1 month old

Elliana, happy 1 month birthday....we are so happy to have you in our lives! Wow, I can't believe it has already been 1 whole month. It seems like just yesterday we were kissing our Bells goodbye and heading for the hospital! Elli hit a huge milestone last night....She slept the whole night in HER bassinet!!!!! Of course we got up a few times to eat and stick the paci back in her mouth, but she didn't get in bed with us until 8:00 this morning! I did have to trick her by putting her in bed with us for just a couple minutes to get into a deep sleep before I put her in her bassinet, but IT WORKED!! I was so happy when I woke up this morning and I think Scott and I both feel like we actually slept a couple hours!

Yesterday, Elli and I went to my OB/GYN appointment. She did great. As soon as I put her in the car seat....she started sleeping! Her blonde hair was a hit with the nurse at the dr.'s office and the dr. thought she was absolutely beautiful....ok...ok....I know he has to say that with each baby that comes in, but I know he really meant it when he said it about Elli! She slept through the whole appointment and was even the perfect baby when we ran some errands afterwards. Good news from my appointment....I'm cleared to do anything! YES! Operation get this baby weight off!! Although I'm still have some pain, Bells and I went out to power walk last night....I'm still a little too sore to run at this point!

Funny story (well kind of)! The past 2 weeks we've been having significant difficulty "losing" Elliana's mitts! We've lost a total of 4 (plus I couldn't find 2 others this morning) in the past couple of weeks and have had NO CLUE where they go! When they mysteriously come up missing, we search EVERYWHERE....underneath things, in drawers, trash, etc. multiple times! Well....Sunday night I was frustrated with Scott because I left him 2 mitts for Elli in case she started scratching! When I went to go put them on, they were gone....nowhere to be found! Of course I thought that he had knocked them off the ottoman or accidentally misplaced them. We started searching everywhere for it and I look down and here Bella is eating the other mitt (the one that is not lost)! I can't believe we didn't even think about her eating the mitts. She eats her toys and these mitts typically smell like milk because Elli wipes her face multiple times....even while eating! So....it was Bella all along....leaving no trace of a mitt anywhere! Oh Bells....if only we didn't love you so much....

Below are pictures of Elli's 1 month "birthday." I posted so many pictures because I just couldn't pick out my favorites....She's just so darn cute!! The first two pictures are Elli in a new sleeper. People from Papa Lindvall's work got her this! So cute!

**** Click on the pictures to enlarge them....

Her new sleeper....

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Photo shoot begins....

Hmmm....look at this arm

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Snuggling with Daddy! I'm determined to eventually get a good picture of them both, but I don't know if that will happen until we start getting more sleep! Daddy looks tired in most pictures that I take of them!

Look for an update next week as we take a trip to Elli's dr. We are hoping he is happy with her weight gain!


*****Yes Amber, I copied off of you by getting the monthly stickers! Thanks for the idea :)

Papa and Nana Lindvall's Visit

This weekend Nana and Papa Lindvall came to visit us! Friday consisted getting Elli's footprints and fingerprints for her scrapbook. We were successful with the footprints, but had a lot of trouble stretching her long fingers out for good hand print. She also got a bath which she enjoyed and "snuggle time" with her grandparents. On Saturday, Elli spent most of her day sleeping on Papa while Nana and I went out to get Elli some Easter shoes and a sweater. We've got part of her outfit for Easter, but will soon be in search for the perfect dress. I can't wait to get her all dressed up!

In the past week, Elli has been much more alert! She's been eating well, but still has some trouble sleeping by herself. She is slowly getting better at sleeping in her bassinet and will occasionally sleep there a couple hours in between feedings at night. Today I put Elli in her crib on her side and she did pretty well sleeping there for about an hour.

Below are some pictures from this weekend. Of course I had to include a picture of Bells! Bella has been having some jealousy issues, but we keep telling her that soon Elliana and her will be the best of friends!

Bella wanting to play!



Elli doing a little posing during a photo shoot!

All comfy....


Finally a smile captured on camera!!



Look at those big blue eyes!






Picture time with Nana

Where Elli spent most of her weekend....in Papa's arms

Happy 3 Week Birthday

Elliana was officially 3 weeks old as of 7:24 am this morning! Wow....time has gone so fast! Elli celebrated last night by sleeping 4.5 hours in her bassinet (not straight as we woke up once to eat). It was such an accomplishment and made Mommy so happy!! She needed to be held at 4:15am this morning and spent the rest of the night with us (with the exception of about an hour in her swing). If the weather cooperates, our friend Kelli is supposed to come for a visit! Hopefully she will help me keep Elli up so we can have another good nights rest tonight!

Elli was pretty happy last night! I got about 5 good smiles out of her at 11:30pm! She even laughed in her sleep! My goal this week is to capture that pretty smile on camera or video!

Below are pictures from this morning....

Playing with my bear!

Valentine's Day weekend

Well....after many requests to start a blog, I've finally decided to start one! This blog will allow family and friends who live far away to keep updated on Elliana's growth and see pictures of her! I'm not promising that I will update frequently or even once a week, but I will do the best I can to not forget that I have this :)

The pictures below are from this weekend. Nana and Grandpa Brauchler came to help take care of Elliana! She still does not enjoy sleeping through the night! Enjoy!!

Valentine's day bear that Nana and Grandpa Brauchler got me!