FIVE MONTHS OLD

It's absolutely amazing to me that Elise is already five months old. The time has passed so quickly and she is growing and learning new things every single day!!!

Above is one of Elise's four month pictures. Because James was working late that night, I took Elise's pictures on my own- so I didn't get any pictures of her smiling. In most of the pictures she was either looking around or grabbing onto the bear or the paper- but having fun!!!!!

The yellow dress that Elise is wearing is from Bryan & Lisa. They had a garage sale before I was even expecting- and I just couldn't let her sell this dress... WOW- must have known we were having a girl?!?!

Elise has been rolling over for over a month now- but at five months old she is rolling everywhere!! When I put Elise down on the floor and step away for a minute- I just hope that she's still on her gym when I come back. She's getting so curious and wants to explore- and will do everything in her power to go after a toy if she really wants it.

Here's a picture of her pushing up on her arms. She's getting so strong. Once she figures out what to do with her legs- she'll be crawling soon... and I will be SOOOOO busy chasing her around the house (let's just say- she definately has her daddy's go-go-go personality)!!

Elise has finally found her feet!! It seems like she was late in finding her feet- but I remember my friend Beth saying that once she took off her baby's socks, that she quickly found her feet. I think the same happened with Elise. I've been keeping her bundled up because of the cold winter- but lately I've been leaving off her socks... and she quickly found out how much fun her feet can be!!!!!!

This past weekend we fed Elise rice cereal. The dr recommnded that we start her on cereal before she turned six months- so we thought that now would be a good time to get started.

She took a few good spoonfuls- spitting most of it out. It's hard to tell from her expression if she enjoyed it or not?!?!

I tried giving her cereal yesterday and she didn't want it at all. So- for now it's going to be trial and error. I'll try maybe every other day and see how it goes. She's still gaining weight and doing great- so there is certainly no need to rush her on eating!!!!

At five months, Elise is sleeping 10 to 11 hours at night. Most nights she fusses around 2AM- but I have started letting her cry a little bit and most nights she falls right back to sleep. She is a great sleeper and knows her schedule. If she's a few minutes late for a nap- she lets you know!!!

James and I have been so blessed with a wonderful baby!!! She is our true pride and joy!!!

Fun with Snow

Elise is now officially 19 weeks old- only 7 more weeks until she's SIX MONTHS!!!!!! I am amazed by how quickly time has passed and how much she is growing up.


Below are a few fun pics that we took this weekend.


Last weekend was Grandpa Moseley's birthday- so we had to take a picture of Elise wishing him a "Happy Birthday." Abby and Marissa helped make the sign and birthday hat.


Above is a picture James took right before I put on her hat- I just LOVE the way she's looking at me here!!!! She's so sweet!!!






Friday night/Saturday morning we got about a foot of snow!!


Since it was so cold- we didn't think we should take Elise outside, so we brought the snow inside to her!!!!




She played with the snow a little bit- but didn't play too long because it was cold on her little fingers. We did get a few cute pictures of her playing with the snow and also with the "mini-snow dog" that James made for her.






Elise had her 4 month doctor's appointment this past Thursday and she received some of her 4 month vacines (I get to go back in two weeks with her to get the rest). She did great- didn't even cry!!



Elise has had quite a few skin outbreaks lately- which the doctor checked and believes that she has Eczema. She shoulders were so bad that they he believed that they were getting infected (so sad). He prescribed her with a special skin ointment and an antibiotic to give her for the next 10 days. She's doing great after only 3 days- I see tons of improvement!!!! She's such a trooper!!

FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!

We have been taking monthly pictures of Elise with her bear (I have to admit- I copied this idea from Beth White). Since I haven't blogged her monthly pictures, I wanted to catch up with her last FOUR months' pictures.

Elise at one month old- 11 pounds 2 oz and 23 inches long

Elise at two months old- 13 pounds 13 oz and 24 1/4 inches long

Elise at three months old (she had a head cold and ear infection... poor baby!!)- approx 15 pounds and 25 inches long

Elise at four months old- 15 pounds 13 oz and 25 3/4 inches long

Elise didn't have a doctor's appointment at 3 months and her 4 month doctor's appointment is scheduled for next week...

At four months- Elise is rolling over from belly to back (and only once from back to belly), grabbing toys, cooing and “talking” all the time, Elise also loves to scream just to hear herself (she’s scared me a couple times with her screams- I go running and she’s just smiling away!!). Elise also loves to laugh out loud- it’s so fun to hear.

Last night in her bathtub she “found” her foot. She hasn’t grabbed it yet today- but it’s certainly an exciting new discovery!!!! Elise has also been on a consistent 4 hour schedule (awake, eat and play for 2 hours and nap for 2 hours)- and she sleeps 8 to 10 hours at night. She’s doing just great and, as you can see, growing like a weed!!

We are SUCH proud parents!!!!!!

Elise pics

I honestly have no idea how many people read our blog- but I just wanted to share some random pics of Elise over the last (almost) four months!!!

I can't believe how quickly she's grown and how our lives has changed!! She's so precious!

HOLIDAYS

It was wonderful enjoying the Holidays with Elise this year!! Even though she wasn't able to understand and be involved in all the Christmas activities- it was so much more fun having her smile to lighten up every party!! Above is her first picture with Santa- this was taken at our PCC Employee Activity Association party...


Here is a picture of Abby, Marissa and Elise at our "Lewis Family" Christmas party. James and I hosted the party this year since it was easier for us to not have to pack up all of Elise's stuff (it's amazing how much stuff a little baby requires). She got a stuffed puppy that talks from Grandma & Grandpa and a "jumper" which you put in the door way for her to jump in from Uncle Bryan & Aunt Lisa (she's not quite ready for that yet- but will be soon I'm sure). We had a GREAT party!!!!!!


We drove to Milwaukee for Christmas and spent five days with the Moseley's. Elise started getting sick on Christmas Eve with a horrible head cold and eventually got an ear infection. Her "Three Month Birthday" was on Christmas morning... she looks so sick :(

She got her "Bumbo Chair" from me and James (which she's almost outgrown already) and clothes and other fun stuff from Grandma & Grandpa Moseley. James' brother and family arrived on Saturday night after Christmas and we opened more gifts with them (sadly I didn't get any pictures- I think I was so distracted trying to make Elise feel better).


James and I were home for New Year's Eve and invited my mom and dad (Grandma & Grandpa Lewis) over to eat Fondue and play Wii. We had a nice relaxing time to welcome the New Year!!

Elise had her "New Years Eve" outfit on and partied until 8:30!!!!!! She was starting to feel better and wanted to show off her "standing" skills. She's been getting very strong legs and wants to stand (assisted of course) as much as she can.

Much love and best wishes to everyone for a WONDERFUL 2010!!!!

First Family pics

I can't believe I haven't been keeping up with the blog. I feel like I don't have any time during the day... and when James comes home and night I just want to soak up the time we have together as a family.




Corby and Chris VanDee (James' long-time diving buddies) came over and did a family photo shoot for James and I as our "baby gift." The timing was great because we're able to use some of the pics for our Christmas letter and to give as gifts.

Here are some of my favorites... Elise was so well-behaved and

did great until she just couldn't stay awake another minute. Even the "sleeping" pictures turned out pretty well.





Best wishes to all for a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!!!!!!

BIRTH STORY

I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last blog. I had no idea how little free time I would have once the baby was born. I thought that I should blog about Elise's birth before I blogged about anything else.

My doctor scheduled me for my FIFTH ultrasound on Thursday, September 24th. James and I met with the doctor after my ultrasound to discuss how I would deliver Elise since she was almost one week past her due date. I was told that Elise was between 9 and 10 pounds, that I was not dilated at all and that the doctors believed me to have a narrow pelvis.

Because of all these reasons, James and I discussed that the best thing to do was to have Elise by cesarean birth and avoid the stress and complications of a natural birth- since it was believed by my doctor that if I chose to try a vaginal birth that I may end up with a cesarean birth if there were complications.

I arrived at Aultman Hospital at 7am on Friday, September 25th. After checking in and going through all the preparations, James and I went to the operating room to prepare for the long-awaited birth of our baby girl. The worst part of the surgery preparation was the spinal. After three tries and calling in another doctor- I finally received my spinal. The surgery went well and Elise Lauraine Moseley was born at 9:53am.

Because the curtain was in front of my face, I wasn't able to see Elise be born- but it was amazing watching her enter this world through James' eyes. He didn't have to say a word as I saw his face and his eyes filled with tears. As James cut the umbilical cord- I began to cry- knowing that we had just become parents and that our lives would be changed forever. James brought Elise to me and we both kissed her welcoming her to our family.

Elise was 8 pounds 15 oz., 20 1/4 inches, light brown hair and blue eyes. We all fell in love!! Elise and I did well while staying at Aultman Hospital. After our second day in the hospital, Elise had learned how to breast feed and was able to eat well enough so that she did not develop jaundice.

We are proud of her development and love her more and more every day. Elise is a blessing from God and a wonder to us. James and I never knew the joy that we could feel in adding a beautiful baby girl to our family.