6 Months

6 months...little behind but better late than never!

Our lady is still growing like a weed! We had her checkup and again, the doctor tells us our girl is perfect--- as if we didn't know that ;)  She measured in at 26 1/4" and 15.7 lbs--- skinny, long-legged lady! As usual, she showed off for her doctor too--- sitting up like a big girl and talking away! The doctor swore she said 'hi' to her. I knew it was just her adorable cooing but it's still good for my ego to hear her commend Ellie!

Sitting up--- Ellie's sitting up like a big girl! She gets more stable everyday but still topples over every once in awhile. I've been placing a couple pillows behind her so the falls don't scare her as much as they used to. I do let her fall though and just say 'uh oh!' instead of getting worked up. I want to get a good start on learning to walk/play and teach her that falling is okay. We just get back up again!

Eating--- At about 6 months, I started breaking up Puffs for Ellie to snack on. We started out breaking them into thirds and feeding to her but she's starting to get the hang of grabbing them herself. The puffs have been a great way to keep her occupied while we're eating. When we eat, she wants it, so anything helps!
She's pretty funny about them though. Tonight I put a pile of them on her bumbo tray. Ironically, everything goes into her mouth yet she can't seem to get incredibly coordinated with putting the puffs in her mouth. To solve that problem, she just put her mouth straight to the tray tonight to pick up the puff pieces! Smart girl!
I started letting her sample some of our foods this week as well. For example, on Saturday she had pieces of a tomato and this morning, I gave her part of my muffin. She loves food! I'm pretty picky about what I give her for now but gradually, she'll get a pretty good variety.
We gave her her sippy cup a couple weeks ago as well. It's become one of her new favorite toys. She chews on it and plays around with it. I think she's starting to figure out how to get the liquid out of it though. At first, she saw the water in the bottom and started to chew on the bottom. I think that's pretty smart, but obviously, it's not getting the job done. I've started drinking out of a lidded cup so she can watch mommy drink the way she needs to. Today I put some Pedialite in it and the level did go down some so she's getting there. I usually only put a few ounces of water in the cup though and try to wash it every couple days since those slobbery germs can build up.

Unfortunately, she caught some sort of viral tummy bug. She had diarrhea 5 times over a 40 hour period combined with some fussiness and restless sleep. The poor girl! I'd be miserable if I had that. She didn't have a fever or many other symptoms, so I was recommended to put half a capsule of Culturelle on her food and some Pedialite.

Sleeping--- Ellie's still sleeping great! She goes down around 8ish at night and sleeps until about 7:30-8 the next morning! She typically naps a couple hours in the morning 10-12 then an afternoon nap as well that ranges from 45 mins-2 hours. She's eliminated her evening nap lately depending on the length of her second nap. Playing in the jumper tends to wear her out and put her to sleep easier!

Moving!--- We do have wood floor and she plays on mats more often than the carpet making it much easier BUT our girl has started a little bit of scooting! She pushes herself around in a circle and backward in small amounts to get to the toys she wants. She sometimes forgets she call roll, which seems odd to me. She'll roll randomly but when she gets frustrated she just fusses until I help her. When I do help, I use it as a teaching moment like we did in the beginning instead of just doing it for her. I'd prefer to help discourage laziness :)

Our beautiful little lady is still as happy as ever! She gets more beautiful and more personality everyday! We're absolutely loving watching her grow.....

I have to include a picture from Ellie's first Halloween as well! She was the cutest little bunny I've ever seen!

5 Months

How does each month seem to fly by faster than the last?! Our little girl keeps exceeding our expectations of development and cuteness!

Pacifier update--- Our girl LOVES her pacifier! Sometimes she wakes up and as long as she gets it back, she falls back to sleep. This prompted us to teach her to put it in her mouth herself. We started working with her by using her own hand to find the pacifier and guide it back to her mouth. If she wants it, we hand it to her instead of simply putting it in her mouth. She caught on pretty quickly. Sometimes she still has trouble twisting and turning to get it straight and if she gets too frustrated, she won't but she's getting really good with it! If she didn't wiggle so much during the night, we'd load her crib with them in the night for her to find herself.

Starting solids--- We started on solids when Ellie turned four months old. She'd been watching us eat for too long and had begun waking up once during the night for 'the party in Ellie's crib' as I call it (she'd wake up and just play with her feet and talk for several minutes before falling back to sleep---pretty entertaining but not a habit we'd like to continue at 2am). The doctor seemed to think she might be starting to get hungry and starting solids would help. We started with rice cereal in the evening for about 10 days. Unfortunately, our usually regular baby became quite constipated. We decided to switch to oatmeal and see if it would help---it did! After the 10 days, we stuck with oatmeal in the evening and started veggies around lunchtime. We wanted to begin with veggies before fruit so she wouldn't refuse the veggies after receiving sweet tastes. So far: green beans are a no- she literally cried; peas- one day, no and the next meh; carrots went well; sweet potatoes are a hit; acorn squash- no;  avocado- good. We're going to circle through the veggies again before we start the fruit and hope they go well!
I've been making my own food so far and am pretty happy with it thus far. I don't mind making it as I can find the time in the evenings and am already buying the food for Steve and I. This way, I know exactly what is in Ellie's food and it seems to be cheaper so far.

Sitting up!--- Big girl decided she wanted to sit up last week! We were watching the Little Mermaid (which she loves!) and I usually hold her up, but this day, she wanted to do it herself. She leans over on her hands and stays for a short time but I have a feeling, it'll be no time at all before she's really sitting up on her own! She's growing way too quickly!

Everything goes straight to her mouth these days!

Big girl : )

Heaven gained a new angel...

This week we will say goodbye to my wonderful Grandma Chism. I've dreaded this day and none of us were prepared for this so soon. Last Thursday was likely one of the hardest days of my life and I know when I see her at the funeral this Friday will be worse. It came as a complete shock causing all the thoughts of "I wish I had...."
I talked to my grandma more than some of my best friends. We were incredibly close and spoke every couple weeks just to check in and catch up. I didn't see her as often as I would have liked but she was a huge part of my life. It's always the little things that mean the most--- eating Krispy Kremes until we felt sick when I had a random craving while pregnant (about 2.5, ha), she taught me to make her famous caramels, bonded over our love for scrap-booking, swapped recipes and cleaning tips (cleaning tips always came from her; Dad would say that Grandma mopped the floor until the water in the bucket was clean!), and just chatting like friends.
My grandma was certainly one of a kind! You never had to wonder what she was thinking; she told you. You never had to wonder if she approved; she let you know. I never wondered if she loved me; with all her heart. My grandma certainly did her share of complaining and didn't get along with everyone but goodness, the woman knew how to love. She thought the world of her sons and grandchildren and would tell any stranger how they all walked on water. I can remember taking her to a doctor's appointment while I was pregnant with Elizabeth. She couldn't contain herself from telling a stranger on an elevator that I was carrying her precious fifth great-grandchild and what a wonderful mother her granddaughter would be. After Ellie was born, she told me every time we spoke what a great mother I am. It means so much to know I made her proud.
While I can regret not taking a picture the last time my grandma held Elizabeth or calling her last week for the last time, I am trying my best to focus on all the wonderful times we spent together. I did learn to make her caramels so I can make them at Christmas for grandpa and our family to enjoy. I told her I loved her and heard her say it often. I have a picture of her holding my baby girl. I know she's now at peace and in paradise.
I could not be more thankful that Elizabeth and Landyn met their great-grandmother. Elizabeth snuggles with the blanket she made her each night and my brother and I will be sure they both know what a wonderful woman she was. My grandma loved Elizabeth and Landyn and couldn't wait to watch them grow. I'm thankful my grandpa will be able to do so. I have no doubt that we will all see her again one day in Heaven. I miss you already, Grandma and hope you're living it up pain-free with your mom and dad in Heaven. Wait for us. We'll see you again someday :)

Ready for football season!

I love having photo-shoots with Elizabeth so here's some adorable ones of Daddy's little Bears fan....

4 Months already?!

I cannot believe how quickly our baby girl is growing! She's developing and learning and it makes us so proud! She's developed the most beautiful little giggle. She gives it to us at the most random things now and isn't consistent with it yet but it makes what we thought was giggling before nothing to compare and the giggles we do get even more precious. She LOVES her feet! Especially when it's time for a diaper change, she wants to grab tightly to her feet and either rock back and forth or pull them to her mouth. She's still talking and smiling like crazy---our happy little girl.....unless she's sleepy or tired!

Follow-up with the doctor--- Our doctor says Elizabeth is doing great! I swear everytime we go, she shows off! Today she rolled over for the doctor after lifting her head up high yet again and wanted to stand on my legs while we talked about her. She's too darn cute. 

She weighed in at 13 lbs, 8 ounces (50th percentile) and 25 1/4" long (85th percentile)---long and lean!

Sleep training is going pretty well actually! We're sticking with the routine of bath, feed, read then in bed between 8-8:15 and she's doing really well with it. We're not being strict about it but letting her tell us what she needs. If she's sleepy before our normal start of 7:30, we start earlier. If she's content, we start later. Letting her get overtired is when we run into problems. With naps, she tends to get fussy after being awake about two hours. When this happens, I lie her in her crib and if I time it right, she falls asleep. I've had to do a few 5 minute sessions of crying it out but not too many times. She's not very interested in me rocking her to sleep anymore, which is apparently a good thing : (

Starting cereal tonight! We'll introduce rice cereal in the evening around 6 tonight (she feeds at 4 and 8).  She's still EBF (exclusively breastfed) but we'll begin introducing solids gradually. Fingers crossed that all goes well!

Sleep Training = Emotionally Draining!

Well, we decided it was time to start some sleep training this week :(
I LOVE holding/rocking my baby girl and would gladly do it until she is too big for me to hold BUT we figured we should probably do what's best for her development, not to mention help out any babysitter we ever have trying to put her to sleep. We started by reading several articles and talking with our doctor about her suggestions. Ultimately, we took a few things from the articles and the doctor and put together some 'rules' for ourselves we think will work best for Elizabeth. We want to have our doctor's input of course since she's our go-to for advice and would be most helpful for us. At the end of the day, though, we know every baby is different and are learning as we go what is best for our little girl.
We found out that the little catnap Ellie seems to need around 7:30/8 is essentially a power nap preventing her from falling asleep for the night. So, we've pushed her bedtime up. About 7:30, we begin her bedtime routine with a bath, feed and book. We've been putting her down about 8 each night now. Steve has put her down each night so far because I'm honestly terrified she'll start crying and I won't be able to take it. Thankfully, she's been pretty tired both nights so far!
The first night--- she fell asleep after a little wrestling about 8. Around 2am, she was squirming; I gave it back to her and she fell asleep. The hard part occurred around 4:30am when this happened again and she spit it out. We'd decided to not continue giving it back if she spit it out (mainly to avoid walking into her room 10 times in the night) so she began to cry. This is when we began the 5-10-15. I'll explain for anyone wanting to try this or who don't have a clue what I'm talking about. For 5 minutes, we let her 'cry it out'. After a grueling 5 minutes, I walked to her pack n'play and gave her her pacifier and calmed her down but still keeping her awake, told her I loved her and good night, then walked away. Of course, she began to cry again. Next, we had to wait 10 horrible minutes to let her cry it out. After 10 minutes, Steve calmed her down and did the same process. She began to cry yet again. For the next torturous 15 minutes, we had to let her cry it out. We both had to leave the room because it was so difficult. After it'd been about 12 minutes, we could hear Ellie sucking her thumb and slowly drifting off. Success! She fell asleep until I woke her around 6:15am to begin her first feeding.
After speaking to the doctor, she told us to not worry so much about a particular schedule but to focus on the falling asleep on her own and to let her sleep in (if our schedule permits). She also said I need not worry so much about her eating every 4 hours if she happens to nap through it. Ultimately, her sleeping at night and naps will work themselves into a schedule, making it much easier on us all.
Second night---We began her nighttime routine around 7:30 again and when Steve put her down at 8, awake but sleepy, she slept through the night! She woke herself up about 7:30 this morning happy as could be...

I have no doubt we'll be faced with several nights where things don't go as smoothly and we'll be forced to suffer through the 5-10-15 but last night made us hopeful!

Napping--- Ellie naps very well typically. She will usually stay awake in the morning for 11/2-2 hours, then take almost a 2 hour nap. She will either fall asleep when I take her on a jog or while watching cartoons and I'm sitting next to her getting work done. She'll take another midday and afternoon nap but doesn't seem to go down as easily for these. I'm usually rocking her or we go somewhere and she falls asleep in the car. I'm going to be forced to do the 5-10-15 I'm afraid for these now to further the development. The worst part will be doing this on my own without Steve's support.

I know once we get this under control and have a schedule set we'll be a much happier family, especially Bailey who normally very protective, gets as far away from Ellie as possible when she begins to cry :(
Fingers crossed for a short self-soothing process!

3 Month Pictures!

My friend Lisa has a great camera and was thoughtful enough to take some 3 month pictures for us. These are a few of my favorites...

This dress was mine as a baby...

Growing like a weed...

3 MONTHS!!!

This last month (let alone the two before) has flown by! I cannot believe our baby girl is already three months old! She just continues to grow and develop and it's definitely bittersweet---we LOVE watching her grow and develop a greater personality but she's growing too quickly!

She began rolling the day after her two-month birthday and thinks she mastered it. This last week, she decided she's done rolling and there's surely a faster way to get where she wants to go! She's begun to lift her hips up and try to pull forward on her activity mat. I'm afraid she may be entering the first early signs of crawling.

She also likes to grab her bottle! She tends to keep her hands near her mouth when she eats anyway, but she will hold the bottle on her own for a few seconds. Each time I see Steve letting her do it, I tell him to stop because she's too little for that, ha.

We're adding more and more to the 'outgrown pile' each week! She's wearing mostly 3 months clothes but some 3-6 month pj's. She still needs the extra length but has a little extra room in the width---our skinny girl.

Eating---  Breastfeeding is still going great! We've been on a 3 hour eating schedule, beginning around 7am for the last few weeks. She began to only eat about 10 mins max at each feeding though, sometimes as short as 6/7 minutes, so this weekend we're working on extending her time between. My short-term goal is to move to 3.5 hours, ultimately making it a feeding every 4. Keeping her naps in line with this is our best bet. I tend to keep her awake for about two hours at a time, making the most of naps and holding her off for the next feeding more effectively. We try to give her a bottle (pumped milk) each day as well but will likely be taking a time-out on this as Steve pulled his shoulder out of socket yesterday morning for the third time and will be in recovery for a little while (potentially surgery); poor Daddy is struggling without holding his baby girl. For me, it's more laziness than anything else. I don't feel the need to give her a bottle if I can just feed her myself.

Nighttime routine--- We also began a nighttime routine with Ellie a couple weeks ago and she seems more set on it than us sometimes! We give her a bath about 9 and let her have a little play time; she loves to splash. She's such a wiggle worm that sometimes I fear she's hit her head on the tub but more than anything, it's a great time for Steve and I to spend together with Ellie. After her bath, I nurse her then we read with her and snuggle. She seems to be very interested in Dr. Suess so we've been reading those mostly. It doesn't hurt that we're big fans as well. She typically falls asleep while we're reading to her, which is always a nice bonus.

Sleeping--- We've been blessed with a baby who began giving us 9-10 hours at a time around 7/8 weeks old. Well, after about a month of that, this last week she decided to begin waking up around 3/4 again. We'd try to rock her back to sleep but ultimately, nurse her for about a half feeding and she dozes off again. We think it may be a growth spurt and are hopeful it doesn't last!

Speaking of sleeping, the doctor wants us to start some sleep training. She says to wake her up before we lie her down at night and for naps to allow her to put herself to sleep. We tried the 5-10-15 one night and it went horribly. Miss Elizabeth does NOT like this and naturally, would much rather fall asleep with her mom and dad. After a little researching and discussing, we've decided to abandon this tactic for now. She still seems a little young for it and to be honest, I don't terribly mind my little girl falling asleep in my arms. I have a feeling someday too soon, we'll be wishing she'd let us rock her.

We're taking a few 3 month pictures with a friend tomorrow and will post them as soon as I can!

2 Month Follow-Up....

Better late than never I presume....

We had Ellie's 2 month doctor's appointment on the 14th and it went great! She weighed in at 11 lbs, 13 oz and 23 3/4 inches long---growing like a weed! She looked great and when the doctor wanted to see her hold her head up, I think Ellie held it higher than she ever has---show-off; she told us she was holding her head up like a 4 month old! Everything we were supposed to expect to start happening according to her, we'd already noticed. Rolling---did this the day after her 2-month birthday; smiling/cooing---constant! The doctor called her a super baby :)

2 months old already?!

I cannot believe our baby girl is already two months old! This time has flown by so far and I have a feeling it will only fly faster. 

We're blessed with a very happy girl...

She has the cutest yawn in the world :)

She's been sleeping great! The last couple weeks, she's been going about 7-ish hours at a time and last night, we got 9 hours straight! For a few days, she was quite fussy in the evenings and the pediatrician thought she might have evening colic. This was a tough pill to swallow but after paying closer attention to her and her sleeping habits, we've decided it's just fighting sleep and over-stimulation. I've been attempting to sleep train during the day, shooting to keep her awake around an hour to an hour and a half around feeding time. She still takes a longer nap in the morning and afternoon. As long as she gets an evening nap, we're able to avoid what used to feel like a breakdown. Finding what gets her to sleep is key. Lately what seems to work best are the fail-safe noise of the shower, rides in the car, walks in the stroller. She also loves to be bounced in our arms and walked. She's a pro at knowing the moment we sit down and being sure we start walking again. Yes, we're suckers for giving her what she wants.

I'm not quite ready to transfer her to the crib---mostly for selfish reasons---I can't wake up in the middle of the night to lean over and be sure she's still breathing. I've read several tips on transferring the the pack n play from the rock n play before the crib because often the large size of the crib can be overwhelming for babies. We started the pack n play over the weekend and last night she made it 7 hours in it until she was a little fussy looking for her paci. I moved her to the rock n play and she slept the remaining 2 hours with no issue. Eventually, we'll get to the crib :)

She's so full of personality already! She's constantly making different facial expressions. We have a feeling once she starts, she'll be talking a mile a minute because she coos and ahh's constantly.

I think she grows longer every night while she sleeps! We're wearing mostly 3 month clothing for length but she's not quite filling them out.

She loves tummy time (despite the look in this particular picture). We try to do a lot of tummy time these days between time on her activity mat or staring up at mom and dad on our chests.

She's become a side-sleeper at night. We think this may have been an accident when she was looking for her pacifier (which she loves) and just decided it was comfortable. We think she'll be rolling over anytime! When on her tummy, she tends to push one arm under herself and rock her legs back and forth as if she has somewhere to be. It's so exciting to watch her!

She'll have her two month appointment and shots on August 14th, which happens to be her mommy and daddy's 3-year anniversary. We're not looking forward to the shots but anxious to see her updated height/weight. 

Ellie and I have been going jogging in the amazing jogging stroller (recommended for any active mom!). She really enjoys going out with me. She typically spends the first few minutes checking out her surroundings and smiling, then dozes off the rest of the jog. One day I hope she'll want to jog with her mommy!

Putting my little girl down to work is extremely hard to do! I could hold her all day long! Instead, she likes to help, so I tend to get most done with her in one arm and working with the other.

I just love this beautiful little angel!

7 weeks!

I can't believe our girl is already 7 weeks old!

Belated update on Ellie's one-month doctor's checkup---
The pediatrician said she looks great and healthy! She was 9 pounds, 7 ounces and 21 3/4 inches long. She's growing like a weed, and I think only two weeks later, she's already grown more! The doctor mentioned several things we should start noticing soon including smiles and coos (she's already doing both these!). During the exam, Elizabeth rolled up on her side to find her pacifier as well and the pedi was impressed. She mentioned we should keep an eye on her as she may roll over (likely by accident at first) sooner than normally expected. She had her second hep-B shot at this appointment. Unfortunately, the doctor was a little behind and didn't get to the shot until close to Ellie's next feeding, so she was already pretty fussy. As soon as she received the shot, the began to cry...loudly. It broke my heart. Thankfully, they let me use the room to nurse her and calm her down. If I wasn't focused on getting her fed, I would've cried myself! At our next appointment, August 14th, she'll receive two shots. I'm told they're worse and babies tend to be pretty fussy afterward, so Steve will be joining us for that appointment.

