3 Month Pictures

I can't believe I am up this early blogging and Ellie is still sleeping, but I woke up when I heard her wiggling around on the monitor and by habit I checked facebook on my iPhone. When I looked at my notifications, I saw that our photographer had tagged me in some of her pictures! I couldn't believe she finished them so soon. Here are a few and if you want to see the rest, click here to go to her website. After you reach her homepage click contact, then click on current customers click here to view online proofs. The second box in the middle will say children, so click there. Then 7 boxes across look for Ellie-3 months and click there! The password is Pitt. I am very happy with how they turned out!

Carrie Diaries giveaway

Caroline over at Simply Smithwick is giving away a copy of The Carrie Diaries. Go here to check it out and enter. I know I am!

4 months old!

Today is Ellie's 4 month birthday. That is really hard to believe. She is just growing before my eyes! This morning I had to be on the phone with my boss and I was soooo nervous she would get fussy or have a meltdown while we were going over my evaluation (which went excellent by the way) but she did great! I can't believe I have been with my company for 3 years. I love my job and it has really been the perfect fit for me, especially since Ellie was born. We get to spend lots of quality time together which I LOVE!!!

Anyway, we are busy getting ready for our beach trip! I can't wait to see her in her little swimsuits and cover-ups and I also can't wait to take millions of beach pictures! I am looking forward to some rest and relaxation too:) I am a little nervous about the long car ride with a 4 month old...but we are breaking it up halfway so we are hoping that will help. My parents gave us a dual screen DVD player for the car, so we will be playing lots of Baby Einstein DVD's I'm sure!

Be on the lookout next week for a beach trip post. I am not taking my laptop with me. I hope I survive, but I really don't want to be glued to the computer. I'd much rather spend lots of time with my sweet girl and her daddy!!

I thought babies got ear infections!

So I noticed Saturday afternoon that the outside of my ear was a little sore. I brushed it off and tried to forget about it. Yesterday morning before church as I was getting ready, it really started throbbing. All I could think was, great. I was prone to ear issues when I was little, but I haven't any problems in years, and I defintely haven't been in a swimming pool yet this year. Last night and this morning it has been so bad that I can hardly chew or swallow. So I guess after Don gets home it's off to the Minor Med for me! Ugh no fun. I hate to turn this into a complaing post but it hurts! I am just glad it's me and not Ellie, although I am sure her time is coming.

And all this time I thought babies got ear infections!

Feeling Crafty

Since I have been on an even tighter budget lately, I have been trying to keep myself out of Target and off of Etsy by making a few things myself. I know I have said this before, but I am not crafty. I will only attempt things I know I can do. There is one project I finished last night that I can't post yet because it is part of a gift I am giving to my brother and Rachel at their shower tomorrow...but I will have to say I LOVE how it came out! In fact, I am making some for us now too!

So after that project turned out so well, I decided to work on a couple of things for Ellie. I normally am not a fan of zebra print for baby girls (it's just not very babyish) but the iron on prints only came in zebra, leopard and camo so my options were limited. Basically all I did was print off my own pattern from enlarging a letter to size 300 font on Microsoft Word, cut it out, cut out my fabric, and ironed it on to my onesie and bib! It was a simple project, but I am proud of my little creation. Who knows...I might keep going and see what else I can come up with. It was fun and I am pretty proud of myself!

We Love LU!

Today was a crucial day for Lambuth...and we got good news! The private investment firm they were hoping would buy out the university has a been approved by the Board of Trustees, and payroll will be met on June 1st. So far, these are the only details I have. I do know that final plans are still being hammered out and this should all be complete before the final SACS paperwork is turned in on May 28th.

Thank you all again for your continued support and prayers. We could have never gotten through this without our loving family and friends.

Here is the post that LU just put up on Facebook:

ambuth University Takes Major Step to Secure Future

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Today at 5:37pm

LAMBUTH UNIVERSITY TAKES MAJOR STEPS TO SECURE FUTURE

Jackson, Tennessee, May 21, 2010:

The Lambuth University Board of Trustees met today and reviewed a Letter of Intent submitted by an investment firm for the acquisition of the school.

