Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Raspberries anyone?
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Ellianna's first trip to the beach!
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| Beach Baby :) |
Friday, January 11 we loaded up the car and spent the day at South Padre Island. Weather was beautiful, high 60s, mostly sunny and breezy. Highlights included walking along the beach, listening to the waves, finding a starfish and throwing it back to sea. It was a wonderfully relaxing day. Here are some pictures from our trip...
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| Lunch at Joe's Oyster Bar |
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| Watching the waves |
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| First time touching sand, and clawing her footprints in the sand. |
Daddy/Daughter time...
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Cousins at Christmas time
Ellianna had previously met her Wisconsin cousins, Savannah and Sawyer, but Christmas was the first time she met her cousin, Abigail, from California and her second cousin, 7-month old Demi. Savannah and Sawyer were so cute with Elli, often asking to hold Baby Elli, and little Sawyer was always concerned about why Elli was crying. Abby was interested in Elli but a 13 month old is also very interested in exploring their independence! Here are some pictures of the cousins:
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| Abigail, Ellianna, and Demetra with Santa |
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| Elli and Abby |
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| Grandpa Bob with Abby and Elli |
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| 2 1/2 year old Sawyer and Elli |
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| Savannah, Ellianna, and Sawyer |
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| Ryan's cousin Paige, who was the flower girl in our wedding and growing up way too fast! |
Ellianna goes CURLING!
Ryan's favorite hobby from Wisconsin and the one he misses the most is curling. He had introduced me to the sport while we were dating and although I didn't fall on the ice, I am definitely not a natural. I think he is hoping that Ellianna has more grace and coordination than I possess.
This evening was also the first time my brother, Jason, and dad tried curling. I consider the night successful as no one fell on the ice. Ryan and brother-in-law Jeff were good instructors and Jason seemed interested in the strategy of rock placement. Maybe Jason has some curling in his future?
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Quick plug on a mommy item: I love my fabric wrap to 'wear' Elli. During her fussy first few months, we spent many afternoons walking around the house together as it was the only way she would finally nap. We tried the Bjorn and the Infantino carriers also but I like the fabric wrap better than those infant carriers because she feels closer to me and it seems more gentle on her hips.
Each trip, Ryan and I try to get a family picture while walking around Pine Island and this year we stopped by the statue. Reportedly, there was a tornado in 1988 that wiped out most of the pine trees on the island. A local man from the community came out and using a chainsaw, created this Indian statue in one of the upright tree trunks.
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| Sweet baby girl :) |
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| Picture courtesy of Savannah, quite the little photographer! |
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| 6 year old Savannah is a champ on our walks, keeping pace with us and she didn't complain at all. |
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| It's hard to see but there is a perfect snowflake hanging down from the middle of the branch. |
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| The whole group |
Back to reality...
We have been back home for nearly one week now! Ellianna was a good traveler again during our 10 hour travel day but she only napped a total of 1 hour all day and finally had her meltdown in Houston's airport. I think the combination of being over tired, over stimulated with all the noise and lights, confused about so many new sights and faces...finally got too much for her.
We've been busy this week adjusting to our new schedule, getting Elli and I out the door by 9 to get her to the sitter's house and me to work. It was so much easier to get myself out the door without trying to pack her up! Two days in a row, I had to turn around and return home for her milk. Practice makes perfect and I'm looking to improve our efficiency this coming week.
Tim drove down with Ryan to help with the driving and keep him company. The boys were able to play golf this week and check out a dried up salt lake and then the 4 of us went to South Padre Island for some sun and fun before Tim flew back to Wisconsin.
There are so many blog updates I hope to do, I have a running list because I keep thinking of new things so please bear with us as we unpack, settle back into home, and find time to sit down and go through the hundreds of pictures we took over vacation. Elli is changing so much these past few weeks. We loved seeing everyone we were able to see and unfortunately, there are people we just weren't able to see. It seems that there is never enough time when we are home visiting family and the time we do have goes by so very fast.
So...stay tuned; here's to hoping for more regular updates...
We've been busy this week adjusting to our new schedule, getting Elli and I out the door by 9 to get her to the sitter's house and me to work. It was so much easier to get myself out the door without trying to pack her up! Two days in a row, I had to turn around and return home for her milk. Practice makes perfect and I'm looking to improve our efficiency this coming week.
Tim drove down with Ryan to help with the driving and keep him company. The boys were able to play golf this week and check out a dried up salt lake and then the 4 of us went to South Padre Island for some sun and fun before Tim flew back to Wisconsin.
There are so many blog updates I hope to do, I have a running list because I keep thinking of new things so please bear with us as we unpack, settle back into home, and find time to sit down and go through the hundreds of pictures we took over vacation. Elli is changing so much these past few weeks. We loved seeing everyone we were able to see and unfortunately, there are people we just weren't able to see. It seems that there is never enough time when we are home visiting family and the time we do have goes by so very fast.
So...stay tuned; here's to hoping for more regular updates...
Friday, January 4, 2013
5 Months...
Dear Ellianna,
You celebrated your 5 month birthday by celebrating your first of several Christmas'! You did great with Santa visiting and you met your cousins, 1 year old Abby and 7 month old Demi. You received your first Mickey Mouse stuffed animal and you enjoyed chewing Mickey's ears.
You remain a great little traveler! You went on your second plane trip December 20 to fly home to the Midwest for Christmas. Your daddy and dogs drove 2 days before we traveled and we were all happy to be reunited. Our travel didn't quite go as smoothly as planned due to a winter storm in the Midwest called Draco. We flew from McAllen to Houston without trouble but once arriving in Houston, we learned that we had a 2 1/2 hour air traffic delay, which may or not turn into a cancellation. We were instructed to go to customer service for re-ticketing. Due to the Christmas holiday, we were very limited on possibilities. We had the decision to fly standby into Indianapolis or keep our current flight plan Chicago to South Bend. I tried to get us into any airport in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio but there were no seats available. We kept our seat on the Chicago flight and were finally able to board our plane! Your daddy and Grandpa Bob were left to make the decision whether to come pick us up in Chicago or chance us flying into South Bend. Fortunately, they decided to come pick us up in Chicago as once we landed in Chicago, we learned that our flight into South Bend was canceled.
Before we left, you spent a day with a new nanny. In January, we plan on taking you to my former co-worker's house where her daughter is in school until 3 p.m. and they have a live-in nanny. Overall, the day went well. You cried off and on in the morning but were very happy in the afternoon. The nanny only speaks Spanish and was so sweet that she felt you were overwhelmed by being in a new house with a new face. We are looking forward to this new arrangement for daycare and hope it works out well!
Developmentally this past month, you have slowed down on rolling. You are still rolling yourself from tummy to back but rolling back to tummy doesn't interest you any longer. I think this is because you have discovered your feet! Last month you were just beginning to explore your feet but this month, your feet have become your best friends. Grabbing your feet with you hands and rolling from your back to side is the most common movement we see. Putting your toes in your mouth has reminded me to keep an eye on those toenails! Tummy time continues to improve with you lifting your head so well and following objects. You are also starting to use your tummy muscles to pull yourself into sitting if you are reclined back too far. You are also helping with pull to sit from laying on your back with good head control. You have become friends with the dogs and eagerly watch them, reach out to them, and smile at them. Moana and Tex haven't shown too much interest towards you yet but that'll be changing as you get more mobile. You are joining us in your high chair for dinner consistently but haven't shown too much interest in our food yet...which I'm sure will change sometime soon.
Everything you can get your hands on goes to your mouth. We know this is on track for your age but it sure makes us wonder when your first tooth will pop through your gums. Your bottom gums have had the scalloping for a month now but there are some changes on your bottom left so my guess is that is where your first tooth will appear. I had my first tooth at 4 1/2 months and your daddy had his first tooth between 7-8 months...so we keep waiting for your first tooth!
Sleep continues to be our biggest challenge. Shortly after your 4-month letter, you reverted back to waking every 2 hours at night while in your pack n play. Out of pure desperation, I brought you into bed with me and slept with you cuddled into me, side by side. We slept 6 heavenly hours! So, from the beginning of December to now, you are sleeping in bed with us, cuddled into me and you are sleeping wonderfully. We average 5-6 hours of sleep and even when I wake up at night to pump, you continue to sleep. You are no longer fussing for a wet diaper change during the night. I know we will probably be criticized for this arrangement, but this allows all of us to finally get some consistent sleep.
We have continued strong with breastfeeding and our weekly stops at the baby cafe where you have become a star. With consistent correction, I feel that we have made great improvements in your latch and I can't believe the difference. There are times when you nurse where there is such strong suction and this is how it should have been since the beginning. On one of our visits, the LC needed you to draw a name for a car seat raffle and you grabbed onto the paper and brought the winner straight to your mouth. You just didn't draw our name!
Your unofficial 5-month stats are 12 1/2 pounds and 25.5 inches long. You are primarily wearing 3 month clothing with some 3-6 months sizes of onesies and 6-month sleepers for night, with diapers at size 1. Bottles range between 4-5 ounces every 3-4 hours. You continue to grow bigger and stronger each week. You continue to amaze us with your development and your excitement with new skills. Your smile seems bigger and bigger and you smile for us so often. Your giggle is one of the sweetest sounds we have heard. We can't wait to finish our Christmas celebrations with you as we have so much to be thankful for this year. We love you baby girl!
