fullness of grace

boo baby acne!

2012-02-04T13:34:00.000-06:00

ever since e was born, she had this beautiful skin. not a blemish or scratch in site. her coloring was so pretty. some one asked us if she had a tan :)

and then attack of baby acne hit poor ellery. those big cheeks were covered in bumps. her face looked red and agitated. and with that chilly wisconsin wind, soon her face was dry & chapped. anytime she drooled or her face got wet, it would get even worse. poor little girl. washing her face or using any lotions seemed to make it worse.

well thankfully, i live with not only 1, but 2 doctors. leah, who lives in the upper unit, is also a resident. more specifically, a pediatric resident. how awesome is that? so after a quick visit to dr. leah & dr. kyle, a call to our pediatrician, and talking to other moms, we bought some aquaphor. and it worked wonderfully! e's skin is still a tiny bit bumpy, but nothing compared to what it was like before. and though the acne & dryness never really bothered her, it still bothered me a lot because it just looked so painful. now that it's gone, i'm one happy mama - of one cutie pie, chubby cheek babe :)

2 month photo shoot

2012-02-01T14:00:00.004-06:00

here are some pictures from ellery's 2 month "photo shoot". we thought they were pretty cute :)

happy 2 months ella belle!

2012-01-28T22:58:00.000-06:00

(be sure to click on the photo to enlarge it so you can read all about ellery's favorite - and not so favorite - things from this past month!)

a girl and her giraffe...

2012-01-26T13:14:00.004-06:00

i had heard about sophie the giraffe, but never knew what a big deal it was. kyle & i got one for ellery for christmas, and let me tell you, the girl loves her sophie. she loves to stare at it. hear it squeak. and she even loves to taste it. i really don't know what the big deal is - it's a rubber giraffe - but she is all about the soph.

here are some pictures of ellery & sophie hanging out, doing a little tummy time. i think ellery was telling sophie all her secrets :)

here's a picture of e looking so sweet - snoozin', all swaddled (not gonna lie, i am awful at swaddling with just a blanket. thank goodness for our velcro sleep sack & swaddlme!). that time with sophie wore her out! but she still had lots to say, as you can tell from the videos. enjoy!

wisconsin winter wonderland

2012-01-23T12:42:00.000-06:00

it's no secret that winter isn't our favorite season...it's freezing. and most times we just feel trapped inside, waiting for spring to get here. thankfully, this winter hasn't been too bad (so far) and we've been able to enjoy it. we notice how pretty the snow is. kyle got a new pair of winter boots. i think wisconsin is starting to grow on us :)

so, in an attempt to actually enjoy winter, ellery joined kyle and i on a little date. we went to alterra for coffee and lunch. and we got to talk and relax. instead of bounce ellery on the ball, while we're half asleep trying to carry a conversation. it was nice. then we grabbed our hot drinks and went for a stroll. though a lot of the sidewalks & trails were still covered in a bit of snow, we just pushed through (and got a workout in the meantime!)

peek-a-boo!!

the alterra we went to is right by the lake, so we got to take in a beautiful view of frozen lake michigan, as well as downtown milwaukee. we watched families sledding & got excited to take e out sledding one day. it really was a pretty day. and just as we were heading back, e let out some cries letting us know she was ready to go!

(side note - on our way back, we got stuck on a trail that we thought led back to where we parked. nope it didn't. that's when e started to cry. so we found some stairs that lead us to the parking lot. and they were blocked off.... so we took e's car seat out of the stroller, kyle carried her & i took the stroller as we climbed over the rope, down the stairs and back to our car. that definitely added to our workout, but we made it back, safe & sound!)

daddy & the bottle

2012-01-21T12:18:00.002-06:00

sometime right before e's 2 month b-day, i realized i was tired. exhausted really. ellery is a good sleeper, but i just couldn't get used to the broken sleep (and i still struggle with it ). waking up anywhere from 1-3 times during the night to feed & rock her. it took me forever to fall back to sleep. and shortly after i did, e would be requesting my presence again. i felt like a zombie during the day. a tired, grouchy one at that.

kyle kept urging me to start pumping. i'm not sure why i was so hesitant. e & i had a good thing going with breastfeeding & i didn't want to mess it up. but i realized, seeing as she was almost 2 months, we prob were good to go. so we started pumping. i decided to get a manual pump since i will be home with e & will feed her most of the time. and there was a significant price difference. i thought it would be a hassle & take forever pumping by hand, but really, it's not too bad. and after just two times, i had enough for 1 bottle.

her very first bottle.

kyle & i were excited, and a little nervous, to see how she'd do, or if she would take it at all. daddy grabbed the babe and the bottle, and gave it a try. what do you know.... she guzzled it right down! we were so proud!

what we didn't expect was how special kyle felt feeding her. i always told him how much i loved it, and he gets to share in that now. it was such a special, precious moment. i love those two so much.

so, what's great is, now kyle can feed ellery. and respond to her night time requests :) what's been fabulous is the past 2 sundays, kyle let me sleep in while he got up with ellery, fed her, did tummy time & even had her sneak in a nap all before i woke up, feeling wonderfully rested. i think i'm going to like this bottle business :)

mommy & baby yoga

2012-01-20T11:36:00.000-06:00

ellery and i recently started to go to a mommy & baby yoga class at destination maternity. i attended a few classes there while i was pregnant and loved them. if you are a mama or mama-to-be, you should definitely check them out. the classes are free and best of all, a lot of fun for both me & e!

ellery's favorite part of the class is the baby massage, which lucky for her, is the first 10-15 minutes of class. she just lays there and looks completely relaxed. we also do this as part of her bedtime routine after getting a bath, and she absolutely loves it - letting out lots of coos & smiles. her fav is when daddy helps out, too!

the rest of the class is mostly for mom, though ellery joins me for a few of the workouts - like being lifted to work my biceps or laying on my legs as i do crunches. it actually helps a lot - with each crunch, i come up and am greeted by a big smile, as if she's saying "you go mama! you're doing great! i'm just the cutest baby in the world, right?" and other times, she does a little tummy time workout while we do our yoga. though, she normally ends up resting on the boppy with sophie :)

what's even better is katie & scarlett join us for class now, too. scarlett loves it, especially sitting by the mirror and making faces, or checking out what ellery's up to. too cute. now each week, we look forward to mondays for our yoga time!

a visitor from the south

2012-01-19T19:44:00.003-06:00

over martin luther king jr day weekend, ashley came up north for a visit. for those of you who do not know ashley, we met in dominica as kyle & her husband ryan went to med school. we quickly became friends (thank goodness because i don't know if i would have survived down there without her!) and also business partners, as we sold bread & other baked goods. and as the "bread ladies" left the island, we have been visiting each other in different cities and states ever since. miami. atlanta. chicago. nashville. columbus. and now, we have added milwaukee to the list.

not only did i love having ashley here, but ellery loved it too! you can tell she loved snuggling with ashley from the picture below :) for most of her visit, since it was cold (ashley would say it was absolutely frigid!!) & snowy, we had the perfect excuse to spend a lot of her time here just relaxing, chatting, and playing with ellery. ashley also taught her a new trick - ask e what a snake says, and she would stick out her tongue! i love it.

we did actually get out of our pj's and off the couch :) we went to lunch at city market, took a trip to target (which took us about 3 hours to get out of the house to do!), went to church at epikos, and played trivia. on the day ashley left, kyle even watched ellery for a couple hours so ashley and i could hang out just the two of us and stroll around the mall. what a wonderful husband i have!

ellery was especially excited about her new outfit ashley brought for her - a super cute & soft minky gown with her monogram on it. ashley helped give e a bath, we styled her hair in her signature "i just put my finger in an electric socket" look, and then put on her new dress. she looked absolutely adorable, just a little bit like a southern belle.

thank you so so very much ashley for visiting us all the way up here in wisconsin, in the middle of winter! we can't wait to see you again soon!!

paci or no paci?

2012-01-17T18:20:00.003-06:00

we recently started giving ellery a pacifier...well tried to give her one. as you can tell by her chubby cheeks, the girl loves to eat, even if it's just for comfort. so i wanted to try & see if she could suck on a pacifier before falling asleep instead of eating before nap times & bed.

well, the first time we tried it, which is when i took these pictures, she spit it right out and started crying. i kept offering it to her, until she got the idea that she was supposed to suck on it. i was so proud of her, though i thought it looked so silly in her mouth. well, she thought so too... after a few minutes, she spit it out and then did a major spit up all over the place. ellery:1, paci (as kyle calls it): 0.

since then, she's taken it a few times - when crying in the car or making a fuss at the grocery store. but for the most part, i think she knows it's not the real thing... and she gives me these looks like, "really mom, you think that plastic thing would trick me??"

mom's natural beauty

2012-01-15T18:09:00.002-06:00

i picked up this little shirt and sweater for ellery, and couldn't help but take a few pictures. she was being such a happy girl. i don't know what's better - those cheeks of hers or that smile! i could just eat her up!

good mornin' sunshine

2012-01-12T17:57:00.005-06:00

ellery is such a cutie pie when she wakes up in the morning. it's one of my favorite times with her. when we unzip her out of her sleep sack, she always throws her arms up in a big stretch. then she makes these crazy faces, sticking out her tongue, all the while cooing and grunting. and then, the smiles come! and lately, she gets so happy when we tell her good morning, she puts on a big smile then starts saying, "hoo hoo" like a little owl. so so cute.

we thought we'd give you a little peak into one of our mornings. daddy was there, which was extra special. enjoy the videos below (and please try to ignore my baby talk :) at least ellery loves it!)

daddy does a little dance to get ellery smiling... and little did he know i was recording it :)

ellerys "junior" babysitters

2012-01-11T10:55:00.001-06:00

starting around the beginning of january, i started watching our landlords' daughters for a few hours after school. i watched ingrid & lucy during the summer as well, so they got to see my belly grow & were so excited for ellery to arrive. and really, though i'm the one watching them, they are such great "babysitters" to ellery while they're here! they love to hold her, talk to her & play with her. they even pick out e's outfits for the week & help stuff inserts into her cloth diapers. they are such sweet girls & ellery is having a lot of fun while they're here. (well, when she's not snoozing away!)

lucy & ellery

ingrid & ellery (she was getting just a bit sleepy...)

that's better :)

one day, the girls wanted to play in the snow...

so, ellery & i joined them!

i thought our house looked pretty cute with all the snow! ellery's first home :)

ellery & her big girl bed

2012-01-10T17:26:00.000-06:00

oh sleeping. i feel like sleep, eating and dirty diapers are some of the most talked about topics among new moms. and i have lost a lot of sleep just thinking of ellery & how she sleeps...really.

for ellery's first month, she either slept in her newborn sleeper right next to us, or she slept with us in bed. co-sleeping seemed to be the only way any of us were ever going to get any sleep. plus, kyle and i love to cuddle, so it's only natural that ellery's a snuggler, too :) so, i read up on co-sleeping (such a hot topic right now), deciding if that's what we were going to do, we were going to be as safe as possible.

soon, someone started to get a bit squirmy and wasn't really sleeping as well with us as she was before. so, kyle proposed having e try out her crib. well in my mind, that's her big girl bed. i mean, it's so big! and she's so stinkin' cute & tiny! i felt like she was moving off to college, when really, she was just moving about 15 feet away to her nursery across the hall from our room. i was a little dramatic. but we gave it a try.

the first few nights (1/8 & 1/9) she slept for 4 to 5-hour stretches at night, longer than she had ever slept before. we continued to lay her down to sleep in her crib, and though some nights she ended up back in our room, for the most part she did great! though i was hesitant at first, thinking she was growing up too fast, seeing how well all of us were sleeping those nights, i knew were doing the right thing for our family & ellery.

then the next week, she decided to be a bit sassy. she no longer loved her crib. she went back to sleeping in smaller chunks. and some days, the girl barely slept 5 minutes during the day. as soon as i would lay her down, she'd pop up thinking she just slept for hours. needless to say, all three of us were exhausted.

on 1/17, we had a breakthrough. since ellery wasn't sleeping well that day & wouldn't go down for the night, we decided to skype with my grandparents in florida. my mom was visiting them that week, so we got to talk to all three of them, which was so fun. mammaw & pampaw instantly fell in love with her chubby cheeks :) i told them our sleeping predicament, and pampaw decided to try & help out. he started singing to her, and within the first few lines of the song, she was out!! it was absolutely amazing - and adorable!

