First REAL Bath!!!

Feel free to play the following game: spot the error in this video... ;)

Ellie's got the hiccups!!!

L is for the way you Look at me...

ellie is our little smiler. she smiles so often, i am just hoping she is one of those happy to be alive kids. it is fun to see those smiles, and i am not sure, but think i may have seen something that could resemble a dimple on her right cheek. i know many think it is just gas, etc., and that is what i thought the first few days, but i really am beginning to be a believer that she is a smiley baby.
i realize i have been posting a lot, but family keeps encouraging it. so, i continue. now that grandma melanson is gone, however, i think the photo sessions will decrease significantly. my mom left here with over 150 photos of our little peanut.






see?!!! cuteness, huh?

















last year todd had one valentine. this year he had three. the poor guy. but he pulled through getting something for each of his valentines and taking us out to eat to celebrate. i really did marry the very best man in the world. i could go and tell you all the reasons, but it would embarrass him, so you will just have to trust me on this.

weather

we had a pretty big snow fall friday. i'm not sure the exact amount, but when my mom went to measure outside our door, it was something like 9 inches. this is crazy because the first part of the week was sunny and warm with temperatures in the 60s. as one of the news anchormen said something like this, "some places have changing weather through seasons, ours changes through the week."

these photos are from right outside our door. in the first photo you can see the hill where todd went sledding a couple of times. we used kim's idea of a cookie sheet, as we don't have a sled. todd lucked out and a couple of friends were out at the same time and shared their equipment with him, so he didn't have to use his "ghetto sled" as much. in the second photo, to the left of the fence, is the ruler mom melanson used to measure.
mom melanson was so sweet and baked and baked friday morning. i was her assistant. we made a ton of brownies and rice crispie treats to give to neighbors and todd's work for valentines day.
well, then todd and i tried to get him to work. we had a very scary experience where our car slid down the hill a bit, turning 180 degrees, and he and one of our maintenance workers laid down dirt and pushed on the car while i gunned it in reverse to try to get back into our parking lot. needless to say, todd didn't make it into work friday. that left us with more treats than we had bargained for. i will have to catch todd's office on st. patricks day i guess.

Quality Time

ellie loves to cuddle with grandma melanson. she actually discovered her favorite position with grandma. ellie loves to lay against our shoulder. it nearly guarantees a great nap- boy, ellie is going to be sad when grandma leaves!

actually, ellie won't be the only one who is sad with grandma melanson gone. it has been so wonderful having her here. not only is my mom an incredible support and resource with the birth of our first baby; but she has also been cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, and so much more. it will be really difficult having her gone, but we look forward to when she will return with grandpa melanson in may for her blessing.

this is from ellie's first bath at home. while not her favorite thing in the world, ellie is getting better at them. last night we gave her one last bath with grandma melanson helping and having todd help, too. she actually didn't cry that much. she might actually like them once she can get into the warm water.

todd is reading miss spider to ellie. he read to her while i was pregnant many nights. i have loved and collected children's books since i was a teenager. it is wonderful to finally be using them with our own baby.

i'm so glad when daddy comes home...

todd has been incredible with ellie!!! he is totally into doing everything- changing diapers and cleaning breast pump equipment included. last night he took ellie during her two hardest times of the night- when she just cried and cried and cried some more. the last shift, from 11:30pm-12:30am (must apologize to our connecting townhouse neighbors) she just wailed. and todd took care of her the entire time without any complaints (and grandma and i slept).

i was able to feed ellie after that, and she slept beautifully. both she and i actually were able to sleep in our beds for consecutive hours- i was in heaven. i am so grateful to have married such a wonderful man who is showing what a wonderful father he is, too.

ellie in her camouflage mode with grandma karen's blanket.
she slept so beautifully last night and this morning- if only that is how it could always be! :)

home is where the heart is

ellie's coming home from the hospital outfit
our little family has expanded to three! (note the pretty pink roses from todd- i love them!)
we are so grateful grandma melanson is here helping!!! thanks for letting us have her, grandpa melanson... even if it isn't as long as we'd like! ;) ellie is also laying on one of our favorite blankets, which was made by grandma karen.
ellie is home now! she is doing great. a few of her favorite things so far: daddy reading to her, sleeping on grandma melanson's shoulder, pooping, eating, being sung/talked to. some not- so-much favorites: wardrobe changes and waiting on mommy to feed her.

hi, i'm new here

here she is...ellie.
She was born on thursday at about 3:20 in the afternoon. she weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz, 20 inches long, and is presently crying- so i'd better go feed her!