Rice cereal

Ella started rice cereal. She amazed me by opening her mouth up wide for a big bite on the very first time I brought the spoon toward her! She is slowly getting the hang of swallowing it : ) She is eating 1-2 tablespoons twice a day right now. It's amazing how fast they change. I'm trying to enjoy every second of her being this little!

Here comes the first bite!

A little messy...
Sitting at the dinner table with Daddy and sister - what a big girl!

Sweet sisters : )

I was getting ready to feed Ella the other day when Lia adamantly declared "Mama, I'm going to give Ella a bottle by myself. I just need to get a burp cloth. I'll be right back, ok?" Well, how could I say no to such a determined little attitude : ) So, we sat on the couch and Lia did a wonderful job feeding baby sister (notice how she even has the burp cloth up on her shoulder - too funny!) She wanted to burp Ella by herself too, which did require some help from Mama, but she was successful. Ella looks like a giant in the photo of Lia burping her. I promise, she is actually a normal sized baby despite how things appear in this picture! Ha! As always, I was very proud of Lia being such a loving, gentle and thoughtful big sister. Lili - you are an absolutely incredible little girl and Daddy and I love you more than words can express! And little Ella Bella - you are a constant source of joy with your big smile and happy attitude. We are infinitely blessed to have these two sweet daughters - what a great family!!!

Family Vacation at the cabin

We took our first real family vacation to the cabin with both kiddos and Daddy got to stay all week!! It was SO much fun for us as a family! We had a relaxing week just spending great quality time together with the girls. Here are some photos from our wonderful week:

Roasting marshmallows with Daddy in the fireplace on the back porch

"I want to help you Daddy!"

Putting the S'mores together

Yummy!! That first heavenly bite : )
Watching all the fun, such a happy little girl all the time!
Loving on my two sweet baby girls - I love my daughters with all my heart!!!!

Their very first bath together - Lia wanted to bathe Ella's feet and look at Ella just smiling up at her sister : )
My cuties in the tub

The highlight of Lia's life - meeting "the real" Aubie!!! She was thrilled that he would hold her!

Hanging out with my little bro at his house in Auburn. We had a blast catching up!

Lia and Daddy putting deer corn out in our back yard for our new friends

Lia loved throwing the corn all over the woods : )


The fruits of her labor - we had 4 deer making nightly visits to eat in our back yard and we could watch them right from the back porch - so cool!
Snuggled up with my little bug by the fire
We met Cameran and Bentlee for lunch in Auburn and had a great time visiting!
Grandaddy, Uncle Gordon, Philip, and Cliff going quail hunting at the farm

Ella's Baptism

On February 18th 2012, we had Ella baptized at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Auburn. It was such a wonderful day! We were blessed to have so many of our friends and family join us for the celebration. As we did just a couple of short years ago with Lia, we had the baptism at 1:00 at the church and a luncheon afterwards. The ceremony was perfect and Father Bill, once again, was just amazing. We are so thankful that he was able to perform the baptism for Ella too.

Afterward, we went to Terra Cotta Cafe for lunch with our family and friends. Thanks again to everyone who made the trip to be there with us! Ella got many thoughtful gifts (and Lia was lucky enough to snag a few herself!) Thank you all for being there to help us celebrate the beginning of Ella's spiritual life!

With Ella's god parents, Uncle Cliff and Aunt Ginny. Thank you both for sharing in this special day and for the commitment you have made to Ella as you did for Lia.

My little family with Mimi and Grandaddy and Nana and Papa

Ella wore the baptismal gown that I wore when I was baptized as a baby and Lia wore when she was baptized in 2009. I hope we can continue to pass it down through the generations!

Me and Mama - she did so much for make the whole day beautiful and memorable, thank you so much Mom!!!!

Ella loves Lia!

Ella just adores her big sister! Here is a video from this afternoon of the two of them just giggling away together : )

Bangs!

My little girl is growing up! Lia got a brand new hair cut today, and she now has bangs! She looks so stylish and so much older : )

Ella is 3 months old!

Ella is now 3 months old!

She weighs 11 lbs 6 oz now. I know that because we had to make an unscheduled trip to the doctor recently. Poor baby sister caught Lia's awful cold virus and has been having a pretty rough time lately. She has been sleeping with her mattress inclined to help the drainage, using a humidifer 24 hours a days, getting her nose suctioned with the bulb syringe frequently, taking long steamy baths at night, and using a little baby Vick's to help ease her congestion. After about 2 miserable weeks of being sick, she has finally turned a corner and seems to be getting better.

We enjoyed a few nights of good sleep as her cold cleared and things seemed to be settling back to normal. Then, on Thursday, Ella cried on and off for hours when we put her to bed. Then again on Friday, she cried all night long. We finally determined that she must be getting her first tooth. Lia didn't get her first tooth until 7 1/2 months old, but it seems that Ella is ahead of the game on this milestone! We got some Baby Orajel and that really helped her. After 2 days of never sleeping more than 45 minutes at a time, she took a 4 hour nap today!! I'm so glad my tired little tiger got some relief and some rest. I hope this tooth makes its entrance soon so we won't have to deal with all the sleeplessness much longer!

So, for this month's post, I'm going to borrow some formatting from Melissa's blog about Colin. I love how organized her monthly milestone posts are and want to make sure I keep up with all things Ella as well as Melissa does for Colin : )

Here it goes:

Nicknames: E, Ella Bella, Buggy Boo, Little Sister

Likes: bottles, Sleep Sheep, Johnson's Bedtime Bath and Lotion, Lia, Baby Einstein activity mat, Praise Baby and Baby Einstein DVDs


Dislikes: being left alone, being laid down for her naps, paci when she's hungry

Milestones: Ella likes her night time routine, which now includes a bath, before bottle and bedtime at about 7:30 pm. She is sleeping with her arms out of the swaddle and has figured out how to suck her thumb!

Feeding: Ella eats 5 times per day, usually about 4-5 oz of Similiac Soy formula.

Sleeping: First bottle is usually at 5:30 am, then it's back to sleep until 8:30. Ella stays awake for about an hour and a half at a time before she needs another nap. She takes a morning, afternoon and evening nap.

Behavior: Ella is such a happy, easy going baby! She loves to watch Lia play, smile at Mama and Daddy, and play happily on her mat. She doesn't cry much unless something hurts (like her tooth!)

Playing dress up!

Clothes: 3 month clothes but I think we may be moving to 6 months soon...

Favorite Moments: Ella is adorable when she first wakes up - she stretches really big, then looks up and grins from ear to ear! She also really enjoys her bath at night, and it's so fun to watch her splash around!


Looking Forward To: Getting better at sleeping all night long with no crying!

And here is Lia at 3 months for comparison: