8 weeks

Wow! I can't believe how fast the time goes!  Ellie is 8 and a half weeks old! She's growing so fast. Too fast. She has a fantastic smile that I get at least one of every morning. She is finding her voice, so I love hearing her "stories." While there is still a lot of arm flailing,  her hands are open more. And she is getting a very strong neck! She holds her head up very well. Lately, she's been sleeping 6-7 hours through the night! It's awesome!

I am on Christmas break at work. The next 2 weeks are going to fly by, but I am so excited to spend it with Ellie. Staring at her is my favorite pastime, and I think she literally changes before my eyes sometimes. She is such a sweet baby, I don't know how I got to be so lucky.

Mama Saree

Update on Twix

I just thought you would like to know that after all of the stalking, Twix will not come anywhere near Ellie or me. Twix hasn't so much as let me pet her more than once or twice since I've been home with the baby! She hid in the basement for the first couple weeks. Now she comes around upstairs, but she won't come to me. Silly cat. Here is Ellie today!

Don't be fooled by how big she looks in the bouncy seat. I rolled up the small head support pillow that came with the seat and put it under her butt so she would stay up higher. The strap to buckle her in is kind of awkward/large.

Mama Saree

Remember Me?

Hello! It has been a long time! I have been a very busy mama! I will do a very quick update and post some pictures!

Ellie was still up pretty high and I wasn't dilated or effaced at all at my 38 week appointment. As I was checking out at the doctor's office and making my 39 week appointment, the girl that takes my blood pressure, weight, and checks my urine came up to the front desk to "remind me" that I was to show up for my cervidil Tuesday of the following week at 9:00 PM. Ummm... what??? Cervidil is used for inductions! So it was all set up. I would go in on Tuesday, 10/23 @ 9:00 PM for Cervidil, be induced with Pitocin the following morning, and have my baby!

To make a labor story short, I went in, got the Cervidil, I am in the 15% of women that it worked for, I didn't need the Pitocin, and I had back-to-back contractions (strong ones!) for about 12 hours. I got the epidural somewhere in there, but it worked more on my right side than my left, and it wore off quickly - I had to have more - twice! I pushed for about an hour and my beautiful baby girl arrived! There are so many more details to the story, but I'd be typing forever, and I have a newborn to take care of!

Ellie arrived Wednesday, 10/24/12 at 5:51 PM. She was 6 lbs 9 oz and 20.5 inches long. I was already in love with her before she was born, but when I saw her, my whole world changed. She is mine and I am hers. She is my baby and I am her mama. No one can ever take that away from us. She is amazing.

So here come the pictures!

At the hospital

1 week old - Halloween

More Cute Pictures!

 Today - watching TV with Daddy

So that's my precious baby! She is so sweet and I love hanging out with her all day!

Mama Saree

Milk @ Kroger

It's official! My due date is now sooner than the date on milk! Yay!

Mama Saree

Growth Scan

Yesterday we had an ultrasound to see just how big Elliana is! They estimate her current weight to be about 7.5 lbs! I thought that sounded big, but was quickly reassured it is perfectly normal. Yay! Because I do have a little bit of extra fluid, not a lot, they are going to do another kind of test next week - a biophysical profile. It'll measure for her movements, muscle tone, breathing, etc. I'm so glad she is ok, and I love getting to see her! She is a little squished though, with only 2.5 weeks to go!

My doctor goes out of town 11/1 so she can't be late! I think she's really comfy in there. I see a lot of walking in my very near future!

Mama Saree

Mmmhmmm...

I sat down, and literally less than 45 seconds later, this happened.

Full Term!

I am now considered full term at 37 weeks! Elliana is allowed to come out at any time!

At my last appointment, the doctor said she's going to be a big baby! Shocked, I asked why she thought so. Even though I have been measuring right on track all along so far, now I was suddenly measuring 3 weeks ahead! Yikes! So I get to have an ultrasound on Tuesday to see just how big she is measuring. I hope everything is perfect with her size and the amount of fluid around her. I measured myself at home and was only measuring 1 week ahead instead of 3, so I'm trying not to get too worked up over it. Yet.

