Jean's Berry Patch

Bright and early last Wednesday morning Brad, Ellie and I went to a strawberry patch just down the road from our house to pick some yummy berries! Brad strapped Ellie into the Baby Bjorn and we picked until our basket was full. I've already made some strawberry preserves with the "fruits" (ha ha!) of our labor and have frozen the rest to use later.

Fun with Baby Einstein

Yesterday Brad and I put together Ellie's Baby Einstein exersaucer and she absolutely loves it! She is still a little small for it...her feet don't quite touch the bottom yet but they are sooo close.

Little Miss Hollywood

Splish Splash!

Last night Ellie had her first real bath and boy was it stressful. You see, we could do the sponge bath without a hitch. We were like a well oiled machine. Now we have to start all over and work out the kinks. Ellie did great. She just sat there in her little baby tub content as could be. She thought it was funny when I would squeeze her rag and the water splashed a little bit. Then we went to wash her hair and during the rinse I accidentally poured water over her face. It startled her and she cried...and I felt like a terrible mother.
It's funny how I had imagined Ellie's first bath going so smoothly and how different the reality was. Somehow in my head I had left out the fumbling around and the "what now?" and "how do we do this?" questions. Oh well, I guess that's life. Things don't always turn out the way we have them planned out in our mind. In the end we had a clean and content baby so we must have done something right.

Our Little Thumb Sucker

Just over the past 4 days Ellie has begun to suck her thumb and it is her new favorite thing to do. Today she really seems to have better control of her arms and is able to actually keep it in her mouth. As a result she actually slept for 2 hours this afternoon (unswaddled and everything). Here's hoping this becomes the new norm!

My First Mother's Day

Sunday was a big day in the Emory household. We had Ellie's baby dedication at church and she did really well. It was so special to me to do this on my very first Mother's day. For part of the dedication Brad and I wrote a letter to Ellie to be read in front of the church about our hopes and prayers for her. I knew there was no way I could make it through without crying so I nominated Brad to do it. It's a good thing too, because even with him reading it I fought back the tears big time.

My first Mother's day was great and we had a fun time as a family. Brad went above and beyond with a gift which is a new washing machine that will be delivered on Thursday! Our current one is an old one that our friend Sloan gave us and it isn't working very well, uses tons of water, and is really loud. We have been talking about buying a new one, but since it wasn't a necessity had decided to put it off for a while longer. So, I am super pumped and have been saving up our laundry to try it out in a few days.

A quick family picture after church

Ellie wiped out from all of the excitement

3 Months

I can't believe my baby is 3 months old tomorrow! All of a sudden clothes that used to swallow her are fitting her perfectly and that makes me a little sad. This month has been filled with lots of new and exciting things for our "little squirt" as daddy calls her.

Here are a few of the fun things she is doing these days:

1. She is giggling now when I tickle her under her chin.
2. She loves it when someone tries to "eat" her feet.
3. She smiles really big when I kiss her all over her cheeks.
4. She coos, laughs, and smiles at herself in the mirror.
5. She is doing much better with tummy time these days and will play there for a while.
6. She will hold a few toys in her hand.
7. She holds her head up constantly and will stand up really well on her legs.
8. She actually looks at the pages of books when we read to her now.
9. She has this firefly toy that makes cute sounds and lights up that she absolutely loves. Every time it makes noise she smiles and coos back at it. (I'm going to have to get it on video and post it because it's something I never want to forget)
10. She will sit in her bouncy seat and play for about 20 minutes or so while I cook dinner.
11. She's finally found her thumb and is gaining more control of her "crazy arms" each day. I am hoping that this will make the difference in helping her nap better during the day.

2 Months, 3 Weeks and 6 Days....

That's how long it took for Ellie's umbilical stump to come off...FINALLY! That has to be a world record or something. It's so nice to see her cute little belly button now and we can't wait to see what she thinks of her first tub bath.

Loving the Swaddleme

Just a few weeks ago we were introduced to a brilliant thing...the Swaddleme blanket from Kiddopotamus! Until then we had still been swaddling Ellie in receiving blankets that she was quickly outgrowing. It was a constant battle keeping her arms inside the blanket, but not now. With the Swaddleme we can get it tight enough and then velcro those crazy arms down so our little peanut can sleep without them bothering her.

Ellie is not a big fan of going to sleep. She doesn't want to miss a thing so when we first put her in it she protests most of the time. However...

Literally, within seconds she was out like a light.

I know what you're thinking...it looks like a baby straight jacket, but it makes her feel safe and secure. Somehow the little booger manages to get her arms out most of the time anyways so she's not totally immobile.

Fun Weekend

This weekend Ellie's grandparents and great grandparents came down for a visit. They all had a great time getting to know her a little bit better and Brad and I enjoyed some precious time just the two of us. We went out for the first time to IHOP for breakfast on Saturday morning followed by a trip to Home Depot. (I know it sounds really exciting, but at 8:00 on Saturday morning there aren't many other options. ) I must admit that for some reason I woke up early that morning anxious about leaving her. I was just worried about how she would do and thankfully all went well!
Later that day Brad's aunt, uncle and cousins came over and we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. It was great to spend time with family and to watch them with Ellie. She is so blessed to have so many people who care about her! As expected, she was the star of the show this weekend and I was thankful that she handled all of the extra stimulation very well. All of the activity must have worn her out because this afternoon after everyone had left she took a really long nap (2 1/2 hours)!

Pop Pop

Great Granny

Cousin Taylor

Ellie's New Trick

Just this past week Ellie has gotten really good at sitting up in our laps. It's amazing how fast she is growing and changing! Here she is with daddy practicing her latest trick.