Tuesday, Sep 6th, 2011 ↓

Ellis @ 4 months

Everybody said how much fun a 3 month old would be and I have to agree…they were right.  This past month, Ellis has really developed into a little person who smiles, giggles, does a few tricks and loves hanging out with Mom and Dad.  This month has been filled with lots of developmental changes.  She went from barely tolerating tummy time to spending 20 plus minutes on the floor in one morning.  She rolls both ways with ease and loves just checking out the world from her tummy.  I have found her in her crib on a few occasions turned 180 degrees!  Mobility is coming but for now, Ellis is happy just rolling around and having a little bit of control over her movements.

Ellis’ hand-eye coordination has also vastly improved this month.  She has figured out how to grab her car seat toy (Mr. Tweets) and stays busy in the car pulling it over and over again.  She also can take her pacifier out of her mouth and put it back again!  She is still working on the replacing of it and sometimes takes it out when she is supposed to be sleeping and is too tired to put it back so Mommy has to do it.  She is experimenting with outstretched arms and gives mini hugs to whoever picks her up in morning and from naps.

Ellis’ sleep patterns haven’t changed much.  I am thankful all the time about what a good sleeper she is.  She still goes down easily at 7:00pm and wakes between 4am and 6am for a feeding and then dozes in bed with us until I am ready to get up for the day.  Sometimes she will wake up, talk and play for awhile, and then return to sleep until the morning.  I am trying to push her morning feeding to 5:30 or 6:00 in preparation for when I go back to work in 4 weeks and this will be our family’s wake up time.  Yikes!

Overall, this has been such a fun month and I am SO greatful to have got to spend it at home. We have our 4 month check up on Tuesday so stay tuned!

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Monday, Sep 5th, 2011 ↓
The development of my new favorite sound. This week on Thursday, Ellis giggled for the first time.  I thought she had giggled before but now that I have heard a real giggle, I realize that she was just talking and smiling at the same time.  This is also very cute but it has nothing on her giggle.  This happened when I was singing to her.  It took some trial and error but I finally identified a specific verse in a specific song that did the trick every single time.  From Thursday morning to Sunday, Jake and I probably sang this song to her 100 times, just trying to get her to giggle for us. The funny things is that she would only giggle if you sang the WHOLE song and did not appreciate us skipping versus.  I commented on Sunday morning that I needed to find something else to make her giggle becuase I was getting pretty sick of singing about jellyfish. Sunday afternoon we stopped by a neighbors house for a visit.  My friend and I were enjoying the sunshine and all of a sudden, I heard it.  Ellis’ giggle! She was watching Mila and another dog play and she thought it was hilarious.  This laughing fit was 10 times better than her cute little giggle.  And she kept it up for 10 minutes!  She just kept cracking up, which made me and my friend crack up.  She has never laughed at Mila alone but apparently watching 2 dogs play is the ticket to my favorite sound in the whole world!!

The development of my new favorite sound.

This week on Thursday, Ellis giggled for the first time.  I thought she had giggled before but now that I have heard a real giggle, I realize that she was just talking and smiling at the same time.  This is also very cute but it has nothing on her giggle.  This happened when I was singing to her.  It took some trial and error but I finally identified a specific verse in a specific song that did the trick every single time.  From Thursday morning to Sunday, Jake and I probably sang this song to her 100 times, just trying to get her to giggle for us.

The funny things is that she would only giggle if you sang the WHOLE song and did not appreciate us skipping versus.  I commented on Sunday morning that I needed to find something else to make her giggle becuase I was getting pretty sick of singing about jellyfish.

Sunday afternoon we stopped by a neighbors house for a visit.  My friend and I were enjoying the sunshine and all of a sudden, I heard it.  Ellis’ giggle! She was watching Mila and another dog play and she thought it was hilarious.  This laughing fit was 10 times better than her cute little giggle.  And she kept it up for 10 minutes!  She just kept cracking up, which made me and my friend crack up.  She has never laughed at Mila alone but apparently watching 2 dogs play is the ticket to my favorite sound in the whole world!!

