The Beauty Of Nature & Family

Over the weekend, we went over to Ellena's grandmother's house to hang out and enjoy a wonderful summer day. One of the best parts about going to any of Ellena's grandmother's houses is their yards. By chance, or perhaps by design, they are all great gardeners, with fantastic unique spaces!

Here are some pictures of Grandma DeGarmo's yard, which looks fabulous, BTW. She and her husband, Doug, have spent considerable time this season creating a space that allows visitors to become lost in the scenic beauty of nature.

This is one thing we've noticed and love about the area we live in - when the snow melts and our yards and plants finally green up, people really seem to take advantage of the limited amount of time we have before it's time to bundle up again. This is a great analogy for life too - we have to enjoy the time we have available!

Thank you God for family, gardens and grandmothers!

Keeping It "All American"

In our subtitle, it reads "the all American lifestyle". We added that line because we do feel as though, no matter how hectic and crazy these times become, we remember to take the time to recognize God for allowing us to live in America. There are certainly worse places to live in these times and we try our best t not take that for granted.

One of the best times to renew this feeling inside is around our country's birthday. Even though the 4th of July isn't here yet, it seems that many areas around us celebrate with fireworks earlier than the actual 4th. We happen to live next to a city park that has hosted the annual fireworks display for our township for the last 3 years. We were able to recently enjoy this annual celebration with our daughter. We invited a good couple (and their son) over and we watched it from our backyard. We are very blessed to be able to see this show every year from our own deck! The display is just close enough for us to hear AND feel the explosions from the sky.

God Bless America!

Cultivating Relationships (& Landscaping Gifts!)

In my opinion, one of the greatest things about having a house with a little bit of garden and landscape space is the amount of free gifts, usually in the form of flowers or shrubs, that family and friends generously give to you.

In some cases we've received housewarming or holiday or "whatever" presents that have required watering and/or planting. Other times, we've left our parents' houses with boxes or bags of beautiful grasses, flowers, hastas, you-name-its, etc. Sometimes, mutual favors have been exchanged - their gardens get thinned out a bit and we reap the benefit of a much needed lawn addition.

Now, I feel it's worth mentioning these items haven't always survived - what can I say, we don't have the greatest track record for having green thumbs! But sometimes they have thrived. We seem to have a healthy mix of sunny to shady areas around our spread and have always tried to match there areas up to the plants in order for success.

That being said, I wanted to capture this red flower, as seen above. Although I don't know the name of it, I do know that it was a gift from S's mother. Lou Ann and her husband, Doug, came over for a brief visit, the day after we got home from the hospital with Ellena, to quickly plant and water 3 of these, and of course see their granddaughter. They are located in our backyard, just to the right of the steps that curve around the back of the garage. They are a captivating shade of red and the flowers are tiny red stars. Red is S's favorite color and Lou Ann says that the star blooms reminder her of Sheri, who was her little star. We have been receiving lots of rain this season, especially in the last week, and so far these special gifts are doing great!

We have a few more gifts in the dirt right now and as soon as they "pop up", we will be sure to capture them in photographs for posting. Stay tuned...

The Doctor Will See You Now

Einstein's favorite chair - he likes pink, I guess! That should be no surprise to anyone who knows this cat.

Goodbye Gigi

We took Grandma Castro, or "Gigi" as she'd like to be referred to by her new grandaughter, back to the aiport Thursday morning. A call later on in the day confirmed she'd survived not only the initial security screening, but also a layover in Dallas and, worst of all - airline food!

It was great having her around to help out with meals and house chores. But more importantly, it was great having her around to spend time with. During her visit, she was able to go to the zoo, take a trip to Canada to visit a friend, cruise around the area, and spend plenty of time with her new grandbaby. Though we know she will miss Ellena so much now that she is home, we have a sneaking suspicion that we will see her more often now... =)

Meat & Potatoes

Stopped by the Dr. Office today for Ellena's 2 week appointment. The purpose was a simple weigh in as well as a check of the eyes, ears and heartbeat via one of those heartbeat things doctors always seem to have with them!

