Thirty-Two Weeks Old

Oi vey...I apologize for such a stretch between our last blog and this one and so much has gone on!!!! Since November 11th we've celebrated Mom Rassman's birthday, Ella and I had lunch with two girls from high school and their babies, I helped my mom decorate 9 trees (including two 12 footers), 5 stairways, and 6 landings in 5 different buildings, and celebrated Thanksgiving with my family.

As my dad's birthday is 6 days before Todd's dad's birthday, my mom's birthday is 6 days before Todd's mom's birthday - crazy, huh?!? Anyway, my mom spent her birthday cruising down the Danube from Germany into Austria while we celebrated Todd's mom's birthday at their house. Which means Mom Rassman is less than a year away from retirement!!!!

On Wednesday, November 19, Ella and I got together with Sarah and her 5-month-old son, Cole, as well as Shannon and her 6-month-old daughter, Ellie. Although I graduated from Nardin with Sarah and Shannon I have not talked with them since 1995 until along came Facebook. We had a good time watching the kiddos interact with each other while we chowed down on a great chicken souvlaki lunch! It was great to 'reconnect' especially since they have babies right around Ella's age too.

Most of my last few weeks have been spent helping my mom decorate the Uniland Christmas trees. Mom has been decorating these trees for about the past 18 years and I did help in the early to middle years (but that was when there were only 3 trees and a stairway). But after taking about a 10 year break, I signed up to help out again!! With Mom being the mastermind behind all the decore, I merely helped by 'dressing' the trees, stairway garland, and garland on the landing.

Ella came along with me on the days Todd wasn't home or my dad wasn't watching her. She did a fantastic job playing on her own while we worked. Although I think just about every woman (and a few men) working in whatever building we were decorating came out to say 'hi' to Ella. And Ella had a great big smile for each one of them!

And now after 10 days and close to 100 people hours, the trees are now done! If you ever get a chance I encourage you to check them out (100, 300, & 500 Corporate Pkwy; 6400 Sheridan Dr; 285 Delaware Ave) - each tree is different varying from traditional to very funky! I have to say my mom is one talented decorating cookie!!!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year down at my Uncle Carl & Aunt Carol's chalet at Kissing Bridge. Aunt Gigi and Uncle Bill came in from Williamsburg, VA; Natalie flew in from Durham, NC; and Michael Sean visited from Redbank, NJ. My other cousin, Michael Paul, came home from Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh too.

The holiday started with a lasagna dinner Wednesday night at my cousins' Carl & Wendy's house. We then packed up and headed down to Colden early Thursday. Since there was close to 2 feet of snow on the ground, our traditional Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl football game was traded in for some good ol' sledding. Ella's feet managed to never hit the ground as she was successfully passed around to every family member! We then stayed overnight to help Ella's schedule and also give us more time to visit with the out of towners.

The weekend ended with a private tour of the Darwin Martin House on Jewett Pkwy in Buffalo. My cousin, Michael John, was recently elected to the Board and, therefore, invited us all on a tour of the magnificent Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece. If you haven't taken a tour, I highly recommend it!! For more info see http://www.darwinmartinhouse.org/

Finally, Ella has been doing wonderful. She just received 3 more shots and is now all caught up (until her 1 year visit). She weighed in at about 16.5 pounds and approximately 26 inches long. Ella is getting close to growing out of her 6 month clothing and working into 6-9 month as well as 9 month clothes.

She sits up very well on her own (although she will need pillows behind her for a few more months) and officially sleeps on her tummy. Although Ella has mastered rolling onto her tummy, she is still learning to roll from her tummy to her back, pivoting while on her tummy, and propping herself up higher on her hands.

Ella has finished the box of rice cereal and is moving on to oatmeal cereal. She has tried carrots, acorn squash, and sweet potatoes. We'll continue introducing veggies and then move onto fruit. Right now she is still primarily nursing but eating about a tablespoon of cereal in the morning and a tablespoon of veggies in the afternoon and evening.

Oh!! And Ella's second tooth just came in today too!!!! She continues to be very smiley and quite a talker cracking us up all day long with her sounds!

And now the countdown begins to when Alysia, DJ, April, and the twins arrive...just 15 days!!!! Can't wait!!!!!!