One cute little feature...

So, it's pretty obvious that Ellie looks JUST like her Daddy. Even though I was the one that carried her for 40 1/2 weeks. I was sick... a lot! I gained 32 pounds. I pump her breakfast, lunch, dinner and every snack in between (the nursing thing just never really happened). I spend all day every day with her. Now don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining at all. I am loving every minute! And it doesn't bother me one bit that she looks just like him and EVERYONE says it. Hey, at least she's cute!

There is one thing that she did get from my side of the family. Let's just say my mom and I squealed with excitement when we first discovered it in the NICU. They are hard to capture on camera so excuse the horrible quality of the 2 pics I have. But I think you will know what I am talking about when you see the pictures!

And there is one pretty proud grandmother (De De) who is over the moon about these cute little dimples. Hmmm wonder why?? Ha! I think she may have gotten them from her!

See the resemblence? We love you De De!

Weekly Pictures

I can't believe our sweet girl is 4 weeks old! I am glad I decided to take a weekly pic instead of just a monthly one...they really do change so much, so fast! We will still do a monthly pic too. She will officially be 1 MONTH OLD on Friday. Time to start planning her birthday party!
(I am only kidding, I would never wish these sweet days away).

Girls Day

So B.E. (before Ellie) Fridays usually meant lunch with my 2 of my girl friends that also have flexible work schedules. Leigh is a nurse and works 3 days a week and Jenny makes her own schedule kind of like I do. Before Ellie was born, they always said they would come over and bring us lunch so we could keep our Friday tradition alive. Well last Friday they did and it was so much fun! Ellie of course had to get dressed up for our visitors, so I chose a sweet homemade day gown made by my lifelong friend Emily Hefner's mom Miss Betsy. She is so talented and creative and I just love this smocked gown she made for her. I also love that is is long and loose which means she will be able to wear it for a while!
I'm telling you it is hard to pick out what to wear when you have so many options and it all looks good! I wish I had that problem..ha! I didn't get a pic of us eating lunch, but I did manage to snap a few of our sweet girl in her pretty gown and a few of my friends loving on her! I forgot to mention that they showed up at our house around 1pm Friday afternoon and left around 5:30!! None of us could believe it was that late, but the time really did fly by. Leigh's husband kept asking "what do yall do for 5 hours?" and she really didn't have an answer! We never run out of stuff to talk about and with a sweet baby to stare at, the time just kind of runs away from you! We also managed to keep ourselves entertained by trying a few home remedies to find out the gender of Leigh's baby. I'll keep those details to myself, but we can't wait to find out what Baby Dodds is! One more week and we will know if Ellie will have a BF (boyfriend) or a BFF (best friend forever). Daddy is hoping for a BFF...I think the thought of Ellie having a BF is scaring him already!
I can't wait until I can finally get Ellie out of the house and take her out to lunch with the girls. I'm already looking forward to manis and pedis too...but I guess we can wait a few years for that:)

Photoshoot and Ellie's closet

I knew when I found out we were having a girl that it meant bad news for all involved. I am jealous of Ellie's closet and she is only 4 weeks old. It is ridiculous, but I am just so thankful because we are so blessed. I have shopped quite a bit myself but for the most part we have been given the majority of what she has. For example, the day after we found out it was a girl, my sweet grandparents went out shopping and came back with half of the store! And my BFF (AKA Aunt Jenny) loves to shop so we get lots of cute stuff from her as well, although I told her it is time to STOP! Most children have the amount of stuff my grandparents bought all together, but not Ellie! We change clothes about 4 times a day. Mostly because she is a MAJOR spitter, but also because I am afraid she is going to outgrow the smaller clothes before she can wear them all. Pitiful I say! So in honor of her stylish wardrobe and just because I have turned into that mother that poses her 4 week old and dresses her up just to stare at her, we had a little photoshoot on Monday. We are having professional newborn pics taken tomorrow afternoon, but having an iPhone is just so convenient. The quality isn't as great, but it makes it so easy to upload to Facebook and email over to the grandparents. If I can ever get her closet presentable and organized, I will snap a picture of it too. Don likes to joke that we have a blanket for everyday of the week, but really I think we could go 2 weeks and use a new blanket and use a different burp cloth for each feeding for about 4 or 5 days! Enjoy the photoshoot...I love some of the faces she makes!

