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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Ella's Four Month Update

Woah, FOUR whole months (and then some)! She just melts my heart completely! Those lashes are to die for! Unfortunately I can't say she gets them from me. This little Daddy's girl has some of his best features for sure! I still can't tell exactly who she looks like though! Everyone tells us different things. Maybe she is just a complete combination?
This past month has been glorious!!! She is so happy and smiley, I literally have to pinch myself sometimes. There's such an incredible difference from the first three months!

This little chunk weighs somewhere close to 14 pounds according to our estimation. We'll find out for sure at our next visit to the Pediatrician on the 21st. It's been fun watching her cheeks and thighs plump up over the last few weeks. A lot of her three month clothes are too small and she is starting to get into six already!

The previously dreaded bath time has now become one of our favorite times! We were able to take the insert out of her tub so now she can kick her feet.

Now she is really grabbing at toys and starting to "play". Most toys get shoved directly into her mouth obviously. She especially loves her crinkle toys and some of her teething toys. She also likes to bite on her burp cloths. I used to do the same thing when I was little. I had a burp cloth that was my little lovie, and I called it my "nawnie" (weird).

She also sits nice in her bumbo seat for short periods of time, and likes to play in her jumparoo - although there isn't much jumping yet, just slight bouncing.

Ella has definitely found her voice over the past few weeks. Babbling, cooing, screaming, screetching...I could listen to it all day! She is very talkative in the mornings and late at night. Sometimes she screams in such a way she sounds like a pterodactyl! It's cute how she enjoys hearing herself...you could tell she is very proud! Stephen and I were laughing this morning because it totally sounded like she was asking questions. We were like "it went up at the end"! Things are sure entertaining around our house (at least we think so). Here is a video of our little chatty girl from about a week ago...
CLICK HERE
(I can't embed it...YouTube is being weird and I don't feel like battling it)

 No rolling yet but she can hold her self up on her tummy for a pretty long time. This used to  upset her  tremendously and now she doesn't seem to mind a bit.
I also have an AMAZING app on my iPAD called Baby View (the paid version, so worth it) I recommend it highly! Ella LOVES playing the different activities. I can't get over how interactive she is already at four months! Look at me bragging about my child already! How great is technology? Mind blown...

We just started giving her a little oatmeal about once a day. It took around 2 days for her to get acclimated to eating from a spoon, but now she is a pro and opens her mouth wide. Such a mess!
Her sleeping habits are still completely out of wack. For the most part I can't complain because our days of being up all night are extremely rare (although we did have a tough one last night). Most nights we put her down anywhere between 10 and 11. She generally wakes up once around 2 AM, I nurse her for about a half hour and put her back down. We get up really early so I can get her to the sitter by 7, and then she still takes a 3-4 hour nap once she gets there. I bet we could start bumping her bed time to be a little bit earlier, we just haven't gotten there yet.
Even though she is happy most of the time, of course she has her moments - and when she does...watch out! Since she has started teething, it's been pretty awful. She goes through these episodes where she is inconsolable and just wants to bite on everything. I feel so terrible for her it's obvious she's in a lot of pain. My poor baby girl is just so miserable and I just feel so helpless. I'm thinking that's what her problem was last night when she was waking up every hour. We are going to try the Hyland's Teething Tablets. If  you have any other suggestions please let me know (she already has a Sophie).

 Basically I'm willing to try anything to keep this little love smiling always! Can you tell she has Daddy and I wrapped around her cute chubby little fingers?  
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Sunday, January 12, 2014

What's cooking this week?

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First thing's first...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE! My last year in my twenties...whoa!!! This may be my most low-key birthday (thanks for the grammatical help J-Vrag) ever. I'll be staying home and being cozy all day with my little family and that is completely fine with me. Yesterday I had some "Me" time and met up with my friends Jen and Lisa down by Tampa (ish). Lisa is a champ for coming out 39 weeks pregnant. I was seriously a hermit by this point! We did some shopping, had a delicious dinner, and did some MUCH needed catching up. I added to my ever growing legging collection, and splurged on some cuteness for Ella. It was pretty perfect! When I came home Hubs and Ella had yummy birthday brownies waiting for me. Today, the only venturing out I plan to do is to take the new jogging stroller that I borrowed from my friend Rachel for a test run. It looks like another beautiful day here in sunny Florida! Besides, I should probably work off those two birthday breakfast brownies (totally eyeballing a third)! 



