Ellie's Christmas Week in Pictures

We had a really lovely Christmas week.  Ellie's first Christmas will always be one that we remember.  Here are our favorite pictures of the week:

 ^^Ellie's first time out to dinner at a restaurant our first night there.  She did much better than I thought she would considering it was so close to her bedtime!

 ^^We got some much better picutres of all three of them but I just love Ellie's face in this one.  Maddi was so ready to smile for the camera and sweet Jacob was trying to make Ellie feel better!

 ^^Ellie squealed with delight seeing herself in a full length mirror for the first time.

 ^^She was supposed to be sleeping here.  Her naps were definitely shorter this past week, but she was a very good girl and thankfully never got overtired in spite all of the excitement.

 ^^Christmas morning was spent in daddy's arms.

^^Isn't this hat the cutest?!?  One of the nurses we have stayed in touch with from the NICU knitted it for her.  So SO adorable!!

^^This was my favorite picture from one of our lunches out.  Her face lit up in pure joy sitting in her Lobster Chair when we pulled out Kangaroo to play with at lunch.  She had to immediately tell her everything that had happened since the last time she saw her.  

^^A fitting end to a fun-filled week - being put in the car fast asleep!

Merry Christmas

^^The amazing Sara Logan took our family pictures back in November and we just love them!

We are enjoying time with family in Charlotte this week. I'm so excited for Ellie's first Christmas. Wesley and I have been reading the Christmas story to her before her bedtime book every night. It is so so sweet.

She is 12 lbs and 6 oz as of last Tuesday at her 6 month appointment.  She was very brave getting her immunizations and has met all of the 4 month milestones so she is right on track! She has found her voice and is talking and squealing more.  A few days ago we went out to lunch and the whole time she squealed, talked, and blew bubbles at her little kangaroo.  It was beyond adorable!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Six Months

Our best gift ever turned six months today. She grows more and more everyday. She is so close to laughing. She loves to dance in mommy's lap and loves to hear daddy sound like Donald Duck. Ellie's got a strong grip, can stand up and sit assisted, and can push her chest up while on her tummy. She has rolled from her tummy to her back a few times.

Right now Ellie sleeps through the night and gets up about once a night to eat. She takes 4 naps a day, loves looking at the TV and reading her books.  Her newest fascination is with her fingers...and how tasty she finds them.

We love you Ellie baby and can't wait to see how you grow these next 6 months!

Play Date

"Mom, can my friends come over and play?!?"

My friend Sara, who has incredibly cute twins, and I have gotten together for a few play dates. I have learned quickly that when you have an infant, play dates are more for mommies than the kiddos. It is fun though watching the sweet babies kick and smile. But its really therapeutic to talk to someone who knows what your life is like right now!! I know there will be many more in our future.

I so admire her, as she is doing double of everything I am doing.  Wesley and I look at each other so often and say "how in the world do you do this with more than one kid!" I know we will figure it out when the time comes, whether that is in 2 years or 10 (infertility makes it impossible to plan).

Future wonderings aside, we are doing really well. Ellie is now getting her RSV shots that she will get monthly until RSV season is over...around April or so. She is now 12 lbs and 24 inches long! I swear she doubles in size after some nights.  Her 6 month appointment is coming up next week (where has the time gone!!!).

We took some very cute pictures today so they will be up sometime this weekend.
Until then, good night folks!......or good morning depending on when you are reading this ;)

Thankful

^^ Four generations of Helvestons

 It has been a while, I know.  After Ellie and I spent time adjusting to having the heat on in the house (what I thought were colds at the time turned out not to be - thank goodness!) we hit the ground running into Thanksgiving and we took time to just enjoy being with family.  I didn't snap a lot of pictures, or try and write down everything that was happening.  I loved just relaxing and filing our sweet time with family into my memory bank.  I've also gotten a jump start on "the busiest time of the year," and pretty much have everything done now so we can relax and really enjoy it as it is - one of the most wonderful times of the year.

I love Thanksgiving.  I love the food, I love the lazy day, and I love the family time.  Last Saturday, we took a short trip down to Charlotte to spend time with Wesley's family and then my family came up to Raleigh with Ellie's great-grandparents from Florida.  They hadn't seen her since August so it was fun for them to see how much she had grown and how much more engaged she is now.  It is amazing how fast the time is going by.  Even the days don't seem slow.  I blink and it's already time to lay down at night.  I don't ever remember time going by this fast before.

