Nursery

It's been brought to my attention that I never posted pictures of Ellie's nursery. Sorry! Her placement happened pretty quickly and we didn't get it all done for a while. It is now finished...well unless I decide to tweak it, and I might.

I love old windows and plan to put different scriptures on this one that I painted with chalkboard paint.  This Ikea dresser we use as her changing table.  It gives me so much storage!

The butterflies on the wall are from Pottery barn and so is the owl and her bedding.

The curtains are from Target and they have the blackout panel behind them.  I looked all over for some that weren't super high.  I think these add the perfect touch of pink against the blue walls.



This was my dresser when I was a baby.  I sanded it, painted and distressed it.  I love how it adds a bit of texture to the room with the distressing.  The hanging above it is from Canton.  My Texas friends know about Canton.  I stuck pics of our family the first time they held Ellie in it.

 

Here's Ellie's crib!  We love this bedding!



Look at that closet.  Those aren't even all her clothes.  I have them all in tubs that I store in the garage.  They have 3 months of clothes in them.  I bring them in and trade them out as she changes sizes.  It's a great way for me to stay organized. 

There you have it!  It's not a huge room, but it's perfect for my sweet baby girl!  

Swimsuit Model

I'm definitely not referring to myself!  I may have went a little crazy with swimsuits for Ellie.  My justification is that we do have a pool and she will need several options.  Last night we did a little photo shoot when she tried them all on.  Well, I put them on her and she just smiled.  :)  She has 4 swimsuits and I only took pictures of three.  I love them all and can't wait until she is able to wear them.  We have a lot of pool parties and I am definitely looking forward to this summer!

Look at those chubby legs!  I love them!

Ellie's serious face

I love this Mudpie lady bug suit!

Now if I can just find myself some cute swimsuits.  ha!  And if someone would just comment on how cute my chunky thighs look like they do Ellie's.

4 Months Old

Look at that smile!

Ellie Grace turned 4 months old Sunday. Where has the time gone?!?! It seems like we were just bringing her home. Ellie brings more joy to our lives than we ever imagined she could. Just about daily, we find ourselves asking one another if we can believe how blessed we are. She's really our baby girl.

Here are Ellie's 4 month updates...

We go for our 4 month check up Friday so until then I don't have all her stats. But, when we were there 2 weeks ago with an ear infection, Ellie weighed 12lbs 2oz. She's eating 7 ounces of formula every about 5 hours. That girl loves her bottle! 

Ellie started rolling over from her back to her stomach this month. The first time she did it was the day after Mother's Day. We came home from work and I took her out of her car seat and laid her on her play mat so I could let Sam outside. When I turned back around, she was on her tummy. I sat down with her right then and she did it 2 more times. Of course I didn't think to grab my phone or the video camera. I was just so excited. She doesn't do it every single time we lay her down, but she does it often.

She watches Sam all the time. Whenever she sees him walk by or if he goes up to her, she watches him as long as he stays near her. She just loves him. He's so sweet with her too.

We've started using the bumbo seat. She seems to enjoy it quite a bit. I think it's because she's sitting up and able to really look around. She likes to sit facing away from us or up on our shoulder most of the time now. She still snuggles, but not nearly as much as she's become so social.

Ellie smiles ALL the time! She is truly the happiest baby! The only time she cries is when she's ready to eat or just overly tired. Which doesn't happen too often because we really try to keep her on her schedule. Speaking of sleep, we stopped swaddling her arms. I know that probably sounds crazy to some of you, but she loved being swaddled! She slept so great. I was really worried about not swaddling her, but she was breaking out of it at night and then waking up. The first night she took a little bit longer to fall asleep, but after that it's been business as usual. We put her down awake and she goes right to sleep! We usually put her to bed between 8:00-8:30 and she sleeps until about 5:30 or 6:00. 

Ellie still loves her play mat. She grabs at everything hanging from it. She has shown a real interest in toys lately. Of course she puts them right in her mouth. Her hands are in her mouth all the time lately! She's been trying to get her feet to her mouth too, but hasn't succeeded yet. She does grab them as soon as we lay her on her back. It's just too cute.

One of the very best things that our sweet girl has started doing more and more is giggling. It is the sweetest sound! At first she would only laugh when we'd tickle her. Now we can make funny sounds and she'll laugh.

Every month I think is my favorite and then she gets older and it's just as wonderful. I just wish time would slow down a little. I'm looking forward to spending every single day with her this summer! Only 9 more days!!

Here are some more pics.

Can you see those eyelashes?!

She just melts my heart

Ellie and Joy the owl

Mother's Day

Our Family of Three!

I had a wonderful weekend with my family!  We were all sick around here last week so it was nice to finally be feeling better.  Ellie is still getting breathing treatments to help with her upper respiratory infection, but I think she's on the mend! 

Sunday Barry got up with Ellie and gave her a bottle at 7:00 when she woke up.  I got up shortly after that so we could all get ready for church and be on time!  What is it about a baby that takes twice as long to get ready?  He went to get breakfast for us...donuts and pigs in a blanket.  Yum!  Barry also gave me the sweetest Mother's Day card from him and Ellie.  It made me cry!  They gave me a gift card so I could do some shopping. 

