A "shout out" to my Aunt Leah

We can't wait to see you in a few weeks Leah!

A trip to the pool

Today Ellie and I headed down to our neighborhood pool for the first time. I had wanted to wait for Brad to go with us but it was such a nice day I decided to try it on my own. I am so glad because we really enjoyed some time together just relaxing in the water. Ellie especially liked watching the other kids playing. I am hoping to use our times at the pool the rest of the summer to get some relief from the heat and meet some other moms in the neighborhood.

Four Months Old

Weight: 12.8 pounds
Height: 23 1/2 inches

Ellie is four months old today! She is a "small fry" as I like to call her and is in the 25-30% for height and weight. Her head, however, is another story it's in the 80% up from 50% at her 2 month check up. She is eating every 3-4 hours and sleeping around 12 hours at night with one feeding around 10 pm. It is our goal to see if she can cut this feeding out in the next few weeks. This has been a big month for her filled with many firsts. This month Ellie put her feet in the ocean, saw the mountains, and floated around in the lake. She is now good at holding onto toys and getting them into her mouth. She can roll from stomach to back and is working on rolling from her back to stomach (she can't quite figure out what to do with her arm yet). She is also beginning to scoot around on her belly a little bit. We have had another fun month watching our baby girl grow!

White Lake 2009

Paige looking cute in her swim suit

Ty & John all dressed up

Cousin Ben loved playing in the water!

My grandfather's sister Mattie & brother Paul with his wife Doris enjoying the nice weather.

This was our attempt at a picture of Paige & Ellie in their dresses

Snack time!

We spent last week at White Lake for the Avery family reunion. As always it was nice to spend a relaxing week at the lake with around 50 members of our extended family. A lot of time was spent outside and we had one happy little girl as a result. With all of the other little kids to watch Ellie was constantly entertained. It was special to be able to bring our little girl with us this year for her first trip to the lake. I have so many special childhood memories of our times together at White Lake and I look forward to Ellie having those as well!

I Love My Hands

These days Ellie's favorite activity is chomping down on her hands. She has them in her mouth constantly! Most of the time they are soaking wet as a result. We are hoping this will result in a tooth popping out in the near future. I can see where her two bottom ones are already and she's been more fussy this week. Oh, the joys of teething!

Fun in the Sun

Here's a video of Ellie's first time in the ocean.

First time on the beach

I'm not so sure about this. Wait a minute...

I do like to splash in the ocean!

My goodness, that wore me out!

Ava and I hanging out with our daddies

Ava let me sit in her Bumbo seat for a little while.

Hanging out with my mom.

I had to take lots of baths at the beach because sand was everywhere!

Bocce Ball

This beach side shelter was a life saver with the babies.

Sweet Face

Just relaxing!

My mommy can't resist taking pictures of me in my bathing suits!

Matt, Madilyn, & Ryan playing Bocce Ball

This past weekend we packed everything up again and headed to the beach with two families from church the Wells and the Bristers. Packing this time around was a easier and Brad did an amazing job packing the car with all of the extra beach stuff. We stayed on base at Camp Lejune's Onslow Beach. The weather was perfect and we had a great time with our friends just hanging out on the beach. The favorite activity of the weekend was searching for sharks teeth, crabs, and minnows. A great time was had by all and we look forward to our next beach trip near the end of the summer.

To Grandmother's House We Go

Nan & Pop Pop

Gigi

Cousins Macy & Hillary

Taking it all in at the White Squirrel Festival

Posing with the scary White Squirrel

Memorial Day weekend we packed up the car and headed to Brevard for Ellie's first visit to her Nan & Pop Pop's house. All in all Ellie did well on her first road trip. We had a nice time visiting with family and taking in the scenery.

Our Studious Girl

About two weeks ago I put a book in front of Ellie during tummy time and she looked at it for the longest time. So sweet!