Crazy Cousin Henry

Eleanor is so lucky to have her cousin Henry, he is such a silly little boy and keeps her smiling...actually he keeps ALL of us smiling, he is the entertainer in the family.  Elle loves to watch him run around the room, which he is doing constantly!

Henry loves to look at Elle in her carseat, he leans over with his little face right in front of hers and tells her "hi!".  It might be the cutest thing I have ever seen!!

Henry loves to give Elle kisses, he smacks his lips a couple times before he leans in for the big smooch.  He also loves taking her socks off for some reason.  He will be running around playing and walk up to Elle, take her socks off and then go right back to playing.

Testing out Elle's toy

He has been such a sweet boy with her, it's amazing how he knows she's a little baby and he needs to be very gentle.

Trying on Elle's bib

Henry is the sweetest little boy, we love him to pieces!!! I know Eric is already counting on big cousin Henry to look after Eleanor as they get older.

Elle - 3 months

It has been another fun month of watching Eleanor grow!

Month 3:
- lots of smiles
- back to her great sleeping schedule (typically sleeps 8-9 hours on weekends, during the week we have to wake her up)
- loves kicking on her piano play mat
- grabbing onto toys
- cooing and laughing
- rolled from her tummy to her back for the first time (Grammy & Paw Paw were the lucky witnesses!) 1 week later she finally rolled over again while we were playing in her room!!
- loves to be held, Eric came home one night to me cooking dinner with Elle in the Baby Bjorn because she didn't want to be put down
- loves kisses from Henry
- whines if mommy gives her too many kisses...which is everyday :)

On March 12th, after 12 AMAZING weeks at home with my girl, I went back to work.  Hardest. Thing. Ever.  I knew it would be a tough transition (for me only, I knew Elle would be having tons of fun with Grammy & PawPaw) but I had no idea just how hard it would be.  I went back on a Tuesday and the tears started the previous Friday.  It was a very rough first week, I cried every single day...not just a few tears, sobbing every night as I would lay her down for bed because I knew my time with her that day was over.  I could still cry thinking about it and all the time I'm missing with her, it just makes nights and weekends so much more precious. 

Hermann the Mermann

Hermann, our beloved basset hound, has had a pretty rough past 6 months.  Around the middle of October we noticed he was moving a little slower and this progressed to where we could tell he was in pain.  Per our vet's recommendation we tried cage rest for 2 weeks but he didn't seem to be getting any better.  In November he got to the point where he was barely walking so the Tuesday before Thanksgiving we took him to the animal hospital in Columbia and had to leave him there for back surgery with a projected 5-7 day recovery time.  Well, one surgery turned into 2 surgeries and a 2 week hospital stay. We so badly just wanted our Mermann home before Elle was born!

We were able to bring him home 2 weeks before Eleanor arrived.  He wasn't walking but had regained bladder control and was showing signs of pain sensations in both legs, Hallelujah!!

Visiting Hermann at the hospital in Columbia after his surgeries

Hermann on cage rest, Vito decided to join him :)

We are so grateful for Hermann's recovery so far.  He is still pretty wobbly on his back legs but he can pull himself up to walk.  There are so many things Hermann used to do that I know he will never be able to do again since his back injury so I wanted to make a list so I never forget:

- At the drop of a hat he would run flying through the house ready to play
- Occasionally would run downstairs and "dig" on the carpet leading into our basement.  We would always joke that he was digging a hole to China and beg him not to leave. :) We are weird. :)
- He loved jumping on the couch to sit on our lap.  He had to be in our lap, he wasn't satisfied with laying next to you.
- If he didn't start the night in our bed he would always end up there.  In the morning he would lay at the top of the bed and nudge us repeatedly with his head to wake us up
- Loved going for walks to walk around our subdivision pond (hoping he will still be able to do this!)
- We call one of our spare bedrooms "Hermann's room" because he would jump on the bed and lay in there all the time
- Loved playing fetch with his toys (he can still do this but can no longer race across the house)

Here's hoping he continues to recover.  He is still our crazy Hermann the Mermann... just a bit slower and no more jumping!  I think Hermann is ok with that, he's got more important things to do...like guarding his little sister.

