Halloween!

I hate Halloween.  Ok, I don't "hate" it (I mean it does involve lots and lots of candy after all), but it definitely is not my favourite holiday.  When summer quickly starts to fade into fall and the leaves on the trees begin to change and drop, the air seems thick with looming holiday festiveness (and rain...) but I can't ever seem to get geared up for Halloween, especially when Christmas draws nearer and nearer still.  The very mention of Christmas puts a smile on my face, so I guess I like Halloween in that it marks another milestone in bringing Christmas cheer even closer.  But that's it. 

Burrito Ellie

Ellie's Opinion of Halloween:

Despite my lack of enthusiasm, we did put our 5 week old baby in a costume (for 30 seconds) because it involved felt tomato slices and lettuce leaves (that I was going to make anyways) and a swaddle blanket (aka a piece of beige flannel) and it was just so darn cute.  Maybe now that we have a child, I will get more into the Halloween spirit... maybe next year Zach and I will even dress up too, but don't quote me on that.  However, if Noelle's costume is anymore complicated than a piece of cloth I might have to start working on it now just to have it done in time... 

1 Month Old!

Our teeny weeny baby is a month old! She still likes to have her hands up by her face, she still doesn't sleep in her crib (or anywhere else that isn't on mum or dad, really), she still loves to play in the bath and she still eats and sleeps a lot. She is just now starting to fit into her newborn onesies and shirts but her newborn pajamas are nearly too short (she has long skinny legs and long feet). She's starting to smile more and coo and just when we think we're starting to get a schedule worked out she decides to want and need something entirely different. I guess that's just part of parenthood though...

You Know You have a Newborn When...

- Your baby's dressed in an adorable outfit while you forget to even wear pants... and if on the off-chance you remember to put pants on, they are covered in pee, poop, and milk.

- You cry when you inevitably drop that ounce of milk you just spent an hour pumping on the floor and it spills everywhere (you also tear up when it takes your infant approximately 22 seconds to drink the 2 ounces of milk that it took you an entire day to collect!)

- It takes you at least three days to plan and prepare to sweep the bathroom floor

- The word "multitasking" has taken on a completely new meaning... You constantly surprise yourself what you can now accomplish with one hand.

- Getting dressed in the morning often involves putting on pj's... at least they're clean though... sometimes...

- You are unnaturally interested in poop and puke.

- You're getting ready for bed when you realize you haven't eaten anything but granola bars all day long.

- You do laundry every day.

- Most days, you can't even remember your name

- You love a tiny, squirming, pooping, spitting-up, and screaming creature more than you could ever imagine and are willing to forgo every shower/ hot meal/ minute to yourself forever just to take of that little baby.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a huge dinner. The turkey weighed 3 times what Noelle weighs (which as of Friday was 6lbs 1oz yay!) and we ate a ton of it! It was also Ellie's first time going to Church and she did great. She slept through the first block, ate through the second, and slept through the third!

Ellie and Mum before Church:

Ellie vs. Turkey:

Ellie and Dad in milk/ turkey comas respectively:

2 Weeks Old!

Today is Ellie's due date! Whenever I look at her now, I'm nothing but shocked to think that she ever fit in my belly at all (and she's still tiny... we will find out tomorrow if she's back up to her birth weight yet...). Anyways, instead of celebrating a brand new baby today, we have a 2 week old baby who is quickly teaching us all about who she is and what she does/ doesn't like.

At 2 weeks:
- Ellie sleeps - a lot.
- She's got a record of 2 good nights in a row!
- She still likes to have her hands up on her face when she's sleeping
- She found her thumb and sucked it (once or twice... it was the cutest thing in the world)
- She needs to be swaddled at night, otherwise she wakes herself up kicking
- Ellie loves music and her play mat
- She loves her bath, but hates to get out of the water
- She likes to be cuddled and for her back to be patted
- She has fuzzy hair and her dad's dark hazel eyes
- She still sleeps with Mum and Dad because she doesn't like to sleep alone at night
- When she's really hungry and routing around for food, she snorts like a piggy
- She falls asleep the second we put her in the car or stroller
- She will kick herself off your lap if you're not holding on tight(learned that one the hard way...)
- And... she ROLLS OVER! We put her on her back and she will roll over onto her side, back to her back and then over onto her other side... We're hoping that when she gets a little fatter, she won't be able to move around so much :)

Yesterday, between sessions of General Conference, we should have napped (Ellie doesn't think it's bedtime until 2:30am these days...) but instead we went on a walk into town. On our way back, we found these sunflowers that were as big as Noelle. Sunflowers make me think of the end of summer and the beginning of fall which is always an exciting transition for me. And since Ellie was born on the last day of summer, her birth will always be a part of this seasonal transition.