34 weeks

Dear Ellie-bean,

You are 34 weeks old TODAY! Yay, I actually got a chance to write your letter on the correct day. It has been awhile since that's happened!

So what is new? Well, I already wrote about your first experience at the beach on Monday. You enjoying it so much makes me very excited for this summer. I see lots of beach outings in our future!

Tuesday was a little rough though. I think you might have had a little upset tummy, or you might finally be teething. Either way, you seemed 'off' and didn't show much interest in solids. She we stayed home, snuggled up close, and spend the day just enjoying each other.

Wednesday you were still not really back to 100 percent, so we stuck around home again. We took Truff for lots of walks too. He LOVES that. 

You are absolutely ATTACHED to me these days. I've been putting you in the Beco a lot so you can be close to me and I can have my hands free to attempt to get stuff done. I don't mind being close to you at all, although I think you get tired of all the kisses on your fuzzy little head!

You are getting so stinking close to crawling these days too, princess. You will pull yourself all the way up with your tummy off the floor on your arms, but you haven't quite figured out the leg movement thing. That's okay, I am enjoying only having to deal with roly-poly-Ellie. You are ridiculously good at getting where every you want rolling, little one, even if it means turning yourself round. Silly bean.

Thursday we had a Mommy and Ellie outing. Well, first, I should say, you tried to eat your play food. Your appetite for solids is back and you were getting SUPER mad that you could not eat that lettuce.

Then we took off and went to the farmers market and the breastfeeding group. Much to our surprise, my firend Kelli and her new little boy Sawyer were there. He was so tiny...I can't believe you were (WAY) tinier than that when you were 2 weeks old. I'll admit, I do miss that squishy newborn phase with you, but I love how funny and expressive you are now.

You weighed in at 14 lbs 10 oz. I'm a little worried because that means you didn't gain much from your 6 month appointment. I think we are going to be going to the breastfeeding group a little more often now so that we can make sure you are gaining weight like you should.

You do loooove eating those puffs, though. You even know the puff container and start getting crabby if you see it and don't get any. Drats, I thought we had a little time before we started that nonsense. Your brother likes puffs too apparently. And especially when you are in your exersaucer, you share with him. He will even creep underneath by your legs to pick them up. You both are little puff monsters!

Friday I went to the Y to work out, and you went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. You even stayed with them all day so that I could get some cleaning and organizing done, especially of your room. I think I'm finally on to Grandma's devious plan...she buys you way too many clothes to that I have to organize them, and she gets to babysit while I organize. You, miss gummy grin, had a blast as usual. You took awesome naps for her, and went for a nice walk to enjoy some sunshine. Yeah, but who needs strollers? Strollers are for babies that don't have Grandpa at their beck and call to carry them around. Yeah, not spoiled at all, baby bean. Not at all. At this rate, you're never going to learn to walk, because you will have people to carry yo everywhere!

Friday night we had dinner with Brad and Sondra. You were SO good for us, and impressed them with your eating skills. I think you have a new favorite, though...corn! You CHOWED on the corn. And I like it, because it takes you awhile to pick up those little kernels, so it was a win-win for everyone. 

Saturday has been a Daddy day so far. I found you like this at one point this morning. It looks suspiciously like Daddy under the car. I shouldn't be surprised, you are a total Daddy's girl!

I had to go to teach at a conference this morning and now I am waiting for you and Daddy to get back from helping Grandma and Grandpa Mason put their boat in the water. I can't wait to take you for boat rides this summer. I am sure you will love it. 

I miss you a ton, though. I hate days that I don't get to spend all day with you. They just feel so icky. Even right now, I am so antsy to see you that I want to just about jump out of my skin. 

I do love you so much, though, baby bean. You are the most amazing little girl in the entire world. I am so incredibly thankful that I get to be your Mommy, and these 34 weeks have been the best 34 weeks ever. But can you slow down this growing up thing a bit? You are getting too big too fast. 

I love you so much,

Mommy

NIAW

National Infertility Awareness Week is coming to an end, but I just can't let it go without at least a short post. With so much going on this week, I don't have the brain cells to do this subject justice. Luckily, others have done a phenomenal job of putting it into words.

