Frog Fest!

Leland, MS, which is basically Greenville, MS, is the birthplace of Jim Henson's the muppets.  Last year was the beginning of the annual kermit the frog fest in Leland.  We missed it for some reason, but made sure to make it this year.  Amelia had a lot of fun with the arts and crafts.  We missed the story time, but we made the end of the puppet show.  She was not a fan!  Little girl can be shy at times!

One of her favorite things was the balloon she got.

Don't know if you can see the death grip she has on momma!  She was really frightened of the puppets!

She was watching the ducks eat.  She loves animals.  This was her other favorite thing of the morning.

 

Anna Claire slept through the entire event.  Unfortunately we traded the mosquitos for gnats, and they were everywhere.  Had to keep her fanned to keep the gnats off.

It was a fun family event.  Maybe next year we will make story time and the entire puppet show!

I just have to add this real quick because this is my way of remembering my children's childhood.  But, Amelia is suppose to be napping right now.  Well, of course she isn't.  I went to her room to try to get her to lay down and take a nap.  Well, she is walking around with her shoes on.  I took them off before her laying down to take a nap.  She put her shoes on herself.  I really think my child can do a lot more for herself than she wants me to know.  She has never been able to put her shoes on herself for me.  She even had them on the correct feet.   She's a sneaky little girl!

Friday night at the Ellis house!

We enjoyed a yummy dinner at Lost Pizza company in Indianola, MS.  It was a happening place tonight.  Luckily we got there early so we didn't have to wait on a table.  But, 2 cheerleading teams showed up to eat there, and it was packed. 

We then went home to bathe both of the girls.  Anna Claire's cord stump finally fell off, so we were excited to give her a real bath.  She was starting to get a little smelly.  Friday nights are definitely a lot different now that we have children!

Anna Claire's first real bath!  She liked it for the most part.  Didn't fuss till daddy was finished.

 

Tough girl!

I've been sending Amelia to daycare on the normal days that she would be going if I were working right now.  It gives me some one on one time with Anna Claire, and I get to sometimes take a nap too.  Today, she went to daycare and Anna Claire and I went to work.  My patients keep needing things whether I am on maternity leave or not, so I go to work for a few hours a week to get things done.  Well, my pitiful cellphone provider does not get me good service at work.  I look at my phone and have a voicemail, no missed call.  It is the daycare.  My sweet girl had once again found a fire ant mound.  They were pretty panicked.  I went picked her up as soon as I spoke with them.  Poor girl!  We get there and she is just so happy to see me, which will always melt my heart.  But, you wouldn't even know she had been hurt.  They said she never even cried.  They just saw her wiping off frantically and saying bite.  They got to her and it was ants.  She probably got bitten about a hundred times.  Her leg and hand look horrible.  She didn't complain at all!  They said that when they told her it was ants, she laughed.  They had already washed her legs, given benadryl, and applied ice, so I just gave her ibuprofen and hydrocortisone cream.  I then let her watch a movie, and without even thinking I turned on A Bug's Life.  It was about 15 minutes into the movie before I realized the irony.  My little girl is so tough!  Fire ants are so scary to me!

I let her be a little spoiled today and let her keep her paci as long as she wanted it.  Normally she just gets it at bed time.

The back got it the worst.

More poor girl, it just makes me hurt to look at her leg.  It is looking better now.  These pictures are about 7 hours after the stings happened.  Her leg was really red and swollen.

Getting in shape!

Mommy's new double stroller arrived today, so we decided to try it out tonight.  Almost all of us loved it.  Anna Claire will learn to love it!

It's not a Bob, but I think we will like it just the same!

Our little daredevil!

Our day started out with me and Amelia going to the grocery store.  She is now going through the phase where she asks what everything is, which is fine, until we are walking past a lady who is so close to us that Amelia just about hits her and says, what is that.  The lady makes this noise like, oh my goodness.  I was mortified.  I just said that is a lady.  I'm sure there will be far worse embarrassing things that she will do to me in the future.

This afternoon we made a trip to Sweet Cece's then came home to play outside.  Loving this weather now and all the time we get outside.

Amelia decided she wanted to climb a tree.  She was trying to climb our ginkgo tree, which is impossible, so we took her to this tree.