The results are in, at 18 days old, little Ellie weighs 8 lbs 8 oz, up 1.5 lbs from just 2 weeks ago! Yea, Ellie! I guess you really do like mama's milk!

A Day Of Firsts

Today Ellena experienced a few more firsts - she headed to church for the first time (outside the womb, that is) to hear Pastor Chris talk about managing anger ... I think she could use this since her face turns so red when she is mad and cries! Overall, we think she enjoyed her visit to Orchard Grove and the oohing and ahhing she got from friends. Only future weeks will tell...

The family also went for a little stroll today around the block, where Ellena got to cruse in style in her fancy stroller. Comfy on top of two blankets, she basked in the cool breeze and enjoyed the ride - so much so, she stuck her little toes out to feel the fresh air. Mom and Dad started to sweat after just 30 mintues though... we need to work on that!

Dad has a vacation day tomorrow and we can't wait to spend yet another day together as a family!

Say Cheese!

It was picture time at the Hickok's where we experimented a bit last night with Ellena. She really didn't mind sitting still (only for a few seconds!) and posing for the camera. We took some in a basket and some in a chair! We even took some without combing her hair! (sorry, I've been reading to much Dr. Seuss lately!)

The ultimate goal was to end up with some rough shots that could either be edited or used as is on a future birth announcement order! Now, I know what you're thinking and NO, we won't quit our day jobs! But we had a good time goofing around and at a minimum, it taught us a few things about taking pictures of a baby (how does Anne Geddies do it?!) as well as how to explore a few features of our camera we had never used!

What WON'T He Eat?!

Today's topic focus is one of our "fuzzies" - the largest one actually - Einstein. Meet the cat behind the 4 inch long striped hairs you've been finding on your shirt, in your food and on the sofa.
He was an orphan and taken in approximately 3 years ago. He has always been believed to have been at least 1/2 Maine coon and proudly displaying tufts of fur around his ears, paws and neck. Our "Gentle Giant" is often referred to as, and will respond to, any of the following nicknames:

• Stein
• Beer Stein (haven't tried this one yet, but almost certain he'll like it!)
• Fuzzy
• Fuzz
• Mr. Fuzzy Pants

Oh, and he LOVES people food. He will eat almost anything! More to come on you Fuzz...

Is That Perfume You're Wearing?

No, Daddy - that is sour milk you smell! Well, I have been indoctrined into motherhood - besides not sleeping a lick at night, Ellena has gracefully returned a full meal (or two) in my lap. And even though this might not sound pleasant, I love her just the same.

We are getting along nicely, or what I hear is "nicely". Ellena and I are learning eachothers schedules (speaking of that, I am 15 minutes late for my nap). She smiled for the first time fully awake yesterday. And she makes the cutest little sighing noise. If you haven't yet met her, we can't wait until you do, as we think you will find her just as wonderful as we do!!

Grandma Castro and Jay have been with us now for almost a week and they are fully enjoying their new little grandbaby. I am not sure what Ellena is going to do when she actually gets set down!

The Perfect Reason

Okay, so we finally did it...we started a blog! After talking about it for many, many months, we finally found the perfect reason to devote energy into an online publication - our new daughter.

Gob blessed us with Ellena Hope Hickok on 6/5/08 at 12:21 AM at Huron Valley Sinai Grace Hospital in Commerce, MI. She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. when she was delivered and measured just over 20 in. long.

This blog has been established with the intention of serving as a convenient forum to share updates and information about our lives and, of course, Ellena, with our family and friends. Our intent is to focus on this publication at least once per day. As we settle in and get our feet wet with this form of communication, we invite you to enjoy these posts and share our feedback.

Thanks for sharing these truly great times with us!

God Bless