Normal Days

I haven't really blogged in the past few days because we haven't really been up to anything fun. I didn't feel like I had anything newsworthy to share and I've only taken 2 (gasp!) pictures this week...and both of those I took last night. I saw this quote on another blog and thought it was pretty amazing and it made me rethink this normal week we've had!

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day, I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

Amazing, huh? Yeah, I thought so too. So I'm going to recap this week that I didn't feel was anything special, but one day I might really want to remember!

Monday: Reagan was still around (hooray!) so we hung out with her. Ellington and I go to a baby music class on Monday mornings so we went to that. Our class got moved to the SportsPlex (this info will come in handy in a minute). Ellington really loves going to music class. I am so thankful that my mom enabled us to go! I am going to be sad when it's over! Monday night Reagan was going out to eat with Elizabeth, Lauren, and some other girls and invited me. To be totally honest...I didn't want to go. Why? I was tired and didn't want to friendly. HORRIBLE....I know!!! I just wanted to get Ellington to bed and then do nothing. In the middle of feeding E rice cereal (a stressful task!) I looked at Robert and said, "I'm going!". And you know what? I am SO glad I went. I had a great time and it was good to have a break. The doctor that delivered Ellington was there. It caught me off guard and caused me to break out into a cold sweat (Ha! I actually see him at church and it happens every time!!!) Anyway, Elizabeth wanted to hear about Ellington being born and well....I hope those girls still want to have babies some day. Maybe it was too much info. :)

Tuesday: Ellington took a really long morning nap! Reagan and Lauren called and invited us to City Bagel (my favorite...and I haven't been since before E was born!), but I didn't want to wake her up from her nap so they were so kind to bring it over and eat here! Such another nice little treat! I have no idea what we did the rest of the day...something exciting I'm sure!

Wednesday: This is where the SportsPlex comes back into the story. I had heard that it had a nice walking track, but I'm really weird and don't like to go new places so I had never been. Since our music class was moved from the Methodist church to the SportsPlex I was forced to go there on Monday so I got that over with. Anyway....Ellington and I went Wednesday morning and walked. Well, I walked, she strolled. :) This elderly couple lapped us not one, not two, but THREE times!!! I knew I was in bad shape, but didn't know it was that bad! And guess what? On Wednesday we got to see Reagan AGAIN! I don't think I've seen her so much in one week since she's gone to college! She and Rachel came for the basketball game and stopped by the house before the game so that Rachel could meet Ellington. Ellington doesn't usually "talk" to people she doesn't know, but she just talked and talked to Rachel! So sweet.

Thursday: I don't really remember what we did Thursday during the day. I do remember that Ellington's diaper leaked so I had to wash her blanket and sheet. Right after that I discovered that the dog had thrown up and had to clean the carpet. I told Robert he was all on his own if anything happened to him! Thursday night I went to the movies with my friend Katey. I looked forward to this ALL.DAY.LONG. Seriously. I ended up being ready like 30 minutes early and just stared at the clock. The movie didn't disappoint.

Friday: Ellington and I made our way back to the SportsPlex again. The elderly couple? Still lapping us! However....I lapped a woman with a walker no less than four times! Yes! Friday afternoon when Robert woke up I had to go and buy a pair of pants for church. My clothes still aren't fitting (that's where the walking comes in!!!) and the hem came out of the pair I usually wear. I also had to go shopping for some baby shower presents. Friday night Robert had to work which is always a bummer. Financially, it's good but when he works Friday night that means he has to sleep on Saturday. Then we go to church Sunday morning and he has to sleep Sunday afternoon because he has to go to work Sunday night. So, it seems as if we don't have a weekend with him.

(This is getting really long. If you are still reading, I'm impressed!)

Saturday: Ellington and I just hung out while Robert slept. Saturday afternoon I had a double baby shower for two women in our Sunday School class. I have actually never been to a baby shower (other than my own)...weird, huh? I knew that "having baby" stories would come up. After I had Ellington I made a pledge to myself that I would never tell a pregnant woman who had never had a baby my birth story. I hated it when I was pregnant and people would tell me these stories that didn't do anything but scare me. And my story? Well, it's ROUGH and I wanted to keep it to myself. We got to talking and everyone kept asking me questions and it just all came out. Oops!!! I hope the pregnant women didn't go home and cry and that they got some sleep last night. Ellington was really unhappy for some reason after the shower so Robert and I took her for a drive and we got some much needed chat time in. This is one of the two pictures I took this week...our exciting Saturday night...Robert playing a video game while trying to entertain Ellington before her bath:



Sunday: Today we went to church and Ellington cried when we left her for the first time. :( I know from my daycare/preschool background that the best thing to do is just leave, but that was SO HARD TO DO! She survived though...and we did too! Right now Ellington and Robert are both asleep...Gus (our dog) is too!

