Ouch!

Oooh, my aching body! Today was a boring day. Ella was up early and then down for a 3 hour nap again in the morning. Ron came home early from work and took care of Ella while I re-organized the pantry and sorted through the kitchen. This is a picture of Ella with her Uncle Lee at brunch yesterday...she loves her uncles!

Grandma has been walking and getting ready for the 3-Day Walk for breast cancer. She is so determined and has lost so much weight. She looks so fabulous, she's inspired me to try to get back into some sort of shape. We went walking after dinner and I decided to carry Ella in her front carrier rather than take her in her stroller. A bit of an over-achievement! I was struggling up the hills and by the time I got back home I was exhausted!!! Ella loved it though so I think I'll try it again and work my way up to an hour. She's 13 extra pounds so she should help me whip my butt into shape! I'm going to post a link to Dawn's fundraising website. Please help me help her raise money for a cure for breast cancer. Every little bit helps! Check out the link to the right.

Sunday Brunch

This morning we celebrated Grandma's birthday by going to have a late breakfast at the Renaissance Hotel. It was really good, not super greasy like the Waffle House. I forgot how good hotel buffets are if you go to the nice hotels. We ate waaaaayyyy too much but it was so yummy. Why do we always feel the need to "get our money's worth" at a buffet. I guess if you look at the whole scheme of things, eating one huge meal and a light snack before bed might not be so bad...as long as it's only on special occasions. :)

Update on the tree: it fell. At sometime after 11 last night there was a huge crash which we all though might have been some thunder from the storm that was moving through. It hit the corner of the roof and knocked a chunk of gutter and shingles off, but not enough to create any problems inside. Joey went out on the deck to inspect the damage and stepped on a nail from the debris. He had to have a tetanus shot this morning. Now the tree is still against the house but broken up. At least it's down and not putting pressure on the other one.

Ella's latest thing is her tongue. I guess it must feel good on those aching gums. She keeps it stuck out and just looks stunned all the time...with the drool she looks sooooo attractive! LOL

Family Dynamics

It is so funny to watch four men solve yard work problems and play with new toys. Three sons and a dad have such a stereotypical relationship that it was all I could do to not laugh at them all. You've got the oldest son, Ron, the apprentice eager to learn and try out the new chainsaw. Dad and his eldest took turns chopping up all the fallen trees. The youngest son, Lee, playfully watches while jumping the logs, neither helping or hindering the process. The middle son, Joey, the work horse of the four, diligently collecting and stacking the newly chopped wood. Ella and I of course just sat on the deck and watched the comedy unfold. I love this picture of her, the look says it all...."what the heck are those fools doing down there?" :)
The whole impetus of the new chainsaw was the tree that fell down towards the house the other night, but thankfully it was stopped by another tree and didn't come down on the master bedroom and kitchen. Now both trees are hovering precariously over the house. The new chainsaw was to get the fallen tree off the good tree so they don't both come down. However, it looks like a professional is going to have to do the job...but there were lots of other dead trees that allowed the boys to play with the new toy!
Today was Grandma's birthday and the girls went out to lunch and then went for pedicures while the boys played in the yard. All the ladies loved Ella. She was fascinated with the whole pedicure process and flirted with all the people in the nail shop. I can't wait til she's old enough to get her own pedicure, a mommy-daughter day out.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Home

Today was a day of rest and relaxation. Could Ella be going through another growth spurt? She slept in until 8:30 for the second morning in a row, napped for an hour at 10, for two hours at 12 and another two hours at 4:30! I actually decided to join her at 4:30 and managed a nap for a couple hours too. It's now 9 and she's out and been out since 8:30. To top the whole day off, Grandma cooked dinner and I got to eat a hot meal I didn't have to prepare myself or pay someone else to make for me. How nice is it that!
In my heart I am always home when I'm with my husband and my daughter, no matter where we are, where we go, or what we are doing. But I have truly found a physical home here in Georgia with my in-laws. I have missed having a place to call home since my mother passed away almost two years ago. Going back to the west coast where I grew up, no longer feels the same because my mom isn't there. I have wonderful friends, my mom's friends and my brother so it will always be a place I love. I have learned that home can be a place of refuge, love and security, but only if that place is where your family and your friends reside. Because no matter how great a place is, it will never be home without moms, dads, babies, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters or friends :)

Boyfriend

Today Ella and I went to Peachtree City to see Eli and Leah. How big he's grown! Such a handsome man, all baby chunky! He had a lot to say to Ella but she definitely was playing hard and just starred at him. Girl with an attitude to be sure! It was really nice to see Leah and Eli again, we even got to see Scott for a minute before he was out the door.
We went and had lunch at a little joint that has all you can eat pizza and salad...for like $6. How much fun was that. Ella and Eli behaved very well and Ella seems more and more interested in what I'm eating than eating herself. The doctor said to just keep doing what I'm doing with nursing and formula and she'd see us in September at Ella's 6-month check up. I wish I had asked her about baby food...I was really looking forward to getting messy with Ella when she tries all the new foods. I guess as long as she's growing and healthy I'll just wait til September, well maybe sooner :)

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting....

Ella, Ron and I had lunch with our friend Kelly today at my favorite place, Moe's, yummy Mexican food. Kelly's on vacation from teaching in Korea and we think her and Ella are going to be twins...Kelly is a Maori girl from New Zealand with pretty curly hair and smooth caramel skin. Sooooo jealous. Man, I wish I could tan like her! How fun that Ella's going to be able to play in the sun and not burn up (even though she'll be slathered in sunscreen). We went shopping at Target and then took Kelly to the airport. Erika and Kelly: Have a great time in TO!!

Well, as you can see we are back online. We moved into Ron's parents Sunday night and finally got a wireless card for my laptop so we can use the internet. I've missed posting but we've been so busy getting settled in. Yesterday the movers came and packed up our house for Hawaii. Three guys came and boxed, wrapped and loaded the truck, they even took furniture apart. They started at 8:30am and left at 10pm. We were exhausted just watching them...and that's all we did, literally, sat on our butts and watched them. Ella and I left at 7:30pm so we could come home (now at Grandma's and Granddad's) and get ready for bed. I can't imagine having to move ourselves...where'd all our stuff come from!!!

Big Toe

I finally captured her on the camera. She has found her big toe and loves to suck on it when she's able to wrangle her limbs the way she wants. If she's not sucking on her toes, she has her left thumb in her mouth and her right foot in her hand. I love babies! She's getting more and more fun every day! She's still out of sorts from her shots and has a bit of a high temperature so I've been giving her Tylenol to prevent a fever. I'll give it another day before I think it's her teething. She's been drooly and sucking on her fingers to sooth her gums but hasn't shown any real signs of being uncomfortable until yesterday when she got her shots. Hopefully a good night's sleep will be all she needs.
Tonight we took our last bath in our big garden tub. Tomorrow we say good bye to the house, and move into Grandma's and Granddad's. There is so much to do and pack, and we have professional movers coming on Tuesday! Luckily I just have to pack up our personal items to take to my in-laws. The movers get the fun job of packing up the rest of the house. Amazing how much stuff we have! I'll miss having our own place but can't wait to sell this house and be out of the neighborhood for good.
There is a new addition to the family: Congratulations, Lisa and Chuck! Can't wait to meet your new baby girl!!

Baby Shots

Today Ella had her 4-month check up and got her second round of shots, 3 needles in the thighs. Of course I believe it's harder on the moms to watch their baby scream but as soon as you feed them they forget all about it.
Ella is doing great. She's 12lbs. 12oz now and 26 inches! She's grown into the 25 percentile but still 75 for her height. The doctor thinks if she stays that way she will probably be 5'6 or 5'7. How funny that they can predict that. Ella's been out of sorts today, really good but she has a hard time going to sleep. I'm sure it's the shots she had today, her legs are probably sore. We dropped a load of stuff off at Ron's parents and I'm trying to put Ella down. She's just woken up screaming...gotta run and try to put her back to sleep.

Blessed

I'm almost organized and ready for the movers on Tuesday. We'll be at Ron's parents as of Sunday night and though Ella is a perfect little lady, it'll be really nice to have the extra hands to help out. No, we haven't sold the house :( It takes almost 3 months for our stuff to get to the next duty station so that's why we are getting packed up now. We really hope the house sells soon as Ron checks into Hawaii at the end of October; we'll leave for Hawaii that last weekend.
Tonight we went for dinner with an old friend from Korea. Kelly is visiting her fellow NZ friend who is teaching here in Atlanta. It was so great to see her and reminisce on old crazy Korea times. Boy, does she ever have a good memory! So much gossip and funny stories. I totally forgot my camera but will get a picture when I see her again next week. Here are a couple of our Korea pics...seems like yesterday we were there....
Ron and I will forever be grateful for the time we spent in Korea. We not only found each other there, but we made so many good friends and have the greatest memories. Life takes you to the most unexpected places and presents you with the greatest opportunities. I am very blessed to have taken advantage of the opportunities given to me. A little courage, some brains and a whole lot of faith have given me the world: a husband I adore, friends I cherish, family I love, and a baby girl who is my heart.

Naked Baby

We've been pretty productive now that I'm feeling 100% again. I took a load of stuff over to my in-laws and we went bed shopping with Grandma. She found one she likes and it will be delivered before we get there on Sunday so we have a place to lay our head. I've been organizing and sorting and trying to figure out what the heck we're going to do with all the winter clothes we have. Obviously keep them for the next duty station in case it's cold, but we have loads of clothes! All that cheap shopping in Korea is now becoming a pain in the butt. I also have to sort through and divided into what is being shipped on Tuesday (pretty much everything) and what will ship in September (a set of sheets, extra clothes, crib, Ella's toys). As of September we will only have the clothes on our backs and the clothes we can fit into the suitcases we are taking on the plane. We'll be living out of suitcases for 6 weeks, yuck! Thank goodness we have Ron's family so at least it'll feel like home.
We are planning a trip to Toronto (via Virginia and Philadelphia) mid-August. We are going to visit my family and have Ella christened on August 27th. We had hoped to get to the west coast before Hawaii too but it doesn't look like we are going to make it unless the house sells. Once we're in Hawaii we can catch a military flight to Seattle. This will probably be the last trip to Toronto for a long time as it's just too expensive to travel across the country.
Ella's newest milestone: chewing on her toes. She's too cute and has learned to chomp on her big toe to sooth those aching gums (she's teething). I tried to get a picture of her as we were getting ready for bed but she finally wore herself out.

Phew!

Oh my goodness! What a week...and weekend! My last post, I felt like I was on the mend and the doctor had said I could stop my medicine. By Saturday, I was back to being so ill, only this time it wasn't vomiting that was the problem. Ughhh! I was either laying down or on the toilet and nothing was working. I called the doctor as I seriously thought I needed to go to the hospital and was trying to figure out how I would possibly make the 15 minute car ride to the ER. The doctor said my body was purging the infection and I just needed to stick it out and eat BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). Taking anything to stop the symptoms would just prolong the infection in my body. I felt so awful but luckily Ron was able to entertain Kendall and Christine...obviously not the best weekend to come see me! Sorry guys:( But they got to visit with Ella and catch up with each other. They all went to Moe's for lunch (my favorite Mexican place)and I was so jealous! I ate BRAT and by Sunday I was on the mend again. We went to the Blue Willow Inn for a traditional southern buffet. Ron had to pick family up from the airport so he wasn't able to go. Without him I definitely didn't get my $$$ worth. I had a small plate and some peach cobbler. Kendall got a cute heart pendant with Ella's name on it and I'll wear it until Ella's old enough to wear it herself. It's so cute! It was nice to catch up with the girls. They headed home today and Ella and I slept the afternoon away. One more week until the movers come; we'll be at my in-laws by Sunday. So much to do and clean and organize! Phew! I'm exhausted!

We're Back...sort of

Just a quick note as Kendall is here and Christine arrives tomorrow, so I may not post til Monday. We have been very, very sick! On Wednesday morning I came down with a little nausea...and full-on projectile vomiting. Ron had to come home from work after lunch because I was so weak I could barely pick up Ella. Granddad and Grandma came over that evening to watch Ella while Ron took me to the doctor. I apparently had a bacterial infection. Did I mention I found out our neighborhood pool hadn't been cleaned???? Oh my god! What a nightmare. Ella is fine, as are Nolan and Amy, thank god! Though my doctor thinks the pool is not the culprit of my infection....hummm? And the neighborhood association has since assured me that it is cleaned regularly...hummm again? It obviously wasn't as Ron woke up Thursday with the same thing and wound up in the ER. He was sent home with some meds and slept 18 hours yesterday. It's been a very rough couple of days and we're both feeling about 80%...just weak from no food for days. But feel better with each bite.
It was a big week of firsts for Ella. First days without nursing (my meds pass through so I have to pump and dump until tomorrow)and her first sleep-over at Grandma and Granddad's. It gave Ron and I some recovery time and I wanted to make sure Ella didn't catch what we had. She seems to have come out unscathed. She did so well and Grandma kicked Grandddad out to the couch and the girls had the whole bed to themselves. A real sleep-over!
It was an emotional time for me as it was the first night without Ella and with being so dehydrated I had no milk supply. I really wasn't emotionally ready to let that part of my baby go just yet. But since I've been drinking it's been slowly returning. I plan on nursing at least 6 months. As Auntie Stephanie says: "Teeth are god's way of saying it's time to stop nursing!" :)
Anyway, that's why there's been no posts or pics....more to come with friends visiting this weekend.

