Month 9!

So I'm a little behind with posting the monthly re-cap...moving to Texas and all. 

Ellie is 20.6 pounds and eats anything we give her. If mom and dad eat it, it must be good enough for her too!

Ellie can crawl efficiently, pull up and stand (with assistance). She is finally saying ma-ma-ma; but on her own terms. If I ask her to say mama, she will look at me, smirk, and say dada. 

We are also still successfully breastfeeding; although I've hit the stage where I could seriously give up. Ellie has been cutting her top 4 teeth. 

Four! 

All at once! 

It's been fun in the house.

Anywho, she has decided it's fun to bite me while nursing. Which may be really fun for her...however, the feeling isn't mutual. 

Ellie is also really tall. I don't have exact measurements, but the leggings she is wearing in the picture above...size 18-24 months at Old Navy. 

Month 9 is also a bittersweet time for us as a family. June 2014 is the last month in Alaska for mom and Ellie.

Our luggage for the trip back home to Texas!

Mommy and Ellie on the plane...what a ride. 

I'll talk about our trip home in next month's blog! 

Miss Dean | Month 7 & 8

First off, I can't believe I'm so far behind in posting. Life has just been stuck on hyper-speed. Over the past two months, we have been trying to finish up our life here in Alaska and transition back home to Texas. Jerry received his VA percentages for medical retirement, and he gets to close the Army chapter of his life on July 24, 2014.

Whew. 

This is a big step for our family, but a huge milestone and accomplishment for Jerry. He has served nearly 19 years between the US Army and Air Force. I'm so thankful for everything he has sacrificed, and truly proud to be his wife.

On top of this wonderful news, I also found out I have been accepted into TWU for the Fall of 2014. I have been blessed with the opportunity to return to school and pursue my Master of Science in Nursing, and ultimately, become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. (Eek!)

Now, back to the most important aspect of our life. As of now, Ellie has done a lot and changed so much! Most importantly, we have successfully had a breastfeeding relationship for EIGHT months. I remember wanting to give up after day three...then week two....and so forth. Breastfeeding is not easy at first, but it does get there. And is totally worth it. So don't give up! Ok, hopping off my little soap box.

Here she is at 7 months. She is: wearing size 9 months and up, loves to be a daredevil (hanging upside down to top the list), learning to clap and reach, rolling is her chosen method of transportation...and she thoroughly enjoys picking up little things and putting them in her mouth. 

Fast-forward one month.

At 8 months Ellie has developed her own style of crawling. It's a mix between army and bear crawling, and completely adorable. She's growing like crazy, wearing size 12 months and up. Her legs are super long! She loves to eat whatever momma and dada are eating, drinking out of cups, and watching Little Einstein's and Jeopardy (genius baby already!)

I seriously can't believe how quickly the time goes. It can be heartbreaking at times, but such an exhilarating ride too. 

Cliché alert. Being a mom is the best job I've ever had. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Am I utterly exhausted? Of course. Between juggling home life, a full-time job, breastfeeding/pumping, long distance family, and my sweet girl....there is simply not enough hours in the day. 

(And to think I'm going to throw graduate work on top of that...sheesh, I'm not sure what I'm thinking). 

Point is: I wouldn't change a thing. Ellie has been the greatest gift. 

My next post will showcase our 6 month milestone pictures of Ellie in Alaska. She was technically 7.5 months, but it was still too cold to do an outdoor session when she was 6 months old. 

Ellie's 1/2 Birthday!

Wow. I seriously can't believe my angel is already SIX months old! Growing like a weed, she weighs in at 17 lbs 14 oz and is 26.5 inches long. Her front bottom two teeth have made their debut and she loves gumming everything. She also eats anything in sight, including attempts at her bibs and socks. Favorite foods are: sweet potatoes, carrots, apples and bananas. But momma trumps all.

Six months of successful breastfeeding, quite a feat in itself.  

There is so much now she is able to do. She is sitting unassisted (but still likes to nose dive occasionally), saying da-da-da-da, and giggling all day and night. She has the sweetest personality! 

This is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken at her 6 mo check up with Cathy Stange, her pediatric nurse practitioner. Ellie loved her hair! Cathy not only has provided her care since birth, but is also one of my greatest role models and mentors. She has inspired me to continue my education to become a pediatric nurse practitioner as well. 

My Five Month Old

As much as it breaks my heart that my little baby is growing so much every day, it's also really exciting to see all of her newly discovered talents. This month, she found her feet....and boy, did she love her feet! Especially her toes.  Add to the list, Ellie is able to semi-successfully sit up on her own. Sometimes she does the lawn-chair fold, but each day she gets better. She loves bouncing in her bouncer and has also discovered her voice.  

The downside to finding her voice? Ellie LOVES to scream. Not upset screaming, just an excited-I'm-making-this-noise scream.It's cute...until it's an all day past-time.

Ellie also had her first Valentine's Day. We did nothing special, but I did have my own baby photo shoot. She giggled as I kissed her all over. Unfortunately, after I snapped this cute photo, she slid over on the chair and transferred the red lipstick onto the chair. 

I've yet to get it out.

My photogenic baby!

