6, 7, 8

6 weeks

Grandma and Grandpa Smith came to stay with us over Labor Day weekend. Ellie loved taking naps with Grandma and having Grandpa read and sing to her.

Mesa Arizona Temple

We took a drive to see the site for the new Gilbert Temple and then walked around the Mesa Temple grounds. Ellie was out! She enjoyed all the driving around we did.

She found her thumbs!! We weren't too excited about having a thumb sucker but she will pacify herself for about an hour in the mornings. This means more sleep for us and her! At about 6 weeks she started sleeping regularly through the night! Yeah! She'll sleep from 7-9 hours every night. We love it!

She's also filling out! Hello chubby bunny!

7 weeks

Sleeping babe... although she is awake more during the day it's so much easier to take pictures when she's asleep. She is quite the wiggle worm and it's hard to get pictures that aren't blurry. But sometimes I can catch her smiling! She smiles all the time!

8 weeks

Ellie loves being outside. It calms her right down if she's really fussy so we will be so thankful for cooler weather. It's still in the 100's but looking forward to the 80's and 90's soon!

Check out her lovely eyelashes! I adore them! She is so gosh darn cute!

Muah!

Ellie's Baby Blessing

We blessed our sweet Ellie on September 5th, 2010. We were so happy to have so many friends and family attend and spend this special day with us! Ellie's dress is extra special... we had it made from my wedding dress! Isn't it beautiful?! A gal in our ward is an amazing seamstress and was excited to help us. She took the loops on the back to make the tie around the gown and used the beaded sleeves to make the sleeves on her dress. It's more beautiful than I imagined it could be! We are excited to use it for all the little girls that join our family. If we are lucky enough to have any boys we'll use more of the dress to make him a little suit!
Grandma Smith

We love our Ellie!!

Ellie Louise and Lindsay Louise - bffs
Lindsay came all the way from Indiana to meet Ellie! We love her so much and were so glad she made the long trip (and time away from her family) to be here for us.

the Smith family

Martha, Graig, Corissa, Spencer, Ellie, Jacob, Hilary

the Vasquez family

Ariah, Cristina, Christopher, Nova, Eire', Spencer, Ellie and Corissa

Daddy and his little princess

Spencer gave her a beautiful blessing. We feel so blessed to have this little girl in our home. We love you Ellie and will do all we can to teach you and give you good examples to follow.

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!