The Best Sound In The World

We made a new discovery today, Ellie - you are ticklish!  If you can see past my big fingers getting in the way, you will see yourself squealing with glee as Daddy tickles your sides.  Our favorite part (aside from everything about this) is the way you bring your hand up to your mouth every time you laugh.  I would do this all day long if I could!

Up, Down, Touch the Ground...

You have gotten so good at getting yourself up and down!  Your Daddy introduced you to this game, and now it's one of your favorite games to play.  You're Grandma & Grandpa, Nonna & Ga love playing it with you on Skype.  Keep learning Ellie, we love watching you grow into an independent little lady!

T Minus Two Months

I can't believe you're only two months from being one-year-old!  I have loved these past ten months with you Ellie Belle.  Your smile brings sunshine to my days and your laughter fills my heart to the brim.  Your Daddy and I are so proud of the independent little girl you are becoming.

Stats for the month:

• Tooth Count - You've got eight teeth now, four on top and four on the bottom
• Movement - You're crawling all over the place, pulling yourself up and cruising around the furniture
• Favorite Destinations - our bathroom to turn the faucet on and off, and Rockne's water dish
• Food - Your current favorite treat is wheat bread (I feel like I'm feeding a bird)
• Talking - You can say Mama and Dada and Gaga and Baba, usually indiscriminately at this point.
• Listening - You know what "No" means, but don't usually listen (uh-oh), you also understand when Mama wants you to come get your bottle

A Week in the Woods and Goodbye to an Old Friend

Our final destination this summer was Grandma and Grandpa's cottage on Sapphire Lake in Lake City, Michigan.  So we hopped on a plane yet again and headed north.  Grandma and Grandpa were extremely excited to see you!  It looks like the feeling was mutual.

We already knew you loved the water, and you wasted no time getting into it either.  Whether you were in the sand, the water, your floatie, or the boat you were enjoying yourself, which of course means that I was too.  My new favorite hobby is watching you have a good time.  :o)

 You had a lot of visitors while we were there!  Great Aunt Mart came to spend time with you and your second cousin Emmeline Grunder.  Great Grandpa Briggs and GG came up to visit with the two of you, and your Great Aunt Susie was up spending time with her granddaughter and you as well.  Aunt Dayna and Uncle Lucas made a special trip to the cottage to see you, but we forgot to get pictures.  (Sorry)

You two are pretty popular! You and Emme seemed to put a smile one everyone's face.  :o)

 Your Nonna and Ga came up for the day to visit with you too.  I'm so glad we've had lots of time to spend with all four of your grandparents this summer!  I know you love seeing them in person.

 While we were up there you got to spend a lot of time with your second cousin Emme.  It was always fun to watch the two of you interact, you both seemed to have a good time together.

You also got to meet your Aunt Mocha.  It was so nice spending the whole week with her.  We love you Jamocha Sprinkles Briggs, you are missed.

The Pittsburgh Wedding

We had three days at home before we were on a plane again, this time headed to Pittsburgh for Uncle Lucas and Aunt Dayna's wedding.  And what an event it was!  Where do I even begin?  First of all, you loved walking around the University of Pittsburgh.  It may have had something to do with the attention you were getting from Grandpa.

The craziness, though, began on Saturday morning at about 10:00am, two and a half hours before the ceremony.  Thank you, by the way, for taking a three hour nap that morning...I don't know what I would have done otherwise!  I walked out of our hotel room to find Uncle Lucas splayed across the hallway floor.  He had tripped down the stairs (walking barefoot - who does that?), dropped a bottle and landed on the broken pieces with his left foot.

Aaron Brinklow and I had to dig a large piece of glass out of his heel and I had to keep pressure on the ball of his foot where another large gash was bleeding.  Long story short, Urgent Care stitched your Uncle Lucas up with ten minutes to spare before the ceremony started.  Other almost disasters: late groomsmen, forgotten ring, forgotten dress, forgotten tie, missing pants.  After all of that though, the ceremony was beautiful and the rest of the day went without incident.

You, by the way, looked absolutely adorable in your little flower girl dress made especially for you by Grandma! 

You made Mommy and Daddy laugh as we walked down the aisle when you decided to whack your little flower bouquet out of Daddy's hand.  I think the audience got a kick out of it though.

Aunt Dayna and Uncle Lucas were so happy that you were able to be a part of their very special day.  I think the feeling was mutual.  :o)

P.S. A special thank you to Nonna and Ga for watching you so Mommy and Daddy could have a couple of dances together!

Adirondack Introductions

Eleanore, you have now officially made your first of many trips up to the Adirondack Mountains in New York.  This year's trip was extra special because so many events took place while we were up there.  You, Christian and Ari were finally all together in one place!  And the three of you were baptized.  You were introduced to your Great Grandpa Messmer and saw your Great Nana in Buffalo on the way up. 

You got to meet your Uncle Daniel, Uncle Sam, and cousin Benjamin for the first time too.  You and Benjamin got along right from the start, you loved the big hug he gave you.  I think you had a good time hanging out with Uncle Daniel too, based on the huge smiles he got from you.  Uncle Sam is going to make an excellent godfather (along with Aunt Melinda) I can tell already.  And a whole lot more of the Piciulo and Messmer families were there to share in the craziness as well! 

 We celebrated the Fourth of July as a family and introduced you to the lake and mountains where you got your first boat ride and first feel of real lake water.  You loved the boat even though your life jacket didn't appear to be very comfortable for you.  You had lots of fun riding the waves in your floating raft too.  Your daddy is very excited that you liked the water so much!

Wait, there's more!  Your Nonna (Mimi, or whatever you're going to call her!) had a surprise 60th birthday party.  Cousin Christian had his first birthday party with the family too.  AND Uncle Sam, Aunt Megan and Uncle Daniel celebrated their birthdays too.  Whew!  There was plenty of cake to go around!

It was so fun for the whole family to be together up there.  I envision lots of great memories together in the future.  Just imagine what the four of you are going to get up to together!

The Final Four

At your baptism on July 1st, 2012 we were finally able to get the last "four generation" picture with you, Daddy, Ga and Great Grandpa Messmer. 

I think Great Grandpa was pretty smitten with you Ellie, out of 17 great grandchildren you're only his 2nd great granddaughter!