Tummy Time

 

We learned a lot about Ellie in the hospital, and I have loved getting to know her even more now that she is home.  One thing is for sure: Ellie loves being on her tummy.  Since she was on monitors at the hospital, they let her sleep on her tummy a lot.  Now that she is home, we have tummy time during the day.  She loves staring at her books that I prop up.  We usually will read a few and she will alertly stare at each page as I turn them.  She is doing so great practicing pushing up on her arms.  She can already turn her head from side to side. Here is a short video of how much she loves to wiggle, even on her tummy!

Cousin Love

We had a great weekend, including a visit from Ellie's cousins, Maddi Honeycutt and Jacob Price.  It was so fun to see the three of them together!  I love that they are all close in age.  Maddi is 2 1/2 and Jacob just turned 1.  I know that they will love growing up together just as Kelsey and I did growing up with our cousins.  Even though ours were much farther away, we had the best family visits and became really close (yes that means you Alyssa Marie!!!).  Ellie is so lucky to have such a great extended family of the best aunties, uncles, and cousins!!!

Newborn Photos

Aren't these amazing?!? These are some of my favorites from Ellie's newborn photo shoot that we did last week. My sister Kelsey did a fabulous job helping us with our photo shoot and taking on all of the edits. I can't wait to get the prints ordered and put them up around the house.  Wesley and I haven't done a photo shoot since our wedding, over 4 years ago.  It was high time for some more family photos and we loved being able to combine it with Ellie's newborn pictures.

We have had a very great but very busy week.  Ellie went for her third weight check and is now a whopping 6 lbs 14.5 oz!  She is 20 inches long and doing so well.  She got her 2 month shots, which was more traumatic for me to watch than I think it was for her to get them.  I am so glad we don't have to do that again for another 2 months!  Since she is gaining weight so well, we also don't have to go back for any more weight checks.  We also don't have to mix formula with her milk anymore!

It is crazy to think that we have been home for 3 whole weeks.  Time is flying by.  Almost too quickly.  Over the past few years while Wesley and I were battling infertility, we got very good at enjoying our present state. We learned to embrace the season of life we were in and I know that is an important skill that we will carry with us through the rest of our lives.  I am so thankful that instead of wishing away our time, earnestly waiting for the "next big thing" that Ellie will do, we are savoring each day hoping she won't grow up too fast before our eyes.  Don't get me wrong, we are very excited to see her grow and learn.  But we know that each day is a gift to cherish and enjoy.

We've heard rumors that our once a week posts are too far apart.  So, we will try and do smaller posts every few days.  We wouldn't want our avid and loyal readers to get disappointed or deprived of Ellie updates and pictures ;)  We love you all and love that Ellie still has such wonderful cheerleaders!

Grow Ellie grow!

Two months

My baby is two months old today!!  I can't believe how fast/slow the time has gone.  Her due date passed us by yesterday, so I can just start thinking of her as one day old now, right?!?  The great milestone of getting to her due date is that now we can start counting when she will start hitting her milestones.  For premies, most of them are measured by her gestational age. So, we've got a newborn for another 6-8 weeks!

At her checkup on Monday, she weighed in at 6 lbs 3 oz.  We go back next Wednesday for another weight check and her 2 month immunizations.  We have been having such a fun time getting to know her better and savoring every minute we are with her.

In the last week, she has...

Spent more time in her swing,

read lots of books,

gone on a walk every morning,

ate,

slept,

and showed us more of her silly faces.

We love our Ellie!!!!!

Our first week home...

{Sneak peak of the photo shoot Kelsey and I did with Ellie today!}

Well, we have been home with Ellie for one whole week!  We just can't get enough of her and she gets cuter and cuter everyday.  We left the hospital last Saturday afternoon.  You know how sometimes during series finales of shows, they will play clips of some of the most memorable moments from the show?  As soon as we left my sister's apartment for the last time to go get her and take her home, all through the car ride there, when we signed in at the desk for the last time, and during our last ride up the elevator to the third floor, I had clips of the past 7 weeks running through my head.  Laying in the hospital, wondering how the preeclampsia onset so early, hoping that we could just be sent home on bed rest.  Waking up in the ICU not remembering anything about Ellie's birth.  Being wheeled into the NICU at midnight a day and a half after she was born, taking every ounce of strength I had to stand and see her in person for the first time.  Watching that cannula being taken off and put back on her, taken off, and put back on her.  Leaving every night to go home without her.  We were finally getting to take her home!

Since being home, it has been incredible to be present for all of Ellie's firsts at home.  The first time in the pack and play.

The first time in her tub (trying it out before actually using it to make sure she could sit in it well with how small she is!)

Her first movie - Beauty and the Beast

Her first time in her crib (no we don't let her sleep with all of this in there!)

Did I mention how much she loves her sungabunny swing? 

Ellie will be going to the pediatrician every week for a while for weight checks to make sure she is getting the right amount of nutrition.  We had our first visit on this past Monday.  She was doing well at 5lbs 13 oz! We will talk about immunizations at her next visit. For now, we are transitioning into her "newborn phase."  Most of her milestones/getting her on a routine will follow her gestational age.  We are of course also digging in at home to keep her away from possible sources that could get her sick.  Good thing Wesley and I like staying in :).  Our family updates will be scaled back to weekly now that we are home.  We are the good kind of exhausted, but exhausted none the less.  All those sleepless nights sure are worth it to have her home!