleyball (some people were playing with water balloons too and Ellie and I did get a few rogue drops on us, but the reason her onesie is absolutely soaked has nothing to do with that and everything to do with the fact she's been drooling a lot lately. Early teether, maybe?):

Pioneer Day, just after a walk with some of the other quad moms:

... and today, just because:

Of Patriotic Cribs, Clothes and Car Rides

Last week, we got to celebrate the Fourth of July with family in Circleville, Utah. It had to be a short day, and Provo was a mess to get out of, so we missed the parade on one end of the day and the fireworks on the other end. But we had the town patriotic program and a great lunch and afternoon with family in between. And we got to share the car ride there and back with Aunt Brittany and Uncle Brad, who were very patient with us – but then again, Ellie was pretty good in the car and only fussed for a total of maybe 15 minutes. 

Then when we got home, we celebrated Ellie almost being three months old – and being too long for the bassinet – by setting up the beautiful crib that we had sitting in the storage room (thanks Sarah and Gary!) and put on our star-spangled crib sheets (thanks Mom!) and crib mobile (thanks Mom Nelson!). And in case our front room doesn’t look awesome enough with the dark-stained crib in front, an Americana dust ruffle is forthcoming (also thanks to my mom) to hide the storage space underneath of it. Other than our keyboard (which now sits against the kitchen wall to make room), this is the newest and nicest piece of furniture we own by far. (After four years, now I’m beginning to really feel like a Wymount-er – crib in the front room, with Ellie’s next biggest clothes stuffed underneath; table in the front room; and piano in the kitchen. It sounds weird, but the setup really does work quite well!)

We weren’t very good about photos at Circleville, but here is one picture of her in Circleville with Grandma Dalton, and also some pics taken afterward of Ellie in her Fourth of July outfit in her star-spangled crib. I thought that was fitting, ha!

 And here are some pictures of Ellie during the car ride on the way to Circleville, still in her pajamas.

I am grateful for the founding of this country and the freedoms that God inspired good men to defend for us. And I’m grateful for family to celebrate with! Happy belated Independence Day, everyone!

Two Months Old!!! ... HUGE photo dump because we're playing catch-up

Our little Ellie Maria was born two months ago today, at 4:49 AM, 8 lbs 6 oz, 20 inches long. I haven't been very good on facebook, so here's a pictorial summary (I also tried to add the Father's Day videos that you can see on facebook ... Blogger wouldn't let me add them, so enjoy them on facebook and let me know if you have any tips for adding videos in the future!):

April:

 May:

and June so far: