Merry Christmas from the Rammelsbergs!

 

Dear Family and Friends,

 

This blog post is a little different from the others because this year, instead of printing out a Christmas letter and including it all our Christmas cards, we decided to put it up on the blog.  So if you are a regular follower, Merry Christmas to you too, and there is going to be some overlap from previous blog posts.  If you are a first-timer and are here because you received a Christmas card, welcome!  We hope you come back for more all year :).

 

Well, let's start with the star of the show!  Ms. Elliot celebrated her first birthday in June.  It was a beautiful day and we held her birthday party at one of her favorite places: the park at the library, complete with gazebo, cake, and a splash park.

She is now 18 months old and so much fun!  This is my favorite age so far.  She is talking fairly well now and love, love, loves books!  Her favorite activities include being outside (sometimes difficult this time of year because it is soooo cold), playing on Mommy & Daddy's bed, and playing guitar with Daddy.

She recently had her 18 month well-child doctor's appointment and we learned that she is 35.5 inches tall (nearly 3 feet!) and around 25 pounds, which places her in the 99th percentile for height and around the 54th percentile for weight.  In other words, she is built exactly like Erik.

 

Erik is now working as a nurse in the Emergency Department at Trios Health (formerly known as Kennewick General Hospital).  He took that position in October and so far seems to really like it.  Unfortunately, he is on the night shift, so for about 2 weeks per month we don't see him as much as we would like, since he has to sleep most of those days.  The up side is that after he completes his 6 day shift he then gets 8 days off.  As I write this, in the middle of the afternoon, he is snoozing away :).  The other up side, this year anyway, is that since he is still training he gets to have Christmas off.  I guess they don't want to pay someone at the holiday rate that doesn't really need to be there!

 

In January of this year I changed jobs.  I still work for the Yakama Nation, but now I am prosecuting rather than defending.  A job in the Office of the Prosecutor opened up, I applied, they offered it to me, and I was able to negotiate working part time.  It has been wonderful!  I work 30 hours per week, so I still get to spend a lot of time with Elliot.  It's the best of both worlds.

 

This summer we took a family "vacation" to Lutherhaven in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, the summer camp where Erik and I met when we worked there in college.  I say "vacation" because it wasn't one in the traditional sense.  Erik actually volunteered to be the medic for a week of camp and Elliot and I got to come along.  It was so much fun!  Elliot lives to be outside, so a full week of being almost exclusively outside was heaven to her.  She got to go swimming and hiking, she got to sit around a camp fire and sing, and she even got to try her first s'more.  She was also quite popular with the campers, especially the little girls.  It will always be a special place to our family, given our history.  And what a beautiful, Christ-filled, alive environment!  We hope to go back next summer.

 

Toast Rammelsberg (the family pup) has had a rough year.  In March, he had a huge seizure that lasted upwards of 45 minutes.  We took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with epilepsy.  He now has to take medicine twice daily and it makes him feel hungry all the time so...let's just say he's a little bigger now than he was at this time last year...haha.  It doesn't help that Elliot is always throwing her food to him.  The two of them are the best of friends, although Toast still gets jealous of her.  Sometimes she gets in his bed and that really riles him up! 

 

Well that's about all the news we have for you this year.  Please check back occasionally to see what we are up to as it is happening!  I will send you off with some pics of our Christmas preparations.  We hope you are all enjoying this time with family and friends and wish you all the best for 2014!  Merry Christmas!

 

Love,

Erik, Jessica, Elliot, and Toast



Checking out the "pitty lights" (pretty lights, in Elliot).

Hanging out around the tree.

Helping Daddy put up the lights and then being silly.

Engaging in Elliot's favorite tradition: 12 Days of Christmas Books!



Grandparents

Grandma Gail

Grandpa Bill & Grandma Sue

Grandpa "Poppy" Cres

 I always love hearing people talk about their grandchildren.  It doesn't matter who it is (my co-worker, the lady sitting at the table next to mine, or my own mother), but something just comes over them.  Their faces radiate pure joy.  The grandparent/grandchild relationship is one of the most special relationships we, as humans, experience, whether we are lucky enough to be a part of one or merely observe them going on around us.

Elliot with her Grandpas at Famous Dave's

And with her Grandmas at her birthday party

 I don't think I realized what a wonderful relationship it is until I became a parent.  Elliot hit the grandparent jackpot.  Both my parents and Erik's are amazing grandparents.  She is the only grandchild on both sides, so not only is her company highly sought after, but she is spoiled rotten.  I am always in awe of her relationship with each one of them.  Not just how she is able to interact with each of them differently and read their personalities, but also how she changes them.  For example, my parents, who have been divorced since I was 8, are much more friendly and patient with each other and often work together to cover baby duty when Erik and I are not available.  We noticed a big change in Erik's parents when we come to visit them in Pullman.  Before Elliot was born they were always happy when we came to visit, but they never came bounding out the door to meet us at the car like they do now!

My mom has been looking forward to having grandchildren since I was in grade school.  I vividly remember her packing away toys we had outgrown and saying "I am saving this one for my grandbabies!"  And she did!  She's always pulling out all these toys for Elliot that I used to play with.  The most recent recovery is the "My Little Ponies"collection.  I think I might have more fun playing with those than Elliot.  Mom and Elliot have a beautiful relationship.  She understands her sometimes better than I do.  And there is no one out there better at celebrating Elliot and the things she accomplishes.  Sometimes I just watch her watching Elliot because I like to see so much joy on her face.

When we told my Dad I was pregnant, he literally jumped up and down.  Several times.  It was probably the best reaction we got, bar none.  His attitude toward the news pretty much sums up his attitude toward her in everything.  I don't think he could ever get enough Elliot.  And I am sure all of his phone contacts wish his camera would break down for a while so he would stop sending them pictures of her!  As many of you know, he recently underwent a very serious brain surgery that ended up keeping him in the hospital longer than expected.  Even when he was in his most drugged up and uncomfortable state, he would still ask about her and long to see her.

Bill and Sue are two of my (and Elliot's, of course) favorite people.  I am forever grateful I married into the Rammelsberg family.  It is unfortunate they live in a different town and Elliot does not see them as often as her other grandparents.  Fortunately, they are only a couple hours away and we see them at least once a month.  When we visit Sue always makes sure everything is just right for Elliot, from the food she buys to the crib bedding.  She also always encourages Mommy and Daddy to get out of the house for the purpose of giving us a break (but actually so she can be alone with Elliot...we know what you are doing! lol).  She never gets tired of playing and reading with her and showers her with compliments.  She is also a wonderful storyteller, so I am looking forward to Elliot learning all about her relatives from Sue as she grows up.

Bill is a "comfortable silence" kind of guy.  By that I mean, he is a man of few words.  But he is the sweetest man in the world and Elliot adores him.  She can convince him to do just about anything.  And he was willing to abandon his home comforts to come sleep on our crappy spare bed for a few nights all to stay with her.  One day he was watching her while we were at work and I texted him asking how it was going.  His reply was it was good and they were "just cuddling and watching shows."  Precious.  A lifelong WSU fan (I am not sure "fan" is even a strong enough word) he taught Elliot how to say "Go Cougs!" last time he was here.  I wonder what he will do if she decides to become a Vandal like her mama.  Or even worse, a Husky!

Grandma Vera at our wedding in 2009

In all seriousness, I have been considering the grandparent relationship a lot recently because we are coming up on the one year anniversary of losing my Grandma.  Right after she passed I thought about writing about her in my blog and what she meant to me several times, but could never bring myself to do it.  There is a Native American tradition, or perhaps just a Yakama Nation tradition, that when someone dies you do not look at a picture of them or really speak of them for one year.  While I do not personally subscribe to that tradition, I recognize a kind of beauty in it.  Soon after losing someone emotions are so raw that they tend to cloud anything you do or say.  So I guess, in a way, that is why I never did blog about it.

