We're Growing Up

I just finished packing away all of the clothes that Elise has outgrown and I am so sad! I filled up a whole crate full of sweet little outfits that she will never wear again. I had to pause every once in a while and hug a little onesie or romper that brought back special memories. Okay, I admit it, I have become a sappy mom. But I just can't help it! I held her little shirts up to my nose, breathing in what was left of that wonderful baby smell. I know that Elise is still so small, she's still just a little baby, but she is just growing so fast, I wish there was a pause button!
Despite my motherly sappiness, I am looking forward to watching her grow up. I know that every stage brings its own rewards and I can't wait to see her crawling and toddling around. I always get so proud every time she reaches a new developmental milestone. I see her and immediately get an insanely large grin on my face and I think 'That's my girl! Growing and learning something new every day.'
She is such a joy. But, enough of me gushing over her.
My goal for this week: Figuring out how to use the video camera and how to post a video on this blog. We'll see if it happens, I'm not very technologically savvy.
Here are some new pictures, because if you have been following this blog at all, you know that I am very camera happy.

Getting Bigger

Just a quick update to say that Elise has absolutely captivated Kenny and me with her awesomely sweet little smile. She is growing more and more every day and her motor skills are developing so quickly, it's hard to keep up! She has taken to the habit of grabbing on to anything that comes within grasping range. She has finally mastered the knowledge of her hand's capabilities and she's gonna take advantage of it! She has also recently discovered her feet which she finds absolutely fascinating. Kicking toys is the new funnest thing in the world. She is so much fun, I just love her so much. Here are a few new pictures of our little one.

How Elise Morphed Mommy and Daddy's Faces and Made Her Own

For those of you who were wondering which one of us Elise looks like more, here are the results! According to facial recognition technology, she looks like both of us equally!

Staying Healthy

Here's to the end of another successful week. We've made it through, once again. Elise is ten weeks old, her rate of growth continues to astound me.
We went to the pediatrician for Elise's 2 month checkup and vaccinations on Tuesday. I was a little nervous because I was taking her to the doctor by myself for the first time. I didn't know what to expect, but I braced myself for something awful. Elise and I waited for her name to be called for about an hour before finally taken back into an exam room. The room was about the size of a coat closet and just as stuffy. The nurse showed us into the room and we took Elise down the hall to wiegh her. She weighed in at 11 lbs., 8oz. This was great news. Elise had finally caught up on the growth curve and was now in the 75th percentile for her height and weight, instead of the 25th percentile that she was in at her 2 week checkup.
After being weighed and measured, the nurse showed us back to our room where she explained to me that Elise would be receiving three vaccinations that day. I should have known by the massive amounts of literature that she shoved at me that it was going to be quite a wait before the doctor came in to examine her. After reading all of the pamphlets, changing Elise's diaper, feeding Elise an entire bottle of formula, and putting her to sleep (I estimate a span of about an hour and a half) the doctor finally came into the room. She immediately went into a spiel about how much fun she had just had on her summer vacation and how she was absolutely buried in work. The woman went on and on, I was afraid that I would have to wait through a confession of her whole life story before my daughter was examined. I broke eye contact with her and paid full attention to my daughter in an effort to pursuade the doctor to get down to business. I guess she must have taken the hint because she then began her ritual of poking and prodding. She continued to talk as she shoved a small loop into Elise's ear to clear out some wax for better visualization of the ear drum. This caused Elise to bleed, and consequently, to cry. My little girl cried and cried in pain. I was horrified as this woman continued to talk, raising her voice so that I could hear her over my baby's wailing. This was the first time that I was hearing my little girl cry out in pain, I just wanted to hold her and get out of there! After much heartache, we made it through the exam and Elise was officially deemed healthy. The doctor left and a nurse came into the room bearing the dreaded syringes of terrible pain. I quickly got Elise dressed because I knew I would want to get her out of there just as soon as I could following her vaccinations. I was so thankful for the nurse who promised to give her the shots as fast as possible to minimize the time that she would be in pain. She gave them quickly and Elise began to cry harder than ever before. I picked her up and held her in the room for a while, trying my best to comfort her. I then gathered my things and left the room. To my surprise, as I began walking down the hall towards the exit, Elise quieted down. By the time I got in the elevator to leave, she was fast asleep. I put her in her carseat and took her home where she continued to sleep for another 2 hours.
The next few days were rough for Kenny and me. Elise was so sad and miserable. She was feeling icky and lethargic from the vaccinations. Our hearts sank as she moaned in our arms when we tried to comfort her. Kenny would take her on extra long walks every day which seemed to soothe her. By friday morning Elise was feeling 100% better and we were all more than relieved. I am so glad that we got through that ordeal, but I am certainly not looking forward to her next round of shots in another two months.

No more excuses

One thing that I must say that I do miss about pregnancy is always having an excuse to indulge in any junk food I wanted. I enjoyed indulging myself in any kind of craving, wacky or not, because, hey, I was PREGNANT. But now, I have no more excuse. There is no excuse for the remaining pounds that seem to be holding on to me for dear life. I am running, doing yoga, and eating miniscule amounts of terribly bland food. Bleh! This stinks! But I refuse to quit, because, as I said, I no longer have any excuse. I have about 5 more pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy size and I'm gonna make it, I swear! Kenny gives me a hard time for being so obsessed, but I just can't help it. He likes to give me a hard time about most all of the crazy things I do, you would think he would be used to it by now! He thinks I'm nuts for taking so many pictures of Elise. I am so camera happy, but what can I say, I'm crazy about this little girl. Here are a few of the latest ones.

8 weeks

Whew! I can't believe Elise is already two months old! One thing is for sure, mommy is definitely a tired girl. Elise is so sweet and just wonderful and she sure does love her mommy...ALOT. In fact, mostly, she just doesn't want mommy to ever put her down. There is an hour in the morning when she decides it's "bouncer time" when she demands to be put in her bouncer and nothing else will do. She's so funny, already informing me of her routines. I was cooking today and she decided that she definitely did not want to be left out, or put down at all for that matter. We compromised. I strapped her into her carrier and toted her around through the whole ordeal, she loved it. It worked out well, but cooking with my body facing the other way and my arm stretched as far out as possible can be quite a challenge. I love being a mom, exhaustion and all.

5 weeks

Elise is 5 weeks old today, and she seems to be quite the happy little girl. She likes to keep her mommy good and tired. This little girl is as active as I suspected she would be when I was pregnant. She does not nap at all during the day! I don't know if that's normal or not, but we are both pretty exhausted by the end of the day. The good thing about it is that we both get in some good quality sleep time at night. Kenny has been great and super supportive, though he does tend to be a little slow. He'll wake up when she's crying in the middle of the night, ready and willing to fetch a fresh diaper or new bottle, only find that I've already done it. It's pretty hilarious, actually. We are already hard at work spoiling this little girl. Most of the time, all she wants is for mommy to carry her, and what is a mommy to do? Of course, I give in and carry my little one around most of the day, I'm such a sucker. Sadly, our little one has just outgrown her moses basket and is now starting to sleep in her crib, which she is not very fond of. She has been growing so fast! She recently outgrew her "newborn" size diapers and we are now using size 1's. I am enjoying her so much, I just don't want her to grow too fast!