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 :)

Our Pumpkin Patch 'Adventure'

We went to our local pumpkin patch which was just down the road from our house. After enjoying the glory that is Vala's Pumpkin Patch in Omaha for several years, no pumpkin patch will ever compare. But this got us what we needed [and then some]:  pumpkins, apples, and fresh apple cider!

So many pumpkins to choose from!

Ella's mode of transportation

She's so cozy in that thing!

Carving our pumpkins!

Rachael and Ella during pumpkin carving 

The finished product!

Mine, Ella's, Rachael's, and Mike's.

Mike enforced a rule that you could get a pumpkin only as big as you could carry. 

Ella's fit in her baby backpack :)

Ella {4 Weeks}

Can she really be four weeks old already?

Turns out, she is. We're still working on sleeping at night, but it's better than a couple weeks ago. This week Ella has found and taken more interest in two things:  her voice and her fingers. She coos [what does that mean anyway?] a lot more, and I swear she says "Hi" sometimes, maybe because we say that to her so frequently. Can she really be mimicking that sort of thing already? Maybe that's just a natural sound. She has begun to suck on her fingers more, too. It seems like she finds them on accident, but she seems to like it when she does. She hasn't ever been a fan of her pacifier, so maybe she will be a finger sucker? I kind of hope not... that seems like a hard habit to break.

We really enjoy watching Ella when she dreams, too. She makes such animated faces, and the giggles are our favorite. We think we've even seen a couple intentional smiles while awake! Maybe she's ready to start interacting more? Can't wait for more smiles and giggles!

We really enjoyed having Auntie Rachael visit last week. Ella really enjoyed the extra snuggles! We went to the pumpkin patch, the Amish market, and a hockey game; we handed out Halloween candy and celebrated our birthdays. What a fun week!

Ella and I went to the Mussleman's Family Tribute professional ice skating show at Penn State's Pegula Ice Arena over the weekend as well. Mike worked at the arena during the show, so Ella and I went with a couple new friends. Ella slept the entire time, so it won't be her last trip to the ice arena! [oh, and be sure to catch the skating show on NBC on Nov. 24th!]

Oh, and one last thing. Ella's bellybutton officially has no scabs, so she has graduated to a real bath. She loves it! Her expression is hilarious when she first gets in the water, and until she gets chilly she just loves it. 

That's about all we're up to. Sending love from Ella!

as you can see, she likes to move those arms & legs!

Ella {3 Weeks}

[posting this a little late...]

It has been another fun week watching Ella grow. The Grandmas have now both left, so it's been just Mike, Ella and I attempting to conquer life this week. We're trying to get some resemblance of a schedule going, but some days it seems like Ella has other plans. 

Of course sleep is still something we could use more of, but we're generally going in the right direction. Ella is eating like a champ, and I'm pretty sure she's going to be ten pounds before we know it! She has outgrown her Newborn size diapers, and she's getting dangerously close to being too big for her Newborn size clothes. I'm not coping with that very well... but I guess I better learn to deal.

Auntie Rachael [my bestie from childhood] comes to visit us this week, and we're very excited to see her. We don't have much planned, but we always find a way to entertain ourselves. I'm sure there will be lots of snuggles to be had [with Ella, of course]!

I just still can't believe how fast time is going!

And Now to {Lose} It All

If you're reading this now, you likely followed along during my pregnancy journey. And witnessed my gradual [yet significant] weight gain. Ella was born at 41 weeks, so I had gained a little more weight and was slightly bigger than I was when I last checked in at 40 weeks. 

I had never weighed that much in my life, so it was a little tough for me to accept. As I think I mentioned somewhere along the way, I considered sharing my weight-loss journey with you. While you may not really care, it's another part of my pregnancy journey -- and so I'll share. [of course you may not really care about a lot of things I post....]

Society tells me that it's not so lady-like to share exactly how much you weigh, so I'll try to talk in weight gained and lost. Pre- and post-baby weights. Because really, only my driver's license needs to know how much I weigh :)

By the end of 41 weeks, I had gained 51 pounds. Yep, fifty-one pounds. Yes, I am well aware that they recommend gaining 25 to 35 pounds. Woops! So far it's been two weeks since little Ella joined the world, and I'm down 27 pounds. Still up 24 pounds from pre-baby weight. [and i got the classic 'when are you due?'... without being pregnant. ugh.] But I can again wear my wedding ring and button some of my pre-pregnancy jeans!

Why am I sharing this? I am about to embark on a 30-Pound Challenge with a few family members. No, I won't out you guys... I know you didn't sign up for this blog business. But I do thank you in advance for keeping me accountable and getting a little healthier with me along the way! We'll have weekly weigh-ins as we each race to lose 30 pounds. I promise I won't bore you with weekly updates as we go, but I will likely share some milestones with you. Why? Because I can. And because it's going to be tough for me. I'm hoping you all will encourage me and keep me accountable along the way. In the end if I make my goal, I will be 6 pounds below pre-baby weight. That's not going to be an easy task, but I'm going to try.

So far, here are my before and after pictures:

9/27/13 -- 2 pounds under top weight

10/22/13 -- Down 27 pounds

[i do realize the bathroom mirror selfie is a little weird.. just go with it]

So here goes. Thirty more pounds to lose. Here's to eating healthy and making time [not excuses] for exercise. Wish me luck!

Ella {2 weeks}

This week went just as quickly as last. Will time ever slow down?? 

We're working on getting our days and nights figured out around here. Some nights are better than others, but we're doing our best. We've been doing some tummy time, and Ella seems to be getting stronger. She's really good at lifting her head, considering she's only two weeks old! She's looking around a lot more too, which is fun. 

Bath time is one of our favorite things. Ella's umbilical cord fell off this week, but we still have to do sponge baths until the scab is all gone. She isn't always so sure she likes the bath part, but when it comes to washing her hair, she's all about it. She loves having her hair washed and looking in the mirror. Mike thinks we have a girly-girl on our hands!

Ella went to the pediatrician again this week for a regular check-up. She's still packing on the pounds ounces. The doctor said she looks "perfect"! [we could have told you that]

Current stats are
Weight:  8 pounds 6 ounces  - 62nd percentile
Length:  21.5 inches - 97th percentile  [looks like she got her daddy's height!]
Head circumference:  32.5 cm - 58th percentile


Unfortunately we weren't able to go to Auntie Katlyn's (my good friend from college) wedding in Albuquerque this weekend. The pediatrician thought an airplane and lots of germy hands at less than 2 weeks old weren't such a good idea. We're very sad we missed it, but a huge Congratulations to Katlyn and Jason! We hope to see you soon & we send you lots of love!