6 weeks!!

Our sweet little family...Ellie is 6 weeks old today!

A friend made this Christmas onesie for Ellie- I will have to get some better pictures of her in it

Post bath time- Ellie loves relaxing in the bath and being snuggled up after

Looking so much like her Daddy

Hat from Grandma Lopez

Eventful Weekend

My grandparents (my dad's parents) came down from Virginia this weekend to meet their first great-grand DAUGHTER. My cousin Mandy blessed them with their first two great-grand sons. We captured some great pictures of Ellie with her great-grandparents (see below.)

Ellie's belly button stump finally fell off this weekend so Esteban and I gave her her first real bath today. She screamed getting her into the tub, I'm sure she didn't love being naked and cold. Once she realized it was warm she calmed down and sat very peacefully- she was sucking her hand and sittin contently while I washed her down.

Ellie with her PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, and GREAT-GRANDPARENTS on my side

(wish my mom's dad could of been in the picture too, we'll have to get one when we get up to New York this summer!)

Esteban's grandparents on his dad's side are in California so we will have to try to get this picture of his side of the family sometime as well.

Ellie and her GREAT-GRANDMA, she doesn't look old enough to be a GREAT grandma does she?

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Tamburo

4 weeks old!

Baby's First Christmas Bib- my mom and I tried to play around and take some good pictures of Ellie for Christmas so we wouldn't have to take her out in the cold rain, wait in line and maybe get a good one- she is so young it's hard to predict if she'll be awake or even want to participate :)

My mom and Ellie in her My First Christmas Outfit

Her favorite position

Uncle AJ (My older brother)

3 weeks old!

Hey there! Hope you are all doing well. It is SO cold and rainy here today. Ellie and I are staying warm and dry inside today. I'm sure you all are as excited as we are about Christmas season!! We have our decorations up, but I haven't even started shopping yet.

I promised myself and Esteban I would dye my hair back to my "natural" color after Ellie was born (you can't dye your hair, pnly highlight, while pregnant). I like it lighter, but it is too much work and money to keep up with. Este had off yesterday so he hung out with Ellie while I went to my hair appointment. The stylist was super sweet, but it took WAY longer then I expected and it is WAY darker then I expected or what the stylist and I discussed. I was anxious to get home and thought maybe I was just in shock because it was SO different, but now that I slept on it (literally and figuratively) and shower and styled it myself, I still don't love it. I'm debating going back, but I don't want to damage my hair by coloring it too much in a short time frame. It isn't horrible by any means, just a very dark brown! Anyway, that's about all the new and exciting things for me right now.

Ellie is doing awesome! She slept almost 6 hours last night, then 3 1/2 hour intervals since then- makes up for the 3 nights before that she was waking up every 2 hours to eat! That was interesting. I can't believe she will be a month old already!!! Esteban and I LOVE being parents and have so much fun with Ellie already! She is still so little, but starting to fit into more of her clothes. So much fun to watch her grow!

Esteban is enjoying his job and learning a lot. I am so proud of how hard he is working. He had a company Christmas party on Sunday- food and games and then they rented a theatre at the movies for everyone to see "The Blind Side." My mom offered to watch Ellie for us so we could both go. I am so thankful that she lives close and that she is so willing to help us out! It was great to meet all the people he is working with and finally put a name with a face. (Este started working the week before Ellie was born so I didn't really have a chance to meet anyone) If you haven't seen it, GO SEE THE BLIND SIDE! It is a great movie and story!

Well I guess that's about it for now. Below are lots of pictures of sweet Ellie at 3 weeks old! Love you guys!!

**If you have Facebook, sorry these are the same pictures.

Wide awake in the middle of the night!! Decided I'd take some pictures since she was in such a great mood :) Happy baby!

Silly face

Showing us her strength...and not happy about picture time, she'd rather be held.

Being funny.

Ballerina feet.

Hanging out, loving that passy!

Sweet girl!

First Thanksgiving

Ellie had a great first Thanksgiving, full of lots of family and friends. We are still being cautious about exposing her to too many people, but that is hard- especially now that it's the holiday season. We went to my parent's house on Thanksgiving day and Ellie met her 3 uncles (my brothers) on my side of the family for the first time. Krissy, my sister, is her only aunt :) Dan (my youngest brother) was SO EXCITED to see Ellie and kept waving to her, which I thought was so funny for some reason. He was anxious to get the green light to hold her, knowing he needed to wash his hands first. Dan did great with Ellie and loved watching her.

