Eleven Weeks Old

So today is Tuesday and it's time to update the blog. However, I'm SO excited that DJ, April, Zachary, and Maya are coming in that I can't think of anything to write about. The crew should have been here already except that their plane was delayed in St. Louis (they were there visiting April's family). Luckily they were able to get themselves on another flight, but they won't be here until after 10:30pm. So that means we have to wait another day to see them.

July Fourth weekend brought us to many places. We started the weekend off with Todd's birthday on the third. YaYa and Papa John babysat Ella so Todd and I could go out to dinner. We went to Frog Hair. Love the atmosphere but the food and service have yet to impress us. Therefore, we picked up dessert and took it back to my mom's house to share.

The next morning (July 4th) Todd's parents came to babysit Ella so that Todd and I could go golfing with our friends, Geri and Mo, at Arrowhead. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. I forget how tiring 18 holes can be. Todd ended up losing more balls than I could keep track of though!

That evening we went to my cousins', Mike and Alex's house for a cookout dinner. We tried to make it to fireworks, but a full night's sleep was more important to the three of us.

Saturday evening we enjoyed homemade baby back ribs to celebrate Todd's birthday at Mom and John's. Sunday evening we celebrated Todd's birthday once again with his parents at their boat with my Dad and Heather.

Other than our outings - and making sure everyone who holds or touches Ella at these outings are washing or sanitizing their hands (it's more difficult than you think - you wouldn't believe how many people are 'put off' that we ask them to wash their hands!!!) - Ella seems to be getting into more of a sleep routine. She is consistently in bed around 10:00pm each night. She will then wake up between 2:00 and 4:00am. Most nights she will then sleep until 6:00 or 7:00am and sometimes 8:00am - which means I am getting up once in an eight hour stretch. However, when I put her back down after that feeding I will usually lay back down too. She then will sleep another couple hours. Ella will also take an afternoon snooze at some point and sometimes an early evening nap too - but nothing predictable yet.

With those nights I get up just once in 8 hours, there are the nights that she is up at 1:00am, 4:00am, and 7:00am still. However, we have started to swaddle her (thanks to the suggestion from my cousin, Wendy) and this seems to allow her to sleep longer.

Ella loves to have her arms free and, therefore, originially fought the swaddle when we brought her home (probably because she wasn't ever 'contained' in the NICU). However, we started to notice that she was flailing her arms and scratching herself in her sleep which would wake herself up. We tried the mitties but she would fling those off too. So that's when Wendy, the Baby Whisperer, suggested we give swaddling a try again. Ella still throws a fit when we swaddle her if she's awake. Therefore, I now swaddle her as she is drifting off to sleep in her crib. However, our little Houdini often wakes up with her arms out. So I am looking forward to taking some swaddling lessons from DJ and April.

Finally, Aunt Alysia got to see Ella again, but this time in a much healthier state. Alysia flew in so that she could be here to visit and see April, DJ, and the twins too. She will also be here for a big family picnic my mom is having on Sunday to introduce the twins (and Ella) to the local family members - as well as some out-of-towners too (my cousins, Matt & Mara, and their son Jackson will be in from NYC).

Alight...off to sleep - we have a big day tomorrow meeting the twins for the first time!!!