One Month of Eleanor Rose!

Our growing girl is such a joy (when she isn't being gassy) and just the perfect fit for our little family.

We celebrated her 1 month birthday the same way we celebrated Caidyn's - with a family dinner at the Olive Garden.

Caidyn actually took the top picture of Ellie in her car seat. I have a whole post I'm planning of some of her photos - she is getting pretty good!

Eleanor grew a lot in her first month! I'm anxious to see some more smiles coming, her alertness to increase, and hopefully her gassy/fussyness during the day to decrease.

The New Normal

So we are beginning to settle into our routine as a family of four. Brian actually took his first out of town trip for work and we survived! Caidyn was at school on time every day, we were dressed and showered, and we even made it to a tennis lesson and dance class on time!

We've definitely had our ups and downs. On the plus side - Ellie has settled into a nighttime routine we enjoy. For the most part she falls asleep around 10pm every day, sleeps until about 2, then again until 5-6ish. I try and wake up for the day at that point and get ready. I've found that if I don't I never get ready for the remainder of the day. The down (ish - that term is relative, as it by far isn't the worst) is that Ellie wants to be held all day. I've found that if I think she has fallen asleep and I wait any less than 10 minutes with her sound asleep - not even a stir - and try to put her down she wakes up. She'll give me about 5 minutes - just long enough to think I've done it and start a task -only for her sad cry to start again. She's just too little for me to try to let her cry it out. Plus, I know I should enjoy this extra cuddle time and I am trying to do just that. They are only little once, right?

More fun photos from our first couple weeks settling into our routines! We visited a pop-up petting zoo at the library, finally getting back to running - this time with our double jogger! And celebrating fake holidays like National Ice Cream Day! 

Ellie's First Fourth of July!

Ellie's first holiday was perfectly relaxing. We spent the three day weekend at home as a family and enjoyed lots of pool time and matching of course. Caidyn had her first sparkler experience and we made lots of memories!

And then there were four

After a week and a half home with two I can safely say it is harder and easier than everyone said two would be. Last week we got home early Wednesday (we were home from the hospital by 11am!) and unpacked and relaxed. We both went to pick Caidyn up from school after some naps from everyone and I think we maybe had Chinese food brought to us for dinner. Thursday was another relaxing day at home - Caidyn went to school and we took turns holding Ellie, sleeping, and watching some Suits on AmazonPrime. We also started our summer of matching pajamas!

Friday was Ellie's first doctors appointment. I remember getting ready for Caidyn's first appointment and it taking us like 2 1/2 hours to leave the house. I think we were still 5 minutes late and looked a total frazzled mess. This time we dropped Caidyn off at school, went to a leisurely breakfast with our one tiny newborn where I was able to feed her while sitting at our table, and arrived a couple minutes early. She was almost back at birth weight (7lb) at her appointment so we were told "see ya in a month!" and headed out. Ellie wore the same dress Caidyn wore (a gift from Caidyn's godmother, Jeanne) to her first doctor appointment!

We actually went to Costco because we needed some groceries. It was two weeks before we ran errands with Caidyn, and we took Ellie to breakfast and Costco on her first trip out of the house. Such a second child. 

That weekend we welcomed lots of visitors and began to rejoin the world on Sunday going to our typical Sunday morning brunch with Brian's parents. 

The following week Caidyn's school was closed. They are always closed the last week of June so we had been preparing for this for a while. I went back to camp for two days with both girls. (Ellie and I actually worked camp the rest of the summer which I enjoyed a lot! Even though I was exhausted it was great to be able to keep my little girl with me and mother her while being able to exercise my brain and have adult conversation on a regular basis.) On Monday I actually ventured out with both girls by myself. We visited Whiz Kids for the first time and had fun with our cousins! It was just for a few hours in the morning while Daddy worked from home for a little bit. 

We also went to story time at the library that week and then to a fun park afterwards. It was shady, had shaded seating near the playground, and our friends joined us to keep Caidyn and I entertained. 

Later that week we also went to the children's museum with some friends of Caidyn's from school. I don't have any photos because it was the exact perfect playdate. The moms were able to sit in one area and chat and the kids were well enough behaved to always stay together (literally - they held hands if they moved from one area to another - it was the sweetest to watch!) and ask permission if they were moving to a new area. 

It has definitely been a challenge with some routines changing - bedtime is an entire other beast now -  but for the most part adding Ellie has been pretty seamless. She is a fairly content baby and is still really young and on the eat sleep eat sleep schedule. I know that things will become much more hectic as Ellie is awake more, needs more entertaining, and begins to move. But for now we are loving this time of calmness in Ellie and craziness in Caidyn <3