Four Fantastic Months with Eloise Marie

Our sweet Ellie girl is officially four months old, and making us fall more and more in love with her each day. We've had a fun-filled and busy month, but we've loved watching her learn new things, experience more firsts, and meet family that loves her so much. She is so darn cute too and we love being her parents! Eloise is really a very good baby and is so flexible to our schedule. I continue to struggle with looking forward to the future, but remembering to live in the present with this tiny one, because I know these days are fleeting. I can relate to every single tearful mom post now, and just thinking about her first day of school, getting her driver's license, or even her wedding, just about makes me want to cry. Becoming a parent has been the most humbling experience, and everyday I am not sure if I am doing it right. But I always hope she knows how much we love her and tried our very best. There is so much to be thankful for, and most of all, it's this beautiful little girl.

4 Months Old! 

Weight: 12 lbs. 13 oz.

Length: 26.5 inches

1. Eating? Ellie nurses every 3-4 hours still, and is still doing great! I hope she continues because I really love nursing. I know better understand why mommas say this, and completely agree now.
2. Sleeping? We're not so good at naps still, though she catnaps several times during the day, but she does sleep now at least 10 hours a night. And we've learned that she will do so in multiple settings! WOO HOO! She's a good sleeper like her parents. Even through thunder storms and galloping doggie paws. 

3. Milestones? Man does this girl drool! She wants to put everything in her mouth now, and grabs just about everything. We've loved watching her become more coordinated, actually grab her toys, and seemingly snuggle with a little Sully blankie. She's even taken her pacifier out and put it back, though very uncoordinatedly. Ellie has given us a few tiny laughs, but did several big ones for our good friend Darin this past week. We were totally offended! Just kidding...But you should see the ridiculous things we are doing to try to reenact it though. Oh well...Her sweet little gurgles and coos will do for now! We also sat her in her Bumbo seat for the first time this past week, and though she is still pretty wobbly, she looked so cute sitting in it. And she had her 4 month doctor's appointment, where she had to get three more shots. Poor baby! She's in the 99th percentile for height and 22nd for weight! Yikes on both! They said we could start cereal when she seems interested, so we may try that soon. 

4. Activities and adventures? Hmmmm...Let's see...So much has happened this month, but not as much as June! We sure have had a busy summer, but that's how I like it. We had many new adventures when she met the Hawaiians - Aunt Nae, Zoie, Lily, and Sophie - for the first time, and they were so happy to finally see her! Before Janae picked up her girlies, she came over and met Ellie, and brought her some fun Hawaiian shirts and dresses. I also got to have a "Mom & Sisters" day, where we went and ate at Syrup, got pedicures, Gigi's cupcakes, and of course, Sonic!

The girls first met her at a dinner at Memaw's, where Aunt Jennie made an awesome cake! We ate out, went shopping (thanks to Memaw), got pictures taken, and saw our first movie together, "Turbo". We ate several meals together and even went to Greyson's birthday at Jump Zone! Ellie pretty much slept the whole time though. We tried to spend as much time with them as possible while they were here, and so thankful that we did.

 

  This past month, Chris took me on a little much needed getaway together! We decided to celebrate my 30th birthday and 5th anniversary early with a trip to California! We decided to go there first of all because Justin Timberlake would be playing at the the Rose Bowl, but then also decided to add two days of Disneyland too. We arrived early on Friday morning, and after making our way to our hotel (and pumping in an office since our room wasn't ready...an adventure!), we then headed into Disneyland for a day of fun. We rode all our favorite rides, took a little break, and then headed back for a delicious dinner and the fireworks. We did so much walking and wanted to drool by the time we got back to our hotel!

 The next day was much of the same magicalness at California Adventure - Fast Passes to the World of Color show and Carsland ride, reservations at Ariel's Grotto, and then riding our favorites and eating Mickey shaped food. We took a break again in the afternoon, and then spent our evening having a great time together! 

We slept in on our third day, and did some shopping (Christmas gifts too!) at Downtown Disney, before getting ready to head to Pasadena for the Justin Timberlake/Jay-Z concert. And wow was that an adventure that where we decided we were too old for a concert like this! The parking situation was crazy so we rode a shuttle, to find a game-day like atmosphere, only with a lot more alcohol and scantily-clad people. And they're Californians too. Not the Oklahomans we're used to! We found our seats, after much walking, amongst many inebriated people, and soon realized there would be little sitting. The best way to describe our adventure was that it was definitely a "Jay-Z crowd", when we thought we were going more to a Justin Timberlake concert. It was still really awesome, and they put on a great concert! They both had their own featured times on stage and intermittently sang as back up for one another, and after awhile we loosened up and enjoyed the concert. After the concert, it got a little cray-cray again, where we ended up walking back to our car, about 2 miles away. We were pooped but thankful to check going to a concert in a big city off our bucket list!

We ended our trip with our final day at Manhattan Beach, a  seaside city close to LAX that has a wonderful small-town community feel. We perused the shops, ate dessert, walked down to the beach and sat for awhile, almost had our shoes and my purse get washed out to sea, and then lunch before saying "Farewell!" to California. The entire time we talked about Ellie and how much we missed her, and each had days where we wanted to cry because we wanted so badly to go home. But it was a wonderful little trip together that we both had looked forward to and both needed. We can't wait to go back again, and next time, take our Ellie with us!

The week after we got back, I did a little babysitting for friends, to get in some practice for all five that I plan to eventually have... :) We watched Cameron for a few hours one morning, who is 15-months old, and then the Gilstrap kids for Thursday and Friday. We had a great time with them swimming, making pizzas, playing Legos, making ice cream, and watching "Up!" for the first time. I've loved the name Ellie ever since I saw the movie, since she is one of the characters in it. I love that movie so much that we watched it again on Saturday night with our dear friend Francesca!

5. Favorite baby item? I love her Sully blankie. It seems to comfort her and help her fall asleep when she's tired. It may be my imagination, but whatever works! Thankfully, she has several backups that we will use interchangeably so when one does get lost, it won't be the end of the world!
6. Favorite moment this past month? Watching her meet her Aunt Nae and cousins! It was amazing to see the love they share already. Girls are so much fun! I would also have to add that picking Ellie up after our trip was one of the best moments this past month too. I could hardly wait to see her and squish her!

7. Looking forward to this next month? *Hopefully* getting into more of a schedule as everyone goes back to school, as well as my 30th birthday and friend/family celebrations. We are going to the Food Truck Festival at the end of the month, and possibly releasing 30 lanterns, "Tangled" style into the sky. Hope it all works out, but it will be fun anyways.

8. Visitors?: The most exciting ones this month was Aunt Nae, and cousins, Zoie, Lily, ans Sophie, who met her for the very first time. I loved watching the girls interact and love on Ellie, and Zoie acted like a mini-momma/helper the whole time, even when we were shopping! Each had their own little moments and wanted to ride with me places, but sit in the back seat with her! We had such a great time with our Hawaii family, and can't wait to see them again.
9. One thing I've learned: That I am good enough. Good enough mom, good enough wife, good enough friend, daughter, sister, aunt, and any other hat I wear. Or at least I am trying to learn this, though it has been something I've struggled with all my life, and I am feeling better more days than not.

10. My message to Ellie:
You are four months old now! Goodness! It's hard to explain or express, but I love you more and more every day. You amaze us and are so beautiful! We love how you've grown and learned to use your hands! You love to grab your clothes, momma's hair, your toys, and pretty much anything you can reach! And you try to put your whole fist in your mouth all the time too. Such a funny girl! You still are a great sleeper and eater, and we are so thankful. Waking up to your smiles is probably the best thing, and with those little coos and grins, I know you're saying "I love you!" and "thank you!". It's also my favorite when you pause while nursing, just to look up at me and smile. What a sweetie. While we were on vacation, all we could think about or talk about was you, and bringing you with us and showing you the world. We love you so much, sweet girl, and can't wait to hear more of those cute giggles!

Here are some more of our favorites from this past month...

Thanks for reading and sharing your love with us!