the most amazing part is she slept from 9:30pm-9am that night, waking up once for a half hour to feed!! her first time sleeping through the night!!! it has been her best night of sleep to date! we told pampaw to be on stand-by every night in case we need him again!

so, ellery has mostly been in her crib, though it changes from night to night whether she sleeps for 5 hours or wakes up every single hour. i've looked into a lot of different sleep theories - cry it out, parenting your child to sleep, no-cry sleep solution etc. a lot of times i just get overwhelmed by them, feeling like i'm doing something wrong or there is so much more i could be doing. but then all i do is look at ellery and remind myself we just need to figure out what works for her, not what everyone else thinks works. i think she likes that idea :) hoping for a good night of sleep tonight!

ellery's 1 month appointment

2012-01-10T13:06:00.000-06:00

our little girl is growing so fast! we went for her 1 month appointment on january 9th, which really, we went when she was 6 weeks so just a little over a month old. and, on that same day, i went for my 6 week postpartum appointment. a day at the doctors' offices - what fun! ellery and i were actually pretty proud of ourselves. we made it to both appointments on time, and even managed to sneak in a trip to the mall in between. and thankfully, both of us checked out great!

ellery is one growing girl, and from the numbers, we can tell she is still an awesome eater! she was in the 90th percentile for both her weight (10 pounds 15 ounces) and her height (22 1/2 inches). kyle says it's a good thing she's packing on the pounds & getting taller at the same time, instead of being short & a little chunk! i think she's carrying a lot of that weight just in her chubby cheeks :) love em! she was also in the 50th percentile for her head circumference.

this was also her first appointment she had to get a shot. and let me tell you, i think i hated it more than she did! she got her first round of the hep b shot at the hospital, but thankfully she was whisked away and we didn't see the shot. but this time, i was right there for her, and though the dr. & nurse said it wouldn't be too bad (i mean really, who loves shots??), ellery cried as soon as they poked her! thankfully, after i fed her and we left, she wasn't fussy or overtired. and plus, she looked super cute with no pants and her mary jane socks while she got the shot :)

meeting gg & great grandpa frank!

2012-01-08T12:38:00.000-06:00

ellery was so very excited to meet her gg (great grandmere) and great grandpa frank! so excited that she couldn't do anything but fuss the whole time they were here... i think as soon as we said, "she's such an easy-going baby," ellery set out to prove us wrong! i guess she just has to be sassy every once and awhile :)

despite ellery's sass, we had such a great visit! gg scooped ellery up and walked, talked, and rocked her. it was so sweet. great grandpa frank was such a natural, you could tell e was nice and cozy in his arms! we even ventured out to have dinner at saz's, which kyle claims has the best ribs you'll ever taste!

we were so thankful gg & grandpa frank made the trip up to visit and meet ellery. our only complaint - we wish they could have stayed longer. and even though ellery was fussy, she loved every second she was in their arms. thank you for visiting gg & great grandpa frank. we love you!!

e's first play date

2012-01-07T13:25:00.000-06:00

ellery had her very first play date! my friend katie watches a little girl names scarlett, who is about 6 months. (if she looks familiar, you may remember seeing a picture i posted of katie & scarlett visiting us at the hospital!) well, the two of them came over so ellery & scarlett could get to know each other and have a little playtime. and with scarlett being a little older, i'm happy she probably has a thing or two she can teach ellery - especially about fashion. she always has the cutest outfits & headbands :)

the girls had a great time hanging out saying hello on e's play mat. scarlett loved checking ellery out. e looked so tiny! after a bit of playtime, the four of us went on a little stroll to have lunch & return some things to the library.the girls did so great & were on their very best behavior! (e slept most of the time in her ergo). katie and i were so thankful it was such a beautiful day out - in the middle of january!

so happy ellery is making such good friends already! she's looking to many more play dates with scarlett :)

our snow baby

2012-01-05T13:21:00.003-06:00

our little bundled babe, all ready for her first wisconsin winter. bring on the snow! :)

early morning playtime

2012-01-04T17:12:00.000-06:00

i snapped a few pictures of ellery and i playing one morning on our new years eve weekend trip. she decided to get up before every one else, and she was just looking too cute not to take a few pics. she's also wearing the outfit we brought her home from the hospital in. you can really see how much she's grown since then!

this last one... i can barely handle it.

new year baby

2012-01-04T15:06:00.002-06:00

now you'd think as new year's eve rolled around, with ellery being just over a month old, you would find kyle and i on the couch at our house counting down to midnight. well miss ellery said no way jose, we've got to party! and thankfully we have some great friends who came up with the perfect solution...

doug & kate invited a group of us to stay at kate's parents' house to ring in the new year. now before you think we're crazy, we were offered our very own bedroom & bathroom for the three of us to stay in. also, among the other friends coming were wes & michelle, who were bringing their son along. so given the wonderful accommodations & another baby friend for ellery, kyle & i decided to do it! we got ready, we packed our bags (for what seemed like hours...so much stuff for such a little girl!) and hit the road. thankfully, the drive was just under an hour, the perfect amount for little ellabelle to take a quick snooze!

thank you doug & kate!!

the nye's theme was "bright lights, big city" so of course ellery had to wear her shiny gold dress!

wes, the photographer for the weekend

we had such a fun time that weekend - plenty of games, karaoke, relaxing, laughs, and just catching up with friends. we love getting together with this group, mainly kyle's guy friends from college & their spouses. kyle loves each second he can spend with these guys! (so much so that they stayed up until almost 6am on sunday night...)

yes, i am wearing a wig

and i have to say, ellery was SO great on her first trip away from home! she actually slept the best she ever had! we thought she would be there to ring in the new year with us, but both nights we stayed, she was snoozing the evenings and most of the night away. so proud of her :)

love those little toes!

ellery also got to meet will, wes & michelle's son. kyle & i joke that many of our friends have sons that would make great suitors for ellery. well, will is at the top of the list, so this was a very important first meeting! they did great! ellery showed off and did tummy time for the longest she ever had, and will just stared at her (i think he was enthralled by her beauty :) i mean who couldn't love that crazy hair!!)

daddy teaching ellery how to play chess :)

wes lost a bet with kyle...and had to change ellery's diaper. it was a pretty stinky one, too!

skol vikings!! (i gave kyle this onesie when we found out i was pregnant)

too bad the vikings lost to the bears... e still looked cute!

meeting mike & kate

with such an exciting 2011, it was so wonderful to bring it to an end with such great friends. though i'm not sure our 2012 will be as eventful, here's to a very happy new year!

ellery's first bucks game

2012-01-03T14:48:00.000-06:00

yes, we are those crazy first time parents who aren't always 100% sure of places that are ok and not ok to take our newborn baby to. i mean we know the basics. but what about an nba basketball game? i guess it just depends on who you ask. and if you ask kyle and i, we say sure! and so, at the age of 1 month and 1 day, ellery annabelle attended her very first nba game to cheer on the milwaukee bucks.

it all started when we went ice skating downtown with young life the night before the game. the three of us bundled up, put e in her carrier, and we were good to go. before you get nervous, no we didn't actually do any ice skating. we're not that crazy, nor am i that talented of an ice skater to keep myself from falling with ellery strapped onto me. (though both kyle and i did take an ice skating course in college!) instead, we got to hang out and watch the yl kids skate & sip hot chocolate.

the milwaukee bucks were at the ice skating rink doing some promotional activities, so of course kyle had to see what they were all about. one game you had to make 2/5 three-point shots & you got free tickets to see the bucks play. well we just happened to have a friend coming to visit that weekend, so kyle gave it a try. he made 4/5 (what a stud) and we had tickets for the game the next night. woo hoo!

so kyle's friend jeremy came to visit the next day. jeremy went to miami and was also in theta chi with kyle. he also got his mba from indiana university, and ellery just happened to get an iu outfit for christmas (to support uncle kris!). so of course we put it on her!

we all headed to the game - i carried ellery in using the ergo carrier & she snoozed for the first 30 minutes we were there. but soon she was awake and didn't want to miss out on the action! her eyes were wide open, checking everything out! i was worried the noise would be too loud, but she didn't seem bothered at all, and make some cries and coos to cheer along with them! she was such a good, good baby the whole evening. kyle and i were so proud of her :) she must have been good luck because the bucks won that night! and of course, she slept well that night after all the excitement :)

so we couldn't decide what was worse... changing ellery's diaper in the bathroom at the arena or right behind our seats when everyone left... call us crazy, but we picked right on the floor! i was just a little embarrassed kyle wanted to take pictures, thinking "what kind of parents are we?!?!" but then as i looked at ellery, she was completely fine, squirming and cooing. so in the end, we had one happy baby, in a clean diaper... job done :)

more friends to meet!

2012-01-01T09:28:00.001-06:00

i know many of you were very excited for kyle and i during our pregnancy. but one person who is pretty close to the top of the list for "most excited" is my friend colleen. with every phone call, text, or email i received from her, you could always tell just how genuinely happy she was for kyle and i, and how much she was looking forward to meeting ellery! after all, ellery did attend her wedding. in fact, ellery was one of her bridesmaids as well :)

so at the end of december, when colleen came from california, ellery finally got to meet one of her biggest fans! colleen's cousin hannah came along as well, and probably got to learn a lot more than she every wanted to about pregnancy, labor & delivery and babies. it was so nice to just catch up and relax with colleen, and she was such a natural at holding & soothing ellery. e fell right to sleep in her arms :)

(sidenote - the pants ellery is wearing in the picture are newborn size. as you can tell, they're closer to capris now than pants. she's growing so fast! she's now in 0-3month clothes, but sometimes 3-6 fits just right too!)

we have been surrounded by such a loving group of friends and family. ellery is so blessed to have each of you in her life! with each visitor, phone call, or card we realize how truly loved our little girl is. thank you!

little ergo baby

2011-12-30T22:30:00.000-06:00

one of ellery's favorite things is her ergo baby carrier (thanks mamaw & pampaw!). it was highly recommended to us, and now that we know ellery loves to snuggle, we are very thankful we have it! ellery will fall asleep in our arms, and if we lay her down in her bassinet, swing or her crib, she wakes up in 10 minutes or less, not very happy she's not sleeping on us anymore! you can imagine it makes it a little hard to get anything done - like dishes or laundry. and though i am all about cuddling all day with my babe if that's what she needs, we also need plates to eat on and clean clothes :) so as i looked into it, other moms recommended putting ellery in the carrier around the house so she can be close and i can get things done. it worked like a charm! e normally falls right to sleep in it.

below are some pictures of e and i getting ready to go on a little walk using her ergo carrier. as you can tell from the pictures, she wasn't so sure in the beginning... this was the first time in her cute snow suit (thanks aunt beth & uncle mike!) the white cushion she's laying in is the newborn head support - it helps her hold that little head up (that hair weighs a lot!) until she gets better control of her head. but once i got her all bundled and strapped in, she was ready to hit the town! i love it because i have my hands free! and both of our favorites - all that snuggling keeps both of us toasty warm :)

that face... too stinkin' cute

daddy's girl

2011-12-30T17:05:00.000-06:00

i can already tell...ellery is a daddy's girl! and who can blame her?? kyle is such a good dad! he loves playing with little e. he snuggles her right up and soothes her when she needs it (even if that means bouncing forever on the exercise ball - ellery's favorite!) they just have such a special relationship already, and i love watching the two of them together. i thought i'd let you take a peek too :) enjoy!

"daddy come hoooome!! i want to play!"

"hooray! he's on his way!"

daddy's girls!

