Her Own Room

Ellie got her own room when we moved into our new house, and this past weekend we put the finishing touches on it! I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! Our friend, Chris, painted all the flowers on the wall, and they look so nice!! She's an amazing artist, and we are so appreciative of her painting Ellie's room! I painted the green, and Colin put up the chair rail. I'll let the pictures do the talking...it's perfect for our little princess! =)







The mobile is from Grandma & Grandpa's recent trip to Spain.



A close-up of the flowers...look at all the pretty detail.



And, Auntie Sara has decided to blog with her new-found downtime. I've added her link to my friends. She'll have to add a post explaining the meaning behind her web address (hint, hint) =)

Prayers for Auntie Sara

My sister Sara tore her achilles tendon playing basketball yesterday. She had surgery to repair it this morning, and everything went well. She'll be laid up in the hospital until at least Monday though as they watch her stitches and make sure there is no infection. Being that she's in Spain, she won't have any family visiting so I thought we could send our well wishes this way at least (feel free to comment on this post)! I don't even know who reads this blog, but spread the word...I know she'd love to hear from you! Here is the number to the hospital as well...they will answer in Spanish, but if you say 'Room 101, Sara Boyer', you should get through - 01134 971 351 115. Remember they are 6 hours ahead (from Eastern time) as well!

3 Months Old!

Baby girl is 3 months old today! No official Dr's visit this month, but all indications are that she's still growing! It seems like everyday I'm putting more clothes that don't fit anymore away in the closet. Ellie's long and becoming quite the little chubber too! =) She likes to 'talk', has started to giggle a little, and is full of smiles (although she's a little apprehensive when the camera comes out!) Her favorite things right now are her Baby Einstein mat (still VERY fun!), stretching out on the floor, and just looking around at everything she can see. She's rolled from her tummy to her back a couple times, but isn't real consistent yet. She's always stretching on the floor like she wants to roll so I don't think it'll be long. She's grabbing for things now - favorites are Mom's hair and other soft things like shirts, burp cloths, and blankets. She'll hang on to the rattle, but still isn't quite sure what to do with it. She's quite the little drooler these days as well which makes me wonder whether we'll be seeing a tooth soon? She's a happy little girl just budding with curiosity!

We had her first 'real' pictures taken last weekend, and she did so good! She wasn't too smiley, but we still got some great shots!











This last one is a collage that Colin and I put together.

Birthday Weekend

Auntie Shannon turns the big 2-5 tomorrow, so yesterday my Mom, Dad, Colin, Ellie, and I went down to Shannon and Andy's to celebrate the big occasion! We had a great meal of steak, shrimp, salmon, pollack, fresh asparagus, and garlic bread. We also had yummy German chocolate cake and Coldstone ice cream (Mmmmm). It was a fun night in Madison - Happy Birthday Auntie Shanny! =)

Ellie was being cute as ever.



Talking to Auntie Shannon



Grandma was teaching her to stick out her tongue.



Hanging out on the back of the couch watching the activity at the kitchen table was a lot of fun.



25 candles



Mom and Dad with the delicious dessert spread =)



Shanny and Andy



Colin and I (notice the spit stains on Colin's shoulder - compliments of Miss Ellie =)

Week 11

We are coming to the end of my last full week home with Ellie which is very hard to believe. I said last night that it feels like her birth was so long ago already - the time has gone really fast. We visited the day care she'll be going to earlier this week. They have a new young infant room where Ellie will be one of five babies. The other 4 are all boys!! There will be one more girl starting a few weeks after Ellie though, so she won't be on her own for long! It is a large day care center, so Ellie will be in one room with babies of her own age. The whole day care thing is really hard when you live in an area where you don't know a lot of people and have no family around either. I talked to a few mothers who bring their children to the same day care, and they had nothing but good to say. Everytime I've visited I have a good feeling as well - it's a warm, welcoming environment, and everyone that works there is so nice. I feel good about it, though I know next week will be an emotional one. I don't start work until Thursday, but Ellie is going to start day care in the mornings on Monday so she (and I) can ease into the new routine (and so hopefully I'm not an emotional wreck my first day back to work). I can definitely say after these last 11 weeks that I have a whole new appreciation for stay-at-home moms - they do have a full-time job in every sense of the matter! I'll be honest with myself though and say I am more suited to being a 'career-mom'. I love Ellie with everything in me, but the balance that my career brings to my life is something I really see myself needing. Besides, my job is to research and develop BABY products - who better to do that than a mom?!? I think that BEING A MOM will give me a different (and better) perspective at the job I do! So, send your HUGGIES complaints my way - I'm all over it!

Stretching out on the floor is a lot of fun these days.



Smiley girl



Holding a rattle, but not quite sure what to do with it yet!



Here are some shots of the house too...we still have a few boxes to unpack and decorating to do, but it'll be a while before that's all done! We're about as settled as we're going to be for now! The bedrooms are pretty boring at this point so no shots of those, but these are some of the more finished areas so far. We're hoping to have Ellie's room done next week!

Living room (from the kitchen) - notice the Baby Einstein play mat in the middle - still VERY fun!



Kitchen (from the living room)



Dining room...when we were looking at houses, a wall that fit my china cabinet was an absolute must - I love my china cabinet =)



The 'office'...really it's just an empty room with the computer desk now...it's also been the catch-all for things we don't know what to do with or haven't gotten to yet.



Half-bath on the main level



Guest bath upstairs - I really like this shower curtain, and it was on clearance too - better yet!



