The rush of the Holiday Season!

Hi! Well, it's that time of year for the rushing around & anticipation of Christmas. Rush is the key word for me this year. I can't believe Christmas Eve is 2 days away! I lost track of time after my back injury & now that I'm (knock on wood) starting to feel better, I realize how much needs to be done during the Holidays. I have stacks of gifts to be wrapped & cookies to be baked (maybe!). Sadly, I haven't done any holiday baking this year, which is my favorite thing to do during the Christmas season. I'm excited for Ella's first Christmas - even though the excitement of Santa & thrill of opening gifts won't phase her one bit this year, it will be fun to watch her with family & friends relaxing and spending time together!

Merry Christmas & safe travels!

Six Months Photos

We had Ella's six months pictures on Sunday. She was a trooper & didn't get crabby until towards the end of the session. You can check out a sampling of the pictures at the following link: http://www.nicolereyesphotography.com/

Click on Albums and you will find her album labeled El.a

SIX MONTHS - Half a Year!

We have achieved a big milestone. Ella turned 6 months old on December 2nd. I can't believe she's been a part of our lives for half of a year already. It's been so fun to watch her develop & grow. She's our little miracle & surprises us every day. Her 6 month well check went well. She's going to be tall (not a big surprise) and is steadily gaining weight, a good sign considering her acid reflux & gas issues. We're trying baby oatmeal now instead of rice cereal b/c the rice cereal is too harsh for her gassy tummy. She's also getting a daily dose of prunes to help with her digestive issues. We're also going to start therapy for Ella's neck - she has a minor case of torticollis, which is a crink in her neck and makes it hard for her to hold her head up straight. I'm hoping the therapy will help sooner rather than later.

It's been a pretty crazy few weeks here. Thanksgiving weekend I had a pretty serious back injury and couldn't really walk or do much of anything without severe pain. I've been seeing a chiropractor who found that I have/had something called Sacroiliitis (sp), caused from my pregnancy. Basically the weight of the baby & the way I was carrying the baby during pregnancy caused the pelvic region to adjust in a weird way and then my left hip got all weird and rotated so the joint wasn't allowed to move anymore. Yuck. It was the most painful thing I've ever had happen. I'm finally on the recovery road and can't wait until I'm pain free!

We've got tons to do to get ready for the holidays, but we're excited! After a carpet cleaning appointment today (fingers crossed that they arrive on time!) we will be able to put up the tree & decorate the house for Christmas (finally!)

Rollin'

On Wednesday 11.25.09, Ella first rolled from her back to her stomach. Now, she can't get enough of it. It's hilarious to watch, as she likes to roll and roll all across the room! I was able to catch some of her rolling in action tonight. :)

Mishaps in the Kitchen....

So Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Time for family & some food. Thought it'd be fun to make homemade rolls to include with the Thanksgiving meal at Jay's parents. First batch ended up in the trash. Something wasn't right with the dough - it didn't rise & I wasn't patient enough to wait before throwing them in the oven. So, told myself I should give it another shot. This time I pulled out the big guns - my Marjorie Johnson cookbook. As I've said in the past, I love her. Today, I REALLY loved her & wished terribly that she was on my speed dial to help me get the damn buns done! I'm a pretty good baker, so I didn't think this task would take up my ENTIRE day! Anyway, the second batch rose properly & came out of the oven golden brown (all thanks to the tips & info in Marjorie's book). Whew. But, we'll see about a taste test. See, I also made a pan of "just in case" buns, using the frozen dough (should have probably just done that from the beginning). And, because I'm worried about how both types of buns are going to end up tasting tomorrow, I just ran to Cub for the big purchase of a couple packs of brown & serve. Hey, at least there will be buns at the dinner table!

The title to this post is Mishaps in the Kitchen. Not only did I spend my entire day on buns, but I also wanted to whip up a "quick" salad for tomorrow. Simple. I've made it in the past. Should be no big deal. Good thing I was the only adult home today. The recipe requires chopped cranberries. I use one of those slap shot chopper deals. Remember the first batch of buns? Well, while I was chopping cranberries I wanted to take a peek at the buns in the oven. Big mistake. I kept my hand on the chopper, slipped/lost my balance or something & cranberry pieces flew everywhere. Under the burners on the stove, in the utensil holder, on the floor, you name it. Sometimes things in the kitchen just don't go my way.