YAY!!!! he's home!!

playing with my new playmat (thanks momo & papa!)

and even daddy joins in to play with e!

ellery says "i love you dad, but playtime is over!!"

playtime smiles

2011-12-29T09:56:00.005-06:00

thought i would post a few pictures of ellery playing with some new christmas presents. also, she wanted to give kyle & i a late christmas present, too - a smile!! she has been starting to smile and it has got to be the cutest thing in the world! we're having trouble snapping a picture just as she does it, but i tried :)

super sleepy from all that play time...

but still smiling!! :)

a very merry christmas

2011-12-29T09:34:00.011-06:00

maybe it was because there was no snow. or that i got all our decorations up & presents wrapped super early. or maybe it was the fact that ellery was born at the end of november. but this christmas just didn't feel like christmas. we said it was because we got our very favorite present just a bit early :) but still christmas is our top holiday to celebrate, and knowing it was ellery's very first made it even more special.

we were sad not to take our annual "tour of the midwest" trip we do each christmas. with our families in indiana and ohio, we normally took a week off and split our time between the two, but this year was a little different. first off, kyle had just two days off this year (though i am not complaining at all since they were christmas eve & christmas day!). and then with our little bundle of joy being born, we decided it would be best to celebrate in wisconsin. thankfully, kyle's parents, brother and sister were able to join us, too.

so we got ellery all dolled up for christmas eve at epikos. i found her little gold dress months ago and thought it was so cute. i couldn't wait for her to wear it. and though it was a tiny bit big, and she resembled a glittery christmas ornament, i thought she was the cutest little ornament there ever was :) e did wonderful at church and it was fun having kyle's family come to epikos, too.

we spent the rest of christmas eve eating and relaxing. ellery had plenty of hands to hold her and cuddle her. and she loved every second :)

christmas morning we started off by celebarting just the three of us (well four with jackie!), our new family. the first of many many christmas mornings together. and though ellery was a bit sassy that morning, i couldnt help but smile thinking about all the christmas mornings we would get to spend together, hanging out in our jammies, opening our stockings. what a perfect present she is :)

as kyle's family joined us, the rest of the day was filled with food, relaxing, presents, laughs, cuddling & naps (mostly keri & ellery!), and just quality time with each other. ellery was very spoiled this year! the week leading up to christmas, each day we had so many packages waiting on our porch for ellery! each was filled with christmas gifts for ellery! and though she slept through most of the day, and we opened her gifts for her, i know she loved each one and is so thankful she is so very loved already!

and of course, if you know kyle, you know we would of course have to play games!! at the end of the night, before everyone left, we were even able to sneak in a bath time for ellery. she has the best hair after her bath - so fluffy and it just stands on end!

this year i am so thankful for skype!! i so wanted to be able to celebrate with my family in ohio too. it was so hard not to be wit them, especially my mom, for ellery's first christmas. but thankfully, we were able to "see" each other through skype. ethan and landon, my nephews got to tell me all about their new toys. if only you could hug through a computer screen :)

like i said, we couldn't have asked for a better (early) christmas present than ellery. she really is the best. and she's the cutest christmas present i've ever recieved, too :) so from our family to yours, we hope you had a very, very merry christmas!

happy 1 month ellery!!

2011-12-28T17:11:00.003-06:00

can you believe how much she's already grown since her 1 week picture??

ellery's fourth week

2011-12-27T11:50:00.011-06:00

this week was all about mama & ellery time! this was the first full week that the two of us were home alone together, and we had a blast :) we played, we danced, we dressed in cute outfits (with accessories to match of course!), i gave ellery a bath by myself, and we even survived kyle being gone all day & night for his first on-call shift since ellery was born. and of course, every day we couldn't wait for kyle/daddy to get home!

enjoy some pictures (and videos if you can handle my baby talk!) from our girly adventures during ellery's fourth week :)

morning playtime

almost every morning ellery & i would start off our day with a little playtime in her nursery. now i know why i worked at gymboree for a year and a half in chicago, singing silly songs & dancing around with a clown. i can sing all those silly songs & do all the activities with ellery! that really comes in handy during our morning play sessions :) this week, we worked on tracking (following an object with her eyes), grasping (holding onto an object), rolling over from her tummy to her side, back, and eventually back to her tummy (we're not that far yet), and holding her head up & moving it during tummy time. whew, that sounds like a lot of work for our little sweet girl, and it is! but she is such a trooper and did such a great job.

tracking:

grasping:

"hello, this is me"

tummy time:

my favorite - doing tummy time using a mirror! i put a floor-length mirror on the floor & rolled up a blanket to use as a bolster to support e's neck. i put her on her tummy so she could look in the mirror & do tummy time at the same time. she was fascinated! and those little chubby cheeks - i can't handle the cuteness!!

baby connection class

last week we started going to a baby connection class offered at the hospital where we delivered. basically, it's a group of moms that get together to chat, ask advice, and have an excuse to get out of the house! it's led by the sweet lactation consultant that we met when ellery was born. it's been good to go to so i can meet other moms. this past week, we had a holiday party - we brought in treats & dressed up the babes in their cutest outfits. i had bought this little dress awhile ago for ellery (from baby gap of course!) and was so excited to have a reason for her to wear it. i think she looked pretty stinkin' cute if i do say so myself :)

grocery shopping

to get ready for kyle's family to come for christmas, ellery & i took a trip to the grocery store. i'm still trying to figure out the best way to shop as baby girl comes along... i put her seat in the cart, but you can tell, that doesn't leave a lot of room for the groceries! and putting the car seat in the actual seat of the cart scares me a little. i think next trip i'm going to try carrying e in our ergo baby carrier - that way i have a whole cart to fill, my hands are free, and ellery gets to cuddle up on my chest & take a nap! but she was an excellent helper this shopping trip, making sure i didn't forget anything! we also stopped to chat with a sweet woman who worked there, and we got to tell her the story of how i started the whole labor process right there in that grocery store!

girl time

ellery and i got to catch up with several girlfriends this week too. first, we had breakfast at city market (yum!) with erin & katrina. katrina was in young life last year but graduated - it was so so great to see her & chat! katrina was very excited about baby ellery while i was pregnant, so it was fun for her to finally meet the baby she had been talking to while in my belly :) - though ellery was asleep the entire time we were there! and erin, who is so incredibly sweet, got our whole family christmas gifts - matching smartwool socks!! we love em' and still need to take a pic in our family socks :)

leah stopped over as well to drop off a little present... matching hats for ellery and i that she made!! so so sweet :) and what's even more amazing & cute... the hats match our purple socks that erin gave us. we are going to be decked out in our hats & socks, i love it. thank you leah!!!

dad's home!!

each day, ellery & i couldn't wait for kyle to get home! some days i could just tell e wanted her daddy - she would be a bit fussy, and as soon as kyle got home & cuddled her in his arms, she calmed right down. she's a daddy's girl :) and even though kyle worked all week, we still snuck in plenty of family time!

i printed off some black & white flashcards for ellery & she loves them! kyle loves to show them to her - she gets so focused, especially on the striped ones, and makes the funniest faces!

most nights since ellery was born, we got in the habit of eating dinner on the couch. so we decided to have a little romantic dinner at the table - and a certain little snuggle bug just had to join us :)

each year before christmas, kyle and i decorate a gingerbread house. i have no idea how we started doing it, but it's a fun little tradition we love doing. we were excited for ellery to join in on the fun, though the first night we tried to make it, she wasn't so into it. we got the house at least put together, and threw in the towel. the next morning, we all woke up ready to go! we turned on the christmas music, grabbed the icing bags & candy, and went to town on that house! the last picture cracks us up - i'm sure ellery will grow to love decorating gingerbread houses as much as we do, even if it wasn't her favorite this year :)

ellery's third week

2011-12-19T14:51:00.001-06:00

YAY! you could almost hear ellery & i shout for joy - we made it to kyle's week of vacation! he was off for ellery's whole third week and his girls couldn't be more excited!! we soaked up every second of our time together, making sure we had plenty of fun and got to relax all at the same time. kyle and i (and ellery) agree it was a wonderful vacation - we just wish it could have been longer!

ellery had her 2-week appointment, and it was great both kyle & i got to go. she's still doing awesome, especially with eating & gaining weight! she gained a whole pound from her last appointment. ellery does have a clogged tear duct in her left eye so we have been cleaning that two times a day to hopefully get whatever's blocking it outta there. other than that, she is a very happy, healthy baby girl, getting more alert (and cuter!) with each day!

enjoy some pictures of the morgan family's adventures during ellery's third week!

tummy time work out :)

doing a little morning work out on her tummy, though its a bit tough to do in her sleep sack!

relaxin' family time

ellery's first ride in her stroller!

(we went to cranky al's to get coffee & donuts - yum!)

bakin' with mama

(we made cookies to take to the nurses at the hospital & my ob's office. and by "we" i mean i made them while ellery snoozed with dad!)

ellery, the baby model

ellery got to "model" for a local photography company - ticklebugs photography. it may have been the beginning and end of her modeling career seeing as she didn't fall asleep the whole 4.5 hours we were there, and when we would lay her down she would just cry!

we tried everything - feeding, diaper change, singing, bouncing, cuddling - nothing worked. we even tried to do our own photo shoot while others were "modeling." we decided she looks like a mini monk... not quite the look we were going for. you can see how she feels about it...

but somehow the fabulous photographer still managed to get some cute ones!!

one of my favs! this is so her - she makes this little scrunched face all the time!

out on the town!

the three of us went out for pizza & then walked around bayshore mall. we loved all the christmas lights. ellery did so great, and we made it to baby gap (ellery & i's favorite!) before she decided it was time to hit the road - ie screaming crying for mama to feed her :)

e's 2nd trip to epikos

and her first trip to the crying/breastfeeding room at church :) she still did great and looked oh so cute in her "epikos loves me" onesie

facetime with aunt keri

i have decided everyone in our family has to get an itouch or iphone. daddy & ellery chatted with aunt keri using facetime and ellery LOVED it!! look at those eyes!!

ellery's second week

2011-12-12T14:51:00.000-06:00

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!!

ellery's first week

2011-12-04T14:11:00.001-06:00

i am so so thankful kyle was able to take paternity leave for e's first week. it was so great to adjust to being at home all 3 of us. and i quickly realized though i felt great, my body still had healing to do. and kyle was (and always is!) such a sweet husband, serving me and ellery with so much help and love. when it comes to being a daddy, he's a natural. even in the hospital, he changed 99% of the diapers - and before that, he had never changed one in his life! he has such a natural way of holding, soothing, and loving ellery, it really melts my heart when i see the two of them together. and then i can't help but smile when i see the two of them with their matching spiked dark hair. love it :)

daddy summed up ellery's first week for her like this: "you slept a ton, pooped a ton, and ate like a champ!" and it's true! as soon as they put ellery on my chest at the hospital, she latched right on and ate so so well. and she hasn't stopped since! we also received a breastfeeding log where we were supposed to keep track of wet & dirty diapers - well, we ran out of room to mark down her poopy diapers! we also discovered she likes sleeping in her swaddler sleep sack in her swing, but her favorite is cuddling & sleeping on us :)

that first week, friday december 2nd (her due date!) we had our first pediatrician appointment. at the first appt, ellery was already back up (and passed) her birth weight - 7 lbs 6oz - which dr. stabelfeldt normally allows 2 weeks for newborns to do so - e did it in 2 days! told ya she was a good eater :) and, the nurse thought she was a total cutie!

ellery continued to sleep really well that first week - again waking 2-3 times overnight to feed. also, it was nice the three of us could all stay in bed until 10 or 11 am :) dr. stabelfeldt recommended starting tummy time as soon as possible, so we started giving e some tummy workouts. she actually didn't mind too much, and did a great job rolling onto her side or picking up her head to work those muscles!

some of ellery's "firsts" her first week home:

first trip to target!

first bath at home! (the picture below cracks me up!)

we had plenty of visitors come meet our sweet girl her first week here. again, thank you so much for making our family feel so loved with your visits, cards, gifts, texts, calls, and even meals!! your kindness means so much to our family :)

our small group came over the night we brought her home. josh brought his camera and the night turned into a mini photo shoot! he is so very talented and we are so very blessed for the AMAZING pictures he took of our family! if you haven't seen them, check them out by clicking here.

more amazing young life ladies. love you girls! (and ellery does too!)

jenny & jason stopped by after volleyball!

giacomo, his parents, and grandma stopped by to say hello! g wasn't so sure about ellery - maybe he has mixed feelings about us arranging his marriage for him :)

our sweet neighbors mark & melissa (and elliot!) made us a delicious dinner - ellery joined us for dinner in her car seat :)

ellery's "home" away from home

2011-12-01T11:48:00.000-06:00

kyle and i (and ellery, too!) loved our stay at the hospital. (if you are in the milwaukee area, we highly recommend elmbrook memorial in brookfield). it was such a special time, we created so many memories we will always treasure, our doctor was so great, the nursing and hospital staff were wonderful. i even loved my hospital bed and sometimes wish i had it at home :)

the two days in the hospital after ellery was born were great! her first night was a little rough (welcome to parenthood!) - she woke up to eat every hour, then we had some frequent interruptions from the overnight nurse. The second night was great (you can imagine how relieved we were!) e only woke up 2-3 times and kyle and i felt so rested! they even served us a "celebration dinner" of steak, sparkling grape juice, and other yummy food. though it was supposed to be just for mommy & daddy, ellery decided to join us too :)

our celebration dinner - can you find ellery??