"It’s hard to wait around for something that might never be, but it’s hard to let go when it is everything you have ever wanted."

http://vimeo.com/11214833

More info about NIAW, infertility, treatments, costs, and legislative issues: http://www.resolve.org/

Some great advice if you know someone struggling through infertility: http://www.resolve.org/support-and-services/for-family--friends/infertilityetiquette.html

Beach baby!

So between my Mommy guilt of missing a week and having too much fun with thr kiddos last night, I think this deserves its own post.

It was beautiful yesterday. Any time that it hits high 60's and sunny in April, getting outside is just a priority. A must. So when Ryan got home last night (at a semi-decent time...phew...) we decided to give Ellie her first beach experience. 

We drove up to Silver Beach. Ellie had some great naps that day (2:15 total) and then fell asleep again for a half hour on the way up there, so I wasn't too worried about being out past her bed time. We ordered a pizza for take-out (yum...first Silver Beach pizza of the season!) and hit the beach to walk around with the kiddos. 

Truff had a blast digging in the sand. We realized that he hadn't been to the beach either. So his only sand experience was Ryan's parents' little beach area on the lake. He thought digging was the coolest. 

Ellie loved us burying her toes in the sand, so that she got to dig around and find them. Oh, and as usual, she loved kisses from Truff. 

We spent some time walking along the beach. Amazingly, it wasn't too crowded, which was good since both kiddos thought they were the welcoming committee for everyone. Truff was bounding over to everyone with his tail going and Ellie was cooing and waving constantly. 

Oh, and Ellie got to try her first pizza since she was VERY upset we were eating without her. I guess that is the downfall of BLW. She is used to eating with us and if we are eating and she is not, there is a PROBLEM. 

Overall an awesome night with the best kids and husband ever. And bonus: both kids were SO wiped out that they were practically comatose when we got some. Score one for Mom and Dad!

32 and 33...Whoops!

Dear Baby Bean, 

You are now officially 33 weeks old. I didn't write you a letter last week (eeeek!) because we were SOOOO busy. But now I will make it up to you, I promise. 

So, I guess I need to start with last Tuesday. Well, last Tuesday kicked off a shopping extravaganza (shocking...right?). It was Gymbuck time, so we headed out to put some stuff on hold with Grandma. You did a couple of decent naps while we were walking around the mall but your afternoon nap was rough. Apparently all you wanted to do was to nap on me. I really don't mind that for one nap. In fact, I enjoy snuggle time with my little princess. 

Wednesday we headed to Michigan City to check out the outlet. It was a rainy icky day, but we still had lots of fun. I am very glad that storms really don't seem to bother you (or your brother!) I think I'd be going crazy if you guys were up all night with them, but you both did great. They don't phase you! We got back home and it was off to the gym for tumbling that night. 

Even a very stormy week can't keep us down. We'll have an inside picnic! Or at least that was your idea, playing with your picnic basket on Thursday. You are getting good at pushing the blocks through the slots if I line them up for you. It is SO much fun playing with you these days, my love!

On the bad side of things, your napping problems are getting a little out of control. Thursday you would not let me put you down at all. Every time I would try to move you to your crib you would wake up. So, it was time for some changes. Daddy and I decided to try a little bit of fuss-it-out. We didn't let you completely CRY, as that doesn't work for you (we tried once, and we were both in tears and you got so upset you threw up, so nope, never again!) but you do have a pretty distinct mad-whiney "cry". As long as that is what you're doing, you'll stay in your crib. Thursday was ROUGH. Your first nap took almost 2 hours to get you down, getting you calmed down repeatedly and listening to your whiney cry. But the second nap, you were out in under 5 minutes. And from there on it has made SUCH a difference! Naps are getting a LOT longer (up to an hour and a half, when before I couldn't get you to nap longer than a half hour!) and night time is great too...with only one wake up most nights (and even a couple with NO wake ups!). So, as much as it was a bit tough in the beginning, fuss-it-out worked great for you, and you are SO much happier now!