Those were our "normal days" from this week. Nothing special, but gone so fast. I hope that you remember to enjoy your normal days as well.

Wordless Wednesday

Special Visitors

We have enjoyed getting to see a couple of special people over the last few days. Laura (Ellington's soon-to-be aunt!!!), was in town this weekend and we were able to have lunch with her on Saturday. We were so excited that she called and invited us because we hadn't seen her since Christmas! Ellington enjoyed some snuggle time with Laura. I remembered to pack my camera in E's bag, but forgot to take a picture once we got there! So sad. Sorry Laura...we'll get you next time!

We were thrilled to have Reagan come stay with us on Sunday night and spend Monday with us. And the best part???....Reagan cooked us supper on Sunday night.



How sweet! I don't think I've ever had anyone cook me supper in my own house....such a special treat! We only had a couple of cooking mishaps...haha. Supper was delicious. She even made dessert!



Ellington loves spending time with Reagan. I love that Reagan will entertain Ellington. :) Ellington is a baby that feels like she needs a show all the time. Bless her...it surely isn't her fault. After what I like to call "The Colic of 2009" Robert and I became super sensitive to her crying. I thought all of the crying would have the opposite effect...that once she got over it that just normal baby fussing/crying wouldn't bother me because we had been through so much worse. Wrong. Every time she cries we just want to do whatever we can to get it to stop...we must have flash backs or something! So yeah, we preform a lot for her. Ha! Songs, dances, just whatever! We are just here for her entertainment. :)

We hope you are having a great weekend...

because we sure are!!!

Friday Afternoon Fun

We finally had a beautiful day and did not want to let it pass us by! Ellington is already feeling MUCH better and after a long (3 hour!) nap, we decided to head out of the house. It was SO nice to get out after such a long week. We went and ate at the Union and then strolled around campus for a little while. These are a few pictures of our afternoon together.





Oh how I love these two!







Robert and Ellington having a little chat.

Happy Birthday Bryant!

Today is Bryant's birthday and we want to wish him a very happy day! Bryant is a great guy and always fun to be around. He helped us in a BIG way this summer. He helped Robert put together three pieces of furniture for Ellington's room. It would probably still not be finished if not for his help! ;)

Mystery Solved

This poor baby...



...has a double ear infection. :(

I wrote about how we didn't have a good Monday. Well, we didn't have a good day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday was mounting up to be the same way. I really thought she was getting a tooth...that's what all the signs indicated. I decided yesterday that we just had to go to the doctor-even if they were only going to tell me it was a tooth. I was HORRIFIED when they said she had a double ear infection! I felt awful that she had been dealing with that all week and I had no idea!!! But we're fighting it now and thankfully she won't remember this. :) I told Robert babies need to come with little information screens. They could say things like: "My ears are killing me", "I'm crying, but I'm really not hungry", "I LOVE it when you sing Disney songs", "Daddy's dancing scares me"...that would be super helpful. But Ellington doesn't have an information screen. I'll just keep trying to figure out what's going on and try to fix it to the best of my ability.

In the picture you can see that Ellington doesn't have any socks on. Her newest trick is kicking them off. I am sure glad that warm weather is around the corner so I don't have to worry as much about keeping socks on her feet and wondering where the missing ones are!

Yucky Day With a Happy Ending

Yesterday Ellington and I had one of those days. You know, the kind that you just want to end. She was out of sorts and off schedule. She was very fussy and not sleeping well. I had no more patience. I was done.

When Robert woke up I decided that we should still try to make the best of the day. We were going to go to the Union for Robert to get Starbucks, me to get a sweet tea from Chick-fil-A, and Ellington to enjoy a little stroll. I thought this little outing would surely help all of our feelings. We got to campus and there were no parking spots in sight. We looped back around and still no spots. By this time Ellington was getting very impatient. Robert and I were losing our cool. I know it seems silly, but we were really frustrated and Ellington was crying which only makes things worse. I was frustrated from my day and then my outing not going as planned and Robert was frustrated because I was frustrated...ha!

Robert had a great idea though in attempts to salvage our day. We decided to go to McAllister's for sweet tea and the yummy desserts we always eye but never get. We walk into the restaurant and in the case that usually holds the yummy desserts are candles from Aspen Bay that is next door. Candles. In the dessert case. We asked about the desserts and were informed that they only have one dessert at a time now. Strange. Trying to remain positive we order the one dessert they have, plain cheesecake, and our sweet teas. The sweet tea was terrible. How can their sweet tea be terrible? That's what they are famous for. Well, we were still in bad moods and Ellington was getting really fussy again so we headed back home...defeated.

