The past month for Miss Ellie has been amazing and quite busy! I feel that every month she grows and changes and discovers drastically more than the month before and I just don't know how- but I fall deeper in love with that darling every day. There are times I cry looking at her I am just so in love with her and amazed by her and God's grace and mercy.
This month Ellie started "inch-worming" around. She inches herself backwards and forwards and completely off her mat. She planks quite a lot, now. She rolls over from tummy to back like it is nothing these days. She gets up on her knees and pushes herself backwards. She does basically a "cobra" yoga pose, too. It is so cool watching this teensy tiny little body move and wiggle in ways that are new!
She is starting to sit up on her own without my help! She still is tipsy and has to be watched closely but every day she sits better and better all alone!
She has recently been taking more than 30 oz of food in a 12 hour period and can't seem to get enough. She is ravenous! She is showing interest in our food - even grabbing at it- reaching for her bottle when hungry and opening her mouth for it to try and feed herself. She sits up excellently with great head control. Therefore, we are going to start her on solids this weekend. We will start with baby oatmeal. My sister had to do the same with all 4 of her babies at 4 months old and it really satiated their rapidly growing bodies, appetites, and sweet personalities and since Ellie presents all of the signs of being ready and she has reached four months old which is the age babies digestive systems can start handling very small amounts of solids- she is ready for the next adventure in food.
She had some new photos taken of her with Adair Cobb of A.C. Photography at the beautiful Furman Campus. Love the fall colors and the mountain ranges. Ellie was intrigued by the swans and ducks in the pond.
Ellie discovered that Mommy's best friend and "twin", Lauren, is having a baby due in June with whom Ellie hopes to also be best friends with!! Ellie (and Mommy) cannot wait to find out the gender! We are already in love with Baby "L"!
Ellie got to celebrate with Julie and Uncle Aron and Aunt Angey moving out of her first home with an intimate cookout...shortly before being put to bed because she does not play around with her bedtime routine. She loves bedtime!
We stopped swaddling her. Though she sleeps in a sleep sack, her arms are out and free. We started this as soon as she nearly started rolling from her back to her tummy. She gets all the way on her side now from back to tummy so- away with the swaddling. It makes bedtime routine a little easier, too! No more having to wrestle wild little arms down. She has done great since night one of self soothing by sucking her hand. If she wakes up in the night, she is almost instantly back to sleep. She only cries long enough to wake us. Then she is back out. A dirty game, I think. Haha! But I am not complaining. I am so very immensely thankful to God she is such a good sleeper. My sister has done a great job at teaching and preparing me for all of these moments. I am glad she got to practice with her 4 kids first to become a master so that she could make my experiences as a first time mommy a lot easier!
We moved successfully from our house to our temporary rental home with Ellie all thanks to some amazing helpful family and friends who selflessly volunteered their time and muscles! We could not have done it without them! So grateful for their love and service to us in our crazy time in life!! They helped make our first phase of this transition flawless and cozy and we couldn't have done it all without them. They really stepped up in our time of need without us even asking! God has blessed us with amazing people in our lives!
Ellie had a perfect first night in her new room- though she could totally tell she was somewhere new. I think she misses her chandelier. We will get her a new one in the new house.
Ellie celebrated her first Thanksgiving with all her cousins, Mimi and G-Daddy, both great grandmothers, and Aunt Keka and Uncle Josh. She is still a bit too small for Turkey, so a bottle of formula was her Thanksgiving feast.
Ellie had her baby dedication ceremony at church. It was such a blessing to be loved on by the church family and our families and have them love on our baby Ellie! We pray that Ellie chooses a life of following Jesus Christ and we pray we are good examples of that love that is God daily to her as parents and with our lifestyles and choices. This is the most important part of our jobs as her parents is to raise her up in the Lord and pray that her heart loves and desires Jesus!
We put the tree up and Ellie LOVES it!! She cranes her neck around to see it when taking her bottle. She loves to touch it and stare at the lights and glittering ornaments. We did a photo session in front of the tree to see her reaction of discovering the tree. Ellie's elf, Elliana, also made her debut! Ellie stares her down too, as if she knows Elliana is watching her!
Ellie and I have been wanting to go to story time at the library since she was in my tummy. I only needed to get her in a good routine first to be sure she truly enjoyed our little date. We went for the first time and she truly did enjoy it. She sat up straight and listened to all 3 books. She would stand herself up during the songs and we would dance and clap. That sweet little girl would smile so big and get to laughing just watching the other bigger children play and dance. We ran into a sweet friend of mine and her precious, handsome twin baby boys! Ellie loved meeting them and so did I!!
We also did our first craft together- a Christmas craft! She was really happy and interested with what was going on! Maybe she will run with me and also paint with me, too!
I have to share because it is a precious memory to my heart- there was one evening here recently that it was very near Ellie's bedtime. I was working on something while Eric was spending time with Ellie. He so loves the evenings he gets to be home with her and so does she- she can't take her eyes off her sweet daddy! He and Ellie have a special song and book, "Butterfly Kisses." "Flicker" gave the book to him when she was still in my tummy for Father's Day this June. Anyway- while I was working on something, I suddenly heard the song come on, and looked up to see Eric had found the song on Youtube and was then slow dancing with Ellie to their special song in the living room. He held her close and held one of her little hands. She would bring her head to his shoulder and look him in the eyes and you could just tell she was so happy, peaceful, and right where she wanted to be- in her daddy's arms! I am so thankful for this man who will love Ellie like he loves me and like how my daddy loves me, too. It is such a high standard. The only love greater than the love from my daddy and husband I have ever known is the love of my Holy Father. So it is so very special to me to see my husband love his little girl so beautifully and intentionally. What an amazing daddy! Ellie is sooo blessed!
Ellie weighs 14 lbs 11.6oz and is 26 inches tall and seems to be a dark blue eyed, light brunette girl.
Now for some pictures of Ellie over the past month!
Adair Cobb:A.C. Photography
Adair Cobb:A.C. Photography
Adair Cobb:A.C. Photography
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