ellery's first diaper change - which resembled black sticky tar. yikes!

one thing that made our time in the hospital so special were the visitors who came to meet ellery and celebrate with us. we loved each visitor, each text, each voicemail that you sent. thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making us feel oh so loved. really, thank you. it meant so much to us. below are pictures of our sweet visitors:

ryan & shelly (from our small group) set their alarms for 5am so they wouldn't miss when ellery was born! they waited in the hospital for over an hour to meet ellery. such sweet friends!!

my mom - ellery's mawmaw. when she heard we were on our way to the hospital, she jumped in her car in columbus, ohio and started driving through the night to get to milwaukee! she made a pit stop in indianapolis to pick up kyle's mom, and the two of them drove like crazy ladies to get to the hospital as soon as they could!

kyle's mom - ellery's momo. so mawmaw & momo made it just hours after ellery was born!! what's (kinda) funny is that both of them were not on our texting list to announce when ellery was born! we let them know when i started pushing & then in the excitement of everything, didn't update them when she was born. we thought we would call, but once she came, it completely slipped our minds. we felt AWFUL! but as soon as they held that little babe in their arms, all was well :)

katie from our small group stopped by with the little girl she watches to meet ellery! later, she came back with jonathan so he could meet our sweet girl. they have been such great friends and our time so far in milwaukee would be a lot different without their friendship!

on tuesday, aunt keri took the train up from chicago to meet her new niece (and brought some pretty cute outfits & hats from her & uncle kris, too!)

kyle's dad hopped on a flight after work on tuesday. ellery was so excited to meet her papa!

our sweet young life "family." never did we think that we would have awesome high schoolers visit us at the birth of our first child, but i can't tell you how much their visits meant to us. the guys would like to inform you they got ellery her very first balloons. (thank you!!) and laurel & erin are so incredibly sweet!!

soon it was time for ellery to be at her "real" home on wednesday november 30th. we were so excited to bring her home, it was sad leaving the hospital. i was pretty emotional (thank you hormones!) saying goodbye to the nurses. but nothing compared to that moment when we got ellery all bundled in her car seat and kyle and i were carrying her to the car. hello world, meet ellery! we were so proud and excited driving her to our house. mawmaw (my mom) and momo & papa (k's parents) were all there to welcome our little girl! we opened her very first package addressed to ellery morgan. we introduced her to jackie. and showed her her very own room. and as our parents left, it was such a precious moment as we stood there, just the three of us. our new family in our home beginning a new chapter in our lives.

Ellery's Nursery Tour

2011-11-28T15:14:00.001-06:00

we have been so very busy enjoying our sweet girl! we can hardly believe she's finally here - it seems like such a long time ago that she was in my belly and we were counting down the days until we would meet her!

we've taken about a million pictures. we sit around for hours and just stare at her. we have been "initiated" into parenthood (several times) by ellery - by getting peed on pooped on :) but even when she does that, she's so stinkin' adorable. kyle and i are both definitely in love.

so as we sort through all the pictures, and get them up on the blog, we thought you would enjoy a little tour of ellery's nursery! we actually made this as i went into labor, and i was having contractions at home. it was a great distraction :) but it is also a bit long - 7 minutes - so i don't blame you if you don't watch it all! but you get a peak at her whole room and the background stories behind a lot of pieces in the room.

hope you enjoy you enjoy our sweet girl's room as much as the three of us do!

(if video is not working, please check it out here)

she's here!

2011-11-28T09:23:00.001-06:00

it wasn't much longer after i wrote the last post that we got down to business to get this baby into the world! at about 4:30am, it was time to start pushing. what's funny is kyle told me while i was pregnant that he always imagined me with pigtails while i was giving birth. so i quickly re-did my hair and put in my contacts, and was ready to go!

telling my mom, it's time to get this little girl out here!!

pigtails... check!

our last picture of just the two of us!

our nurse, barbara (who i loved!), had me push a few times, and ellery's head quickly scooted on down! again, we thought this wasn't going to take long at all! barbara called dr. mccann to tell him it was go-time, and he was soon in the room.

so things didn't go as quickly as we had hoped... it was pretty slow-going. what was nice was even with the epidural, i was still able to feel when contractions were coming and when i should push. but being like her momma, ellery just needed a little bit more time to get ready before she made her big debut :) . after quite a bit of pushing, contractions starting picking up to every 2 minutes, and we soon were able to see our little daughter had a full head of hair! she also kept dr, mccaan laughing because through the whole pushing process, she was a little wiggle worm. i guess most babies stay put and don't move a lot, but ellery must have been doing a happy dance, knowing she was finally going to meet us, too! :) i also remember doing this, but kyle thought it was hilarious - as i would push, i would look up at kyle, and every once in a while, wink at him. in my mind, i wanted him to know i was still doing great, and i was just so excited this all was happening! i guess kyle initially thought i had a twitch, then when he found out i was intentionally doing it, he just laughed :)

soon, contractions started to get even closer together and i was working a lot harder... before, between contractions, me kyle barbara and dr. mccann would casually talk and laugh. like i said, truly enjoy and take in the moment. but as the contractions got closer together, i was almost falling asleep between them because i was just tired. i remember kyle & dr. mccann were "doctor-talking," discussing residency, life as a doctor, etc. i really tried to stay apart of the conversation, with the occasional, "uh huh" and "yeah," but really, i had no idea what they were talking about...

finally, at about 7:05am (after 2 1/2 hours of some serious pushing!) dr. mccann said only a few more pushes and he would break down the bed to prepare for ellery to make her way out. well, i meant business people, and with one more push, our sweet girl's head was almost out! dr. mccann & the nurses freaked out and quickly got ready for this baby to be out just seconds later. at this point, i just couldn't stop pushing! and moments later, at 7:08am, our sweet ellery annabelle was welcomed into the world...

ellery annabelle morgan
born november 28, 2011 at 7:08 am
7pounds 6 ounces 20.5 inches

as she came out, dr. mccann greeted her with the words, "oh she's a cutie. and she's got a little meconium popping out!" a little poop and all, our little girl was such a cutie :) and a trooper - she cried for a few seconds, and that was it. her coloring was absolutely beautiful. and her little head was only slightly misshapen, even after 2 1/2 hours of pushing. and as they put ellery on my chest, we snuggled together and she latched on right away (a huge answered prayer - we had prayed a lot about breastfeeding the last trimester of our pregnancy).

i'm sure most woman who have birthed a child feel this way, but it was such an amazing, surreal experience. one we waited over 9 months for. an experience that i actually loved, even if it was painful. it was absolutely worth is. it all seemed to happen in an instant - there, finally, was our little girl. a little piece of me and a little piece of kyle. so absolutely in awe. so very nice to finally meet you, ellery. our sweet girl.

she's on her way!!

2011-11-28T03:40:00.002-06:00

it all started at the grocery store.... with my maternity pants almost falling off (major problem when your maternity pants are too small for your big belly!!), i wandered the aisle feeling pain in my lower abdomen. i shuffled out, holding my pants & groceries and hurried home.

that was about 1pm. the pain kept on coming, but no contractions. that all changed about 4-4:30. I got contractions with the pain, what a fun combo!! kyle and i were both filled with a nervous excitement... could this be labor? is our sweet girl ready to come out?

so, i did what any normal person would do... i started wrapping christmas presents. k had already put up the lights earlier that day. the tree was up & jackie was quietly asleep....

then the contractions started getting stronger and closer together - like crazy close, 2 1/2 minutes close. so i got a little freaked out. we called the doctor. he said we could wait it out or head to the hospital, but with them being so close, he leaned more toward going to the hospital to see how far along i was. so i told kyle it may be time to hit the road.

we were also supposed to have young life girls over for cabin time/Bible study. up until talked to dr. mccann i was all about still having them over, and having another leader do all the talking. but i soon realized these girls may get more than they bargained for if they came over... but what was fun was they all met at our place, then headed to another house to meet. i loved seeing them & just being encouraged by such beautiful ladies!

so... k and i went around the house picking up last minute things, making the bed, cleaning up wrapping paper. and i realized the contractions were further apart, though just as strong. i started to feel like i could stay home a bit more. we called the dr. and set out on an adventure of birthing pain relief techniques.

we said lots of prayers. i got in the bath tub - which was so great. kyle sat beside me in the bathroom and we talked. still wondering is this real labor?? he read me one of ellery's books - counting kisses - so sweet. then we laid down on the bed, which was nice but then i started to get stronger contractions and wasn't sure what to do for them. i feel like i squeezed kyle's hand so tight. i pulled on his fingers and arms. i just squirmed a lot. and i started to get a little nervous, thinking maybe we should have gone to the hospital a bi earlier. then, it was 10pm, so it had been about 5 1/2 hours since the contractions started. i told k i thought i was time... and as i attempted to throw last minute items in my bag, i had to stop every few minutes, call for kyle and basically bear hug him, hanging from his neck, until the contraction stopped. i thought we were never going to make it outta there!

finally we were all loaded up on our way to the hospital. i called & talked to my mom, which was so comforting. i only had 2 contractions in the car. once at the hospital & standing at admitting, i had several contractions that were pretty stinkin strong...

we went up to the birthing floor & we were lead to our room - the room that while we were on our tour, we were told it was the biggest & had the best view, thanks Lord for that little blessing :) they checked me - 5 cm!! they said that it normally takes the longest to get to that point, and were impressed i got to that point at home. again, thanks God, and kyle too!! At that point the contractions were picking up intensity. i could breath through them ok. but they were just uncomfortable...

so at that point i decided to get an epidural. it didnt take long for them to get me my fluids and soon the anesthesiologist was here. k asked if he could watch and the doctor was nice enough to let him. our sweet nurse barbara stayed with me while the "doctors" gave me a perfect epidural! i still feel the contractions and my legs - just feels like pressure instead of pain. i felt comfy, and so happy and excited i could fully focus on the fact that our sweet girl would be here oh so soon. i love the fact that i'm sitting here writing this, with kyle snoozing in a chair to my right, talking to ellery and i can feel her respond with a little kick or nudge. see you soon baby girl!

as of right now, 4:12am, i am 8cm and already feeling a decent amount of pressure to get pushing soon. our nurse thinks i won't be pushing long because ellery's head is so low. in awe of all of this, the amazing moments already created today and that sweet memory we will have of first holding our daughter. so amazing....

preggo update: 9 months

2011-11-14T09:48:00.002-06:00

nine months!! can you believe it! it is hard to imagine sweet ellery will be here so soon, but we are just about ready for her. a last few purchases of diapers and wipes and this little girl's home is all set for her arrival!

many people have been asking lately, "wait, you're nine months? so why is your due date not until december 2nd?" well, what a lot of people don't know is the medical world plays a trick on you. you sneaky doctors. pregnancy isn't just 36 weeks, it goes all the way to 40 weeks. so, as of November 4th, i was 9 months along, but i could still be pregnant at 10 months, or even past that! (which is very common for first pregnancies). though now that i am 37 weeks pregnant, i am considered full-term and ellery is good to come out now whenever she's ready! (though she seems to be having a lot of fun in there pushing and squirming around. i'm sure she'll be a little sad to leave her cozy little home that's getting even smaller by the day!)

this past monday we went to the doctor for our check-up. now we'll be going in once a week until i go into labor. at this last appointment, the doctor checked me and i was 50% effaced and 1cm dilated! it was so exciting to know that the process is starting for ellery to be here! and though i am dilated, it could still be all the way to or past my due date until i'm ready for labor. or it could happen quickly (a lot of family members have guessed a thanksgiving baby!) ideally, dr. mccann said i would want to come in each week and be one more cm dilated. but you never know what will happen!

also, as dr. mccann was checking her heartbeat, i had a contraction! in my weekly email updates, it would say my contractions should be a bit stronger now... well, until that point i hadn't felt any contractions, so i wondered when they would start happening. little did i know, i was having them but couldn't feel them at all! when he told me i was having one, i thought it was just baby girl pushing out her bottom really hard :) he said that is what could have started it, but then the whole uterus contracted, making my whole belly harder. i have noticed several since but don't have any pain or discomfort associated with them!

