Ellie 5 Months

Its ok to post Ellie's 5 month photo on her 6 month birthday, right?  Not sure how I got so far behind on blogging, but I'll need to catch up with our Italy trip in a few days! 


At 5 months, Ellie was just as happy as ever.  Here are some pics from Easter and right before then. 

Addy and Ellie's Baptism

Addy and Ellie were baptized together on March 9.  We were thrilled to become Addy's godparents at the same time.  It was so fun to have a bunch of family and friends together for the event.  Neither of the babies cried throughout the ceremony, although Ellie did a decent amount of drooling and eating her hand.

It was a great ceremony and luncheon, and I am very grateful to my parents for helping us put it together and all the family and friends who traveled to attend!

Godparents and Goddaughters - Sarah, Pat and Caroline were awesome for spending the whole weekend with us in Sac!

With Tisa, Kevin, Addy and North

Cassidy Family Photo

With Grandma and Grandpa Cavanaugh

2/3 of the Cavanaugh Family - pretty great!! 

Grandma / Great Grandma Marjorie and Grandchildren / Great Grandchildren

Great Grandkids photo (+Ellie trying desperately to hold onto both Ethan and North's hands)

Grammee and Bear

I was so touched that my dear college girlfriends from San Francisco came to see us!  I miss these girls so much and they have been so supportive! 

It was a perfect day!

California... CALIFORNIA... CALIFOOO-OORRR-NIAAAA

That title is supposed to be to the tune of the theme song to the OC.  It seems fitting since while we were in CA, Colin did a visit to UC Irvine and is considering going to Business School there come next fall.  We'll see, but I am certainly easily "warming up" to this idea if you catch my drift. :)

We truly had our best visit to the States yet.  It was relaxing, and yet full of seeing our family and friends.  Ellie loved meeting everyone too - it was great for her to be able to see grandparents, GREAT grandparents, aunts, uncles and loads of cousins.

Colin and I indulged in our favorite CA foods for 10 days straight.  Oh, and we got out of Germany's coldest and darkest winter ever and enjoyed a bit of sunlight and not bundling up!  I think it was the first time Ellie really saw the sun since she was born.  We love Germany, but the warmth and love of this trip helped us get very excited about moving home soon!
 

  In Auburn, Ellie had a great time hanging out with Grandpa and Gramma Cav and their new pup Winnie.

 She loved practicing piano...

And taking nature walks outside with Dad...

 

 

And it was a huge treat for us to see our dear high school friends Mike and Al.  Yes, my best friend from high school married Colin's best friend from high school and they have an adorable son Jonathan and another son coming soon in MAY!

In Sacramento, we loved introducing Ellie to her cousins North and Adeline while we all enjoyed our fave Mexican food!

Ellie was only motivated to roll over because she was trying to keep an eye on Addy...

Kevin taught North about Mole, which he then proclaimed to be his favorite food!

Last time we were with the family, Tisa and I were both pregnant in Austria.  So it was very fun to be together again but now with our daughters.  Too bad in this photo the girls were more interested in the food.  And per usual for Ellie, she found a way to grab Addy's hand.

It was truly amazing for us to be able to introduce Ellie to her Great Grandmother Marjorie and Great Grandfather Bill.

Opening their first Tiffany boxes from Great Grandpa!

And we all had a blast hanging out all weekend with Grammee and Bear and the great grandparents, as well as Ellie's godparents, Sarah and Pat and their precious daughter (and Colin and my goddaughter) Caroline.  We also had a great visit with my college friend Kristina and her boyfriend Todd!

We loved that Todd and Colin were wearing matching shirts, made by our friend's company Pladra. 

with Auntie Erin

Like Allison, Sarah is also expecting her second baby in May!  I was so lucky to be able to hang out with my two best friends!

Baptism photos next!

Ellie 4 months

 Ellie turned 4 months a while back while we were in the States.  She is now treating us to her little giggles and a bit of rolling over.  Most importantly, she was nice to her parents while on a 20 hour journey back and forth from California to meet family and friends and get baptized.  Posts on the trip to come!

PS: she still has ALL her hair.  And then some -its grown!  Oh, except the nice bald spot on the back of her head... Yes, I do give her a salon blow dry after every bath.  She likes it!

Karneval mit Baby

Flamingo + Chicken = Polar Bear.... ?

We really did it up for our last Karneval... attending not one, not two, but three parades in different towns nearby.  Colin and I reprised our roles as Chicken and Flamingo, and in a genetics defying move Ellie went as a baby polar bear.  We had a great time celebrating with friends in Langbroich, Sittard and Kempen.

Ellie was such a good sport in her bear outfit - I had to take a bunch of photos!

She enjoyed partying it up with Dad in Langbroich...

Colin and Bill walking through the farm fields in Langbroich

and partying in Sittard with friends.

 

I love Karneval because you get to see the craziest things...like a float making fun of Japanese tourists?

An amorous bear couple....

A lookalike dog/owner paramedic costume...

Your husband running into the parade to hang out with the man carrying a giant egg...

Hard to think this is our last time celebrating Karneval with our friends here!  We'll miss it so much!