She was a wonderful Grandma.  I miss her dearly.  I spent a lot of time with her growing up and as an adult, and I will never regret that time.  Now that I see the way Elliot's grandparents love her I understand how she must have felt about me, and my siblings and cousins.  What I do regret is that she didn't live long enough to answer all the questions I have for her that come up as I go through day to day activities.  I should have asked her more about her parents and what they were like.  I wish I could ask her what it was like to raise four kids and whether she would recommend having that many now.  But most of all I wish I could just sit around her table with her and talk.  About nothing.  About everything.  I see her in many places in my life.  Especially when I host a gathering and when I am cooking one of her signature dishes.  I hope to one day be rolling up a batch of her cinnamon rolls, cutting off the end piece and handing it to my granddaughter, telling her all about Grandma Vera.

Her house recently sold, and seeing someone else parked in her driveway and living their life in the house that is as familiar to me as my own childhood home was like a punch to the gut.  But I know what Grandma would say, after she scoffed at the current state of her yard: It's just stuff.  She was so uncomfortable at the end with her various infirmities, that I am grateful that she is at peace.  When we found her, after she had passed, she was lying peacefully on her bed, fully clothed, and comfortable.  I cannot imagine a more perfect way for her to go.  Still, it's difficult on the rest of us.

Grandma with Elliot last Halloween, the last time I saw her.

I am so grateful for her life, that I got to be a part of it, and that she got to meet Elliot.  She is gone but not forgotten.  Cheers to you, Grandma!  We miss you.

Elliot in One-derland

Ok, so it has been a really long time since I have done an Elliot update.  In fact, I think back at the beginning of the summer I made promises to post her birthday pics on the blog.  Oops!  Well, that is not happening.  So I thought the theme of this post would be Elliot since she has hit the big O-N-E.

Can I just say I love, love, LOVE this age?!  Basically, this summer was so much fun because she is 100% personality and a blast to be with.  Her love of the great outdoors has not diminished.  She spent a lot of time outside in the garden with me.  Sometimes playing in/eating dirt, sometimes sneakily snatching unripe fruits and veggies off the plants.  She also spent a lot of time playing in the water.

More recently, she has started communicating more with words.  It is like she suddenly opened her mouth and actual words started falling out.  Some of her favorites are "more" (used in equal parts to request more food or more reading), "moo" (used to describe any animal sounds, not just cows, as well as what she calls her favorite magnet, which is actually a moose), "beep beep" (what she says when she wants to sit in your lap and do something, usually to read a book.  As in the sound a garbage truck makes when it's backing up.), and "Tote" (her interpretation of Toast's name).  Even with all the new words she still gets really frustrated when she can't communicate with us.  

I think the most profound difference from before age one and after is the emergence of her personality.  She is very sensitive but not shy.  She is sweet.  She is funny and finds random things amusing.  She is able to read people and react to them in a somewhat socially appropriate way.  And she is extremely flexible.  I am unbelievably proud of her.  This last month has been rough on her with my Dad being out of commission.  Pre-surgery he watched her 3 days a week.  He is recovering well now, but is still not quite up to snuff to watch her yet.  So we have been relying on the kindness and generosity of family and friends to watch her those days Dad would normally have watched her, which means in one week she might go to three different houses and babysitters.  She has handled it like a champ.  I think it was more difficult on me than her.

So I picked a random assortment of photos from the last 3 months or so to include in this post.  Enjoy!

Trying to convince Mommy to let her go down the big slide.

Gardening

Thwarted by the gate.

Sitting down with a good book.

Playing at the park.

Family selfie.

Enjoying the two S's: Strolling whilst snacking.

Harvesting summer's juiciest bounty: the peach.

Splash parking.

Her daily visit to "Happy," her tree gnome friend.

Reading on the go.

More "Happy"...this time in the pool!

Cooling down in the shade.

Watching her melons pop up in rows.

Her favorite: the floorbed.

Just because a baby from behind is adorable.

The thrill of the fair.

Crumbs.

Couch potato.

Yoga

Ice cream is a food group, right?

Eating directly from the cob.  She couldn't do that a year ago!

I will try to update more often in the future.  We are just having too much fun to document :).  Happy fall everyone!