A Grand Entrance

Molly, we waited and waited and waited some more for you to come.  You thought about coming several times giving mom contractions for hours and hours, getting our hopes up before abruptly stopping.  Grammy Jeannie was really sick the last 2 months before you were born and it made mommy nervous thinking about how I would get to the hospital or who would take care of your big sister.  Finally we decided to schedule an induction on your due date, May 10th @ 5 am!  We called Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell up and asked them to come down the night before to stay with Ella.  Our bags were packed and we were ready to go!  We all went to bed early anticipating the early morning.  At 1:15 am, you woke mommy up.  I thought it was just a false start again.  I tossed and turned for 30 minutes and decided maybe I needed to time these contractions to see where they were going and take a shower to see if they may stop once I was up and walking around.  So at 1:45 am I started recording the times...and very quickly realized these were close together.  At 2:10 am I decided I better wake up daddy to let him know what was going on.  He decided he would get in the shower while I decided if it was really time.  I stopped him before he got very far and told him not to go that I thought we better head to the hospital...I felt like this was the real thing and that you were actually coming now!  We quickly packed up our last minute items and snuck downstairs while everyone was sleeping and headed to the hospital.  We pulled in around 2:45 am (2 hours and 15 minutes before we were scheduled to be induced) and by around 3:30 we were in labor and delivery hooked up to monitors and dilated to 6 or 7 cm, the nurses were surprised!    Things progressed very quick from there...by 4:30 am mommy had the epidural for the pain but it only worked on one side (she later decided it was not worth getting).  They broke my water at 4:45 am.  At 5:15 am I asked them to check me again b/c I was feeling a lot of pressure and the nurse was surprised that you were trying to bust out!  She hurried and called the doctor and nurses.  Around 5:30 am I started pushing...your head popped right out but your chest was much bigger then your head and it caught me off guard.  I thought I was done after your head was out but I was wrong.  At 5:39 am the rest of you came out, I couldn't believe you were here.  39 minutes after we were scheduled to be induced.  They laid you on my chest but you were quiet.  You weren't crying and it made mommy REALLY nervous.  I kept asking if you were breathing. They said you were perfect but after a minute or so they whisked you away to give you some oxygen.  I was so happy to hear you scream.  They checked you all out and you were indeed perfect and they handed you over to me and I was in love all over again with my second precious girl.  You were born precisely on your due date and at the right time.  God knew exactly what he was doing and had it all planned out.  Why would we ever doubt that?  Never doubt his timing Molly!

Lots of Love!
Momma

Things I love about you 5 and 6 months (opps)!

I Love...
 how excited you get when your daddy walks in the door
to watch you play with your toys
your gibbersish talk and your new words woh woh woh woh
how fast and hard you kick your legs when you hear me open your door in the morning
and how you flip yourself over so quick so you can see me coming
how you will sit in your playpen at grammys and dig through the box of toys to inspect (and taste) each one
pushing you in the swing at the park and hearing you squeal
how mobile you are without really crawling
that you sit up and play with your toys like a big kid
your crazy hair
that you're such a wiggle worm
that you're starting to laugh and giggle a lot more
how you taught yourself how to go from laying down to sitting up
that your so close to crawling and how you try to move in the down dog pose
how you quiet down when we turn the radio up loud in the car
that every once in a while you will let me rock you to sleep (few and far between)

All that and so much more!
Love,
Mama

Dear Ella,
Curfew/lights out is at 8:30...no wild parties in your crib at 2:30 AM are allowed...if you awake in the middle of the night, please keep it to a low hum using your inside voice. Squealing is unacceptable at this hour. Violations will be noted and result in some type of embarrassment in front of your friends when you are 13.

Love,
Mommmy and Daddy

Dime

Ella Jean,
One night you were laying on a blanket at Grammy's house on the floor playing with your toys.  Daddy, Pop, and I took turns playing with you...the next day I went to pick up the blanket and I found a dime laying on the floor underneath where you were laying.  We are all pretty sure that Great Grandpa Eugene must have been visiting.  There's a story going around the Homrich side of the family that Grandpa leaves dimes around the various places he visits.  We think it was a sign that he sees you and loves you as much as we do.

Love,
Mama

Baby's First Hair Cut

Ella,
Today, one day shy of your 5 month Birthday, grandma gave you a hair cut..more like a hair trim.  Your long moppy hair was getting a bit unruley so we trimed around your ears and cut a few strays.  You look fabulous!

Love,
Mama

Things I love about you...4 months old

I love...
how your blow raspberries and mimic when I do it
how you try to suck your thumb but haven't quite gotten it yet
when you stand up and move your feet like you are walking
how you leave just enough milk in the back of your throat when you are done with your bottle so you can gargle
your giggle, even though you're kinda stingy with your laughs
how you smile when I tell you to say 'aahhhhh' when I'm feeding
how you chew on your feet
how interested you are in us eating
how you roll from your front to back and back to front when you want a toy
when you say dadadada even though I'm jealous it's not mamamama
when you reach for your toys before I even get you in your exersaucer

Rollin' Rollin' Ella's Rollin' Over

Today while playing on the floor in Mommy's office while I was working, Ella rolled from her back to her front and back.  It was her first time rolling from her back to her front and she did it with ease.   She should be tearing the house up in no time!

21 Weeks