The front door entrance...the little art area was a perfect fit for my Keweenaw copper.



The front porch...garage on the left.



We have a nice-size backyard too...not as big as at the last house, but still plenty to mow!



Backyard again, to the left there are houses, but looking out to the right there's an open field.

Date Night

This past Friday Colin and I went on our first 'date' since Ellie was born. The college that he works at had a formal end-of-the-year banquet for the graduating seniors, so we got to get all dressed up and go out for a night. A friend of ours also had a going-away party the same night, so after the banquet we went there for a bit. My Mom and Dad came down and spent the night with Ellie as well so we were able to have a fun night out without worries. Dinner and drinks capped off with a full-night's sleep - a new Mom and Dad's dream! =)

Dressed up on our date night





AND, on the subject of sleep...Ellie had a big milestone last night - she slept through the night!! She slept straight from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am - I couldn't believe it when I woke up before her! And when she got up at 5:00, it was a quick bottle and back to sleep 'til 7:00. You know you're a new parent when sleeping in 'til 7:00 am is so exciting! I'm not going to get my hopes up too high just yet as it was just one night, but at least we know she CAN do it now. We'll see what tonight brings...

Our friends, the Goulets, came to visit on Saturday as well. They live just a few miles from us now so I'm sure we'll have a few more get-togethers with the warmer weather just around the corner. We're also very excited to have two future babysitters so close by! =) Ellie wasn't too social with the company though - she slept the entire time!

Lauren and Ellie



Hannah and Ellie



Hanging out on the floor

New Links

I forgot to add this in my last post...I have some new friend links!! My sister-in-law, Sue, is now blogging about the daily adventures with Brendan and Aiden so they have a blog and a website with pics now! Today is Brendan's 5th b-day - HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDAN!! Have a great pirate party this weekend!! My sister Shannon has also started a blog with her 3rd grade class. It is so cute to read what the kids write about each day. She's such a progressive teacher! I've also added a link to my mother-in-law's book site. She's written two novels about her childhood so you can check that out too! Lastly, for those of you reading my comments...I've been getting some spam (not sure where from), so don't be tempted to click on the 'Click here' comments...it'll download spyware onto your computer. I'm deleting them as I see them come in, but consider this your warning (if you haven't clicked on it already - Sara! =)

Week 10

Just another week here at home. It's been almost 2 weeks since we've moved now, and we just love our new home! We're still picking away at boxes and getting organized, but it's coming together. Thanks to the help of several friends and family members we were able to pack and move in about 4 days - without all the help it would have taken us weeks!! It's amazing how much we'd accumulated in 6 years, and we even threw a lot out! The biggest benefit we've realized so far is Ellie moving into her own room. She's been sleeping a lot better and getting into somewhat of a routine. She usually has one long 6-7 hour stretch, but it starts at 8:00 pm, so it’s like clock-work sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 am she’s awake. She goes back to sleep pretty quickly (within a half hour) so that’s good, but then she’s up again around 6:00 am. It’s really hard to believe, but in just 2 weeks I have to go back to work, so we’ll continue to work on the sleep routine until then. I’ve been reading about various ‘sleep training’ methods, but we’re not going to try and force anything now. She’s gradually sleeping more on her own and we’re not walking zombies or anything so we’ll continue to let her set the pace for now.

Other than continuing to unpack and get the house in order, we’ve just been hanging out at home. We’ve made a few purchases already; an area rug, a computer desk, and a mini-fridge. We’re still looking for a kitchen table. Ellie’s room is going to be the first room that is really ‘finished’. My friend Chris is going to paint it for us – I can’t wait to post the pics – it’s going to be so cute! =)

Here are some pictures from the last week. Ellie and I finally went and visited my co-workers in HUGGIES-land today so that was our big outing for the day =)

Ain't this the truth!



Smiley girl



Kickin' back



Big stretches after napping in the car. Ellie's been a great traveler so far. Most of the time she's asleep before we can even get the straps buckled in her carseat!

2 Month Check-up

Ellie is almost 9 weeks old now, and yesterday she had a check-up at the Dr. She is definately a growing girl at 23 1/4 inches long (82nd percentile) and 12 lbs, 4 oz (85th percentile)! Her head circumference is 39 1/2 cm (71st percentile) so her brain is growing big too =) Even before today we knew she's been growing as more and more of her clothes are becoming too small. She's pretty much in 3-6 month everything now. She's also moved up to Size 2 diapers - after 2 recent blow-outs in Size 1! She also had her first round of immunizations, and as traumatic as it was, she recovered quickly. She's developing more of a personality every day now, and we're quickly realizing that she has a little temper as well. When she wants something - she wants it NOW!!! She's smiling a lot and likes to 'talk' when being talked to. She has her fussy times, but for the most part is a pretty laid-back, happy little girl. Her favorite thing right now is definately her Baby Einstein play mat. No matter how mad or fussy she is, it's an instant smile when the musical, blinky star comes on. She just stares and smiles...it's so cute! She also likes looking at lights and just looking around in general. She's very curious and likes to fight sleep when she'd rather look at the things around her. Bathtime is calm now. I can't say she really likes it yet, but she's definately calm and just sits there in the warm water. Here are a few pictures from the last few days and a short video of the Baby Einstein mat. She starts to fuss a little at the end of the video. Even that can become boring after a while, but for the majority of the time it's a nice little distraction allowing Mom to get a few things done!