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!!!