Ella's 6 month doctor visit

Ella had her 6 month doctor visit on Monday, December 15th. She did wonderfully. Jared was able to go with us because it was at 4:30 pm which was so nice. They had us undress her down to her diaper and then it was time to weigh her. I guessed that she was 16 lbs and Jared guessed some crazy number like 15 lbs 11.9 oz or something like that. She ended up weighing...6.308 kg, huh? (they had the scale set to kg lol. When I first saw the 6 I was like there is no way she has lost a ton of weight lol) she actually weighed....13 lbs 14.5 oz. WHAT???? She most certainly has not only gained 12.5 oz in 2 months, right? WRONG! I was so sure that she had gained quite a bit because she feels so much heavier. Guess her mom is just a wimp! Then it was time to measure her. She measured in at 27 3/4 inches. So she is at the 15-25 percentile for weight (skinny minney) and the 75th percentile for height. Our little one is tall and skinny (big surprise :) )

The doctor said that we have a bit of wiggle room with her weight so we can add calories in the form of SOLID FOOD! Alleluia! Jared and I went and bought a bunch of baby food yesterday (tuesday) to feed her. So here is her new feeding schedule: wake up, nurse, eat cereal mixed with fruit and formula, after nap nurse, eat vegetables at 12, after nap nurse, eat vegetables and fruit at 5:30, nurse before bed. It is so exciting!!! She is such a good little eater. I have found, however, that she has thrown up after breakfast both mornings...maybe I am feeding her too much.

The doctor talked a lot to us about her development emotionally and psychologically as well as physically. She is right on target and expected to be learning to sit up on her own around this time. He gave her a tongue depressor while he talked to us and she loved that. She got 4 shots and the oral rotovirus vaccine. She sucked the oral vaccine right out of the dispenser, it was funny! She just flinched on the first shot, and then cried on the other 3. Poor thing. She got a flu shot this time and I have to take her back in in January to get another. Icky icky!

We are so pleased to know that our daughter is so healthy and growing so fast. She is amazing and wonderful and we are so blessed!

*Above is one of our family pictures that we got taken at Target

She tastes, she splashes, she moves, she speaks

Ella is growing so fast! Every little thing she does amazes me. I thought I would write this post and share some of the fun things that we have done the past month. In here you will see Ella taste a grapefruit, you will see how much she enjoys her baths, you will see that she can do a half rotation in her cradle, and you will hear her speak. Enjoy!

Grapefruit trial #1

Grapefruit trial #2

Splish Splash

Normal sleeping position                                          half rotation

"dadadadadada"

Wardrobe malfunction?

Ella has much trouble with this sleeper. It doesn't have distinct places for her feeties and instead is like 2 baggy legs. Well, Ella likes to pull her feet up until this whole thing is a bunched up mess and she can't put her legs and feet back into the correct wholes. When I found her like this she had been crying to get up and her buttons were undone between her legs and obviously she got one arm loose. It was pretty cute! 

Our baby is 6 months old!

Well, it's official, my daughter is half a year old! I can't believe how fast time has flown! To celebrate Ella's half birthday, we went to Target and got family pictures taken (pictures to follow in a later post) and spent the day as a family (daddy had the day off). Ella spent most of the day in her jammies because I didn't want her to slobber all over her Christmas dress, lol. It was a great day for a great girl!

Ella's accomplishments this month is that she can roll over onto her tummy and back onto her back like an old pro. She is now trying to move while on her tummy which is now her favorite way to lay on the floor because she can try to reach things that are just a little too out of reach. I think she will be crawling in no time. She also started to say "dadadadadada" and although it isn't "mamamamama", it is still adorable. She loves to splash splash in the bath and likes to try eating new things. She is amazing to say the least and, if this is possible, we love her more and more every day!

Above is a picture of Ella, Aunt Rachel, and me taken at Aunt Rachel's baby shower that I threw for her on December 6th.

The Lighting of Temple Square

Friday night, November 28, we went to Temple Square to see the lighting of the lights. We invited some friends of ours: Parker, Crystal, and Cambria Thomas and Pat to go with us. Pat and our family traveled via the trax! it was kind of fun! When we got to Temple Square they had just lit the lights. We were able to walk around and look at the beauty. The Temple at night is just amazing (it is during the day too, but at night it is extra amazing). We went and saw the Christus and the Tabernacle where Crystal shared her vast knowledge about the building of the Tabernacle. We learned that the Pioneers loved the look of oak wood, but when they came to Utah all they could find was white pine. That wasn't acceptable to them so they hand painted, with feathers, all of the wood to make it look like it was oak. They also hand painted the "marble" pillars to look like marble and the "golden" pipes of the organ to look like they were made of gold. Pat also shared with us that the pioneers made the benches that are still in the Tabernacle.  Amazing information! Below are some pictures of our lovely night:

Here are some pictures of Ella and Daddy with the Christus in the background and Ella in her adorable snow-suit!

Our family in front of the Christus. 

New friends of ours, the Thomas'

Our little family, notice Ella holding her daddy's hand!

Video of our walk at Temple Square

Although it was chilly outside, we had a wonderful time with our friends and enjoyed the beauty of the Temple! 

Please remind me what wipees are for...

Ella did this all on her own...well, she did this, then I had to help her do it again so that I could capture it with the camera. SOOOO FUNNY!

Ella naps, or does she?

Ella is normally really good at taking naps, but for the past few days she has been a stinker about it. If you ask me about today...ugh. We are attempting another nap at this present moment. Please let her sleep! Anyway, we caught Ella "napping" a couple of times...enjoy the videos of our mischievous little one...

Ella LOVES shoes! She thinks they are the neatest things! She likes to tap them together and swing her feet and she LOVES the shoe laces, as you can see...

Here is footage of our lovely nap time today. Notice I didn't get any footage of her crying...Mommy doesn't like to see Ella cry.  In this video, Ella has knocked the frog down from her mobile by kicking the side of her cradle, stinker!

Brief story on the blasted, I mean adorable, frog:

The mobile we have goes with the bedding that we chose for our baby's room. "Little Pond" by Cathy Heck is the design. This mobile is adorable with its giraffe, frog, dragon fly, turtle, duck, and elephant and Ella loves it! The only problem is that the frog that hangs from the middle of the mobile is too heavy for the string to which it is attached, and therefore falls, ALL THE TIME! It is SOOOO annoying, especially when it falls on her while she is sleeping.

