play date at the park

i have introduced you to scarlett before - katie is a nanny for this sweet little girl. well, we decided to have a little play date at the park. it was one of those beautiful days in march that felt like it was summer time. i was super excited to get this stinkin' cute romper on ellery. and i'm happy i did - it was so warm outside, i would have stripped her down to her diaper if i didn't have the romper on her!

the girls decided to give katie and i a little break when we first got there by both taking naps, so we got to chat and eat lunch before we all went on a little walk. i took these pics when they both decided to wake up, so they still may look a little sleepy :) but still as cute as can be!

can't handle that little romper booty!

happy four months baby girl!

ellery had so many big accomplishments this past month - rolling over, talking, laughing, eating her hands! and also some tough times too... like many night of waking up every 2-3 hours or just not wanting to go to sleep. overall, though we all may be a little sleep deprived, our little family is having tons of fun watching our baby girl grow (way too fast, if you ask me!)

be sure to click on the picture above to make it bigger so you can read all about ellery's favorite - and not so favorite - things this month.

milwaukee date day

since we showed chicago off to ellery, we thought it was time to show her just how great her hometown of milwaukee is! so the three of us had a little date day. the lakefront is beautiful, there is always something fun - like a festival or event - going on, and unlike chicago, going downtown is so easy and finding parking is a breeze! so, off we went for a little stroll along the gorgeous lake michigan.

i love soaking up days when the three of us can be together! we had such a wonderful time just walking along the lake (though it was a little chilly!). we stopped for lunch at a pretty random restaurant (if you could call it that! it was more of a glorified concessions stand) right on the water, and even grabbed some ice cream at the kite store. and we ended the day with a little family photo shoot. perfect.

it was one of those days when you do ordinary life stuff - like walk and talk with your husband, take in just how beautiful God's creation is, or gaze into the big eyes of your daughter - and realize just how precious and full of joy that life can be. even in the simple moments. i love it.

nursing on-the-go: it actually worked :)

ellery's first food: ice cream! (just kidding...)

"please, dad??"

ellery & daddy checking out the water

our family :)

"enough with the pictures, mom & dad!

i'm just going to hide under my hat!"

little giggles!

during ellery's first trip to chicago, she had another first... her first laugh!!

kyle & i were so surprised when she let it out! i just tickled and kissed her belly and out came the cutest giggle. thankfully we were both there to hear it. daddy quickly grabbed the camera, and recorded it for you all to hear!

e's first trip to the windy city!

seeing as chicago is one of the top cities to celebrate st. patrick's day, we thought ellery should bring her first st. patty's day in the windy city! so, as somewhat of a last minute decision, we took off, excited to show e the big city!

it was such a fun weekend! i loved showing ellery around lincoln park. we got to see so many great friends and family, too. the weather was gorgeous. we walked everywhere. it made me miss chicago. but i'm happy we're just a short drive away. soon, i'll need to show ellery another side of the city.... shopping on michigan ave... but that will take a whole other weekend :)

enjoy some pics from our trip!

e's first look at lincoln park! (surprisingly, it didn't take to long to find a parking spot!)

after just a few minutes of hopping out of our car & walking around, we randomly ran into some cousins - megan, jackie & casey!! they were full on celebrating st. patty's day in style :) but that didn't stop ellery from saying hello & meeting them for the first time!

dinner at dunlay's - i LOVE this picture!!!

i couldn't wait for her to wear this little romper!

thanks for the jammies momo & papa! we stayed the night at jeff & gina's, which was lots of fun. we caught up, ate candy, and watched a movie :) surprisingly, e slept pretty well given all the city noise.

we even got to have brunch with keri, kelly & andy. e decided to take nap :)

during the day on sunday, kyle had some sweet dude hang out time with graft and nelson. they ate bdubs and watched basketball. he loved it.

while kyle have guy time, i showed ellery our old home, lincoln park! i LOVED being able to walk everywhere!

we met kristen and adam at the zoo, went for a stroll and relaxed back at her apartment.

hope to see you again soon, chicago!!

the day her hair stayed flat...

so, if you haven't noticed, baby e has some wild hair. i absolutely love it. who knew we'd have a baby with a stylish mohawk??

well, there was one day in the life of ellery that her hair actually stated down instead of sticking straight up. no idea why, but it was a whole new look for baby girl. no worries, her signature crazy mohawk hair returned the next day :)

here are just a few more pics - she's just so darn cute!

jammin' to her new piano toy in her crib.

she also likes to lay on her back & kick the keys to make it play!

so focused...

miss bashful

wheeeeee - flying ellery!

my two favorites :)

bumbo: take 2

ellery is still working on sitting up using the bumbo. what's funny is that it actually seems to be more of a workout now than when we tried it out for the first time a month or so ago. she really starts to grunt, letting me know she's working so hard. then she'll begin to wiggle around, and soon it's as if her little body has turned to jello and she can't hand her self up any longer. thankfully, jackie serves as a great distraction during bumbo workouts :)

umm mom...i'm not so sure about this thing!

no more burrito baby

march 13. the day the swaddling burrito blanket became no more in the morgan household...

it started off like any other day. ellery and i played. she went down for her nap. i started cleaning in the kitchen. after a little while, i heard baby girl fussing. i walked in her room to find her on her belly! she had rolled over all by herself, and appeared to be quite surprised by her new-found ability. we celebrated with hugs and kisses, and then quickly realized what this meant...

no more swaddling. our pediatrician recommended stopping swaddling when ellery could roll over. so when she does get to get to her tummy, she can use her arms to help roll back over. and let me tell you, ellery loved that swaddle. she slept so well in it. she would be fussy because she was so sleepy, but the second i tucked her arms in and started wrapping her up, she would actually smile. so, while i was super excited at e's new milestone accomplishment, i was a little sad at the loss of our swaddling.

i asked other moms what in the world i do now... some recommended to keep swaddling, but do it looser & looser each night. some said try one arm out at first. a lot said go cold turkey & do no swaddling at all. we chose the option of keeping her arms out and let me tell you, those first 2 nights were no fun. ellery would wake up every 30 minutes crying, because she startled herself by moving her arms. we would soothe her back to sleep, and before we knew it, she was back up again.

by the third night, things got a little better. she slept for 4 hours then woke up. after nursing her, she woke up every 1 1/2 -2 hours after that. and that has pretty much been the norm since. one night she slept a 5 1/2 hour chunk. which isn't horrible, but before, she was sleeping about 6-7 hours, up to feed for 20 min, then back to sleep for 2-3 hours. i miss it already. more recently, we lay her down to sleep & she wakes right up. she rolls around, flings her arms, eats her hands....and then starts talking still with her eyes closed. then all of a sudden her eyes pop open and the crying starts. not fun for the e babe or mom & dad.

also, as ellery gets closer to 4 months, i've also read a growth spurt can happen, or sleeping habits change due to all the new things she learning and doing - like tummy time, sitting up, and using her hands. i just felt like we were in such a good rhythm, and then with one little roll, everything changed!

so here's to a good night's sleep for ellery tonight... i really hope :)

soakin' up the sunshine

we are LOVING this warm weather in wisconsin! i am so so very thankful winter was nice to us. because we didn't have a lot of snow, i came to enjoy & appreciate when those flakes would start to fall. but now, the morgan girls are ready for springtime, sunshine, and warm weather! ellery and i have really tried to take advantage of this early spring.

first off, we had to go out and get ellery a super cute hat. though a lot of my clothing purchases for e aren't quite necessary, more because i can't resist some of those adorable outfits, i would say this hat falls in category of necessary. gotta protect that precious skin from the sun! and thankfully, baby girl didn't seem to mind having it on her head.

so we grabbed a blanket, some toys and books, and headed to the backyard. ellery looked all around, taking in the world around her with those big eyes. we read some stories. did some tummy time. and her favorite right now - i put her up on my knees and let her fly around like an airplane. such a beautiful afternoon!

mama & e photo shoot

i'm sure many of you have heard of pinterest. ellery and i (ok, mostly me) are a little addicted. they have such great ideas for crafts, decorating, cooking, and also photography. i always come across beautiful pictures of babies and family portraits. i would love to get a nice camera one day. but for now, armed with my point-and-shoot camera and picnik.com, we tried to replicate a couple pictures. and though they don't look professional at all, i think they're still cute. and e & i had a ton of fun taking them.

inspiration photo:

our photo:

inspiration photo:

our photo: