One Month Old Today!

It dawned on me the other day that Ella does not have a true monthly birthday during the months that do not have 31 days!  And April is one of those months.  So I am just counting April 30th as her first month birthday.  I'm proud to say that Ron and I have survived this first month.  This is a major accomplishment--especially for parents as old as us!  Ella really has not changed that much since we brought her home from the hospital.  She sleeps a lot, constantly has a dirty diaper, nurses really well, and cries when she is awake and not being held.  She doesn't seem to mind diaper and clothing changes and baths as much as her older siblings did at this age as she only cries about half the time during these activities.  And, lastly, she is currently getting up for two feedings a night which is a whole lot better than three times a night which she did a few times during the first two weeks of her life which about killed me!  She is chunking up nicely, but still fits easily in her 0-3 month clothes.  And her eyes really seem to be turning blue which would be amazing!  Two dark haired beauties with blue eyes would definitely be fun to have in the family.  We all really love our baby Ella and are so glad that she has joined her family, but I must say that I am soooo looking forward to her sleeping through the night!  Hopefully my tired body can make it until then...

I Know that Frozen Has Taken Over...

Our Household Because...
1.  "Let It Go" is sung so much on a daily basis that it has practically become our family theme song.
2.  Lia casts frozen, ice spells on her brother constantly (much to his chagrin).
3.  I was just as devastated as Lia was when she lost one of Elsa's sparkly, blue shoes for her Barbie doll.
4.  Lia can quote entire scenes from the movie and regularly recruits Ron's or my participation.
5.  I make a detour to the toy aisle EVERY single time I go shopping (with our without Lia) just to see if the Frozen toy section has ever been restocked (and it never is).
6.  Lastly, and definitely the most pathetic of them all, I have accidentally called my newborn child Elsa instead of Ella many times in the past week or two.  I could blame it on the sleep deprivation, but really, I think it's due to the fact that Frozen has taken over our household.  That darn Disney.

Ella and the girls of Frozen.

Easter 2014

We crammed in all of our Easter festivities into one big day yesterday.  We started off with the children finding their Easter baskets waiting for them downstairs with all of their loot.  The children then hunted through the house to find their eggs with candy inside.  After breakfast, we all gathered around the table to dye Easter eggs.  We had planned on doing this Friday night, but Ron got home from work too late and by the time Saturday night rolled around Lia had a full blown fever of 102.3.  So, the egg dyeing got pushed back until Sunday morning when Lia's fever had gone down.  We then headed up to my parents' house Sunday evening for a delicious Easter dinner with Eric's and Chris' families and then a second hunt outside in my parent's yard.  We lucked out and had beautiful spring weather again and the kids really enjoyed being outside running around with the cousins.  On the other hand, Ella slept though most of the day and missed the majority of the festivities.  Oh well, she'll make up for it in spades next year!

Logan showing off his Easter loot--a Thomas the Train DVD, a set of Sesame street cars, an Elmo plate set, and the train, Percy, from the Thomas the Train show.

Lia and her Easter finds--Legos, a mermaid figurine, an Anna Barbie doll from the movie, Frozen, a new swimsuit, and a nightgown with a matching one for her American Girl doll.

Logan hunting through the kitchen for his eggs!

Lia on the hunt in the family room.

Lia and Logan both finding another egg in the hallway.

Our two kiddos after the hunt is complete.

Logan and papa beginning to color our eggs.

Logan working hard at coloring his egg before dyeing it.  He was so interested in "painting" the eggs this year.  He sure is growing up.

Ella hung out next to the kitchen table in her bouncy chair.  She actually woke up for a few minutes and gave us a big yawn...

and then a sleepy look.

Lia working on creating one of her many Frozen eggs complete with snowflakes and blue dye.

Papa, Logan, and Lia dyeing away!

Logan looking for goodies in his designated area in the grandparents' front yard.

Finding another item and putting it in his basket.

Lia looking in her area.

Logan all done with his hunt and happy as can be!

My cute girl in grandma's backyard.

Our second family picture taken since baby Ella arrived!

Lia and Logan with all of their Washington cousins once the hunting was complete!

Pretty in Pink

I haven't been very good about posting any new pictures of baby Ella the past few days because of no energy on my end due to sleep deprivation and nothing really new to report on Ella's end.  But my mom wanted to take some pictures of her yesterday when she was all bundled up in a new, pink blanket and looking so adorable!  So here is my girl in all of her pink glory sleeping away in her grandmother's arms!

Two Weeks Down

Well we wrapped up two weeks of Ella's life last night.  We are still surviving.  Lots of diapers and lots of feedings for Ella and not much sleep for the parents.  Ron and I are starting to really feel the sleep deprivation, but life goes on.  Since Ron returned to work yesterday, my mom agreed to come out and spend the week at our house which has been such a blessing.  I know that other moms have survived on their own at this point, but I am so grateful to have her help with everything from the meals to dishes to holding the baby to playing with Logan or watching the younger two while I shuttle Lia back and forth from school and her various activities.
Today, my sis-in-law, Natalee, came over from Port Orchard with Brynn, Garrett, and Trenton to meet the baby.  Brynn spontaneously asked if she could spend the night since she and Garrett are on Spring Break this week and we all readily agreed!  As a result, Lia essentially got an 8-hour play date today which was wonderful!  Brynn was such a help keeping Logan and Lia entertained and holding the baby whenever we needed it.  Too bad she heads back home tomorrow.  If only I could check Brynn out like a library book until summer when Ron is home full-time!  Now THAT would be great!

Baby Ella at two weeks old.

Brynn, Lia, and Ella.

I just love this picture of Brynn and Ella looking at each other.

Brynn keeping Logan and Lia busy outside with some sidewalk chalk.

The kids playing around!

I just love this picture of Logan as he insisted on wearing his "Thomas the Train" summer pajama bottoms over his pants when my mom was changing his diaper.  The boy loves trains and has developed quite an interest in any of his clothes with choo choos on them.

Lia smothering her brother!  What's new?

Ella's Newborn Photo Shoot

My kind friend, Jenn, offered to take Ella's newborn photos at her house yesterday.  However, we both braced ourselves for screams and tears when Ella promptly woke up a minute into the photo shoot!  Yikes!  So, you can imagine our amazement when she proceeded to just lay there happily for a full thirty minutes.  As a result, Jenn was able to take many beautiful.pictures of Ella with her pretty eyes open.  I'm so pleased with the outcome and just so grateful to have these pictures that capture such a fleeting moment in Ella's life!  Thank you, Jenn!