Saturday, November 28, 2009

Grammy & Grandpa's Day

During our Thanksgiving visit to FL, Thomas & I left Ellie with Grammy & Grandpa so we could go visit with friends. She still had a cold and didn't want to be "out and about" and it was the perfect excuse to have her spend time with G + G without any interruptions!







Enjoying perfect FL weather






This means sleepy time!











Here is Ellie with her "girlfriend". This is the doll that hangs above her diaper-changing station. We brought it with us b/c the lights and music she makes are magic to Ellie. She started crying in the car on the way back to Charlotte and Girlfriend distracted her enough into forgetting she was upset! Girlfriend has magical powers.

Friday, November 27, 2009

More Family!

Since this was Ellie's first trip to FL, she met lots of other family that she'd heard so much about. She loved everyone and was in great spirits while being held by everyone. She must have known these were those special family members we always talk about.


Aunt Dawn got to "bond" with Sarah for the first time at Thanksgiving 1981. Here she is, 28 years later, meeting Miss Ellie at Thanksgiving.



I love Great Aunt Dawn!



Uncle Greg got to hold Ellie before she headed to bed for a nap. She's all swaddled here...but that's no more as of our return to Charlotte. Ellie has moved on from the swaddle. I can't decide if I'm happy or not about this; I'm not ready to already be "done" with certain parts of her life!




Grammy and Grandpa had some Christmas gifts to give Ellie before the season started (cute Santa socks, a Christmas pacifier holder, an ornament). Aunt Myra is holding Ellie while Uncle Steve watches.




"Grammy, I want to go over there!"



Here is Grandpa with his first Great-Grandchild. He loves her sooo much. It was so special for her to meet her this trip for the first time.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving in Florida

We had a great time in Orlando/Apopka for Thanksgiving this year. Ellie did a fantastic job in the car. We decided to drive through the night (both down to FL and on the way back) in hopes that Ellie would sleep most of the time. And she did! She woke up at her usual 3am and 6am feedings and then we were back on the road. Grammy & Grandpa took over in the morning once we made it to Apopka Wednesday morning at 6:30am so Thomas & I could go to bed. Ellie caught her first cold (from Mommy) while we were there and had her first dealings with a little cough and a lot of runny nose! I think she's also in the beginning stages of teething: lots of drooling, runny nose, and hard chewing on anything she can put in her mouth. Here are some highlights:



This was Ellie's first time meeting Cousin Andrew. He is walking and doing lots of "talking". Such a cutie! Here he is with his Mommy, Julia.





A few of my old friends from elementary/high school stopped by the day before Thanksgiving to meet Ellie. Here is Jackie (recently married), Tara (about to give birth), and Raelyn (travelling the world for Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier Clothing Line)





Tara loved getting to meet a little baby just before hers was born. Her baby, son Weston, was born just about a week after this pic was taken. Her due date was the day after this picture, but little Weston did not want to come out until a week later. Congrats on your beautiful baby boy! Ellie & Weston will probably be boyfriend/girlfriend one day! :)





Some more friends from AHS at Jackie's Pre-Thanksgiving Party:
Me, Jackie, Raelyn, Chad Cribb, Suzanne Summerlin, and Angie Aldrich





Just relaxing with Grandpa. She could stay like this for hours. Well maybe AN hour. She loves Grandpa! :)





We visited Uncle Greg on his last day of work before retiring from Wachovia/Wells Fargo. You can't tell from the picture, but Ellie is sitting in his now-empty bookcase. We loved visiting Great Uncle Greg's gorgeous end-office with Downtown Orlando views before he said goodbye after 22 years. Congrats!!!


Monday, November 23, 2009

Prepping for Holiday 'Shoot'

Miss Courtney came over again to take some pics of Ellie and us for a holiday photo. Here are some amateur pics that I took. Courtney's pics will be out soon! :)




Sunday, November 22, 2009

Play Portraits

Ellie has been working on her Tummy Time and is actually enjoying it more. As you will see below, she likes it on the Boppy most (as opposed to a blanket of the floor); she can lift herself up higher and seems to like to be able to look around better this way. She definitely likes to check things out...she really only likes to be held in your arms if she's facing "out" and can see what's going on and where she's going.