President Bill Seymour told the Board that this was the best proposal Lambuth has received
throughout its year-long process of searching for a suitable partner.

The Board gave approval for the sale of university assets to the company pending a few final
details that needed clarification or negotiation. Dr. Seymour said that he felt confident that these details could be satisfied in the next couple days enabling the school to meet its May 28 deadline to submit revised documents to SACS. Once those materials are submitted then SACS will make the final determination about a change in ownership during their June 21-23 meeting.

Once the Letter of Intent is finalized and signed, the University will release the name of the
company and their principal officers. Dr. Seymour praised the work of his administrative team as well as the entire faculty and staff. He also expressed appreciation for the Board of Trustee members for their faith and support.

Lambuth University is affiliated with the United Methodist church and was founded in 1843. In the ensuing years, Lambuth has earned a reputation as one of the South’s premier liberal arts universities and has received national recognition as one of the nation’s Top 250 Liberal Arts Colleges by U.S. News & World Report and as one of the nation’s “Top 100 Outstanding
Colleges” by The Washington Post.

16 Weeks

So I talked to Dr. Amy's office and they decided to switch her reflux meds from Zantac to Prevacid. I hate my little 4 month old (almost) has to be on medicine already. I really hope this works. I kind of wish they had told us to come in yesterday because I wanted to talk to her about switching over to Soy formula, but we go in 2 weeks anyway, so maybe I will ask then.

Anyway, it has been pretty crazy around here lately. Between working on Don's resume and him applying for jobs and now working 2 jobs...my job has picked up and I have had a lot going on too. I have been worn out since last Friday! Ellie's spit up alone is exhausting. I know that may seem silly but I hate seeing her suffer and the laundry and clothes changing is never ending! Her little neck is red and irritated again. I bathe her every night now, so I don't know how this keeps happening. She's had another sponge bath this morning and we are back on the gold bond regimen so I hope this helps. I promise I am not hurting her when I pull her jaw up, she just has so many rolls and creases that this is the only way I can reach under there! Poor thing, I just hate this.

Today she is 16 weeks old! I know I say this every week but she really is the sweetest, cutest thing ever. I love her to pieces more and more each day:)

I forgot to post this earlier but here she is in her christening gown before the major meltdown and before Kristina Only took her pictures. I cannot wait to see them. I just know they are going to be so sweet.

Friday afternoon, I did my regular lunch date with Jenny and Leigh and we decided to go get a scooop of ice cream at Maggie Moo's. I know Miss E is my girl...she was dying for some of Leigh's ice cream!! It was too funny watching her stare at that cup:)

After Don got home Friday, they just played and played in the floor while I took pictures. I thought these were sweet. She is snoozing right now... and I better get back to work!

THANK YOU!

Well it is 9:39 and Ellie is still snoozing so I thought I would try and get a quick post in. (Just to clarify...she did wake up at 5:45 to eat and then I put her back down).

First off...the spit up is back and worse than ever. She pretty much spit up all weekend non-stop so I put in a call to the doc this morning and now just waiting to hear back. I think switching to Soy formula might be what we have to do but we will see. I will keep you posted!

Secondly, I found out this weekend that a lot more people read my silly blog than I thought and I am SO embarrassed! Too late to worry about that now I guess! I am doing this for me since I am such a bad scrapbooker/babybooker. My mom even gave me a calendar with stickers to try and make it easier and I haven't kept up with it past the first month. I will admit, I am kind of addicted to my laptop. But good thing is, all of you out there that read my post about LU must have done some kind of praying because...

Don started a new job today!!!!

It is just temporary...but it's a paycheck! They actually wanted to hire him full-time but he decided to hold off to see what happens with the school and his "real job" before he just ups and leaves. I totally understand this and truly admire him for sticking it out even though all of this instability is about to drive me insane. But I knew he would find something and I am so grateful for the city of Jackson for hiring him! He actually worked for them about 5 years ago so he is familiar with all he will be doing which is an added bonus.

And just because I thought this little dress was too cute, I decided to show you what our little sailor girl looked like before church yesterday morning. This was pre-spit up! She had a pretty good one right as I strapped her in her carseat and we were already running late so I didn't have time to change her. By the end of the service she was just covered poor thing:( Thank you to Mrs. Peggy in the LU Athletic office for this sweet little dress!

Never say never

Before Ellie was born I swore up and down I would never put her in those tacky head band bows. I just knew when she came out she would have a head full of brown hair and I would be sticking a hairbow in her hair right away!

Well I am eating my words now. I can hardly resist not putting a bow in her hair for every cute outfit! A girls gotta accessorize, after all. So here she is...in those awful, tacky headband bows! And as you can see...I have branched out a little and found a headband where you can switch out the bows. I think she looks pretty darn cute:)

A few Ellie updates

You all will have to excuse me for kind of venting/letting it all out on here last night regarding the whole Lambuth situation. Needless to say we are saddened and worried about all that is going on. The good thing is that I know whatever happens was meant to be and we will push through!

In other news...Ellie is just moving right along! I have officially upped her to 6 ounces every feeding and she is now also wearing a size 2 diaper. She is just growing by the minute. She also turned 15 weeks old this week! These weeks just seem to fly by. We would like to thank Uncle Matt and Peeps for the adorable outfit they brought back from the Masters tournament. I thought she looked SO cute in it!

Yesterday we had scheduled to have her 3 month pictures taken as well as some family shots of the 3 of us. Well when LU scheduled their emergency meeting at 5...Don was unable to make it. It really worked out for the best because as soon as we finished up the pics of her in her christening gown and moved on to the second outfit, Ellie had had enough! I have never seen her scream so loudly for so long. She was so upset her little feet turned purple. I felt so bad and I just didn't know what to do! So we will go back next Friday and finish up her pictures and have ours taken as well. It's all for the best anyway!

I am looking forward to the weekend. Hopefully we will get in some much needed rest and relaxation!

I just feel like bragging a little...

I am going to apologize for the mushy post in advance, and I know this blog is supposed to be "All About Ellie", but I can't help but talk about her Daddy for a minute:)

Let me start off first by saying how much I love Lambuth University. I spent 4 of the best years of my life there. I made many lifelong friendships. I met my husband there. I just love that place. I am so grateful to my parents who worked extremely hard to pay my tuition so I could graduate loan free. Did I mention I kinda liked going to school there??

Unfortunately the past couple of years have been very difficult on the small, private university. They have struggled with a low enrollment and are once again unable to make payroll. Most of you that read this (all 3 of you!) know that Don has coached football there for the last 4 years. He started out as a student assistant and made his way up to coaching the offensive line under 2 pretty big named coaches. I am so thankful for his job and for those coaches giving him the opportunity to learn so much under them. He has made so many great contacts and turned into a pretty darn good O-line coach! However, as sad as it makes me...we as a family cannot endure a no paycheck summer like we did last year. It was hard enough last year before Ellie was here and I was still pregnant. Looking back, I sometimes wonder how we made it through that summer.

What I admire the most about Don is his hard work ethic. Sure, he may like to sleep a lot, and he snores (loud!) and he still hasn't learned to pick up his clothes off of the floor, but he has a work ethic unlike any other. He told Ellie tonight that he would shovel poop for her if somebody would pay him! He has also managed to stay so calm throughout all of this. His positive attitude seems to be what has gotten us through these tough times. It's a good thing he is so calm because we all know how I freak out! I guess he knows he needs to stay calm for my sake:)

So I guess the reason for this post is for me to ask you all to pray for our little family. We will be fine, we will make it through, but prayers are definitely appreciated. Pray that Lambuth makes it through and is able to pay its employees. Pray that Don finds work to hold us off until LU gets back on track.

I love my baby Daddy!!!

If any of you hear or know of any places hiring...LET US KNOW!!

1st Mother's Day

I have had a very special 1st Mother's Day. In fact, we have had a pretty great weekend! Ellie and I started off by heading to Memphis yesterday morning for a Bridal Brunch for Rachel. Once again everything was very nice and she gots tons of great things!! Ellie really enjoyed her first shower:)

Here is Aunt Rachel with Ellie

After the shower were were able to visit with my parents for a bit and give my mom her Mother's day gift. We decided on a Pandora bracelet for her and she was so excited! I really think she loved it. Ellie even gave her a baby carriage charm for it.