Friday you went over to Grandma's while I worked out, then back home to try some of that super-napping again. One thing, you are getting crazy close to crawling. You will use those super strong arms to lift your entire upper body off the ground. You don't seem to want to get up on your knees, though. Wonder why...you get carried every place you want to go. No need for this crawling stuff! 

Saturday was a CRAZY day. We woke you up at 3am, instead of you waking US up like usual! Then we were off with a group of crazy kiddos to Dayton, OH for a stunt clinic. You know how I know you were made especially for Daddy and me? You tolerate our insanity so well. Any baby princess that can make this silly face at 3am is quite the special one!

It was kind of rough with you, because you did NOT want to nap at all. Too many people to play with, apparently! They were all happy to oblige. See how much attention you had? And we wonder why you don't do too well playing by yourself....ha!

You especially enjoyed playing with Cate. She brought a very special puppet that she had as a baby. It was a duck pupped that quacked. You thought it was the most hysterical thing ever. You laughed your little behind off, especially when it tickled your belly. You are very ticklish these days! Cate was awesome with you, though. You two had a very good time playing, and it kept you both entertained at the clinic. 

After all that excitement Saturday, we spent Sunday recovering! You woke up and we had some snuggle time in our bed, then you watched some cartoons with Daddy. One important thing was missing, though...Truffle! He stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, so after you took a nap, we went to pick him up. He was very happy to see you! Even though you two drive us crazy, it is very sweet to see how much you guys like each other. 

We grabbed some lunch with Grandma and Grandpa at Cheddar's, so you could watch the big fan and see all the fish, and then I had to leave for the gym, so you got some Daddy time. The only bad thing is that you took a really awesome nap RIGHT before I left for the gym, and I had to wake you up to feed you. We have a new Sunday schedule, and I think we are all trying to get it "down."

We came home and you were TIRED! So we put you to bed, but that means you missed out on the yummy steak Daddy cooked on his new grill that you got him for an early Father's Day present. We were up late trying to finish out taxes (whoops, we were a liiiiittle behind. Wonder what had been taking up our time???) so we decided to cook something really tasty to help us get motivated to get it done. But never fear, we saved you some and you got to try it on Monday. Much to Truffle's dismay, you LOVED it! I gave you 4 big strips and you ate them ALL. You are quite the little carnivore, I guess. Truffle is not amused that you didn't share better. 

In the afternoon, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's. I have a really big paper that I am trying to get done and you make that a little difficult, since you are all about the attention, these days, so you got to spend a lot of time this week playing with Grandma. Luckily, I think you both have a lot of fun with that. You love seeing the "Ellie fan" and the "Grandpa lights"...oh, and the jumpy snowman! You are starting to be able to point out the eyes and nose on the snowman. You are such a smart little bean!

Tuesday we hung around home in the morning, and then took off to the park with both you kiddos in the afternoon. You and your brother both like the park. We took a nice long walk and you went on the swings. You were able to watch the ducks too, AND Truffle got to socialize with a couple other puppies, which you thought was REALLY funny. 

Speaking of socializing, you are so social and SO much fun these days. You are a waving machine. You wave "hi" and "bye" and "come here" and "take me over there." Pretty much waving is your means of communication right now and it is SO stinking cute. Sometimes you will babble and wave at the same time, and I think I am just going to melt from all the adorableness!

You do, unfortunately, have a little bit of diaper rash going on. It is probably from all the time in the car and such, but I feel just horrible for you, little one. We've been doing a lot of nakey baby time to let it air out, and you LOVE that, though! You have been loving rolling all around, and making sure that you pee all over my carpet. You little stinker! 

Wednesday was more writing for me, so more Grandma time for you. You got to go swimming in their hot tub for the first time. Funny birdy, when you got in, you freaked out just like when you went in the big pool for the first time. I was able to get you calmed down, though, and then you were off like a little fishy, kicking and splashing and playing with the floaty toys! I am so glad that I could calm you down and reassure you, because you really do love it! You had a blast. And then, of course, had to come out and eat some puffs to re-fuel. You are a little puff-monster...you LOVE your puffs. We have to ration them, especially since Grandma got you all kinds of new flavors. 