I'm sorry we haven't posted a blog recently; I sort of forgot to take pictures lately b/c we've just been playing so much. No more lying around staring at the ceiling...we must be MOVING! (I know, I know....it'll only get really busy when she starts to crawl/walk)
Ellie smiles and laughs (she's had two official belly laughs and we're waiting for them to start coming every day) and we have a great time. She coos and babbles and just loves to look around and make faces at the world around her. She still hates the car seat so taking trips around town always require a 5-minute meltdown before she settles herself or falls asleep. She's getting strong enough now that she can arch her back, make herself stiff, and try to flip herself sideways. It's quite tough to get the buckles on and snapped like this, lil miss!!!  :)

She has recently found her hands (on a whole new level than last month). Ellie holds her hands together, sucks on them constantly, holds onto toys (not grabbing them yet), and grabs onto your shirt when she's falling asleep. I think she just noticed her feet today, too. She was looking down at them and seem intrigued. She has also noticed the dogs in the past few weeks. She follows them with her eyes as they walk around but she hasn't "reacted" to them.
Can't wait to see our Florida family & friends soon for Thanksgiving. Enjoy your Holiday! :)






Who wants to kiss these GORGEOUS lips!?!? I do!

Ellie Meets Cohen

Mr. Cohen Hathaway-who just celebrated his 1st birthday-and Ellie met at the Annual Slootsgiving which was held at our house this year. The babies loved meeting each other...although Ellie was a little bummed that Cohen could walk around and she had to just watch while in our laps. Soon Ellie!
Cohen is a doll face and we can't wait to watch them play together soon as "big kids".  His Mommy, Katie, was my Chi Omega "Big Sis" at FSU. So technically, Cohen & Ellie are cousins, right? :)



I don't know why Ellie looks mad here...I think she wants to get down on the floor and play with Cohen!



"Bye, Ellie...I'm gonna go walk now!"



"Wait, Cohen...I'm coming, too!!!"

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Cousins!

Regina, Emma, and Isabella posed here with Ellie when everyone came over for Nonna's birthday. We had a great time and Nonna loved having her 3 girls together. This is one of their first pics together as a group. I'm sure we'll get better over time of getting everyone to smile & look at the same time!







Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Lil Feet and a Bath

Ellie's getting so big! She's a little over 11lbs now and she LAUGHED for the first time on Monday (Nov 9). This was the day after her 3 month birthday. She hasn't laughed again since then, but we're anxiously awaiting her next one!


Sleeping baby. I walked in to check on her and I couldn't resist taking a pic of these cute pics coming out of her swaddle.



Fortunately Flip Flop and Giraffe were there to help keep her warm since her feet were poking out.



Dad & Ellie after bath....she's getting so big!





And she still loves bath time...yay!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Fun Zoo Times!



Ellie and I drove to Asheboro, NC on Tuesday to head to the NC Zoo to meet cousins Hannah and Wes. We had a great time meeting Hannah. Two precious cousins meeting each other...they're only two months apart!




Here's Hannah with her Mommy Hillary and Aunt Myra with Ellie






"Hello."                      "Hello."                   " I love you."                "I love you, too!"




"Well this has been fun, Hannah! See you at Christmas. Bring your toys and
I'll bring mine, too!"




See the gorilla in the background!?  Neither does Ellie.
She enjoyed a short nap in between bouts of fussiness. I'm not sure if she was scared of the animals or just unhappy that they were behind glass and she couldn't play with them. Either way, it'll be a few more months before we head back to the zoo! Oh well, at least I had fun playing and visting with the Eggerts!



Wednesday, November 4, 2009

More Play Time


Ellie has really taken to her hands. She hasn't started looking at them yet, just chewing. But she loves them and doesn't discriminate between right and left! She has a cute brown bow in, but it looks more so like a clump of matted hair in this pic.



Mmm mmm good.



Ellie was playing on the floor on her little activity mat when Moose came sauntering over. He layed down right in front of the mat and just enjoyed the view. It wasn't until at least 5 mintues later when I decided to take a pic. He loves Ellie and can't wait for her to play with him! He's also her protector...he gets up and lays in the hallway when she's napping in front of her door and lifts his head up to find me when she starts to cry.



Here's a better angle of Moose. You can tell from where he decided to lay that he just wants to be near her and make sure she's ok. Kaya came over a few minutes later to check it out too. She sometimes "checks" Moose when he sniffs Ellie. Kaya likes to take the one-foot-away approach. I think it's just because she's more sensitive to getting in trouble when we warn them both to "be gentle" with the baby. We're thankful to have good pups around the little one! Let's just hope the trend continues when Little Miss begins walking, pulling hair & tails, and jumping!

Underwater Adventures

Well she's not exactly "underwater" yet, but getting closer! She's here with her fish friends on the bouncy chair and her coral reef pals on her onesie. Too cute!