December 17, 2011: Ellie's Baptism

December has been one crazy month. As if taking care of a newborn, participating in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, and taking a trip to Colorado weren't enough to keep us busy this season, we decided to pile on one more fun, family activity: Ellie's baptism. On December 17, 2011, Ellie received the sacrament of baptism at St. Angela's Catholic Church in Pacific Grove, the same church where I was baptized. We were so happy to have close friends and family make it to this special event.

For her baptism, Ellie wore a beautiful dress purchased by her godparents, Tia Heather and Tio Jeremias. And she was wrapped in the same gorgeous white blanket that I was wrapped in when I was baptized.



Father Jerry, the sweet, now retired, priest that we grew up with, was kind enough to come back to St. Angela's to officiate the ceremony. Father Jerry has always had a warm, casual, and inviting style that makes all who enter the church feel welcome.





We celebrated the occasion with lunch at Pacific Grove Golf Course following the ceremony and, after that, Grant organized a putting contest for everyone who attended. We couldn't have asked for a better December day in Pacific Grove. It was absolutely beautiful!





Thank you to all who were with us - in person and in spirit - for this important day!

An Early Christmas in Colorado

We were so glad earlier this month to celebrate an early Christmas with Papi Andy and family in Colorado. Ellie had not yet met her Tia Jenna, Grant's company Christmas party was scheduled, and Southwest was having discount fares. We didn't need any more excuses! We got Ellie geared up for the snow and headed East!


Grant and I were a little nervous about how the flight would go with Ellie, but she traveled like a champion. She slept the whole way there and back! And so did we. :)

There are nothing like the beautiful, snow-covered mountains of Colorado to get you in the holiday spirit. We enjoyed family walks along the trail by Andy & Linda's house, attended the Essette Christmas party where Grant and I took third place in the blindfolded gingerbread house making competition (a difficult feat!), celebrated some new Christmas traditions with new family, and went to the Denver Zoo Lights! What a wonderful weekend! Here are some pictures that capture the fun we had:













Thank you Andy & Linda for opening your home to us, and to Megan for taking so many great family photos of Grant, Ellie and me!

December 4, 2011: Ellie is 2 Months Old!

At 2 months old, Ellie is really starting to interact. We have been able to receive some smiles and coos from our little girl and it just melts our hearts. One night, Grant found that bouncing Ellie up and down could produce a big, gummy smile every time. Isn't this just the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Some additional 2 month milestones include:

• At her 9 week appointment, Ellie weighed 11 pounds and was 22 3/4 inches long.
• She recognizes our voices and seems to look for us when she hears us.
• When we hold her upright in front of us, she can stand and respond to our talking with coos and noises.
  
• And most importantly, she has slept through the night (7.5-10.5 hours!) almost every night since Thanksgiving!

As Ellie grows and becomes more interactive, it makes parenting that much sweeter. All our exhaustion melts away when you see a face like this:

Thank you Grammy for capturing these wonderful pictures!

Ellie's First Thanksgiving

One of the great things about Ellie being born in October is that it means that I get the whole holiday season off for maternity leave! And Ellie's addition to the family brings another great "reason for the season," as they say. This year, we headed down to Visalia for a long Thanksgiving weekend with Grammy and Grandpa. It was so wonderful because everyone arranged their schedules to be home that weekend, so we had a house full of aunts and uncles to play with little Ellie. In fact, it was quite the zoo with 4 cats, 3 dogs, 9 adults and a baby!!!

Ellie wasn't sure what to think of it all. Check out this funny face!


The best part about the weekend was just all of the family time. We cooked together, played games together, went on walks/runs together, and just hung out. We went to church, went to Leah's baby shower, celebrated Grammy's birthday, met up with Rickie, Matt and Zachary, and decorated the Christmas tree. Grant and Grandpa even got to sneak in a round of golf! Thank goodness for family weekends! And thank you to Grammy and Uncle Kevin for documenting it all in amazing photos!

Best Puppies Ever!

Since we had Ellie, many people have asked us how Harry and Ginny have taken to the new baby in the house. We are happy to report that doggies seem to love our little girl. And we wouldn't have expected anything less from our sweet puppies!

Both Harry and Ginny love peering into Ellie's bassinet in the mornings and while Ellie is taking naps. Ginny loves floor time with little Ellie, and Harry has taken to resting under or around Ellie's bassinet. We love our family!

