Little Miss Roly Poly

We have a little roly poly. Ellie started rolling over this week. She did it for the first time while I was at the computer and I got a picture of her after the fact. She is pretty proud of herself. We cheer after she does it and she smiles with satisfaction at conquering this task. Way to go Ellie, we are so proud of you!!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year. Being Ellie's first Easter made it very special. We also got to have some great family time as Ben was home a little more that weekend. We started by dying eggs a few days earlier. I loved to dye eggs as a child and couldn't wait to share that with Ellie, of course this year it was more for me :) Ellie started Easter morning with a great wake up. She woke up cooing and smiling in her new monkey jams that Ben found on sale. It was a wonderful blessing to hear the morning of Easter. Then we had our church Easter services at Verizon amphitheater and it was a beautiful time to be outside. Ellie got to wear her Easter dress that I got for a great deal at the consignment shop and she even got a visit from the Easter bunny who brought her her very own Easter basket. We then had a wonderful Easter meal at our friend's and neighbor's house. It was a wonderful day. We took a few pictures, many more than Ben and I usually do. We are trying to get better about pictures, but we aren't picture people. Hope you enjoy the ones we did take!

Learning to Love Cereal

Ellie has started eating cereal. She loves to watch us eat so we started her with her very own food, rice cereal. The first attempt she did not like and we did not even finish one tablespoon. The second attempt she ate all of it. She made many funny faces to let me know she wasn't in love with it and even threw in a few coughs for added drama. The third attempt I got a few pictures and she had fewer funny faces and only one cough for drama. She is learning to love it and in another few days we may even try more than one tablespoon.

Hello Spring!

Ellie, Ben and I enjoyed the last two days outside. Ben did a lot of yard work and Ellie and I kept him company. We are so excited that spring is here and we can put all our winter clothes away!

Geep and Gran Visit

Last Friday Ben's parents came to visit and see Ellie. We got a few snapshots and tried to get ones of her smiling, but the camera is just so interesting these days she can't stop staring. Thanks for coming to visit Geep and Gran!

4 Months Old

Last week Ellie turned 4 months old. We can't believe how fast the time goes. We went to the doctor and Ellie got 3 more shots, which Ben got to experience with us, and her usual measurements.

Weight: 11 lbs. 12 oz.
Height: 23 1/2 inches

She is still tiny, but on track for her. She hit the double digits in weight and is doing great. She has been learning many new skills. She loves to tell us stories and smiling. She has started to do little giggles here and there. She can hold her toy rattle and loves to lick just about anything. She even transferred her toy from one hand to the other one day. She is practicing rolling over. When she lays on her back she can get on her side but needs a little help rolling all the way over. I did wake up one morning to find her on her stomach, so she has rolled over on her own, but not to her knowledge. She also can figure out how to turn herself around on her back or stomach if she wants to get different viewpoints. She loves her Bumbo and loves to watch basketball with Ben. He calls it her eyeball sugar. We tried the jumping seat. She thinks it is very nest that she can stand and see me and I am not holding her. She loves standing when we hold her, but as you can see from the picture she is very little, so she will need some time to grow into it. Ellie also started sucking on her two fingers, which I did when I was young, and she has discovered the camera, which makes smiling for pictures difficult since she can't stop staring at it. We can't wait to see what she learns this month!

1st Family Road Trip and Vacation

Ben, Ellie and I went on our first vacation this past weekend. We went to Tennessee to see my parents and so Ellie could meet her Great Grandparents. They were super excited to meet her and it is a true blessing for them to meet and hold our first child. We also were able to take a 4 generation picture, which is very special for us. Ellie also turned 3 months before we left. She is smiling more, able to play independently for a good amount of time and is discovering her voice. We had a wonderful time and Ellie did wonderful in the car. She slept most of the time and did a great job entertaining herself with her new toys, her hands, when she was awake. We can't wait to visit again!!!