Wordless Wednesday {My Favorite 2 People in the Whole Wide World Edition}

Ellington's Boyfriend

Ellington has a boyfriend and they usually have dates about 5:00 every day. You know, after he's spent the day being a world famous singer.



I don't know how it got started, but Robert and Ellington got to where they would watch a Michael Buble music video usually when I was getting Ellington's supper together. She LOVES watching it! One time I was trying to talk to her while she was watching it and she put her hand out at me and turned away as if to say, "Not now mom...I'm watching Michael." If she's fussy you can turn it on and she calms down and just watches so intently. Too cute. She might as well enjoy Michael because he's the only guy she gets until she's in college!

What a Weekend!

We had a very different weekend! We started off Friday late afternoon/early evening with bad weather. The tornado siren went off so we ended up here:



Ellington had been soooo fussy and wouldn't take her last nap of the day. Robert decided to fix a little bottle so see if she was hungry (even though it wasn't her usual time) and two bottles later she ended up taking TEN ounces! That was totally crazy because lately I have barely been able to get her to take four ounces. After eating all of that she passed out in my arms and we hung out in the hall. :)

I mentioned that we were going to go to Oby's on Friday night in my last post, but needless to say we didn't go because of the weather.

On Saturday there was bad weather all over the state all day. Robert was sleeping because he had to work Friday night so I kept checking in all day with the weather reports. At about 1:30 there were telling us that a TORNADO was making it's path across the state and would be in Starkville a little after 2:00. (This was the same one that went through Yazoo City) I was FREAKING OUT. The weather people were not messing around and they were scaring me! Normally I wake Robert up at 2:00, but I went ahead and got him up and we got the bathroom ready to ride the storm out in. Being a parent made this storm SO much more scary than any before. I didn't want anything to happen to Ellington and I didn't want anything to happen to us so she would still have parents!



I can't believe I posted that picture...no make up and all! Memories, right?

When the storm passed by (a couple of miles north of us thank goodness!) we came out of the bathroom only to find out that another was on it's way. GREAT! So we took a little break from the bathroom waiting on the second one to get closer. During this time Robert got a call that said he didn't have to work Saturday night. Yay! When the storm got closer we headed back to the bathroom for a little more quality family time. Thankfully we made it just fine that time as well! I grew up with a basement in my house so this was the first time that I had the bath tub experience! Once the weather passed it was the most beautiful day!

After Ellington had a quick nap we went to a Sunday School cook-out and had a great time fellowshiping (and eating!) with everyone. In our small class there are five babies born within a year of each other...so Ellington has lots of little buddies!

Here we are on Sunday morning before church.





I have written about Ellington's separation anxiety a good bit. Well...after about 6 weeks she made it all the way through Sunday School and church in the nursery! She cried a little, but not nearly as bad as she has before. Hooray! I was so excited and proud of her!

Even though our weekend was a lot different than usual, we had a great one and enjoyed being together, which is my favorite thing about weekends!

Boo and Hooray

-Ellington is now sitting up for a few seconds (like one...haha) before falling over. Hooray!

-Ellington has gone from already taking really short 45 minute naps to even shorter 30 minute naps. Boo! I don't know how to fix that problem, but something has gotta give!

-Weight Watchers is going really great! I actually really like doing it and like exercising...crazy for me. Hooray!

-Robert not only has to work this weekend, but he has to work Friday AND Saturday night. BOO! He worked all last week, including Friday night...went back to work Sunday night...worked all week and will work Friday and Saturday....then straight back to work Sunday night. Poor guy. We miss him.

-Because of Robert working we are going to miss another party for Daniel and Laura. Boo! Sorry guys!!! We so wish we could be there.

-Tonight is my splurge meal of the week and we are going to Oby's! Hooray!

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Evening Picnic

On Sunday I had the great idea of going on a picnic. :) It was our first family picnic. Actually Robert and I have never been on a picnic together before either...crazy I know. And really, we've been missing out all this time because it was SO MUCH fun! The weather was perfect and Ellington was in a great mood.



Yummy food!



Robert and Ellington having a little chat.



We also practiced a few things on our picnic:

Standing



Rolling Over



Ellington has gotten great at rolling from her stomach to her back. She hates being on her stomach so she is so excited that she can now roll so quickly!







I almost forgot a funny thing that happened as we were about to leave! When we were about to pack up Robert had been holding Ellington and was handing her to me. When I got her I noticed that her leg was wet and then Robert made some type of surprised noise. Apparently there had been a diaper malfunction and Ellington had used the bathroom all over herself and Robert. It was so funny. I couldn't stop laughing!

The end.

Super Bulldog Weekend

Super Bulldog Weekend is always a fun weekend in Starkville! You definitely can't complain about not having anything to do. Ellington's GiGi and Pop came and stayed with us for the weekend. In addition to enjoying having family around there are 2 things that usually happen when they come to town.

1. My dad works in the yard.



He worked in the yard ALL afternoon on Friday! Thanks Dad for all of your hard work. The yard looks GREAT!

2. My mom brings great goodies for Ellington!



Friday night while Robert grilled hamburgers we all enjoyed the beautiful weather outside.









Saturday morning was the Cotton District Arts Festival. We LOVE going every year and we were so excited about taking Ellington! Last year I was pregnant and we talked about how the next year we would have our baby with us and wondered if we would have a little boy baby or a little girl baby. Well, we had a little girl baby and that little girl baby did NOT like the festival! We love Ellington dearly, but sometimes she can be quite the little dramatic girl! She doesn't really like other people, or crowds, or noise, or sun....and well....that's exactly what the festival is! She was very fussy and we made a very quick trip of it. I did get a few pictures when she wasn't red faced and screaming. :)

When we dreamed of taking our little baby to the Arts Festival we never dreamed she would be this cute!











After the Arts Festival we headed back home to eat lunch and put Ellington down for a nap. My dad and my brother headed to the baseball game. Robert, Mom, Ellington, and I went to the Junction to check out what all was going on there. I REALLY wanted to go, but almost decided that we wouldn't go because of how Ellington had done that morning. I didn't want to get there and then just have to leave, but I am SO glad that we decided to go! We had a great time and the weather was fantastic!









I didn't want to leave the Junction because the weather was so great and we were having so much fun, but it was getting close to Ellington's nap time. She started falling asleep in the stroller on the way back to the car! Ellington is not a baby that just falls asleep places...she needs to be in her bed with everything just like she likes it. I don't think she's fallen alseep in her stroller since she was about 2 months old so she must have been REALLY tired! Bless her heart! She didn't like shopping at the festival, but she loved being on campus for the Bulldogs!

Top 5 (Plus 1)

Awhile back I was thinking about my favorite baby products and I came up with a list of 5 that have worked fantastically for us!

1. The Miracle Blanket


(This is Ellington sleeping at my parent's house. I would never be brave enough to risk waking her up from a nap. My mom took this one weekend while they were babysitting.)

This is BY FAR my most beloved (yes, beloved!) baby product. Ellington always needed to be swaddled to sleep, but as she got older she always managed to get out of a swaddle...even though I got really good at it! When she got colic a tight swaddle was even more important. I was talking with my mom about a blanket that I had heard about called The Miracle Blanket. When I first saw this blanket (before Ellington was born) I thought it was kind of extreme, but I was willing to try anything. A couple of weeks later one appeared in my mailbox (thanks Mom!). We started using it and have never turned back!!! Ellington sleeps great in it and I don't know what we would have done without it! Unfortunately at 6 months old she's about too big for it, but it has served us well and has helped us get some great sleep! I recommend this to EVERYONE! You can click on the link above to see a little video about how it works.

2. The Diaper Champ

We love our diaper champ! We only put wet diapers in it (the others go straight outside!) and we never have an odor in Ellington's room. The thing that I love the most about it is that you can use any kind of garbage bag. Other diaper pails require you to buy a specific type of bag that is much more expensive.

