Rice cereal, boat rides, and cookouts

Elli went to the dr. on Friday and now weighs in at 12 pounds 8 ounces and is 23 3/4 inches long. She is still little compared to her typical peers, but is right where she needs to be on her growth chart. We got a lot of questions answered and walked away with 5 vaccinations....1 oral and 4 shots! She already wasn't enjoying being poked and prodded, but when those shots came out....well....YIKES!! She woke up on Saturday with 2 big red marks on her legs from the shots!

Elli has officially discovered toys on her exersaucer as of today!! She really enjoyed playing with the different toys and it was a lot of fun to watch her!

She is still congested and has had a runny nose all day today. She still continues to sneeze throughout the day and occasionally coughs. At this point we don't know if we're still getting over a cold or dealing with allergies. Only time will tell....

We started Elli on some solids on Saturday. Lets see how she liked it....

This is her enjoying her bottle....

Getting ready for the 1st bite (this bite looks huge....I didn't give her the whole thing).
Hmmm....This is kind of weird!!

"Don't make me eat anymore!!!!!!!!"

So, she wasn't a huge fan. She isn't quite sure of the texture and didn't like the flavor! Today, I added in some apple/prune juice because she seemed to be a little "backed up." Yes, we're still occasionally dealing with this, but it has gotten better. There is always a party in our house when we see a good poo!! She tried many bites of the apple/prune rice cereal without crying. She still has no clue what to do with her tongue, but I'm pretty sure she swallowed a couple bites!!
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We decided on Thursday night that we would head home for part of the weekend. Scott went to the Indy 500 and we took Elli out on the boat. She seemed to enjoy it, but was pretty tired by the end of the day. It was quite the experience as Elli and I accidentally drifted into the lake by ourselves with no way of knowing how to drive the boat. Luckily, Grandpa took one for the team and swam out to save us in the disgusting water. Also, a bird decided to go to the bathroom on me...fun!! We also took Elli to Ivanhoes for the 1st time....too bad she couldn't enjoy the food!!

Getting ready for the boat!! She's excited....her first time out on the water!!

Thanks for the ball Papa!!

Nana B. held me most of the time to keep me out of the sun while Grandpa drove the boat!

She loves looking all around!!

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We came home on Sunday night, so we could have a whole day to rest and get things done around the house! Oh how things don't turn out the way you expect them to. We had quite the experience today....one I would not like to re-live, so I'm not going to spend time to write about it! Lets just say there are downfalls to being a homeowner and today was one day where I was not happy to be one. We are extremely thankful for neighbors and friends who come to help within minutes. Garrett and Kelli....you are amazing!! So....the relaxing day didn't happen and our day of getting chores done didn't happen. We spent all day cleaning up a mess and fixing some problems....ugh!! We did have a cookout to go to for some birthdays. We decided to go despite the fact that we got nothing accomplished that we wanted to today. We're hoping some family and friends will want to come over to help us get things fully repaired sometime soon!!

Picture of Elli before the cookout! She looooooves to practice standing up! And...as you can see she drools more and more each day :)

So, unfortunately our time at the cookout ended early because of a grouchy little gal! When she gets tired, she lets everyone know! We couldn't calm her at the cookout, so we had to head home...boo!! Oh well! Scott just said "I can't wait for this day to be over" and I couldn't agree more!!

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This Thursday, Scott and I will be celebrating our anniversary!! Can't believe it has already been 4 years!! Happy Anniversary, Scottie!!

4 Month Birthday

Wow, 2 posts from me today! Where did I have time? As promised in the last post, I have uploaded Elli's 4 month photos. She has become quite the model lately. Our photographer picked one of Elli's newborn pictures and entered it into a contest! We were shocked and so excited for our little lady! I'm pretty sure this means she will fulfill MY lifelong dream of being in a Miss America pageant or a model. She's got such a bright future already :) She didn't win, but I'm sure the judging was "set up" :) Who could resist this little lady??

And because I couldn't pick just a couple of my favorites from our photo shoot....here are 15 pictures :)

Seriously Mom, why did you make me wear this big flower!!

Okay....lets be done with this and just let me play with my friends!!

Looking back

ONE YEAR ago this Thursday, we began planning for our little Elli. I felt a little different at work, but wasn't supposed to take a pregnancy test until the next day (dr. orders since I was on clomid). I couldn't help it....as soon as I got home, I ran upstairs and grabbed a test from my stash:) I didn't tell Scott what I was doing because I was sure he'd tell me to wait until the next day to test! I hurried up, took the test and was expecting to see a negative result like I had seen so many times before. I looked at the test and was shocked to see a different result! Now, I had memorized what a "positive" test had looked like, but I still had to check the instructions just for peace of mind. And so I got my confirmation....I was pregnant!! I ran downstairs yelling "I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant!".....

Scott was a little shocked....immediately thinking "dollar signs"...."How much is this baby going to cost me?"

Then he started getting excited.....

And....we couldn't wait to tell our Bells....She was excited, but didn't realize how much the baby would change her life!!