Now, more than ever before my heart is full of gratitude for, well, everything.  Maybe it's partly because I am so grateful that we got through Ellie's scary birth and two months in the NICU and we are both really really good, or partly because I have slowed down my life and don't feel rushed.  I think mostly its because for the first time in as long as I can remember I am not anxiously anticipating what is coming next.  I am just really enjoying the now.  Wesley and I's years of infertility ultimately taught us to find joy in the season of life we are living.  It took us a long time to learn that lesson, and I honestly don't think I could have learned it any other way.  But I am so glad that we did.

I am so thankful for the wonderful man that is my husband.  I love loving him and I love seeing him fall more in love with Ellie everyday.  I am so thankful for the best family and friends that we have. We know they love us, have supported us, and will always be there for us.  I am thankful for this sweet, special, and beautiful baby girl that has blessed our lives immeasurably.  We feel so privileged to be her parents - to love and nurture her, to teach her not only how to grow up but also to make sure she knows just how wonderful she is.  She has the most heart melting and catching smile.  I tell her everyday that her smile is someday going to change the world.  And I know it will.  In the very least, it has already changed ours.

Sick Day

You know that DayQuil//NightQuil commercial where the parents come into their kids' room and are like "Sorry {insert any name here}.  I've got to take a sick day, okay?"  The next shot is of the kids staring blankly back like they have no idea what that means.

I tried to pull this on Ellie the other morning and this is the response I got:

After successfully pulling through Wesley's bronchitis unscathed, I come down with a cold the next weekend.  Of course, Ellie gets it too.  Thankfully it was just a cold.  We both just had stuffy noses and were more sleepy than usual.  I hate being sick.  I hate not being able to function at my normal capacity.  Ellie, thankfully, doesn't share my disdain yet as she was very happy through the whole ordeal:

They don't lie when they say parents can't take sick days! And I'm so glad this sweet girl can keep us smiling

Five Months

Has it really been 5 months since Ellie was born?  It feels more like five minutes!!!  

She is getting bigger and bigger by the day.  She is around 12 pounds now and is so curious.  She is big eyed, taking everything in.  She will tell you sweet stories if you are smiling big at her and blow you raspberries.  We heard her first squeals of delight last week when Wesley was bouncing her in her crib.  She has rolled from her tummy to her back a couple of times and can raise her head and chest up on her tummy.  It's funny how she likes being on her back more than when she was in the NICU (then she couldn't get enough time on her tummy!).  She made mommy very happy by sleeping the whole night last night (7p-7a) and we are hoping it is the beginning of new big girl habits and not a fluke :)

We took these pictures last Friday, when she turned 5 months, and per usual she lost interest in taking pictures quickly.  I couldn't resist sharing the outtakes!

^^Love those sweet bunnies and deer on her dress!!

Smiles

Ellie's smiles are abundant now but hard to catch on film.  By now, she knows just how special they are and is not fooled into thinking that black box in front of her is a face worthy of one of her sweet smiles.  Here a the few pics we have been able to snag a smile in:

Right now, we are playing catch up rest after having a battle with bronchitis.  Thankfully, Wesley was the only one affected (we think it came from his flu shot....terrible, terrible irony).  It was so great to have my mom come up for 2 days to help me get organized with meals and play with Ellie so I could get a jump start on disinfecting everything and washing practically everything that had.  For about 16 hours we thought it was the flu, but thankfully the flu test came back negative and the doctor put Wesley on antibiotics for bronchitis.  We kept him couped up in our room (to contain the germs away from Ellie) and after lots of hand washing, lysol wiping, and prayers his fever is gone and Ellie and I didn't catch it.  Hopefully this will be the end of our winter weather illnesses - I'd much rather come out of RSV season with nothing but smiles!

Halloween Weekend

 

What a great weekend we have had! Ellie's sweet Auntie Alyssa came to visit.  We had a great time. Alyssa got in Thursday afternoon. We had lunch at La Farm, had fun with Cinderellie on Halloween, and went to the outlets on Saturday with Auntie Kelsey. 

Ellie, of course, was the center of the weekend. We have loved hearing her talk to us and smile, and blow raspberries back and forth. Her Halloween costume was my favorite and even though she didn't last long, she had a great first Halloween!