Sleeping has been going well still. Two nights ago, we got seven hours straight! I woke up several times just to be sure she was still breathing. I couldn't believe it! We've been averaging about 4-5 at a time on most nights. Mid-morning, I often end up waking her so she doesn't exceed four hours.

We've outgrown our newborn clothes and diapers! We had a day where she pooped out the back of three diapers onto three separate outfits---figured it was time. She's been wearing 0-3 months and some 3 month outfits. She's still not quite filling out her 3 month so I think those outfits will last us a bit but she definitely needs the length!

All in all, she's a wonderfully perfect baby :)

Elizabeth's Nursery

Elizabeth's nursery was probably the first room completed once we moved into the new house and I've finally gotten around to taking/posting pictures of it!

This shelf sits above our glider and I love everything on it---

"The first steps a baby takes are into your heart"

"I love you a bushel and a peck"

Officially my favorite room in the house!

...the most amazingly comfortable glider from PBK for the most wonderful corner to spend time with our little girl : )

...obsessed with her furniture!

We can't wait to watch Miss Elizabeth grow in her beautiful and perfect room!

One Month Pictures :)

I cannot believe how quickly Elizabeth is growing!

She already has a lot of personality...

beautiful girl...

long-legged lady...

looking little in her glider :)

One Month!

My favorite photo captured this week...

We have such a beautiful baby girl!

I cannot believe Elizabeth is already one month old! Part of me can't imagine our life before her but then I also feel like it was just last week that we had her. The month has flown by and she's growing like a weed! 

Daddy had a rough night this week with Elizabeth. They had their first daddy-daughter date while I attended a girls' night. Spending short amounts of time away I figure is the best way to prevent myself from being TOO attached or making the first long stint even harder. She's been eating about every four hours, up until Tuesday. At about three hours on the dot, Steve called me and I could immediately hear her hungry cry in the background. I immediately headed home and found Steve almost in tears with a screaming, hungry baby girl. Knowing what your baby needs and not being able to give it to her has got to be a horrible feeling. I felt terribly for him :(

This prompted the decision to introduce the bottle. We made our first attempt on Wednesday. I poured about 1.5 ounces into a bottle then proceeded to warm the rest in a bowl of warm water............and accidentally tipped the bottle and got water in it......2.5 ounces of liquid gold down the drain! I learned my lesson the hard way! We were able to salvage the 1.5 so while Steve warmed that I started to breastfeed. When she took her burp break, Steve took over with the bottle, which she downed like nothing, then finished breastfeeding again. She had no problem going from one to the other---thrilled! The only challenge now is knowing how warm to get the bottle and how much she needs. Just like everything else, it's a learning process......

Yesterday was a little rough and I almost had my first real breakdown. My amazing husband scooped Elizabeth up right before I did---so thankful for him. With more awake time lately, we're experimenting with a new eating schedule. It started every four, now it's often every three hours. But last night required some research. After some reading, I'm fairly certain Miss Elizabeth is going through a growth spurt. I read that when breastfed babies go through a growth spurt they abandon the schedule they are typically on and begin eating sometimes every 1-2 hours, can't seem to get enough, get frustrated while eating, sleep much less and are restless---we've encountered all these. It's so hard as a breastfeeding mom to hear your baby cry (especially since the only time she really cries is when she's hungry) and feel as though you have no more milk to give, not to mention being incredibly sore from continued 'use'. 

Nights are still going great though! After our restless evening last night, she slept for 6.5 hours straight! She only woke up when I got nervous and woke her up to eat. We've been getting around 5 hours straight many nights but 6.5 was amazing! Many nights when we put her in the rock n play, even if she's still in and out, she falls asleep on her own! We're very grateful for this and really hoping this sticks.

Tummy time is going great so far! Ellie actually seems to enjoy it. We've had her activity mat a few times but her favorite is in the evenings when she lies on her daddy's chest. This has got to be one of the most precious pictures...

This weekend we're lucky to have Steve's cousins as house guests....not so lucky for them to witness Ellie's fussy evening yesterday. :(  On the agenda with them today is to enjoy Ellie's first walk in the stroller and to take her one month pictures (to be posted later)! This is one we captured this morning during her nap :)

She's growing too quickly!