Perfect Weekend...

If we could have days like this year round...it would be the best place to live. It was in the mid-70's during the day and cooled down to the 40's at night...Josh and I just love this weather!

Friday evening we went out to dinner...just to Jersey Mike's and split a sandwich. Then we went to Sweet Frog for a sweet little treat (it's frozen yougurt with about 50 different toppings to choose from)...it was our family date night! Someday Ella will like family date night...now she's just along for the ride :)

Saturday it was more beautiful weather...Josh did some outside projects while Ella and I went to a baby shower.

Again today - just perfect outside! Today was Baby Dedication at our church. So we got Ella all dressed up looking cute...and my parents were coming over for the service and to our house for lunch afterwards. So we get to church and Ella was a little antsy so I'm holding her trying to entertain her before they call up all the parents with babies who are participating in the service. She stays entertained for a few minutes. Then we are called up...and she starts crying. Her whimpering subsides and there is a few minutes of silence...then the WAILS begin! My little quiet mellow girl is wailing at the top of her lungs in front of the whole church (yes I was squirming big time!)...I whispered to Josh that I was taking her out...he said no no it's ok...she's fine...then I don't even know how it was possible...those wails got louder...that's it she's out of there...so yes Ella made a scene :) I'm sure it won't be the last time! Here's a picture before the wails began:

So I take her out...and lay her down on the nursery floor...immediately stops crying. Now she wasn't all smiles or anything...but she was MUCH happier! So I left her in the nursery and I went back to church...she fell asleep with one of the girls holding her in the nursery...and after church I went and got her and she was still asleep...never even opened her eyes while I got her buckled in the carseat and then slept all the way home.

We grilled for lunch. And Ella got lots of "presents" from Grandma and Grandpa....her wardrobe is just about complete for Fall/Winter. Lots of great outfits and even a little winter coat (which matches her "mushroom" hat perfectly!) Grandma and Grandpa left and Ella went down for another nap...after an hour and a half, I went and woke her up...I was ready to go out for a walk! So we all got ready (Bella and Brinly too!) and off we went for a nice walk! When we got back...I was saying how nice it was outside and that I didn't want to go back in...Josh said well lets open up the windows and the doors going out to the deck...so we did! We had the windows all open and the door open...it was so beautiful! Ella had her bath and then she sat in her boppy and played with her toys and "talked" quite a bit! Now she's fed and tucked away in bed (which she was asleep in about 2 minutes flat!)

Hard to believe tomorrow is already Monday again! The weekend flew by!

Friday Fun

It's another day of Ella and I together...

We put Ella in her crib last night instead of her swing since she was sounding much better...and she did great. She did wake up in the middle of the night to eat again...I guess those, "12 hour sleeping through the night," nights are taking a break. She did the same thing as the night before...didn't want her bottle before bed...she kept pushing it away and rubbing her eyes...so I had a feeling she would be up! She was up at 2:45am this morning...she ate and I put her back in her crib...she ususally goes right back to sleep...but not last night...she wanted to "talk." And talk she did for about 20 minutes...with a few little squeals in there too!

I've noticed that one thing she does when she is tired...(and this has turned into a consistant trend)...is she takes her left hand and rubs the back of her head or the side of her head. She does this before bedtime every night and when she does it during the day I know nap time is around the corner.

We've been keeping a bib on her every day now as she has turned into a drooling queen....eeewww! A bib plus a little cloth to keep her face clean. Must be those teeth will be coming in any day now!

I got a little video of Ella laughing this morning...I was trying to take the video and make her laugh...so no it is not high quality! And yes poor Ella's face keeps getting cut off...and you'll have to ignore the drool at the end...I tried to end it before the drooling began and I don't know how to edit a video to cut that part out :) I was kissing her hand and she was just laughing away!

On the mend...

Ella is on the mend...she's still quite stuffy but definitely feeling a little better. I brought her to the sitters yesterday and told her that Ella was just on the tail-end of a cold...and she said it's that time of year...2 other kids came down with a cold on Saturday (which is when Ella's started.) So obviously they were sharing the love at day-care!

On Monday, Josh was off...so it was another day of Daddy Daycare! I asked him how it went...he hesitated and then said, "it was ok." The main thing is they both survived! At least he gets a taste of what it is like to be home with her all day by himself...it's good for him :) We shared a car on Monday as we had to bring his in for an oil change...and then it needed a new Water-Pump as well...it's never-ending!