First Road Trip & First Time Playing Dress Up

On Saturday, November 6, my long-time friend Stephanie Brusuelas got married down in Pacific Grove. Attending her wedding provided us with the perfect excuse to take Ellie down to Grandma and Grandpa's for her first visit. We really could not believe how much stuff we need to bring with us now traveling with an infant. Ellie's fancy Bob stroller takes up a ridiculous amount of space, and with Harry & Ginny taking up way back of the car, we barely squeezed our luggage in! Thankfully, Ellie is a fantastic traveler. She slept the whole way!


Stephanie's wedding provided the perfect excuse to get Ellie all dressed up! Grandma dressed Ellie in her adorable sweet pea dress we got as a shower gift from Anna, and she looked absolutely adorable. It was especially fun because Ellie seemed to enjoy getting dressed up too!


Thank you to Stephanie and Michael for allowing us to share in your special day! It was so much fun to celebrate such a wonderful couple, and so great to have had the chance to introduce our newest addition to all of my PG girl friends for the first time. Ellie made everyone "ooh and aww"!

November 4, 2011: Ellie is One Month Old!

Wowie zowie! Where did the time go? Grant and I cannot believe that our little girl is already one month old. At five weeks of age, Ellie is becoming more and more interactive. It is so much fun to watch her focusing her eyes on things, working hard to raise her neck and head up to see things, and giving us more and more accidental smiles. One exciting "trick" that Ellie can do now is make eye contact with me, and follow me from side to side. It's fun to watch her learn and grow!



Ellie is becoming quite a tall girl. At birth, she was 18 inches long and, at her four week doctor's appointment, she measured 21 1/4 inches! Her little cheeks are really filling in too! At birth, Ellie weighed 7 lbs., 4 oz. She dipped down to 6 lbs., 6 oz. in her first few days at the hospital, but she has been climbing ever since. At her four week doctor's appointment, she weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs., 14 oz. Look at this sweet face!


Finally, in parenting news, Grant and I are starting to be able to distinguish Ellie's coos and cries to let us know when she is hungry, when she needs to be burped, and when she needs a diaper change. That makes things a little easier, but we are still novices to say the least!

Halloween 2011

From the minute we found out Ellie was due in October, I started getting excited about having another reason to celebrate Halloween. Grant has traditionally been "bah humbug" about the holiday, but - with the arrival of our little Ellie Bean - he agreed to get in the spirit. The only trouble we ran into is that it is very difficult to plan costumes and events when you have a 3 week old baby! Nonetheless, we powered through and, with the help of friends and family, we've had so much fun.

First, we attended Christine & Pat's Halloween party on October 29. We had a great time participating in the family costume contest, dressed as bakers and a cupcake.


I made Ellie's cupcake costume by using a hot glue gun to paste felt pieces onto one of her long-sleeved onesies. It was a simple costume, but got a lot of smiles -- particularly because Ellie was sporting her matching high top sneakers!


Fortunately, since we were headed up to Berkeley for the Halloween party, we got to stop off at Tia Heather & Tio Jeremias' house to see their adorable costumes too! They chose a Wizard of Oz theme, with Betinho stealing the show in his cowardly lion get-up.



On October 30, we continued our weekend of Halloween festivities by heading over to Chris & Caroline's house for pumpkin carving and candy apple making. We had a blast! Here's the lineup of our carved pumpkins.


Now, time to start planning our family costumes for next year . . .

Ellie's Umbilical Cord Fell Out!

On Wednesday, October 12, Ellie's eighth day of life, her umbilical cord fell out. I felt a mix of emotions. On the one hand, I was relieved to have it gone. We no longer needed to worry about it while changing her diaper, and - let's face it - it is sort of gross. On the other hand, it was the first sign of Ellie's "growing up," so to speak. The cord that had once connected her to me, from which I nourished her for almost a year, was gone. I got a little teary-eyed . . .


I wasn't sure what to do with the cord. I know some people save it in the baby book, but I decided to go with a more symbolic keepsake, by planting it under Ellie's fig tree.

Our First Week Home

On Saturday, October 8, we were discharged from the hospital. We are so glad to have our little girl "home sweet home." Here are some pictures showing what we've been up to in the last few days:

Taking Car Rides:

Taking Naps:


Family Walks:

Bath Time: