I really like food now! Mommy finally gave up on my liking rice cereal and tried mashing up a banana for me a couple weeks ago. I loved it! Then she mixed banana with rice cereal and I liked that, too. I don't even complain about plain rice cereal anymore. And this week my new food is peas. They're delicious. I'm doing a great job swallowing now and hardly spit anything out. It's been a bit tricky for me to learn, but I've got the hang of it now!

I've also gotten good at sitting up. I can even flop onto my tummy to reach things when I'm sitting. I hardly ever fall over anymore, but we still try to keep a pillow behind me. It can get kind of tricky to figure out where to put the pillow, though, because I'm getting good at turning around while I'm sitting up.

Mommy says I'm going to be her climber. I already like climbing with my feet right up the front of whoever is holding me. I like to be on the move and working my muscles.

I am still a very happy baby. I love my puppy, Belle. She makes me smile, wiggle and laugh every time I see her. I also smile really big when William is upset. Usually people smile back at me when I show them my happy baby grins, but those smiles make William angry when he's sad. I wish I could cheer him up when he's feeling like that. He takes things too seriously sometimes.

Wow! With this new website, I now have my own blog! I thought I'd take this opportunity to try it out. This past week has been a blur of fun and excitement. Here's a recap:

Tuesday: Eliana's adoption day
Wednesday: MN Zoo - We picked up Dani and met Hallie, Seth and Forrest for a fun day at the zoo. Jenny, a friend of Dani's, and her baby girl met up with us later in the day.
Thursday: Eliana had her 6 month doctor visit and we spent most of the day at Grandma Lanz's
Friday: Leah's kids - Abi, Faith and Parker came over while she had a surgery consult. Today she had her gall bladder removed (fun vacation!)
Saturday: We had the McKeever/Corneliusen family reunion at Ferry Point
Sunday: The immediate McKeever family met for lunch and a grandkid photo shoot
Monday: William started swimming lessons at the wading pool

Our finalization was on the 8th. I wrote about it in Eliana's blog. It was a great day. We made it a special day all about our family. It was our time since we haven't really had a day that was our time yet. Usually the birth at the hospital is all about your family and the new baby, but we didn't have any visitors there. So we made adoption day all about us and invited immediate family to celebrate with us. It's nice to have the adoption process completed. It's been over a year of our life and I guess the paperwork still isn't totally complete since we need to get her a social security number now. But that's something we would've needed to do for a birth child, too, it's just that it would've been done six months ago. Oh, well. There will be little things that are different all her life, so this is just one of those things. Like having a birthmom and extra sets of grandparent - that's the way it goes with adoption.

I saw a new doctor today. She and Mommy found out they went to college together! We may have to keep her, she was nice. William will try out another doctor in a couple months and then we'll decide. I liked the nurse, too. I smiled at her a lot and was very happy. She weighed and measured me. Mommy couldn't believe I didn't break 14 pounds - I was 13 lbs 15 oz! I should have waited until after the appointment to fill that diaper. I was 25 inches long, but that measurement is a little more subjective. Mommy thought the nurse shorted me a bit. It was hard for her to keep her mouth shut. But either way, I was charting perfect growth right along the curve. I would give you my exact percentiles, but Mommy had to call back to the doctor's office to get my packet mailed out. I was so distraught when we were leaving the exam room that she forgot to grab the envelope with my measurements on it. She had her hands full carrying me in one hand and my carseat (which I did NOT want to go into) in the other. I was very upset about the shots they gave me. I was such a good girl and I didn't deserve it! I made sure to look around and memorize that place because I don't want to go back there if that's the way they treat babies!

Editor's note: Don't tell Eliana that the nurse she liked actually gave her the shots. I noticed that she slipped out of the room faster than you could blink after the shots were done. Smart woman. I don't think Ellie had any idea what she had just done to her. The second nurse gave her the oral vaccine, blew the bubbles and stayed to give the rest of the info. It doesn't matter if she hates her. :)

Today was a big day for me. I got to go to court with my family and get officially recognized as a McKeever. It took all of five minutes for the judge to ask my parents their names and other basic information and then ask if they were prepared to take on the responsibilities of parents. Luckily they answered all the questions right and the judge consented to the adoption. Grandma and Grandpa Lanz, Uncle Michael, Grandma Barb, Auntie Leah, Abi, Faith and Parker were all there to cheer when the judge made his decree. Then they all visited while Mommy and Daddy did some paperwork and paid some fees to get my new birth certificate and adoption certificate.

