Happy 7 Months!!

Whoo hoo! Ella is 7 months old today. My my time is flying by! Here are our baby pictures...Ella totally doesn't look like me but then maybe the hair is throwing me off! :) She totally looks like Ron! Oh my goodness, does she ever! Look at all that hair!!!

Her Roseola is over and done with, she was chatty and happy all day today...though last night was a rough one. Ella woke up at midnight and I ended up feeding her as rocking her to sleep and putting her back down wasn't working. After nursing her and laying her down, she screamed and cried for 30 minutes (that was as long as I could handle it, Ron of course slept through the whole thing...and she's in our room!) I made her a bottle and she continued to cry. By 1 am I was watching tv while Ella just laid in my arms and stared at me. She wasn't fussing, she just had no intention of sleeping. She finally fell asleep after 2. Ron got up with her at 5:30 and we let her cry for a bit. We woke her up at 7:30 and she went with Ron to church. I was just too exhausted to go.

Hummm, Ella was back on schedule today and while I ran some errands and Ron had the garage door installed, Ella spent the afternoon with her Granddad. He passed the test, Ella was feed and sleeping when I got home. Way to go!!

Our list is getting shorter.....

√Church with Grandma
√Install garage door opener
Fix window sensor
Clean stove
Target
Extra Keys cut
Have wedding rings cleaned
Call alarm company
Get Ella'’s ear's pierced
Grandma's 3-day walk
Refinance house
Hire property manager
Ella'’s urology appointment
Ella'’s prescription refills
Pedicure and manicure
Haircut and highlights
Pack Ella's Clothes
Pack suitcases

To Do Lists

Ella is almost back to normal. She slept well last night and took many naps today to catch up on her sleep. Her rash is gone but her cheeks are still rosey (but not at all blotchy). She was relatively happy most of the day and is starting to get her appetite back.

Well, after reading Amy's blog yesterday, I realized my list of things to do in the next 12 days is loooong! Seeing as I play around on this blog enough, I'm going to post my list and check off what I've accomplished in order to stop my procrastination! (Did I mention 12 days!) Each day I hope to see my list get smaller and smaller:

Before we leave:

√ Hotel Reservation - Hawaii
√ Car Rental -– Hawaii
Church with Grandma
Install garage door opener
Fix window sensor
Clean stove
Target
Extra Keys cut
Have wedding rings cleaned
Call alarm company
Get Ella'’s ear's pierced
Grandma's 3-day walk
Refinance house
Hire property manager
Ella'’s urology appointment
Ella'’s prescription refills
Pedicure and manicure
Haircut and highlights
Pack Ella's Clothes
Pack suitcases

Friday the 13th Indeed

This pretty much sums up our day. Ella was up at 5 am and was up most of the day, cranky and irritable. Her rash has turned bothersome and she is constantly rubbing her face on my shoulder, my shirt, the bed, her blanket. She's rubbing her eyes and face like she does when she's tired, but she doesn't stop. I took her to the doctor this morning and she does indeed have roseola. I'm not sure how well you can see in the photos but her face is all red and blotchy and her body is covered with spots. Although totally harmless, occasionally it can be like having the measles. Aghhhh! We got some children's Benadryl for the itch and it is working slowly. Ella hasn't napped all day but 20 minutes here and there.

I gave her a bath tonight and avoided a major tub disaster by sitting Ella on the toilet...she pooped like a big girl and then it was back in the clean tub. Drinking water out of a water bottle, bathing by herself and using the toilet...what next for this little lady!

Ella cried a lot today so I had lots of time to capture her teeth coming through. (Can you see the little white bumps!) As I put her to bed (finally), her rash seems to be going away. It should be gone tomorrow I hope. After our day today, I'm ready to hit the hay, after a nice cold beer!

Mac n' Cheese

I forgot to mention....Ella had her first taste of real food. I gave her a few noodles from my mac n' cheese and she chewed them up! (Though I had to hand feed her as she couldn't pick them up off the tray herself). We also tried Chicken and gravy (baby food version) for dinner tonight.

And....

A tooth has popped through! One of them has pierced her gums and you can feel how sharp it is against the rest of her soft gums.

