A Pictorial Recap of Ellie's First Year

What a fast, exciting, crazy, and memorable year 2013 was! Here's Ellie's first year in photos... I sure take a lot of pictures!! But it's amazing to see how she's blossomed before our eyes! Click this link to see the youtube video :)

Ellie's First Year in Pictures

A Letter to our Daughter on her First Birthday

            

Dear Ellie,

It was five years ago when your daddy and I both had dreams about you being in our lives. To be honest, it scared us. It scared us so much that we had decided not to have anymore kids. 

The day I found out I was pregnant with you, you surprised us again. Once the shock wore off, we were ecstatic and couldn't wait to meet you.

When the doctors told us to prepare to lose you when I was only 10 weeks pregnant, you surprised us again and you kept growing and getting stronger in my belly. 

When we found out you were a GIRL you surprised us again. We had thought you would be a boy based on our track record. We were so excited!!

When the doctors told us you had a heart problem when I was 38 weeks pregnant and that you could come out blue, you surprised us with your adorable little pink body and cute girly cry. 

When the doctors told me my tests were negative for all trisomies, and you were born with T21 you surprised us. But we had already met you in our dreams so we were comforted in knowing that you were just where you were meant to be.

When the doctors listed off all of the medical problems you could have, including sight and hearing problems, thyroid issues, heart and digestion diseases, you surprised us. You were cleared by the cardiologist at 2 months old. You have passed all your hearing and vision tests. You have none of the problems that the doctors warned us about. 

Every step of the way you have blown us away. You have the ability to bring joy to every person you meet. You are inquisitive and smart. You are starting to talk and interact with everyone around you. You gently lay your hands on your brother’s face when he is crying, comforting him and making him smile. You have the cutest laugh and your brother Will brings it out of you the best. You are so loved by us, as well as all of your aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, grandparents and friends.

                         

You are a daddy’s girl to your core. You light up when he walks in the room and give him the biggest hugs and kisses of all. If he's had a hard day at work, he loves to snuggle you because you somehow make everything better.

                      

On your first birthday I want to thank you for choosing us to be your parents. We are so lucky to have you as our little girl. You make us so proud. We know you will continue to shine as you grow. We can't wait to see what you accomplish in this life. Everyone tells us how lucky you are to have us as parents. But I can tell you this, we are the lucky ones, thank you for being our daughter.

Love mom and dad.

                     

Your daddy chose the song for this post, and I think it's perfect for you baby girl.

Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely

I Can Kick, Stretch, and Kick! I'm 9 Months Old!

This post is going to be all Ellie, all the time. I just wanted to post an update on how she's doing, what's been going on around here lately and of course lots and lots of pictures.

She turned 9 months old on the 4th of October. It has been the fastest yet craziest 9 months of my entire life! She had her picture in the newspaper, started saying "dada" and "hi", participated in her first Buddy Walk, punished me for going on a business trip (see videos below!) and had her 9 month check-up with her Pediatrician.

First, I have to share this funny photo of her doing toe-touches in her sleep. She loves to do this! I am thinking we have a future ballerina or gymnast on our hands! "I can kick, stretch, and kick... I'm 9 months old!" 

Doing her high kicks.

Secondly, the DSNO asked if I could send them a photo of Ellie, they wanted the one of her crying with her big brother Will.  It was going to be for an "ad" but in my mind I just figured it was some sort of internal email or something for the Down Syndrome Network. I received an email from my co-worker that said "is that Will or Luke in the picture with Ellie in the paper?!?" She emailed me a photo of the ad in the Portland Tribune. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen! I got a copy so that I could keep one for her baby book. Ugh darn it that just reminded me that I still haven't written anything in there yet. This blog will have to do!

Look at that face!

Leaving the kids for the first time during my work trip was hard because I was so worried about how they would do without me at home, and I also worried about how Jesse would handle everything by himself. Well Will and Luke did great with daddy, and they had a lot of fun "guy time". Jess was a rock star Mr. Mom, all the mom's at soccer were impressed with his skills of juggling the 3 kids at practice. I wasn't really worried about Ellie, I told myself "she's 8 months old, she won't even know I left!" Boy oh boy was I wrong. I underestimated her big time. She was so upset with me. It makes me feel like I can never leave her again! She couldn't even look at me without her bottom lip sticking out a mile. Check out the video here:

Ellie Mad at Mommy

It took her a few hours before she would smile at me again. Later that day she was jumping in her jumperoo and being her cute self, and I got her on video saying "hi", see if you can hear it! I felt like she grew up so much in the 8 days I was away! And please excuse the house, we are under construction :-/

Ellie Says Hi

Then she said "dada" on video, I couldn't believe it! Our little girl is growing up and meeting milestones. We are so proud of her.

Ellie Says Dada

Here are a few more of her milestones she's been reaching:

Holding her own bottle, she can only do it for a little bit but it's a start.

Sitting up unassisted and getting stronger every day. 

We walked in our first Buddy Walk, it was so much fun. When we arrived at the park, the first thing I noticed was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/It's a Wonderful World" was playing over the speakers. I had instant tears (and goosebumps) as did my mom, mom-in-law and sis-in-law. This song reminds our family of mine and Jesse's wedding. If you know me, I'm always looking for "signs" and hearing this upon arrival was a good and happy one.

The date of the walk was postponed a week due to horrible Oregon rain, and the new date couldn't have been more perfect weather-wise. 10 or so of our walkers couldn't make it but we still had such a blast. I got to see a lot of my new friends from the Ds community and introduce them to our family and friends. Seeing our two worlds come together felt right, like puzzle pieces falling into place.  There was magic in the air that day, and I felt especially grateful for our support network. 

I had set a goal of $1,000 for our fund raising, thinking it was lofty, and was blown away that we ended up raising $2,900! My employer (Columbia Sportswear) matched employee's donations and it put us over the top. I was absolutely amazed by the love and support that poured out. Our hearts are so full.

Team Ells Bells!

Family picture :)

New but lifelong friends.

Famous Iris, Ellie's mentor!

Love this one of Grandma and Ellie

Ellie also had her 9 month doctor's appointment. Every time I take her in I brace myself... will there be something wrong? Why oh why do I do that to myself? The lady at the front desk gave me a "9 month milestones" questionnaire. I felt my heart sink. I wanted to say "is this for typical babies, or babies with Down syndrome?" Then I realized I was doing "it" again! Stopppp worrryyyinnnnnggg and stoppp doing THAT! I sat down and filled in the questions, and to my surprise Ellie is doing great. There weren't any questions about crawling (no she hasn't mastered that one yet!) but lots of questions about playing with her toys, saying "dada or lala" etc. And she's doing all of these things! Dr. Craft was awesome as always, he's so sweet with her and genuinely cares about her. He also told me that babies that are breech (and female) tend to have issues with hip dysplasia. She had an x-ray just to make sure all is well, and so far so good.

Those hips don't lie! :)

Oh and she continues to be a long string bean, I can't believe how tall she is. These percentiles are on the "typical" baby chart. I think she is as tall as the boys were at this age!!

Height: 29.5" (96th percentile!) 
Weight: 16lbs 6oz (10th percentile!) 
Overall doing amazing. I'm so so proud of you baby girl. Keep up the good work and happy 9 months!!!

Wearing my dad's boatin' hat!

You like my Halloween costume?

When choosing the song for this post, I asked my husband to come up with one... "what sums up this post, about life in general, and our awesome family and friends?" He wanted me to use "Family Tradition" and I thought it fit great. This is a song we put on our wedding CD that we handed out to our wedding guests (another wedding reference)! OK honey- that'll work!

Family Tradition - Hank Williams Jr.