Five Weeks!

Ellie is 5 weeks old today!

This week has been a turning point for me and Ellie. We are getting into a routine and it's made a huge difference in our daily lives. We've made several outing this week just the two of us! That's a big deal to me! This week she has been starting to smile and make cooing sounds. She is so fun and so cute!!

Ellie's first month

I can't believe that a whole month has gone by already. I was always so preoccupied by the actual labor and delivery that I didn't ever think about the day-to-day job of being a mom. I didn't expect it to be easy at all but no one ever tells you how hard it is. You are a brand new mom. You don't get enough sleep. Your baby is brand new and learning to live outside your belly. Nothing is as natural as you think it will be. No matter how happy you are, you still can cry for no reason. I've been on my knees a lot and Heavenly Father has helped me and given me so much strength. It's been amazing!!! I feel closer to my sweet baby each day. I fall in love with her every time I look at her sweet face. I love that I will be called mom for the rest of my life!!

Ellie and I are starting to find our groove so I've been able to catch up on blogging. I've been dieing to show off my little cutie pie!

Since Ellie decided to come out at 2:00am on Saturday we were able to take her home Sunday afternoon - she was only 2 days old!! Putting her in the car seat and walking to the car make it so real. They were letting us take her, keep her, she was ours! Spencer teased me a little because that was the first time I cried.

All buckled in and ready to go on her first car ride... we were going home.

She quickly snuggled in and fell asleep.

WELCOME HOME ELLIE!

3 days old - first sponge bath from mommy and daddy

Ellie loves sleeping. She especially loves cuddling with you and sleeping on your chest. She and her daddy are great nap buddies. Aren't they so cute?!

Ellie all ready for bed. The first few nights were rough because she was a night owl. She was always active in my tummy from 9-11pm and so she was when she came out. Thankfully she got over this quickly.

4 days old - another sponge bath. She looks like she'll have her daddy's cute curls and I couldn't resist fluffing out her hair. She was born with plenty of hair... in the back and only peach fuzz in the front. Poor thing looks like an old man but we think she's the cutest baby EVER!

All cozy and warm after her bath in her cute Pooh robe. Nap time again!

I was having a rough day so Spencer got Ellie all dressed up to cheer me up. It totally worked! She is all girl... and pink looks good on her!!

11 days old - cute little yellow cupcake!

First time meeting her cousins! Ellie has 5 cousins on my side that have been so excited to meet her.

Erie' and Ariah came to see her in the hospital. Erie' walked right in and sat down so she could hold her. Ariah loved staring at her and touching her.

Alexis is almost old enough to babysit.. woo hoo!

Ellie pooped while Ariana was holding her and they all thought it was so funny!

Caprice had to come check out the nasty poo and then Ellie fell asleep in her lap.

Ellie has some amazing cousins to look up to and learn from!

2 weeks old - our little lady bug

Our first couple weeks were the hardest. Each day seemed like forever. Now I wish I could go back and just soak them up. Ellie is an amazing little girl and really is growing up too fast!!

18 days old - love the curl on top, I can't wait till they are all over her cute head

20 days old - I decided to play with my sleeping baby. She really was out! I set her up on her Ellie pillow and took a couple shots. I got her pillow from a gal I found via blog stalking (don't judge... you all do it). I love it and even got a Smith pillow before we found out we were expecting. Check her out at http://www.bellamariedesigns.etsy.com/

When I moved her to her crib she woke up but gave me some cute faces!

She's probably wondering why she's naked and I kept hoping she didn't have to go pee!

3 weeks old - all dressed up for our first outing. It was Spencer's cousins birthday so we all went to dinner at Joe's BBQ. Ellie was so well behaved! We all had a great time. It felt good to be out with our friends and feel like normal people.

I LOVE kissing her!!

4 weeks old

29 days old - all dressed up for Church

30 days old - I know I love yellow but I think she will too, she looks so cute in it!

1 month bath time!

Ellie had a great check-up with Dr. Smith today. He told us she's growing and developing perfectly. She weighed in at 10 pounds and 3 ounces and she grew to 22 1/2 inches!

Happy one month sweetie!

Ellie has arrived! 7.24.10

Ellie's Birth Story

Thursday morning I woke up and went to a session at the Mesa Temple. I felt tired but I thought it was just an early morning and lots of sitting and standing. After the Temple I went to visit my friend Lauren who just had a baby 6 days earlier. Little Henry was precious and the whole time I held him Ellie was kicking my belly (I think she wanted to be the one in my arms) I called my mom and told her about the cramps I had been having all day. They didn't hurt, they just felt like menstrual cramps, low and not regular at all. She told me they were indeed contractions!! I knew something would happen soon so I needed to finish the nursery. Spencer helped me hang some picture frames and her ELLIE letters above her crib. We finished packing the hospital bag and finally went to bed at 11:30pm! Yikes! Little did I know that I should have gone to sleep sooner. At my usual midnight potty break something was different. Contractions began at 1:30am! I laid back in bed and the contractions started to get stronger so we started to time them. We wanted to wait and labor at home as long as possible. Around 7:00am I got up and showered and ready to go. Contractions were about 6 minutes apart so we headed to the hospital at 8:30am. In triage we found out that I was only dilated to a 1. We couldn't be admitted unless we were in active labor. We walked around for a little bit but didn't feel well so I laid back down. The contractions slowed way down and were now 10 minutes apart, still very painful but I still wasn't dilating. At 11:30 am we were sent back home. I cried and cried. I was hurting and really wanted something to happen. Being home was tough. I lasted only a couple more hours before I called the triage nurses again. I didn't think I could take the pain anymore. The contractions were random, sometimes 4 min and sometimes 6 min apart. We decided to go back to the hospital at 3:30pm. Much to our dismay I was only dilated to a 1.5. I was so afraid of being sent home again. They decided to give me Demerol to help calm me down. It worked! I was able to rest between contractions. I was so tired and being able to relax really felt good. After a few hours I was dilated to a 5 and was able to get admited!! Woo hoo! By 7:00pm I was a 6 and was able to get my epidural! Thank goodness for medicine!!!! I was happy and pain free. This slowed things down so I was also put on Pitocin. We were making slow progress but we could see on the monitors that the contractions were getting stronger.

At 1:00am I was finally dilated to a 10! Time to start pushing!! I told my nurse that I was terrified of pushing and that I didn't think I could handle it. She was very nice and told me exactly what to do and when. It also helped to have Spencer by my side. He was so supportive all day!


Every push was exciting, we were getting closer and closer to meeting our little girl. I couldn't help but smile each time I pushed. It was so much better than I could have imagined. After 50 minutes of pushing there was a baby! Our baby girl had arrived!! Spencer was able to cut her ambilical cord.

She was quickly cleaned off and soon let out her first cry. It was the best sound ever!

20 1/2 inches long
7 pounds 7 ounces

Daddy was the first one to hold Ellie. She quickly melted his heart!!

My first time holding my little girl

It's amazing... we're parents!

Ellie was wide awake and happy!

Don't you just love that face and those big blue eyes!!

Pure joy!

We couldn't stop smiling!

We were all tired after a 24.5 hour labor!

The happy SMITH family!