"birthday" pictures

A few short hours before the end of Ellie's one month birthday, I decided that I was going to take pictures each month to document how much she was changing.  Official birthday pictures, that is.  Because, naturally, I take way more pictures than is probably necessary on a daily basis.  But I decided that "official" monthly pictures would also be necessary.  Because, you know...that's just how this sometimes-irrational mom thing works.

Quite obviously, I am not a professional photographer.  And I do not have a professional camera.  In fact, my camera is called the Kodak EasyShare if that gives you any indication of just how amateur I really am.  But let's just take a second and pretend, shall we?  After all, when you have such a photogenic subject...

I never posted her one month pictures, so here they are:

And here are her two month pictures:

I realized after I was done taking pictures that the bow was in the middle of her forehead.  I guess I was too preoccupied by the gigantic smile on her face to notice.

She smiled at me for the first time on March 21st, but after that, she would only smile occasionally.  Now she smiles all the time.  And she "talks" to us all the time.  Which means my heart feels like it's shooting sunbeams all the time.  It never gets old.

We have her two month appointment this week and I think I am going to feel worse than she will after the shots are finished.  I used to think moms were so silly for saying that kind of thing, but now I totally get it.  I am already getting anxiety about the whole ordeal.  My plan for after they are finished is just to rock her the entire day.

On an unrelated note, the weather is finally warming up here.  It's in the 70s, my friends.  Which means that this Arizona girl is finally starting to feel more at home.

More details on the house and some thoughts on motherhood to come later!

road trippin' with a newborn

Last weekend, Tim and I took a roadtrip out to California...

...with our seven-week-old.

You may hold your applause.

Actually, on second thought, don't.  Clap away, my friends.

I know people do that kind of thing all the time, but we felt like fearless warriors, about to embark on a journey filled with unexpected adventures, danger, and intrigue.  Because, I'll be honest, going anywhere in public with her has felt like that since day one.  And taking a twelve-hour roadtrip with her was like that...but on steroids.  [You know, not to mention the fact that a twelve hour trip by yourselves is like a one hundred hour trip with a newborn.]

But we lived to tell the tale!  And, truth be told, Ellie was an angel.  Behold:

Our sweet cherub.

Naturally, she had a few cranky moments, and one unnaturally large blowout, but most of the time she was either sleeping or smiling and "talking."  And any time she did start crying, Tim would just play the "water sounds" app on his phone and it would calm her right down.  Seriously.  Immediately.  I wonder how long that will last.  One can only hope for forever.

But really.  Let's talk about that blowout.  Let's just say that it got all over my nursing cover, my pants, the seat, and the floor of our car.  And then it took like another 20 minutes to clean her off, not to mention me and our car.  Tim says that he's going to tell all of her first dates about this experience, and, depending on the suitor, I may or may not stop him.

It was amazing to see my grandma and my aunt.  It's crazy to think that my grandma is now a great-grandma.  She's not old enough for that!  And I don't think Ellie ever wanted to leave.  I'm not sure she was put down the entire time we were there.  And my aunt spoiled her with clothes like there was no tomorrow.  Which is exactly what she did with me.  [What she still does with me, actually.]

On the way back, we even putted around St. George for a few hours and stopped by Cove Fort.  It was so fun.  Everything we did felt like an absolute adventure.

We are approximately 101% more brave about taking her places since this trip.  It's awesome.  We have adventures with her pretty much every day.  I'm still not sure I feel 101% more confident taking her places by myself, but hey, we're making progress.

Oh and hey, p.s. Ellie is two months old today.  Can you believe it?  She gets cuter and cuter by the day.  Which sounds cliche, but it actually isn't.  Pictures to come!

p.p.s.  We are under contract to buy a house!  We are not old and/or mature enough for this, but somehow it's happening!  Details to come.

p^3.s.  Pictures and details to come...someday.  Is her 10th birthday too late?

p^4.s.  Just kidding.  Kind of.

until i become supermom

Blogging is really hard when you're a new mom.

At least...it is for me.

Seriously.  Is this just me?

When I'm not holding her or sleeping, I usually want to do something crazy like...oh I don't know...laundry or dishes or something.  I know.  I know.  I'm a daredevil.

My sweet baby has been keeping a really fun schedule lately where she finally falls asleep at 3am and then wakes up off and on to eat until 12:00pm.  Which means I feel incredibly accomplished if I have showered by 2pm.  Because...you know...it rarely happens.  Most of the time, my goal is just to have showered by the time Tim gets home.  And for the rest of the day, Ellie and I just hang out and sing songs and dance around the living room.

It's a good time.

And since I haven't perfected the art of typing with one hand, I rarely comment on any of your blogs anymore.  But I promise I read them.  You know...when I'm not holding her...or sleeping...

Ok, let's get real.  There's actually very little sleeping involved.

But if I could, I would write all about how Ellie's smiles make my heart melt.  Or about how she's started occasionally saying words like "goo" and I couldn't be prouder.  Or about how Tim's parents drove all the way up to Utah for a surprise visit so they could meet Ellie for the first time and I almost cried with happiness.  Or about how we tried to go to a later church service on Easter because Ellie kept us up most of the night and ended up accidentally missing it altogether.

That was depressing.

But I guess at least we got some pictures in our Easter finest?  [Even if our daughter always looks less than impressed.]

Thank you, Tripod.

I love my baby.  I love my husband.  I love my family.  I love my life.

And in case I can't post again soon, I hope you're all having a fantastic week in this beautiful spring weather!