Great-Grandpa

Ellie's great-grandfather came from Kentucky to visit!

He serenaded us all with Christmas carols that made the children very happy!

White Christmas

Ellie singing in her dreams

while falling asleep looking at this.

Reindeer

We snuck in a little Chirstmas with our Thanksgiving over the weekend.  Ellie made a cute reindeer.

Thanks

SO much gratitude!!!

Ellie is having a wonderful day - she is so calm today!

But still, the prophesy of spending time on the couch has come true!  :)

Parade watching.

Parade listening.

Almost a smile!

 

(Yes that is an old-school turkey pin circa 1980.  Ellie's the first baby I've ever had that did not grab at it - kind of a plus.)

 

2012

Our first Christmas ornament.

 

Ellie is holding the snowflake.  They say no two are ever alike.

Night before

It's the day BEFORE thanksgiving and guess what?  Our fridge is full of food!!!  Alot of love from alot of sweet Catholic women has us ready for tomorrow!

And it was a good thing I didn't plan on doing much - Ellie has fussed pretty much all day off and on.  Mostly stomach related - she's ok otherwise though. 

Looks like one of us will have an excuse to watch the parade with the kids from the couch all morning.  Sounds pretty good!

Break!

Jeff is home for a 5 day holiday break!  Yay!  We're looking forward to lots of time together just being with each other. 

These two days were very full - like we jammed 5 days into 2!  We had lots of loose ends to tie up with equipment, medicines and some new nurses interviewing to work with Ellie.  Always an interesting process. 

But it all got done.  Ellie even got her vaccine at home today for RSV.  She's not sleeping long stretches like she usually does so she's awake alot more.  Hard to tell if that's an age thing or if she's uncomfortable because she's been a little fussy each time she wakes up.  More time we get to hold her!

Trip

Ellie went on a trip tonight!

10 yards from her corner she travelled to the "Land of Siblings". :)

Jacob and Xavier wanted her on a bed so they could each kneel on the floor on opposite sides of her and keep score how many times she rolled to their side.  It was 3-0 Jacob.

Julia wanted her in her crib and asked if she could "stay all night".

She doesn't travel lightly but I think she enjoyed her trip.

 

Grabber

Ellie is starting to purposely grab at things...starting with faces.  More specifically - noses.

Cozy

Happy weekend everyone!

Ellie is in her warm home with warm (crosssed) :) feet...

holding her tube of warm milk!

"Maybe if I pull on it, more will come that way."

"Bring on the good stuff!" 

"Ahhhh, now I'm full."

"Time for a nap now."

Who needs museums when your kids create them at home? :)

Gotta be quick

Sometimes if you think she's awake - like you start to change her diaper then get distracted - you come back to this.

Rolling along

Ellie's corner of the world.  She rolls to both sides now!

Jacob and Ellie.

We're doing well here - thankfully some board games have provided excitement this week for staying home all day every day!  And Ellie sleeps through most of it comfortably from her corner :).

Daddy

Jeff with Jacob 2004.

Jeff with Ellie 2012.

Monday

Ellie kept the nurse busy today!  The weekend was full of brainstorms by us and we rolled it all out this morning.  We have a great relationship with the nurses and they insist on making us feel like they work for us.  So, new places for equipment, some home deliveries came, some new cleaning routines, etc. all got us a little more efficient with caring for Ellie.  She also is requiring some more calories since she's growing!  So we adjusted the fortifier we add to the milk.  She did have two big episodes this morning of gagging - one was after some practice with oatmeal.  Doesn't she know how much her momma loves oatmeal and requires each of her children to eat it?!  :)  In time...

Opposite weekend

Ellie has had the complete opposite disposition this weekend than last!  Thank you Lord!  She is doing great, sleeping and cooing and relaxing.  What a relief - she really stumped us those few days!  Sometimes her medical team in Atlanta checks in to see how she is doing, so "Hi ya'll, she's doing great"!  This is practically live Ellie-cam moments ago :).

 

Oh and just for fun - this is why you need to stop putting the correct number of candles on your cake when you get to a "certain" age.  Xavier was honestly concerned the thing was going to go up in flames - as evidenced by his face as well as his spoken words he shared later that evening.  Happy Birthday to the best Daddy Ellie could ever have.



