Ella's Dedication!

On Sunday we dedicated Ella to the Lord. This is what we do at our church. We do not baptize babes because baptism (according to every example in the Bible) is for people who have made a conscious decision to accept Christ as their Savior and then want to publicly profess that decision through baptism. So, Lord willing, she will accept Christ when she is able to understand and be baptized then!

Because we believe she is His gift and blessing to us, we publicly dedicate her back to Him and commit to dedicate ourselves to raising her according to His will.

It was especially sweet because two other couples (our close friends) also had their little girls dedicated. Shannon sang a beautiful and perfect song for the occasion that brought a tear to my eye and then Little Charlotte, Kirsten and Ella were dedicated. A lovely day!

More Ella Cuteness!

I distinctly remember a picture of me sitting in my father's lap at his desk in front of his typewriter as he's working on paperwork or something. Flash forward to the age of laptops and I couldn't resist snapping this picture of Ella and her daddy when I came out into the living room and found them like this.We snapped this picture on our way out the door to church. It was Ella's first time wearing tights (FAR too big for her!) and probably her last time wearing this adorable jean jumper I love so much (She's growing out of it so fast!) When I had a chance to look at the picture I was shocked at how increadibly much she looks like Jason's baby pictures. With that goofy, deer in the headlights face she could literally be baby Jason in a dress!
I love this picture. It was last Saturday just after her bath. I always put a little hat on her so she doesn't get chilled. She was all relaxed and getting sleepy and snuggling right into me. Sweet moments!
And here she is going down for her nap the other day. Just a cute little button!

Working Mother

"Working mother"...someone called me that today...it was the first time I had heard that in reference to myself. Surreal. Can't say I like the ring of it. Because that was never the plan. Let's be honest. If I had all the money in the world of course I'd be a stay at home mom! But life isn't so.

Work week number one is over. My team makes it easy to be back. I did miss them and the clients. I'm getting back into the swing of things there quicker than I expected.

Surprisingly enough there were no tears. I cried a little the day before going back, thinking about leaving Ella, but there were no tears during the actual workdays or even the drive to and from. There was a lot of praying, and a lot of singing along to worship tunes in the car to distract myself. And a lot of trying to stay distracted enough in general so I didn't really think about missing her. So maybe I'm just repressing all the feelings. Hmmm healthy for a social worker! :)

My first day back wasn't hard because I had seen Ella all day the day before. And it was exciting like your first day back to school after summer break (So maybe I was a nerd! So what!?). It was day number two and three that were killer and double killer.

I got home at 8:30pm Wednesday and Ella was already asleep. I hadn't seen her all day and didn't get to interact with her except to nurse her. In the morning she was still sleeping at 9am. I was so bummed that I wouldn't get to see her sweet waking up smiles and exchange those adorable coos with her before I left for another 11 hours... so I selfishly woke her up so I'd get to have like 15 minutes with her...it was SO hard to go to work Thursday.

Got home Thursday night to yet again, a sleeping baby and again only got to interact with her to nurse her and had to leave the next morning to be away from her for 13 hours this time. It was KILLER to leave her Friday morning. So now, here I am at 11pm on Friday night and I feel like I haven't seen my child or interacted with her in 3 days straight. Crappy, Crappy, Crappy! (That's the nicest word I can think of right now.)

Ella, of course, did just fine. My mom, sweet woman that she is, had me write sheets of instructions so that she could be sure to honor and follow the way that we raise Ella and the routine that we have carved out for her. So wonderful. And Friday Ella was with Jason because he's a super sicko boy! Here's hoping Ella and I don't get it.

I guess that's all for now. Just needed to process my first week back. I guess it can be summed up with, "I miss her like crazy!"

Ella's Resume

Why don't I just get it all out in one post! In addition to long walks in the woods, ice fishing, smiling and grabbing toys, Ella is also well versed in

Sucking her thumb. Yay she finally found it! I don't really care what troubles we have to go through to break her of the habit when she's older...SOOooo stinkin' cute!Flying. We call this "Flying baby" and it's a real hit as a party trick. No seriously, despite the horrified look on her face she actually reall seems to like this and keeps her body straightened out just like that for as long as you fly her around.
Reading. We really want her to be a reader when she grows up. We read to her during every awake time. She likes to listen to our voices, study the pages and now she likes to touch the pages too.

And perhaps her most favorite, Sleeping!

I'm Pregnant Again...

...Um no, not for real (Wouldn't I flippidy do da right out if that were true!). I just LOOK like I'm pregnant again with my little one all wrapped in her sling and zipped up in my coat! We took advantage of the BEAUTIFUL weather outside and went for a nice long walk in the woods. There's a great little trail that starts right across the road from our house. She wasn't too thrilled to be stuffed into this thing (I think it'll be retired soon as she's growing like a weed) but she was so stinkin' adorable I had to do the mom thing and take a picture.Once we were all bundled and outside she fell asleep the second we started walking and slept the entire time. SOO cute!

Two Months Old!

Just got back from Ella's 2 month check up. She weighs 11lb 11oz (I had guessed 12. Close!) and is 23 inches long. She continues to be in the 75th percentile and "perfect" was used again many times.

Although we are not having anywhere near all of the vaccines the (in my opinion over zealous) American Association of Pediatrics recommends, she did have her first two shots today, DTaP and Polio. I think I felt my heart literally break when they put those needles in her thighs! It's one thing if your babe is crying because she's hungry or gassy or cranky. You have no control over those things and those things will pass. You can meet those needs and help and comfort. But it was altogether different when I saw that bottom lip stick out, face turn red and tears to start to flow when I knew that we were inflicting the pain on her with the shots. Yes it's ultimately for her own good and sure you can offer comfort. There was just something really painful about it to me. I can't explain it. Of course she was a trooper, and only cried a tiny bit. She's been sound asleep ever since. I'm positive it was more traumatic for me. I'll try not to project too much onto her :).

So here's our little sweetie pie in her 2 month photo shoot. Love all of her many expressions! Enjoy.