Spring Has Sprung/3 Months

This post needs two titles. Because thats what a Bad Blogger (ahem, me) does in a rushed attempt to catch up. So, daylight savings time ~ not really a fan. Yup, I love the extra hours of sunlight in the evening, and the fact that with it brings more walks in the park, picnics, and somehow compels everyone to leave their house and congregate in the street. So many of us hibernate in the winter, but now the kids are back in the streets and having just spent a good portion of the evening outside catching up with neighbors, it feels pretty good. What I don't love? How this time change can rattle me, leaving me feeling depleted and exhausted. Monday started off rough. Both Ella and I felt exhausted, over just one. silly. hour. Today was much better though and both she and I seemed to be back to our old smiley selves.

And speaking of Ella, because that's who I really want to write about and who some of you prefer to hear about :), today was her 3 month birthday! Looking back at the pictures and video from the day she was born, it's just amazing how much she has changed in such little time. I can say that before coming a mom, everyone said that there was this "amazing, unfathomable love" that you have with a child. While I certainly believed them all, I don't think you can really understand it truly and the depth of the love until becoming a parent yourself. Every day I look at this amazing person that I am lucky enough to call my daughter and just fall in love with her more and more. Not that it's hard. I mean, who wouldn't love a smiling, cooing, ball of love to cuddle and dote on all day? It's amazing how hours can go by and what have I accomplished? Nothing, besides enjoying the priceless minutes, or hours, spent with my "love bug."

So, a quick recap on all things Ella at three months old:

} Her favorite song to this day, still continues to be Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. We have some pretty "hot" (as I watch Randy Jackson) renditions, harmonies and mixes going on here.

} She loves to examine and turn over her hands, lacing her fingers together, and just point blank stare.

} I'm pretty sure she smilies more than not!

} While she first rolled over at 6 weeks from her back to her stomach, she has finally continued to do this on a more regular, daily basis. She loves rolling from side to side as well, especially during "nakie time."

} She loves watching Sadie and finally gave her a smile about two weeks ago.

} Her favorite toy is her beloved Whoozit, who she also smiles at and blissfully looks at each night to put herself to sleep in her crib.

} Has great head and neck control when on stomach, as well when "sitting" up.

} She recently started to hold rattles and teethers for several minutes at a time, as well as grabs on to toys hanging from her playmat.

} Likes to be read to, and seems to really enjoy looking at the pictures. Well, most nights :)

} Professional drooler and bubble-blower.

} Likes to coo and "talk" to her mom and dad.

} Best of all? Lately she has been sleeping from about 8 pm - 5 am on good nights. Although, I'll admit that when we finally go to bed, I sheepishly tell Justin that I miss her. Am I crazy enough to have forgotten those sleepless nights?

And with the beeping of the oven telling me that my dark chocolate brownies are done, goodnight. And let's hope that my next update isn't two months from now. I'm pledging to become a better "bad blogger."

Bad Bloggers

It's official. We're not very good at this blogging thing yet. Each night I have good intentions to post, but something comes up - not too surprising with a 4 week old in the house! Since my last post, we've been busy! We celebrated Ella's 1 month birthday with a visit from Grammie Overcash and Megan's uncle, Richard. Ella even got to Skype with Auntie Cara. More friends, Michelle and Dee, came by Sunday and we had our first "real" restaurant outing for lunch. Ella must have enjoyed the good company and food too, she did great! The next day, Grandma Cook visited. Revolving door, anyone? So we're tired - love the visitors but also love the quiet time for just the three of us here at home.

Ella has been busy growing and changing. Her latest development is that she's starting to smile in response, although you have to work for it and sometimes, it just comes down to luck. The past few nights when Daddy gets her up to eat, she gives Mommy a huge grin - totally worth being awake at 3 am! She loves to focus on our faces and is alert much more than in the past few weeks. We love seeing those beautiful blue eyes!

We also visited the pediatrician today for her 1 month checkup. Overall, she is doing great and is healthy. She weighed in at 8 lbs 1.2 oz. She is staying true to herself - while she is growing, they'd like to see her gain a little bit more weight. Sound familiar to any of my woes during pregnancy? She gained 9 oz. since our last visit, which was 20 days ago. By the books, the pediatrician would have like to see her gain an ounce a day, or 20 oz., so we did fall a little short. I'm pretty sure my milk production is good and she's been eating lots on a pretty routine schedule, so we're going to try to push it even more and we'll go for another weight check in two weeks. The doctor isn't too concerned yet, but wants to stay on top of things. Length and head circumference all checked in good. The doctor was impressed with how alert and happy Ella seemed!

Finally, Ella made her first trip to mommy's school today to meet all of her adoring (adult) fans. No kids today, so all of mommy's friends had lots of time to ooh and ahh over Ella. Although a little fussy, she seemed to love the attention and was alert and bright-eyed for most of our visit. While I miss seeing everyone, can't say that I miss the "work" part too much - but who would with a beautiful baby at home? :)

Picture Highlights

Two Weeks

It's hard to believe that already two weeks ago today we welcomed our daughter, Ella Madisson, and became a happy family of three. Well, actually five - counting Sadie and Neko, of course. We welcomed Ella on Wednesday, December 16th at 5:59 pm after much anticipation. She weighed a healthy 7 pounds 5 ounces and measured 19 3/4" long. Unlike her mommy, she made a late, perhaps unfashionably late, appearance ten days after her due date. Daddy says that she gets her stubbornness from her mommy... a hospital visit was needed to get her headed in the right direction, and still, she needed a little shove and a push to decide that the 16th was indeed a good day to meet us. A big part of us feels like 5:59 was just hours ago, every moment sketched in our minds when we first met our daughter. On the other hand, we feel like we've been parents for longer than 14 days. Those long days where we impatiently waited for her arrival seem like a long time ago. Regardless, we won't forget the moment we first met Ella Madisson, bright eyed and beautiful!

Since, we've had a lot of late and long nights, but a lot of laughs along the way as well. It's amazing what you do and say when you're sleep deprived: dreaming that we've lost the baby and then looking for the baby under the bed at Megan's insistence, Justin unscrewing a lightbulb and sleeping with it (again, Megan was asking where the baby was...), Justin calling Ella "kitty." We wouldn't trade it for anything though (well, maybe a full nights sleep?...). Having a daughter to love is the best!

Over the past two weeks, Ella has had lots of visitors. Grammie Overcash stayed with us for a few days and she also met her grandparents, aunt and uncle, great grandparents, and lots of friends. We feel so blessed to have so many great people in our lives to share her with! Ella got to experience her first big snow storm just a day after arriving home from the hospital. We got 2 feet of snow and it was quite the winter wonderland! We also celebrated our first Christmas together at "home" in Dillsburg. This week, Justin was the proud purchaser of a diaper sprayer for our toilet :) and Sadie and Neko don't seem to mind having a little sister around. We even managed to have our first lunch out together this week, even if only at Panera.

Ella also seems to be growing and changing so quickly. She has had an obsession with her hands since day one and finally found her thumb to suck on by Day 11. Sleepers that seemed to engulf her when we first came home are now starting to get a little tighter. While we're looking forward to seeing her personality develop, we know we're going to look back and miss these early days!

As Ella's nursery wall says... "loved you yesterday, love you still, always have and always will...".

xoxo.