Post # 2 and # 3 about Ella Claire

6 months

6 months

6 months

3 months

3 months

The girls in patchwork

1st time in the sand...and ocean

1st pedicure by Aunt Wes

some fun swimming

trying peas

at the drive in for the 1st time

Mother's Day

bedtime story with Daddy

1st morning in crib

1st night in crib with new pjs from Aunt Weezer..aka..Lynz Cook

trying cereal

cheering for lady vols 

Daddy's birthday in April

bath time with Daddy

Easter after church

Alli's birthday party with Pa

Easter with Bree

playing outside

Sew Sweet fashion show

getting ready for Connor's birthday party

 

#2 February-March-April

These months are so blurry to me. They were the colic months and I thought I would never survive. Ella Claire has always slept, but unless she was asleep.....she was crying. She slept on top of one of us throughout the colic months. She would wake up every time she touched the bassinet. She cried so much that it was honestly easier to hold her 24/7. I was still off of work for these months. So, basically I nursed her and held her around the clock. Did I mention that I had to pump for 45 minutes after every feeding session? All I have to say is I'm glad those "overproduction" days are long gone. I felt like a 24/7 buffet. Veronica cleaned my teeth today and I told her I felt like some days during this colic time I did good to take a shower and brush my teeth after Bryan got home from work. (My mommy friends who had babies with colic understand this..LOL)   

However, a very very small part of me wishes that I could go back and hold that tiny precious fussy baby again. She was mine......crying and all. :) 

In February: Ella Claire made her 1st trip to Wal-Mart. It was horrible and we vowed "we we're never doing that again." She also stayed for the 1st time at Aunt Veronica's. Veron, Alli and Jax kept her while we ran to eat at Applebee's for Valentine's Day. We had a horrible time because we couldn't think about anything else but her and were back within a hour. She also went to her 1st birthday party - Connor Williams. She was in her 1st fashion show for Sew Sweet at the mall and she was just precious.......because she slept the whole time. :) She starting smiling and noticing more things this month. She weighed 11.1 pounds at 2 months and was 23 1/4 inches long.

In March: She played outside for the first time. She started really smiling and blowing lots of spit bubbles. She was still crying, but only at certain times of the day now. She tried juice for the first time due to some potty problems. She started staying with Aunt Wes for a few hours at a time while I slowly worked my way back into work. 

In April: She slept for about 6 hours at night. She was laughing a lot. She was very close to rolling over. She weighed 12 lbs. and 2 oz. She had her first taste of cereal and pear juice. She was a little skinny at this point. So we had to work on gaining some weight. 

#3 May-June

May: We kissed colic goodbye and were able to actually leave the house!!!I was determined to get her on a schedule. I decided one night that she was going to sleep in her bed and from that night on she has. She loved it. Bryan had a much harder time with moving her to her bed.....all the way downstairs than either Ella Claire or myself did. He was pretty pitiful that first week. Since I held her all day, he usually slept with her on top of him all night. He had serious withdrawals. While I'm talking about Bryan I have to mention what a huge source of support he was during those colic months. He got up with me every time Ella Claire woke up. Every time she got up to eat, he got up with us. He would pass her off and make sure we were settled. He has been the most amazing father to her. It has always melted my heart to see how much he adores and wants to protect our little angel. She started sleeping through the night on May 5th. She slept 9 hours in her crib the very first night I put her in it. We went to Bree's very 1st t-ball game. She rolled over for the 1st time. We had our first sleep over at Aunt Wesley's (all 3 of us Bryan, Ella Claire and myself stayed with Wes and Bree one night). She stayed with Aunt Nini and Granny Ruthie for the 1st time for a few hours. She went to Alli's birthday party and started baby food. She LOVED peas. 

June: She loved loved loved baby food. Her favorites were peas, bananas, pears, applesauce and sweet potatoes. She's like her Daddy and has a sweet tooth. She was rolling around everywhere. She said Ma-Ma for the 1st time (and I had witnesses LOL.) We went to Birmingham to visit Aunt Mel and Uncle Sam. She loved swimming at their house. Then we went on to the beach at SeaSide. She loved the water and sand. She even ate some. She went to her 1st wedding at the beach. She stayed with Nanny and Pa for the 1st time this month. 

Stay tuned for the next 6 months.....:) 

and if you are wondering why I am posting all this. I am in the process of making this blog into a keepsake book for Ella Claire.  It's been a long, but very rewarding year and I want to share this with her.