She'll be 7 months on Sunday and I'm still nursing; it's been such an accomplishment for me and well worth it. I love our time together and we've bonded so close. I'm so glad I've been able to up til now and will begin to wean her off closer to her first birthday. (Though we'll see what comes of the whole teeth situation :) )

Roseola

After a few errands this morning and a restful afternoon, we went over to Ron's Grandma's to help with a few house chores. Ron has her all hooked up with the computer and gave her a quick lesson on the internet.

(Hi Grandma!!!)

Ella enjoyed her visit as always and left with lots of love and kisses.

I'm not sure if you can see in the pictures but I think I figured out what Ella's fever was all about. She broke out in a rash today and her fever is gone. From what Amy has told me, it looks like Roseola; a harmless rash most babies get at some point. She isn't at all bothered by it, she isn't rubbing or itching at all. It's on her chest, across her back, her neck and the side of her face. Again, totally oblivious to the whole thing. (Amy - oh my goodness, no worries or apologies! It was a week after we saw Nolan. Besides, it's only fair as our pool could have given Nolan a lot worse! :) )

Woah! Did you see "Grey's Anatomy" tonight!!!!

Rollercoaster

Well, Ella's temperature went down to normal today. I checked when we woke up and again at noon. All's okay at 98.6. By 4 o'clock it was up to 102! What the ???????
I'm so confused! I gave her some Motrin and within an hour it was back below 100. She's taking her anti-biotics every night with no problem, maybe that's what's throwing us for the loop.

Dadadadadadadada

Yeah! Ella is talking.....sort of. She talks to herself using "ma" "la" "na" "da". Usually it's just a lot of nattering and repetative sounds. But tonight she answered when Ron was talking to me from the other room. She heard his voice and started "dadadadadada" and then paused to listen for him again. She had the biggest smile on her face and was so proud of herself. "Dadadadadada" to you too, Ella!

She's been using sounds for a little while now but this is the first time she seems to have related a sound to an object. I'd like to think "mama" was her first word as she'll start most of her cries, "Maaaaaaaaaaaaa" or "Mmmmmmmmmmmmum" but I think it's just the sound she makes when she's gearing up for a wail.

We went to the doctor today. Ella's high temperature isn't going down much. It's not a fever yet, but it's hovering around 100.5. They tested for another UTI and the test came back clean; the doctor thinks she picked up a virus and she's just fighting it. It should be back to normal in a couple of days but until then it's Tylenol, Motrin, luke-warm baths and a whole bunch of nakedness. The good news, she's drinking lots of liquids to help fight this. She won't drink out of a sippie cup or her bottle, but she loves water and juice as long as it's out of the bottle it came in. She really does think she's a big girl!

I had the best news from my dearest friend. It made my day! Congratulations!!!!!!

Temperature's Risin'

Ella was burning up this morning. I gave her some Tylenol and her high temperature went from 101.7 to 100.9. I've been giving her Tylenol all day and gave her a cool bath tonight but she's still warm and her temperature isn't dropping below 100. I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow and take her in to make sure she's okay. Maybe another UTI? I'm not sure but this is how the last one was discovered.
Hawaii is getting closer and closer, 17 more days!

Sleepy Sunday

We met some of Ron's friends for a walk at Arabia Mountain this morning. It was so cool...temperature cool. Luckily I bundled Ella up but Ron and I only had short sleeves and burrrr it was chilly! I love the cool weather, I just wish we had bundled up a bit more.
This afternoon, I slept the entire afternoon away. It was so nice to be lazy! Grandma took Ella for lunch with her girlfriends and Ron went over to the house to get a garage door opener installed (they ran out of time on our neighbors house so we have to reschedule).
Happy Thanksgiving my Canadians! Wish we were there for some pumpkin pie! YUM!

Mmmmmm

Today was a lazy day. We went over to Victor and Tara's for dinner and they had fixed a wonderful Mexican meal! I love Mexican food. Any day, any time I would go over for a meal; Victor and Tara know how to cook up a whole spread! Sooooooo yummy!
It's always nice to visit with them, laugh and talk. We're really going to miss having such great neighbors and friends when we leave at the end of the month. Ella was a bit fussy, which is so unusual but she was rubbing her gums so I'm thinking the teething thing is getting serious. She ate and passed out just before we headed home. Such a lovely night!

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Dear Mr. Victor and Miss Tara,

Thank you so much for my book about reading.
It's adorable!
We are going to start reading tomorrow night.
I can't wait.

Love Ella xo xo :)