We got home and Truff was glad to see us. He is SUCH a good big brother. He even played your favorite game with you...peek a boo! You were so silly, moving the curtain to cover him up and then peeking around. I love to watch you guys play together. I can't wait until you are chasing him around (although I am sure he is in no hurry for you to get to that point!)

Thursday the plan was to do the usual morning nap, then over to Grandma's, but guess what...the morning nap didn't exist. Yikes! Instead, you sat in your crib, singing to your lamb for an entire hour. REALLY? So you were a little (LOT) overtired. You took some decent naps for Grandma, but we're shooting for 2 hours of naps before 5pm, and we definitely didn't make that. 

Friday was more writing, but the good new is that I FINISHED IT! Yay!!! That is a good thing because I have hated taking all the time away from you. Silly science, don't they know that we have little piggies that need to be tickled and patty-cake that needs to be played? I promised you that we would have a lot of fun this week to make up for being so tolerant of not having nearly enough Mommy time! That sounds perfect to me, I can't think of anything that I like better than some time with my baby bean!

But, much to my dismay, time with my baby bean couldn't happen on Saturday. I had to make bows with some other cheer mommies at the gym. The good news is that we got lots done, and you got some awesome time with Daddy, that is REALLY good since he didn't get to see you at all on Friday and I know that made him very sad. He loves time with you, and you just light up and give him all those gummy grins! You guys sent me pictures of you two snuggling and watching the Little Mermaid. I think Daddy was the one doing the "Kiss the Girl."

Sunday was the usual, church and then home, and then gym. You were awesome at church and took a little nap and then sat quietly  playing with my necklace so we didn't have to go outside with you at all. We were very excited about that! Daddy had some errands to run that afternoon, so I took you to the gym early. Aunt Lori was excited to get some time with you...but that didn't happen. You simply have too many fans at the gym, little one. Especially now that you are so much more interactive EVERYONE wants to play with you. Every time I walked out of the gym, someone different was playing with you, or reading you a book, of making you giggle. I think we can safely say that we can no longer plan on you napping at the gym. 

Which brings us to this morning. You were up a couple times last night, which wasn't normal for you lately, so now you are taking a nap (and a good one, so far!). I'm not exactly sure what we are doing today, but I do know that I cannot wait to be able to spend LOTS of time with you today. I miss you SO much when I don't get to have lots of Ellie time! I am very thankful that I get to spend all day with you, because there is nowhere in the world I would rather be. I love you SO SO much little one, and I am so lucky that I get to be the Mommy of the best, cutest, funniest, smartest little princess in all the world!

I love you,
Mommy

31 weeks!

Dear Ellie-Bean,

You are 31 weeks old! Well, 31 plus 2. It was a busy week again, so this is a little late. But better late than never, right? And late just means that we are having lots and lots of fun doing all kinds of stuff!

Monday marked your 7 month birthday, so of course it was time for more pictures. You were a ham as always, and SO into rolling as usual. It was pretty difficult to get a decent shot because you wanted to roll all over (onto your belly, looking at Dad upside down, the works!). We have a photo studio set up downstairs finally for you, so we have to make sure you don't roll right off the table, silly little one!

For the most part, we just stuck around home on Monday and played with your new Easter toys. You are loving the ball popper you got. You JUST are figuring out how to throw the balls back in. Oh, and Monday was another important day...APRIL FOOLS! You sure played a trick on me, throwing an extra dirty diaper my way when I was unsuspecting, but I think you believe that I played a little trick on you. You're starting to play with the sippy cup you got for Easter, and it is clearly a bad joke that you've got the wrong end. And, of course, the bad thing about baby-led weaning and the independence it gives you is that you do NOT want help with that, even though I bought the special sippy cups that allow me to squeeze the bottom and help. Uh, no. You, Miss Independent, want to do it ALL on your own. This is just showing me how the next 17 years are going to go, right?


