Elly's Top 10

You want me to do what?
















OH! Smile!

















Pretty summer flowers


















I love you.



















Do you like my bow?













As I enter Week 7, I would now like to post the Top 1o things you need to know about me, David Letterman style.

#10) I *HATE* tummy time. Like don't even *try* to make me do it. I will either scream at you or I will decide to flip over, because I don't want to be on my stomach. What would make you think that I want to lay on my tummy that is full of air and stare at my blanket? Not cool!

#9) My swing is the best invention ever made. I love to nap in it, play in it, eat in it, poo in it, pretty much anything I can do, I like to do in my swing. My mom is already dreading the day that I don't fit into it anymore because I like it so much. Best feature of the swing? The little mirror globe where I can stare at the baby looking back at me to my heart's content.

#8) There is a little red frog that is out to get me. My mom puts me in this bouncy seat and as soon as she turns it on, there it is, looking at me, mocking me. I try to reach for him but I can't quite get him. Why is torturing me so? What does he keep looking at? One of these days, he *will* be mine!

#7) If you want to me to sleep, you better have my pink fuzzy blanket around. Don't try to lay me down without it covering me. I like my blanky and it needs to be with me when I sleep.


#6) I don't like bottles. My mom keeps thinking that I need to try one but I don't really those things. Who wants a hard, cold plastic thing shoved in their mouth? Yuck. No thanks. I'm pretty stubborn on this one. Keep trying Mom!

#5) I hate baths. Why must I take them? I don't play in the dirt. I don't splash food all over my face? I'm quite the little lady. I don't think I need them and I will let you know that I don't appreciate them when you try to make me take one.

#4) I love my stroller. Take me for a walk. I might cry for a minute but only because I really don't like being in my car seat but once I realize that we are outside and I'm in my stroller, I love it. I appreciate new scenery.

#3) My brother is the best! He loves me so much and I love having him around. I try to show my appreciation for him by giving him lots of smiles. He is always cuddling me and kissing me and trying to get me to do new things. I'm sure he'll think I'm a big pain in the butt once I start crawling around and getting into his things, but for now he thinks I'm pretty great.

#2) You MUST, I repeat, you MUST wear a burp cloth around me at all times. Sorry, I can't help it. Don't think I *like* spitting up. It's just part of my nature right now. I have to do it and it's really not my fault if you are not prepared. Now, I gave you fair warning, so make sure you use this.

And the #1 thing you need to know about me....

Talk to me! My favorite thing is to look at people's faces. People make all kinds of crazy faces at babies and I am easily amused by them. I really, really want to talk myself but getting out my voice is hard sometimes. However, if you talk to me, I work extra hard to talk back to you and give you some smiles.

Happy Father's Day!

So sweet.














Pulling up my dress :)







Father's Day 2008











Daddy, Aidan and Ellyse





Our Family












Can you believe that I am 6 weeks old today?! How is it possible that 6 weeks have gone by already?

We celebrated Father's Day this week. It was my daddy's first Father's Day and we tried to make him feel very special all day. The morning started with gifts. Aidan made him some coasters out of ceramic with his handprint painted on them. I gave my daddy a frame that says "Daddy and Me" with my daddy's favorite picture of us together in it. We have one more surprise for him but it didn't make it in the mail in time.

Then we headed over to Grandma Jan's house. She made us all lunch and we also had cake to celebrate my daddy's birthday which is this next Sunday. It was such a beautiful day that we spent a lot of time sitting out on the deck, talking. A lot of the pictures you see this time are taken there.


The most notable thing I am doing this week that is catching lots of attention is that I am rolling over from my tummy to my back. We mentioned that I had done this in the doctor's office at my one week checkup. Well, Mommy decided to show Grandma what I do when I lay on my tummy, so I decided to show off for her as well and I did it again. I guess it causes lots of excitement. I don't know what everyone is so excited for, I just don't like laying on my tummy!


I am also doing a lot more smiling this week. Mommy keeps trying to catch pictures of me doing it but I like to pretend I don't know what I'm doing by the time she snaps the pictures. :)

C'mon and ride the rollercoaster

I love my brother











I'm kicking my feet!





Whaddya looking at?

















I'd like to give a shout out to my Grandmas.


















Ahh, this is the life.








I save all my smiles for my brother.


















This week has been the week of ups and downs as I get to know this thing called life.

The highs of week 4 included my first smile. I gave my mom a real smile on my one month birthday--June 6th. I guess that is a momentus occasion as my mom ran to grab the camera and proceed to make all kinds of silly phases and talk like a crazy person to me to make me do it again. I decided I didn't feel like it anymore. I think I like torturing her. :)

The other thing I am really doing this week is kicking my legs. I think I've discovered how wiggly I can really be and I like getting all my muscles moving.

