Dancing in Papa's Truck

This was taken a few weeks ago.

Six Weeks Old

Sweet Eloise is six weeks old today! Her little personality is beginning to develop. She's mellow and reserved. Her smiles are few and far between, but when we get one, it's so sweet and loving.

I suspect that Weezy might have a sensitivity to cow's milk...so I've gone dairy-free for a while. I'm hoping that will help with her eczema and colic. If it does, I'll slowly start to eat dairy again until I find her threshold.

Oh, and though it's kind of hard to tell in this picture, she has red hair and blue eyes :)

Another Adventure

While we would have been happy wait a while for another big adventure, it has found us. Michael was laid off yesterday, along with some other coworkers. It's not too big of a shock...he felt like it would happen eventually, we just didn't know when. For whatever reason, neither of us is too stressed about it. We're not happy of course, but we're optimistic. I wonder where this adventure will take us....

Weezy Bear

I Have to Rest

Today, Michael asked Marlee what she was doing lying in her bed, and she replied,

"Remember? I have a baby sister in my belly and I don't feel good. I have to rest, remember?"

I guess everyone felt my difficult pregnancy!

Wordless Wednesday: Girls in Hats

Cousins

Marlee had so much fun playing with her cousin Henry this weekend! We were sorry he and his parents couldn't stay longer.

Resemblance?

I think they have the same nose...but that's about it. What do you see?

One Month Stats and Observations

10 lbs, 5 oz >> 78th percentile

21.75 inches>> 70th percentile

37.1cm head>> 50th percentile


Eloise is so different from Marlee. It's funny, when you have one child, you just assume your other children will look like her. I pictured Weezy looking like MJ...but I did picture a full head of hair! There are so many differences, though. Eloise is bigger and longer (even her fingers and toes). She's a furry little thing just like her sister was, but her body hair and eyebrows are white-blond, Marlee's was dark. The hair on her head looks a bit red. Marlee has my olive-undertones, Eloise is very fair skinned. MJ's eyes are big and round, like Michael's; Eloise's are almond-shaped, like mine.

I'm interested to see how similar or different they look as they grow up!

A Lady and Mush

Marlee has been asking me all morning if I would get her "a lady and mush" for her room. I had no clue what she was talking about until we read Goodnight Moon just now...

A comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush. And a quiet old lady who was whispering hush.

I guess she's trying to recreate the story!

Fun Fall Weekend

We kicked off our weekend by watching the Youth Day Parade with lots of friends on Saturday. Traditionally, we go to the pumpkin patch after the parade, but we were too tired, so we relaxed and enjoyed some football instead. Sunday, we hit the pumpkin patch. It was pretty hot out, which kind of kills the festive atmosphere, but it was fun nonetheless!

Visiting Tom Turkey

Searching for the perfect little pumpkin.

Sad sweet tiny pumpkin :)

All that fun wore Marlee out. She almost fell asleep on her pumpkin on our hayride!

Eloise is Three Weeks Old!

Where does the time go?

I'm up with her now because she decided not to go back to sleep after her 5:30 feeding. Now, an hour later, she's out, but I have to be up in an hour. Is it worth it to go back to bed? Hmmm. Maybe I'll just rest my eyes on the sofa....

Pictures

Lots more at wfamilypictures.shutterfly.com. Remember, the password is our last name :) It's easy to order prints from the Shutterfly site, just click on the picture you want. You can have them mailed to you or pick up at Target!

Hi There. I'm Renee.

Not sure if you remember me...it's been a long time!

I'm so sad that I haven't blogged in a while. To say things have been busy here is a bit of an understatement!

Of course, it all started a few weeks ago, on September 14th. After denying that I was in labor all day, we finally made it to the hospital at 8:30pm. Our precious Eloise was born 3 1/2 hours later, at 12:05 am. I was able to have the unmedicated water birth I planned, and the whole experience was wonderful. We were able to leave the hospital after only 20 hours. We were anxious to be home and see Marlee (she wasn't allowed to visit at the hospital).

Marlee was very excited to meet Baby Sister! She just kept saying, "Look at her!" "That's Eloise!" "That's my baby sister!" I took a video, but I have to edit it before posting because it is way too long. MJ loves having her sister here. She's so sweet and loves to hold and kiss her.

When Eloise was a week old, Marlee came down with the flu. The pediatrician put us all on anti-viral meds to prevent us from passing it to Eloise. Unfortunately, Marlee was contagious before she even showed symptoms, and a few days later, Eloise came down with a fever. We took her to the children's hospital, where they ran a whole host of tests (blood, urine, spinal fluid) to determine that all she had was the flu. She was admitted for observation for 48 hours. We finally came home a week ago today, and have spent the last week finally settling into some normalcy.

Eloise is a happy sweet baby. She doesn't fuss much, and she eats all. the. time. She's about 9 lbs 8oz now, and more alert and interactive every day.

Katie was here this weekend and took lots of pictures of the girls, so stay tuned for a picture-heavy post!