Bikini Baby

"She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka-dot bikini..." Here is Ella in her new bikini that Grandma bought for her. So cute. Little girl bathing suits are adorable! She's not quite big enough for it so we will have to put it away for now. Most women spend most of their lives trying to get into a bikini, and Ella needs to fatten up to have it stay on! She's getting there, she's getting some chunky thighs and we love it!

Amy and Nolan came over this afternoon for a swim and it was so good to see them! Nolan is such a big boy, he was flirting and talking - just such a happy baby. It was fun to play with the babies in the pool. I am trying to get Ella to float or at least not drown for a few seconds if I let her go. Once she seemed to hold her breath, but the other two times she just coughed up water. I don't really let her go mind you (I'm waaaaay too scared to do that) but I let her get her head in the water. Apparently you can let them go in the water and they adjust quite well. You show me a parent that can do that, and I'll call them outta their mind! I'm going to look into a water babies class so we can learn the proper way.
She is very comfortable in the water, so comfortable in fact that she fell asleep in the pool. She had her hat on for protection and I was holding her so she could watch the other kids over my shoulder....she fell fast asleep! I laid her on a lounge chair and covered her with a towel, sopping wet diaper and all. She was zonked out! Here's the new one-piece from Grandma as well...pretty pretty.

Winnie the Pooh sleeper

A pretty uneventful day. Here is a sleep thing we received at our baby shower. I used it when Ella got out of the bath but now she's grown out of it and it's much too warm for Georgia summer. The pics make her look like a clan member...the Pooh clan that is! :)

Miss Cranky Pants

Here is a pic of Ella as Miss Cranky Pants...it's an old one when she was 5 weeks, we think we'll use it as leverage when she's older. :)
I swear, Nolan and Ella are totally in sync with each other! I just read Amy's blog and it seems Ella and Nolan have special communication powers and decide just what kind of day they are going to give Amy and I!
Ella didn't sleep much, if at all today. She was alright until we went to Olive Garden for her Great Grandma's birthday dinner. We weren't there 5 minutes when she started screaming...and I don't just mean crying, I mean SCREAMING!!! I had to take her to the car to try to nurse her but she wasn't consolable. Finally after about 20 minutes, I was able to "shhhhhhh, shhhhh.." her and rock her to semi-consciousness. Ron had to come out and help me carry her diaper bag back into the restaurant. We had every intention of just getting our food to go, but she fell asleep in my arms under a blanket. So much for her wishing Grandma Beasley a happy birthday! By the time we finished dinner she was up and was able to take a bottle from her Grandad. We got stuck in traffic on the way home and it took us an hour and a half to get back, lucky for us, Ella fell asleep. Phew! I had hoped to get a picture of her with her Great Grandma but someone was being miss cranky pants.

Sell This House!

I can't wait to sell our house and get the heck out of here! I am so tired of noisy, disrespectful neighbors. The girl next door comes in at all hours and cranks her stereo so that the base reverberates through our house. We've left notes on her door many times and have finally called the police a few times. She is getting better and will usually play her music during the day instead of midnight or 4am. The people behind us don't look to be home but some friend or family member has decided to through a party. There are cars on lawns and their stereo speakers are out in the yard. They've been playing music all freakin' afternoon. At 6:30 we finally called the police...not even sure if they showed up as it's now 7:30 and the music is still going. No one is even in the yard, they are all over at the pool...all gazillion of them. Grrrrr! Ella finally napped at 4 for a couple of hours and we're hoping to get her to fall asleep in an hour at her bedtime. I'm going to be peeved if the music keeps waking her up. I'll make Ron phone the cops again soon. I know, I'm such a downer but I'm sick of paying homeowners fees to live in this neighborhood.

At lunch I took Ella to the pool and for once, there weren't a billion kids in it. We got to play all by ourselves and Ella has started kicking when you hold her in the water. We didn't stay long as she gets cold quickly. Going to take a bath and then it's bedtime...I hope!

BBQ at Fort Gillem

Okay, so I took some pictures at the BBQ for Ron's work, and when I got home, the camera didn't have any pics on it. I'm not sure how that happened so here's a couple more from last week when Steph, Matt and Christin were here. Ella is so in love with her godfather, Matthew. He could get her giggling and talking (she's on his lap in this first pic) and when she was exhausted, he could calm her down and get her to sleep...and he can't even nurse (we think he's Superman!). Her godmother, Stephanie, is definitely not going to be the disciplinary...teaching her all the things kids should know but parents wished they didn't. Steph will have her blowing milk out her nose, flicking food at her parents and blowing "raspberries" before she's one. We can't wait to go to Toronto in September to see them again!