Robert asked if I wanted to go for a drive. We did this A LOT when Ellington had colic because she would always fall asleep. She was fussing and I heard a little tiny yawn from the backseat and that's all the information I needed. Robert headed for the bypass and Ellington quickly feel asleep. We were driving in the country (I have no idea where we were...there were lots of trees and cows so I call it "the country") and it started snowing. And it was beautiful. I need to stop here and say that I was so sad we got NO snow when everyone else had inches. Normally I don't really care about something like that, but I was disappointed this time. Seeing the snow instantly lifted my spirits. I knew it wasn't going to stick, but it was so beautiful falling from the sky. So we drove and talked and admired the snow....and drove and talked and admired the snow. It was great and just what we needed. Not wanting the fun to end, but knowing we needed to...we headed back home. When we got back home we decided to get out and take a few pictures.






Robert went and asked our neighbor to come and take a picture of the three of us. I am so glad he thought to do that. We have so few pictures of all of us. I need to get better about that!


After the picture of the three of us the battery died (doesn't that always happen?) and Ellington was crying so we headed back inside. It was time for Ellington to eat!


Robert made us some delicious potato soup. He had never tried this before and it turned out fantastic!


After we got Ellington bathed and to bed, I got a big bowl of soup (you know...because of all of the snow...ha!) and a bottle of coke. We always have bottled coke for the opening ceremony of the Olympics and we had a few left over.


This was a really long post. But I want to remember yesterday. I want to remember how a really long frustrating day turned out to be fantastic. Yesterday evening is one of my favorite times with Robert and Ellington. It was so sweet and simple...and well, perfect.

She Got It!

After weeks and weeks of staring at the toys, Ellington finally grabbed the ring. Once she got it she hung on for dear life. I didn't think she would ever let go! She was so proud of herself. It is so exciting to watch her discover how to do new things. Robert and I get excited about things we would have never dreamed could be so spectacular!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have had a pretty low key Valentine's Day (most things have been low key since having Ellington!), but we have had a great day! We went to church this morning and came right home to get Ellington to bed. She won't sleep in the nursery...too much to see I suppose! By the time we get home from church she's been awake almost 4 hours, so she is exhausted! I put Ellington down for her nap and Robert went to Bulldog Deli to pick up lunch...yum! So we had our little Valentine's lunch at home and watched the Olympics. Ellington slept for THREE hours...at which time I woke her up so we wouldn't totally be messed up the rest of the day schedule wise. Ellington is swinging now and Robert's taking a nap (he has to work tonight)...Happy Valentine's Day from the Connerleys!

Wordless Wednesday

Sweater Dresses

The last two Sundays Ellington has gotten to wear new sweater dresses to church. GiGi and Aunt Julie (& Connor!) were so sweet to buy her these cute dresses. We love them so much! Ellington looked so cute both Sundays that I just had to share! I happen to think that she was the cutest girl in the nursery.

Big Bob and MiMi Visit

This weekend Big Bob and MiMi came to visit! Ellington has grown a lot since they last saw her at Christmas. We so enjoyed their visit. Ellington especially enjoyed having special company. We took Big Bob and MiMi to campus and showed them the new Union that they hadn't seen yet. Ellington loves strolling around the Union. We also went to eat Mexican. Yum! Ellington did GREAT at the restaurant! We were so proud. Ellington had a blast on the car ride back to the house laughing at MiMi! That was some of the most laughing we have ever heard from Ellington. Thanks for coming to visit Big Bob and MiMi!

Wordless Wednesday

4 Months

Ellington is 4 months old now! In some ways I can't believe she's already 4 months and in other ways I can't believe it's only been 4 months. The last four months have been the HARDEST and BEST of our lives. We love her so much and are so thankful that she is a part of our family.

Ellington, what are you up to at 4 months old?

• You sleep from 7:30ish pm to 7:30ish am, waking up once or twice to eat.
• You usually take 3 naps a day.
  
• You have recently started rice cereal and a little baby food, which you LOVE!!!
• You love love love your daddy and I love love love watching your relationship with him.
• Your favorite time of the day is bath time.
• You have recently started noticing differences in people and have some stranger anxiety.
• You have started chewing on your fingers sooo much!
• You always want someone around to "talk" to.
• You weigh 14 pounds 6 ounces and are in the 75th percentile for weight.
• You are 24 inches long and are in the 75th percentile for length.

Here is a little look back!

85 Years

A few weeks ago Pappaw celebrated his 85th birthday. We were so happy to be able to attend the party and help him celebrate. This was Ellington's first birthday party. Unfortunately, we had to miss Cousin Connor's 3rd birthday party that was the same day. Ellington did great at the party (despite my worries about being there so long). We took the pack and play and she slept during part of the party. This was a huge shock and relief to me because she is not the kind of baby that can just sleep anywhere. I guess all of the partying wore her out!