You celebrated your 5 month birthday by celebrating your first of several Christmas'! You did great with Santa visiting and you met your cousins, 1 year old Abby and 7 month old Demi. You received your first Mickey Mouse stuffed animal and you enjoyed chewing Mickey's ears.You remain a great little traveler! You went on your second plane trip December 20 to fly home to the Midwest for Christmas. Your daddy and dogs drove 2 days before we traveled and we were all happy to be reunited. Our travel didn't quite go as smoothly as planned due to a winter storm in the Midwest called Draco. We flew from McAllen to Houston without trouble but once arriving in Houston, we learned that we had a 2 1/2 hour air traffic delay, which may or not turn into a cancellation. We were instructed to go to customer service for re-ticketing. Due to the Christmas holiday, we were very limited on possibilities. We had the decision to fly standby into Indianapolis or keep our current flight plan Chicago to South Bend. I tried to get us into any airport in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio but there were no seats available. We kept our seat on the Chicago flight and were finally able to board our plane! Your daddy and Grandpa Bob were left to make the decision whether to come pick us up in Chicago or chance us flying into South Bend. Fortunately, they decided to come pick us up in Chicago as once we landed in Chicago, we learned that our flight into South Bend was canceled.
Before we left, you spent a day with a new nanny. In January, we plan on taking you to my former co-worker's house where her daughter is in school until 3 p.m. and they have a live-in nanny. Overall, the day went well. You cried off and on in the morning but were very happy in the afternoon. The nanny only speaks Spanish and was so sweet that she felt you were overwhelmed by being in a new house with a new face. We are looking forward to this new arrangement for daycare and hope it works out well!
Developmentally this past month, you have slowed down on rolling. You are still rolling yourself from tummy to back but rolling back to tummy doesn't interest you any longer. I think this is because you have discovered your feet! Last month you were just beginning to explore your feet but this month, your feet have become your best friends. Grabbing your feet with you hands and rolling from your back to side is the most common movement we see. Putting your toes in your mouth has reminded me to keep an eye on those toenails! Tummy time continues to improve with you lifting your head so well and following objects. You are also starting to use your tummy muscles to pull yourself into sitting if you are reclined back too far. You are also helping with pull to sit from laying on your back with good head control. You have become friends with the dogs and eagerly watch them, reach out to them, and smile at them. Moana and Tex haven't shown too much interest towards you yet but that'll be changing as you get more mobile. You are joining us in your high chair for dinner consistently but haven't shown too much interest in our food yet...which I'm sure will change sometime soon.Everything you can get your hands on goes to your mouth. We know this is on track for your age but it sure makes us wonder when your first tooth will pop through your gums. Your bottom gums have had the scalloping for a month now but there are some changes on your bottom left so my guess is that is where your first tooth will appear. I had my first tooth at 4 1/2 months and your daddy had his first tooth between 7-8 months...so we keep waiting for your first tooth!
Sleep continues to be our biggest challenge. Shortly after your 4-month letter, you reverted back to waking every 2 hours at night while in your pack n play. Out of pure desperation, I brought you into bed with me and slept with you cuddled into me, side by side. We slept 6 heavenly hours! So, from the beginning of December to now, you are sleeping in bed with us, cuddled into me and you are sleeping wonderfully. We average 5-6 hours of sleep and even when I wake up at night to pump, you continue to sleep. You are no longer fussing for a wet diaper change during the night. I know we will probably be criticized for this arrangement, but this allows all of us to finally get some consistent sleep.We have continued strong with breastfeeding and our weekly stops at the baby cafe where you have become a star. With consistent correction, I feel that we have made great improvements in your latch and I can't believe the difference. There are times when you nurse where there is such strong suction and this is how it should have been since the beginning. On one of our visits, the LC needed you to draw a name for a car seat raffle and you grabbed onto the paper and brought the winner straight to your mouth. You just didn't draw our name!
Your unofficial 5-month stats are 12 1/2 pounds and 25.5 inches long. You are primarily wearing 3 month clothing with some 3-6 months sizes of onesies and 6-month sleepers for night, with diapers at size 1. Bottles range between 4-5 ounces every 3-4 hours. You continue to grow bigger and stronger each week. You continue to amaze us with your development and your excitement with new skills. Your smile seems bigger and bigger and you smile for us so often. Your giggle is one of the sweetest sounds we have heard. We can't wait to finish our Christmas celebrations with you as we have so much to be thankful for this year. We love you baby girl!
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