Ellie's 10 month update

10 months old. How is this even possible? She's sure growing fast.

17 pounds, 26.5"

Size 3 diapers and size 12 month clothes (getting small)

Crawling is mastered. Stands no problem. Walks 4-9 steps and is trying all day to walk. She can stand herself up unassisted in the middle of the room but doesn't do it often. Walks along the walls, table bench, and anything she can find with just one hand to hold in. She will be walking in no time. Now she's even trying to climb on the couch and coffee table. She can climb onto our mattress on the floor and the air mattress the boys are using for now. She crawls up the stairs with lightning speed and gets to them the instant she sees they are available. Baby gate installed today thankfully. 

Ellie's favorite activities include emptying every and all cabinets. Dishes, food, Tupperware - she has no peference. She had me considering cabinet locks. On every single lower cabinet. She also comes running if she hears the fridge or the dishwasher open up. Adorable. She really likes playing with cars, balls, and stuffed dolls (but not stuffed animals really). 

Ellie still has issues with her reflux. She has finally begun burping on her own this month but has. Even out of her reflux meds this week and is definitely having an issue with pain when needing to burp. However it's definitely getting better. Still can't have dairy. At all. I still use butter on toast or a baked potato but that's about all. She drinks from a sip cup great but if it has my milk she just tosses it. She loves water and steals the boys juice. She is FINALLY starting to eat. Her favorite is chicken. She also seems to really like spaghetti. Two nights in a row that was a big hit by her. She goes nuts if you don't give her what she wants too lol. 

Sleep has been rough. The move and teething combined had been hard on her. She now has 3 teeth and the 4th is breaking through. She's so stinking cute with those pearly whites poking through. I seriously love it. Her hairs getting longer too. Except on the front section lol. Ellie's finally learned to love the bath. Too bad she's absolutely nuts and stresses me out the entire time. 

Ellie absolutely loves her brothers and will follow them if she hears them playing. She gets so excited to see them in the morning too. She says a few things. Dada, hi, and kitty. I'm pretty sure she's signing all done now and maybe starting to sign milk. 

Ellie still fusses a lot. Love her dearly but she can be demanding that's for sure. We nurse most the night and laying her down to sleep has been nonexistent these days. I'm ready for her to have her room again. 

 

 

Watching auntie Laura work 

 

 

First time swimming ending in nursing and a nap so the boys could keep swimming.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When teething includes a spoon that goes everywhere. 

 

The only way I could get her to sleep
 

The day we closed on our house
 

 

 

4th of July
 

 

 

 

How we eat when we don't have a table yet - yay moving
 

 

 

 

 

Again with he spoon
 

 

 

 

 

She demolished a full roll of toilet paper
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

crazy hair day
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elissa 9 month update

Wow I've fallen behind. Life's been crazy with moving and all.

9 months old. 

Wears 12 month clothes

Wears size 3 diapers. 

Has first tooth as of 9 months and 4 days old. 

Crawling since 6 months. 

Pulls to stand incredibly easily. 

Stands unassisted while clapping and moving around. 

Takes 1-4 steps. 

I'm not sure on weight and height yet but probably around 17 pounds. 

She still doesn't love food but is slowly getting better. She likes puffs now. Will eat some scrambled eggs. Seems to like strawberries. 

Sleep has been rough but with moving I can't complain. She's nursing still around the clock. Usually every 2-3 hours. The day before moving I developed mastitis and had to take antibiotics but it cleared as quickly as it came thankfully. 

She laughs even when cranky at Leiland. Loves playing with the boys and petting the cat. Acts shy to everyone that try to talk to her. Freaks if I walk away from her especially when others are around. 

Last time we went swimming she did her normal cling to me terrified reaction but yesterday she swam and had a blast. Splashing, kicking, and just loving every minute of it. 

Says dada and babbles. She had said mama for all of 2-3 days but not since. Little stinker. 

She loves peek a boo, books, and chewing everything in sight. 

She a sweet little love bug and makes everyone around her smile.

Moving update!!!!

Friday we closed on the tennnessee house. There was a slight hiccup but it did finally come together. However it caused our closing in Michigan to be delayed. First it was pushed to Wednesday because of the holiday. Then Thursday because the sellers went on vacation and wouldn't be back till Wednesday. And somehow the realtor got the title company to open and do our closing Monday and so the sellers are coming back early so we can close.

I really don't know any of the behind the scenes of it but as long as we close and I get out of the hotel ASAP I don't care. 

We've been in the hotel several days now. It's not easy. Tims on night shift from 6pm-6am. He gets here and we wake up. Then it's either disappear for the day so he can sleep or try to keep 3 kids quiet and to not wake him. Ellie's teething and got her first tooth here so just imagine the crankiness she is. 

Reguardless tomorrow we close on the new house. I can't wait to get moved in and unpacking. Even though I know it will not be easy at all. 

We've done it. We made it to Michigan. I sure hope we don't regret this choice. My kids already seem so happy about seeing their cousins more. 

Elissa 5 month update

14 pounds 12 oz

9m clothes

Size 3 diapers

Sitting for short periods

Rolls both directions

Chews on everything

Two teeth on the top are getting close

Sleeps 6-8 hours at night

Starting to notice the dog

Thinks the boys are hilarious

Trying to scoot on the floor and getting close

Slept in crib for bedtime for the first time

Cops, squeals, growls, flaps arms, and looks all around

Still hates the car

Sticks out tongue 

Grabs toes and now chews them

Overall she's doing pretty good. Reflux has been bad since about a week before 4 months. Just switched to Prevacid in hopes it works better. She takes it better. Still dairy free because it makes her super cranky and a rash from her poops. 

Daddy returns from deployment in and me week!!!! Can't wait to see them together. One more month and we will begin solids. 

Breastfeeding still going great. Every 2-3 hours during the day. 

 

 

Elissa 3.5 month update

Im so slacking on every single part of life right now.

A lot late - but an update finally. 

Elissa is 16 weeks now - 3.5 ish months. She is such a little sweetie and getting more go with the flow by the day it seems. Overall she is usually happy now. I am much more receptive and able to notice her cues. She is rather predictable and nurses every 2-3 hours usually for 6-8 minutes. Once in awhile she will throw in some random 20 minute nursing session. She isn't consistent on naps but some days will take 2, 3+ hour naps but then other days we struggle to nap more than 30-45 minutes. I usually try to lay her in my bed to nap. Soon I want to move her to her crib for naps at least. Sometimes when she's really fighting it I will try the swing. That works to get her to sleep about 50% of the time. At night she typically wakes 0-2 times at night to nurse. I lay her in bed around 9 and she wakes sometimes at midnight, then sometimes around 5am. She does go many days till 7am before waking to nurse. I just feed her when she wants/ needs it. She knows what she needs. 

The past month she has really been taking to sucking her hands a whole lot more. Specifically her thumb. I have also seen her take the same two fingers that Owen sucks. 

Ellie can roll from her tummy to her back pretty easily now. She has rolled from her back to her belly a few times but she really doesn't try very often. She swats at toys on her play mat and loves to sit in the high chair while I cook or eat. She pulls herself to standing a lot more lately as well. No jumping just yet but she's strong on her feet. She's getting pretty good in the sitting position too. She can sit easily in her boppy and likes the bumbo. 

So just like Leiland, Ellie is a hot body. She sweats just falling asleep on me, when I baby wear her, while she sleeps at night, etc. One night I put her in a fleece sleeper - and it was kinda warm in the room. She woke and was so fussy that night. So I took her sleeper off and she went right back to sleep in just a diaper. She just can't stand to be hot - just like me. 

Elissa weighs around 13 pounds, wears 6 month clothes, and is moving into a size 3 diapers (Huggies). 

