Ella {10 Weeks}

It's crazy, but Ella is now 10 weeks old and it's almost Christmas. 

Seriously, where does the time go?

Here are a few pictures and fun things Ella has been up to this week. 

I almost don't want to say this one because I don't want to jinx it, but... First and foremost, Ella has been sleeping for 8 hours every night for the past week. It was almost like a switch flipped. We put her in her crib and found a schedule that she likes, and kazam -- instantly 8+ hours of sleep. It's like a Christmas miracle!

This week we got our Christmas tree. It was a cold, snowy day that we went to the tree farm, but now it's situated warmly in our living room. 

Last Christmas, Mike and I had just moved so we didn't get a tree. But this year it was a must.

And of course we're enjoying nightly snuggles by the tree :)

Ella is starting to learn how to use her hands. They are finding their way into her mouth much more easily these days... Dad isn't a fan. She is starting to use them purposely - like to hit dangly toys. She's just getting the hang of it, but it's fun to watch her learn.

She's still doesn't love it, but we're continuing to work on tummy time. Gotta keep strengthening that neck!

Saturday was a big game for the Penn State men's basketball team. They were playing at their old arena, Rec Hall. They hadn't played there for years, so it was quite an event. The place was packed; there was standing room only. We didn't have much space and Ella wasn't a fan of such loud music and cheering. But we had a great time... even though they lost in overtime.

We're very excited -- next week we'll be posting from The Midwest! It might be a short post, but I'll try to get something up. Until then... safe travels and stay warm!

Ella {9 Weeks}

What a week we've had! Some fun changes around here...

Ella is finding her hands more each week. Now she's hitting the dangly toys on her play mat, and she grabs onto more things. She puts her hands in her mouth more often, but still not really sucking a thumb at this point. She puts her hands up when she eats, and she even "held" her bottle the other night!

She has also found her tongue. How funny is this?!

She is moving her legs so much more, and they're getting so strong! It won't be long til she's ready to try out a jump-jump. She just realized yesterday that if she kicks in the bath, water splashes around. It's only the beginning....

She's holding her head up and sitting in her Bumbo chair for short periods.

Since she was born, Ella has slept in a bassinet in our bedroom. This week we moved her to her crib in her own room. She has slept great -- much better than I have! Of course I have to go check on her every time I wake up. She doesn't seem to notice. She even slept for almost SEVEN hours one night this week. That's a new record!

As you can see, she's getting her daddy's height. Those pants are on a 3 month outfit. They're a little short.

   

And we're still getting more smiles!

You can definitely see both of us in her.

Her two-month checkup was this week, too. She got her first set of shots, which wasn't much fun. She was a tough cookie at first, but a few hours later the pain came back and we saw her first real tears.

Two-month stats
Weight:  12 lbs 14 oz (83%)
Length:  24 inches (97%)
Head Circumference:  38.9 cm (68%)

The doctor said everything looks great!

She's pretty fun! Growing and changing every day! Next week we should have some Christmas photos to share. Stay warm, wherever you are!

Ella {8 Weeks}

I can't believe it's December already. Seriously, where does time go??

The past week has been another fun one with Ella. She's smiling even more, and she kicks around and interacts more than she has been. She's really loving her play mat that a good friend gave us -- it has a mirror that hangs over her and a keyboard that plays music when she kicks it. She just lights up every time she sees herself in the mirror, even if she's getting fussy before we put her on the mat. It's so fun. Definitely her favorite toy right now!

Something else she really loves right now is when she gets to flail around without clothes. When we're putting on pajamas, changing clothes, or getting ready for bath time, she gets so excited and kicks around big time. 

Sleeping has been better the last week or so. She's sleeping four to six hours at a time, and she's finally going to bed about 10pm. She wakes up during the night once or twice to eat, then she's back to sleep until around 8am. We still have some rough nights, but it's getting much better. 

Thanksgiving was this past Thursday. Mike had hockey games that weekend so we didn't get to go home, but we went over to our friends' house. They were gracious enough to invite us to their family's Thanksgiving feast, and it was great fun. Plus, I didn't have to cook a big feast and we didn't have two weeks' worth of leftovers! And Thanksgiving morning, we booked our flights home for Christmas!!! I didn't think we were going to be able to go home [seriously, tickets are crazy expensive this time of year], but Mike found reasonable tickets so we're headed home this month! We're very excited for Ella to meet the rest of the family, and I'm pretty sure they're excited to meet her.

Sending hugs from all of us!

Ella {7 Weeks}

Once again, I'm a little late in getting this post out. Shocker.

We don't have a whole lot of news around here. Ella is still loving to play on her mat, look in her mirror, and kick her feet. Her smiles just melt us, and she's starting to do it more often. We love it!

This weekend we had a houseful of visitors. Some college friends and their other-halves were in town for the Penn State vs Nebraska football game. Because hotels here are $1800 on football weekends [and because we love our friends], everyone stayed at our house. Mind you, we live in a small two-bedroom house. Everyone was very accepting of our less-than-luxurious accommodations [aka air mattresses and couches] and Ella's middle-of-the-night hungry cries. That's why we love college friends. We had a fabulous weekend, and Ella survived her first tailgating experience. She was a champ!! [no, we aren't terrible parents. she was bundled up and in the warm car the whole time. don't judge.]

That's about it for this week. We hope you're staying warm, wherever you are!

Ella {6 Weeks}

Since I was late in getting the 5 Weeks post out, I don't have a whole lot that's new [so i'll give you some extra pictures to make up for it]. Ella is still a night owl... in fact last night she wouldn't really fall asleep until almost 3am. She would fall asleep, but every time we put her down she would start crying. I'm afraid we might have a spoiled little girl on our hands. Hopefully that doesn't continue... Mike and I aren't so good at staying up til 3am these days.

Ella is getting pretty good at holding her head up; her neck is getting stronger!

We had a couple real smiles each of the last couple days - it's so fun!

She has enjoyed laying on her play mat a little more than she had been; she even found herself in the mirror and smiled today - something she hadn't done before!

Ella {5 Weeks}

[she really doesn't like laying flat on her back. one day.]

I promise I'll [try to] get these posts done on time. I'm just oh-so-busy these days.  Actually, this little lady takes up a lot of time. She eats just about every two hours during the day, and that takes about 15 or 20 minutes each time. When she's awake but not eating, she wants to be entertained. Or carried around the house. We do a lot of dancing and pacing. This girl is not sedentary! When it's nap time, I try to get as many things done as possible. It's amazing how many chores around the house I can't do with a child in one arm. I definitely wouldn't make a good amputee.

So five weeks, huh? I don't want to jinx it, but it seems like we're getting into a little bit of a sleep routine. Ella is a night owl and likes to go to bed about midnight. We're gonna try to move that up to about 10, but she's not digging that right now. On a good night, she sleeps for about four hours, wakes up to eat and poop, then back to sleep for another 3-ish hours. We've had one night with a 5-hour sleep stretch, and last night we had a SIX-HOUR sleep stretch! I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up! And because she is up until midnight, she likes to nap in the morning. Which means mama gets a cup of coffee and a few things accomplished. 

I really can't believe how big Ella is getting. I may have said this already, but she's wearing her 3-months clothes and they aren't any too big. She's almost too long for some of her 0-3 month clothes, and her feet are too big for most of the feet in her footie-outfits. It's a good thing they aren't too structured and they have a lot of give, but the girl's definitely got big feet! I'm looking forward to her two month appointment to find out officially how long she is and how much she weights. I have a feeling she's topping the charts!

The past weekend was when we were supposed to go to San Diego for the wedding of two college friends. The pediatrician vetoed the trip for Ella's sake, just like the Albuquerque wedding. Apparently if they're under two months [some doctors say three] and they have a fever for any reason, they have to be hospitalized to have a full sepsis workup including a spinal tap. Their bodies are so small and their systems aren't developed enough, that they can get sick extremely quickly and a fever that young is a medical emergency. Who knew? [probably any parent, huh?] Anyway, Mike went to San Diego because he was in the wedding, so we missed him all weekend.

Ella is still loving bath time, and her hair is still ridiculously fuzzy. It's so funny! She's almost done molting all of her skin [newborns slough all their skin], and her scalp is all that's left. I was trying to decide if she had cradle cap or not, but it really just looks like dry skin. I'm hoping resolves in the next week. 

We're starting the transition to get Ella into her own room. She's been sleeping in the bassinet of the Pack-n-Play in our room, just so that she's within arm's reach since she was waking up so frequently. And perhaps because I was that paranoid new mama who needed to make sure she was breathing every ten minutes :)  She is taking most naps in her crib, and she hasn't seemed to protest yet.

I think that's all the breaking news for this week. So until Saturday... Sending our love from PA

Chocolate Oreo Birthday Cake

You may or may not have realized that my childhood bestie Rachael was in town to visit us last week. Did I tell you that? [maybe once or twice...]

Our birthdays are only three days apart, so we've been celebrating together for years. Whenever we were in the same state, anyway. So this year we had a fun little celebration... we threw ourselves a birthday party! It didn't have many in attendance [really, it might have just been us] but we had a great time!

And the cake was exceptionally delicious. So I thought I might share! 

Chocolate Oreo Cake

Ingredients

1 box of chocolate cake

2 boxes of instant Oreo pudding mix

4 cups milk

1 container Cool Whip, thawed

1 row of Oreos [plus the rest of them for snacking]

Directions

Bake the chocolate cake according to package directions. [it would be easier as a 9x13, but i believe birthday cakes should be round layered cakes, so that's what we had.]

Before the cake cools completely, poke holes in the cake using a straw or similar utensil. Combine the pudding mix and the milk, and allow it to thicken just slightly. Pour this over the cake, helping it get into the holes you poked. Refrigerate several hours.

Once the pudding is completely set, 'frost' the cake with the thawed Cool Whip [i used the light kind, and it worked perfectly]. Refrigerate. Just before serving, sprinkle broken Oreos on top of the cake. Last step:  try not to eat the whole thing at once.

the finished product!

the other party attendees :)