This morning we headed to Greenfield pretty early to meet Mammie, Blythe and Eric at church. When I got into the car to head that way, I had 2 pretty presents waiting for me! Daddy and Ellie did great this year, they really spoiled me. I got the baby charm for my Waxing Poetic necklace and a Pandora bracelet. That was really a surprise. I love the baby carriage and little girl charms.

After church we had a big lunch and ate WAAAYYY too much and just had a great time visiting. Eric really seems to like baby Ellie, he just talked and played with her...it was so sweet! I thought watching the 2 of those boys change her diaper was too funny so I had to snap a pic!

After lunch we made the rounds around town and tried to visit with as many people as we could. We had to go see John, Tori and Knox! He is just so sweet and I am so glad we finally got over there to see them.

Our last stop was over at Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house. They enjoyed holding Ellie and loving on her and really loved the pictures we brought them.

All in all, I had a perfect 1st Mother's day. Being with my sweet little family today was just perfect. Having a healthy, beautiful baby girl and a husband that loves us both is all I could ever ask for! We are truly blessed.

Show Us Your Life-Baby Names

I decided to finally participate in Kelly's Korner "Show Us Your Life" Baby Names today.

Choosing a name for our baby girl was NOT easy. I had a boy name picked out (of course!) but when I found out we were having a girl I could not make up my mind! Don came up with a short list and so did I. I wanted her name to be something we both loved and agreed on. I came up with Caroline. I LOVE this name. It is classy, traditional, and it will never go out of style. Don came up with Ellie. I went to high school with a girl named Ellie (although I think she was named Eleanor and called Ellie for short). I will admit it took me some time to fall in love with Ellie. It quickly grew on me and I really liked it because it started with an E (like my name) and that it wasn't Ella, or Emma. Those names are EVERYWHERE! We toyed around with a few middle names but finally decided why not use Caroline for the middle name. That way we were both happy! So, our sweet baby girl's name is...

ELLIE CAROLINE

Don has already started asking me if I am ready for baby #2. HA HA HA HA HA HA! That's just funny to me. He obviously didn't carry our last one for 9 months or give birth! I am still recovering from baby #1! I know he is just dying for a boy. He is the last male Pitt to carry on the family name, so no pressure, we have to have a boy! I guess we will just keep going until he gets his son (that makes me hurt just thinking about it). Like I said above, before we knew we were having a girl, I had a boy name picked out. I was just sure Ellie was going to be a boy! Don has 2 middle names. He is Donald (his paternal grandfather) Leon Pierce Pitt. Leon and Pierce are also family names. I love Pierce. I think it is different and classic as well. I know he would be a "double P" name-- Pierce Pitt, but I think it sounds kinda cute! The name Kevin for Don's father who passed away will most definitely be in our son's name whether it is his first or middle name. I think there is no better way to honor him than name our son after him. I only wish he could have met his grandchildren! So, for now when we have our little boy, he could possibly be named:

KEVIN PIERCE

or

PIERCE KEVIN

I won a giveaway!

So I decided the other day to enter a giveaway over at Jenna's Journey...and I won! I NEVER win anything! I entered because the giveaway was for a personalized baby t-shirt from If You Say Sew. It's pretty obvious that I love anything monogrammed, appliqued, embriodered...so I just HAD to try, and I really can't believe I won! I am thinking about ordering the pink and green one with the turtle on it for baby E:

Aren't they all so cute? YAY for a super cute FREE shirt!

BIG 14 week old!

I feel like Ellie has changed and grown SO much over the last week or two. She is holding her head up really well, smiling and talking like crazy, and she just looks bigger! This morning after I brought her into our bedroom to feed her Don said it looked like she had grown overnight...and I think she has! Her spiky hair has gotten longer too, I think it grew over the weekend while she was in Memphis. It just amazes me how quickly they change.

