Ellie: 16 Weeks

16 weeks! You are turning into a little person. 

Ellie is getting more adorable by the day. She is interacting with us and toys and has even started to notice Logan walking around. She just started to do this little laugh that melts my heart. She will sit in her excusaucer and bumbo for 15 min.s or so and really interacts with the toys. She is also rolling over a lot now. She will stop nursing to look at the tv now which is in her opposite direction. I have to turn it off so she will nurse some more. She has started falling asleep on her own! We give her a bottle at bedtime now and put her down tired but still awake and she just goes to sleep! It's crazy. She is still in her pack in play and Merlin sleep suit and doing great. Last night she only woke up once at 4am and I had to wake her up at 6. She did really well at the nanny's and I think we are starting to get into a flow now with me back at work. I love her kisses (ok..when I kiss her but I swear she kisses me back!) and how she is starting to hold on to me more when I hold her. 

Ellie: 15 Weeks

Oh, my sweet girl. This week we went to Florida to see my parents. She was awesome on the plane. On the way home she even slept half the flight. We went to the beach, to the pool, and had lots of yummy food. She caught a cold at some point and has to drink gross pink medicine. Then we both caught it as well. She is rolling over from tummy to back time after time. It's hard to get her to even stay on her tummy now. She plays with her feet, standing on her toes when held, is sitting up for long periods, and is even enjoying her bumbo a little. Who is this little lady?! We just transitioned her from her bassinet and miracle blanket swaddle to a Merlin Sleep suit and her pack and play. She isn't sleeping through the night like the sleep suit claims but she is doing the same as she was in the swaddle/bassinet so I say its a win. We had a trial day with our nanny that went well. Tomorrow I go to work! I'm so glad I had these 15 weeks with my love bug. I can't believe she will be four months next week!

Trip: Bradenton, Fl 2013

It was a quick trip with a baby with a could but it couldn't have been better. There is nothing like family being together especially in such a beautiful place. We went to the beach the first morning and Ellie was great. She slept in her car seat in the shade for most of it which allowed us to stay and enjoy the beach longer than anticipated. We also got a couple dips in the pool. She seemed pretty apathetic about the water but put up with us until we took her out. 

Her cousin Charlie is in love with her. He will be a great big brother. 

We we even got to have lunch with my close friend from Georgia who happen to be in Clearwater with her family. It was so nice to see her! 

We also ate some amazing home cooked food including a shrimp boil. 

It was a perfect trip. Now we are home nursing our sick baby before she has to start going to stay with her nanny. I don't think we are ready..but are you ever ready?

Ellie: 14 Weeks

We went on our first trip this week to Bradenton, Fl to see my parents. We were lucky with our flights being half full so we were able to bring on her car seat. The way there she didn't really use it, but on the way back she slept over an hour in it. Overall a great experience traveling with her. She caught a cold at some point so no one slept well on the trip. Still, during the day she was great. We went to the beach, to the pool, and spent lots of time with my family. I'm so glad we had a chance to go and see them before I start my job. She found her feet for the first time yesterday! It was so cute. Like a new toy. She is still loving her hands and has been taking really long naps. I think the naps are just because she is sick and not sleeping well at night. But if she wants to keep them up I'd be okay with that as long as she sleeps at night too! More pictures in an upcoming trip post. Enjoying my last week with her even though she isn't feeling well. She has a practice day with the nanny on Friday. A whole day to myself...what to do what to do. I think a nap is in order.

3 Months Postpartum

I felt like I needed to write a three month after post. To remind myself next time that it does get better! It does get easier! You will feel like a normal person again. I'm still not back to pre pregnancy weight. I think it might be another couple months but I'm ok with that I guess. I would have loved to have lost it in two weeks but I know my body, and thats not how it works. Still, I know my body, and I know what I have to do to get healthy again.

My boobs no longer get rock hard at night, I'm not crying everyday, I can move around without my pelvic bone hurting, Ellie and I have this breastfeeding thing down (although we are still using a shield), and my back only hurts once in a while. I am entering the infamous shedding stage so my hair is everywhere.

Now that I finally feel like I have a handle on everything, I am going back to work to mix it all up again. I'm ready for work but I am having emotional stress about leaving her. Even though the lady seems great it's just something out of my control and thats hard.

I saw a newborn on Thursday and I couldn't believe I had one of those just three months ago. It's like another world where I walked around in a robe, hobbling from one feeding to the next, from one emotional high, to a low, in seconds. It was an amazing, life changing experience but I am glad we are on to the next phase of babyhood.

Ellie: 13 Weeks

We got her a mobile to help sleep in her big girl crib. She just stares and talks to it like they are best friends. No sleep. I think she is in the middle of a growth spurt. Sleep last night was hard. We even gave her a bottle of breast milk around 4am because she was waking every hour. That helped her sleep until 7:30 which was nice. She has this smile that melts your heart. She is not a fan of large, noisy, groups and puts on this face like, "I won't cry but I'm not happy about this." I wish more people got to see her when she is laughing and talking to her toys. She is the best. She has lots of nicknames. El-Bell, Monster, pooper, the baby, really what ever comes out of my mouth. Sean has started preferring Ella which is funny because we have been trying to have people call her Ellie all along. I get two more weeks with her all to myself. trying to soak in every second. 

Ellie: 12 Weeks

My little baby is 12 weeks old! She smiles and talks all morning long. She still smells like a sweet newborn but is acting little girl, shoving two toys in her mouth as we speak. In one hand is a blue hallow ball as big as her head and in the other are some teething keys, all hand me downs from her cousin Charlie. Well, we had a melt down and now she is napping. Speaking of napping, I have given up on her crib for a bit and she is back napping in her bassinet, still swaddled, still in the miracle blanket, still nursed to sleep. She's gets rest and I get a happy baby when she wakes up. We will try the crib in a few more weeks. She is now wearing a 3-6 month outfit in her pictures! She looks so small again! She lets us go out for breakfast and a quick dinner here and there, usually napping while we eat. Rocking in her car seat still does the trick. She has not turned over again since her first and only time but she has been so close many times. She loves kicking her feet and turning on her side. We even put her in her exersaucer stuffed with a blanket and she is content swatting at toys and bouncing on the pillow we place underneath. And her smile...and her stretches....nothing is better. She just keeps getting better and better.   

In other news, I got a job. I start June 10th as the Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Fund at Springfield Technical Community College. More to come but first enjoy these bonus photos.