Here's a pic of our visit to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center. The memorials are beautiful and Ella liked the water around MLK's tomb. Thank you Auntie Christin for the cute baby sunglasses. Now we can go to the pool and look especially stylish with the Nemo swim diapers!!!

Happy Canada Baby

Okay, one more Canada day pic before I go to bed....

Happy Belated Canada Day

July 1st was Canada Day and we took Ella into her first pub for a drink on River Street in Savannah. Here she is with Auntie Christin looking at the drink menu. She wouldn't be half Canadian if we didn't start her early! ...

...And she wouldn't be half American if she wasn't the first one to pass out! Hee Hee, that's for all you Canadians out there! We know the Americans can't handle Canadian beer, or in Ella's case Canadian milk :)

Today was a boring, sleep-in day. Ella was up at 3:30 and then again at 7am for a feeding. I brought her back to bed with me at 7 and we slept in until 9. The rest of the day was very boring, we just played on her gym mat and in her jolly jumper and then she napped in her swing. We are going to be well-rested for the BBQ tomorrow afternoon at Daddy's work. It will be the first time Ron's co-workers will meet Ella. We're getting ready for bed and Ella just head-butted me in the mouth. I'm hoping I don't get a fat lip tomorrow! (Erin - remember Corfu?) I hope I don't have to avoid the BBQ because of baby abuse! :)

Jolly Good!

How much do we love the jolly jumper! After a perfect day of shopping (of course) and a solid 2 hour afternoon nap, Ella is in the best mood and so totally on schedule. Have I said how lucky we are with her? :) We pulled out the jolly jumper tonight for the first time and Ella is in baby heaven. She's always kicking her legs and trying to stand and the jolly jumper allows her to get her jump on. She LOVES it!!!


The best part about it - I can attach her to a doorway and get stuff done around the house...or play on the blog which is much more fun. Here's to hours and hours of play time / mommy time / exercise time! This is one of the best inventions...this and the swing (aka mechanical babysitter).

Happy 4th

It was so nice to have a full night sleep after a week of excitement. Ella slept very well and Daddy got up with her this morning so I could sleep in...until 10am! We are all well rested and back on schedule with nap time and bedtime. Such an easy baby. We grilled out at Grandma and Grandpa's for the 4th of July. It was nice to visit, relax and then go home with leftovers. I feel spoiled when I don't have to do anything.


Ella's already in bed and sleeping like, well, a baby. I'm going to pick a book and relax. Tomorrow I'm off to Babies R Us to check out high chairs and pick up some rubber spoons for Ella to play with. Soon she'll be on baby foods so I'll let her get used to a spoon and maybe give her some rice cereal out of a bowl instead of the bottle she's been getting.

I'm also going to pull out the jolly jumper and see how she likes it, she's always trying to stand when you hold her anyway so might as well give her some entertainment too. It's a big week for our baby, lots of new things to try out!

Home Sweet Home

It has been a very busy week! Christin, Stephanie and Matthew were here visiting and seemed to enjoy their time in Atlanta. We made a trip to the Blue Willow Inn for some traditional southern cooking. Here's a picture of the girls in front of the antebellum home. Beautiful home, great food and perfect company!
On Saturday we headed to Savannah and walked around the river front and the historic district. It's the third time I've been to Savannah and each time I fall more in love with its charm. It is really an amazing place and I love all the parks, squares and sidewalks! You can walk for miles and see all the beautiful old homes; Atlanta isn't at all a pedestrian-friendly city and I miss walking in your own neighborhood. To find a nice park it's quite a drive, so I'm limited to our boring subdivision.
We spent Saturday night in Savannah and then Matt, Steph, Ron, Ella and I said goodbye to Christin (who was heading to Orlando with her friend) and headed to Charleston, S.C. What a gorgeous city! Everyone said that if I like Savannah, I would LOVE Charleston and they were so right. The sea air, the old buildings and beautiful homes...one day was not enough so we will go back for a whole weekend in September. Charleston is on our list of potential places to settle down once we're finished with all the military moves. I had such a great time with my girlfriends and Ella really bonded with her godparents, Stephanie and Matthew. I love this picture of them! After a long visit and too much time in the car, we are home and going to bed early!!