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Sunday, Sep 4th, 2011 ↓

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I know I just got back from vacation and work travel but have been feeling very cooped up this week.  Jake’s farm stand opened on the September 1 and he is working straight through Labor Day weekend.  He has been working past 7, which is when Ellis goes to bed so some days he misses her entirely.  Ellis and I are anxiously awaiting are next trip to San Francisco and then Portland after that.  4 states in 4 months!  That’s my girl!!

I know I just got back from vacation and work travel but have been feeling very cooped up this week.  Jake’s farm stand opened on the September 1 and he is working straight through Labor Day weekend.  He has been working past 7, which is when Ellis goes to bed so some days he misses her entirely.  Ellis and I are anxiously awaiting are next trip to San Francisco and then Portland after that.  4 states in 4 months!  That’s my girl!!

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Tuesday, Aug 30th, 2011 ↓
On being away… I was asked to go on a 2 day work trip by the State Board a few months back to Lexington, Kentucky.  It was a good opportunity so I said yes. I had to leave early out of Phoenix and send Ellis home with Jake.  This meant that he had to fly alone with her and take care of her without me from Sunday until Tuesday.  It was REALLY hard to get back into work mode and I didn’t get any time away from Ellis to put together my presentation. I had to pump the whole time I was gone.  Twice at the Chicago airport, twice at the the actual training in between presentations and lots of time in the hotel room.  Pumping is not so bad but trying to transport all that milk home was stressful to say the least.  Ellis did great with Jake although he was happy to see me home.  I have a whole new appreciation for breast feeding and have decided to stop pumping for the next month until I go back to work and have to. Ellis is so lucky to have Jake as her Daddy.  I didn’t mind too much being away from Ellis, especially for the solo sleeping.  I think I got 9 hours uninterrupted one night!  However, I couldn’t wait to get home and am so happy that I don’t have to prepare to be gone again.  I am so excited to have completed the KY trip and can now fully enjoy the next 4 and a half weeks of my maternity leave! By the way, Lexington was really pretty and much more green than I expected.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do anything but work.  We had dinner 2 nights at the hotel.  Maybe someday I will return…

On being away…

I was asked to go on a 2 day work trip by the State Board a few months back to Lexington, Kentucky.  It was a good opportunity so I said yes. I had to leave early out of Phoenix and send Ellis home with Jake.  This meant that he had to fly alone with her and take care of her without me from Sunday until Tuesday.  It was REALLY hard to get back into work mode and I didn’t get any time away from Ellis to put together my presentation.

I had to pump the whole time I was gone.  Twice at the Chicago airport, twice at the the actual training in between presentations and lots of time in the hotel room.  Pumping is not so bad but trying to transport all that milk home was stressful to say the least.  Ellis did great with Jake although he was happy to see me home.  I have a whole new appreciation for breast feeding and have decided to stop pumping for the next month until I go back to work and have to.

Ellis is so lucky to have Jake as her Daddy.  I didn’t mind too much being away from Ellis, especially for the solo sleeping.  I think I got 9 hours uninterrupted one night!  However, I couldn’t wait to get home and am so happy that I don’t have to prepare to be gone again.  I am so excited to have completed the KY trip and can now fully enjoy the next 4 and a half weeks of my maternity leave!

By the way, Lexington was really pretty and much more green than I expected.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do anything but work.  We had dinner 2 nights at the hotel.  Maybe someday I will return…

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Sunday, Aug 28th, 2011 ↓

Trip to AZ

We took Ellis on a plane for the first time and she was a dream!  We were lucky to get an entire row so she could sit in her carseat and sleep for the entire 3 hour flight.  When we arrived, the temp was around 113 degrees and it stayed there the whole trip.  I never saw it dip below 95, even at 6:45am!