Our church always has a beautiful Mother's Day program and this year was no exception.  It was very touching.  What made our service even better is that one of our dear friends was baptized!!  We are so proud of his decision and thank God that he is in our lives.

After church we went to lunch, then came home.  Ellie went down for her nap and I made peanut butter no bake cookies for small group.  Our small group is finally meeting again after taking some time off since December to work with the youth group. We see our friends often, but it's not the same as meeting in our group.  We love these people! 

Small group was fantastic as always!  Ellie was perfect.  She was held by many and then rolled around on the floor.  She is so close to rolling over from her back to stomach.  She just needs to move her arm out from under her and she'll have it.  Of course that could take a while. 

The evening ended with us coming home and doing our bedtime routine with Ellie.  I silently thanked God for this amazing baby girl that we had waited so long for.  She was worth the wait....oh was she ever!  I can't imagine a more perfect fit to our life! 

After she was in bed we watched Brothers and Sisters.  I had DVR'd it.  Does anyone else watch this show?  I love it!  It's one of my favorites.  I cried...of course.  I cry at almost anything.  ha! 

It was just a normal day for us with some wonderful and even unexpected events thrown in.  It might not sound so exciting to many of you, but it was perfect for me.  I'm finally a mommy and believe me I don't take that lightly or forget how blessed I am. 

I continue to pray that my friends who are waiting will be mommies very soon!

A First

I remember sitting in church last year on Mother's Day. I cried most of the service and really didn't want to be there. It was brutal.

A day honoring mothers seems great doesn't it? I mean mothers are wonderful...or at least that was my experience. But, what about those that didn't have a mother in their life growing up? Or those whose mothers have passed away? I can't imagine their pain. I know those people never forget their loss or lack of mother, but this day just makes it all the more real.  They have to spend the day thinking about what they don't have, while others celebrate what they do have.

For me, last year was a lot like that, but in a different sense. It was about wanting to be a mommy so bad and not. When all around me people were moms or moms to be. It was so easy for them. They wanted to have a baby and guess what, they did! I sat in church last year with tears streaming down my face. Praying and wishing that this year would be my turn.

And it is. This year I am a mom. I have a beautiful baby girl. But, this morning as I was holding my daughter, the tears started again. I knew that there were so many of my friends that weren't holding that baby they so desperately want. The baby they pray for each day. I know how real that pain is for each of you that are still waiting. My prayer this Mother's Day is that each of you make it through this day and that next year you are celebrated in a special and wonderful way. That you wake up with and hold your baby in your arms.

Much Love to each of you

20 Days

I was born to be a teacher. When a student finally "gets it," that just makes my day!  Heck, sometimes my year!  The stories the kids share often have me laughing my head off or crying my eyes out.  Notes that tell me I'm their favorite teacher mean so much...even though I know next year another teacher will receive the same note.  The notes that tell me she wishes I could be her mom break my heart.  I say all that to say, I do love teaching! 

Right now though....I hate it!  Not the job, not my class...still love that.  I just HATE dropping Ellie off everyday. 

I had a breakdown before I left for school yesterday and we didn't even take her to the babysitter.  I cried almost the entire way to school and then kept on crying in the teacher's lounge once I got there.  Ellie has another ear infection and upper respiratory infection.  I stayed home with her Tuesday and Barry stayed with her Wednesday because I just couldn't take her to daycare.  She isn't running a temp and is actually quite smiley and happy.  I just hate that she doesn't get one on one attention all day. 

If I could stay home, I'd give my notice tomorrow.  OK...I would have given my notice on January 21st!  But, it's just not possible.  As much as I want it to, it just isn't going to happen.  I knew it would be hard, but I thought it might get easier to leave her each day.  Well, let me tell you....it hasn't!  It has gotten harder. 

Our babysitter isn't a problem.  We do like her and she came with great references.  She takes good care of Ellie and I know she is safe.  BUT, she's not me.  She's not giving her 100% of her attention.  She's not spending her day with just Ellie.  And ya know what...even if she was...she wouldn't be me. 

So right now I'm counting down.  I'm counting down the number of days until I'll be able to spend my days with my sweet baby girl.  I'm counting down the days until I wake up and don't have to rush around getting myself and Ellie ready to leave the house.  I'm counting down the days until I can sit and watch her sleep in the mornings.  I'm counting down the days until I can play with her on the floor during the day.  Until we can go for walks in the morning before it gets too hot.  I'm counting down the days until we can splash in the pool to cool off.  I'm counting down the days until I can spend my days watching my baby girl smile. 

(courtesy google images)

Those 20 days speed by fast enough!

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I was going through my pics tonight and found this one.  Barry came in and took some pics one night when I was reading to Ellie before bed.  Our bedtime routine is bath, bottle, books and bed.  So this was right before I laid her down.  She looks sleepy.

I look pretty rough too, but I don't even care much.  ha!  After I get home from work now, I put on some comfy clothes if we are staying home and spend the evening relaxing with Ellie and Barry. 

Life is good!