For all of you out there who've been baking or cooking all day, or are in the midst of it right now, Good Luck. I hope it goes better for you than it did for me. And remember, there's always next year. Happy Thanksgiving.

Sleeping....

Apparently playing is hard work!

5 months (sort of)

Ella is 5 months old as of 11/2 (sort of behind in the picture taking & blog updating). She's doing great. We've introduced the jumping/bouncing contraption, which she's starting to get the hang of. We're still working on her torso & neck control, but she seems to be getting stronger, so that's good news.

Speaking of the jumping/bouncing contraption, she's in there right now....and she just fell asleep!

Happy Halloween!

Ella's first Halloween was pretty uneventful. She's too little to really do anything too crazy to celebrate the holiday, but she did look pretty cute in her Giraffe outfit. :) I'm bummed - I bought her a cute Pumpkin bib to wear for the day, and of course, I forgot about it!!

We hung out at home for the afternoon & evening (we didn't hand out candy this year hoping to keep Ella sleeping through the night). Did you see the Gophers game!! WOW!

In other news, I got really sick of our couch & chair last weekend for some reason. So, yesterday afternoon I decided to take pictures & post them on Craigslist. We sold it this morning & the people who bought it just left. Am I crazy or what?!? We don't have any new furniture picked out yet, and when we've gone shopping for furniture in the past (we've been thinking about new furniture forever) we can never find something we like. Hopefully we'll be able to find new stuff soon. Until then, we're going to use our former loft furniture, which had been in our bedroom. Townhomes get too small after a baby!!

By the way, no, Ella didn't sleep through the night last night. Go figure. :)

4 Month Stats

Ella had her 4 month well visit today. She did great considering the dr. was running WAY late & then it took forever for the dreaded shot lady to arrive. So, this time I knew what to expect for the shots, and it was pretty much the same purple faced screaming baby. She settled down pretty quickly afterwards & was asleep once we got in the car.

Despite the acid reflux she is growing well. She weighs 14 lb. 4 oz, which is 75th percentile & is 26 1/2 inches long, topping the charts in the 97th percentile. Head measures 16 1/4 inches, 50th percentile. She's going to stay on the new meds for acid reflux until her 6 month visit, and then maybe we'll be able to wean her off. The only other news from the visit is that Ella's neck muscles aren't as developed as the dr. would like. We've got to amp up the tummy time & hopefully they will strengthen on their own, but if we don't notice improvement in the next few weeks, he thinks we should have her see a physical therapist to help us get her muscles strong enough so she can consistently hold her head up.

She isn't sleeping through the night yet - hopefully SOON! She's done a full night of sleep here and there, but generally she's up at least once for a bottle.

OMG! I forgot to mention - Ella rolled over last night for the first time! Yeah! She rolled from her stomach to back. She hasn't been able to roll from her back to her stomach yet, but maybe soon...

Happy Friday!

Pumpkin

Friday night, Jay's sister Annie hosted a pumpkin carving party. We had a good time, although Ella was a bit on the crabby side (maybe too many errands earlier in the day?!) Anyway, we didn't actually get to carve a pumpkin, but we ate lots of delicious treats & wore festive attire!

Holla!

We were out & about on Friday. I wish I looked this cute running errands!

This and That

So. I've been lacking in the picture department. I'm catching up in this post.

1. Turkey Day 2009. We walked the Family 5K. There's us, Ella sleeping, Chase hanging out, and my sister Kaila as a ghost! What the heck happened with these photos?!?! Must have been something with the sunshine....

2. A visit with Grandma Alice during Turkey Day weekend 2009. Ella LOVES her. She just talks & smiles like crazy whenever Grandma Alice is around.

3. LiveSTRONG Day 2009.

4. First night of rice cereal on Wednesday night (10/8). We took this picture after she was done. Hilarious. She didn't really like the cereal, but we'll keep trying. Can't get enough of those smiles!