Good doctor visit

Ellie had her 6 month check-up today for shots.  It was with her regular pediatrician here at home - and it was a pleasant experience!  The desk staff, nurses, doctor and even other families could not stop saying how cute she was :) and one lady even emphatically kept saying over and over, "I love her, I love her"!!!  It was an unusual experience for us - all good news...she looks great on the outside!  Let's keep our fingers crossed the inside is looking better and better too.

It was just Ellie and Mommy and we had some good quality time together hugging and talking and comforting after shots.  She's as tough as nails though, that girl!  When we got home, she got a special treat - her first ever bath with her sister!  I can't say who liked it more, Julia or Ellie :).

Plenty of fruit-flavored shampoo to go around.

Ellie was so tuned into her.

Julia loved washing Ellie's hair.

All clean and getting some new tape for her beautiful face.

Night night, hope you have a great weekend everyone! (that means you too Ellie girl!)

Doing well

All is well with Ellie - she's back to her normal, chill self.  Still gags alot and keeps the nurse busy when she has an episode but for the most part she's had a few very good days. 

Days that mean we leave her for a minute and come back and she looks like this:
By the way - the CD of today was ABBA's greatest hits.  It's one of her favorites.
 

Daddy got a flu shot today and she'll be getting hers tomorrow along with the rest of her regular shots. So far we're all staying free of colds. Lord willing, that will continue.



Roller Coaster

I continue to be amazed at how "up and down" this ride can be. 

Yesterday Ellie cried all day, even when we held her - just cried and cried.  Someone else cried some too.  That person may or may not have mastered the skill of eating Oreos at the same time as crying. They get a little mushy but still taste good...so I'm told.

Today Ellie woke up (slept well last night) calm, happy and only had one major gagging episode which the nurse was here for so she was on top of it.  She fell asleep and I snuck the kids out to vote and let Jacob press the button for president while the others took turns pressing "next".  They loved it.  Probably illegal.

Anyway, then today a package came that really brought us smiles!  After we got home from the hospital in September, I couldn't resist writing a letter to Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-Fil-A.  I shared that Ellie had smiled (and laughed) while looking at their "spokescow" as I called it.  It was read and acknowledged with a delivery of a child-sized cow!  Ellie took her time getting to know it then smooched it a bit.  The girl knows good food when she sees it.  I feel inspired now to continue to be a "cow" for Ellie in my own special way.  It's her way of telling me she appreciates it.

And the best news - Ellie did not move from 2:00 when the nurse left until 6:30 when we were all done eating dinner (a meal that was given once again by a generous co-worker that allowed us to scoot out early for a swim lesson for the kids - very fun).  I am so thankful after four intense days.  Mostly we're just relieved she must be feeling better.  Her doctors were all happy to brainstorm and look at her tests again thoroughly but no changes were made.  Let's not forget Ellie's a baby and we all know they make us scratch our heads from time to time.  Everyone was happy to gather round the non-crying Ellie.

Mom sandwiched between the oldest and the youngest.

False alarm

Today was a long one, we had (what we hope is) a false alarm.  We thought something was really wrong with Ellie with all the fussing and this extra bonus trick she has had lately of gagging ALL DAY long.  So we called our team of awesomeness in Atlanta and they wanted to be on the safe side and have us see the local cardiologist. Luckily they squeezed us in and after tests, some exciting oxygen tank malfunctions, a fussy car ride and way too much candy eaten by me - she seems to be ok.

Worst case scenario was the gagging meant too much pressure was buidling up from lung/heart issues and squeezing her digestive organs.  Try hearing the words "heart failure" first thing in the morning when you have big plans for the day of taking a walk and vacuuming.  Anyway, it seems for the moment the she just has a weird oral reflex/gagging issue going on right now.  The therapist is coming tomorrow to stick a spoon in her mouth - party time.

The test she had today showed no real improvement in her lung/heart numbers but we still have until the end of November to give that more time.

Jeff took the kids on a walk while I was gone and I did get to vacuum.  See?  Just as I had planned.

Fussy weekend

Deja vu!  Didn't I post last weekend that she was fussy all weekend?  Maybe we just notice it more because it's just us and not the nurse here helping.

Anyway, Ellie seems to be ok - just wanting to be held alot.

This is the view from the couch :).