3. Video Monitor



When I first heard about video monitors I thought they were a bit much. I mean, babies survived for hundreds of years without them, right? Before I had Ellington I babysat for a family that had a video monitor. I saw how handy and useful it could be, but it wasn't something on my "must have" list. I registered for it, but because of the price I doubted that we would get it. Well, we received it as a hostess gift at a baby shower and it has been FANTASTIC! I love that at nap time I know that she has fallen asleep. She takes such sort naps I think without it I would think she had never even gone to sleep. I also love that when she is fussing I can look at see if she's really awake or fussing in her sleep. I think if I just had a sound monitor I would go in her room more often. The peace of being able to see her is so reassuring. When she was a newborn I would stare at the screen to look for the rising and falling of her chest! Even though it's a pricey item I think it is totally worth it!

4. Sound Machine

Ahhh...the white noise machine. I love it! I have always slept with a noise machine and I knew that I would put one in the baby's room. The noise helps Ellington know that it's time to sleep and it helps keep out other distracting noise, especially during the day.

5. Praise Baby DVDs

I know you may be thinking, "You have a degree in Child Development and you let your baby watch TELEVISION??!!". Yep, that's right. Judge if you want. :) For 30 blissful minutes every day Ellington watches a Praise Baby dvd. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the dvd shows various images and clips to praise music. Before I had a baby (you know, back when I was the perfect parent) I was NEVER going to let my baby/toddler watch tv and I looked down on those who did. We were going to be interactive and do learning activities all day. It was going to be perfect. Haha. We started letting Ellington watch it back when she was REALLY fussy in the evening. It always calmed her down! Now we do it every day about 6:00. We use that time to either eat supper or to do meal prep if we are going to eat after Ellington goes to bed. Poor Ellington had to watch the same one every day for awhile, but she got two new ones for Easter so she has a little variety now!

I thought of this list awhile back when I first started the blog, but never got around to posting it. Since then I have another favorite baby item...the Bumbo!!! I love it and we use it a lot! I use it in the kitchen the most. I put Ellington in it when I'm unloading/loading the dishwasher and pretty much anything else that needs to be done in the kitchen. Don't worry...she's always right next to me! Our kitchen isn't big enough to worry about her falling. :) I also use it occasionally on the desk by the computer. She loves sitting in it and we love how easy it is for her to be sitting up while we are trying to get something accomplished!

Wordless Wednesday

Catching Up

I need to rewind back to last Thursday to catch up on what's been going on around our house! This is a picture of Ellington taken while she was helping me put all of her new Spring and Summer clothes in her closet.



It's a really funny picture to me because she looks like a little person. Ha! I mean, I know that's what she is, but she doesn't look like a baby in it to me.

Thursday afternoon we went to our new pediatrician in West Point. It was a great visit and we were very pleased! We'll definitely be going back there. The doctor took time to explain whatever I needed to know and didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out of the room. Ellington weighed 16 lbs, 10 oz. and was 26 inches long. They didn't give us her percentages which was kind of a bummer (and I didn't think about it until we got home so I couldn't ask). All in all it was a great visit. Ellington showed us again that she doesn't really like other people! They had a separate waiting room for kids there for well visits (great idea!) which was pretty small and fairly full when we got there. Ellington started crying at the sight of other people so close and totally stopped when we were the only ones in there. She also had to get shots and that was not a pretty picture! Poor thing.

We are trying to put Ellington on her stomach more often, but she HATES it! Thankfully she is beginning to roll from stomach to back almost every time we put her in that position. She hasn't showed any interest in moving in any sort of way, so her consistent rolling makes this mama happy! I think this picture was taken Saturday morning.



Robert had to work Friday night which really stunk (since then he has to sleep on Saturday), but we were happy when he got up and was able to spend some time with us. I don't remember the last time we had a weekend where we didn't go anywhere, had no company, and Robert didn't have to work. We thought this past weekend we would achieve all of that, but at the last minute he found out he had to work. We are so thankful he has a job, but it is hard when it takes away from special family time.

