'Tummy Time'

At Ella's one month check up her doctor said it was a good time to start 'tummy time' ... so I tried ... and she hated it! So at her two month check up, I reported back to her doctor that she really could care less about tummy time and that I was not really forcing the issue. Her doctor said not to worry, her neck and muscle tone looked great ... Therefore, I stopped worrying about not doing it, but nevertheless continued trying. Well it became the standing joke how long it would take her before she started raging when I rolled her over ... Usually it was five seconds tops ... and when I did roll her over she looked like a little limp doll sprawled out on the floor... Well, her BFF Alyse was over on Thursday and showed her how tummy time should work (Alyse rolled over last week!). Alyse laid there, held her head high and seemed so proud of herself...Ella continued to show off her limp doll skills. So yesterday I was playing with her on the floor and had the TV on. She was in a great mood so I thought I would ruin it and roll her over ... it seems our little limp doll does knows how to hold her head high ... that is if there is TV to watch! She must have forgot she was on her stomach because she laid there for several minutes basically staring at the TV... Unfortunately mom and dad have a few rules in the house ... one of them happens to be no TV for the little munchkin!!!

Back to Work!

I knew the inevitable would come ... I had to go back to work last Monday. I am pretty sure going back to work was easier on Ella than me. I did really well Monday - Wednesday ... by the time Thursday was over, I wanted to be done for the week. However, I made it through today (Friday) and I am looking forward to sat and sun more than ever. We have a lot of snuggling to catch up on. On a positive note, I do enjoy my job... so returning was also very positive. Additionally, Andy, Ella and I are very lucky. We have family that watches her while I am working so she is getting a lot of love every day!

Spokane!

Ella, Andy and I visited Spokane two week ago. Andy was planning on flying up for the night by himself for his brothers surprise birthday party. Ella and I decided to join them at the last minute to surprise grandma and grandpa Price with a visit. We arrived on Friday and returned home on Monday. Ella was amazing once again on the airplane both directions. I was a bit nervous for the return flight because I was traveling alone with her. She proved to be a very good traveling companion. I did have to laugh at her ... the flight from Portland to Medford was very bumpy ... she was sitting on my lap holding onto my finger ... every time we hit turbulence she would squeeze my finger a littler tighter!

Ella was able to meet the rest of her family for the first time. Great grandma and grandpa Walker thought she was pretty special... she gave them a lot of smiles and even left great grandma Walker with a little stain on her pants (she had a major blow out!). Abby, Walker, Halle and Faith enjoyed her as well and will be looking forward to 'playing' with her while we visit during Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

Ella enjoyed her first Halloween!

First we visited the pumpkin patch with grandma, grandpa, Darin, Dylan and 'aunt' Jennie. The weather was a little wet but she still had fun. She was dressed up in the outfit grandma Price gave her.

We carved pumpkins at 'aunt' Jennie's and 'uncle' Donnie's. I carved Ella's pumpkin ... very traditional! Andy did something a little more complicated ... unfortunately, he did not have it finished in time for the photo. Check out the photo of Ella screaming ... I may have been trying to put her in the pumpkin ... she did not think it was funny! Too cute!

I found this cute little BEE costume at Pottery Barn ... I could not resist! We visited grandpa at work, Moss Adams, and Bapa and Edie.

Two Months!

Ella turned two months old this week! We had a well baby check up this morning. She weighed in at 12lbs 5oz and measured 23 1/3 inches. She is in the 80% for her weight and off the charts for her height! 'Aunt' Jenni captured this great picture of her smiling ... which she is doing more and more of! She is a very happy baby until she wants to eat (which is pretty much all the time). She is becoming more alert each day. She is starting to reach and grab at things. She hates tummy time ... it is the running joke as to how long she will last before she is in a complete rage... it is usually less than 5 seconds. Her favorite time of the day is her 'naked' time right before her bath. She continues to sleep through the night. She is somewhat of a nightowl ... just like her dad. She will typically go down between 10 - 11 and get up around 7 - 8 ... can't complain about that one! :-)

Grandma Cheryl ... did you notice my pj's! :-)

I will update later with pictures of her in her halloween costume ... she is going to be a little bee!

Love Ella and Brenda

Hawaii - Continued.....

We returned from a week in Hawaii ... We enjoyed the company of Jim, LeAnn and Megan (my other family) and my parents. We stayed in Maui at the Westin where we enjoyed all the resort amenitities. This would mark our first major family vacation since Ella was born. Andy and I were nervous taking her on the plane (see the outcome of her first plane ride below) as well and traveling with a 7 week old. All in all she did great.

The first day she was not so sure she liked the hot humid climate. She was a little out of her eliment ... However, by day two she was back to her normal self. She slept like a champ the entire time. We tried to keep her on local time ... which resulted in her waking up around 4-6am. :-) The hotel had a crib that reminded me of something out of mental institution. She did not mind though. The best part is ... grandma and grandpa gave up the large bedroom so Ella could sleep in her crib in the bedroom ... which resulted in my parents sleeping on the hide a bed couch! Of course Ella would have slept just fine in the living room ...

Steve, Debbie, Alyse, Alan (Debbie's dad) and John (Debbie's brother) were also in Hawaii. It was a lot of fun vacationing together. Not to mention hanging in the shade at the pool was a lot more fun with company! Both Ella and Alyse did great hanging by the pool. They were pretty content feeding and then chilling in the BOB.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Thank you Megan for the pretty flower lei! Also, check out the sunburn I got while sitting in the SHADE!

I was not happy ... the wind was in my face! Notice my buddy Alyse ... she was a trooper and loved the wind. We looked pretty cute in our matching swimsuits!

I was not a huge fan of the hats ... they made a pretty cute picture though.

Hawaii 2008 - First Plane Ride

Andy, Ella and I went on our first 'real' vacation this past week. We braved the skies, sun and all other things that come when traveling with an 8 week old!!!


The Plane Ride - to Hawaii ~ Ella was a angel on her first plane ride. She slept most of the way and never said a word. She aggressively sucked on her pacifier going 'up' and 'down' so no issues with the ears. We landed in LA after leaving Medford (50 minutes late) so needless to say we missed our flight ... best news ... the next flight available was at 5:30pm ... it was 10:30am at the time! So for the next 7 hours we got to hang out. We decided to get a day pass to the American Airlines board room ... I could not stomach changing and feeding her all day in the dirty airport! The board room offered us a few more luxuries and a much cleaner bathroom. We hung out for several hours ... she pretty much just slept and ate. We finally boarded our flight to Hawaii ... again she was an angel. She slept for an hour or so, woke up, ate, went back to sleep and never made a sound. I must say traveling with an infant definitely adds a new element. :-)



The Plane Ride - home ~ not much to report except for ... she slept the entire way home. We had the red eye flight so it was bedtime for her. She had her own seat so I was able to lay her down between Andy and I. She did not mind at all. On the last leg into Medford she slept most of the way ... then I smelt it ... how bad could it be right??? She had a major blow out! It is important to note that this has only happened two or three times ... so ... when I went to change her I was not expecting it to be up her stomach and all over her back! Of course I was panicking and she was loving being naked! I got her all cleaned up and she just hung out the rest of the way.


Andy and I were truly blessed. She was an angel!

Here is a picture of her sleeping on the plane.