Puppy Love

Vito and Hermann's world has been turned upside down since Elle was born.  Hermann is thrilled with the new addition to our family.  He loves to go in her room, when she is sleeping he goes in to check on her and is right at her side if she ever starts crying.  One morning she started whining in her bed, I went to grab her bottle from the warmer and heard Hermann standing outside her door softly barking.  He was letting us know she is awake, get in here! I thought it was so cute that he softly barked instead of his normal Mermann howl.

Vito is slowly coming around to the idea that there is this new baby in the house who cries and takes up so much of our attention.  He is curious and will come up to her but he moves to another room if she cries, it disturbs his naps. :)

The other night after I put Elle down for bed I was looking around the house for the boys...I found them both laying together in her room.

We couldn't ask for 2 better dogs!  Love them!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Eleanor's first St. Patrick's Day, the Mulligan in her was really shining through. :)

Those leg rolls kill me!

Eric picked out her outfit, including the bow!

Splish Splash, Elle is Taking A Bath!

Elle typically enjoys her baths, although you would never know from the pictures.  I guess she wasn't in the mood for photos.

For some odd reason Vito is always super curious and right at my feet when I give her a bath.  I think he is a little jealous. ;)  Hermann won't step foot in the bathroom for fear that we will put him the tub but he is always laying right outside the door making sure we are taking good care of his sister.

All during bath time I'm singing, "Splish Splash Elle is taking a bath, Rub-a-Dub she's in the tub".  Maybe Vito just loves hearing me sing so he wants a front row seat. ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

My little lovebug's first Valentine's Day!

Elle - 2 months

Our little girl is 2 months old!

Per our doctor’s suggestion, Elle started sleeping in her crib un-swaddled.  It was a rough transition for both of us!  My amazing little sleeper had a rough week in her crib!  We were a little nervous the first night she slept in her room.  I was counting how many steps from our bed to her crib, we were picking what noise to use on her sound machine and I had Eric in her room making crying noises to make sure I would be able to hear her over the sound machine.

I wish I had a video of us that night, crazy first time parents!!!

Elle had to get 3 shots and 1 oral vaccination at her 2 month check-up.  It was heartbreaking.  I cried, she cried...thank God Eric was there to hold us together.

It has been a fun month with our girl! 

Passed out at lunch! Elle's first time at a restaurant.

Elle and I spent many days like this on my maternity leave.

Out to lunch with cousin Henry

Holidays 2012

Elle came home just in time for Christmas!  I was so relived that we would get to celebrate at home with our girl!  Mama Rita stayed with us the first 2 nights we were home (thank God for her, she was a HUGE help!!).  I remember having a huge lump in my throat the day she went home (a whole 5 minutes from our house).  I loved having her stay with us, I could have kept her there forever!! 

Elle had her first doctor appointment on Christmas Eve, she weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz.  Our first trip out of the house with her had a very bumpy start, I forgot her diaper bag! We realized I forgot to grab it when we were in the waiting room at the doctor and I immediately went into panic mode.  I sheepishly asked the doctor if they had any extra diapers or wipes and just prayed that Elle didn't get hungry while we were there. 

We spent Christmas morning at my parents house buried under a mound of presents.  It was so fun to watch Henry come down the stairs and see all the presents sprawled across the living room, I think he was a little overwhelmed.  Eleanor received SO MANY clothes, toys and books.  She even got her very first Coach purse courtesy of her Grammy & Paw Paw.

A couple days after Christmas we took Elle to get her newborn pictures, she did great!  Our photographer was able to get so many adorable pictures of her.

I'm currently working on filling our entire house with adorable pictures of our girl!