Aw, success...but for how long (in this particular instance it was 10-15 minutes)? Here is little miss Ella sleeping. She is asleep now as well. YAY!

Milk won't let down; Ella holds a bottle

Well, I knew this day might come. I am afraid that it has come a lot sooner than I had hoped. I tried to nurse Ella and my milk wouldn't let down. I tried to stay calm as I coaxed her to keep trying, but in the end...I don't think anything happened. Luckily, she wasn't too upset. I have noticed that for about the past month it has taken longer and longer for my milk to let down when Ella was trying to feed. I also have noticed that she gets very upset because she cannot get anymore milk when she wants more. I started to supplement with formula ONLY AFTER I had nursed her first. Sometimes she wouldn't need a bottle, but sometimes she would. At times she would eat 6 or more ounces of formula. I don't know if she did this because it was easy or because she was hungry, but she let me know that she wanted more. I am so upset. I hope that this is just this once and that my milk will let down next time we try. I have been so successful with nursing and I truly wanted to nurse for Ella's first 9 months.

Ella's other options:

Formula (she holds the bottle, sometimes)

Solid food (only tastes until 6 months)

Let's hope that this is just a fluke thing. I am praying that it is. Nursing is what is the very best for baby. It is also much cheaper than paying $30 for a can of formula :)

False Alarm?

When I was pregnant, a family friend and neighbor to my in-laws, Sheri Bird, told me that I must purchase a baby monitor that detects movement and will alarm if it doesn't detect movement for 20 seconds (it gives a warning beep after 15 seconds of no movement). She said that her daughter, Jennifer has one and that it actually has gone off a couple of times, possibly saving her young baby's life. I thought it was a good idea and actually looked into it (very expensive) but set it aside and went through the rest of my pregnancy. When we brought Ella home from the hospital we were constantly paranoid that Ella would stop breathing. We were constantly checking to make sure that she still was. Now as a new mom, this just wasn't working. I couldn't sleep because I was afraid that my baby would stop breathing while I was sleeping and that I wouldn't know until it was too late. With this in mind, I started shopping around and purchased a BebeSounds Angelcare Movement Sensor with two parental units from Walmart for about $90. I shipped site to store and received it about two weeks later. We started using it immediately. It was hard to remember to shut it off every time we took our daughter out of her cradle, but before we knew it, it was second nature. Right before we moved the stinkin' thing started going off while Ella was wide awake! I contacted the company and a month later got a new monitor in the mail (they sent the one with just one parental unit so I had to have them ship the correct one and send that one back to them). Anyway, I refused to put Ella in her own room until we got the monitor so when we did, that's when we moved her in to her own room.

Now for the purpose of this post. I was up late last night, dilly dallying around the house, taking forever to get ready for bed, etc. When I finally went to bed it was around 11:15 pm. I always go in and check on Ella and give her a kiss and tell her I love her and then I go to bed. Well, last night I was laying in bed getting used to the fuzzy darkness when I heard a beep. I lay there barely breathing, listening intently when I heard another beep. Then...I heard the alarm going off. At this point I am shaking my husband awake (he has NO IDEA what is going on) while the alarm is still going off. I quickly go to Ella's room and start touching her to see if she is okay, and Jared shuts the alarm off. Ella was in such a deep sleep that the alarm didn't even wake her. It actually took me touching and finally moving her to wake her up. Ella opens her eyes to her two crazy parents kneeling over her cradle in the dark (me with my face right in hers because in the rush I didn't put my glasses on and could only see her face at a close proximity). She thinks it is time to get up and starts to cry when we don't pick her up. I shushed her and turned her music back on and got her to go back to sleep. I moved the sensor so that it was right underneath her because it had shifted completely to one side of the cradle, in hopes that it was just a false alarm. I am literally in tears right now as I wonder if it was only a false alarm. I would hate to know that it wasn't and that my darling daughter actually stopped breathing in her sleep. I told my husband that I think that technology has made us more paranoid. I don't know if this monitor is a blessing or not. I depend on it, I know that. I am constantly checking to make sure the lights are beeping indicating her breathing. I just would hate to wonder what if we didn't have the monitor. Would everything still be okay?

Side note, Ella is just fine. She slept through the rest of the night and has just laid down for her morning nap. She woke up happy and healthy this morning.

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 22, 2008.

As Jared and I were talking last night, I think we figured out why the alarm went off. It is meant to go under the mattress on a crib, but since we do not yet have Ella's crib, it is under the blankets that Ella sleeps on in her cradle. If it were under the mattress it would detect any movement that the mattress makes, but because it is under blankets, it does not. Blankets are not a solid thing...you can move one part of a blanket without moving the rest of it. Ella was not directly on top of the sensor when I went in with the alarm going off because she moves a lot while she sleeps. So, in conclusion, I believe that it was a false alarm and only went off because Ella was not laying on any part of the sensor at that particular time.

She JUMPS, She SQUEALS, She ROLLS!

Ella has many talents. She can giggle, she can play with her toys, she can even smile wide enough to brighten the entire room. She is constantly learning new things and therefore gaining more talents. With that being said, here are 3 of Ella's newest talents:

Ella JUMPS!

Ella SQUEALS!

Ella ROLLS!

Oh, and Ella also takes her vitamins with ease:

We will keep you updated as Ella develops more talents; oh the possibilities!

Ella's Jump-a-roo!

For Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa Smith bought Ella a Rainforest Jump-a-roo. They had it sent to her early because it is for babies from 4 months old to at most 12 months old, and by Christmas Ella will be 6 months old, so they wanted her to get the most out of it. She wasn't so sure at first and her feet barely touched the floor on her tip toes, but now she is getting the hang of it. She likes to spin the toys and listen to the music and now she is actually learning to jump! I plan on getting a video of that soon as well as a video of her rolling over. For now, here are a few pictures of her and her Jump-a-roo:

Ella is helping to put her Jump-a-roo together!

Here Ella is enjoying her new toy!

My baby is 5 months!

Well, Ella JoAnn is now 5 months old! I cannot believe how fast time is flying! She is growing so fast and developing just as fast. Ella is learning to jump in her Jump-a-roo, is rolling over from front to back and back to front, is playing very well with toys, and is really getting used to her hands and the way that they function. For example, Ella now reaches for our food when we have her sitting on our lap at the table. What we have tried so far this month is that we have given Ella rice cereal. We tried to give it to her with formula, but she doesn't like soy formula. We then tried to give it to her with milk based formula and she didn't like that either. You should have seen her face! Jared thinks it smells terrible and says he wouldn't drink or eat it either, I have to agree with him. We then tried to give it to her with just water which she likes okay. Ella likes her rice cereal best when it is mixed with a little bit of applesauce. I tried the cereal plain and it really doesn't taste like anything so I completely understand why she thinks it is just okay. Ella has tried many other tastes of things with the latest being yogurt (just a taste!), and chocolate from my desert cake at the Macaroni Grill (for my birthday, again just a taste). 

(Ella still doesn't need food for her caloric intake, she just seemed hungry after nursing so we decided it was time to introduce cereal).

Ella never ceases to amaze us. The other day I found her nearly falling asleep in her Jump-a-roo. It was adorable. She also performed for Grandma and Grandpa Smith and Auntie Danielle, showing them how well she can roll over. I can't believe my little girl is growing so fast! Next month we go to the doctor to find out just how much she has grown and gained. We are also going to get family pictures and 6 month pictures for Ella! Something to look forward to!

Ella's first Halloween!

I have decided not to write very much in this entry because the pictures speak for themselves. Ella was a fishy for Halloween, we didn't do much. We went to Pat's, a family friend that we stayed with for 3 weeks while looking for housing here in Utah, and to her visiting teacher's house, Margaret. We accidentally trick-or-treated at a person's house while looking for Margaret's house (we thought it was hers, but we were on the wrong street). The day was great. Thanks Grandma Smith for the fun outfit and costume!

Ella's Halloween outfit. Her bib says Little Monster and her shirt says Snack-o-Lantern

Ella's fishy costume. It was so cute although she didn't care for it too much. Too hot!

This was our pumpkin carving. Ella was the best part. This pumpkin Grandpa Smith grew in his garden and we brought it here all the way from Washington when we moved. It lasted that long!

 Ella truly is my pumpkin. That was the extent of our carving of this pumpkin. Making feet holes for sweet Ella!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!

Ella Laughs

I have been wanting to write this post for a long time, but I have been waiting for the pictures and videos to be uploaded to the computer. Ella first laughed on the night of September 27th. I was singing to her none the less. She evidentially thought this was funny because she giggled and giggled. At another time she was laying on the bed and I was talking to my parents on the phone. I quietly said boo! as I went closer to her face. She giggled. I then proceeded to do it multiple times and she giggled again and again.  This is a video of her giggling with her daddy!

She now giggles at many things whether it be us playing peek-a-boo, "eating" her neck, or just laughing with her. Her giggles are adorable and we hope to continue to hear them for years to come.

Ella's first night in her own room!

Well, tonight is Ella's first time sleeping in her own room. I am REALLY nervous, mommy jitters I guess. She was asleep within 2 minutes! I will update tomorrow and tell you how it goes! Wish me, I mean her, luck!

UPDATE: Sunday, October 26, 2008

Ella did sleep in her room all night friday night, however she woke up 3 times during the night. I had to get up and swaddle her again twice. I didn't sleep much at all because I was having such a hard time with her being in the other room and the people upstairs were loud and I couldn't get to sleep. Ella did fine though.

She is still sleeping in her own room. She woke up 3 times last night as well, except she wouldn't allow me to swaddle her last night. At one point during the night she was sideways in her cradle but because she is too big to lay sideways, her legs had to be in the air. It was cute. She is doing so much better now! She didn't even wake up until 7 am! I am so proud of her.

Church makes our schedule hard because it occurs during Ella's afternoon aka super long nap time. It is frustrating for her and us alike. She gets so crabby and then the rest of her day is all screwed up. Poor kid! Hopefully church will change to 9 am next year and she will be able to lay down for her afternoon nap at a normal time. Yay for her and her accomplishments!

Ella's 4 month doctor visit

On Monday, October 13, Ella had her 4 month doctor's visit. It went really well with me going all by myself and trying to juggle the little one while filling out all of the new patient paperwork at Ella's new doctor's office, Cottonwood Pediatrics. Her doctor is Dr. Cramer (he is LDS and went to school at BYU). He is very nice. He really spent a lot of time talking to me about her social development and in his words "how to be a better parent than he was". Ella really liked the paper they put on the bed because it crinkled when she touched it and moved her legs on it. Dr. Cramer had a hard time seeing in her ears because there was so much wax from her being sick that he had to use this little tool to dig it out. SHE WAS FURIOUS! I have NEVER heard her cry that hard in her whole life! She tore that paper on the bed to pieces! It made me cry also. Dr said that that is because our emotions are intertwined. I guess you get that with mother and daughter, especially at this young being we were literally part of each other just 4 months ago. Ella is growing fast and doing really really well.

Ella's stats:

Ella weighs 13.1 lbs which is still slightly below average and is 24 3/4 inches tall (funny she was supposedly 25 inches at her 2 month appointment. Kinda disappointing that they didn't do it right at the old doctors, I had them double check this time to make sure they were right and they were) which is slightly above average. Her head size was right on target! She has learned to roll over! She is talking a ton and is doing great.

Ella also got her shots (only 2 this time (one of them has 3 vaccines in it) and one oral which was much nicer than the 4 shots and oral vaccine. She now has to take Tri-Vi-Sol which is vitamins with vitamins A,C, and D in them. I also have to take an Omega 3 vitamin for her brain development (I am lucky to have found one that is enteric coated so there is no fishy aftertaste as I hate the taste of fish). We are really working on giving her naps when she shows the first sign of tiredness and letting her put HERSELF to sleep. It is going pretty good except she has been waking up between 3 and 5 am the past few nights which is not very fun. Oh and Dr told me that she can eat anything that we eat! Weird I know. I had a hard time grasping the concept. He said that new studies have shown that children that have solids before 4 months have a greater chance of developing allergies, but it has shown that babies that have been given solids AFTER 6 months also have that same chance. So he told me to have fun and let her taste things that we eat. She doesn't need it for caloric intake so I don't have to buy baby food yet, we just have to make sure to smash it up really good. We have given her tastes of chili, chicken noodle soup, applesauce (she likes), bananas (she likes), tacos, macaroni and cheese. It is kinda fun! 

Overall, Ella is a spectacular baby and we are so blessed to have her as part of our family. I keep thinking, WOW I must have done something right to deserve to raise such a sweet spirit.

My baby is 4 MONTHS OLD!

Ella is now officially 4 months of age as of 9:47 pm last night, the 9th. She is getting so big, so fast! We learn her statistics on Monday when she goes in for her 4 month appointment so I will add that to this blog when I know what they are. She is wonderful. Since the move she has had such a hard time taking naps and now, unfortunately, falling asleep at night. Luckily we FINALLY move into our new apartment tomorrow and I can try really hard to get her into a good schedule, or any schedule at all.

Ella's milestones this month are that she now smiles with a wide mouth, can focus on things a lot better, she can grasp things on purpose and when you put something on the outside of her closed hand, she will open her hand to grab that something. She is trying SO HARD to sit up and we like to make a game out of it that she enjoys (we have her lay down and hold our hands while we assist her in sitting up). She also is learning to giggle! I have a video of that that I will post later as now my darling Ella has woken up from her 5 MINUTE nap! Joy.

How do you let your child JUST CRY? I can't do it and am therefore forced to pick her up after a 5 minute nap where she is SOOOO tired she can hardly keep her eyes open. I can't do it. It breaks my heart to hear her cry and I don't want her to not trust me by me just ignoring her. I want her to know that I will always be there for her. What do I do? I can't get ANYTHING done and my sanity is quickly disappearing. 

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August 8: Week at G and G Smith's

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The Utah move "adventure"

Well, we have made it to Utah. What a trip that was. After a morning of chaos (Jared picked up the first rental truck and brought it home, it only had 2 seats, where or where to put the baby? I called the people we rented the truck from and told them our dilemma and they tracked down a 2008 3 seater for us. Then when Jared and his dad were bringing it back to the apartment (at this point Ella and I was at work) they noticed a disclaimer that said DO NOT PUT AN INFANT SEAT ON THIS SEAT on the middle seat of the truck. Once again, where or where do we put the baby? I then called the company and they said I would have to upgrade to a bigger truck. I then asked her to make sure that a baby seat could be put in a bigger truck, she then told me that they do not allow infant seats in their moving trucks. What crud!!!! Let me tell you, I was stressed beyond capacity, more tired than ever and I still had to clean the entire apartment after work!) we checked out of our apartment around 7:00 pm on the 19th and then met Grandma and Grandpa Smith and Auntie Danielle at Dairy Queen where we each had a nice treat and visit (Jared accidentally scraped the truck on some trees and was upset about this, and I was still stressed from earlier, but the visit was indeed nice).

After that we said our "see ya laters" and drove to Grammy and Grandpa Winston's where we would stay the night and then leave early in the morning. The older Winston family enjoyed their short visit and we got some rest before our big drive.

At around 9:00 am on the 20th we left for Utah. Our plan was to drive as far as Rexburg, ID where we would stay with Uncle Bryan and Aunt Rachel. After weaving through construction and driving up and down large hills, we made it to Rexburg safely. Ella was so good! She slept until a little bit before Deer Lodge, MT. When she awoke she was mighty hungry (no food for 5 hours). I ended up having to pump using my neat car adapter because she wasn't yet awake. I fed her while we were driving and burped her when we gassed up in Deer Lodge. It cost a whopping $114.25 to fill up that gas guzzler! We got just over 10 miles per gallon! We arrived in Rexburg at around 8:00 pm on the 20th. Aunt Rachel had made a nice funeral potatoes and we watched a movie with some of their friends. Ella had a bath before dinner and both of us ended up falling asleep during the movie. On Sunday the 21st we went to sacrament with Uncle Bryan and Aunt Rachel and then went back to their apartment and had a nice spaghetti dinner before we continued on our journey.

At around 3:00 pm we left Rexburg in route to Sandy Utah where we would be staying for a month. About an hour and a half after we left Rexburg, after gassing up in Idaho Falls ($90 something dollars), Jared was looking in his side mirror at the driver side trailer wheel and noticed it continually getting flatter and flatter. Luckily we were just at the exit to Pocatello, ID and were able to pull over into an Exxon where we would sit and wait for Emergency Road Side Assistance to come and rescue us. Jared called the moving truck company, Budget, and told them our dilemma and they said they would contact someone and let us known the ETA, estimated time of arrival, for the people that would fix our flat. We were then told it would be 60-90 minutes. Of course, I complained and immediately thought hmmm...better get something to eat while we wait, lol. Ella was getting hungry too so I fed her and then we decided that I would walk with her to the grocery store that was not too far away. Still we had yet to hear from Budget OR Les Schwab. I got back from the grocery store with our goodies and asked Jared if they had called Budget and he said he was waiting to give them their full 90 minutes. Finally, we called and they said to give them some more time. We called again and they said that Les Schwab had called and to give them more time. At this point Jared told them that he had a 3 month old daughter and a wife and that we really needed to get back on the road (good job hunny!) and asked for the number to Les Schwab so that we didn't have to keep going through Budget. She reluctantly gave it to him and we gave them a call. Les Schwab proceeded to tell us that right after Budget called them, they had a computer glitch and that they lost all of our information. They said they called Budget back and that they hadn't returned their call. In short, we were waiting there for help that would have never come. At around  8:00 pm they finally arrived, fixed the flat and we were on our way.

We arrived in Sandy, UT at around 12:30 am (Salt Lake City time). Pat, a family friend, greeted us, showed us our rooms and the bathroom and we went to bed. Trust me, after that day, we were ready for some sleep!

Monday, Sept. 22 we unloaded the moving truck into Pat's garage and decided that we would start looking for a place to live. Pat drove us around and showed us a little bit of Murray. We found the apartments we were originally going to move into, but decided they might not be in the best location (and the management stinks major time! They have NEVER called us back and are JUST PLAIN RUDE!).

Tues, Sept. 23 Ella is sick! Ella has caught the cold that Jared and I had and she ended up sleeping pretty much the whole day. I stayed in with her and tried my best to make my sick child comfortable. Poor thing.

Wed, Sept. 24 Jared went to the hospital and filled out the new job paperwork and we continued our apartment search. Still unsure of things, the fact that the new apartments are NEW is still really getting to us.

Thurs, Sept. 25 We went apartment searching again and are pretty sure that we found the one that we will be moving into. Parkgate Apartments which are managed by the same company as Frontgate Apartments and are exactly the same, just 3 years older but in a much better location near shopping and such.