17 weeks

Here's an updated photo of Ella at 17 weeks (taken on Monday). And a fun bath photo we took last week. Happy

Wednesday!

Only in Farmington

So I stopped to get gas last night on my way home from work. This tractor pulled up to the bay of gas pumps next to me. Are you kidding me?! Only in Farmington. . . seriously.

Guess what Friday is!!!

So, this Friday is October 2, 2009. Yes, I'm awesome & can read the calendar. But, this Friday is special for our family for 2 BIG reasons.

First, October 2, 2009 is LiveSTRONG Day. I encourage all of you reading this blog to wear something YELLOW to commemorate the day. Long story short, LiveSTRONG Day used to fluctuate every year, but starting in 2009 it's always going to be October 2nd because that was the day Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with the testicular cancer that started his journey through chemo & beyond, inspiring us along the way.

Second, Ella bean will be 4 months old on October 2, 2009. I still don't get why some people describe how old their kids are in weeks and others by months (they never match up!) So....I keep track both ways! 4 big months old. Amazing. Her 4 month well visit isn't until 10/16 (oops! I waited too long to get the appointment) but we know she's gaining weight & soon will be putting holes through the feet of her sleepers with her long legs.

So, celebrate with us on 10/2. 1. Wear something yellow (even if it's bananas printed on your underwear - it still counts) and 2. Have a slice of cake (or maybe a cocktail) and toast our survival of 4 months with a baby.

So it's been awhile....

Hey. Here are some updates from us! So Ella is 3 1/2 months old & weighs 12 lb. 10 oz. as of last week at her dr. appointment. She has acid reflux. If it's not one thing it's another I guess! She was spitting up clear "stuff" all the time and most times it was coming out in a projectile fashion, so we took her in to figure out what was going on. They prescribed a medicine (Zantac) to take, which we've been doing for the past week. We took her into the dr. again today b/c she has become a different baby since starting this medicine - REALLY mad at certain points throughout the day. Our dr. decided she should have an upper chest GI, which was basically a scan of her internal organs. That was today. Talk about stressful!! We went to Children's Hospital in Mpls. They had her drink barrium (white nasty chaulky looking stuff) and then watched her drink on this scan machine. All checked out well (thank goodness!) but now we're still stuck with a big question mark of what is causing her discomfort. We are going to try a lower dose of Zantac for the next 2 days. If that doesn't work, we'll be heading back to the dr. to try something else. I just feel bad b/c she can't tell us what's wrong and when she's screaming & actual tears are coming out, I just want to cry along with her! But, I'm just relieved that the scan checked out okay so we know that her organs are all working as they should.

I started back to work after labor day, but have since decided to take more time for our family. I'll be working part-time for a while, which I'm SOOO excited about. I have been a mental disaster since returning to work. It's TOUGH! So now I'll have more time with Ella during the week and still get out of the house for a few days of work. I wish I was working closer to home, but at this point, at least I'm not commuting downtown 5 days a week.

I think that sums up the major developments with us since my last entry. We were in Worthington over the weekend to celebrate Turkey Day with the family! It was fun (although we were struggling to figure out what was wrong with Ella the entire time). We missed the Turkey Race down mainstreet (Ella was in the midst of a freakout), but no worries - Paycheck won! We didn't run the 10K (maybe next year?!?!) but we did walk the Family 5K. I'll have to get pictures to post later this week.
:)

Baptism Pics & Ella's 3 Months Old!

Ella was baptized on August 30th at our church in Lakeville. There's something about taking Ella to church...it prompts her to have a poopy diaper during the service. Hasn't failed yet. So, that was fun....changing her diaper while she's wearing a long white gown! But, we made it through and she didn't really cry or fuss too much. The weather was a lot cooler than we anticipated though - check out Ella's undergarments (by this point we had already lost the socks & shoes)!

Yesterday Ella officially turned 3 months old! Again....I can't believe how fast it is going. I think any day now she's going to officially giggle for us. She does something that resembles a laugh, but not quite there yet. Can't wait to hear it! Weekend plans include a trip to the State Fair. Happy Labor Day everyone!