other than that, i have been in total nesting/get things ready mode. every day, kyle comes home and a new drawer is cleaned out or something is moved around in the nursery. he always says he wishes he could harness my nesting powers and save them up for when i'm not pregnant! but he has been a HUGE help lately, especially with "handy man" projects around the nursery. (just you wait... the nursery post is coming up next. we're excited to show you how it turned out!!) it's been fun getting the last minute stuff ready together - freezing dinners, deciding on cloth vs disposable diapers (i think we'll start off doing both, then ease into the whole cloth diapering world), packing our bags for the hospital, coming up with a birth plan and filling out ellery's form for her birth certificate. we even have the car seat installed in my car. all we need is this little girl!

i have loved being pregnant, and i really think in some ways i will miss it. though, i know i will quickly learn nothing will compare to having ellery in our arms! the past nine months have been filled with so many sweet moments, so i wanted to leave you with one that happened last week:

as we were leaving our last doctor's appointment, we were talking about how excited and somewhat surprised we were that i was dilated, even just a little bit. kyle looked at me and said, "to know that we're going to actually have a baby soon, to imagine ellery here with us, it just makes my heart flutter. i'm so excited!"

me too hubby.

showered in love: part 3

2011-11-11T12:38:00.005-06:00

call us crazy, but a few days shy of being 9 month pregnant, kyle and i hopped in the car and drove out to ohio for our last baby shower. (i was just a little nervous about going into labor and having baby girl along the way, but our doctor checked me out before i went and said, though he can't make any guarantees, i should be good to go!)

but the trip was so worth it... i hadn't been to ohio or seen my family (other than my mom & grandparents from florida) my entire pregnancy! and though i'm sure my brother would have survived, i always just thought, this is such a big time in my life and matt hasn't even seen my big baby belly! it was a totally last minute trip, just planned a week or two in advance. it was a long drive (9 hours there with the time change!) we didn't even leave milwaukee until 9pm (we did sneak in a stop at kyle's parent's house, which was great!) but like i said, so worth it...

i am so so very thankful that most of the family was able to get together (we missed those that weren't!) i'm so grateful to my mom for opening up her home to hosting everyone and making yummy food, all last minute. THANK YOU momma! once again, we just felt loved surrounded by family. we were showered in gifts and well wishes. and we just got to relax and "be" with everyone. i loved it. kyle even got to sneak in some football-watching (yeah ohio state!) i'll always look back on that crazy last minute trip and smile. so happy we went. and so happy ellery got to take her first trip to ohio!

thank you mom! love you :)

matt, jess, ethan & landon!

had to do a silly face one... kyle definitely got the memo, i didn't

uncle dan (missed you ann marie!)

april, mikaela, uncle doug, and colton

grandma judy, aunt beth & aunt karen

opening gifts for our sweet girl!

thank you jess for the super cute (and yummy!) cupcakes :)

too cute not too add in... i told ethan to make the silliest face he has ever made.

this is what he came up with :)

Christmas Cards

2011-11-10T17:39:00.000-06:00

hey all! taking a little baby-posting break to tell you about a little company called Tiny Prints. they are doing an awesome offer right now for bloggers to get free Christmas cards (or maybe birth announcements :) if you know of anyone have a baby around the holidays...) and all i have to do is tell all of you fine folks about them. If any of you are bloggers and would be interested in doing this offer too, let me know!

i'd always heard of Tiny Prints and thought their designs were super cute - a bit more modern and colorful than other design-your-own card sites i had used in the past. as you can see in the picture above, they have cards in all shapes & sizes - rounded edges, folded, big, small - making them stand out from other Christmas cards. then as i started looking at some of their holiday cards, i saw some were birth announcements and Christmas card all-in-one. love it. i mean, how cute is this:

i would definitely recommend checking them out. just click here and you can see their entire holiday collection. Christmas is by far my favorite holiday, and i love that our sweet girl will be born right before, making this Christmas more joyful than any in the past!

showered in love: part 2

2011-11-10T11:48:00.012-06:00

the very next weekend after the milwaukee girlfriends' shower, we attended our second baby shower. this one was a couple's shower in the chicago suburbs with kyle's family. kyle was pretty excited he got to attend, too! the months leading up to the shower, we would get excited phone calls from kyle's mom telling us how she just couldn't wait for the shower! she and her friend jo, as well as aunt eileen, keri, and grandmere, were kept very busy planning all the details to celebrate sweet ellery. and let me tell you, they went all out! there wasn't one detail they didn't think of, from pink touches on everything, cute baby-themed food and labels, to the perfect activity for guests - making cute fabric hoops to decorate baby e's nursery (we're hanging them up this weekend - almost like the finishing touches on the room!) kyle and i even decided to join in on the fun and planned a game to play - yes, the one where everyone got a bag of letters to spell out baby girl's name - ellery!

i can't tell you how loved kyle and i felt by everything and everyone that was there! it was such a joyful event, filled with so so much love. and everything was just cute (or cutes as i say), which i just adored. so much delicious food! the cutest favors - "she's ready to pop" popcorn bags and homemade caramel apples. an amazing 5-tier diaper cake! (i could go on and on, but there are too many things to mention - be sure to see the slideshow below!) we can't imagine all the time and resources that went into planning everything, all for this little girl that no one has even met yet (though we are anxiously awaiting that day she is here!)

a big THANK YOU to everyone who came to the shower, showered us in love, and helped to make it so special, especially to our amazing hostesses - Mom, Aunt Eileen, Grandmere, Jo and Keri. everything was just perfect. we appreciate every single little thing done. and i love that my mom was even able to come from ohio! we are incredibly blessed by each person who was there and we are beyond thankful that such beautiful women are going to be in ellery's life! she is so loved already!

enjoy a slideshow from the shower. oh, and i am really hoping one of my girlfriends has a baby girl - i have the inspiration for one beautiful shower! :)

(incase the slideshow isn't working, check out the pictures here)

showered in love: part 1

2011-11-02T07:24:00.008-05:00

the month of october... kyle and i felt so very loved. we had a total of three baby showers and each one made us just giddy for when ellery is here. and at each one, we were amazed at the outpouring of love, generosity, and joy of our friends and family. we can't thank you all enough for making us feel so celebrated and loved, all for a little girl no one has even met!

our first shower was the "milwaukee girlfriend shower" - all who attended were amazing women that i have met since moving to milwaukee. some were from small group, or young life, or friends we've been introduced to by others. sitting around with all of them, it was as if i could see right in front of me so many ways God has blessed kyle & i since bringing us to wisconsin - i count each of their friendships as such amazing blessings in my life! and i'm so excited to have these special ladies as influences in ellery's life, too.

katie opened up her home & hosted the shower. actually, katie & jonathan open up their home to us every week to host small group. but for this particular occasion, their place looked a but more "girly" than usual :) katie decorated with super cute pink & purple flower poufs hanging from the ceiling. she also made such amazing, yummy food - homemade guacamole, giant cupcakes, parfaits... and one of my favs, her very own recipe for chai tea! basically, she spoiled me and ellery, and we are both so very very grateful. THANK YOU KATIE! :)

i love that we just got to hang out. relax. get to know each other more. talk babies. open sweet gifts. we even went outside to soak up some sunshine and carve "baby" pumpkins. too cute. it was just such a fun, beautiful afternoon. i thank God for these amazing woman He has blessed me with, so thankful for each of them & for showering the morgan family in so much love!

Date Day

2011-10-25T13:36:00.006-05:00

as ellery's due date approaches, kyle and i are quickly realizing an end of an era is coming. the era of just the two of us. of being spontaneous (well, as much as we can be spontaneous with a resident's schedule!) sleeping in on the weekends. sleeping through the night. taking off to chicago or indy or ohio with just a few days notice. the end of just kyle and andrea. though we can't wait until our little ellery is here, i know we're going to miss and cherish the time we have left of "just us two" these next few weeks.

so, as we think about how our lives are going to be changed forever by this beautiful little girl, we also started to think of ways we can really "live it up" before she's born. we started thinking of things we wanted to do together, restaurants we wanted to eat at. and we thought we'd share one of those special date days with you! (ps - if any of you have suggestions of things we should do before baby e is here, leave a comment & let us know!)

our disc-golfing date day

pretty much ever since we moved here, kyle has been asking me to go disc golfing. not that i didn't want to, but normally when kyle would go, he'd round up some friends & hit the course. well, one sunny day last month kyle rounded me up and we went on a little frisbee adventure.

to start the day, we got up, made breakfast (a really fancy one - cereal) and went to the front porch. when we first moved into our duplex, we fell in love with the front porch. there's a school and playground right across the street, and often we'll get to catch some gym class dodgeball game or (kyle's fav) a dad and his kids out doing some batting practice. we don't hang on the porch as much as we should, so we thought we would take advantage.

we chatted. talked about ellery of course. we prayed for her. for our families. for our marriage. for our friends. we read the bible. we just connected, in such a special way. it was the perfect way to start our day. and jackie agreed too - we let her outside, and i think it's her favorite thing in the world. she stalks around in the grass as if she's not a lazy house cat, on the prowl for some prey. oh jack.

next, we were off to dineen park where they have a disc golf course. actually, the last time kyle went, there was a shooting on the course. crazy thing is the police let them play through, they just had to skip a few holes. sounds like a perfectly romantic spot for a date-day, right :)

the day was absolutely perfect - a little breeze and sunshine. i just wish kyle would have told me to work out a little before we went out there. with my first throw, i sadly realized how not-so-far my disc went. kyle was generous and let me have several re-do's. i actually got better along the way. k was a rock star of course. he loves any kind of sport, and he's such a good athlete. so it's fun to get to do "his thing" with him, though i very rarely beat him (except putt-putt!!)

well, half way through the course, i realized i was moving slower. a lot slower. i was breathing heavier. ok, a lot heavier. i felt like such a wimp. walking, i would be slouched over, saying, hey kyle, think we could slow it down? (and at my pace, i think the equivalent of slowing down would be moving at a snail's pace). but kyle was sweet and patient with me. and reminded me i was pregnant and i had every reason to be a little out of breath and tired. thanks dr. morgan :)

we made it through about 3/4 of the course, then decided to hit the road. yes, kyle beat me :) we went home, grabbed lunch and relaxed a bit. then i got a boost of energy so we decided to go on a walk. the leaves just started to change and the trees in our neighborhood were gorgeous. kyle said he drove home the other day and thought, i need to take a picture of andrea & ellery on our street. so we did. we had our own mini photo session before we hit the road.

we walked around tosa toward the downtown area. kyle was lulled to a football field, hart park, by the sounds of whistles and announcers. it was a little league football game - the junior red raiders. k was hooked so we stayed for about the whole second half. remember i said how much he loves sports? well, after that, we did end up in the tosa village, doing one of the things i love - shopping! there's a super cute shop named juxt that has odds and ends for baby and home. it's fun to just go in, dream, and get decorating ideas. after some wandering and browsing, we hit the road.

the rest of the night we just spent relaxing (you can imagine this preggo lady was a bit tired after all that walking & activity!) it was perfect and i loved it.

oh, and i forgot about this picture... remember our christmas card last year?? oh how the times have changed. (kyle was a bit surprised when he picked me up... he got a bit of a workout holding up his two girls!)

baby name game: the fourth & final clue!