After court, everyone came back to my house to toast me, have some Adoption Day cake, and watch a slide show that my parents made for me. You can watch it here.

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I should also add an update about Cindy. She's feeling better and helping out some from home. She called me last week to ask if Darren and I could speak at an Adoption Education Day. Since we have such a great open relationship with our birthparents, she thought we'd be the ones to help people get over any anxiety they might have about openness. Unfortunately Darren is in the cities on the day they needed someone, but I'm going to fly solo and tell our story to all these unsuspecting potential adoptive parents. They have no idea what's in store for them. I'll have to make sure to say that our adoption is more open than most anyone else I talk to and not to get their hopes up too high :)

I keep meaning to blog this....

Last weekend Matt called to say he wanted to come visit. It had been three months since we'd seen him. Since the baptism to be exact. We were thrilled that he wanted to visit, but we were down in the cities for a wedding and the kids were staying with my parents. He proceeded to tell me that he wanted to visit Ellie before he left town for four months. He got a job with a "traveling fair." Not hearing very well on my cellphone I thought he said the name of a business and asked, "What's that?" He said, "I'm basically going to be a carnie." "OH! A traveling fair!" :) So we called him when we were back in town the next afternoon. He came right over for a short visit before leaving to go up north and join his cousin who had gotten him the job. We're excited for him to have this opportunity. When in life can you take off, travel around the country, and have amazing experiences if not when you're young and free of responsibility. This adoption has made it possible for him to do that. He mentioned that his mom may come visit while he's gone and we, of course, said that would be great! We'd love to have her. We'll see if we do!

I was working really hard at catching up on my sleep today. Yesterday was a long, busy day with lots of time outside. So today I took two really great naps. Then we went to Grandma Barb and Grandpa Ron's house for dinner and a pontoon ride. We got a little bit of a late start on the pontoon because Daddy and William were helping Grandpa fix the innertube that pulls behind the boat. By the time they got done Mommy said it was too late to get wet in the river and they'd have to wait until next time. (As it turns out we ended up staying out late anyway.) We had a really nice boat ride at sunset. I took a nap for a while. As we were driving by an island just down river from the house, we noticed a big barge full of fireworks and a lot of boats gathering in the area. After a little debating, we decided we would stay out and watch them. Unfortunately, we went back to the dock to pick up the anchor, a big flashlight... and a whole bunch of mosquitos. But it was a handy potty break for a few people and we just drove fast for a bit and swatted the rest of the mosquitos. I had just started thinking about another nap when POW - the first fireworks started. Then I was wide eyed enjoying another great fireworks spectacle. Yesterday I got tired of the show after 15 minutes and decided that the quilt we were sitting on was more fun. This show was the perfect length - exactly 15 minutes. And we had the best spot in the world! William pointed out how pretty the river was from all the colorful lights. I was proud of him for not covering his ears this time. Everyone agreed that today's show was the best! Surprises are always nice. Now I'll sleep well tonight!

What a fun day we had! We went to Beaver Lake where I swam, went tubing, swam, played in the water, and swam until I was so cold and shivery that Mommy made me get out of the lake and into dry clothes. I did take one break from swimming to eat snacks, which is why I didn't eat very much dinner. I ate all my barbequed chicken and corn on the cob, though - they were delicious! After dinner I jumped on the trampoline while Mommy and Daddy finished eating and packed our stuff up. It was a bummer to leave before the party was over, but Mommy wanted to go to the big fireworks in town. We went to her friend Denise's house where we parked the van. Then we walked to Hester Park to join Denise's family and watch the fireworks. They were very loud! Just when I got up the nerve to uncover my ears, the finale started and I had to cover them again quick! The fireworks were cool! Eliana liked them, too. She didn't cry at all and even had her ears uncovered more than I did. I think Mommy and Daddy's favorite part was being home by 10:35. That's already way passed my bedtime and I was beat from all that swimming and jumping on the trampoline.