Saturday night Robert grilled out and while he was doing that I decided to take a blanket out front and let Ellington play outside under the tree since the weather was just prefect. She loved it!!! She layed and played for about 45 minutes. I didn't even have to "entertain" her. She just kicked and squealed the whole time. It ended up being such a special, sweet time. And Robert's grilling?! Well it was delicious!









Sunday morning before church



I had a really hard time getting a picture where Ellington wasn't looking down at her clothes. Robert said it's because she knew there was a story on her clothes and she was trying to figure it out. Ha! It has circus pictures on it. I love this outfit! I got it on an overstock rack at a consignment sale so it definitely looks like I paid more for it than I did!



Maybe you are wondering how church went with the separation anxiety? Well, my mom is really probably the only person wondering that, but I'll fill you in anyway. :) I was SOOO nervous about trying to take her to church. We have been out of town for 2 (or maybe 3) of the last Sundays and one Sunday we were sick....so it's been awhile! When we were dropping her off she didn't cry immediately when someone else took her which I thought was a good sign, but I told them I didn't know how long she would make it and to just page me. (The church has pagers for the parents...nice, huh?) I also didn't hear her cry as we were leaving the building...another good sign. We got into church a few minutes early and I basked in a little time away. The service started and we made it through a few songs. Robert look at me like, "Can you believe it...we're still here!". And then...buzzz buzzzz. Yep, my baby needed me. We are ALWAYS early birds so I didn't realize how many people come in late. When I stood up to walk out the back I couldn't believe how many people were back there staring at me! Ha! I got to the nursery and they had her in another room by herself because she was FREAKING OUT! Poor thing! Of course she stopped crying once I had her. We stayed in the empty room and I rocked her. Church started at 8:30, I was in the nursery by 8:40, and she was alseep in my arms at 9:00. I hate I missed church but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy holding her as she slept. :) I think as she is getting more attached to me, I am getting more attached to her! She woke up about 9:30 which is about the time the worship service is over. Robert came and found us and we decided to just try and take her to Sunday School with us. Her Sunday School teachers said they would be glad to try again, but I knew I would have to come right back and if she was already upset she probably wouldn't want to sit through our class. I was so surprised that she actually did really well in our class!!! Robert had to take her out at the very end. I think she could have made it the whole time, but I didn't want to bother everyone else.

We came home and it was naps all around! Ellington had her afternoon nap, Robert slept because he had work last night, and I thought I would get one too! That's two weeks in a row for me...I am liking the trend! :)

Robert and I had a great anniversary date on Monday night! My sweet friend Elizabeth came over and watched the video monitor for us. :) We were so thankful to have her come over so we could go out for a little bit. We went to Harvey's and then drove around for a bit (yeah, Starkville is a pretty happening place!). Here we are before we left for out little date!



A few other random things:

Ellington has been waking up so early...like 6 or before and taking 30-45 minute naps. It's been exhausting! I am sooo tired, but apparently she isn't! I put her to bed a good bit later last night, but she was still up bright and early this morning...she beat the sun!

We are going for Ellington's 6 month doctor visit today. We are trying out a new doctor in a different town and I really hope it's what we've been looking for! We've been disappointed with our doctor experiences thus far, so we thought we would try something new!

I am starting Weight Watchers and I am excited and totally not excited about it. I feel like putting that on the blog makes me have to lose weight or you all will judge me when I don't...ha!

This is a picture of Ellington yesterday. I am so loving all of her spring/summer clothes. We had gotten down to about 5 outfits that still fit and were weather appropriate so it's been fun to see her in something new! :) We bought a lot of clothes at the end of last summer when things were on clearance. I was really worried when she was born so big that nothing would fit at the right time, but she's evened out. :) My mom also brought Ellington a great big bag of spring/summer goodies when she went to the beach recently. This is an outfit my mom bought.

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See how the picture is kind of dark around the edges? Well it's not some cool photo shop technique in case you were wondering. Remember when I wrote that I put my camera into the cake? Well, now the lens doesn't always open all the way and I don't always remember to check and see if it is...obviously this time I forgot!