2011-10-17T12:08:00.004-05:00

so... we couldn't take it. no way kyle and i were going to make it until baby girl was born to share her name. mostly, because we are so excited about it! we found the name soon after we found out baby morgan was a girl, and we just knew it was the one. we've been calling her that ever since, so we're surprised we never slipped up and said her name around others on accident!

this weekend we attended one of our baby showers - all three of us felt so so incredibly loved! both of our moms were there, and we thought it would be a perfect time to share the name. but of course, we had to think of some creative way to do it :) we gave everyone letters to baby girl's name and the first person to unscramble them correctly was the winner! we thought it would be fun for you to do the same!

so, for our fourth and final clue to baby girl's name, please unscramble the letters below (there are 12 letters total, and they spell out her first AND last name):

if you're having trouble seeing the letters, they are:

r e y m

e o g l

a l r n

and if you're STILL stuck, here are more clues:

baby girl will share her name with:

1. a current member of the USA winter olympic team

2. a band from cincinnati, oh

3. a famous mystery author

hope you love our joyful little girl's name, we sure do :)

preggo update: 8 months

2011-10-13T09:51:00.012-05:00

so, i've started to get the comment, "wow!! baby girl really grew these past few weeks!" (aka - andrea, your belly is really getting HUGE!) i didn't think my belly had gotten that much bigger, but kyle has confirmed it. baby girl is getting big and it's only up from here people! i just went to the doctor yesterday, and i have gained a total of 19 lbs, right on track. also, for the rest of the pregnancy, i'm actually supposed to gain a pound a week and most of that is going to be weight baby is packing on. she's preparing for her big day - get ready for some chubby cheeks on that cutie pie!!

baby girl now weighs almost 4 pounds (as much as a jicama. k & i tried jicama once. we didn't love it. but we do love this little jicama very very much!) and is about 17 inches long. as you can imagine, she's getting a little tight on space in my belly. i've now started to feel little feet and hands poking at my ribs or hip bones. it isn't the comfiest feeling, but i still love to feel her moving around in there, so i'll take the pokes :) and of course, she still loves pushing that cute booty out - always on the left side of my belly. she really gets it out there! :)

my big accomplishment this month is finishing the rug!! (just finished it yesterday, 10/12) kyle wasn't so sure i was going to be able to get it done by the time she was here, but i was determined! my mom is coming into town this weekend, for a shower (so so excited - more to come!) & to get the nursery together. i really wanted it to be finished by then. i started on august 24th and finished it in under 2 months - not too bad! baby girl's gray shaggy run is complete!

diligently working :)

the final square!

this month, i also thought i'd update you on some cute things that happened the past few weeks. also, kyle and i have now started to name some of baby girl's movements - hope you enjoy!

cute things that made me smile this month:

cute thing #1: baby girl got the hiccups this month!! i read on my pregnancy updates that this could happen soon, though sometimes you can't feel them. well, one day i woke up and as i lay in bed, it felt like someone was drumming inside my belly. a slow, constant little tapping. then i realized that's how they described hiccups! i quickly texted kyle, who just left for work an hour ago, and he replied: "what?!?! i missed it!" love him. so much. no worries though, she has given daddy a lot more hiccups, and the best part is, he can feel them too!

cute thing #2: i really don't mind the "typical" things in pregnancy that bother a lot of people - others commenting on size/weight or people touching my belly. i've said it before, i really love being pregnant, and consider it a blessing from God that i get to experience it - so why not share that joy with others?

well, i had never had a stranger just come up and touch my belly, until 2 weeks ago. i was babysitting my landlords daughters, and as i picked them up from school, we made a pit stop at the lost and found. as i was talking to the girls, i felt something faintly brush my belly. i thought it was one of them, but realizing where they were standing it couldn't have been them, i looked down. and i found this adorable boy who couldn't have been more than 5 years old. he looks up at me and asks, "is there a baby in there??" my heart melts. "yes, there is a baby in there, a little girl." he gives me a huge smile, showing off his missing front tooth. as we walk away i turn around to see him pulling on his dad's shirt sleeve to tell him, "hey dad, i like babies." me too, little man :)

girl got moves

the earthquake: this one is pretty crazy. though it doesn't sound the nicest, i equate it to baby girl doing seizure-like movements in my belly. she tosses and turns, kicks her feet and arms for about 3-5 seconds, and it looks like she's seriously trying to escape from my belly! or just find a more comfy spot :) i'll quickly tell kyle to look, and all he says is "woah."

the massage chair: you know those massage chairs you sit in when you get a pedicure? or they have them as you wait for a flight at the airport? i never really loved them, but there is one particular setting that baby girl has down! on the chair, i'm assuming it's supposed to feel like knuckles rolling down your back. always made me wiggle. well, baby girl likes to do that same move - i'm not sure what body part she's using but sometimes i can feel something slowly rolling down my side - normally my right side. and i wiggle & squirm every time!

walking on sunshine: she does this most often as i go to bed and lay on my left side. kyle likes to wrap his arm around me so he can feel it too. but it feels like her little feet are on my left side, and she starts moving as if she's walking on the bed! i like to sing to her - "walking on sunshine - woahhh ohhh!" i think she likes it :)

the butt: this move happens most frequently, especially as she's getting bigger and space for her to move is getting smaller. she simply pushes her butt out (she actually just did it as i'm typing!), so much so you could see it by just looking at my belly. i like to think she already knows my voice - often i will say her name or sing to her, and gently rub my belly. 9 times out of 10 she pushes that booty out there to let me know she likes it :)

little kicks: these are the new pokes she's been giving me in my ribs & hip bones. sometimes, if they're gentle enough, i can confuse them with the hiccups. hiccups can feel the same, but they are softer and repetitive.

there are many more tricks she has up her sleeve, but those are the most common moves she shows us!

baby name game: clue 3

2011-10-13T09:44:00.003-05:00

baby girl is just weeks away from meeting all of us (kyle and i couldn't be more excited!!) AND you all are very close to finding out her name... i love seeing every one's guesses (and how adamantly some believe that they HAVE to be right with their guess!)

so... baby girl has another clue. here ya go!

baby name clue #3:

baby girl's name starts with a vowel

happy fall y'all!

2011-10-07T12:43:00.010-05:00

this post is dedicated to the pumpkin we brought home from the elegant farmer. sadly, our home was not its home for long. i was devastated to discover this morning our little pumpkin was no longer on our porch. oh no, it was long, long gone. to whoever stole our pumpkin, i hope you know you took baby girl's first pumpkin. and that makes me sad. very sad. thankfully there are many more pumpkins in the world & many many many falls to celebrate with baby girl!

though i always claimed i was a summer girl (and part of me is slightly sad baby girl will have a winter birthday), i absolutely adore fall. there's something so exciting about the leaves starting to change, a crispness is the air, and putting on a cozy sweater (if it will fit over your belly!) kyle may tell you that something "magical" about fall may be football - football of any kind - nfl, high school, flag football. i'm not ready for cold weather yet, but i am very happy to enjoy this fall with kyle!

to kick the season off right, we went with a group of friends to elegant farmer. last year we checked out apple hollar. kyle claims he likes the hollar better - probably because they have goats walking around on bridges and platforms in the air. check it out, it's crazy. but elegant farmer... i loved it. it was packed with people tryin' to get their fall on (sorry, does that even make since?), but there was just something so rustic and cute about it. the place smelled like cider doughnuts. yum. sold their own canned preserves, cookies and dips. and what really won me over, the adorable baskets you got to pick your apples & pumpkins with. love it.

so, here are a few pictures of baby girl's first trip to the apple orchard & pumpkin patch! hope she enjoys all the apple pie, cider, and butternut squash soup she'll be having the next few weeks :)

the whole gang on a hay ride out to the punkin' patch

our pumpkin looks a little small...and sad... next to jenny & jason's

lookin' for a winner... i liked the small, round pumpkins

when did the belly get this big??!!

on to the apple picking!!

kyle loved gettin' in those trees!

everyone with their baskets full!

all our goodies!!

happy fall y'all! love, the morgans

baby girl's room: nursery part 1

2011-09-29T11:34:00.010-05:00

kyle and i have been hard at work looking for the perfect pieces to put together our little girl's nursery. remember the whole indecisiveness about decorating the nursery? yeah, it's still there, but we have made some progress!!

inspiration for our yellow, pink & gray nursery

(ie random things i find and put in the crib!)

we have a crib, a rocking arm chair, and an adorable dresser (finally!) that i just love. our landlords even had someone come paint the room . it's a lighter yellow color - i think it's so cheery - and joyful! :) also, for the past few months i have been working on making a rug for baby girl. a rug?? i know... i think i got so frustrated not being able to find fabric i liked to make the curtains or bed skirt that i decided, hey why not start another crazy project instead?? enter the 3foot by 5foot shag rug project... it's been pretty fun and i love how it looks, but it is also a very L-O-N-G time-consuming project. i'm over half way done with it, and have had many helpers along the way! kyle has done a little bit, our friend katie has been awesome and helped out with so much, and even two little girls i babysit joined in on the fun! kyle wonders if i'll have it does by the time she's a teenager! but i'm determined before baby girl makes her appearance, it will be all finished!

the gray dresser! (and the first gift we received from our registry - thank you ellie & rachel!)

cutting the millions of strips for the shaggy rug

speaking of friends helping out... one thing i LOVE about the nursery are all the helping hands and little touches from friends. our sweet, sweet friends lauren & steven sauder sent handmade picture frames from thailand for baby girl. yes, all the way from thailand! this little lady is so cultured already :) katie's husband jonathan is a graphic designer from kohl's and is making custom artwork for the nursery! and another friend from small group, jamie, agreed to MAKE custom fabric based on the cover of a boden catalogue i fell in love with. i can't even begin to think about how you would make fabric? this baby doesn't even know how much she is loved already!! but i adore that every time i walk in that nursery, all i have to do is look around and see all the love our friends and family have showered over us. you are all such a blessing to us & our growing family!

so, i will update you as we go along on the progress of the nursery, but for now enjoy a few pictures of the beginning stages!

before (well, sort of during painting)

after!!

the rug! it is now about 3/4 of the way done. woo hoo!

the thailand frames!! love em'

(not sure if these pictures will stay inside of them, but i do think the frames will go above to dresser/changing table)

playing around with fabric to tie in yellow/pink/gray

(ps, yes that footstool says kyle. it was his when he was little. not sure if i'll use it - i was picturing something a little bigger - but i think it's pretty cute!)

baby name game: clue 2

2011-09-25T21:08:00.004-05:00

hello all!

baby girl has another clue for you! it's fun to see all of your guesses...sorry we made you wait so long for clue #2.

so, here you are - the second hint for our sweet little girl's name. make sure to leave a comment with your guess!

clue #2: kyle's sister keri found this website listing names that mean joyful. the name is somewhere on that list.

website in case link above doesn't work: http://bbnames.com/baby_names_meaning_joy.php

preggo update: 7 months

2011-09-22T13:24:00.004-05:00

i can't believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by! i am officially in my third trimester. now that summer is coming to a close, december seems like it's right around the corner. kyle and i both say, " i just wish she were here!" though we are soaking up time together and enjoying baby girl while she's still in my belly!

baby girl now weighs about 2 1/2 lbs ( as much as a chinese cabbage or a butternut squash! we just picked up a butternut squash at the farmers market to make soup to celebrate how big she's getting!) and is over 15 inches long from head to toe. she loves loves loves to move around, and still likes pushing that little booty out - when she does it, you can see it poke out from my belly! she's getting pretty strong with those pushes! kyle is still amazed feeling and watching her move. just last night before going to bed, we laid there and just watched my belly - it looks like a waterbed waving back and forth. if only we could see what she is up to in there!

so, here is a little update on what kyle, baby girl, and i have been up to this past month:

How far along? 29 weeks (30 tomorrow!!)

Total weight gain: about 16-18 pounds. baby girl and i went to the doctor just yesterday and he said we were doing wonderfully both weight-wise & how my uterus measured.

Maternity clothes? yes! and the maternity jeans from old navy fit. i have been wearing them every day now that fall is here :)

Stretch marks? none that i can see, but my belly is still a tiny bit red from the babymoon burn!

Sleep: i woke up this morning with a total of 4 pillows on my side! i have one against my back, one for my head, one to cuddle with in my arms, and one between my legs. i think if you asked kyle, he may tell you i'm taking up more than my half of the bed... and then jackie has really been into sleeping with us lately. thanks for putting up with all the girls, kyle!!

Best moment this month: we finally found a dresser for the nursery! and our landlords had the room painted! (pictures to come soon!)

Have you told family and friends: um, of course! BUT we're still keeping the name under wraps :) look for another clue coming soon!

Movement: yes! still waiting to be able to tell what we're feeling - whether she's poking out her head, or a foot, or that cute little booty!

Food cravings: lately, i've wanted grapes a lot. and juice. but other than that, still no real cravings!

Anything making you queasy or sick: i just went to the doctor yesterday & took the o'sullivan's test to make sure i don't have gestational diabetes. they give you this high-sugar drink and then you have to wait an hour. the drink was carbonated & tasted just like sprite, so that wasn't bad. but as i was waiting, i started to feel a little funny & queasy. but not too bad... thankful it wore off quickly!

Have you started to show yet: yes, kyle thinks i "really" look pregnant now! its funny to go back and look at pictures from 3 or 4 months - then i really look big! wonder how i'll feel toward the end!

Labor Signs: nope - keep growing little girl! you've still got awhile to go!

