Good and Bad

Lately Ella has had a very consistent wake up time, which is great! I know what to expect and I can plan things ahead a lot better than I used to. The only downfall? Morning comes waaaaaay too early for me. I have never been a morning person. I have to work very hard to not be cranky with Ella in the morning. I would love it if Ella slept until 8:00, however my little alarm clock is up at 6:30 sharp every morning. I tell myself every day that I am going to go to bed earlier, but it never happens. I guess it could be a lot worse though. If she starts getting up at 5:00 then I can really complain! I'm starting to adjust to getting less sleep and mornings have been much more pleasant. Ella is really adorable in the morning actually. She is so excited to explore and see if anything has changed since she went to bed the night before. She will be across the room and randomly stop what she is doing, wave and say hi to me. Then she says hi to the wall, and her toys and anything else that she finds to play with. This morning it is one of Kyle's racquet balls. I probably shouldn't let her play with it because I am sure it is absolutely filthy, but there are certainly worse things she could choose to play with and I like to pick my battles with her. Another new thing for Ella is crawling into her room and playing by herself. Usually she wants attention 24/7, but sometimes she chooses to play alone, which is nice for me and important for her to learn to do. Of course in her room she ignores the basket of toys and stuffed animals and goes for the one that is filled with extra bottles and baby supplies that aren't actual toys, but she hasn't wrecked anything yet or hurt herself. Well, I think I will sign off for now because the babe is whining and the air doesn't smell so sweet.

A little background

I thought I would give a little history of Ella. She was born by c-section after 23 hours of labor. She was stubborn from the get go and refused to come out. Apparently she gets that particular personality trait from me! The first few months were a blur of crying, sleepless nights. We both cried a lot at night :) It has always been a battle of will between us. Luckily we survived the first few months and she started smiling and making fun noises, and it got better. Pictures are far more interesting though, so here are a few good ones!

Ella has always been an aggressive sleeper!

At about 3 months she already loved standing

This is probably my favorite photo of Ella

Ella's first Halloween

Crazy hair after bathtime with Daddy!

My First Post

A while back Kyle suggested to me that I start a blog as a way to journal my thoughts about life now that I am home with Ella fulltime. I thought it was a good idea but I hesitated partially because I didn't really think anyone cared much about my random thoughts and also because I was afraid I would use as a way to complain about the struggles I have had with Ella and people wouldn't hear about all the great things. However, I have now gotten to the point where being a mom isn't nearly as difficult for me and I think I am ready to enter the blogging world. So here goes...