Ellie's 1st Christmas and New Years

Friday December 25th, 2015

Ellie's first Christmas! 

I know she's not going to remember her first Christmas but I will and I had planned to take pictures all day. But that was an epic fail because both Caleb and I were  sick with colds and just didn't remember. I did get a few pictures and at least we got some as a family of three. 

Since we all were feeling better by New Year's Eve we defiantly partied. Especially since it was Caleb and I's one year wedding anniversary! Getting to bring in the New Year with my little family was just so fun and I'm so excited for what this year will bring. And no, we are not planning on having another little baby. I can't even tell you how many people ask me that! Like I want to enjoy every milestone Ellie goes through and just give her 100% of my attention. 

So here's some pictures of our Christmas and New Year's Eve

Christmas Eve at Ellie's great Grammy's house 

Christmas Day

The big kids playing with toys at my parents

Someone is a little goober

Selfie with mommy 

Family selfie

Ellie trying out her new activity gym

New Year's Eve

And milk drunk by 10 pm. She knew how to party!

I can't believe the holidays came and went just like that. But having a child makes the holidays seem more magical. 

I can't wait for next year! 

💕

2 Months

Some one is super happy and excited to be 2 months old!

(Mismatched socks...because if you've ever washed baby socks. You'd understand)

Our little turkey. Celebrated her first Thanksgiving 

With her cousin who is just three weeks younger than her. They are seriously adorable. 

Getting in the Christmas spirit in her reindeer jammies 

"Helping" mommy with Christmas gifts

She just adores her daddy

These past two months have been filled with so much love and joy. And of course have flown by. It's weird because two months have gone by so fast but at the same time it doesn't seem like that long at all. 

I'm just amazed every day with this little girl. She may be only two months but she definitely is a baby who likes to be on the go. Our daily routine consists of at least one outing. I've been to Target so much recently, and have spent way to much money because um how am I supposed to avoid her clothes? As long as we go out she is really content and will take a nice long nap when we get home. Makes us both happy. I definitely have the cutest shopping buddy! 

Exactly two months ago today, after 28 hours of the worst pain I have ever experienced. This little princess arrived into the world and changed my life. I will never forget that day or everything I went through. But I'd do it all again for her. Being her mommy is the greatest blessing. 

2 months old

December 16th, 2015

Weight: 9-9.5 pounds. She's such a little girl. But she's defiantly getting some chunk and has the cutest little rolls. 

Height: 21 3/4 in

Eye Color: Blue! Over the past month they have been getting more blue and everyone keeps saying they'll be blue. And the doctor who delivered her said she's going to have blue eyes! Neither Caleb or I have blue eyes but they do run in both our families. 

Hair Color: Light brown/blonde 

Diaper Size: Size 1!

Clothes Size: Some of her newborn clothes still fit but others are to small. But she's fitting into more of her 0-3 months

Sleep: During the day maybe 2 hours. But if we go somewhere she takes a longer nap. She loves car rides. Night time...she hasn't gotten on any schedule yet. 

Eating: Every 2-3 hours during the day. At night she can sometimes go for four hours. But she's constantly growing still so I don't expect her to have any routine yet. She eats when she's hungry. Even if it might have been an hour ago. 

Likes: Bathtime is her favorite! Also car rides and going places. She is mesmerized by the Christmas tree. She just loves looking all around. She just smiles so much when she's talked to. Also she has mastered the squeal. It's pretty adorable. Loves to sleep on mine or Caleb's chest and be all snuggled.
Dislikes: Hates going to sleep. She will fight it so much. Seriously little girl, you're going to adore sleep one day...

Lately she has been throwing a royal fit when she gets dressed.
Milestones: She ALMOST rolled over! She just couldn't quite get those legs to move. But I think soon she'll be. She's really starting to focus on objects and tries to reach for them. She's so active already and just seems so curious about the world around her.
Firsts: I started work, so this is the first time she's been away from me. I don't know who is more upset, me or her? I'm so grateful that I only have to work part time so I don't have to be away from her to long. She also calmed down and fell asleep on her daddy for the first time. Usually she only wants me to so I'm glad she is learning that she can be comforted by her daddy. Ellie also celebrated her first Thanksgiving. She ate and slept like most people do on Thanksgiving 😉
Personality: She is such a sweetheart! I can't wait to see how her personality develops. 

10 Things I Wish I Knew About Postpartum

So during my pregnancy each week I read a few different apps as to what was going on. And I read a few books. Things that prepared me for each week. Also I read a lot about labor and delivery. 

What I didn't read a lot about was recovering. And what would happen after the baby is born. There is a lot out there about this topic. But I just didn't feel like it was that necessary. I'm such a naive first time mom, huh? If you're a first time mom-to-be I highly suggest you research about what happens to your body after the baby is here. And especially if you're having a hospital birth, it's a good idea to have an idea of what they do after your baby is born. 

Every recovery is different, just like every birth is different. Some have an easy time and some have a hard time. Since I had a pretty hard labor and delivery, my recovery hasn't been a breeze either. So here a few things that happened to me afterwards that I was so clueless about. 

1. Body Shakes- Lucky for me, my whole body shook the moment I got admitted to the hospital. But that has always been my way of showing nerves for some reason. What I didn't know is that it would become uncontrollable and hurt. And get worse right after the baby is born. It's your body's way of dealing with all the hormones. My entire body was so sore for a week after. 

2. Swollen Legs- My whole pregnancy I didn't deal with being swollen. Well apparently if you're pumped full of fluids during labor your legs will swell so much. And they'll also feel like 20 lbs each. My doctor kindly told me that it'll go away in three weeks. THREE WEEKS?! I was terrified l. Thankfully after just a week they're back to normal. 

3. Dignity- Yup, you'll lose that and not feel ashamed. There was a lot of things that I used to care about that went out the window after I had Ellie. I basically was useless the first few days and could barely bathe or dress myself. Caleb was the biggest help and never once refused..no matter what I asked of him. 

4. Bleeding- Okay, I knew that I would bleed a lot. But what I didn't know is that while in the hospital nurses would press on my stomach and push out blood every so often....as if I wasn't tired of pain already. They have to make sure your uterus is going back down and it's not like they press to hard, but after going through labor and delivery. It's not a nice feeling. I didn't want anyone touching me after I gave birth...so it was just miserable. And they aren't kidding when they say you'll be wearing a diaper. But after putting in healing tuks pads and pain reliving spray, I had not a single care about what I was wearing, at the time. 

5. Aches and pains- After delivery I experienced the worst body aches. And they didn't go away until the second week. I literally felt like my whole body was beaten up. I actually looked like it because I bruise so easily and I had a lot of IVs in both arms so I had so many bruises. And if you have back labor, or something happens to your back during labor. Be prepared for it to hurt really bad afterwards. I see a chiropractor and I highly suggest going to one after you give birth to set your spine back into place. 

6. Cramps and contractions- I don't think I knew about this. When I got home from the hospital I started having the worst cramps I have felt. Thankfully I know quite a few people who have given birth that reassured me that they're normal and it's just everything contracting into place. But I seriously thought I was about to have another baby....(yes, I'm pretty dramatic) 

7. Breastfeeding- This is probably a whole other post within itself. But I never knew how hard breastfeeding was. And I'm talking about the pain. I think I have forgotten all about the birth pain because every time I fed Ellie I just cringe because it hurts so bad. I was told the first few weeks are the worst so I just did everything I could to distract myself...."conceal...don't feel...."

8. Emotional Mess- While I was pregnant, I actually didn't have crazy mood swings. Of course I could be moody here and there but not the "typical" pregnancy mood swings you hear of. The week after I had Ellie...I cried. A lot. Anything would put me in tears. Most of the time it was just looking at her. Poor Caleb would ask me what's wrong and I would say I have no clue. We would end up laughing about it because I was warned that I would be flooded with emotions. Of course I thought that I would be in the clear since I handled pregnancy emotions well. Nope. I wasn't. And I still will cry over things. Mainly unknown. 

9. Exhaustion- Not only are you trying to recover...but you have a little life that you have to care for. Most newborns have their days and nights mixed up, so you can kiss a goodnight's sleep goodbye for a long time. I have never felt so tired but yet I still find energy to take care of her. It's a weird feeling. But I certainly long for a night's sleep without interruptions. And sleeping when the baby sleeps? Uhhh yeah that's not possible when I know have things to do like clean, laundry, make food, shower, and  etc. Even though I should rest more because I can't recover unless I'm rested. 

10. Your body- It's hard to describe. But you will not feel like you even know your body. Which makes sense because you just went through so many changes in a matter of hours. And the feeling of "normal" won't return for weeks but it slowly comes back. 

In the end of it all. You will feel the most deep indescribable love for someone. And everything that you're feeling kind of just goes away. You're putting someone else's needs before your own and I think that's why it's easy to forget all the pain that we just went through. And even though I had a really hard labor and delivery, it was all worth it for my daughter. I would go through it all again, just for her.