Life with Ella {week 8}

Sorry that all I write about anymore is Ella. I really do try to think of other things to write about...but....yeah. It doesn't happen!

The good news is that I'm down 4-5ish more pounds (thanks to 2 weeks of running!) and I am wearing jeans that zip for the first time since, oh, August. Exciting times!

Here's a glimpse at our past week.

Monday I was pretty much ready to lose. my. mind. Travis had been in Vegas since the previous Wednesday and I was going crazy. Hats off to any and all single parents out there...I could never do it!!! I literally cried when my husband walked in the door Monday night. 

Ella was pretty excited to see him too, and even helped him unpack his travel pillow...

Tuesday was kind of a rainy day, so we went on about 239472 errands.

Here is little peanut in my favorite section of the grocery store (remember my pregnancy cravings?!).

It's fun running errands with this smiley face in the backseat!

Wednesday, we went to Ikea. Yes, I am crazy. Poor Elle had baskets sitting on top of her stroller. It was a little ridiculous, but we survived. 

On Thursday, we had a hot date with Ella's friend, baby Carter. He was born exactly 25 hours after Ella, and he and his mom were in the hospital room next to ours! (We knew them before this, though.)

We took them to Bad Daddy's for lunch and then walked around Freedom Park! It's always nice to talk with a mom who is in the exact same stage of baby-hood (if there is such a thing) as you!

On Friday, we had another girls' lunch with Frankie and Caitlin!

Friday also marked the first day Ella took a nap in her crib (annnnnd she hasn't since, whoops). I don't think she really "slept" very much, but hopefully we can practice some more this week!

And of course, what would a start to the weekend be without dressing up in some basketball team's colors and cheering for them? Since UNC and Mercer were both out of the tournament, we were now pulling for Michigan State (I grew up in Lansing and my mom went to grad school there)! We also were cheering for Michigan, because, why not?!

Just like last week, Friday was a good basketball day for us, Sunday not so much.

We had an incredibly lazy weekend full of doing almost nothing...

We did a little online shopping...

...went to Cantina 1511 with Kathryn...

...and snuggled lots! Look at those eyelashes!

The snuggling continued on Sunday, when I got out of the shower to find this:

Melt. my. heart.

{Don't worry, Ella does not normally sleep in bed with us!}

Ella continued to spend lots of time this weekend with her dad, by helping him check out Inside Carolina last night. He swore she was "reading;" her eyes were moving left to right!

And yes, I know iPads are probably bad for babies' eyes. But aren't we impressed that my 8 week old is reading already?!

I'm so glad the weather is warming up this week! I foresee lots of trips to the park...including one this afternoon!

Ella's Newborn Pics!

I'm finally getting around to share some of Ella's wonderful newborn pictures, captured by Leslie from Elizabeth Scott Photography!! 

(Yep! That's our wedding photogs who also captured our gender reveal party...we love them!)

Ella was kinda cranky when Leslie first showed up, so Leslie took some pics of the nursery while I tried to calm Ella down.

{more nursery pictures and sources can be seen here}

Ella decided to be wide awake for pretty much our entire photo shoot, but we did get a few sleepy pictures the last 30 minutes! Thank goodness Leslie was extremely patient!

{Please ignore mine and Trav's outfit choices...Ella was only 5 days old and we were slightly sleep-deprived!}

Ruffle diaper cover: Etsy

Owl hat: Etsy

UNC bow: Chapel Hill Sportswear on Franklin Street

Basket: Crate & Barrel

For even more pictures, check out Leslie's blog post here!

Life with Ella {week 7}

Another fun-filled week with my sweet girl! 

Last Monday was incredibly gross weather (like today), so we met Rachel and Maggie at Whole Foods for coffee and just hung around the house wearing our green the rest of the day!

Monday was also bath night, and Ella pretended she was lounging at a spa.

She cracks me up!

We did almost absolutely nothing major on Tuesday, except snuggle extra with Daddy before he left for Vegas the next day.

On Wednesday, Ella had a play date with another Ella! And I took ZERO pictures. FAIL.

As soon as we got home, she pooped all over her cute Baby Gap outfit, so I changed her into a onesie real quick before going to get pedis with Kathryn!

Elle Belle helped us pick out our colors...

She was so good the whole time! I can't wait till her first pedicure!

Auntie Kaffy was also sweet enough to come over after to help give Ella a bath in Travis' absence (it's a 2 person job)!

Thursday was the first day of spring, so we took a walk in the neighborhood!

Thursday night was Ella's first trip to Cantina. I met up with some of my teacher friends, and they all loved seeing Ella!

