Savannah and Josh's Wedding

Ellie did great travelling to Atlanta for my sister Savannah's wedding. She looked like a little baby doll and everyone ooh'ed and ahh'ed over her. She was up for almost 13 hours and didn't get too fussy at all - we couldn't believe it. I think she was absolutely exhausted.

Ellie also had another first. She spent the night away from Mommy and Daddy - sort of. Patrick and I got a connecting room with my Mom in the hotel. Mom took care of Ellie both nights we were in Atlanta. It was so nice because we were able to sleep the entire night without any interruptions. We both felt like new people with a solid night of sleep.

Ellie and Logan

Allison and I grew up together, went to college together and had babies exactly two weeks apart. Below are Ellie and Logan's first get together....they were not happy babies.

Ellie's a big one month old!

Dear Ellie,

Today is your one month birthday and your Daddy and I can’t even begin to tell you how much our life has changed since you were born. When you arrived you were so tiny, but had quite a set of lungs on you and it was the best sound we could have ever heard. You have been putting those lungs to good use these past four weeks. You tend to cry the most at night when we put you to bed…I guess you don’t want to be away from your Mommy and Daddy for too long. You also get pretty fussy when you are hungry, but Mommy has almost figured out your feeding pattern so hopefully that will get better in the next couple of weeks. You are eating like a champ and have gained one pound and ten ounces since you left the hospital. You have also grown ¼ of an inch since you were born. We took you for your 1 month doctors checkup yesterday and Dr. Davis said you are doing great. Mommy and Daddy were sad when you had to get your heel pricked and your Hepatitis B shot, but you surprised us and barely even cried. The look of shock on your face was pretty intense though.

You made your first road trip to Atlanta when you were only 2 weeks old. Mommy had to go get her dress altered for your Aunt Savannah’s wedding and Grandma came along for the ride. You did wonderful and we only had to stop twice to feed and change you. You made your second road trip to Atlanta when you were three weeks old for the wedding. We were only there for two days and I never knew someone so small required so much stuff for such a short period of time. The Jeep was piled all the way to the top with your baby needs. You were such a doll throughout the entire weekend and everyone who met you said what a beautiful baby you are (and Mommy and Daddy agree 100%).

The love that your Daddy and I have for you is so hard to describe. You are the most beautiful little girl and we are so thankful that God blessed us with you. Mommy loves to hold you in her arms and watch you drift off to sleep. Right before you are completely asleep you start grinning and it is the cutest thing ever. Daddy sings songs to you every night and makes up the words to the songs as he goes. You just stare at him and follow his voice wherever he goes around the house. I can tell you are already a Daddy’s girl and it is the sweetest thing to see you and Daddy interact. We love you more than words can describe and are going to do everything in our power to give you a life fulfilled with love and happiness. We love you sweet girl!!!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Mom's 50th Surprise Party

In order to surprise my mom for her 50th birthday, we had to do it about a month early since we didn't know when Miss Ellie would make her appearance. Also, my sister is getting married in Atlanta on September 18th (which is Mom's actual birthday) and I knew we wouldn't be at home to celebrate. So Patrick and I sent out invitations to Mom's friends and had the party at our house. She was definitely surprised! We had a great turn out and a great time. The gag gifts were absolutely hysterical! Mom puts mustard on EVERYTHING, so my aunt bought her the 5 gallon jug of French's mustard - too funny. Thanks to everyone for coming to celebrate with us! Below are a few pictures...

The Countdown

Well, as many of you know I have not been keeping up with the blog like I should be. So let me see what I can do to catch you all up...

We started going to the doctor weekly at 36 weeks. At my first checkup I was 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. I was so excited to hear this news hoping that little Ellie would come early. I was scared to pack my bags or start washing Ellie's clothes because I thought it might jinx how I was progressing. I even refused to put the carseat in the car.

Well, at my 37 week appointment I got a little disappointed because I hadn't made very much progress. I was between 1 1/2 and 2 cm and 75% effaced. Keep in mind that this appointment was on Thursday, August 19th. Patrick finally talked me into putting the carseat into the car and I caved. I still had not washed many clothes or packed a bag. In addition I was working around the house to make sure everything was picked up and clean for my mom's surprise 50th birthday party. I took the 20th off of work to make sure all of the final details for Mom's party were finished. We got through the party (which will be another post) and everything went great. On Sunday Patrick and I just chilled on the couch and were the biggest bums. I finally decided I wanted to get out of the house, so we went and grabbed a bite at Cracker Barrel (don't ask...I was craving pancakes). We got home about 7 and I started feeling sick to my stomach. We ended up going to bed around 10 only after I made a call list for the hospital and a "what to pack" list. I still had not actually packed my bag.

Well, about 3:30 Monday morning I shot straight up in bed with the strangest pain in my stomach. I didn't think I was in labor, I just thought I had eaten something bad since I was feeling bad the night before. The pains kept coming and going and I finally started timing them. They were exactly 7-8 minutes apart. This went on for 2 hours and at 5:30 Patrick finally talked me into calling the nurse. They told me to get to the hospital immediately. Apparently if you are having contractions less than 10 minutes apart for over an hour then you should go straight to the hospital - nobody bothered to inform me of this. So I told them I would be there in about 45 minutes. Well instead of freaking out and getting to the hospital I decided to take a shower and FINALLY pack a bag (good thing I made that list the night before). So 2 hours later we show up at the hospital and my contractions are 4-5 minutes apart. I was checked and was told I was 3 cm and was definitely having a baby. WHAT?!?!?! Seriously?!?!? I was in complete shock! So we walked down the hall into a room and about 15 minutes later Dr. Heaton came to check me. I had progressed from 3 cm to 7 cm in 15 minutes. Holy $hit was the only thing I could say! So the doc told me I was a perfect candidate for natural labor, but at the last second I elected to get an epidural. I really wasn't in much pain, but I didn't want to get to that point either. The nurse (Amy) asked my pain level and when I said a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 she about reached over and slapped me. It was hysterical. She said she was not about to write down a 2 and put a 4 in my chart.

So the epidural caused things to slow down a little and by 11:30 I was 10 cm and was told to start pushing. Really? Again, I was still in complete shock that I was actually about to have a baby. After about an hour of pushing Miss Ellie made her grand entrance into this world. She came just in time because Dr. Woods had a scheduled surgery at 12:30 and she was born at 12:30 on the dot. Luckily he was able to deliver her and take care of me afterwards. The first thing I said after they took her to clean her up was "well that wasn't that bad...I would do it again in a heartbeat." She was (and still is) the most beautiful child I have ever seen in my life! Patrick was absolutely amazing as well. He was there for me every step of the way. He got really good at counting to 10 and handing me ice chips. We are so blessed to have this beautiful little girl in our lives! She has changed everything for the better.