We finally had our first doctor visit that wasn't a part of her well child checkup. She battled a cold when she was about a month and a half, but other than that she's been perfectly healthy. However, for about two weeks, she started tugging on her ears. At first, I was afraid that she had an ear infection. She had no fever, but the continued pulling and sometimes crying made me somewhat paranoid. What if she had an infection and I was blowing it off? And it was affecting her hearing? Ha! So we took her in.

The NP reported her ears were perfectly fine. Just hairy...

She can thank her daddy later for that one.

My Favorite Four Month Old!

We've reached four months old. Big girl is 16 lbs 12 oz and 25 1/4 in long. Ellie has finally decided to share her sweet laughter, rolls back and forth, reaching and (somewhat) playing with her toys. We also decided to incorporate baby foods, due to Ellie watching our forks move from plate to mouth and the crazy amounts of drool she had.

First food introduced: a mashed banana. She spit it right back out, still had the tongue extrusion. So week by week, we would try. But instead of a banana, I bought organic applesauce. Now that, she loved! 

As her fourth month of life was coming to an end, my career of being a stay at home mom was also ending. This is possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Having a baby pales in comparison to having to leave baby with a stranger. Someone else doing all the things I'm perfectly capable of doing. 

However, we found a wonderful lady, who I will refer to as The Nanny. There was an instant "click" when we met her for coffee. I would love to be home with Miss E...but if I can't, The Nanny is more than capable in my book. Also, E has accepted her into the house, which is the most important factor.

On to the next month...

Three Months Down.

Three. Months. Old. 

I should be returning to work, but that's not as easy as it sounds. When I was sent home on light duty at 28 weeks pregnant, I was itching to go back to work. Now, the thought of being separated from Ellie was just overwhelming. I just couldn't do it. So, Jerry and I discussed the pros & cons of returning to work this early, and decided it was best to stay home. 

Ellie is approximately 15 pounds based on our home scale. She is starting to enjoy tummy time (as compared to the screaming fits and leg kicking she used to exhibit). She is starting to give big, toothless grins more often. Sleeping more through the night. Learning to sit up in our Bumbo. 

Three months of successful breastfeeding. What does that mean? It means I deserve the Bronze Boob award. Apparently, my next award is at six months and is silver. Regardless, these are made-up achievements. But after all of the struggle and sacrifice, a bronze award sounds pretty cool right now.

Oh, I also started babywearing. This may have been started last month, but I'm not sure. The K'Tan is super easy to use, and was great for around the house chores. We upgraded to the Ergo and loved it for grocery shopping! Ellie was obviously very comfortable...she was asleep within minutes and slept throughout the trip. 

Parenting is definitely a learn-as-you-go. Babies cry. A lot. Eventually you learn what each cry means. If after eating, clean diapering, etc. and Ellie was still upset, Dad could always do the trick.

This month, we got to meet Santa and open presents. Jerry and I were both grinches and did not set up a tree or hang lights. I did put up a few decorations, including stockings, but other than that...nada. Thankfully, Ellie doesn't know the difference and her next Christmas we will be home with family and it will be like she never missed anything. Here are our Christmas pictures. Santa was so excited he was able to hold her! 

Our Christmas dress that Lulu sent us! 

A true Alaskan Santa. Complete with the Fur Boots. 

It's hard being a little one. Cloth diapers and baby legs, the best around the house outfit. 

Two Month Victories

Two months old, and my has she changed! She is up 3 lbs 6.5 oz from birth, all from breastfeeding! Seriously, this is probably more of a mom accomplishment. She loves to eat, watch TV or look at bright lights, swinging in her swing...and most of all, mommy! 

To go on top of the breastfeeding accomplishment, Ellie finally learned to latch without using a nipple shield. Nipple shields are, for lack of better words, a pain in the butt. I had to clean them after every feeding, which was still every 1-2 hours. Then, when Ellie was hungry, it was always this scramble to find one that was close, or wash it quickly before she went into full-blown meltdown. Needless to say, the transition was heaven. No more nipple shields. I'm too nervous to throw them away though. Just in case. 

I would have to say, our biggest issue these first two months was definitely the never-ending diaper rash! She has had one documented since three days old. Pampers Sensitive caused a chemical burn. So we switched to Huggies Sensitive. She continued to have this nasty raw, blistery rash. I felt awful. We spent tons on diapers, creams, prescription ointments..I even went as far as to eliminate dairy from my diet to help; and that was probably the most difficult thing to do. Dairy is in everything. Finally, we gave in and tried this weird suggestion of cloth diapers. These helped tremendously! And they aren't as bad as everyone thinks. 1) Breastfed baby poop is water soluble, so it washes out easy peasy. 2) No blow outs (which Ellie is infamous for). 3) Money saver. PLUS 4) They have super cute prints.

Another not-so-fun issue: baby acne coupled with heat rash. My sweet girl looked awful. And apparently, this is normal. But no one warns you about it. Heat rash is very common, especially with breastfeeding. So there's your heads up. 

Unfortunately, living away from family, we miss all of the holidays. Our Thanksgiving was spent Facetiming with family (a blessing to have that technology) and individual pictures were taken of us holding Ellie. She was wearing an outfit that Lulu sent for her. 

Ellie and Daddy. Twins. 

And that was the gist of our first two months. Diaper rashes and baby acne. But beyond that, lots of loving and cuddles. I miss her being this tiny already.