Everyday is a Party

A friend once told me that having a girl is like having a party everyday when you go into the closet to dress her. She wasn't lying. I have been having a lot of fun dressing Ella everyday. I have recently discovered just how cute she is in pants. As she is getting bigger, she can wear more of the adorable clothes we bought her and that have been given to her. These are just a few of the cute outfits she has been sporting around town.

One Month

Ella can't believe she is a month old either.
Today was the first time Daddy was able to feed Ella. This was Ella's first bottle and she had no problem taking it. Now Mommy can go out for longer then 2 hours!
I think Ella was trying to figure out how she was eating while looking at Daddy. She had this look on her face like she was trying to work out the mystery.


It is hard to believe that one month ago today Ella came into this world. What a month it has been. We have been busy learning all kinds of things new parents need to know about raising a baby. Ella is a very good teacher. She is sure to correct us when we don't do something right!

She is growing so fast. The few newborn cloths we have she grew out of over a week ago. She is now in 0-3 month clothing. It is amazing watching her grow. We are also adjusting to having a baby. Today I went grocery shopping with her by myself for the first time. We both did great and were able to finish our shopping and get home with no major problems. Each day we get better at doing every day errands and chores.

Daddy's Girl

Guess who she looks like? Daddy of course!
The best naps are on daddy's chest.
I think she may have been hungry. Not going to get anything from there Ella!
Such a sweet face.
From the day she was born Ben was a natural with her. Since I had a c-section I was not able to get up and move around a lot. Any time Ella needed something Ben had to take care of it. He learned very quickly how to sooth her and meet her needs. Because of this she has definitely become a daddy's girl. She loves her daddy.

Being a daddy is second nature to Ben. He loves to spend time with his girl and she loves him. He is almost too good. When he has to work at home or leave to go to work it is hard for both of us to let him do his work without making him feel guilty. The best times are when we are all together.

Hudson

Hudson and Ella hanging out on Mom and Dad's bed. Hudson was very interested in her.

As Ella was relaxing in her swing Hudson brought her his ball and dropped it in front of her like he wanted to play with her. Unfortunately for Hudson Ella's just a little bigger then his ball.
A family of four going on a walk together.

How is Hudson with her? This is a questions we have got from many people. For those of you who don't know, Hudson is our golden retriever. Ben and I got him 3 years ago and he has been our baby ever since. We love him and he is a part of the family. Obviously, his life has changed since the arrival of Ella. We feel he is doing great with her. When we first brought her home, Hudson didn't pay any attention to her because he was so excited to see us home after being at the hospital for 5 days. It wasn't until she was in her pack n' play and made a noise that he even noticed she was there. He was curious but still not too concerned. I believe his concern intensified when she woke the whole house to eat in the middle of the night. He would just look at us with his eyes full of questions of what we had brought home.

Since those first nights Hudson has definitely warmed up to her. He pays a lot more attention to her and even wants to play with her at times. It will be a lot of fun to watch the two of them get to know each other.

First Bath

Here are the new parents giving their first bath to an infant. I think we did pretty good. In the end she was clean and happy.
She is a happy baby. Even when she is getting a bath. How I love this face.
This is our bright eyed baby. Always so curious as to what is going on around her. She has been this way since the moment she was born.
Last weekend Ella's cord finally fell off so we were able to give her her first bath. She was so good during her bath. She did not cry once but simply laid in the bath looking at us trying to figure out what we were doing to her. She wiggled around the tub and every once in a while her lower lip would quiver because she was getting cold.

First Wedding

Ella meeting the Bride, Tawnee.
Ella and Katie. Katie was one of our flower girls in our wedding.
Ella and "grandpa" Randy.
Seth looking very handsome.
Nancy and Shaelee the day after the wedding spending some time with Ella.

This past weekend Ella attended her first wedding in the Tri-Cities. She continues to prove to be a great baby. On the trip over to the Tri-Cities we only had to stop once to feed her and then she slept the rest of the way. During the wedding and reception she only got upset once despite the fact that it was really hot and we were all sweating.

I was very happy we were able to go to the wedding this past weekend. The wedding was for Tawnee who is like a sister to me. I would have been very sad to miss it. Randy and Nancy have been like second parents to me and their kids like younger brothers and sisters. It was important that Ella meet them It also gave us an opportunity to introduce Ella to people in the Tri-Cities. The weekend was a lot of fun and proved to us that Ella can travel with the best of them.

Our Wonderful Nurses and Doctor

Stephanie was our day nurse for two days. We loved her. She was always saying how beautiful Ella is and helping us with our questions and anything else we needed. We found that all the nurses and doctors we had contact with at the hospital were excellent. They were helpful, encouraging and and geniually loved their work and patients. They made the fact that we were at the hospital from Wed. night until Monday afternoon much better.
This is our doctor Dr. Heid. He is amazing. The Wed. before Ella was born he finished up at the Family Physicians practice and wouldn't be starting at his new pracitce until Sept. 3rd. Despite being on vacation he was still with us through Ella's birth. He was also leaving to China with his family the Sunday after Ella was born. While he should have been packing he spent the night at the hospital monitoring my labor. We are very thankful to him for staying with us. It meant a lot to us that he was there for Ella's birth. Barb was our nurse all day Thursday as I labored. She took great care of us through out the day. Unfortunately she was not there when Ella was born because Ella took so long to come. When she was back at work on Sunday she came to see us and meet Ella.

First Moments

This is one of the first images of Ella I saw. The nurses were all commenting on her double chins. The first thing I heard people say about Ella before I saw her was how big her cheeks were. They were not kidding!
Dad's first time holding his baby girl. It was love at first sight.

Mom and daughter together at last.
More moments together.