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!