Needless to say, we spent most of our days inside.  Either in our casita, the mall, or a restaurant.  On Saturday, I ventured out to the pool for a little sun and heat.  Jake and Ellis joined me for lunch.  Ellis seemed to do OK in the shade but she did seem a little lethargic.  We gave her water in a bottle and took advantage of the frozen towels coming around.

I decided to splurge a little and pay for a blow out for the wedding reception.  For $30, they washed and styled my hair and gave me a glass of champange.  It was such a treat and way cheaper than a massage or other spa treatment.  I hate doing my hair so this was totally worth it!

The reception was fun but the hours slipped by and before we knew it, it was time to relieve the babysitter.  Daniel and Meagan are such a great couple and I am so glad we made it down to celebrate their marriage.  These two are ridiculously good looking and are going to have some pretty kids someday!

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Monday, Aug 22nd, 2011 ↓

Celebrating 31

My birthday celebration came early this year.  We got a babysitter on Thursday night for the first time and left Ellis behind for some adult fun.  I put on heels and curled my hair - all on a week night!

We went to the Ridge Wine Bar and the Honeymoon.  The Ridge had a band that played a Bob Dylan album.  I was so happy that so many friends could come out…especially the moms!

Thursday was only the beginning.  Friday, Jake and I took Ellis to the Lynden Fair. Saturday, Ellis and I met the Hayden’s for the Bite of Bellingham then had dinner with Karli and Katie at Bayou on Bay.  We had a second babysitter so Jake joined us at Uisce and then Jake and I went to the casino. 

Finally, we spent Sunday (my actual birthday) at Sampson winery with a bottle of red, my parents, and a picnic.  My birthday present from Jake was a Droid Incredible 2 which means I FINALLY upgraded to a smart phone!  I am hoping that I will be better about capturing photos and videos of Ellis with my new toy. 

I had such a fun weekend but did a horrible job documenting.  I can’t believe a year has passed since we found out we were having a baby and now she is here to celebrate with.  Even though we didn’t have a huge party this year, I had such a perfect weekend.  Everything with Ellis around is just that much better.

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Wednesday, Aug 17th, 2011 ↓
Ellis borrowed a Bumbo chair and here we are trying it out for the first time.  She seems to always want to be upright.  She sits in it for a few seconds and then arches her back to launch herself out of it.  So, this will always be a supervised toy.

Ellis borrowed a Bumbo chair and here we are trying it out for the first time.  She seems to always want to be upright.  She sits in it for a few seconds and then arches her back to launch herself out of it.  So, this will always be a supervised toy.

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Friday, Aug 12th, 2011 ↓

Festival at the River

Each August, my parents attend this music festival which brings pretty big music acts for free.  This year, Ellis and I also attended.  Friday was the hippie music day, as described by my Dad.  I put Ellis in a hippie skirt to enjoy the event.

She is no stranger to live music but I was amazed at how well she did for this event.  She fell asleep on her side (could she be any cuter?) and stayed there for 2 hours until we piled her back in the car.  I covered her up with a couple blankets and she snoozed on the grass while the music played into the night. 

See her little foot sticking out?  This was a pretty fun event that I will definetely bring Ellis back to when she is old enough to dance!

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Thursday, Aug 11th, 2011 ↓

Ellis @ 14 weeks - Burlington Childrens Museum

Today (Ellis’ 14th week birthday) I ended up in Skagit County.  I was supposed to meet a friend who had to cancel but since Ellis and I were up and ready to go, we took the drive South anyways.  I surprised my nieces but picking them up and taking them to the Childrens Museum in Burlington.  This place is great!  We had fun playing store, fishing, operating a crane, putting on a play and painting. 

In many ways, I can’t wait for Ellis to grow up to enjoy all the the activities of the older girls.  I try to remind myself all the time to enjoy the moment and not be too anxious for the future.  But don’t worry, Ellis had fun at the museum too!

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