Belly Button in or out? it's nearing the flat stage - neither in nor out! what's funny though is that giacomo, the little boy i nanny, knows where baby is. when i ask, he always says "baby" and proceeds to lift up my shirt to get a good look at my belly. and inevitably, he pokes at my belly button and says, "hi baby!" too cute

Wedding rings on or off? still on!

Happy or Moody most of the time: pretty happy lately! been waiting for the third trimester tiredness to start in, but for now, i'm feeling good.

Cute Sayings by Kyle: (so i just added this category!) the past few months, kyle has said some pretty sweet things that melt my heart... here are two:

1. (while talking about things on the registry) k: "are there any like cat/baby toys?" a: "what do you mean" k: "like toys that help babies get used to cats and playing with them. then our girls (meaning baby girl and our cat jackie) can play together."

2. (my fav - while hanging out in the living room) a: "wow, baby girl is really moving around in there!! k: (looking up at me) "i just love her..."

Milestones: the babymoon!!! and also just this week kyle and i went to a breastfeeding class together. slowly preparing to be mama and dad!

babymoon: day five

2011-09-19T16:40:00.006-05:00

wednesday, september 7th (written by kyle)

today was a great day! as if the previous four days weren't great as well.. we woke up at 9am (probably won't sleep in once we get home!) and i started making scrambled eggs while andrea got ready. me, andrea and pampaw had a nice breakfast while mamaw got ready. then, we said "bye" to mams and pamps and got ready to hit the road. andrea packed lunch, and we drove to lowdermilk beach/park. it was supposed to be the "pretty" beach but it pretty much looked the same as naples pier beach, but it was less crowded. we sat on our beach chairs so andrea could dip her toes and read her kindle. my chair was just a bit smaller...and i felt like i was sitting on the ground. andrea thought it was funny.

kyle playing in the waves...

we played in the waves, which was an awesome time again, and made sure to apply plenty of sunscreen! we ate lunch then the weather started to turn bad - gray skies and the wind really got going. just as we got to the car, it started to downpour!

once we got home, we relaxed and then got ready to check out some shops at a place called mercato. we got there, but it pretty much looked like any other indoor mall so we passed it up. (later, we found out it's really awesome, mostly outdoors.) we instead decided to go to the waterside shops. this was probably the fanciest mall i've been to - you could eat off the floors it was so clean, even though it was outdoors! there were fountains everywhere and of course, top of the line stores. we stopped in banana republic and ended up having a little shopping spree, mostly for me since andrea is a little "in between" sizes right now. It felt great to spoil ourselves a bit...

we went back home again, and started to make our fancy steak dinner. i manned the grill while andrea made baked potatoes and salad inside. everything tasted great, and it was just nice to spend time with me wife. we ended the night with dessert - apple pie and ice cream. like i said, it was a great day!

babymoon: day four

2011-09-16T10:28:00.007-05:00

tuesday, september 6th (written by andrea)

we woke up in the morning ready to go! we ate our cheerios (of course!), said goodbye to mamaw & pampaw (they went off on their own to explore naples) and were off for our adventure day! first we were going to stop at corkscrew bird sanctuary to start off our day with a little walking, talking and wildlife, well, we found out it was $10/person and an hour away... so, we skipped it and were ready for the real adventure - an airboat ride!

we drove about 45 minutes south to the everglades to speedy's airboat tours. we were able to get on a boat right away - with 4 other people visiting from england & our driver, freddy. the ride started off through the groves in the swamp. they were made out of skinny trees that formed an umbrella over us, just perfect for the airboat to fit under. i liked how the roots of the trees were all exposed above the water. so, we rode through several groves hunting for gators, but never had any luck!

our favorite part was when we would come to an opening in the swamp, and freddy would really step on the gas! that's when we would put on our sweet headphones to block the loud sound of the boat. we would really get flying around! kyle had both hands gripped onto the boat railing - i thought he was scared :) but he said he was just more comfortable that way.

flying around in the boat, we really got a good breeze, so thankfully it wasn't too hot and our sunburns didn't bother us. after an hour, we saw no gators but still had a blast! we actually ended up telling the people on the boat baby girl's name (i know!! don't be mad!!) - they really liked it, which made us even more excited! that was the first time (well, other than giacomo) that we told anyone her name!

we did stop by a nearby park freddy recommended. he said we would mare than likely see alligators there. guess what? no gators. but we did see some crazy birds - one swimming underwater - and a turtle. so we did get to see some wildlife on our adventure day.

after getting home, we relaxed and napped. mamaw and pampaw started making our dinner feast - pork tenderloin, green beans, mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, AND apple pie with ice cream. YUM! - while we ran to target. we ended the night with another round of hand and foot. sadly, the guys won the series, winning 2 out of 3.

babymoon: day three

2011-09-16T10:01:00.003-05:00

monday, september 5th (written by kyle)

another morning of sleeping in until 9am. It felt amazing! after having a great night's rest, andrea and i went out on the lanai and had our cheerios while we prayed and read the Bible. it was awesome because i've missed praying with andrea...

after breakfast we ventured out to "Tin City" which andrea really wanted to see (i had no idea what to expect, but i think she knew it's be just a bunch of shops filled with stuff that no one would ever really need). wow - it was a gold mind for tchotchkes! it made me a little sad to be in there...but we did end up buyinga few shells for .$39 so we could make "marcel the shell" (a little joke gift for mike & kate for their wedding)

checking out the docks at tin city

after tin city, we went to target looking for beach chairs where andrea could read & "dip her toes" at the beach - her favorite thing to do. we found them & headed home to meet mamaw & pampaw, andrea's grandparents who drove down from the tampa area to visit.

we were happy to see mams & pamps, and we all decided to eat lunch before going golfing. we make burgers on the grill, then pamps and i went out to hibiscus golf club. i actually shot pretty well (107) which actually almost beat pampaw (103)!! we played 18 holes in 2 hours & 45 minutes then headed home...

we all got cleaned up went to check out naples. we drove around 5t ave south and third street south. we went to tin city again, this time to try to find a restaurant for dinner. unfortunately, since it was labor day, they were all closed. we tried one more restaurant by the docks, but instead of eating there, just took a few pictures. we actually ended up just stopping at wendy's and grabbing a bite to eat, but we were happy mamaw & pampaw got to see a bit of naples. after dinner, we returned home for some hand & foot (a card game). the girls won but no worries, the guys will have their revenge...

babymoon: day two

2011-09-12T22:35:00.009-05:00

sunday, september 4th (written by andrea)

what a way to start the day! we actually slept in a little (9am!!). one of our favorite things to do - when we are able - is waking up and jut relaxing, hanging out and chatting together in bed. what a treat to get to do that today!

eventually, we got out of bed and out of our pajamas, too :) we ate our bowls of cheerios together at the kitchen table and made plans to explore naples. our first stop: the beach!! kyle saw pictures of naples pier & wanted to go there. so we packed our lunched, put on our suits & were ready to go!

on the way, we got our first "real" view of naples. we drove down 5th avenue south - the main "downtown" area with lots of upscale shops & restaurants. we passed by some big, big houses along the way! finally, we parked the car and made it to the pier.

my favorite part of going to the beach is the first glimpse of the water. the area we walked up was pretty clear, so we saw the gulf of mexico as soon as we walked up! we went down the entire pier (a lot of people fishing!) before we found a spot on the beach.

i was very, very brave (or crazy!) and wore a bikini to show off the pregnant belly (well, really to get some sun on it!) i didn't realize how embarrassed i would be to take off my cover-up, but kyle reassured me i looked cute :) we both agree we loved jumping and diving into the waves - kyle loved it, and was like a little kid again! we ate our lunch, relaxed a bit, and walked along the water. k tried to join in a couple volleyball games, but never got a chance to play :( we wondered if we were getting any sun and found out later we were both burnt to a crisp - including my belly! after the beach, we strolled around third street south a bit, but were way too hot and headed home.

the aftermath of the sunburn...

one red belly & back!!

once back, we relaxed and watched a bit of a movie. then, we got ready (all dolled up!) and headed to 5th avenue south for one of our "celebration" dinners - for our 4th anniversary and for our growing family. we picked bistro 821 - they had a 2 for $30 special that included 2 entrees and bottle of wine (just for kyle to enjoy! we took most of it home!) we talked about being parents and raising our little girl. after, we got giant ice cream cones for dessert, but with our sunburns (especially my belly!!) we were ready to head home and call it a day!

babymoon: day one

2011-09-12T22:20:00.006-05:00

kyle and i kept a little journal during our vacation so we could remember all the memories we made. so, we thought we would share our babymoon adventures with you. kyle actually wrote some of these entries! enjoy!

Saturday, September 3 (written by kyle)

we woke up super early but super excited to start our trip! loaded the car, said goodbye to jackie and headed for the airport. we had no problem getting on our flight out of milwaukee, but getting out of indy was another story. we couldn't get on our scheduled flight to charlotte, because we were flying stand-by (thanks for my dad). a flight cancellation earlier in the day back loaded all the passengers!

thankfully a flight to philadelphia opened up, and we went there instead (the philly airport was real busy, and kind of junky!). then before we knew it, we were off to ft. myers! (i sat next to a very interesting man - who after 10 minutes sitting next to me & talking, said "it's not you, it's me" and went to another seat!) andrea was pretty hungry though out our travels, so we grabbed junk food here and there. i felt kind of guilty feeding baby girl such garbage all day!

finally! about 6:30pm, we got into ft. myers and went to pick up our first ever rented car. we reserved a "compact" variety and totally expected a chevy aveo. but to our delight, the guy directed us to a 2011 dodge avenger, which was awesome! it felt super cool driving a fast car around florida.

cruisin' in the avenger

we got to the condo and were amazed at our home for the week! (we stayed in aunt kathy & uncle terry's condo - thank you thank you thank you again!!) it was so nice, much better than anything we could afford for a week! another blessing from the Lord!

our home for the week!

we went to publix, stocked up on food for the week, got a frozen pizza and watched a movie on the couch... time to relax after a day of travels...

baby name game

2011-09-10T10:34:00.003-05:00

hi all! i am currently at a hotel in new york anxiously awaiting our good friends mike & kate's wedding to take place! kyle is in the wedding, so he has groomsmen activities all day. so, i thought i would say hello to all of you in the meantime :)

we'll post more about the babymoon - but it was just perfect, exactly what we needed! we had beautiful weather, a wonderful time, and the only complaints we have are about our sunburns. even my belly got a little burnt... more on that later

BUT many of you have been asking about baby girl's name. we do have at least the first name picked out, and we are so so very excited about it! we think it's perfect :) we decided to wait until she makes her big appearance to announce her name. which has left many people just a tiny bit sad (cough....mom...cough :) she even said, "how am i supposed to get anything for this little girl if i don't know her name! haha...). so we thought we would do something a little fun. every week or two, we'll post a hint about baby girl's name. though, we're not telling the name, one of you just may figure it out before her birthday!

without further ado, baby name clue number one is:

The meaning of her name is "joyful"

good luck :)

Off for the babymoon....

2011-09-02T22:21:00.005-05:00

hi all!!

just wanted to let you all know we leave bright and early tomorrow morning for our babymoon! some of you are wondering, "baby what??" so here's a little definition:

Babymoon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A babymoon is a period of time that parents spend bonding with a recently-born baby.

More recently the term has come to be used to describe a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby. Babymoons usually take place at a resort that offers appropriate services like prenatal massage.

obviously we'll do plenty of special bonding once baby girl is here, so for now we're following the latter part of the definition!

so, we are off to naples, florida for much needed rest & relaxation! (thank you so much to aunt kathy & uncle terry for allowing us to use their condo & to kyle's parents for setting up our flights!) the past few weeks have been busy busy here. kyle has been working like a dog in the OR and I currently have a pretty mean case of bronchitis. this past week really has been a blur - full of work, running around, sleepless nights with lots of coughing... but of course baby girl letting us know she's still here with lots of kicks!! (ps- this week, at 27 weeks pregnant, she is the weight of a cauliflower!) so this trip is here at a perfect time, not only for kyle and i to soak up time together, but to just sit back, r-e-l-a-x, and have nothing to do!

we would love it if you could pray for our travels - especially our many connecting flights. please pray our bodies would feel well-rested and i would be healed of this mean ol' bronchitis. there are supposed to be scattered thunderstorms all week - if we could get just 1-2 beautiful days at the beach, i would be a happy girl. but most of all, please pray this would be a trip that brings kyle & i even closer together, a time we can reflect on where God has brought us, how He has blessed us, and the amazing future He has for us, especially as parents.

thank you for being a part of our lives & our journey to becoming mommy & daddy. we love you! be back in a week!!

four years old

2011-08-26T09:29:00.005-05:00

on august 25th, kyle and i celebrated our four year anniversary - our last one as a family of two! as fast as this pregnancy is flying by, those past 4 years have gone by even faster. though, it's amazing to thing of all the things we've done and places we've been in those years. meeting at miami university in ohio. getting married and moving to dominica for kyle to go to medical school. moving to chicago for rotations. and now settling down for the next 3 years in milwaukee. we have both loved every single moment of every adventure.

and though it sounds corny, i can't think of anything better than being married to kyle, my best friend. though it's not always perfect, not always smiles, i can fully rely on the fact that i can trust kyle with everything, especially to lead our family. i love how faithful and dependable he is - not just as a husband, but as a man in general, whether it's at work or in his friendships. i know that kyle will always do what's best not just for him, but for both of us, and now, the soon-to-be three of us (4, sorry jackie!) God has revealed to me so, so many ways why He brought kyle and i together, how i am more the woman He created me to be because of kyle, how He is always teaching me and drawing me closer to Him through Kyle, and how we have the amazing responsibility to reflect His love through our marriage. i couldn't ask for a better partner to share all that with!

so yesterday, the night of our anniversary, we relaxed at home. i made dinner & dessert and we of course had to celebrate with sparkling grape juice. we talked about all the memories we've made so far. our favorite parts of marriage. and like we always do, set goals for this next year (last year, i said i wanted to get pregnant!)

the sweet flowers kyle got for me :)

we watched the slide show from our wedding (thank you again o'brien!) and then my favorite, we read through our wedding ceremony, reciting our vows again and making sure we are sticking to them! it was just a great night to thank God for how He's blessed us with each other and all the adventures He's brought us on, and look at where we want our marriage to be in the next year, or 5 years or 50 years from now!

so kyle joseph, thank you for being my best friend and the most amazing husband. God blessed me with you, knowing exactly what i wanted and needed in a husband, and for that, i'll never stop giving Him thanks. happy four years!!

mama's new hair cut

2011-08-26T09:13:00.002-05:00

so... my hair was getting pretty long. i had been growing it out since we lived in chicago. for what reason, i have no clue. so i decided, hey, i'll chop it all off.

before

i tried to convince some of my young life girls to cut theirs with me. no luck. i said i would wait until baby girl was just about here, or just after. but... lately i just needed a change. my clothes aren't fitting. i'm getting just a bit bigger. and my hair was a pain in the behind to dry & fix. and i was running low on patience. so i told kyle i was going to do it. chop it off. and then if i hate it, it will at least have a few months to grow before the babe is here. i just didn't want to do to the typical new mom thing - cut your hair short right when baby comes. why i felt that why, i don't know. i'm sure it's a million times easier.

so... i did it. it was a lot shorter than i thought. though, when kyle met me in college, i had just chopped my hair and i'm pretty sure it was shorter than chin length... i texted kyle immediately... "it's so so so so short!" (yes, all those so's were necessary...)

after

(and yes, if you look at the pics, i didn't have any make up on in the "before" shot - hoping i would look even better in the "after picture." :) ever notice how magazines do that for make overs pictures??)

i'm still a little unsure of it. but still getting used to it. for now, kyle tells me i'm beautiful, big belly, short hair and all - and that's all i need to hear.

preggo update: 6 months

2011-08-26T07:16:00.005-05:00

these months are flying by! i'm already 6 1/2 months pregnant! so far this month, baby girl has been the length of a ear of cob, the weight of a rutabaga, and now today, she is the length of a cucumber. (and English hothouse cucumber to be exact - whatever that is!)

baby girl is now on the move more than ever... and not only can we feel her, but clearly see her move as well. just watching my belly, she can get it rocking & shaking. and just this week, we realized now we can really "feel" her. before, it would just be a simple kick or punch here of there. but now i can gently press on my belly and actually feel where she is, which is pretty amazing! now we just have to figure out where we're poking her - probably on her head or that cute little booty :)

i found this fun little questionnaire that i thought would be a good way to update you on how mama-to-be is doing. overall, i still love being pregnant - i love seeing kyle already becoming a daddy, i love bonding with our little girl before she even makes her first appearance, and i love just having a big ol' belly (though, at times, my clothes don't love me being a bit bigger!) so here you are, a 6 month update on our growing girl!

How far along? 26 weeks

Total weight gain: i would guess about 12-15 pounds (our next appt is monday so i'll have a better idea then! )

Maternity clothes? yes! they are becoming a necessity - especially pants!! i'll just stand in my closet and yell to kyle, "do i really need to wear anything on my bottom half today??" i just ordered some maternity jeans, hopefully they fit!

Stretch marks? i may have the beginning signs of one... yikes!...so we quickly ran out and got palmer's cocoa butter for stretch marks :)

Sleep: i'm starting to get a bit more tired during the day, but don't really take naps. and then at night, baby girl really gets moving... which causes mama to toss and turn all night... so i'm not sure the last time i felt 100% rested, but i'm sure a lot of people feel that way, pregnant or not! (especially kyle waking up at 5am every day!)

Best moment this month: getting the nursery going (though it is stressing me out because i'm being so indecisive!) and being able to really feel baby girl!

Have you told family and friends: um, of course! BUT we're still keeping the name under wraps :)

Movement: yes!

Food cravings: i was hoping i would have more cravings or just enjoy food more in general but that really hasn't been a big part of my pregnancy... though i guess i have been craving fruit, and lately i've mentioned quite frequently to kyle how good donuts and chocolate cake sound

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope, not really... though i did make a big batch of chicken & mushroom pasta last week in hopes we would have lots of leftovers for lunch & busy nights... but after eating it once, for some reason i couldn't even look at it without thinking, "yuck!" - so poor kyle finished off the whole batch by himself over the past week.

Have you started to show yet: yup yup yup - when i feel really big, i tell kyle "today i'm feelin' large and in charge!"

Labor Signs: nope - keep growing little girl! you've still got awhile to go!

Belly Button in or out? it's nearing the flat stage - neither in nor out!

Wedding rings on or off? still on!

Happy or Moody most of the time: i've been pretty happy & relaxed the whole pregnancy. though lately, i've been stressing about decorating the nursery (yes, i even broke down and cried once... over a dresser...) and if you ask kyle, he would very kindly tell you i may be a little more sassy than usual as well

Weekly Wisdom: hmm... constantly remembering what a blessing this pregnancy is, and what a gift that parenting and this little girl will be to kyle and i!

Milestones: chopping off my long, long hair... then constantly telling kyle how i want it back :)

Sorry!

2011-08-05T20:38:00.002-05:00

the morgan family certainly has been slacking lately with the blog - sorry! we've been a busy busy family, going out of town, plans every weekend, and getting ready for baby girl to come! i promise to offer a more in depth update of what we've been up to, but for now here are a few short snippets of what kyle, baby girl & i have been up to:

- baby girl has been practicing her karate - a lot! though she doesn't seem to move all day long, she really gets moving in the morning when i first get up and then before bed. it's become more of a constant thing, but i can never get enough of feeling her move around in there! and now she's moving enough so we can see her kicks just looking at my belly

- today, at 23 weeks pregnant, baby weighs as much as a large mango (over a pound!) and is as big as a spaghetti squash!

- kyle & i had a lot of fun celebrating the 4th of july and both of our birthdays - more to come on those later!

- kyle is off at a bachelor party this weekend, while the "girls" are at home getting ready for a wedding next weekend. i'm helping my good friend colleen with all the paper goods for her wedding and am also standing up with her at the wedding. baby girl especially can't wait to be a bridesmaid! (and, even though i ordered the bridesmaid dress back in the spring and guessed on the size, it actually fits pretty well & only have to get the straps altered!)

- we went on our first registering adventure at BuyBuyBaby. and was it an adventure.... who know there was SO MUCH stuff in one store that your baby "needs." it was a lot of fun though a bit overwhelming. soon we'll have to do round 2 because we couldn't make it through all in one trip!

- we've also been on the hunt for some fun pieces for the nursery - like a older dresser to refinish (kyle likes to call it "shabby chic"), a new crib, and a rocker/glider (i've got pottery barn taste but have been scouring craigslist & rummage sales for deals!) also, i would love to sew a lot of things for the nursery, so we've been hunting for the perfect fabric and colors. it's a lot all at once, but i'm so so excited to get baby girl's room set up!

so that's it for now - a quick little update. look for more to come soon!! baby girl says hi & she loves all of you :)

finally!

2011-07-21T12:47:00.002-05:00

we finally felt our little girl move! last friday (7/15) i was in ohio for a wedding, and after the rehearsal dinner, i was talking to my mom when i felt a new little movement in my belly - it wasn't "butterflies" like most people describe them or even a very soft, gentle feeling. it was more like a little bump or kick. she quickly put her hand on my stomach but couldn't feel anything. right away i called kyle, who was still in milwaukee, and when he didn't pick up, i texted, "i think i felt the baby move!" but that feeling only happened 1-2 more times, then no more. and seeing as i can attribute a lot of twinges and feelings down there to the joys of "pregnancy flatulence" (sorry for the honesty!) i wasn't 100% sure that was baby girl.

until last night... kyle and i were laying in bed talking before we fell asleep, and there it was again! I put his hand on my belly, and we waited for it to happen again. a few seconds later, i felt it and i quickly looked at kyle - he was wide-eyed and all smiles. he felt it too! and baby girl gave us lots more kicks and pokes for the next 5 minutes that both of us could feel. finally, i could feel her and knew 100% that was her giving mom & dad a little hello (or just finding a more comfy spot!). this morning she wanted to make sure i knew she was still there - as i drove to work, it felt like she was just bouncing along in my belly. it's amazing to start to fall in love with this little girl that we haven't even truly met yet. but she is already is so so loved!

preggo update: 5 months

2011-07-14T15:45:00.010-05:00

please excuse the untanned belly :)

today, i am five months pregnant! and it's definitely showing. it's now been safe for strangers to ask when i'm due, instead of them just looking at me and wondering, "is she having a baby or did she just eat too much for lunch?" according to our weekly updates, baby girl is now the length of a banana and her big accomplishment this week: swallowing. yup, workin' that digestive system. you go girl.

i really have loved being pregnant, especially after the first trimester (which, as i think back on it now, wasn't all that bad!) lately, my back being sore & restless sleep are my only complaints, but it's something i can definitely deal with. my only "real" complaint is i haven't "felt" baby girl move yet. and we know she's moving! she did plenty of that during the ultrasound, and when i went to my doctor the next day, he could hear her moving as we listened to the heartbeat. it's just a matter of me feeling it. a majority of people describe it as "butterflies in your stomach" which i have had none of. i have just had little pangs that aren't too painful, but seem like they're more from my uterus stretching than baby doin' a little dance in there. so hopefully soon, i will know without a doubt that that was our baby girl moving!

everyone keeps asking if i have any cravings... i at first said no. i'm often hungry, but give me a menu at a restaurant and it would take me an hour to narrow down my choice! maybe that's because i'm just indecisive in general. but lately, i've had some very specific cravings. and kyle has too :) we've both been loving pickles. we've finished 2 jars already! and i can't tell you how good sour candy tastes to me - sour patch kids, runts, etc. i find myself stopping at the 25cent machines just to grab some candy. not the healthiest things, but oh they do taste good!

thank you so much for all your congratulations & comments about the video. we are beyond excited for our little baby girl and feel so loved that all of you are looking forward to her arrival, too! i realized we mentioned that we found out we're having a girl but forgot to mention that the doctor told us that, from what she could see in the ultrasound, she's a very healthy baby girl! all her fingers & toes are accounted for, brain, heart, kidneys, bones, etc all look good. it's absolutely amazing the detail we could see and all the information the doctor could get from the ultrasound.

so overall, at 5 months, mama, dad and baby are all doing great. i've started brainstorming already for the nursery and am ready to get going. i think i'm a natural nester, so when that phase sets in, watch out kyle!!

ps-
i like how many of you voted in the poll even after we announced it was a girl :) and a few people even still guessed boy... but most of you were right, baby morgan's a baby girl!