Ella is really beginning to become "miss independent," she likes to try to do things by herself. She really wants to hold her own bottle...she does well until it's time to tip it up...we haven't mastered that yet! She also has been making little faces...her personality is coming through! When I dropped her off at the sitters yesterday morning...she had fallen asleep in the car on the way there and when I got there I had to take her out so it made her stir and her eyes flew open. Beth looked at her and laughed and said she looks so angry! Her little eyebrows were furrowed, her cheeks were pooched out, and her lips were pursed...I wish I had a picture of it...but she didn't look happy that she had been woken up! Her other new face is "fish lips."

When we were at the Doctor's the other day...he looked at her gums and showed us that her teeth are right there...so very soon they should start peeking through...so we bought some more teething rings. She was going at it this morning:

She's still been sleeping in her swing due to her stuffiness...probably a few more days of that and then she will go back to her crib. We did set up the humidifier for her at night and that seems to help.

Another milestone that she hit was sleeping through the night...12 hours! She has done it for a little over a week now. Last night was the exception...and I actually expected it. She wasn't really taking her bottle last night...so I had a feeling that she would be getting up in the night...and sure enough...4:00am she was hungry! She ate and back to sleep she went.

Today it's just Ella and I. I was going to run a few errands but the forecast is, "heavy rain." So I am rethinking those errands! Instead we'll have an inside day and do some cleaning and picking up!



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This was Ella feeling a little better today...we were able to get some smiles out of her!!

Oh and an update...she now weighs 12lbs and 8oz...that was her new weight at the Doctor's today!

A Trip to the Doctors...

It is JUST a cold...but last night I wasn't convinced! So poor little Ella had such a rough day yesterday with coughing and sneezing...her little eyes were so red...you could just look at her and tell she didn't feel well.

Josh went to the cook-out as planned and I stayed home with Ella..she was doing ok when he left...but as time went on I felt she was getting worse...I turned the shower on HOT and steamed up the bathroom...and then brought Ella in there to help open her up...I did everything that I could do to make her comfortable...but then I started getting worried about her breathing...it was becoming more of a struggle to breathe...so I called Josh - no answer...I texted one of my friends who was at the cook-out and asked her to tell Josh to call me...so he did...and I asked if he could come home as I was concerned about her breathing...he came home and I said, "well what do you think?? Am I over-reacting?" He didn't think I was...she was definitely struggling to breathe. We did the shower thing again and I sat with her in the steam...it helped some but not enough to make me feel more at ease...I was getting more worried as time went on...so I called the pediatrician...and they have an on-call Doctor that the nurse has to page with my number and the Doctor will call back...so I do that..and about 10 minutes go by...and I said that's it - we're taking her to the ER. We talked about it and decided that was the best thing to do. So I packed a bag and we were ready. I was getting irritated that the On-Call Doctor hadn't called yet...so I called again and spoke to the nurse again and asked how long does it take to get a call back...she said usually just a few minutes...I told her that it had been almost 25 minutes with no call...so she said she would page her again...in about 2 minutes my phone rang. I talked to the Doctor and explained why I was concerned, that Ella was almost "panting" trying to breathe...she asked a few questions and said that she thought she was fine and to come into the office at 9am. I wasn't really impressed by the Doctor - she was very short on the phone and didn't seem very friendly...I said that to Josh and he laughed and said...well she is getting a phone call at 9:30 on a Saturday night about a kid that has a cold :) Ella was only happy if she was being held and being walked around...so that was what we did...taking turns doing that...finally she got sleepy and we put her in the swing around 11pm. We both slept upstairs on the couch and loveseat....I told Josh he could go downstairs and sleep and that I would be fine with her...and he said no no I'm sleeping upstairs too. I woke up at 12:45am...Ella was still sleeping, Josh was sleeping and the dogs were too! I repositioned and went back to sleep...around 3am I wake up to Ella coughing...she did fine though...she stirred for a while and then went back to sleep...and oh yeah...Josh had moved to downstairs...and he didn't wake me up to offer me the couch...instead left me crammed on the love-seat :) So I made my move to the big couch and fell asleep until 7:30am...

I woke Ella up and fed her and changed her...and off to the Doctor's we went. She was actually doing MUCH better when we left compared to last night....but we still wanted to go for peace of mind to make sure she was fine. We met with Dr. Stewart...someone we hadn't met yet...he was very nice and gave Ella a good thorough examination and said that she certainly has quite a bad cold...but she was checking out ok...lungs were clear, ears were clear, he checked her oxygen levels...all was good! We came home and Grandpa and Grandma were here (they were coming into Lynchburg so they stopped by to see their little girl! - Ella that is!).

Here is Ella feeling better...she has a new "hat!" Ok...so this video won't load...so I will try again later!

Round 2...