We loaded up Bella and went to get ice cream to celebrate! We found out we were pregnant exactly one week before our anniversary! It was perfect timing and that is where our journey began! Wow....what a difference a year makes!! We'd do it all over again in a heartbeat....itching, blistering, morning sickness, tiredness, labor, etc...! Some people get a tattoo in honor of their children....I say who needs a tattoo when you've got a permanent scar from a skin biopsy....I will never forget that pregnancy! I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat! We couldn't live without our little Elli!!
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Elli is 17 weeks old and growing like a weed! I'm looking forward to finding out how long she is this Friday at her appointment. We had to take Elli to the dr. last week and found out she was 12 pounds and 2 ounces....she has almost doubled her weight since she was born!

We took this picture after her bath on Sunday....

Yes Elli, the bath was traumatic for us also! We experienced our first "floater" and some during bath time on Sunday night! Yikes! :) At least she is going, right? :)
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Waiting for her bottle! She is now taking about 5 ounces a feeding and sometimes more! We are thinking that she is going through a growth spurt....her sleeping has regressed and she is once again getting up at night....usually about 1:30am and 5:00am. I've read this is normal around 4 months of age due to a growth spurt and I'm hoping it won't last long. She is not getting fed in the middle of the night, but is sometimes up for a little bit at 1:30am. We have now been putting her down for naps and at night without rocking her all the way to sleep and she has done great! Our dr. gave us the go ahead last week (usually they don't recommend this until 4 months) and she has had very little trouble. She only occasionally cries a tiny bit and is usually fast asleep in no time at all! Elli gets a book before bed each night now and she seems to enjoy looking at the pictures.

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We had a great time with Bella's birthday this weekend and had a lot of fun hanging out with our friends!! Bella enjoyed being around the other dogs at the dog park and at Garrett and Kelli's house! I made the dogs a special cake and they loved it!

Hunter, Riley, and Bella. Bella hung out with the "boys" on Sunday. We're missing 1 dog in this picture, the other Riley.....he wasn't able to come back to Garrett and Kelli's house.

Some of the group....

Best. Gift. Ever!!!! Bella and Hunter LOVE playing together! Hunter got bella this "best" charm to wear around her collar and he has the "friends" charm. Her charm came in this Tiffany & Co. bag. haha...Kelli....you are so clever! Bells loves the gift and is proud to wear it around her neck!!

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Elliana has been quite the talker lately!! I often hear her in her crib before or after her nap just chatting away! I was able to get this video of her when she was in a good mood on Sunday.


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Elli is 4 months old tomorrow! Where has time gone?? Her 4-month-old photo shoot will be today....a day early! There is no way I would be able to get her to sit after daycare tomorrow....she'll be too tired! I'll post those pictures either later today or later in the week!

16 weeks....

Time is already flying by! Scott and I were talking just yesterday about how we couldn't believe that next week is already Elli's 4 month birthday! It is hard to imagine that I was just beginning my pregnancy with her a year ago (although I didn't know this yet....)!! We had a relaxing weekend and are looking forward to another one this weekend. Elli is still getting over her cold, but sleeping really well at night. She averages anywhere from 10-12 hours a night and takes really good naps during the day. She takes 1-2 short naps in the morning and a long nap in the afternoon (yesterday this nap was 4.5 hours long!!!!!). She still LOVES to snuggle and has been enjoying practicing standing up!


Her acid reflux is getting much better. We've been slowly stopping the medicine to see if she's grown out of the reflux and she's done really well. Next week, we have Elli's 4 month check-up! We're not looking forward to the shots, but are excited to see how much this little lady has grown!! At the last appointment, her dr. told us that we'd probably be starting Elli on oatmeal at 4 months and that we'd talk more about it at this appt...so we're excited to start this journey of solids!!

Posing on the chair in one of her new outfits from Easter!

Picture of her and Daddy before church! That service was the 1st one since Elli's been born that I've gotten to hold her in church....typically our friends or family are usually the ones holding her during church!
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Grandpa B. came to stay with Elli on Friday night as Scott and I went out to dinner with friends! He was in mansfield for the weekend and didn't mind driving the hour to watch Elli.

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Here are pictures of Elli playing. There are 2 main toys that she loves....a little book that crinkles and her Sophie.

Daddy making Elli laugh!

He's just so funny!!
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We've been putting Elli in her exersaucer for the last couple of days. She hasn't yet discovered how to play with the toys on there, but just looks at them and smiles when we play with them.
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Before we left to come back to Columbus on Mother's Day, we took Elli out to the jungle gym that Grandpa B. has been working on for her and Kensley. This is her and I swinging together for the first time!

Enjoying some swinging in a "big girl" swing!

Who can go higher??

Didn't know what to think at first....
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Scott, Elli, and I went to the mall on Saturday and stopped by the verizon store. Scott was insistant that I needed a new phone! So, I have been playing around with my phone and I'm able to take video and post them on here. This was taken yesterday after Elli's 4.5 hour nap. She's always happiest in the morning or after a nap!! Please feel free to turn off the sound....no one wants to hear my baby voice or "kissing" sounds (which always gets a smile out of Elli)!!


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I can't end this post without giving a birthday "shout out" to our perfect little pup! Bella turns 2 (or 14 in dog years) on Friday! We're celebrating with our friends and their dogs at the dog park on Sunday! Our dog park is awesome and has an area where the dogs can go swimming.....one of Bella's favorite things! Then we'll all head back to one of their houses for cake and ice cream (there will be cake for the dogs too:) ) Invitations were emailed to our friends yesterday....luckily they know our deep love for our dog and weren't surprised at all by the invitation! Happy Birthday Bells....we couldn't ask for a better pup!!!!