July-Elli is 7 months old!

We can't believe Elli is 7 months old!! It's hard to believe how far she's come. This picture shows her with all the tubes and wires she had to have on while in the NICU when she was first born. This experience was the most difficult time of our lives, but we learned so much from it. She is doing great, but we are still cautious due to her lung situation, BPD/Chronic Lung Disease. She was diagnosed with this about 3 weeks into the hospital stay and she will continue to go to the BPD clinic at Children's Hospital until she is 2 years old to monitor her developmental progress. Her lungs have developed normally, but we still have to take precautions. They always tell us how great she looks when we got for our visits!

July was also busy for us! Elli got to meet a lot of new people. She met Jen, Jess, and Lena, three of my good friends from college. My Aunt Karen and cousin Kim also got to see her in Ashland.

We also went on our first long vacation to Atlanta to visit Moomaw and Papa and stopped in West Virginia on the way so Elli could meet Papaw Hannah (her great grandpa)and all the little ones. Everyone loved meeting Elli!

Papa Gordon enjoyed spending time with his first grandchild in Atlanta.

Elli enjoyed the baby pool when we took her in Atlanta. We tried to ease her in this time and it worked. :) We also took her to the Atlanta Aquarium where she loved looking at all the fish and sea creatures.

July also marked another fun milestone for Elli. She started eating cereal! This picture shows her trying it for the first time. We've been having a lot of fun feeding her. What a cutie and our little miracle!

We've Been Busy!

March

Elli has made so much progress the last several months! We can't believe how big she's getting and we already feel like she's growing up too fast. In March the doctor told us she would no longer need the oxygen so we were very relieved. The picture to the left shows Elli at the doctor's office after finding out she no longer needed oxygen. She sure looked different without all the tubes. It was so nice to see her entire cute face! Elli also enjoyed celebrating her first Easter with us!

April

In April we enjoyed a lot of things. She got to spend some time with her cousins, Sam and Ben. We also went on some long walks, spent some time with friends & family, ate dinners outside and we especially enjoyed watching her smile at us!

May

May was a busy month! Elli helped mommy put together a surprise 30th birthday party for daddy. We had a blast! Moomaw and Papa

came to visit from Atlanta to enjoy time with Elli.

We also visited Elli's new little friend, Calen, born on May 21.

Elli also visited my class at Columbus School for Girls at the end of May. My class was very excited to meet her for the first time.

At the end of May the three of us also took a trip to Kelley's Island. We stayed at the Eagle's Nest, a cute Bed & Breakfast on the island. We went on several hikes, saw the Glacial Grooves, went out to dinner, and relaxed.

June

In June Elli learned to roll over! On June 2 (this photo) when I put her on her tummy she lifted her head the highest she ever had and rolled to her back. A few weeks later she figured out how to go from her back to her tummy. We also visited Grammy and Grampy Q in Ashland and tried to go swimming in their pool. Elli wasn't too thrilled about the chilly pool water. It isn't quite the

same as a warm bath! In the background of this photo Elli's cousins, Sam and Ben, enjoy the water with Uncle Brian and Grampy Q. Elli also enjoyed a nice walk with Grammy and Grampy when they came to visit. Cheryl S. and Candy R. had a tea party for Elli so she could meet some people from Wooster (Mark's hometown). Elli had a great time at the party! She even got to meet her great Grandmother for the first time! Auntie Sarah also enjoyed time with Elli.