Tuesday was a very busy day. I went and worked out and then had a hair appointment, so you got to spend some time with Grandma. As usual, you had a lot of fun. You showed them your new tricks...which include waving. I love your little wave! You use it for hello, goodbye, and the ever-popular...COME HERE RIGHT NOW AND GET ME! Of course we are all happy to oblige! You were a very good girl and played lots, and even got to try some of Grandma's blueberry pancakes.

Wednesday we stayed around home for the most part. You've been sleeping great lately (pretty much 1 wake up a night) but your naps have been AWFUL! No more than 30 minutes really. Which means you are taking 3-4 of them a day. Which means I spend literally HOURS rocking you to sleep. Sometimes it gets frustrating, Bean, but then I see that sleepy smile you get when your thumb finally falls out of your mouth and you are nestled into my chest really close and I can't help but think how incredibly blessed I am that I am "forced" to spend all that time just cuddling my little princess. I am one lucky Mommy! You have, however, decided that you like to sleep with your dolly. I even caught you playing with her when you woke up from one of your naps this week. You were pulling on her hair and talking to her. You are just SO cute!

Thursday we had a very exciting visitor...Aunt Mandy! You were so excited to see her. You showed her how well you can sit up, and how you can play with all your toys. She showed you her new RING! Yay! Congrats Aunt Mandy! She already says that she expects you to show her up at her own wedding. Why yes, of course! We went to Hana Yori for lunch...and you slept right through it. Yay for good naps. Then we went to Charming Charlie. You started to get crabby, until I started showing you sparkly things. Then you were all giggles. That is kind of funny! You love your sparkles!

Friday was our usual too. I went to work out and you went to see Grandma. You did have some excitement trying to ruin the Ellie fan! You grabbed the remote and turned it on "high" which made some of the decorations start to fly off. Whoops!

We got home and you were pretty darn crabby, so we went for a LONG walk with Truff. We made a new goal this week. For the month of April, I want to try to walk 30 miles with you and your brother. I think it will be good for us all. You love your stroller, so that works well. And you look like such a big girl in it these days. This picture of you makes me tear up a little bit. Where did my little baby go? You look so big!

The day continued to be rough, so I was very thankful when your Daddy got home and I could take some time out to relax a bit and pack for our big road trip. Saturday, we set out with Grandma and Grandpa to go to Wisconsin again. You did awesome in the car, as usual. When we got there, everyone was excited to see you, especially your Great Grandma, Aunt Susie, Uncle Dan, and Aunt Aimee. Oh, and the most excited of all, I think were your cousins Maddy and Carter. You thought those two were SO funny and ridiculously entertaining. They got little light wands which you were just mesmerized by! And they loved jumping all over to show them off to you. You gave great cuddles to Great Grandma too! You were such a trooper overall. I was so proud of how well you did!

You also did so well staying at Susie and Dan's! Usually you have a very hard time away from home and don't sleep well at all. Not the case this weekend! You were only up once. That was so awesome bean! You are getting to be such a good traveler, which is good because Mommy and Daddy spend lots of time on the go.

Sunday was another crazy day of driving home, then to the gym. Everyone was very excited to see you at the gym. Having a couple weeks off, they all missed you a LOT! It is getting harder for you to be there in some ways. Any time I would come out of the gym, I would get that little wave and want to run right over a pick you up. I miss you when I'm not with you, my little bird!

That brings us for today. The weather was getting nice, so we took a little trip to the Riverfront park to have a nice long walk and then have your very first time on the swings. Well, little daredevil, you LOVED the swings. Look at this smile! You had so much fun swinging, it makes me want to start looking at swingsets. We'll see. You are Dad's little thrill seeker...you like the wind in your face!

I know I keep telling you how you just get more and more fun, but it is 100 percent true. Yes, there are challenging times, but one smile, one cuddle, one belly laugh...it just makes everything worth it. I love how I am seeing more and more of your adorable little personality. I just love you so much, little one, and I cannot believe that I get to be the Mommy to such an amazing little girl. You make every day so fun and so full. You make Daddy and I just so happy, and we love you so much.

I love you,
Mommy