What a Week!

It's been a while since I wrote an update!  A lot has happened in the last week or so!  Ellie officially started daycare part time last week.  She did pretty well!  She slept really well and played hard!  The eating was a struggle as we all expected, but by the third day, Erin and Tammy figured out how to get her to take a bottle and she drank a few ounces.  When all else fails, we also figured out that she'll eat milk off of a spoon.  She goes back tomorrow for a few hours and I am hoping that she'll eat while I am gone again.  Keep your fingers crossed!

3 months is an interesting age.  I feel like I had her figured out, then all of a sudden, all of her preferences and abilities changed!  She outgrew her bassinet and being swaddled, and learned to roll over all in just a few days!  The rolling over is a riot.  The only issue is that she can't roll back over, so she gets stuck.  And of course, the majority of her rolling is done while she is sleeping, so she wakes herself up in the process.  It's pretty neat, nonetheless.  I was floored when I went in to check on her and she was completely on her belly!  She is growing up SO fast, it's unbelieveable.  She's very quickly gone from being a "newborn" to being a baby, if that makes any sense.  Here's some footage of her rolling:



I go back to work on Monday, which I am dreading.  I am not ready to go back and leave her all day.  I have an overwhelming sense of guilt about leaving her, but it's what needs to be done.  I've decided to stop dwelling on the fact that I cannot stay home.  We are going to make it a goal to get ourselves in the financial situation for me to stay home when baby #2 comes.  I'm a bit less stressed about the eating.  I know that I can ago and feed her once during the day when she is at daycare and that she will probably accept the bottle soon.  Tuesday was a big step in the right direction when she drank 5 ounces in my absence (2 off the spoon and 3 from the bottle).

Here are some pictures from the week:

Showing some belly :)

Uncle Chris came to visit his favorite girl!

Do you think Kirby is just a bit jealous?

Mmmmm...fingers...

My new favorite picture :) 

Look at that hair coming in :)

Cutest toes in the world!

A Stressful Few Days...

As much as I love being a mommy to my darling Ellie, motherhood can be extremely stressful at times. This week was one of those times. I go back to work on March 1st, so I figured I should probably bring Ellie to daycare for a few trial runs. She did great for the most part! Our daycare providers, Erin and Tammy, are wonderful, and are super sensitive to my nervous-nelly first time mom rambles.  She seemed overall pretty happy and the other kids accepted her really well.  Ellie slept pretty well while she was there, but flat out refused to eat. When I got there to pick her up yesterday, I could hear her screaming from out on the deck. It was awful. I felt so bad. I am lucky that I have the option of going and feeding her on my lunch break because I am so close.  I struggled with this decision, which resulted in me crying all night last night.  I know that I should probably just leave her and that eventually she'll get hungry enough to eat, but the mommy in me tells me to go and feed my baby, which is what I am going to do.  When I look back, I'll never regret going to spend time with Ellie, and honestly, this arrangement isn't forever.  It's only until the end of the school year.  When she goes back to daycare in the Fall, she'll be eating solids and it won't be an issue.  So that's that.  I'll be going to daycare everyday to feed her until she gets the hang of the bottle.  Between you and me, I don't mind the "burden" of getting to sneak out and cuddle my little one each day.  What a good lunch break :)  Here are some pictures from her first day at daycare:

The Week in Pictures and Videos

We've had a pretty good couple of days.  Dave and I got out on the day before Valentine's Day to have lunch together, we had family over for dinner, and caught some great moments on video :)  Enjoy!

We put Ellie to bed long ways in her bassinet and this is how we found her.

Happy Valentine's Day!

What is that face?

Nakey girl!

Uncle Wayne, Ellie, Dave, and Kirby

One of my favorites...

Bundled up for our walk in the snow!

All smiles!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our little angel turned 3 months old today!  My how times flies!  I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day tomorrow.  Our neighbor is coming over today and Dave and I are going to go out to lunch together :)

Jumperoo!

As of late, Ellie has become a huge fan of kicking anything that crosses her path, so we figured she was ready for a jumper!  Boy, were we right!  She loves the thing!  Money well spent! 

How cute is she?!

Besides the jumper, Ellie got some groovy new PJs yesterday :)

Cameras rolling!

Ellie laughed for the first time the other day and has yet to do it again.  She gets so close!   Here she is playing with Dad :)



We discovered this morning that Ellie really likes to be naked.  She seriously sat like this for like 15 minutes, watching music videos in her birthday suit...haha...

SnOMG!

Holy snow!   We've gotten pummeled by what is probably the biggest snowstorm to possibly ever hit the Baltimore area.  Dave measured at seven o'clock this morning and there was already 21 inches down!  I think we're up to about 28 inches or so now!  It's crazy!  I have family in Canada and Montana, and we've gotten more snow than they have this winter.  Go figure!  We gotten some good shots of the storm so far!  Hopefully I don't have to go anywhere this week.  I don't think we're getting plowed anytime soon!

Pretty view off of our patio!

Our banister at about noon today...

 

Dave digging Kirby a "potty path"

The finished product.  Do you see how tall that snow is?

Kirb-man loves the snow!

Take me in Mommy!  It's cold!

"Hurry up and take the picture!  My toes are frrreeeezzzzing!"

Here are some other pictures from the week...

Great family picture :)

Mommy and Ellie :)

Playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed...

In a state of milk drunkness...haha..

Growing Girl!

Big girl!

I took Ellie to the doctor to get weighed yesterday-she's up to 11 pounds 14 ounces! Girlfriend is growing! It looks like her Zantac is working well! She seems to be back to her old self again and is back to eating well--thank goodness! We've started back up on the bottle, which has been relatively successful. She takes about an ounce to two ounces from me each morning out of the bottle with NO TEARS! She latches right on, but I think she is only going to take so much from me. Why would she take a whole bottle when the real goods are right there in front of her? Hah! Hopefully once she goes to daycare (sniff sniff) she'll take right to it. Hopefully...

Speaking of daycare, I'm down to 21 days left of my maternity leave. I'm so sick over the whole situation. I want more than anything to be a stay at home mom, but I just don't know if we can swing it and I promised myself I would give work a try. I totally trust the daycare that we've chosen, but it's just so hard to imagine leaving her for so long everyday. Everyone laughs at how upset I am over it and says that it will get better. I just don't know. Leaving her just feels so wrong and I don't think I will get over that feeling. We'll see I suppose. Anyway, here's what everyone wants....pictures!

She's getting so good at grabbing her toys!

She's so silly! She really did put herself like this all on her own!

Sitting up!