Tonight: Cannellini Bean Soup and steak for Hubs (was supposed to make last week)
Monday: Apple Turkey Picadillo 
Tuesday: Huevos Rancheros and potato hash
Wednesday: Oven Fried Beef Taquitos
Thursday: Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup with Chicken

I'm not typically a breakfast for dinner type of gal but since Rachel hooked me up with some fresh eggs I'm pretty psyched about it! Time to get out of bed and get this day moving. Ella kept us all up last night, we are getting a slow start. Thankfully it is Sunday and we could lay around to rest up for another busy week! Happy Sunday!

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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Let's Take This Relationship To The Next Level

Are you wondering who I'm referring to by the title? Mal from Mal Smiles of course! Do I have your attention?! Since it is "Woman Crush Wednesday", I thought this post would be appropriate. It's safe to assume that we've reached that turning point and gone from "blog besties" to "real life besties". Don't worry, I'm not getting all mushy on you all...that's so not my style. I've done a little research on how to tell if someone is your best friend and it seems we meet most of the criteria. This goes deeper than a mutual love of blogging, documenting life, taking selfies, cooking, wearing leggings as much as possible, and sharing the same twisted sense of humor (basically we are both hilarious). It just clicks, this chick is on my level and I know now matter what we'll always be there for one another. My theory is that we go WAY back -I wouldn't be surprised if we have churned butter together in a past life! How cool is it that blogging and a retirement community have brought us together?!? It's a total bummer being separated by two time zones, but somehow we stay connected and it works!

It was pretty amazing having her here in town over the break and being able to just get together for simple things like running to the store so my Kohl's 30% off coupon didn't go to waste! New Year's Eve was a blast! We celebrated with our boys and our parents, pigged out on yummy Mexican food, played board games and laughed a ton.

Thanks Mal for always making ME smile....okayyy my #WCW work here is done! Head on over to Mal's page and be sure to follow her if you don't already! Also, don't forget to link up with us next week for the EIGHTH round of The Boys Behind The Blog (had to throw in a shameless BBB plug)!

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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Some "Christmas-y" Things

Looking back at my past few blog posts, it's occurred to me that I haven't shared anything about Christmas! Silly me! This is completely cray considering we celebrated not once, but twice! First I've got to start off with our adorable Tiny Prints Christmas cards!
Even the back is cute! I kept trying to picture what our very first family Christmas card would look like, and they did not disappoint at all! This is one for the scrapbook for sure. 
Christmas part one was down with family in South Florida (on the actual day), and part two was a week after when my parents came to visit. Ella's first Christmas was a memorable one. She may not remember it, but Stephen and I certainly will. I'm SO looking forward to creating our very own family traditions...I'm going all out! I've already got some ideas for next year. Who's counting the days? I AM - only 352 more days! Ok fine, the last thing I want to do is rush this next year. Ella is already growing up way too fast, but it's nice to have something to look forward to! Here are some of my favorite moments from a very special and memorable holiday season...
And of course, none of it would feel complete without baking Grandma's Jelly Buttons! Now my baby girl is a part of the tradition. It doesn't get much better than that!
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Sunday, January 5, 2014

What's cooking this week?

Oh YAY, my first meal plan for 2014! I suppose I better make it a good one and start the new year off right! I just noticed that I'm planning an awful lot of meat-free dishes, so I'm throwing a steak in there for Hubby...
Tonight: Mediterranean Chicken Pizza
Monday: Sweet Butternut Squash Soup, Pecan Pear Salad
Tuesday: Cucumber Avocado Subs
Wednesday: Cannellini Bean Soup and steak for Hubs
Thursday: Veggie Fajitas

This past week has been amazing, we had a great visit with my parents. My Mom's wish was for a picture with Ella by the Christmas tree...wish granted! We had a cozy little Christmas celebration with them on New Years Day. Ella's first Christmas is officially and it was a memorable one for sure. I'm not sure who is happier in this photo!
Grandma and Grandpa spoiled the peanut like it was their job (which I'm pretty sure it is). There was lots of smiles and giggles all week long. We ate a ton of good food, which is all the more reason to kickstart some healthy eating starting NOW! 
We also fit in some serious shopping with gift cards and Christmas cash! I really took advantage of the whole "treat yo self" mentality for both Ella and I! Oh how I LOVE shopping with my girl! Daddy better watch out, we are a dangerous pair! These are some of the goodies we came home with this week!
Shopping

I'm very pleased with our finds! Ella is going to love her Sophie the Giraffe teether I just know it! Hopefully my new running shoes give me the incentive to get back into the swing of things. Since I've gotten an early start today maybe I should get on that? Honestly, it is WAY more tempting to lay around all day (as much as you possibly can with a 4 month old) to rest up for reality tomorrow! Ella is taking her morning snooze and maybe I will too. Run or nap, hmmmmm...decisions, decisions! We'll see! I hope you are all enjoying your first weekend of 2014!!!
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