Saturday, December 27, 2008

More birthday pics.........

Jax and Bree helped blow out the candles.

My little birthday princess
getting the hang of it
My baby girl in her birthday pj's.
checking out her new hello kitty slippers 
special visitor #1 for the birthday party

special visitor #2 
my house became Ella Claire's own Winter "One"derland

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Winter One-derland







Here are a few pictures from Ella's birthday party Monday night. More to come soon. Thanks to Uncle Chris and Aunt "On-ca" for these pictures. 

My sweet baby is 1 today

More to come of today and her Winter "One" derland.....last night. :) 

Thursday, December 18, 2008

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. 

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Birthday Week at our House!!!!!

Ella Claire around a month old

Ella Claire will be 1 in one week. Since it's so close to Christmas we are having "birthday week." I'm going to give her a present everyday until Monday (when we are having her birthday party). Then, Tuesday on her actual birthday we are going to just have a fun play day with her to celebrate. Then....our Christmas festivities start on Wednesday. She's not going to know that to think after the next two weeks. LOL



I'm also going to post special things about her everyday this week. Stay tuned for lots of pictures and birthday stories. :)








Post #1 about Ella Claire:

January - Ella Claire was very demanding from day one. She cried a lot and colic set in early. We thought we would never survive those early weeks and months. I really think God was trying to teach me patience. He succeeded.....somewhat! :) Anyone who has survived true colic knows what I'm talking about. She was worth every hour....or day.... that we didn't sleep, every nervous break down LOL, and round the clock nursing and pumping sessions. Yes, on top of colic.....we had trouble nursing, but I was determined and we made IT. :)



Some notes I made in December/January (I'm saving her birth story until next Tuesday): We came home on Christmas eve.......after some heavy pleading at the hospital. We actually stayed 3 nights with Gran and Bim before going to our home. Bryan helped finger feed her (like a little puppy due to nursing issues) for a few days after we came home. It was so sweet!....Ella Claire was way over birth weight in only a week. Pa Jackie was preaching at Cornerstone then...They had "Ella Claire Matheny Day" on Jan 13th. Ella Claire made her 1st Warren County Wrestling appearance in Jan. 15th. She slept 6 hours straight before she was a month old....only once though. They gave us the..."it's definitely colic," spill on Jan. 18th. She slept with us back then.....when she slept!!!!





My baby girl is almost O-N-E!!!!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

They say it's your BIRTHDAY.....

Sisters by chance, friends by choice.


Before Veron and Steph call me....this is the only picture I could find of the 3 of us. (Can we get a better one soon!)

Yes, this is a horrible picture of me (I was 8 months preggo and about to be put on bedrest) and both of my SILs will probably kill me, but they both have December birthdays.

Veronica turned the big 3-0 yesterday. Thanks for all that you do on your "days off" to help with Ella Claire. We really appreciate you.

Stephanie's birthday was on December 3rd. Steph, We love you despite the fact that you are still sooooo young and skinny. :)

Happy Birthday....We love you both.

Friday, December 12, 2008

2 things Ella Claire loves........

1. her "Bim"....aka my daddy, Jim
He came over one night before work and she had to put her hat on to be like him.
She didn't like it covering her ears though. LOL

2. her zebra while wearing Bim's hat

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Calling all Moms.......New Carseat Needed....HELP!!

Ella Claire needs a new car seat. We are in the process of deciding on which convertible car seat to purchase, but anyone that knows me...knows I am terrible at making decisions. I need any advice on this that you more experienced mommies can offer. I think I have in narrowed down between two brands, but any words of advice would be helpful.............Help Me!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Christmas Pictures

Check out my little darlings at Ford's website. Ford does fantastic work. These little girls though......are a "FEW" of my favorite things. :)

What a Doll!!!!

I had the cutest rag doll made for Ella Claire's 1st birthday. Check out my link below for The Trendy Spot. Just toooo cute and I know my almost 1 year old (can you believe that???)..... will absolutely love it because she wouldn't put one down at the craft fair...but we had to have one with blonde hair and blue eyes. Help us name her......Ella Claire's rag doll is the one with brown and pink polka dots (because she has an outfit to match, of course....LOL.) Please help us name our new rag doll for Ella's 1st birthday.

Be our friend......



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About Me

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The two most important things about me are that I am a wife to Bryan and mother to Ella Claire. I have been married to my best friend for 3 1/2 years. Bryan teaches at the alternative school in our hometown and coaches high school wrestling. I enjoy my job, which allows me to remain home with Ella Claire alot, but also help other children as well. I love spending time with my family, cooking, traveling, reading, watching movies, UT football, gardening and stamping. I love my life!