I was thinking this tree would be safer because it was barely off the ground, but daddy had different ideas.

This picture is hilarious to me.  She looks so funny just sitting there in a tree!

She is so happy, she really thinks she is a big girl now!

I love this picture of the 2 of them!

Anna Claire is loving looking at the sky.  She was a very good girl tonight!

Little momma

I know I haven't written a Flashback Friday in a while.  I'm not really sure that I have blogged on a Friday in a while.  But, the crazy thing is is that my life seems like one big flashback.  I have forgotten so much about Amelia as a newborn, I really think I tried to block all of that out, but Anna Claire brings back so many memories.  

Today, we went up to Amelia's old daycare to say goodbye to everyone and bring them a little thank you for all they did for Amelia over the past 1.5 years.  It really broke my heart.  Amelia was so excited to be there.  She was not to happy to leave her friends or all the toys. 

This afternoon, after everyone woke up from their naps, we went outside.  We are getting in as much fresh air as possible.  It is so perfect outside right now.  The only bad thing is we traded mosquitos for gnats.  I'm not sure how that happened, but I think the gnats may be worse than the mosquitos. 

Amelia loves walking her baby back and forth up the walk way.  Now that Anna Claire is here, her baby is getting a lot of attention.

Anna Claire just hanging out with mommy while Amelia walked her Anna Claire (she named her baby Anna Claire)

Daddy came out after he finished his meeting.  He loves to swing Amelia really high.  She loves it, but it makes me nervous!

 

 

2 weeks old

Anna Claire is 2 weeks old as of yesterday.  We had her first doctors appointment today.  It went very well.  She is now 9 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long.  Such a big girl, but she is so sweet!  We are still trying to figure her out.  But, she is doing great.  Just looking forward to longer periods of sleep at night. 

playing photographer

Amelia was at daycare today, and I was a little bored, so I decided to play photographer with Anna Claire.  It didn't last too long.  She really wasn't too thrilled with it.  But, it was fun for me to play around with taking pictures.  Drew is really the best photographer of our family.  Also, Anna Claire was in a much better mood today.  She slept most of the day, but she was quite pleasant when she was awake though.  Hopefully we got the tummy issues worked out!

family time

You can definitely tell that it is football season in this house.   Not a whole lot of excitement around here right now, but we still manage to have a good time.  I'm loving my little family of 4! 

Having a tea party with my 2 favorite girls!  Amelia loves "playing" with her little sister!

Amelia had a lot of fun tackling daddy!  Love this little girl!

Going to church

We took Anna Claire to church for her first time today.  I was hesitant since we haven't had vaccines yet, but I decided I would just be mean to people.  And, let me say, I was actually able to do it.  Drew had to do it with Amelia, I always felt too guilty, but for some reason this time, as soon as the hand went to touch the baby, I was like nope, not gonna happen.  I was pretty proud of myself.  Poor girl has already been through enough.  I really don't know why people feel they should touch a baby. 

This was her bring home outfit that has become her first day of church outfit since she didn't get to wear it home.

Traveling family

We took our first little trip up to Memphis on Thursday.  It was a quick trip, but we wanted Mimi to meet Anna Claire, and were also able to get newborn photos taken while we were there.  Luckily so far, Anna Claire loves her car seat.  She slept the whole way there and back.  Hopefully she will stay that way because we can't seem to stay in Greenville to long of a time. 

We did our photos as soon as we got to Memphis.  I'm not sure that that was a good idea.  It was right at 12, so not only was Amelia hungry, but she was tired too.  She did great to begin with, but when we changed backgrounds, she refused to take any more pictures.  There is no forcing a 1 year old to do anything, so we just gave up.  Anna Claire was just having a cranky time for some reason.  We got some good shots, but not many.  But, truthfully, I don't need a hundred shots, just a few really goods ones was all I was hoping for.  After the photo shoot we went to Cracker Barrel.  It was a first family of four time to eat out at a restaurant.  It took me forever to be ready to take Amelia to a restaurant.  I don't know why, but I just knew she would have a melt down as soon as we walked in the door.  I don't seem to worry about that sort of thing anymore.  Funny thing is, Amelia did have a melt down almost as soon as we went through the door.  Really a couple at the table, but we made it through it.

