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!!!

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! :)

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!!!"

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!

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!

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!