Elissa laughed for the first time the day after Christmas. It was the cutest thing ever. I even got it on video. She's getting easier to get laughing now too. She is ticklish all over but especially just behind her shoulders and neck. She laughs most when the boys are there laughing with her. She just thinks they are so funny all the time. Most day even if she's fussy we can get some smiles and giggles out of her. 

She still doesn't like the car but she is doing a heck of a lot better in the britax carseat instead of the infant seat. I miss the convenience of just carrying the seat, but it is what it is. 

Dec 9 - wearing 6 month cloths for the first time. 

Dec 10 - blowing bubbles

Dec 21

Dec 23 - love seeing all my babies snuggled together

Dec 24 - Christmas Eve

 Dec 25th

 Dec 30th - hotel stay on the way back to TN from MI

 Jan 2 - practicing sitting

 Jan 2

 Jan 3 - longest nursing session EVER

 Jan 5 - Checking out these new toys

 Jan 5

 Jan 6

 Jan 8 - couldn't seem to put her down

 Jan 9 - she woke middle of the night WAY too warm and I had to strip her to get her to calm and be happy again.

 Jan 9

 Jan 10 - look how much hair she's getting

 Jan 12 - these eyes amaze me - can't wait to see what they turn into.

 Jan 13 - we were having one of those days. It was Friday the 13th after all.

Jan 1 - Laughing



January 5 - rolling belly to back

The Truth about bedsharing

Sheer truth right there - expectation vs reality. 

Christmas 2016

Wow - first opps for falling so far behind.

So this Christmas was a little different. Tim is deployed so we celebrated as a family before he left. We put the tree up after Thanksgiving. The kids had a blast doing the ornaments and both of them did fantastic. The boys had a blast. They each got a new iPad mini so they can each have their own and I will be taking back the original one they used to share. Owen got an awesome blaze toy that turns blaze from a monster truck into a race car. He absolutely loves it. Leiland got connect 4 which he needs more practice with and they both got a couple other small things. Tim took Leiland to get me a gift. So freaking sweet and Leiland picked out a kitty. They couldn't take her home that day, so when I called the next Monday about coming to get her they basically said the foster family was keeping her. Bummer.

So because Tim would be gone the kids and I came to Michigan. I planned the trip to leave on the 16th after Leilands 1/2 day of school. I really struggled to get everything I needed to done before I needed to leave. The day before Leilands teacher invited us to his class party. We had a blast but it delayed me packing some and so we got on the road a bit late. We had planned on stopping halfway which we were able to accomplish. The second day we had to stop early but then got the rest of the way and arrived in time to celebrate with my dad and Kris. The next dad we celebrated with Nana and Papa. We had a blast. We went to see Santa. Leiland asked for a bell from his sleigh and Owen was nervous but excited. He wouldn't sit ON santa but did sit beside Leiland and proceeded to talk to Santa the entire time. I was pleasantly surprised by this.

Through the week we tried to visit as many as we could. We arrived with Leiland having a cough which turned into Owen being sick by Christmas and now Elissa has caught the bug. We head home tomorrow and honestly I am so ready to be home. Its so very hard to travel and stay with other people with a fussy baby and sick kids. I miss home thats for sure.