Friday was a big day for us! Ella can finally fit into some of her UNC attire, so of course she had to wear one outfit to cheer on the Tarheels!

Unfortunately, she did not have any orange clothes, or she would have worn those too, to cheer for Mercer for her grandpa. 

PS-HOLY upset Friday!!! I was so excited for my dad's Mercer Bears when they beat Dook!! It not only helped out my bracket tremendously, but my dad was seriously on cloud 9! His phone was blowing up all day (he's a pretty big fan)!

Meanwhile, Ella and I were at the park with her friend Frankie.

(And this whole time at the park, I was turning into my husband, by checking ESPN on my phone every 8 seconds to see what the score of the Mercer game was and frantically texting my dad.)

Friday night, we took our first {mini} road trip up to Hickory. My mom was there for a conference, so we got to eat dinner and hang out for a little bit with her!

Oh and UNC won their game too on Friday night! It was a very good basketball day in our family! :)

On Saturday, the Callesen girls came by our house to meet Ella. I used to babysit Emma in high school, and now she and her mom are road-tripping from Ohio to look at colleges! I can't believe she's a junior already! 

After that, we set out to Old Navy for Operation: Find Mom Some Jeans That Fit. Still trying to loose those last 20 pounds, but in the meantime, I need jeans that will go over my huge ass and stretched out hips. 

Saturday night, some of my friends came over for wine night.

I had a little too much fun, and needless to say, will probably hold off on wine for a while. Being hungover with a newborn (while her dad is in Vegas) is super NOT fun. 

On Sunday, I made sure to dress Ella in UNC and Mercer colors, since they were both playing again that night. 

Unfortunately, both teams lost. Sad day. I hope we didn't jinx them!

We also went over to Kathryn's for dinner...and when I got home, I found that my stupid bracket was in dead. last. place. again! Thanks a lot Mercer (yes, I had them going to the Sweet 16, I'm probably the only person in America that did), UNC, Creighton, Wichita State, Syracuse, Kansas and Villanova. Perhaps my team colors and mascots strategy was not such a good one this year?

{Still really proud of Mercer for their crazy upset Friday, and UNC for making it further than I thought they would this year!}

I sure hope this weather {and my bracket, for real} improve this week! 

Ella and I are ready for spring!!!

Five on Friday

Let's be honest....I'm pretty sure the only times I am going to blog are for Ella's weekly and monthly updates, and then for Five of Friday. Sorry I'm not sorry. 

1. March Madness is officially underway, and my bracket is officially sucking it up right now. 

So far, I have gotten only 9 out of 16 games right. And I'm in last place in our pool. Ugh. I guess that's what happens when you have your 6 week old help you (I would tell her the names of the teams, and whichever one made her cry the least is the team I picked. Ha!). 

I just really, really, really need Duke to lose today. 

My dad went to Mercer (who Duke is playing) and having gone to a smaller school myself, I always like to root for the underdog. Plus, I reallllllly hate Duke and them losing would help my bracket out immensely. So please cheer against Duke for me today!

{GO MERCER!}

2. I finally got Ella's birth announcements ordered and sent out! 

{patting myself on the back}

I pinky promise I will share her newborn pictures next week!

3. Moms! (Or dog moms! Or anyone who just likes to share pics without posting all over Facebook!) I found a new app that I totally wish I had invented. It's called Tweekaboo and you post pictures to privately share them with family and friends. I already have a photo stream where I share all of my Ella pictures with family and friends, but I love this for anyone who doesn't have an iphone or ipad (they can access Tweekaboo via their website too). Plus, you can sync it with your Facebook pics, AND you can also make a photo book of all the pictures with people's comments! 

It's basically like a virtual baby book. So I have been posting Ella pics onto Tweekaboo (in addition to posting to the photo stream....hey, I need something to do during feelings!) and I plan on ordering a book of all my Facebook and photo stream posts for her whole first year! I wish I had thought of this....genius, I tell ya! 

4. I could finally start running again on Monday and it was pretty much the greatest thing ever. I was only going to run a mile...and then I figured I could run 2 miles...and then I thought, hell I might as well just run 3 miles. 

{I think my sleepy little cheerleader helped!}

And now I am insanely sore! 

5. Travis is in Vegas for a bachelor party (ugh), but I have quite an exciting weekend planned for Miss Elle Belle and myself! Tonight, we are going to see my mom who will be in Hickory for a conference (an hour away from us). Tomorrow, a girl I used to babysit for in high school and her mom are stopping by to meet Ella (they are in town visiting colleges), and tomorrow night I'm having wine night with my girlfriends!!!

 Cheers to a great weekend!!!