We then went to grandmomma and granddaddy's house.  I just knew Amelia would fall asleep on the way there, we would lay her down and she would finish her nap.  Well, that didn't happen.  She was a complete monster.  My sister and her family came over that night.  We had a lot of time playing with cousins.  Amelia was fine once they were there.  She loves her cousins, and was really torn up when they left.  I do wish that we lived closer for her to see them more often. 

The next day, Drew's mother and grandmother came over to meet Anna Claire.  We had a good time visiting.  We then headed back home to Greenville.  We were fortunate enough to have dinner brought to us that night.  It is so nice to come home from traveling and have a yummy warm dinner prepared for you!  I've been doing so good on my weight loss, but with all this yummy food, it might just come to a screaching halt.

Today, we planned to just hang out at home, and get ready for the UT/Florida football game.  We had lunch at a new restaurant in town.  It is now the popular hangout.  It was pretty crowded.  We enjoyed our food then headed home for naps.  I think all that traveling had caught up with us.  I then got to watch the game with my 3 favorite people.  We made tailgate food, chili, and waited to watch the vols beat Florida.  Unfortunately it didn't turn out in our favor.  It was really sad.  I didn't really get to watch it too closely.  Amelia wanted to play and of course I wanted to play with her.  We had brought out the play mat for Anna Claire.  Of course Amelia doesn't remember that toy so she was really excited about it.  She wanted to sit under it.  I decided to make it into a tent.  She thought that was the coolest thing.  She played in her tent for the rest of the evening. 

playing peek a boo from her "tent"

I know it is a pitiful tent, but she thought it was pretty cool!

It didn't stay together very good

She loved hiding from us. 

1 week old

Our baby, baby girl is 1 week old today.  It really doesn't seem possible.  I think mostly because a large chunk of that time was spent at the hospital and we really just started the total care a few days ago.  She is slowly getting a little personality.  She starting making cooing noises today, and I caught her smiling.  So sweet!

Anna Claire, 1 week old

 Anna Claire on the left, Amelia on the right.  They do have different noses, but they do look very similar.

Finally caught her smiling.

She loves to stick her tongue out at me.

 



Today was my first day with both girls alone.  I was a little anxious, but the day went really well.  Most likely because Anna Claire sleeps all the time.  It was almost as if it was just me and Amelia.  It was nice having some time with my sweet girl again though.  I have been missing her like crazy and feeling like I kept shipping her off for someone else to care for. 

Last night we went for a walk around the neighborhood.  I had AC in the baby bjorn and Drew pulled Amelia in the wagon.  We then had some friends come visit and meet AC.  Amelia was giving me all kinds of love again!  it made this momma feel so good.  I think we are all going to adjust just fine!

Adjusting

We have had Anna Claire home for 2 days now.  So far, everything is going well.  Amelia has been at daycare the past 2 days, so that has helped.  She is staying home tomorrow.  It will be a true testament into my patience level I'm sure.  Anna Claire has been sleeping pretty good at night.  I actually do not feel just exhausted.  She still sleeps a lot, but is starting to stay awake for longer periods of time.  She also starting smiling yesterday.  I know it isn't purposeful, but it is cute.  I've been trying to get a picture of her smile, but that is a little difficult.  Amelia was smiling at the hospital, but she was 8 days late, so a little more developed.

Amelia has been doing well.  I know she is struggling some, but she is hiding it really well.  She has been much more attached to daddy, which is breaking my heart.  But, I know she will eventually adjust to her little sister and everything will be ok. 

We took our first outing today.  We went to Walmart for formula.  I was planning to try to nurse, but unfortunately it just isn't for me.  Amelia was a formula baby and she turned out perfect, so I think Anna Claire will be ok.  Anna Claire slept the whole time we were gone.  It was a pretty good first outing.

Amelia loves giving Anna Claire kisses.

Amelia playing with her toys while visiting with Anna Claire in the hospital.

 

This was Anna Claires take home outfit.  She didn't get to wear it home because she pottied on her outfit this day and her take home outfit was the only one I had to put on her.  But, since she was discharged so late at night, there was no reason to put her special outfit on her, we just wanted something comfortable for her to sleep in.  So, this will be her first church day outfit.

Hanging out with mommy.  She is starting to look around more and more everyday.  This picture was taken today, she is 6 days old.