6 months!! Can you believe it!

So on November 11, our little Elliana became 6 months old. She is a bright little girl with so much spunk. Since it is her half birthday, I feel it appropriate to gush about her. Elli really is the cutest thing- in fact I can barely go anywhere without being stopped multiple times by people gawking and cooing at her. Everybody comments on her vivid eyes and how beautiful she is. Many people add the comment that Daddy will have to fight them off with a bat or Daddy better watch out for this one. Our Elli - the future heart breaker.

She has so much fight in her too. In the end, I think this will be a great asset. From Day 1, she has let us know how she is feeling. At her first doctor's appointment when she was a week old, she wailed and fussed when the doctor was checking her out. As an indignant shriek exited her lips, the doctor turned to me and said "Wow! She has quite a temper." Yes- Elli's pediatrician who sees babies on a daily basis thinks my baby has quite a temper. I knew then that we were in for it! :) My sister-in-law Diana has since commented that Elliana definitely has a lot of endurance (she said this after crying nonstop for almost two hours with Diana when I went to visit a friend at the hospital.) The other day I was visiting with my neighbor who has a ten-month old dog, Scout. Scout was excited and started barking at Elliana. My neighbor tried to quiet him but he kept barking at Elli and she did not like it. Instead of crying though, Elli turned her little face right at him and yelled at him very loudly. It was startling to all of us. Scout stopped for a minute, but then he barked at her again. So Elli angrily yelled back. They went back and forth several times while we all laughed at this interchange. It was quite a comical exchange of wills. Our Elli- the fighter.

Elli is extremely loving though. She will sometimes just lay her head on my shoulder or Todd's arm and just snuggle for a minute. I also love it when she cocks her head to the side and just smiles at us. It is so sweet. Elliana is a momma's girl and that can be a little overwhelming at times especially when she gets in that mood and cries whenever she can't see me, but my heart melts when I go to pick her up and her entire face lights up. She loves her Daddy too especially when he is getting her ready for bed-- she laughs so much with him. The other day in church I was nursing in the mother's room. You can hear the people who are talking at the pulpit over the speakers- well Elli wasn't responding to any voices in any particular way, but then Todd's voice went over the speakers. Elliana stopped nursing right away and looked intently all around the room. She was distracted the whole time he was talking trying to find her Daddy. She knows him for sure. Our Elli- the smiley sweetheart.

We have some home videos of Elli, but we just discovered that Sony camcorders are not compatible with Macs (we thought Macs were compatible with everything ... apparently not). When we figure out this little technical conundrum, though, we'll get some videos up.

I love this time in our lives and I love spending time with Elli. She is growing so fast, turning over, starting to push backward, sitting up now, and of course smiling and laughing. She is truly such a tremendous joy and I know the Lord has blessed us more than we could ever deserve by allowing us to be her parents here on earth. I pray everyday that I will be the kind of mother that she needs. I understand God's love so much more now that we have our Elliana. I thank Him daily for that love and for her. Happy half first birthday my Elli!