My Aunt Kelly, Uncle Tim and their girls Keelin and Teagan came over; as well as my Uncle Chuck and his sons, Zac and Justin. We had a great day of hanging out and eating, of course! Family board games and football later in the day. Esteban had to work early Friday morning so Ellie and I slept over my parent's so we could hang out with everyone the next day. We had a great day and it was nice to have my mom's help with Ellie during the day. Esteban came over when he got off work and hung out for a while...then the whole family- minus Ellie and I- went to the NG football game (sadly, they lost). Ellie and I spent the night again and Daddy went home to get a good nights sleep before another long day at work. The Scott Family came over my parent's on Saturday afternoon and hung out for a bit- Jenna and Caleb got to meet Ellie. Esteban came over after work and we watched football and all spent the night that night. My parent's only live 25 or so minutes away, but it was nice to stay a long weekend over there. It is so fun watching my family with her, especially my mom. She has been so helpful and I am very thankful for that!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend...I need to get some from my mom and aunt's cameras as well!

Uncle Mike and Ellie

Our sweet family on Thanksgiving

Aunt Krissy and Ellie

My parents and Ellie- my dad happens to be wearing his "Dads Against Daughters Dating" shirt

My wonderful husband, Esteban, and I

The majority of the family planning games

Ellie being silly

My youngest brother (holding Ellie) and little cousins

Uncle Dan!

Esteban and Ellie with Caleb Scott

1st Doctors Appointment

Ellie had her first doctors appointment yesterday (Monday) and everything went very well. She now weighs 7 lbs and 1 oz and the doctor said everything else looks perfectly healthy- Praise the Lord! Over the weekend we noticed she was breathing a little heavy and her nostrils would flare up every now and then...these were the signs the nurses noticed that brought her to the NICU originally, so we were obviously concerned. We ended up taking Ellie to Children's Health Care of Atlanta on Saturday night just to make sure everything was ok- luckily it was just nasal congestion :) We were glad we took her and can now rest peacefully, but it was Esteban's parents last night in town so we hated not being able to enjoy that time with them.

Today, my mom came over to watch Ellie for the first time...so I could go to the dentist. I am so thankful my family is close by and willing to help us out! We are blessed to have lots of great family friends that have been more and more like family lately as well. The dentist originally thought I needed a root canal, which I put off during the pregnancy because it did not hurt. Thankfully, I only had to get a crown put on it...saved a few hours of pain!

We are loving being home and enjoying our precious daughter! Esteban can't wait to hold Ellie when he gets home from work. He has off work for Thanksgiving and we are excited to relax and enjoy lots of good food!! I am looking forward to hanging out with my family, especially my brother Mikey- who is coming home from college! He is at Boise State and hasn't been home since the end of the summer.

Hope all of you have a blessed Thanksgiving and enjoy your time with family and friends!

We are having so much fun with our sweet baby girl. Below are a few pictures we took of her...I'm sure there will be lots more to come soon enough :) So excited for Thanksgiving!

Ellie sleeping peacefully

She was screaming because she needed a diaper change, but she was out as soon as I put her down! So cute! Little outfit from Natalie, came in handy because she doesn't fit into too many of her clothes- yet!

Grandma and Grandpa Lopez- loving their first Grandchild

Hanging out in her bouncy seat- thanks Aunt Krissy, she LOVES it!

Pretty girl!

All is good!

After still not feeling great today, I called the doctor and got a late afternoon appointment. I didn't think it was anything serious, but wanted to have a peace of mind since it was the weekend. Thankfully, nothing is wrong. My blood pressure is actually really good- phew- and the doctor thinks my pains are just related to breast feeding. The nurse I saw before the doctor came in is actually the lactation specialist, so I was able to ask her some questions and tips. Needless to say, I can now enjoy the weekend and Thanksgiving week with a peace.

Ellie and I had a lot of fun today. I am trying to get her adjusted to some what of a schedule. We are going with a 2-3 hour eating schedule, much more realistic for her then 4 hours like the NICU had her on. She kept waking up "early" needing a "snack" as they called it- I think she just isn't big enough to handle that long yet.

We are enjoying relaxing with Esteban's parents and Ellie is sleeping peacefully. She is really a great baby. Once she is changed and fed, she is content- either asleep or awake. I am so excited about Thanksgiving- Ellie's first holiday!