Overall, this has been a huge change for our family. Ella has been crying WAY MORE than ever and the stress level has been high. But we are grateful for a place to stay and for a new job. We are just praying all works out, Ella gets better, and that we someday feel like this is home. Jared and I decided that I will always be a Washingtonian at heart and he will always be a "German" at heart, lol!

Here is a picture of Ella helping us move! What a cutie!

My baby is 3 MONTHS!

I was thinking as I was packing up the maternity clothes that a friend let me borrow that about this time LAST year, I got pregnant with my sweet 3 MONTH OLD daughter. It is amazing how fast time flies (except when you are 9 1/2 months pregnant) and how fast a baby grows! Ella holds her head up with no problems, tries with all her might to sit up and actually can unassisted for a few seconds, talks up a storm and loves to vibrate her lips, blows bubbles like non other and slobbers more than I have ever seen. She holds your hand and tries to grab toys that are dangling in front of her and she loves to stand and can actually hang on to your fingers and go from laying down to standing with the assistance of you pulling her up. It is amazing! My sweet little girl is growing up too fast but is continuing to add so much joy to mine and Jared's lives. She is a sweet heart and we love her soooooo much!

Moving to Utah, FOUND home for cats!

Jared just found out he got a job in Murray, Utah as an x-ray tech. Yay and boo hoo! It is a bitter-sweet adventure we are about to embark on but I am so excited for and proud of him. I get to fulfill my dream of being a stay at home mom! Yay for me and yay for Ella! I will let Jared tell the details of the job on his blog, just wanted everyone to know how proud of him I am.

UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 8, 2008

We found an excellent home for Rocky and Telli and they are doing wonderfully. What is nice is that the lady is willing to correspond with me and even send me pictures. I am so grateful for that.

We found an apartment. I am SOOOO excited! It is in Murray less than a mile from Jared's work, the church, and the trax system. It will be great for us. What I am mostly excited about is that it is BRAND NEW! It isn't even finished being built yet and won't be until the end of this month. It is a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom unit and because Jared is working at the new hospital there, they will give it to us for the same price as a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom. Very exciting! It has all new appliances including a WASHER AND DRYER! We are so excited! We are going to stay with a friend of Jared's family, Pat until it is finished. It is nice to have people nearby that are willing to help. We are moving on September 19, so just 11 days from now! Packing here we go!

Ella's 2 month doctor visit

Yesterday, August 21, Ella had her 2 month doctor appointment. It was kinda exciting because we were so curious what her stats were after watching her grow so much for the past 2 months. We found that Ella weighs 11 lbs 9 oz. That is almost 4 lbs more than she did at birth! She is 25 inches long which is 6 inches longer than at birth. They said that she is tall for her age, at the 97th percentile (50th percentile is average) and she was at the 33rd percentile for her weight. So basically she was above average for height and below average for weight. The doctor said that she was more socially advanced than most babies her age because she noticed that the doctor was a stranger and started to cry (she was already crying, pretty much). Doctor was also impressed that Ella followed the light with her eyes so well! So basically we are going to say that we are raising a genius baby, lol. Ella was also given an oral vaccine and 4 shots. She did so well! She was already crying so when they put the shots in she was okay and only reacted to the last one. It was amazing because the nurse had Jared hold onto her hands and then laid on her legs so that she wouldn't kick them. I cried. I held it together while the nurse was there but after she left I lost it. It was so hard to see my sweet baby looking up at me with an expression like "how could you do that to me". It hurt.  As far as how she is doing after the shots, well she slept a lot afterwards. I finally gave her tylenol last night but she has been fine since. Kicking her legs as much as usual. Ella is doing great. Growing fast and learning so much. She is already fitting in 3-6 month clothes because she is so tall (I just realized, thank goodness I didn't wait to look at those clothes until she was 3 months old). Jared and I are enjoying our daughter and can't wait until we have a new place so that we can decorate her nursery. YAY!

Ella is 10 weeks

Ella has changed so much over the past two and a half months. She is amazing! I can't believe how much she has grown (we have now retired all of her newborn clothes, sniff sniff, and now only have 0-3 mo or 3 mo clothing in her wardrobe) and how much she has developed. She is so smiley and loves to talk and KICK! Jared and I are so in love with our little miracle. She has her 2 month appointment tomorrow so I will be sure to update everyone on her growth in technical terms. All I can say is that I love being a mom. I love having a daughter so much. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to raise such a special spirit. Here is a video of little Ella giving the world some of her smiles, and yes...although Jared put a video on his site of her smiling, this one captures a little bit of a better one, lol.

p.s. Here is a photo of Ella's first boo-boo. We aren't sure how she got this scrape but we think it is from the velcro on her car seat. Sad day!

p.p.s. I couldn't resist posting this photo of Grandpa Smith, Ella, and Me. I think it is just so cute!

Ella meets musical mobile, etc...

I thought this was adorable. Ella really likes her mobile, she gets so excited and smiles!

Also, here is a picture of my first time cleaning the cat box in almost a year (it is not advisable to come in contact with cat feces when pregnant because the bacteria can pass through mother to baby and make baby sick in utero). Can you smell it? It smelled so bad of ammonia (urine) that I could taste it, even with the chip clip attached to my nose. 

*Side note: Jared did clean the box during that almost 1 year. We didn't just let it go for that long, hack hack gross!

Week at G & G Smith's

From Saturday July 26 to Sunday August 3 Jared, Ella, and I spent time at Grandma and Grandpa Smith and Auntie Danielle's house. We enjoyed our stay and loved that they got to spend quite a bit of time with our little Ella. We did many things, but probably the best was just hanging out and enjoying our time together.

We met Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Auntie Danielle, and Great Grandma and Papa Schaffer at a Chinese restaurant in Othello and had a wonderful, very inexpensive meal. We then went to a Mexican ice-cream shop and had frozen real-fruit smoothies. It

 was yummy. When we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house Ella spent time with Grandma and Grandpa while Jared and Auntie Danielle and I tried out the Wii. We made up a group called The Yumrockets (from a Subway commercial lol) and played Rock Band. We were ON TOUR!!! We haven't finished the tour yet but will next time we go over for a weekend hopefully.

Another thing that we did is Auntie Danielle, Grandma, and Great Grandma Winder and I went shopping in Tri-Cities. It was pretty fun. Ella went with Danielle and me and she was a crabby pants at first. She wanted to eat right away, so to the dressing room we went. I also had the dilemma of not being able to find ANY pants that fit, (that was my goal for the day, to get out of my maternity shorts). It wasn't until my grandma informed me that I was no longer a Junior and needed to be shopping in the Misses, that I found something that worked. Come to think of it, I actually found some gaucho jeans in the Junior section that are really cute (Sears). I also found some jeans (too big now) and some cute shorts at Kohls.I then found a shirt at JCPenny's. We then went to an all you can eat Chines

e place for lunch. It was great.

The main event for our trip was the baby shower that Danielle had planned for Ella and me. Danielle and I spent the night before making finishing touches for the event. Grandma and Auntie Danielle left early in the morning to finish setting up (it was from 10-12) and Jared took my Dad to the doctors so Ella and I were alone. I thought I would never get out of that house between Ella throwing up on her onsie, and dress (separate occasions) requiring me to wash them, her crying, the dog getting out of his bed kennel (him and I don't get along), someone coming to the door, and the phone ringing. Luckily, we were only a few minutes late! I was glad to see so many people at the shower. My best friend Mary showed up which was so great, and family and other ladies from church. Danielle did a great job. We had watermelon and cantaloupe for a treat and a yummy cake as well. Ella got mostly clothes but what was nice is that the clothes were mostly 6 months and beyond (what we needed!). They are all so cute!

Other than that, we spent a lot of our time just enjoying each other. Grandpa finally got to spend some time with Ella without her crying and Grandma and Auntie Danielle got to enjoy holding little Ella. It was so nice to be there for a week and for them to see Ella at all hours of the day. We are so grateful for that opportunity.

Ella is growing up! Week 8

I thought it would be nice for my own memory as well as for Ella to know when she got older if I blogged about Ella's first time sleeping through the night and other things that she is doing that proves she is getting to be a big girl.

Ella first slept through the night on July 12, 2008. We put her to bed at around 12:30 am. and she slept until about 8 am. It was great! I woke up and thought that I must have mastitis again because I hurt so bad, but then I looked at the clock and found that it was because she had slept so long and I had missed a couple of feedings. This was when she was about 5 weeks.

Ella has been sleeping so well and through the night since then. The trick...we swaddle her! That is how she knows it is night time and time to sleep longer. Daddy does such a good job at swaddling her. this is about the only time we swaddle her. if we swaddled her at other times during the day it might confuse her.

Ella also blows bubbles, and can bounce her bouncy chair by herself. She stays awake longer, smiles when it is not just gas, and can follow you and focus on you with her eyes. She is also starting to make noises or do what we call talking. Ella has found her hand to suck on and is drooling as well! She is getting so big. I can't believe how much she has changed in just 8 short weeks and I am anxious and sad to think how much more she will change in the next 8 weeks. She is wonderful! We love her so much! growth, it is interesting. one can't usually see it happening, just the effects of it.

Above is a picture of Ella sleeping in her cradle a few days after she was born. This is a picture of the way she prefers to sleep. Like a big girl in Mommy and Daddy's bed! Lol!

OH! Her eyes are also starting to change to...BROWN!

Ella's first trip to the park!

 On Friday, July 19 Jared and I took miss Ella to Mirabeau Park with her stroller for a picnic and a walk. We walked to the bridge near the waterfall and found two turtles on a rock! A mommy and a baby turtle. i mentioned it could be a wife and a husband. like many species, the female is bigger than the male. It was adorable! We then walked to a bench and Ella decided she wanted some lunch. Daddy did too so I fed Ella while daddy ate and gave me some of my lunch as well. i just figured then was as good as time as any. it really didn't matter to me. After Ella finished eating, I finished my lunch as well and then we went for a walk. We walked on a few off-paved trails. This Ella loved! She was quiet as a mouse and even fell asleep as daddy bounced her over the bumps on the trails. It was fun! We then went to the dock by the waterfall and remembered when we got our engagement photos taken in that very place. It is amazing how much we have changed in 3 years from an engaged couple to a married couple to a family of three. What a blessing our lives are. After visiting the waterfall, we went on a walk down a paved trail by the river. It was hot and I wanted to swim so badly but we couldn't find a trail that led directly to the river. Before we went home we decided to take family photos with the waterfall in the background. It was beautiful. What a fun day! please enjoy the pictures! look closely at Ella with her sunglasses on, that Danielle and Grandma and Grandpa Smith got for her, her eyes are open.

Ella's Blessing and First Wedding

On Sunday, July 13 our little Ella was blessed by her daddy. Ella looked beautiful in her dress that Grandma Winston made for her. I also bought a satin headband and shoes set to accent the dress. She even had a onsie on that had lace on the bum (Grandma Winston's idea)! Ella looked gorgeous and her daddy did a wonderful job listening to the spirit and saying just the right words.

We got up early and bathed Ella to prepare her for her big day. We dressed her only in the onsie so that her dress wouldn't get dirty or wrinkled. We arrived at church at 10:30 so that I would be able to feed her before sacrament so that she would hopefully be happy during the blessing. my parents beat us there, along with Kira and Caity, and we were there a half hour early! thanks family! After feeding Ella I waited and waited before putting her dress on in hopes that I would avoid her spitting up on it. Just as I pulled the dress over her head and put her arms in the sleeves she spit up! I couldn't (but could) believe it! What's nice about breast milk is that it isn't colored when it is spit up. Luckily! I quickly wiped it up and we went on our way. while she was having fun with Ella I was watching out for everybody. come to find out the Bishop wanted to see everyone's Temple Recommend that were participating in the Blessing. i didn't know this until he told me less than half an hour before church would start. i had heard about this being done but have never seen it done. i figured i would have been told about it in advance if they were going to check it. not to make too big deal about it, there wasn't anybody that wasn't able to join in because of it. Ella was such a happy, sleeping baby. Just as the person conducting the meeting announced that it was time for her to be blessed, Ella started to cry... Jared's Grandpa Barnes reminded the men not to bounce her unless absolutely needed, but missy Ella was already crying. She stopped almost immediately after they started bouncing her! lol. The blessing was wonderful. The beginning was hard to hear over Ella's cries, but Jared said her name good and loud and the rest of the blessing was so easy to hear. I cried. I could tell that the blessing wasn't just words that Jared was saying but that he was inspired by the Lord. The biggest thing that he said was that he wished for Ella to be blessed to be an example to our family and to be strong in the church. What a wonderful blessing for Ella to have. In the world, now, it is very important for one to stand up for what she believes and to never falter in her faith. It was so nice.