Ella at 3 months

Happy Wedding Anniversary!

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Babe! Each year, we give gifts based on the traditional wedding anniversary gifts. This year called for fruit or flowers. Talk about a weird one! Neither of us was having much luck finding a gift to fit the category (besides the obvious), so we ordered an Edible Arrangement to share. If you've never seen these, I thought I'd post a picture of the arrangement. There are chocolate covered bananas (those are the white things in the picture) and chocolate dipped apple slices - YUM! The yellow "daisies" are pinapples with a melon center. We'll celebrate with dinner out tonight (hopefully Ella will be agreeable to this)!

12 weeks old!

Ella turned 12 weeks old on Tuesday. I can't believe it, makes me sad! Time is going so fast.

North Shore at 11 weeks

We're back from our annual trip to the North Shore. This year we didn't travel as far north as we typically do because we had Ella along and we weren't sure how she would travel. We stayed north of Two Harbors in a log cabin resort. It was nice to get away, and we were able to get some down time, but not a lot. Ella kept us pretty busy as usual. It rained a LOT while we were there, so we didn't get outside much. We did make it to Gooseberry Falls, which was fun. We strollered around the park & got a few pictures. We also made it to Betty's Pies (twice)!! YUM!

Ella is 11 weeks old! She's still having formula fussiness & gas. Another trip to the dr. is on the agenda for the upcoming week. Ella's baptism is coming up this week also. More updates soon!

11 weeks old!

The new formula, etc.

So, we've had Ella on a new formula this week (Enfamil Gentlease) to try & fix her gas issue. I'm not sure yet that it's working, but our pediatrician wants us to give it 2 weeks before we decide if it has solved the problem. I think she has a little less irritability from the gas, but she's still waking up because of gas & then gets really mad before & after passing gas. Poor sweetie!

BUT, Ella has slept through the night 3 nights this week (Monday, Tuesday & Thursday). Monday & Tuesday she slept from approx. 9 p.m. until 7 a.m.!! Thursday she slept from 9 p.m. until 4:45 a.m., but I'm counting that as sleeping through the night - close enough!

In other news....Jay is headed to Hazeltine tomorrow to watch the PGA tournament. Grandma Jolyn has offered to watch Ella for the day, so I've got a day to myself! You should see my to do list!! I got a head start this afternoon - hair cut (pic attached). It's short, but I think I'll like it.

We're headed to the North Shore next week - WHOO HOO! Stay tuned for trip pictures & stories of Ella's first trip up north. Betty's Pies here we come!!

8, 9, 10 weeks

Time Flies! I promised updated pics of Ella on Monday...now it's Friday.

8 weeks old!!

9 weeks old!!

10 weeks old!!

2 Month Stats

Today was Ella's 2 month well check appointment. She now weighs 11 lb, 10 oz, 75th percentile & is 24 1/4 inches long, 97th percentile! Her head is measuring 15 1/4 inches, 50th percentile.

Let me tell you about our visit. While in the waiting room, she woke up, gave me a smile or two, proceeded to spit up and then shoot formula out of her nose. Of course I still had her all strapped into the carseat, so I was frantically getting her out so she could breathe for goodness sakes! I suctioned out all the yucky stuff & thought it'd be smooth sailing. Not so lucky I guess. The dreaded gas is worse than ever for little Ella, and she let everyone know it today. She was bright red faced and screaming because of the gassy tummy (it sucks). Thankfully, we're switching formulas to see if that is the cure for her, otherwise we'll be back to visit to figure this out. So on top of being really mad about the gas, she had to get 4 vaccine shots & 1 oral vaccine. The nurse gave the oral vaccine first - Ella started choking because she was crying & wasn't swallowing. Lovely. Then came the dreaded shots. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty - but JEEZ! We're talking purple face - straight up pissed off. I had tears for sure, and if I hadn't been by myself I probably would have been crying right along with her. But, it's all over now. She fell asleep....and fingers crossed....she'll sleep for a while yet this morning.

I've been lacking in the updated photos, but I have some 9 weeks shots that I'll try to post later this morning. Tomorrow she'll be 10 weeks old. So crazy!

LiveSTRONG

So, Lance Armstrong & the LiveSTRONG organization are gathering dedication pages for cancer patients & survivors to present to leaders around the world in hopes of obtaining more research funding for treatments & cures for cancer. I have dedicated a page to Jay. If you haven't already, please visit the page & add your signature! http://www.livestrongaction.org/node/9230

He's been cancer free for 4 years. AWESOME!

The latest....

So, Ella is 7 weeks old now! There's no question she is growing so much. Her 0-3 mo. clothes are starting to fit well (Carters) and be too small (Gerber). She has a 2 month well visit on August 10th, so it will be interesting to see how much she weighs & how long she is! Man this girl has some legs! Ella has started to smile at us now. This morning I kissed her hand and she gave me a huge smile. OMG! Adorable. The smiles make up for all of the spit up & middle of the night cry fests. :) She's also cooing & making all kinds of strange new faces that we love.

7.11.09 Photos

We had some pictures taken this morning. Check them out at http://www.nicolereyesphotography.com/ Click on Albums. Our album is El.a

SO CUTE!

Favorites

Here are a few favorite pics of Ella

Pictures

So our good friend Jen Weiland is starting to do photography with LaDeDa Photography. A few weeks ago she took some pics of Ella at about 4 weeks old and she has posted a few of the shots on the website. Link: www.ladedaphotography.com Scroll down and click on BLOG to see them.

Thanks Jen!

Karo Syrup

So....Ella's pooping saga continues. She is still adjusting to life with formula and we think her digestive system is still getting used to it, meaning she's not really pooping on her own. This makes her REALLY mad & crabby. Last night it took over 2 hours to get her down and then she woke at 3:30 for a bottle, but didn't go back to sleep.....ever! I finally put her in the cradle at 5:30 and then she started crying again about 6:30, when Jay got up with her. She fell asleep about an hour ago but just woke again for food. Jeez....

P.S. Yes, I know all about karo syrup in the bottles, and yes, I've tried it. I don't think it's working for her. Do you know how many people ask me if I'm putting syrup in her bottles? Seriously EVERYONE.

P.P.S. A recent picture of Ella back when she used to sleep!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Worthington with family. It was Ella's first trip to Worthington and also her longest car ride so far. She slept the entire trip down there (which we weren't expecting!) and did pretty well on the ride back home, only waking up a few times and taking a bottle in St. Peter. Although the weather wasn't that great, we still had a good time getting out of the cities for a few days, and having grandma around for those middle of night feedings - thanks Mom!

POOP!

Newborns and poop. Ella has been an excellent pooper (like 8 plus poops per day!) until recently. She went over 24 hours without any sort of bowel movement and was SUPER crabby and irritable. Well, who wouldn't be?!? I'm happy to finally report - SHE POOPED! Whoo WHOO! I'm sure she feels a million times better, and so do I. I was really worried about my little Ella bean.

Ella is 4 weeks old!

I can't believe it, but Ella is 4 weeks old today!

Damn Birds...

So this afternoon I was outside getting the mail and preparing to take Ella on a stroller walk when I noticed something weird about my flowers in the hanging basket. A bird was in my FLOWERS! I threw rocks at the basket (not the bird) and banged on the front door to get it to fly away, but it didn't budge. Tonight when Jay got home I showed him and he got it to fly away, so I took a minute to water the flowers....when I took the basket formerly occupied by the bird down, I found this - a fricken nest & a damn EGG! What in the world?!?! So the basket is sitting on the front steps. I'm afraid to move the nest & egg out and afraid to water too. Of course this would happen to me!

Another manic Monday....

Mondays always tend to be hectic with Ella. I think she knows that I'm all by myself after a weekend w/ both Jay & I. Anyway, thank goodness for coffee & car rides. I think there should be a country song written about that....coffee & car rides make both mom & baby happy.

BUT....don't think it's been an easy morning....after we got back from our trip to get coffee, she spit up on me - TWICE! And no....I didn't let her drink any of the coffee.

Ella glammed out

We took a stroller walk yesterday afternoon in the hot weather and Ella tried out her sunglasses. HA!