In other news, we got a fancy-shmancy new camera! It's a digital SLR. I have no clue what all the settings mean and why I would use them, but I'm going to take a class. I'm sure I'll have the perfect subject to practice techniques on!

Here are a few photos of our current models:

We are getting close!!!

Mama Saree

I have a stalker

Twix was first of the pets. I got her when I lived in my first apartment in college. She's a little cat, weighing in around 9 pounds. She does not like strangers - she runs and hides at the drop of a hat! She's always preferred me over Hubby, but isn't really a "lap cat." She will lay on a piece of furniture in the same room as us, but always at a distance.

In the past 3 months, Twix has been stalking me. She's constantly trying to lay on me, and if not on me, near me. I think she knows about Ellie. It's so funny. She could be in a completely different part of the house, and if I get on a couch, she appears. We have started shutting the cats out of our room at night - not only because they will be shut out once Ellie arrives, but because I couldn't get any sleep due to being walked on and kneaded all night!

Anyway, I think Twix's little baby obsession is kind of funny, and I try to get pictures of it whenever I can. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. But here are a few pictures to enjoy!

Mama Saree & Twix

36 Week Bump!

Everyone now comments on how large my belly is and wonders how big Ellie will be. The doctors measure my bump every week and I'm on track! If they thought she was going to be huge, they'd do an ultrasound to measure. I like having the baby bump, and while the 36 week picture angle does look large, when I look down at my Ellie Belly, I can't believe it is big enough to hold an almost here baby! Full term next week! Yay!

Mama Saree

34 Weeks BuMp!

Today I am 34 weeks! Only 6 weeks to go! I am so ready for Elliana to be here! I have everything I could ever need and more! Although I keep making lists of "a couple more things" and then I buy those things, and then next thing you know, I've made another list! Confessions of a shop-aholic?? I think so...

Here is my bump - please excuse the cat hair on my shirt... I napped on the couch earlier. Hubby said I was snoring!

Tomorrow the shelf will go up on the wall in the nursery. I have so much excitement about that! I can get the diaper station ready! I did a load of baby clothes laundry today! That was super fun! Tomorrow I'll wash sheets and towels and burp cloths and such.

It's kind of sad that I'm prepared so soon. Now I have nothing to do but wait. Time has basically stopped. Maybe, just maybe, I'll actually finish the crib skirt in the next six weeks? It's already measured and cut! I just need to hem it and sew it together. All I'm lacking is the motivation!

Until next time!

Mama Saree

The Make-Over Is Finally Here!

I am 33 weeks this weekend! I did not have a photo taken. I'm taking the week off. I forgot yesterday and am too lazy to get dressed today. So the bump pic will have to wait for 34 weeks!

Remember the $20 garage sale glider and ottoman I got a while back? It was blue and looked a little something like this...

The fabric was faded and stained. And BLUE. Even if I wanted to keep the covers, there was no way to wash them. They had to be cut/unstitched in order to be removed.

I went with a grey fabric, that could be used for a girl or a boy (just keeping options open for the future so I don't have to recover it again!). I sewed zippers onto the 2 cushion covers so I could take them off and wash them if needed. Since I couldn't put the stitches back into the back cushion, I considered adding a couple buttons. Then I realized that defeated the purpose of the zipper! So I will leave it as-is for now, and if I want to add buttons later, I reserve that right. I apologize in advance for the poor lighting in these pictures. Without further ado, the new glider and ottoman!

I even did the pocket on the arm rest piece, just like the original one had! There are snaps on the chair frame, so I was even able to use those to secure the new arm rests! Hubby was nice enough to hammer all the snaps onto my sewn creations! He also did the staple gun on the fabric for the ottoman!

Everything is new and secure. It is grey instead of blue. I love it! I feel so accomplished!

We also decided to hang Ellie's name on the wall above her crib!

Now back to the couch!

Mama Saree