the day her hair stayed flat...

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

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

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

jammin' to her new piano toy in her crib.

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

so focused...

miss bashful

wheeeeee - flying ellery!

my two favorites :)

bumbo: take 2

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

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

no more burrito baby

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

soakin' up the sunshine

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

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

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

mama & e photo shoot

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

inspiration photo:

our photo:

inspiration photo:

our photo:

eclectic ellery's first art show

when i was pregnant and kyle and i talked about who we imagined ellery would be, we both imagined her with an eclectic, artistic style, a creative girl who marches to her own drum. so we thought taking ellery to her first art show at 3 months would be perfect :)

our friend jamie, who made some of the fabric in ellery's nursery, had an exhibit featuring her piece for her mfa thesis at university of wisconsin- milwaukee. so we put ellery in her petunia picklebottom sling (which she now loves!) and we were off! well, e got to sneak a peak at jamie's work, and then it wasn't long before our little girl was fast asleep! but we're hoping those few minutes that she got to take in jamie's amazing work really got those artsy & creative juices flowing :)

the bald spot...

so, we've started to become a little obsessed with headbands... not just because they're super cute, but because they serve a very important purpose in the life of ellery.

covering up the bald spot.

ellery loves to move around in her crib. i'll lay her down owe way, and walk in later to find she has moved herself all over the place. and her hair has payed the price for all that moving. slowly, the more ellery would rub her head & move in her crib, the more hair would fall out. and now she's rockin' a pretty sweet bald spot on the back of her head :)

mom, please no pictures! totally embarrassing...

bald spot and all, i still love you to pieces ellery, my cutie pie!

she had to show off her "standing" a little... baby girl loves to stand! - and i cropped myself out of the picture, but momma was right there to lend e a helping hand to hold her up :)