6 weeks!!!!

Where has the time gone? Six weeks old already?!? Above are pictures taken by the wonderful Summer Knobloch when Ella was about 2 weeks old. The pictures she took are amazing, and it has been so hard to choose which ones to purchase. I can't believe that she took those a few weeks ago already. The time has just flown by and Ella has changed so much from those pictures. She is gaining weight like crazy (about an ounce a day) and now weighs 10lbs. 5oz. She is so easy-going and happy. Her darling demeanor has been a huge help to momma, as much of my time is spent chasing big sister around and getting her out of whatever she is getting into. Speaking of big sister, Lily is doing very well and if you ask her how she is doing she will quickly answer, "good." We were surprised and amused when we realized she was answering this question, but a little disappointed that she was not using the proper grammar. Oh well, baby steps. She is also learning her colors and starting to recite the alphabet. She also loves to sing and dance. In addition to her developing mind, she is also a very loving big sister. Her favorite past time with "da baby" is a game of peek-a-boo. She loves to cover Ella's eyes and say "peek-a-boo, baby" and then run around in a circle and laugh. She gives her tons of kisses and tries her best to be gentle. So far for me the hardest part of having two little ones is not being able to fulfill Lily's desire to be outdoors 24/7. From the minute she gets up in the morning she asks to "go outside" and if the answer is no then she asks, "take a walk?" On Saturday morning we said, "Lily you can't go outside. You don't have any shoes on." Next thing we know, she is running to the closet to get her shoes. Nothing holds this child back from getting what she wants. So now I sit with Ella by the sliding glass door and watch Lily as she plays right outside of it on the patio. She loves to open and close the screen constantly and let as many bugs as possible in the house. Both girls are doing great, and thankfully I am getting plenty of sleep and feeling pretty good (having a baby that actually sleeps helps, I've found). I definitely wouldn't have been able to survive the last few weeks as well as I have without Jeff and my family, either. Jeff is a great daddy, and having my parents and siblings as back-up on days that Jeff isn't available has been a life saver too.

*I promise to update this more often now that we are starting to get settled into a routine!