Maternity Leave ...

Maternity leave has been nothing short of amazing. To be able to spend this time with sweet Ellary has really been the ultimate gift, the only thing that could make it better is if Dad could be with us!  Thankfully he did have 4 weeks home with us ... but those 4 weeks sure did fly by!

I have made many trips into school which everyone makes fun of me - I'm the one who doesn't HAVE to be there yet choose to come back, strange I know.  But I'm not one to sit still so sitting at home by myself all day just is not my idea of fun. :)

Here's what we've been up to in the last week ...

We wore our first Michigan outfit - GO BLUE!

And enjoyed an outside BBQ {before the darn mosquitoes got too bad!}

Ellary turned 6 weeks old {time slow down!!}

I turned 32 {again, time slow down!!}

We took lots of stroller rides! 

We went out to eat at The Franklin with Grandma and Grandpa to celebrate my birthday ... it was VERY windy ;)

Aunt Annie finally got to hold Ellary! Annie and Matt were the first ones to visit us in the hospital when Ellary was only hours old but they never held her!

We introduced Ellary to the TC marina and the bay - a place we both love and can't wait to have more memories with her there! 

I was curious of how much Ellary weighed and wasn't happy with the results from our home scale {holding her and then not holding her and finding the difference} so we used the food scale to find out she weighs 8.5 pounds! {and yes, she was safe during the whole process}

We had a couple HOT HOT days so we hung out in our diaper a little - and got our activity mat out of for the first time! 

We took our first big nap in the crib! {sorry for the upside down picture}  Little miss has not been a fan of her crib so she's been sleeping in the rock and play.  We're slowly trying to introduce the crib for naptime in hopes that soon she'll be in her own room at night.

She slept for an hour and a half in there, and yes I was the creepy mom who kept checking on her even though we have a video monitor. :)  As I'm typing this she's in her crib again for her morning nap going on an hour an a half again - hooray! 

She wore some cute outfits - this whole having a girl thing is fun to dress her up ;) 

And that was our week so far - we like to keep busy and thankfully little miss is pretty good at going with the flow {unless it's her witching hour at night - then watch out!}

First Mother's Day as a MOM ...

Today was the first of many "firsts" of being a mom ... my first official Mother's Day!

We ventured down to Lansing yesterday afternoon to take part in my nephew's dedication at church today.  It was the first time my SIL and nieces met Ellary, and to say they were smitten is an understatement --- the girls asked if they could keep her :)

Judah wasn't too sure about what to think with someone smaller than him around! :)

And today the weather was absolutely beautiful out for our first official Mother's Day!  What a gift it is to be able to be a Momma to this sweet girl!

It was so special to have the WHOLE family together ... that really doesn't happen nearly enough!

To say this Grandma was in heaven with all her littles there is an understatement.

It was so special to be able to spend my first Mother's Day with my mom - she's a constant rock for me and I know I'd be lost without her! 

Ellary is so lucky to call her Grandma!

One Month: Ellary Elizabeth ...

It is so hard to believe that a month has already passed since Ellary entered our lives!  It has definitely been a month of adjustments as we get use to being a family of 3 ... but I wouldn't change it for the world!

During the day Ellary eats every 3 hours.  I'm *trying* my best to get her in a schedule but with babies, that isn't always the easiest thing :)  I get her up at 7 to eat and that starts our day, then eating again at 10, 1, 4, 7, and one final feeding at 10.  She's doing a GREAT job nursing which I was super worried about in the beginning with the fact that she came early.  She typically gets up at night to eat around 12:30, and again around 3/4 so we are getting good stretches of sleep! 

I was set on her attempting a bottle at 2 weeks after hearing of babies struggling with bottle feeding.  She took it like a champ and I think Dad enjoyed the bonding time.  We typically try to do 1-2 bottle feedings a week, depending on when it works with our schedule to be home and have me pump for the feeding. 

Ellary is still our little peanut wearing newborn clothing and diapers.  I tried to put on a 0-3 month outfit the other day that Grandma gave her, she was still swimming in it.  We weighed her on our scale at home and she came in at 7.7 pounds.

We spent our first weekend away from Dad when he had to go to the State Forensics meet.  We headed up to TC to spend the weekend at Grandma and Grandpas.  They loved the cuddles and mom loved the chance to get a nap or two in ;) 

Ellary *somewhat* enjoys bath time.  She's not a big fan of being lathered up, but loves at the end of bath time when Dad takes her out of her little seat and lets her float in the water - it is the cutest thing in all the land! 

We've enjoyed the warmer weather when it makes it's appearance, getting out for walks and grilling out.  Ellary sure is happy outside! 

Otis is a great big brother pup.  We joke that he isn't getting a full nights sleep either because he's always checking in on Ellary :)  He is never to far from her side checking her when she's crying and giving her a lick or two.  We make sure that we're always near and are getting him to learn to be gentle and careful around her.  Some days he never leaves her side, others he's content up in his ever trusty window seat bed :) 

Ellary Elizabeth, 

You have added so much joy to our lives.  To think just YESTERDAY was your due date and we have already had four weeks with you on the outside.  I am so very lucky to be your momma and cannot wait to see you grow and flourish.  You made me a momma sweet baby girl, the greatest gift I could ever ask for. 

Love you to the moon and back sweet girl,

Your Momma