The lows came most recently when my mom had to take me into the doctor to determine why I was always spitting up all the time. My mom was really wishing I could talk and tell her what was wrong with me when I decided to scream for over an hour one night but the doctor decided that I have reflux, so we are trying out some medicine to see if that helps me out.

The update from the doctor is that I now weigh 11 pounds and 8 oz. and I am 21 3/4 inches long! I've already gained almost 3 pounds and grew 2 inches in just 5 weeks!

This life really is a rollercoaster ride!

Introducing Miss Personality!

I'm sticking my tongue out at you






















Oh wait! You caught me!

Chillin' outside with Daddy













How long you gonna make me sit here?

Cheezing up the camera with Mommy









So by now, most or all of you have received a photo announcement of my arrival. I'd like to tell you a little bit about why this photo of me was chosen since my mom has gotten the full spectrum of comments about it. Such as "she has a pained look on her face" or "she looks like she is about to cry" or the nice "oh, what a cute face!".

This picture was chosen because it contains exactly what my mom was hoping to capture in a picture of me. I refer to it as my "signature look", my mom refers to it as my "Scooby Doo look" and my dad refers to it as my "Whatchu talkin' about Willis" face.

The reason my mom calls it my Scooby Doo look is because she says when she sees me making it, she's reminded of Scooby Doo and his "Ruh?" look. I call it my signature look because I like to make it a lot. It basically means that I am pondering the meaning of life as a gaze into faces of my parents and other people making all kinds of crazy faces in hopes of cracking some kind of face from *me*. Well, this is my look. That's all you are getting right now people!

So in close, *this* is why that picture of me of was chosen. I hope you enjoy it! Now here are some more pictures of me as I enter Week 4.

My first *real* bath


















Baby Love!
















Me and Great Grandma Matzke






4 Generations

(Please note that we could NOT get a picture with everyone looking, so please ignore my mom! We'll try again another time.)








Ahhh, finally a REAL bath. I got my first tub bath this week. I have to say that I throughly enjoyed it. It was a welcome relief instead of the dog and pony show that was my mom trying to give me a bath on the counter while juggling a washcloth, a bottle of baby soap and trying to adjust the towel to keep me from shivering.

My Great Grandma Matzke is home from Nevada and I got to meet her this weekend. She thinks I'm pretty special. I even stayed awake for the whole visit! I also got to meet my Great Aunt Linda and my Great Aunt Judy sent me a special present all the way from Nevada. It feels so great to be so loved.

Memorial Day was spent going over to Grandma Jan's house. I decided that I had enough partying for one weekend and I slept through most of it but rumor has it that they grilled hamburgers and Aidan played outside with sidewalk chalk. I can't WAIT until I'm big enough to join him!

This is the life!

Well, 2 weeks have gone by since I made my entrance into the world and I have to say that I'm liking this life. I seem to have everyone wrapped around my little finger and they have become pretty good at figuring out what I am crying about.

I like to give my mom some rest now and then, so I'm still a pretty good sleeper, but I've also discovered that the world doesn't stop turning while I'm asleep, so sometimes I like to stay up for long periods of time to see what goes on around here. I heard my mom tell my dad that I'm being a pain because the time I like to pick to stay awake is from 5pm-11pm and I guess my mom has a lot to do at that time. Oh, well!

My big brother Aidan sure does love me. He is always kissing me and he likes to hold me a lot. I hope he still thinks I'm this cute when I'm getting into all his stuff. :)

My daddy finally changed my diaper for the first time the other day. I made it nice and full for him. It went pretty good since Mommy stood by and supervised.

I can't complain about the life I have here. I eat, sleep, and poop whenever I want and people rush to take care of it all. This is the life!

Week in review

I'm one week old today and boy, has the first week just flown right by.

Most of my days are spent sleeping. I like to sleep a lot, especially during the day. My days are pretty much spent eating, getting a diaper change and going back to sleep. Mommy is grateful for this, but I still get my moments in, usually when my mommy is trying to go to sleep.

I've had some visitors in the past couple days. One of my mom's best friends, Michelle, stopped by to see me. Thankfully I was wide awake for her visit. I spent a lot of time just staring at her and my mom. It's funny to watch them talk to each other.

Then we went over to my Grandma Jan's house for Mother's Day. My uncle, Eric and cousins, Fallon and Logan were there but I decided to sleep through the entire day with the exception of the few minutes before we left so I missed out on the photo op.

My mommy says I'm a really good baby. I try not to cry too much or cause too much of a problem. I definitely have a personality and when I went to visit the doctor yesterday, she got to see a taste of it. She said I'm definitely going to be a go-getter because when she put me on my tummy, I decided to push off with my feet and flip over. I guess about gave both her and my mom a heart attack, but I just didn't feel like laying on my tummy for her right then. I was cold and hungry! Other than that, the doctor says I am a beautiful girl and doing everything I should be doing. I'm glad to hear that I'm right on track.

Well, it's time for me to do my second favorite activity, EATING! So until next time...