March 17-19, 2011: A Visit from Tia Megan

We were so thrilled to have Tia Megan and Danny visit us from Orange County earlier this month. Tia Megan hadn't seen Ellie since our Christmas in Colorado, so we were thankful that she and Danny took the time to come up and spend some quality time with our little Bean. We ate yummy food, took a nice walk on the Dish, relaxed, and set up Grant's new office. Thank you so much, Megan and Danny, for all of your manual labor in the new office!

As usual, Tia Megan spoiled Ellie with some adorable clothes; this time, Seven jeans and a cute top. I cannot believe that my 5 1/2 month old has Seven jeans (pics of those to come)! Thank you, Megan! Ellie sure loved giggling and snuggling with her Tia.


We truly loved the opportunity to just relax with family. On Saturday, Grant's cousins Corbett, Nadalie and Kyle came down and joined us all for a St. Patrick's Day celebration. I'm so bummed that we did not get any photos of their first time meeting Ellie, and of all of the fun we had eating good food and playing one of our favorite games, Wits and Wagers. On Sunday, we had another amazing family night with Kevin and Katherine coming to spend the evening with us. This may have been the first time that all of Grant's Gaudette-Cross siblings got together outside of Visalia! It's fun to hang out as adults. We celebrated the occasion with s'mores!

March 4-11, 2012: Vacation in Sunny Scottsdale

Grant and I decided that a vacation was in order to soak in some quality family time before I return to work. After much deliberation over the best destination to travel to with a new baby, we decided on Scottsdale, AZ. We originally wanted to go to Hawaii. However, since you can't snorkel or scuba dive with an infant, and our beach time would be limited with an infant, we decided that Hawaii just wasn't in the cards for now. But Grant promised me that we would make our trip an "Operation Hawaiian Vacation in Scottsdale." And so it was!

We soaked in some sun and took Ellie swimming for her first time!





We went on a tour of all of the shaved ice locations in the greater Phoenix area!


And we even went to the Arizona Aloha Festival, an event that draws thousands of people to celebrate and enjoy Hawaiian culture through performances, food and shopping. We were so glad that Richard, Jen, Rhett (and Abby, in utero) joined us for the event. And, we were so glad to get even more shaved ice there!


Grant played a round of golf at the Phoenician with Richard, and we went to two Spring Training baseball games: A's vs. Angels, and Giants vs. Reds. Ellie had a hard time at the baseball games -- it turned out all of the cheering impeded her from taking naps.




Most of all, we enjoyed all of the family time. We have been so busy since Ellie's arrival, and have been blessed with so many visitors, that it's been rare to spend quality time with just the three of us. Our trip to Scottsdale was absolutely perfect in that regard!

March 4, 2012: 5 Months Old and Counting

Ellie's little personality is really starting to develop. She is becoming quite our little giggle-monster, and we couldn't be more in love!

At five months old, Ellie:
-likes to play "peek-a-boo"
-is ticklish in her armpits, at the sides of her neck, and on her feet
-eats sweet potato, avocado and pear, but does not like banana
-sleeps most nights from around 8:30pm-6:00am, waking up now and then for us to replace her pacifier in her mouth
-sleeps in her crib downstairs, and no longer in our room
-rolls with ease from back to front and sometimes rolls from front to back
-pushes herself up high during tummy time
-still does a lot of "coo-ing"

It's sure incredible to see this little bean growing and changing.

February 28, 2012: Ellie's Eating Solids!

While we originally planned on waiting a little while longer to start solid foods, Ellie was showing signs of "readiness" to start eating, so we decided to go ahead with it. She can sit up well, pull her hands and toys to her mouth, was acting curious about eating (e.g., watching us intently while we ate), and she began waking up multiple times at night seemingly hungry. We have been spoiled rotten with Ellie's amazing sleep habits, so after a few restless nights with multiple wake-ups, we were ready to try ANYTHING that offered us the possibility of getting more sleep!

On the recommendation of our pediatrician and the nurse at the new parents group that I go to, we decided to start with sweet potato. We brought out the cool Baby Bullet system that we got as a shower gift from Kirin, and made our own fresh and tasty food. Ellie did extremely well! She made a few funny faces, but she definitely got some food down, and - importantly - she slept the whole night through! Like a proud papa, Grant captured the event with tons of photos!





You may notice that Ellie ate her first real meal in her swing. That is because we didn't have a high chair. Now that we have a big eater, I went out and purchased one today. Ellie sure likes sitting like a big girl in her new chair. What a cutie!

February 14, 2012: Valentine's Day

Ellie enjoyed her first Valentines Day! We got her all dressed up, and she gave Valentine cards and bath toys to all of her little friends at our Day One Mom's Group. Life with little Ellie Rose certainly makes for Grant and my sweetest Valentine's Day ever!

February 9-12, 2011: Ellie's First Trip to Far Outlook

Grant, Ellie and I were lucky once again to have the opportunity to join our friends Nick, Hannah and Landon for a wonderful long weekend in Lake Tahoe at Hannah's Grandma's beautiful home on the lake, Far Outlook. We ate yummy food, watched golf, relaxed, played with the kiddos, and just had a great time. On Friday night, Nick and Hannah watched Ellie and allowed Grant and I to have an amazing date night at the Lone Eagle Grill in Incline Village. We loved getting to celebrate our 13-year dating anniversary and an early Valentine's Day. On Saturday, the boys took kid-duty while Hannah and I got massages at the Lighthouse Spa.

Grant and I truly value the time we get to spend with the Serrano Family! We wish we all lived closer together!

February 3-5, 2012: A Visit from Grammy and Grandpa!

Grammy's teacher conference in San Jose provided the perfect excuse for a weekend visit and some good bonding time with Ellie. Grammy even got her first chance to read Ellie a family favorite book: The Little Mouse, The Red-Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear. This was one of Grant's favorite books as a little boy, and he gave it to me (Ellie) as a gift when I was pregnant. It is clear that Grammy read this book to Grant many, many times, as she can still recite the words to the book without looking!

Thank you, Grammy and Grandpa, for the wonderful visit! We hope to see you guys again soon!