ellery's second week

sadly, kyle had to head back to work after that first week of paternity leave. the "girls" (ellery, jackie and i) were pretty bummed about it. we absolutely loved that first week home with ellery. kyle and i tried to brainstorm ways we could both just not work and stay at home. after much thought, we didn't come up with any ideas so off to work kyle went...

on a happy note, kyle's mom - ellery's momo - came to stay with us for a week! it was so great to have her here as another set of hands to hold & soothe ellery, to help cook and clean, and to constantly remind me to sit down and relax while i can :) we loved each second she was here, and it was very sweet ellery got that time to bond with her momo. kyle and i never had to think about dinners or dishes or anything - she took care of it all! she even scrubbed our kitchen & bathroom. thank you so so much momo!!

ellery continued to sleep well, though it was somewhat of a challenge adjusting to kyle's schedule. when kyle was off, we would just stay up late with e and sleep in until 9 or 10. her second week was a little different as kyle wanted to be in bed by 10:30pm and up at 5:30am. several nights we would try to go to bed at 10 but ellery had other plans, so i would hang out with her, read stories & rock until 11-1130, then she was ready to snooze. what was really sweet was almost every day, ellery woke up to feed as kyle was getting ready for work, as if she didn't want to miss her chance to say "bye daddy! kyle & e had some sweet moments in the morning before he left for the day.

ellery also had a lot of time to cuddle with momo. they rocked together, walked around the house as momo would give ellery a "tour," listened to lullabies, and (momo's favorite) they did tummy time! ellery continued to do great at tummy time - lasting a lot longer than i thought she would! she really didn't protest too much, and she looked so stinkin' cute wiggling around as she would get her legs going too :) momo and i put her in her crib for tummy time, and she looked like such a tiny peanut in her "big girl bed" (ellery is still sleeping in her bassinet in our room). she looked so adorable, though i may be just a little biased as her mama :)

during the week, we also sent kyle many texts and pictures through out the day. not only did kyle go back to work, but to one of his hardest schedules. and one that is very unpredictable... he might get home at 4:30pm some days or 9pm others. so pictures of his girls helped him make it through the hectic days :) and it was so great once he did get off work. we had our evenings just to relax as a family. ellery soaked up that time with her daddy! and he is also the best at giving ellery baths, so she was so thankful daddy was there for bath time at night! also, we also called & texted mawmaw (my mom) during the week. as i talked, ellery would coo, grunt, and let out some cries in the background to say hello. mawmaw loved it!

while momo was here, it was great for ellery and i to just relax together. ellery continued to do a great job eating, and i loved having those moments just the two of us and soak in the fact that i have a daughter! every little facial expression and noise she made was so precious - i wanted to take a picture of each one! throughout the week, she started to make more fun noises - a lot of grunting, so kyle and i started calling her "our little grunter" - and each day she became more and more alert with those big gorgeous eyes! it melts my heart when she looks up at me and just stares up at her mama.

we also had more visitors! kristen came to meet our sweet girl & bring her some great new books - thanks kristen :) some more lovely young life ladies stopped by to say hello! and ellery also went out for her first time to a restaurant when o'brien & doug came to visit! she did great - she stayed in her carseat the whole time & only cried once while we were there. though it did take us quite a bit longer to get out of the house since a little someone wanted to have her own lunch before we had ours :)

ellery had other firsts her second week... she went on her first major shopping trip with mama & momo. this girl knows all about shopping - she did some major shopping while i was pregnant. she even helped pick out all our christmas presents :) so i was no surprised that she lasted 4 1/2 hours on her first big trip out. she slept the entire time - you go girl! :)

she also had her first visit to our church, epikos. she did awesome!! we got there and she snoozed in her car seat until about half-way. she stirred & cried a little, but as soon as i scooped her up and held her, she stayed quiet as a mouse the rest of the time we were there! also, she got to meet her friend, baechle, who was born just hours before her! actually, ellery & baechle had the same due date, so that makes it even more special. her mom and i decided they had to be friends since they have so much in common :)

finally, ellery went to her very first ugly christmas sweater party! our small group decided to have a little get-together, and what better way to celebrate than wear an ugly christmas sweater?! ellery was so very excited, even though her sweater a lot more in the "cute" category than "ugly." oh well :) it was so fun to just do life with ellery - go places and see people we did on a normal basis when i was pregnant, but now e just comes along too for the fun! and we had a lot of fun that night - exchanging white elephant gifts, eating yummy food, and kyle even won a prize for his ugly sweater. ellery had some fun of her own by peeing on daddy and her outfit :) good thing it was just before we were going to head home!

so that was ellery's second week - packed with lots of fun, a lot of cuddling, and so many poopy diapers :) i know it's a little corny, but can't believe she's growing so fast. slow down ellery!!