So as far as Christmas goes - oh it was fun. Christmas eve the kids had a blast with the whole family here. Owen was quiet and shy till Anna arrived. He was so happy to see her. They loved the treats. Presents were kinda crazy and overwhelming. Leiland was so excited and happy about everything he got, thanked everyone, and was just a joy. Owen fell asleep around 3 and napped till I tried waking him at 530. Then he wouldn't wake till around 6. He opened his gifts and is SO in love with his new blaze toy and thomas mini's. Ellie was gifted some gorgeous little outfits and I can't wait to put a few on her. The big kids were excited about putting cookies out for Santa and went to bed great. Leiland passed out right away. Kayla got up as stockings were being filled. Oops. Then James got up a bit later. Owen was up all along because he slept so long. He finally went down around 11pm. The next morning the kids got up. Leiland didn't wake me first but thats ok. He came to get me and I woke Owen. Owen took awhile to get in the groove. Leiland LOVED his stocking. He got so excited over every little thing and wanted to show everyone how great it was. Santa brought him the bell from his sleigh and Leiland was overjoyed. Santa also brought Leiland a little art set with an easel and paints. I can't wait to do that when we get back home. Santa brought Owen a very cool big stuffed blaze which Owen bruised off that morning but now loves. Ellie slept through all of it but she was brought a beautiful little bunny. We spent the day hanging out. My mom, Dave, Anna, Jason, and William came by in the afternoon. WE played the wii quite a bit and then we had some Chinese food for dinner. YUMM. We also played quelf and I won. Thats rare. Owen fell asleep early again. He passed out at 4pm on me. I laid him on the couch to not sleep too long but that didn't work. So I put him to bed and he got up for the day at 1am. My bad.

So now Christmas is over. Laura went on vacation right after Christmas and so we stayed at her house till now. So now we are heading home tomorrow. The boys are ready to be home. So exhausted. Ellie is sick and just not feeling great. But she's cute as can be and being so sweet with everyone. She is starting to laugh now which OMG its so precious.

Its crazy to think this time last year is when we conceived her. Yes we were trying but never in my wildest dreams would I expect for it to work. My Christmas wish come true is in my arms this year.

Ill add in pictures once home and caught up a little.

9 day update

I keep wanting to make updates and keep losing track of my days. So a random 9 day update. 

Elissa is doing great. She's a pretty happy girl 95% of the day. Currently she is nursing every 1.5-2 hours. Cluster feeds in the evening then sleeps pretty good waking 1-2 times a night. She doesn't cry much. Hates a really poopy diaper but small poops and pee she doesn't care about. She will tell you when she's hungry. She will ask to nurse just to go to sleep but I'm ok with that. He is kind of hard to burp and it can take quite awhile. If she doesn't burp she will wake mad needing to burp. She rarely spits up at this point and when she doesn't it's not much. Nothing like Leiland. 

Little miss has had a few poopsplosion diapers. I think she needs bigger than the newborn Huggies. She fills them a bit too quickly. She's wearing newborn clothes just fine with several being kinda baggy. I can't wait to see how big she is tomorrow. 

Born at 8 pounds 8 oz

Left hospital at 8 pounds 6 oz

2 days old 8 pounds 2 oz 

We go in the morning to check her weight. 

Breastfeeding is going pretty well. I'm engorged and leaking but not as bad as I was. She sometimes latches too shallow and it hurts. I can't get her top lip to flange. I asked several at the hospital and I'll mention again tomorrow but I think her lip tie may need to have it fixed. They said it was flexible but I'm not sure since she can't get her lip right. 

The boys are adjusting great. Owen wants to hold her all the time. He loves petting her, holding her, kissing her, and sitting beside me when we nurse. Leiland loves holding her too. If he walks past her he will touch her as he goes past. Loves just checking in on her. They really are great big brothers. 

Oh and she lost the umbilical cord stump at a week. It was dangling by a string the last few days and finally came off in her jammies. 

That's all I can think of at the moment. 

36 weeks

It's getting real. Due in a month and it is mind blowing to me. Before long we will be a family of 5. Not a whole lot happening over here. She's content where she is. 

Symptoms: 

 - constipation

 - heartburn (needing tums at night)

 - swollen ankles

 - waddling

 - peeling often. But not waking up to pee 

Have an appointment next week. I think at hat point it switches to every week. Baby looks good and showing no signs of labor which is good. The OB will check me next week when they do the group b strep test. I don't expect anything. 

Tim gets home this week. Can't wait. I'll be so happy to have help and snuggles again. Not looking forward to having to cook meals again lol. 

So yeah not much happening or to report.