With all of this beautiful weather, we decided to pick up Lenny's for dinner last night and head to the park for a picnic and a walk. We all had a great time! I was afraid she was going to sleep through her first park trip, but she soon woke up and enjoyed the stroll we took along the walking trail.

She is also getting better with grabbing her rattles, toys, and now her bottle! Look at what a big girl she is! This kind of makes me sad:(

I have also started noticing that I am looking for more forms of entertainment for her during the day. She is really noticing her mobile and enjoying her playmat, so I decided to try out the exersaucer again and she seemed to be ok with it. She still needs to be a little bit bigger to take full advantage of all of the toys and such, but we are getting there.

I just love this picture of her peeking over the exersaucer. I can't believe she is 14 weeks old!

Crazy, busy weekend

I am apoligizing now for the longest post ever!

I am exhausted! We have been going nonstop all weekend. Things started off Friday morning with my mom and grandmother driving to Jackson to pick up little Ellie. By Saturday morning, I was SO glad she was there and not here (I will explain why in a bit...).

Friday afternoon I attended Cathy's bridal luncheon because her wedding day was Saturday! We had the rehearsal/dinner Friday night and had a great time. We even went out for a little bit after the rehearsal dinner and it was so much fun because lots of people were in town for the wedding. After we went to bed Friday night, we woke up around 3:15 am to Tornado sirens and pouring rain. I turned on the TV and we watched the weather for a good hour and a half before we decided it was ok to go back to bed. Just a few hours later, we were woken up again to some strange man in a yellow rain jacket ringing our doorbell telling us we needed to evacuate our home IMMEDIATELY! Apparently a sinkhole had formed right next to our house and a gas line had burst. They were concerned because a utility pole was leaning over it and if it fell into the sinkhole it could cause a MAJOR explosion. SCARY! Don immediately ran in and told me we needed to leave so we grabbed Minnie and hopped in the car without even brushing our teeth and just drove around town all morning. The flooding was unbelievable! I could not believe my eyes. We drove around our neighborhood again and by that time the smell of gas was so strong it made our throats burn and our heads spin. By this time all I could think of was that I was SO glad Ellie was safe and sound in Memphis. We came back home to check in and found that they had turned off our electricity. By this time it was around 10:15 am and I had to be dressed and ready for wedding pictures by 12:30...but we had NO power! So we called Leigh and Cole and they had power. They said we could get ready over there so I packed up all of my stuff and we ventured out to their neighborhood. That was interesting too! The back entrance into their neighborhood was completely underwater, so we had to find a different way in. Thank goodness we made it! So Leigh and I got ready for the wedding and the boys dropped us off at the church just in time for pictures.


Cathy (the bride) was such a trooper. She just rolled with the punches all day and was calm and collected. The reception was originally supposed to be in an awesome tent with lights and chandeliers, but by Saturday morning there was 4 inches of standing rain inside. So luckily the church allowed them to move the reception inside to the gym and it turned out great! We had so much fun and enjoyed our crazy day!


Saturday night I was so exhausted that I slept straight through MORE tornado sirens! Don said I was sleeping so hard he was afraid to wake me. We got up and met my parents at Exit 56 around noon on Sunday to pick up our sweet baby. On our way to the interstate, we ended up being the first to arrive at a horrible wreck. The SUV had completely flipped so Don ran out and tried to help. I ended up calling 911 and he eventually got the car door open to help one of the girls out of the car. He couldn't get the other lady out, but luckily the ambulance pulled up shortly after we got there. By this time my nerves were SHOT! I don't think I can take anymore drama for a long, long time!

We finally made it to Brownsville and picked up Ellie. I missed her SO much! I hate having to leave her all weekend, but she was in great hands and I was so glad she wasn't here breathing in all of that awful natural gas. By Sunday afternoon, our street looked like a tourist attraction! People were everywhere with their cameras and were just amazed by the sinkhole. We should have had a yardsale or charged admission! Leigh and Cole came by to look at it as well, so we ended up having dinner with them and coming home to finally relax. All in all, it was one of the craziest weekends ever!

Cathy, you were a beautiful bride and your wedding was so much fun! No one will ever forget your wedding day!