first trip to the dentist

On Thursday, we decided to pack our morning since we were running out of time with dad home with us! We got everyone looking spiffy and headed to William's office to show off our new cutie. We wanted to say thanks in person for the amazing flowers KAP sent us!

Love this outfit my mom got her.

He wanted to share his apple juice with her

We headed over to William's office and next door, they were building a new small building.  So Owen and dad had to check it out.  He loved watching the skid steer.  Yes, I'm getting pretty good with my tractor names. :) Then we went in and showed Ellie off to all his coworkers.  Laura C, if you're reading this. . .your brother was there all the way from Texas!  So nice to see him!  We passed her around and treasured the oohs and ahhs.

enjoying the sunshine

We decided to hit up Panera for lunch and ran into friends from small group, Norm and his kiddos, Julia and Vincent.  So we all shared a nice lunch before heading off to Owen's first trip to the dentist.  Ok, let's be honest.  I know it's a little early to be taking him.  Truth is, I've had a couple teeth that have been killing me, for awhile, but I knew I couldn't get x-rays while pregnant.  So as soon as Elle got here, I made the dreaded call to make an appointment and figured it wouldn't hurt to have her look at Owen's teeth too.  Hate hate hate the dentist.  Always have, always will.  The drill.  Zzz zzz.  *shudder*

Anyways, Owen hates us brushing his teeth.  We have to force him every night.  So I wasn't expecting her to be able to do much.  But shockingly, he did great.  Maybe it was the sucker she gave him when we arrived.  Yes, you read that right.  She gave him a sucker before they started.  I was as shocked as you. :)  But it must have worked, because he opened wide, said "ahhhh" and let her do a little cleaning and fluoride!  Way to go buddy!

He does have a little chip on his lower tooth that I have no idea when and how it got there.  And she also said stop using the paci.  I just nodded and smiled.  We'll get there, just not during the first week as a big brother!

After a well deserved nap for everyone, we headed out to the park!  I tried out my Moby wrap for the first time and loved it.  Someone gave it to me when Owen was a little too big for it, so this was my first go at it.  She snuggled right in and slept the whole time.  I definitely see this thing getting lots of use to free up my hands!

more of week 1

Monday
In the morning, we decided to have a little outing to introduce the girl to the best store in the world, Target.  Wouldn't you know, I forgot to take pictures of the event.  I had to return a couple newborn diapers, because she's definitely fitting into size 1's.  Jill brought us a fabulous meal of homemade ranch chicken nuggets which Owen loved!

Tuesday
We decided to divide and conquer this morning.  Since William never gets to go to story time with Owen, they dropped me off at Mom2Mom and went on a little daddy/son date to the library.  I went to our last M2M meeting of the year.  Holly is stepping down as director, so I'm glad I went on her send off morning.  She's done such a great job with it this year!!

Tuesday night, Miss Sarah came over a bit early so she could actually play with Owen and put him to bed.  We ran a quick errand and then headed to our last small group party of the trimester.  We're multiplying into several groups for the summer, so it was bittersweet as we're not all going to be together again.  Ellie slept through a great men vs. women Jeopardy game in which the women sadly were defeated.

Wednesday
Ellie's cord stump fell off bright and early in the morning.  There's a couple little spots that need to heal a bit more and then we'll get to break out the baby bathtub!

Jodi and Caleb came over around 9 to drop off an amazing lasagna for our evening meal.  Then around 9:30, Summer and 3 of her little ladies came over to say hello as well.  Summer knows me too well and brought a bag of Donettes, a BK gift card, and a Ellison's first Barbie doll!  I thought it was the sweetest thing ever that Izzie wanted to miss school so she could come meet Ellison.  She did a great job holding her and even trying to bounce her when she started to cry.  She's a great mommy in the making!

We all took good naps and played outside the rest of the day.  Before bedtime, Anne A came over with her arms full of goodies to meet Ellie.  She had a sweet big brother gift for Owen, diapers and book for E, a meal, and delicious chocolate chip banana bread.  Man I have some good friends!  So, all in all a busy day but it's so fun to get to show her off.  Especially since I know she's only going to be this little for another week or so!  Goodnight! 

first time to church

Sunday morning , I was feeling really good despite not following the rule of sleeping when your babies sleep.  So we decided to head to church to show off our little cutie.  She did great through service as did Owen!

getting ready for church

I love this outfit!

terrible picture from the cry room, but only one I got of her headband

We all came home and took a great Sunday afternoon nap!

One Week Boutique was going on this weekend and they had a little petting zoo set up.  I thought it would be fun for Owen and I'm trying hard to give him lots of attention and do a few fun things.  We when we all got up from the nap, we headed out to see the animals!  There was a little horse, some sheep, goats, pig, chickens, and donkey.  He loved it and went through the trailer 3 times!  He got a stamp on his hand each time he was done. :)

a miniature horse, not a pony

the goats were cute!

I guess Ellie didn't really care about the animals

I think the donkey was his favorite as we heard he-haw all afternoon

When we got home, our sweet neighbor Martina brought over her girls, (big) Ellie and Zoe to take a peek at baby Ellie.  She made the most amazing chicken noodle soup and made Elle the cutest little sun bonnet.  I'm hoping all these girls will be friends as they grow up as neighbors!

Saturday, April 21

Saturday was a nice, relaxing day at home. My mom cooked us up a bunch of stuff for the freezer and did more laundry (I forgot how much laundry a little person can make.  Owen had fun showing Ellie all his favorite toys.

Then we did what I like to call "the newborn shoot gone wrong."  I can now seriously admire anyone who does newborn shoots on a regular basis and gets these beautiful shots of peacefully sleep newborns.  Because that's not quite how our went down.  She was sleeping quite nicely but the minute her clothes came off it was all over with.  Even with a heater on her.  This is how most shots looked. 

And did I mention that she peed everywhere?   And then the backdrop fell down on me as I was cleaning it up?  And then later she pooped all over me.  Yeah, priceless stuff those newborn shots.

But of course, Jenna is a miracle worker and got some perfect shots for Ellison's announcement and some great ones of our whole family.  I just need to make up my mind on an announcement!

Saturday early evening, Jenna and my mom headed back to Peoria.  It was time to give Ellie her first "bath."  Not a real one yet since her little cord stump hasn't fallen off yet.  But it was nice to get her smelling wonderful.  Owen was glad he didn't have to share his bathtub quite yet!

getting ready

I don't love being naked

all clean!

Friday, April 20

On our first night home from the hospital, Owen decided to sleep through the night. This has never really happened and I don't anticipate it happening again, but let me tell you how amazing it was to not deal with him from 8-6! I haven't felt super tired yet with Ellie, but I think that's because we're up so much with Owen, it's really not that big of a change adding her into the mix. And also, it's just not as big of deal nursing her this time around. With Owen, I'd get up, change him, get my boppy, my water bottle, my phone and plant myself in my chair for the next 30-40 minutes. With her, I pull her into bed laying down, whip out my boob, and go back sleep until she's ready for side #2. Ahh, how things have changed.

Friday morning, Anne D surprised us with flower, a balloon that Owen loved, and donuts!  How awesome is she?!

At 11, we had to take Ellie to the doctor to double check for signs of infection from the GBS. Everything checked out fine.  She was down to 7lbs15oz, which is way smaller than Owen got to.  No wonder she still feels so tiny and has a couple more days in her newborn outfits.

Owen wasn't so sure about all Ellie's crying, but once the nurse gave him some stickers, he seemed pretty happy.

We decided we didn't want to make lunch, so we made a stop at Applebee's on the way home.  Not sure if I was just really hungry or what, but it was seriously one of the best meals we've had in awhile!  And Elle slept through the whole thing and Owen did great! 

Friday afternoon, my mom arrived and along with holding Ellie as much as possible, got so much done for us.  Seriously, I have no idea how she multi-tasks so well.  Laundry was done, food was made and stored in the freezer, and even a few craft projects got completed.  Makes me wish she was next door though!

going home

We were a little worried we might have to stay 48 hours because of me being GBS+.  It was purely up to the pediatrician on call, who was Dr. Tripathy.  She cleared Ellie and said we could leave at 24 hours!  Yay!  And a little hard to believe.  Just come have a baby and go home!  I got all the paperwork filled out, ate lunch with my baby in my lap and then called William to say we were about ready.  Here is my nurse, Krysteen.  She was with me both days and was just a huge support.  Gotta get her something nice for a thank you.

I got our bags together and "stole" as much stuff as I could from the hospital .  You can never have enough mesh underwear and giant pads!  William brought the car seat up and then went to pull up the van.  I took a few self-portraits as got buckled up and ready to be wheeled out.

And they sent us into the great big world with a new little person.

We got home a little after 4, got Burger King for dinner, and just hung out Jenna the rest of evening!
 

Meeting his little sister

Gotta start getting caught up on this week!  :)  Back to day #1.  My parents both had to go back to Peoria for work, so William had to stay at home with Owen for the night.  It was definitely a little sad being without him on our first night in the hospital, but Ellie and I just hung out and pretty much nursed all night.

 

In the morning after rounds of all our vitals, they asked if they could get her hearing test done.  I said I'd love to shower, so they took and cuddled her while I took a glorious shower.  I told William "remember when you were putting on my underwear for 2 weeks with Owen?"  And here I was taking a shower no problem by myself.  Amazing I tell ya.  I ordered breakfast and hung out with my girl until it was time for William, O, and Jenna to finally arrive.

It was definitely hard leaving Owen for all this hoopla!  But he loved hanging out with Alex and "baby" Ben and of course Grandma and Grandpa.  I didn't know, but that morning, Jenna gave Owen a big boy hair cut. He had been looking pretty homeless lately and it was long overdue.  But I felt like I left my baby and he walked into the room as a teenager.  I won't post all the pictures as they're on facebook already, but it was such a sweet moment seeing my sweet boy.

He noticed her right away.

I wanted to get him a little gift from Ellie.  Every time we were at friend's houses that had a stroller. . .it's all he played with.  He was pretty thrilled when I pulled out the stroller.  The doll and the little dog both make noise when you push their stomachs and he thought that was pretty cool.  He spent most of the visit just pushing the stroller around the room and the hallway.

He definitely wasn't interested in holding her, but he loved looking at her toes and other body parts.  He would point to her nose and then his nose.

He sat on the bed with me and cuddled a bit and loved playing with his cars on the floor that made them go super fast.

I love our first family picture!!

They hung out for a few hours and then took off to get Owen home for lunch and naptime.  I started packing up our things, because we were close to being out of there.  More on that in the next post. 

We're a family of 4!