"Big Girl" car seat

Today, Ella and I went to the fire station above where her Grandpa Jack works to have her new car seat put in our car. Ella didn't enjoy having to lay back in the other seat and always strained to sit up, so I figured it was time for the big girl seat. She will actually get to use this one until she never needs a car seat or booster seat again. Here are some pictures of Ella in her fancy seat!

Ella's 6 Month Birthday!

Today is Ella's 6 month birthday! It is crazy to think that she is already six months old. It is even more crazy thinking about how much she has changed since September 14th. She has gotten so smart, so strong, so beautiful and so funny! Everyone always says time flies by and it really does. I always try to keep in mind that she will only be this age once, so I'm trying my best to cherish every moment we have. I am looking so forward to this summer and getting to spend all day every day with her :)

Ella went to the doctor for her check up this afternoon. Being the worrisome mother I tend to be, I took a list of questions and got lots of answers that a first time mom just isn't sure about. Dr. Q said Ella is eating great! She is allowed to try second foods now, but steer clear of any with cow milk proteins. I will be reading labels carefully! As far as testing to see if Ella has a true allergy to dairy, Dr. Q said you don't typically test until 2 years. So, we can either test things as we go or not. I say not! She said if Ella is only intolerant she should out grow the symptoms as she grows. Dr. Q also said as long as she gets 20 oz. of formula she will be getting everything she needs. Ella usually has quite a bit more than that! :) Dr. Q said Ella is growing wonderfully. She weighed in at 15lbs. 6.6oz. (49%). She measured 25.5in. (49%). She is a very good combination of Kermie and I because he was always under and I was way above (in weight) :) Dr. Q didn't seem too worried about Ella's naps. She said some babies are just not nappers. She also hinted that Ella should be putting her self asleep for the majority of the time. Her Nana did not like that! :) Last but most definitely not least, Ella got 3 more shots today. She cried quite a bit longer than last time. I expect it will only get worse the older she gets! Ella was a nut before the shots! She got carried away kissing herself and dancing with herself in the mirror. Everyone thought she was hysterical!

Here are a few interesting tidbits about Ella at 6 months:

• Ella's favorite lullaby is still Jesus Loves Me.


• Ella's favorite fruit is bananas. Her favorite vegetable is sweet potatoes.


• Ella drinks from her sippy. She does a weird thing with her nose at the same time she drinks.


• Ella likes to play peek-a-boo.


• Ella sits up by herself and is beginning to catch herself when she falls.


• Ella splashes in the tub.


• Ella loves being outside! She is very nosey.


• Ella loves when her daddy whistles.

I posted a few pictures of Ella this week. Some are from her day with Granny, Jackie and Ava. Some are from Nanny's. Some are from her time with Nana. And, some are from the doctor visit. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Thanks everyone for always capturing Ella's day for me! :)

We're Going Private..

The past few weeks I have had several strange people try to sabotage Ella's blog and everyone's computer by posting weird comments. I have tried to get to them and delete them, but sometimes I am not fast enough. If you don't know someone's name, don't click on it just to be safe. I am planning to make Ella's blog private within the next week so I would like everyone who reads this blog to e-mail me their e-mail address and I will set her blog to private. Only people who I have listed will be able to read. My e-mail is jillianbrooke25@hotmail.com. Thanks!!

Fussiness and a sunday with mommy.

The past four or five days Ella has been a little fussy. I thought maybe she was teething, but I'm not sure. That's the hard part about being a mommy... you just never really know. Ella is not one to cry or fuss really, but she has definitely done her share of both the past few days. She has not been wanting her bottle as much and has wanted to sleep a lot. In fact, it is 6:00 and she is already asleep!! She did the same thing last night (could have something to do with the time change though??) I just hope she is getting enough sleep during the day. She never really sleeps for long periods of time during the day and if she does it is never consistent. I think a lot of it might have to do with not being at the same place every day of the week. I am going to try out a new schedule with her this week in order to get her eating around the same time we eat and also try to get her to take more regular naps. I think I might stress about this too much, but I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing for her as she grows. So for the record, since this serves as a second baby book her "hopefully" new schedule is as follows:

6ish: Bottle and/or cereal
NAP
10ish: Bottle #2
NAP
12ish: Lunch time (veggies, fruit and sippy)
2ish: Bottle #3
NAP
5:30ish: Dinner time (veggies, fruit) and Bottle #4
6ish: Bath time!!
7ish: Bed time!!

I'm going to give this a while and then I will let you know how things are going! By the way, Ella's 6 month birthday is Friday!

Today Kermie had to finish one of his hardwood floor jobs, so Ella and I played around all day. We managed a trip to Wal-mart for some groceries and then came home and played with her toys in her nursery. We haven't really been able to spend a lot of time in her nursery with it being so cold, but today it felt great with the sun shining in. We took lots of pictures too, some of them silly. I posted a few for you to see.

More Snow Storm Pictures!

As you can see, the snow storm brought a lot more snow over the night. As of about 8 o'clock this morning we had around 6.5 inches of snow in front of our house. It is still suppose to snow a little more throughout the day so we could end up with 9 or 10 inches before it's all over. Kermie and I were both excited to take Ella out into her first batch of good snow, so we rolled right out of bed and out the door. She didn't pay too much attention to the snow, but just kind of looked around. It was a little too cold to let her feel it, so she'll have to wait until next year. Isn't she just stunning in her snow suit?

The Party Before the Storm!

Saturday is Bekah's 16th birthday and we had all planned to get together to celebrate, but because of the terrible snow storm heading our way we were at a dilemma as to when to celebrate. However, since school got out early this morning due to the fast moving blizzard, we decided a lunch celebration would do! Therefore, everyone left work for the mid-day celebration at Mi Mexico. I have posted a few pictures of the family at the party (notice how dusty Grandpa Rob is :) )







We also took a few pictures of the effects of the storm as of this afternoon. We've gotten around 2-4 inches already. It's expected to get much worse as the night continues. We will post more tomorrow!

Up, Up, and Away!

Today, Ella, Nana, Aunt Bekah and mommy all went to the park to play (Bekah is not shown because she was playing tennis :) ). It wasn't quite as sunny as we had expected, but it turned out to be fun after all. Ella seemed to enjoy her ride in the stroller and got to do all sorts of fun things she wasn't able to do the last time we were at the park back in September. Ella was able to see the ducks in the pond (she wasn't to excited about them), she got to see lots of little kids (which she always enjoys), and she even got to swing for the first time. She absolutely loved the swings! Here are a few pictures from today for you to enjoy!

P.S. Nana- Ella was very glad to see you and glad you were feeling better :)