The people that shared this day with us included: Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Auntie Danielle, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Winder, Great Uncle Dan and Great Aunt Barb and second cousin Aubrey, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Winston, Grandma and Grandpa Winston, Aunt Kira and Aunt Caity, Uncle Bryan and Aunt Rachel, Great Aunt Linda and Great Aunt Cindy, Great Grandma and Grandpa Barnes, Great Uncle Bret and Great Aunt Maria, second cousins Garret, Warren, Jarred, Ryanna, and Anson, a friend of Uncle Nathan, Austin, Great Uncle Jeff, and Mommy and Daddy. The Priesthood holders in the circle included: Daddy, Grandpa Smith, Grandpa Winston, Great Grandpa Winder, Great Grandpa Winston, Great Grandpa Barnes, Great Uncle Dan, Great Uncle Bret, and Uncle Bryan. thank-you everybody that came and participated!

This day was so special to us and we look forward to the other blessings of our future children.

The reason that we had Ella's blessing on this date was because Uncle Nathan and Aunt Andrea were married the day before, July 12 and a lot of family would be able to be present at her blessing as well. This was Ella's first wedding. We got up and went to Grandma and Grandpa Winston's house because Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Winston were visiting from Idaho and we wanted them to be able to see her as much as possible. We had just enough time to get ready before it was time to go. Aunt Kira and Aunt Caity watched Ella during the sealing, and then I had to feed her. We went over to the Stake Building to feed her and missed Aunt Andrea and Uncle Nathan coming out of the Temple. This kind of bothered me, but it was okay. We got to participate in the pictures. Ella looked so cute! She wore the pink outfit that we brought her home from the hospital in and we "glued" a pink bow on her head. After pictures we went over to the park at the Temple and ate sandwiches. We then went to the reception at Andrea's grandparent's house. It was nice. What a special day for them! first of all, my congratulations to Andrea and Nathan!

Ella was so good throughout the day. Mom fed her right after we got out of the Temple. she didn't eat again until AFTER the reception, about 4 hours, instead of her normal 2 hours. thank-you Ella for being such a well-behaved baby!

Weight check?

Last night we were at my in-laws and decided that it would be fun to weigh ourselves. I had Jared get on the scale and check his weight (146.5) i am now on a diet. and then take Ella in his arms and weigh himself again (156). So as far as it looks, miss Ella now weighs 9.5 lbs! That is a whole pound more than her two week appointment! Now this is only a guesstimate, but pretty cool!

Grandma Winston taught us something that will prove useful. She taught us how to force a pacifier. You hold Ella close and wiggle the pacifier in her mouth. Each time she starts to cry again you wiggle again. What a novel idea and skill to have. Thanks Grandma Winston! most times holding her close and wiggling the pacifier isn't enough, at least for me. bouncing up and down or some other kind of movement really needs to be added.

p.s. Although I will not share my weight, I weigh about as much if not less than I did when I got pregnant! I think that is something to celebrate! Yay for nursing and for only gaining baby weight and losing it when she was born. WOOHOO! and she is looking mighty FINE, if I do say so myself!

Back to the DOCTOR!

In the middle of the night I realized that little Ella's right eye was goopy with this green goo. I woke Jared up and he said that he had noticed it earlier that night (why he didn't tell me is beyond me). it wasn't bad. I watched it throughout the night and when she woke in the morning it was still there. I just wanted to cry because I thought that she might have pink eye and I couldn't figure out how in the world a 2 week old baby could get pink eye especially with as careful parents as us. I tried to call my mom and she didn't answer the phone so we tried Jared's mom. His dad said that it was probably a clogged tear duct and that we should use a warm wash rag and wipe down (NOT UP) and massage the tear duct. I called the doctor and they said that they wanted to see her because the discharge was green not just yellow. Well we took her in and it was in fact a clogged duct. He prescribed some antibiotic eye drops to use just while the gunk is there and said that it is something that will probably clear up on its own but may come back in the future. It could end up being a problem with the development of her tear duct which in that case it would require surgery but the likelihood of that is VERY slim. As of now, we are just caring for miss goopy eye and hoping that it gets better so that mom can rest easy. it already looks much better.

Ella's 2 week doctor visit

Today was little miss Ella pants first official doctor's appointment. We got up and got her ready for her 11 am appointment (thought it would be easier to be up and ready and on our way by now, we are still learning), then we got in the car and were on our way. we really don't do too bad. we might make it to our destination a couple minutes later than before we had Ella. They had us take all but Ella's diaper off and then they measured her head and length. Her head measure 36 1/4 cm (14.27 in) and when she cooperated, she measured 21.25 in in length. She has grown over 2 inches in 2 1/2 weeks!!!! Then we took her diaper off and went to get her weighed. Now this part was exciting, she weighed in at 8.25 lbs!!! Only .02 lbs less than at birth!!!! I am so happy for her! So even though we are still using a breast shield when we nurse, Ella is getting enough food. This is just wonderful! The doctor then came in and looked at our girl. She kept saying how good she looked. She picked out the little scab on her belly button (eesh), checked her ears, and eyes, mouth, etc. Ella passed all with flying colors. Our next visit isn't until she is 2 months old (August).

We also decided to take Ella to the hospital to have her PKU test done (this was awful!). When it was time to take Ella in to have her little foot poked, I told the nurse and Jared that I needed to leave because I was going to cry. I sat in the other room and just cried as they poked and squeezed her little foot. i didn't see her, but i heard her sniffles. I honestly think I cried more than her because she really didn't cry much at all. After the initial poke, she cried and then went back to sleep. She is such a good baby. We then went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. We used Ella's portable car seat as we pushed her in the cart, it was nice. We filled up the cart as she slept "like a baby". Afterwards we decided that we had had enough of a day and decided to go home instead of finishing our other errands. We will do those tomorrow. Today went really well, it is getting easier every day. Ella actually slept in 3 hr intervals last night. What a relief.

One other cute thing I want to mention is that Ella got to take a shower with Daddy last night. it was really FUN! Jared came home from work and took his shower, then little miss Ella joined Daddy. She did so good! She actually liked it! No cries at all! Jared even let water get on her face and she had no response. It was soooooo much easier than washing her in the bathtub. Jared did so well! When we went to dry her off, she piddled all over her towel and I got the diaper under her before she about exploded in it. she just didn't want to get her Dad all dirty again. (that is weird, referring to me, Jared, as Dad. that's my Dad's name, not mine.) What a cutie! Life is so blissful. I just love it. I am so happy being a mommy and am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband to share this joyous parenthood with. Thank Heavenly Father for my life for it is truly blessed.

Weeks 1 and 2

Well, Ella is now going to be 15 days old at 9:47 this evening. It is amazing how fast time goes by. Our hospital stay was actually really nice. Ella did well, Jared slept a lot, the nurses took good care of us (especially the lactation consultants), and I felt good. We ended up staying 2 nights because Ella was born so late in the evening. I learned how to order food through the dining services that the hospital offered (Jared got one free meal, but I just ordered a lot of food and shared half of mine with him, lol). The food sounded really good but it wasn't that great, the best part was that I didn't have to make it. Our first night with little Ella was quite funny. She made such funny little noises and we really didn't sleep well. Grandma and Grandpa Smith and Auntie Danielle came and visited us on our night 2. It was nice except Grandpa didn't feel well and people from work came and held Ella before my mom...I was glad they could come regardless. I was discharged by about 8:00 am on wednesday morning (June 12) but miss Ella wasn't. We waited for the pediatrician to come and check our little girl and give us permission to take her home. While we were waiting the professional photographer came in and took some pictures of Ella. Now they are not great and we are not going to buy them but all are welcome to look at them by going to www.valleyhospital.org and clicking on baby faces and then looking up June 9 and finding our names. She is adorable! i agree with the preceding paragraph.

Included is our trip home from the hospital (technical difficulties...it won't load). Miss Ella was so tiny in the car seat. They told us to come out to the counter when we were ready to go, but when we did they about jumped out of their seats because we had the convertible car seat and they had to get me a wheel chair to take her out in case I fell (liability). I thought that was kind of funny. That nurse wheeled me so fast down that hallway and going over those bumps sure didn't feel very good. The nurse basically just dropped me off and left, but not before I asked her opinion as to whether or not she thought that the car seat was at a 45 degree angle. She said that it looked like it was. I think it is interesting that they are not allowed to give any advice when it comes to the car seat but they are so adamant about you having a car seat. again, i agree with the preceding paragraph.

When we first got home, it was bittersweet. I wanted to go back to the hospital because I was so upset that I was starting to forget about the whole birth experience. It was hard. I then took a shower and cried because I was washing off the stuff that was on Ella when she was born. I guess they call it new mommy blues. It was hard. I then went through a stage where I was afraid of dying. I know now that it was all the work of satan. He knew that Jared and I had just brought new life into this world (a super joyous experience) and he wanted to take away from that by making me have doubts about my beliefs and fear what I know is true and real. When I think about it now, I don't know how anyone could deny God and the beauty of his plan. A baby is a miracle, there is no way that I can deny that. I am so glad that my faith is back and that life has picked up. It is such a blessing. she was born on monday, i didn't take my bracelet off until the following monday. that is just because i had to work that evening and UPS is a dirty, dirty place.

Our first week with Ella was pretty eventful. We had lots of visitors (Grandma and Grandpa Winston and Aunts Kira and Caity and Uncle Nathan and soon to be Aunt Andrea, Grandma Smith and Aunt Danielle). It was nice to have people come over, bring us meals and goggle over our little girl.  At times I felt overwhelmed. It was hard to let people take her and hold her and it was hard to hear her cry and not want to take her away to feed her, when I knew that was what she wanted. I just felt like I was in a fog. I was just an emotional wreck. But luckily life is much brighter now. We did end up taking Ella to the doctor on the 14th of June and found that Ella had lost another ounce. They told me that I needed to wake her up every 2 hours to feed her and bring her back the next day. that whole situation irks me. it messed up Ella's 3 to 4 hour feeding schedule she seemed to be on. she is now on a 2 hour feeding schedule. also, they wanted us to get her weighed the very next day and we couldn't get the appointment until a day later. wow, must have really been important. should i mention weighing her costs $10! I did what they told me and when we took her back she had gained that ounce back. They told me that we needed to check her weight in a week and just keep with the every 2 hours feeding. 

One other thing that we did in Ella's first week is that we gave her a sponge bath, it was quite the experience.

Week 2 was a lot better than the first week. We gave our little one her first bath after her umbilical cord fell off on June 17th. 

She liked the bath as long as we kept the warm wash cloth on her belly. She was such a good sport. Daddy and I weren't very good at it, but we will learn. it isn't a matter of being good at it. we did GREAT! in my very humble opinion. We basically stayed home most of the week. We took Ella to Deaconness on Thursday to have her weight checked and she had gained 4 ounces, yay! We then took her to Learning is Fun so that she could meet some of the people that I work with. It was nice although Ella decided she was hungry as soon as we got there.

On Thursday my left breast started to hurt and I thought that maybe I was starting to get engorged, but then came a temperature, chills, headache, and dizziness. It was awful. I went to the doctor on Friday and found out that I have Mastitis (a breast infection) and now have to take antibiotics every 4 hours. I feel a lot better now that I have been doing that. This last weekend we went to my parents house and it was really nice. We went to the movies on saturday (Get Smart). It was okay. I missed the whole middle of the movie because Ella wanted to eat again and she needed a diaper change. I never thought I would be one of those people that would take a baby to a movie. She was so good though.

Finally, I just want to state my feelings about motherhood thus far. I love it. I love everything about it. Staying up all night long, losing sleep, leaking all over my baby and self when she cries and I am trying to feed her in the dark, is outweighed by the fact that she is my baby. That my husband and I created such a perfect, beautiful little person. It is funny when she cries and scrunches her nose and face...it is so cute when she sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth and sucks it while she is sleeping. It is just amazing. She is keeping her eyes open so much more and being awake so much longer. She actually is sleeping at longer intervals (sometimes) and staying awake and alert much more. Saturday night Ella slept from 1 am to 6:30 am. It was wonderful. It is so fun to see that each day miss Ella looks more like her daddy every day. Man I love this little girl. She makes my life worth so much fun. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful little family. I love my daughter and husband with all of my heart. There is only one word to describe it...BLESSED! isn't that a great picture of our little family!