25 Weeks

Christmas 2009 with Brian's Family

We were suppose to celebrate Christmas with Bri's family last weekend, but since we got 25"
of snow we didn't think it would be a good idea to travel in that kind of weather. Luckily his Mom, Rick, Robin and Dan were able to come down on Saturday and we were able to visit his Dad on Sunday.

Link to more pictures:

http://www.winkflash.com/PHOTO/signin_es.aspx?esf=hvjwfg3mfkcazshtjdqygfozernvly

Christmas 2009 Dinner

For dinner we went to Aunt Chris and Uncle Gus's house. Link to more pictures:

http://www.winkflash.com/PHOTO/signin_es.aspx?esf=ytgii2knwvmchcvorjhcqobmnb7rhf

Christmas 2009 Morning

On Christmas morning Becky called at 7:00 am and said the kids were up. Daddy, Mommy and Ella all got ready to head over to Pop Pop and Mi Mi to open gifts with the kids. Too bad Ella was still asleep when we got the call, but she was a trooper and didn't fuss. Later on Ella and Mommy both needed a nap. Link to more pictures:

http://www.winkflash.com/PHOTO/signin_es.aspx?esf=okiyw6spfl7htcwbtccshskc3bsjdqesf=okiyw6spfl7htcwbtccshskc3bsjdq

Christmas Eve 2009

This year we decided to spent all of Christmas in NJ. On Christmas Eve we went to Uncle Vince and Aunt Beth's house to celebrate with Pop Pop's side of the family and then went to Great Grandma Gloria's to celebrate and open presents with Grandma's side. Here are a few pictures from the day, but click on the link to see all the pictures.

http://www.winkflash.com/PHOTO/signin_es.aspx?esf=prozvvvtwbewzxovqcvh0qhqj2cfwx

Play Date

Today Ella and I went over to Aunt Cheley's to see her twin girls, Sarah and Taylor. Again Ella didn't want to take pictures, but after I give her the bippy she was happy. Sarah is on the left and Taylor is on the right. How cute!?!

24 Weeks

Snow Day - Videos

Snow Day

As of 3:00 pm we have 19" of snow and its still coming down pretty hard. We bundled Ella up and took her outside to take some pictures. As you can see she had enough.

23 Weeks

22 Weeks

She's much happier this week!

Laughing Baby

I know I just posted a little while ago, but I was finally able to capture Ella laughing on camera. She was in a great mood after lunch. While I was eating I would turn my head to look at her and say boo. She thought it was very funny. Enjoy!

Meeting Santa

Today Ella met Santa for the first time! Here's a video and a picture from this morning.

5 Months

Ella is five months today and I don't know where the time has gone. She is doing so much now! She is "talking" and babbling all the time and even yells. She plays on her activity mat and in the activity center for about an hour every day. She loves eating real food and gets upset when she see her bowl and you don't feed her fast enough. I am making her baby food myself. I started her out on sweet potatoes and she loves them! I introduced green beans next, but she hates them and will only eat them if I mix them in with the sweet potatoes. I have also given her prunes and avocados, which she likes. Next I will try giving her peas. We had a rough couple of weeks when she was waking up at least twice a night. I soon realized she was hungry and after nursing she went right back to sleep. Recently I also started giving her three extra bottles throughout the day to help her put on some weight. Ella goes back to the doctors on Wednesday and I'm hoping she's gained enough weight to put her back on the chart. I will keep you posted and here's a couple of pictures of Ella at 5 months!

First time seeing snow!

21 Weeks

Ella wasn't happy about posing for the picture today.

Ella's 1st Thanksgiving

This year we spent Ella's 1st Thanksgiving with Brian's family. We went to his Aunt Dee and Uncle Howard's to visit with the family and then to Robin and Dan's for dinner. Here are some pictures from the day.

Ella with her 2nd cousins, Luke, Hannah and Abby.

The family.

And Ella sitting like a BIG girl.

20 Weeks

Wake Up

Here is Ella in her crib after waking up from her afternoon nap.

19 Weeks

Sorry it's a day late.

Rolling Around

18 Weeks

4 Month Check Up

Today Ella went for her 4 month well baby check up. Since her 2 month visit she has grown 2 inches and is 24.5 inch long (50th percentile), but has only gained 4 oz. Her doctor is concerned because she was in the 25th percentile for weight, but has dropped to below 5th percentile. They are concerned because babies should follow a growth curve in height, weight and head circumference, but Ella has fallen below. Her doctor suggested I meet with the lactation consultant tomorrow. I believe Ella will be weighed before and after she eats to be sure she's getting enough. If not we will need to supplement with additional expressed milk or formula. Ella's doctor did say she was doing everything she's supposed to and more and she was showing off by "talking" and rolling over while being examined. I was told to continue nursing and giving her cereal and to start introducing veggies. Today I made Ella homemade organic sweet potatoes and she really liked them! I'm hoping tomorrow goes well and she just needs to take in more calories to put on some weight.

Brian turns 32 today!

4 Months

Tomorrow Ella will be 4 months old! (I am posting this early because we are traveling to NJ for the weekend and I am trying to leave as early as possible tomorrow.) Since my last update a month ago Ella has changed so much! She is so interactive for lack of a better word. When you talk to her she "talks" back and is smiling all the time. She even laughs, but its been hard to get it on video. Yesterday she even rolled over from her back to her belly. Also, she's been a great sleeper and sleeps from about 8:00 till 5:00 or 6:00 and then goes back to sleep till 7:30 or even 8:30 if I'm lucky. Our days of sleeping on the couch together are LONG GONE! She's been on cereal for the past two weeks and has gotten so much better at eating. She goes to the doctors on Monday and I can't wait to see what she weighs because she's getting so big. Stay tuned, but here some pictures in the meantime.

Ella in her activity center.

She's a happy baby in her seat.

Pictures from Halloween

Here's the link to all the pictures from Halloween. Ella was the cutest ladybug EVER!

http://www.winkflash.com/PHOTO/signin_es.aspx?esf=kckiwwjcbpcelwglpydjtu9ientcaz

17 Weeks

Happy Halloween

My 1st Real Meal

Tonight Mommy and Daddy gave me cereal for the first time. I wasn't very good at eating it, but I'm sure I'll get better. Mommy tired using a spoon at first, but I liked when she used her finger.

16 Weeks

Sitting in my Bumbo

15 Weeks

14 Weeks

Update - Three Months

Yesterday Ella turned three months. Since the last update a lot of things have changed. We are no longer sleeping on the couch with Ella and she is sleeping in her crib...Finally! :) We started putting her in her crib about two weeks ago. She has had some really great nights and slept through the night a few times, but she has also had some really bad nights and is basically up all night being fussy. We have been trying to calm her down without picking her up when she gets upset. Usually she wakes up and cries because her bippy (pacifier) fell out of her mouth. On a good night we give her the bippy and she falls right back to sleep. On a bad night she just cries and nothing seems to work. What I usually do is go into her room give her the bippy. She usually starts to cry a minute later and I let her cry for five minutes and do it again. It takes an hour or two, sometimes all night, but she eventually stops. Things are much better and I guess they can only improve.

13 Weeks