Moving Day!

Same blog.

New location.

I had mentioned not being completely satisfied with my blog for multiple reasons, so to fix it I have decided to switch servers. WordPress offers a lot more - I can reply to comments, more professional layout, and it allows readers to subscribe and be updated via email when I add a new post. All of the content has also been transfered as well, so you don't have to worry about losing all of those cute pictures! I think this will be a lot better for everyone! Sorry for any inconvenience it may cause. 

If the link does not work, the web address for the new blog is: http://heartofpassion.wordpress.com/

Officially in Print

Look who made the newspaper!

She gets cuter and cuter every day! It is impossible for me to believe that she is already four weeks old. Also that it is already December! November seems to have just disappeared. On Friday, Elly will officially be one month old. Crazy. I am so glad (and lucky) that I am getting a chance to be a stay-at-home mom and spend so much time with her... watching her as she learns and develops.

On Tuesday she got her first real "big girl" bath in her baby tub. Her cord fell off a few weeks ago, but Brent wanted to be here for her first real bath so I had just continued with sponge baths until we could give her a bath together. She hated it.

 ....but she survived and we survived! Plus you can really tell she is starting to get a belly! and pinchable cheeks. So cute!

We are doing great with getting her into a routine. She was awake almost all day yesterday and slept almost all night. She wakes herself up every 2-3 hours to feed, but she puts herself right back to sleep afterward. This is really helping Brent and I catch up on some much needed rest. As far as her being fussy and awake, we have determined that caffeine is the culprit and that her little body cannot handle it, so I have to give that up until I am done breastfeeding... or until she gains a few more pounds.  That's okay, she's worth it! She has also been sucking on her thumb more, rather than just trying to eat her entire fist. Her facial expressions are still cute as ever and we are noticing a lot more smiles (and seeing lots of her tongue)! She is learning and developing so well, we are so proud of her!

big beautiful eyes!

Yesterday we had a home visit from one of our lactation consultants (we see two, but they both work together). She said everything is going great! She watched a feeding session and was impressed with how well Elly latched and stayed focused. She also said that I could back off on the pumping, doing it only a few times a day rather than after every feeding! Great news for me.

Today we have a meeting with our registered dietician. Since Elly had a low birth weight she wants to track my diet to make sure I'm getting enough of the nutrients that Elly needs to grow properly. I don't think we have an issue, but it will be good to make sure. Elly will also get weighed while we are there... Brent and are I thinking she is over 5 pounds.... we'll see!

Brent is off today, so after our appointment we plan on finishing the decorating! and probably watching ELF!

Blog Business

It's December!!!
It's snowing!!!
Elly is FOUR weeks old!!!

Where is the time going?

We are still in the process of decorating for Christmas. Between Brent's work schedule, Elly's eating schedule, and me not being able to do much or lift anything the decorating has been drawn out and we still haven't finished. However, it is starting to look like Christmas in our apartment and I am loving it. Pictures coming soon, I promise!

I am in the process of overhauling the blog. I am still not quite satisfied with the layout or the colors. I would love to have a picture banner at the top but have yet to get one that I think works well, so I am trying to design my own. Please bare with me over the next week or so as I try and work out the kinks and get my blog looking perfect. There will probably be lots of background and color changes, but the content is still here and the pictures will keep coming.

I am also going to try and keep my posts consistent and get at least one post up a day - this could be a recipe, a new food we've tried, updates about Elly or the family, random stories, or maybe just a picture or two... whatever the case, expect at least one post per day (sometimes you may get more!)

If you haven't noticed, I am also adding tabs to the top of the page. I have a lot of readers from all over the world - met through online communities and pregnancy groups, so not everyone knows about me or the people I write about on a daily basis. I have also included a "recipes" tab since part of this blog is also dedicated to my passion for cooking and baking and several people have expressed interest in my recipes... so hopefully combining them all onto one page will make them easier to access.

Comments are always welcome! Unfortunately, I have not figured out how to reply directly to comments, so if you leave a comment I will most likely reply through e-mail.

I have a great update planned for you later... including lots of pictures!