two months

Well, two and a half months...sorry!

My girl is growing like a weed! At her two month appointment she weighed 10 pounds 7.5 ounces (22nd percentile) and was 23 1/4" long (77th percentile). Her head was 14 3/4" (21st percentile). Basically we have a long lean baby! Who would have thought that my 5' tall self would produce that? I have NO doubts that she will slow down in the height department soon ;)

She also decided that July 4th was a great day to start sleeping through the night! It also may have something to do with the miracle blanket...but I don't care how it happened just that it did! She has only gotten up around 5 twice since then, once for a storm and once while we were in a hotel (more on that later). My girl LOVES her sleep.

She is still very, very happy. She smiles all the time and has just barely started to laugh. I'm pretty sure it's the cutest sound that has ever been made, but then again I'm a little partial. Breastfeeding is still awesome. Cloth diapers are going great too!

Schedule:
7:30/8 - wake up (SO HAPPY), eat
8:30 - nap
10:30 - wake up, eat
11:30 - nap
1:30 - wake up, eat
2:30 - nap
4:30 - wake up, eat
5:30 - cat nap (like 45 minutes or so either on me, in the swing, in the car, etc.)
7 - bath!
7:30 - eat
8 - bed
10:30 - eat (dreamfeed, she barely wakes up)
11 - bed

She can be off her schedule by an hour and still does great. She is super flexible, which is great for me!

I could talk about her all day long, so I'll stop now ;) Here is her two month photo!

one month

My sweet baby is a month old. Insert gaspingohmygoodnesshowdidthathappenwheredidthetimego here.

She is an absolute joy and a very, very happy baby. I am at the tip of the iceburg in discovering just how blessed I am. Now, I am not turning this blog into a "mommy blog," not that there is anything wrong with mommy blogs...it just isn't me. I have a baby book and a calendar to record all of her precious moments, but once a month I'll post an Ella update. (I know my stalkers family/friends that are far away like to keep up!)

She is on a schedule! I mean my plan all along has been to incorporate the BabyWise techniques to eventually get her on one, but man it happened way faster than I imagined (HUGE thanks to my dear friends Amy and Taylor for putting up with my insane questions and phone calls and text messages...).

We start our day at 7AM and follow the eat/play/sleep routine every three hours, which means she eats at 10AM, 1PM, 4PM, 7PM, and 10PM. At the last feeding we let her sleep for as long as she wants, which has been pretty consistent between 3-4AM. Yes, I told you I was blessed. That's the only feeding I don't have to wake her for...all of the rest I have to wake that girl up! She likes her sleep ;)

I am exclusively breastfeeding, which has been a breeze honestly. I was super stressed at first because she wasn't eating the recommended 15 minutes on each side, but I let go of all of that when at her 2 week appointment she had not only regained her birth weight, but then some! My girl is just efficient. She finishes a full meal in 15-20 minutes total.

She smiles all the time, mornings are her favorite. She loves to take a bath, so we do one almost every night (but we only use soap once a week or so). Her hair is starting to fall out, so it will be exciting to see if it comes back blonde or dark! Her eyes are still a gray-ish color, we will see how long it takes for them to change! She loves to listen to her daddy play guitar, go on walks, and generally be out and about. Unless it's after 5, then home is best!

Here is Miss Ella, cute as she can be!

So blessed.
So thankful.
So grateful.
So humbled.
Daily.

elizabeth ruth - ella

She's here and I can't believe I even HAVE a birth story to share!

On Monday the 14th I went to work for my very last day. Monday night I said "Ok baby girl, anytime now is great!" Well, my baby is a good listener

We laid down to go to be around 11:30. We kind of talked for a few minutes and then I heard a popping sound coming from below, accompanied by a swift kick. I asked Eric if he heard it and he said no. I was fairly sure it was my water breaking, but I was afraid so I didn't move! That was at 12:15. Finally I rolled over and knew right away it was time! Eric jumped out of bed like lightening when I calmly told him it was time

I got up and went to the bathroom to confirm, and called my doula. She didn't answer so I left a message. Long story short, she never got my message and therefore was not at our birth! Kind of crazy. My plan was to use the Bradley Method technique along with the doula to have a natural birth. But when I didn't have a chance to experience small contractions leading up to the big ones, that plan changed fast. My contractions started about 10 minutes after my water broke and they were intense. I couldn't breathe or walk. Eric was still trying to pack the rest of our bag (since we had started but never finished) and get us out the door.

We got to the hospital around 1AM and after answering a bunch of ridiculous questions for what felt like forever we finally got upstairs to our room. The nurse had all kinds of trouble with the computer and the monitor. They told me who was on call for my doctor and that she would probably deliver me since my doctor didn't come in until the morning. I calmly informed them that if they called my doctor that he would indeed come in. They seemed skeptical, but they called him and guess what? He came in a few hours later. He had promised me from day one that he would be there no matter what! I love that man.

I was at 5 cm before I got the epidural. I have never been so sure of anything in my life as wanting that epi! It was wonderful. I was able to relax, enjoy my labor, and even get some sleep. I progressed about a cm an hour and by 12PM on the 15th I was ready to push (although I stayed at 9.5 cm for FOREVER). Pushing was so much fun, honestly! I had the best time. I pushed for about 40 minutes.

Ella was born at 12:41 PM at 6 lbs 5 oz and 19 1/4" long. The moment she was placed on me Eric and I both lost it completely. I relive that moment in my head every day. Absolute best day of my life, besides the day I gave my life to Christ.

We are so grateful to God for allowing us to experience this pregnancy, birth, and parenting of this little girl. I have never realized more how our lives are not our own. This baby is not mine, she is all God's.

 

I'll be back soon with the story of her name!

home...sort of.

I'm home.
Well, my body is at least.
I'm pretty sure I left my heart in Costa Rica.
It's somewhere in the mountains.
I'd like to go back and find it.

I also miss this:

I'm processing still, but I'll be back super soon to fill you in on all that God did on the trip.
I am not lying when I say it was incredible.
God is awesome.

this cute couple i know...

So my only regret about my wedding day is the fact that their are like 3 pictures of me and my husband together alone.

Yeah.

So my wonderfully talented friend Casey of Blissful Photography (who has been there for us from the beginning) is a budding photographer, and she took some amazingly beautiful shots of us the other day. Hey, it only took almost 5 years to get some pro photos!

Teaser:

Check some more of them out here!

(and hire her if you are in the SC area!!!)

happy love day!

isn't he cute? my precious valentine!

Today is a day to celebrate the ones you love, married or not! Everyone loves someone and love makes the world go 'round. So does coke.

Happy Valentines Day!

pretty white stuff

We don't get a whole lot of this powdery, cold, white, floating stuff we all know to be snow. It's a treat where we live, mostly because it forces people to stay home and enjoy family. Which is exactly my gorgeous love and I are doing today with our two fur children. You will not see Maggie in any of the gratuitous pictures below, however, because if you were to read her title to the left you would realize that she is spending the day curled up on the couch being lazy. It's basically the only thing she is good for.

 

pssssssssss - there is still time to enter the great giveaway!