Well "cold and flu season" is here! Ella is now experiencing her 2nd cold. I read that there are over 200 strains of the cold virus...and children typically get 6-10 colds a year...I told Josh that statistic and he looked at Ella and said please aim lower! Poor little girl has got it pretty bad...I made the statement to Josh yesterday that Ella was sneezing quite a bit and she was just FUSSY all day...I chalked it up to maybe teething?? But at 10:30 last night when she began her coughing fits...ohhhh so not teething but the beginning of a cold! :( She did fairly well sleeping last night...was up at 10:30 and had lots of sneezing, snuffling, coughing fits throughout the night...she managed to go right back to sleep, while I stood over the crib watching her to make sure she could breathe ok! I'll spare you the details but the poor little thing has just about gone through her own box of tissues in one day...ok and maybe I am a little, "type A," I can't stand anything on her face and am constantly wiping away!

Poor Josh says..."I feel bad - do you think she got the cold while being outside last weekend at the orchard?" I assured him that you can't catch a cold from being cold, but it's germs that instead are the cause of a cold. So yes I do believe it must have been another "day-care kid."

To catch you up on our week...Wednesday we went over to Micah's house and got to see Jackson and 2 other kids she watches. Today is actually Jacksons 2nd birthday and it was going to be Ella's first birthday party she got to go to...however...since she has this miserable cold...I certainly wasn't going to take her around other kids. I was a little bummed - I think she would have had a great time (had she been feeling well) - it was held at Romp N Roll - a little kids gym...with all sorts of fun play areas!

Thursday it was back to the same - I worked and Ella went to the sitters.

Friday - Josh had the day off as did I. I had thought about going to get Ella's second round of shots...however Josh wanted to go "gun shopping" - so that was what we did instead! Then the afternoon began and Ella was just a little fussing machine! We had made plans to do an early dinner with friends...but in the end we backed out as I didn't dare take her out...she would be happy and fine for like 30 minutes and then nothing would make her happy for 15 minutes...and then she would be happy...and so on and so on...I wasn't chancing it at a restaurant...no one wants to go out to eat and hear an unhappy child!

Today was a pretty low-key day...Josh took the dogs to get pedicures! And while they were at the vets they told him that they both needed a shot to be up-to-date...so that pedicure got pricey real quick! Then we switched...he stayed home with Ella while I went grocery shopping. We watched a movie this afternoon. And he is off to a cook-out tonight that we had planned on going to. With Ella not feeling well I said that I would stay home with her and he could go.

I took a few pictures this week of the little girl sleeping...I just love her many poses when she sleeps...everytime I peek in to check on her she is in a different position...

What to wear??

I do love Fall in Virginia...but I do dislike the vast change in temperature throughout the day. We start our days with 40 degrees and end it in the 70's...what do you wear for that?? Layers that's what...and winter hats for little baby girls going out in the cold!!!

So this was Ella's first day ever in a hat...she wasn't that impressed. I kept trying to get her to smile for me...yeah she wasn't having it...she kept giving me this stare. And what made it even better was Bella kept barking at her....you see Bella has this thing with hats and helmets. I don't know what she has against them - but she does NOT like them. If Josh puts on a hat or his helmet...Bella will bark and bark until he takes it off and then she immediately stops. So I put Ella's hat on her and Bella looks at her and starts to bark...it didn't faze Ella one bit...she just looked her...again still no smiles! Off to the sitters we go (after I wrapped a fleece blanket around her legs in the car seat). So we get to the sitters (it's about a 30-35 minute drive to get there)...and I get out of the car and open the back door and burst out laughing...poor little Ella's hat had worked it's way down and her eyes were completely covered...thankfully she was asleep...well to her it was night-time...someone had turned out the lights!! :)

Ella had a great day...she is SO close to rolling over...any day now!

Another little trick of Ellas is to move in her sleep...I can lay her down one way and go back to check on her and she will have completely rotated 180 degrees...so her head will be where her feet were.

Last night was the first night of a 12 hour sleep for Ella...yes thats right... I put her down at 7:30pm last night...and she woke up at 7:30am....yay! So one would think that means Mom got a good nights sleep...wrong...unfortunately for me...I got a migrane at 12:30am...I went to bed with just the slightest headache...and I thought ehhh I'm just tired...it'll go away while I sleep...well when I woke up at 12:37am (to be exact) - I had a full blown migrane :( I was up for about 2 hours trying to get the pain to stop...800mg of motrin later it had subsided to a dull pain and I was able to fall back asleep...it meant for a bit of a long day today though as the dull pain has stayed with me all day. Thankfully with being so busy at work it did provide a slight distraction which helped.

Tomorrow I have off...so we have a play date in the morning. On Friday both Josh and I have off...we have lots of errands to run and it's round 2 of Ella's 4 month shots.