Ellie has TWO teeth!

From April 2009

I know, I know...it's been too long! But I'm proud to say - I'm back and things are slower than they were the past couple weeks in the Gramkow household! Ben's passed his Master's presentation by his committee. (Ok, maybe I already mentioned that). I'm FINALLY done with comps (comprehensive exams) for my Master's programs. Should find out by the end of the week if passed or not. Then before we know it finals week will be here. Then we'll be officially done! Wahoo! The end is in sight.

From April 2009

(When I asked Ben to bring down the dirty laundry, this is what he brought!) Ben officially accepted with Lockheed and we have a meeting with the relocation specialist on Friday. Looks like we'll be taking a trip to Dallas/Fort Worth the week after finals to scope out a new home for Team Gramkow. If anyone knows any great things about areas to live, contacts, etc...just let me know! Ben's official start date is June 22. So we're planning Ellie's first trip to Iowa (Memorial Day weekend - and for those of you in the North Central Iowa area - please stop by Ellie's Baby Shower which my sister/mom/best friend Carrie and second mom, Lois are planning! It's from 1-3 on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. I would love to see all of you to thank you in person for praying for our little Ellie. Plus, I'm excited for her to meet all of you! :) Can't wait! Then we're planning on a vacation with the Weber family the first week in June. Ellie's excited to meet Uncle Micah, Aunt Renae, Cousins Kahle and Bodee oh, and Uncle Greg too!

From April 2009

Updates with Ellie: Well, it's been a big last couple weeks for Team Gramkow. We're just starting to take her out and about. My first baby step taking her out was to get the mail at Jardine. Then it was a beautiful day out and we decided to take her to K-State's Open house. We even ate at the dining center for the first time! And we have been going to church too. It's been so nice to get toward "normalcy" in being out and about with Ellie. I still have fear that she's going to get sick, but I'm trying to trust God more on that issue. It's definitely getting better and it's fun to take Ellie with us on our errands!

From April 2009

She's still smiling a lot, is still playing with her feet a lot, sucking on her toes, and will roll to her side. We still haven't gotten her to roll over from her back to her tummy yet. However, she does have TWO teeth now! Yep, just yesterday she cut two bottom teeth. She's been fussy and drool-y! :) Too be expected of course! I'm still in shock that she actually has teeth now! Well, short update, but better than nothing. Hope all is well! Prayers for all of you graduates out there - we're so close to the end!

Team Gramkow: Next Stop: Fort Worth, Texas

Praise Jesus! Ben got the official offer for a job today at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, TX as an electronics engineer. We have a lot of materials to read, but are excited about this new adventure. Kind of a lot going on right now, but well, we'll add moving plans to the list! Mandy has her comprehensive exams coming up April 25, so she's been studying, studying, studying. Ben has his Master's presentation this coming Friday. The end is in sight! Ellie got the home heart/apnea monitor DISCONTINUED TODAY! So she's just been wearing it at nights for a month, and now we can totally get rid of it! Yippee! Yesterday was also a gold princess sticker worthy day because Ellie ate 8 oz. at one feeding! All time high! Wahoo! Well, back to studying, another exam tomorrow! THANKS for all your prayers for Ben's job situation. God is good! Please continue to pray that details will be worked out soon!

Happy Easter!

From April 2009

Happy Easter from Team Gramkow! We hope that all of you were able to celebrate that Jesus is risen from the grave! Praise God! We are so thankful for his provision for our family. We have some updates! On Thursday, April 9, Ellie was given her last synagis shot for the cold/flu season. Julie, our home health nurse, weighed Ellie and she now weighs 13 pounds 6 ounces. Wahoo! She's gaining on the very bottom range that she's supposed to be. I of course always want it to be more, but HEY she's still gaining. I just have to keep telling myself that!

From April 2009

She's started to find her feet and will giggle a little more these days. She also loves to stick out and curl her tongue. I'm sure you'll see that from the pictures! Too fun. She also gets bored pretty easily, so she's wanted some more mommy/daddy "hold me" attention! Yesterday was a big step for Team Gramkow. We went to church! We purposely went late and then left early (mostly for mom's stress level). Baby steps! Maybe next time, we'll stay and talk to someone afterwards. Just still in cold and flu season, so I'm still of course nervous. All morning getting ready for church I was feeling sick to my stomach and was just so nervous. BUT...who am I to not trust that God will take care of everything. And, I just had to keep telling myself, it's not like anyone's going to cough directly on her, or hold her or touch her face and hands...because the mama claws would come out! Ha! Anyways. It was WONDERFUL. So wonderful to hold Ellie in my arms and singing praise songs! I used to sing to my belly all the time at home when Ben was away in Wichita this past Summer, so it really had some awesome meaning! YAY! She did great too. She looked all around. I don't think her eyes and head could follow everything fast enough, there was just too much to look at! We also took her to the Easter Cantata last night - wasn't sure if that would be too much stimulation or not. She did fall asleep during the middle of the cantata.

From April 2009

Ben's supposed to hear back from Lockheed today. So hopefully we'll have an update soon! He's working on homework from home today with Ellie because Bridget is sick with a fever :( He did get his incompletes from last semester cleared by Friday! Wahoo! He actually got two "A's" so was pretty pumped. All those late nights paid off, and unfortunately they aren't stopping quite yet because he has his final presentation and meeting with his Master's committee this Friday.

From April 2009

Enjoy the pictures of our cutie pie Ellie in her Easter Dress (Thanks Aunt Audrie and Uncle David!)

From April 2009

From April 2009

From April 2009