6 months and counting

Ellie is now 6 months old. Hard to believe and I have no idea where the time has gone.
I have to apologize to anyone I have not talked to in the past week to 6 months. I have not been the best at staying in touch and if it weren't for facebook I might not have any friends at all. This mothering thing has proven to be a bit harder than I expected recently. I am so grateful to those who have helped me along the way.








A little update on our little monster. Monster, you read correctly. Ellie has become a monster over the past month, six weeks, two months, I don't even know when it began. She stopped sleeping through the night, on most occasions, and has started screaming bloody murder each night at bedtime. Jim nor I have figured out what is going on. She is growing and gaining weight as she should, so we don't think anything is seriously wrong. Is she too tired, does she get too hungry, who knows?




We are both about to pull our hair out so we are trying to figure this out. Currently we are working on her schedule. We are trying or have tried to wake her up at the same time each day, get her to bed a little earlier, more closely monitor how much she eats, and adjust her feeding/playing time. So far, no big change although we did have one night that she went down without a peep and one night that she slept through the night, but of course these two happenings did not coincide.



But other than that, Ellie is wonderful. She is a joy (during the day) and always happy (except at bedtime). Here are a few highlights:




*sitting up and playing with toys
*chewing on everything
*Ellie has two teeth
*loves to go on walks
*loves watching RC, our cat





*only crawls backwards
*babbles and giggles



Ellie and I are headed up to Columbus at the end of the week. She is going to spend the next two weekends with Baba and Grandchuck while Jim and I go turkey hunting. We will be back in Mobile with Aunt Carter part of next week and then Baba is coming to Mobile with us the following week. Grandchuck will join Baba in Mobile the third weekend while Jim and I run away to the woods one more time.

Teething Sucks

How come nobody ever told me that teething was the worse part about having a baby? Ellie has been fussy for the last three weeks which means mom has been fussy for the last three weeks. And yet no teeth have appeared yet, but boy can you feel them. Some days are ok, and some days are not. The only plus side is she wears herself out during the day so she is sleeping more consistently at night. The down side to that is she is exhausted by the end of the day and tends to have a meltdown right before bed time. I also wish I could say that we are on a schedule, but we are not. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I could probably use some help in this department.


Chewing on my fingers.

Ellie is enjoying sitting up. She is still wobbly and we have only had a couple of spills. Now she just wants to sit up all the time.


Sitting up in my crib.


Sitting up on my changing table.

So all in all we are fussy, often tired, and unpredictable. Can you tell momma has just about had it? It's this precious little face that keeps me from losing my mind.



Here are some recent pictures. I've been trying to take better pictures of Ellie in hopes to get some good ones. I have also been contemplating pursuing photography. I love taking pictures of kids and have often wondered about the career opportunities. I would need a lot more practice and probably some new toys. Let me know your thoughts.

New Accomplishment

We've been practicing and I believe today we did it.
See for yourself!

Sweet Potatoe Queen

Ellie ate her first solid foods this weekend. We started with sweet potatoes and she loved them! She was a mess!

A Much Needed Visit

Last weekend we went back to Birmingham for a visit. Jim had a conference and I took Ellie visiting. Friday morning we met up with Christi and Audrey. Audrey is 2 weeks older than Ellie. Christi and I enjoyed picking each others brains and the girls enjoyed looking at each other and "talking". I can't believe I forgot to pull out the camera! It was a treat for all of us!

Friday afternoon I took Ellie out to Liberty Park. It was like going home again. We had so much fun seeing everybody!!! Ellie enjoyed being the center of attention! Being back made me realize how much I miss my friends and I loved seeing some of my kids from the past couple of years.

Saturday we had lunch with a bunch of friends from LP. It was so nice to have a chance to sit and catch up. I wish it could have lasted all day!



Ella Kate, Melanie, Kristina, and Ellie
(I wish I had taken more pictures. I guess I was too excited to see everybody!)

Thanks to all my dear friends who took the time out of their busy schedules to visit with us. It meant the world to me and I hope we will be able to get together again soon! And to those that we missed, hopefully we will get to see you soon (Shannon, Melanie, Jenny Lou and anyone else we missed). I appreciate all of your friendships more than you will ever know!!!

We have feet and they taste so good!

I haven't been very good about adding anything since Christmas. Ellie had her 4 month check up and she weighed 14 lbs. and was 25 1/4" long. Looks like she might not be as short as her momma (I hope). She is doing well and growing everyday. Now that she has rolled over once she has decided she doesn't want to do it anymore. I am often reminded that she is not a circus animal ready to perform for mom's enjoyment. Oh well.


We've also started eating rice cereal. Eating is a relative term here, more like trying to eat, drooling, and then spitting out rice cereal. Always entertaining and messy.


Ellie also loves getting up close and personal right now. She loves to look at your face and touch (or more specifically grab) your face, hair, hands, etc.



This week we have discovered feet. She likes to hold her toes and then try to eat them. It is very exciting. Apparently she only has a right foot now and hasn't discovered the left one yet.







I am supposed to be packing because we are headed to Birmingham this afternoon. I can't wait to take Ellie to Liberty Park so we can visit all our friends. I can't wait to see all my friends!! I miss them everyday! Off to pack...

1, 2, 3, Roll

Ellie rolled over for the first time today. Here is her historic 3rd roll!