I'm still here/ random hodge podge/ longest post ever!

So I told you I was going to try and be good about keeping this blog updated, and I have already been slacking! I will admit that my computer time is MUCH more limited with a 4 week old, but she is a great baby and takes good naps during the day. I should be more resourceful with my time and do laundry or dishes, but today we have been camped out in the bed watching Food Network and playing on the computer. Really, when I say we, I mean me! Those 3 hours in between feeding time sure do fly by. And her little internal clock (or tummy) knows when those 3 hours are up! She eats during the day every 3 hours like clock work. At nights I have been feeding around midnight and she has been sleeping until around 4:30 am! Whoo hoo! That means I have been getting 4 1/2 straight hours of sleep! A month ago I would have NEVER thought I would be that excited about only 4 hours of sleep. But now, 4 short weeks later...I can't even remember what life was like before she was here. Now after our 4am feeding, she has been going back to sleep until around 8:30. So you know what that means...4 more hours of sleep for Mommy! Poor Don has to be at work at 5 am on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, so I have spared him his usual 4 am feeding and I have taken over so he could get 1 more hour of sleep.

I know I bragged on him a little bit in an earlier post, but I really can't say enough about how amazing he has been. I won't say I was surprised at how well he has done because I always knew he would be a great Daddy, but I just appreciate the help so much and love seeing him talk sweet to her and change her clothes and feed her. It is just the sweetest thing ever. Who knew a big football coach could be such a softie. I guess that's what having a baby girl will do to ya! He walks in the door after work every night and goes straight up to her and says "Hello Beautiful". Talk about melt your heart! In 5 1/2 years I never got that!! But that's ok. He adores her (and me still, I hope!) and that's all that really matters. She's defintiely going to be a Daddy's girl! We are adjusting well and love Ellie more and more every second. Being a mommy is so much fun. Exhausting and busy, but so much fun.

Oh I think I hear Lil Bit waking up...must be feeding time again!

We're Home!

Welcome Home Ellie! Wow! I can't believe we have had her home almost a week. On Tuesday, February 2nd, we dressed her up in her coming home dress, strapped her in her super cute carseat, and made the long drive around the corner to our home! I couldn't stop smiling that whole morning. After we got her home, all I could say was...now what? HA! So we all just sat there and stared at her. It was a great day. My mom stayed with us and was a huge help. She cooked, cleaned, did laundry, went to the grocery store and even helped with those late night feedings. I was scared to death for her to leave, but so far...so good! Her sleeping has been a little off the last 2 nights, but overall she is still such a good baby. I am enjoying every minute and can't believe I am a Mom!!

The NICU

I know I said I was trying not to dwell on why or how all of this happened, but I do want to let you all know about our NICU experience. Hopefully I can sit here and type without sobbing! We are new parents who were thrown into this situation pretty clueless. Never did we imagine that when Ellie was born she would be rushed to the NICU and we wouldn't be able to hold her and show her off to friends and family after the birth. Luckily, the nurses in the NICU have been amazing. We have been able to change diapers, bathe her, and I even brought over some of her own clothes so she can look extra cute (which is so important to this mama)!! They have really helped us adjust to having a newborn. Looking back at that first night, everything was such a blur. I don't think we really realized what was to come or how sick our little baby was. Thank goodness she has improved each day and it's amazing to see how much she has changed! She has gone from barely taking a bottle to being Miss Piggy and sucking them down. I told her we like to eat in our house so she better get with the program, and it didn't take her long to get the hang of it! I was so sad to leave the hospital without her. I had always envisioned Don pushing me in a wheelchair while I held her in my lap, surrounded by balloons and flowers and taking pictures in the car for our drive home. That didn't happen last week, but it will happen tomorrow! I think all of the waiting to bring her home will make that moment even sweeter now. I am thankful to be bringing a healthy baby home, even if it is a week later. I am thankful for the doctors and nurses who have taken such good care of her. I am thankful for the sleep and rest I have been able to get before she comes home. Most of all, I am thankful for our sweet baby girl!!!