You've Had a Birthday...

Shout Hooray!

Matt's birthday was 2 weeks ago! (I'm very behind in blogging! These past two months have been busy!) We were able to finally go see a movie (thank you Davis' for baby sitting!) and get some sushi (Matt LOVES sushi). Then we had some cake and ice cream. I didn't really get any pictures of us celebrating, except this one:

Happy Birthday! This is the only one he'd let me take :)

I'm so grateful for him in my life and Ellie's life! He's a wonderful husband and father. He just started his Masters in Engineering, so he's been much busier, but he still tries his best to make time for us. There are so many things I love about him. One, since the baby has come into our lives, is that he loves to give her baths! It's fun to watch them interact and have that bonding moment. He's a great dad!

Daddy entertaining baby while I make birthday breakfast. He likes to think she's ready to walk and stand already!

He loves to snuggle with his little girl!

My favorite people :)

Hopefully this year is as fun and eventful as the last!

**In case anyone is wondering, I put up 4 posts with lots of pictures today, so you may have to keep scrolling down!**

Month Two

Ellie finished two months outside the womb on Thursday, and I'd say she's doing a great job so far! She passes with flying colors :) With a smile like this, how could she not?!

Matt and I are so in love with her. She is a pretty mellow baby. Yes, she does fuss a little when she's hungry or tired, but overall she's wonderful to be around! She's growing so quickly!

Some of the developments so far in her life include:

At two months she weighs 11lbs 6oz (50th percentile) and she is 22.5 inches long (50th percentile). She is growing great!
Talking - she coos all the time. I love it when she tells me stories.
Smiling - she has a beautiful smile and will smile for just about anyone, except probably the nurses. After her shots today, I don't blame her!
Sitting up - if we prop her up slightly in her boppy she tries so hard to sit straight up. When I put her in the car in her car seat she tries to pull herself forward; she's just excited to see life! But she is doing an excellent job learning to support her head. She can pretty much do it all on her own, with a little bit of bobbing around. I told Matt we have our own life size bobble head doll. :)

Rolling - we're working on this. She can roll from her back to her side. And she's rolled from her tummy to her back once, BUT she had the help of having her arm under her.

She's also recently discovered her hands and chews on them all the time. She drools like crazy. I think my favorite thing is that she appears to recognize Matt and me. When family was here and would hold her she would watch us walk around. It gives me some satisfaction knowing she recognizes her parents! And, I think she is like her mama and likes to dance...or just be in that upright position. But last Friday I was dancing with her and tried to set her down and she complained.  It's especially sweet when she dances with her daddy :)

Ok, I know everyone really just cares to see pictures of babies, so here is her two month photo shoot:

Two months old!

**I'll try to figure out collages to avoid these long posts... Sorry!**

Blessing Day

August 7th was Ellie's blessing. It was a great day, and Matt did a great job! We had all our family here so we took everyone to the park and had dinner there.

Frisbee and football

Katelyn could not get enough of the park and swings!

A little croquet

This picture cracks me up; AJ loves to try to sneak into pictures.

Aunt Kari and Ellie

Katelyn loves her Uncle Ike!

Two weeks later we finally took pictures of the three of us with Ellie in her white dress!

Family Matters

Three weeks ago we had the privilege of having both our families in town! It was so great to finally have visitors and see family. It had been 8 months since we'd seen our family (excluding my mom who was here in June). I've never gone that long without seeing them, and the last time Matt went that long without seeing his family was on the mission. We were both very excited to see our families! And felt blessed they could all take time off work to come be with us for Ellie's baby blessing.

Matt and I played tour guides for our families. Pretty much I saw all the same sites twice, but it was still fun!

First time Grandpa!

Uncle Kody

Aw :) I love capturing couples without them knowing.

Walser kids (minus Brittany)

Went to the Seattle Air Show

Great Grandma and Grandpa Van Ry

Walser Family

My silly siblings with the Billy Goats Gruff

Jensen Family and the Troll

Nathan pretending to change a diaper

Morris kids and Katelyn :)

Snoqualmie Falls

Seattle temple

Base of Mt. Rainier

Daddy keeping Ellie warm

Morris Family

Uncle Isaac

We had so much fun! I can't wait for future family reunions/vacations. By the time everyone left I was pretty tired, but I'd say it was worth it! :)


Side note about title: I used to love the TGIF shows on ABC! Family Matters, Boy Meets World, and Step by Step. I may have re-watched all of those my freshman year of college everyday on ABC Family... :)

I'm a Survivor

Last week someone told me they felt like the first two months of having their first newborn was all about surviving. I realized how right she was! The first two months have flown by, and I wish I could slow down just so I can enjoy my little girl some more before she gets any bigger!

The first month was particularly developing and trying for me: I hear EVERY sound (or so it seems!). Any peep the baby makes, I'm pretty sure I hear it. And then during the middle of the night, the noises I particularly dislike are when the cars are racing on the highway or revving their engines as they climb up the hill.


I've always HAD to get my 8-9 hours of sleep a night. Most nights now it's 5.5-6, but that's interrupted sleep; it has taken some getting used to. I can't wait to sleep through the night again!

Feeding took some getting used to. I wanted to give up several times and just formula feed, especially after I got a little bit of mastitis. I was so glad to finally get the hang of it!

Taking naps when baby naps. I have a hard time doing this because I feel like I need to use that time to actually get things done. But after family was in town I was extra tired and so I've given in to napping with her! I actually found she takes a longer nap if I lay down beside her for a little while. Because she has gotten to a point where she will maybe take a 30-45 minute nap, but when Matt or I nap with her she'll be out for 2 hours!

Mommy-Daughter nap time.

This second month poor Ellie had heat rash (who would've thought Seattle was hot enough) on her face that just seemed to get worse and worse - mostly because we tried to find a remedy ourselves. I think we learned that with a newborn it's probably just better to ask the doctor. I'm not sure if her little face hurt from our different attempts to treat her, but she was always so patient and still her pleasant self. Her face is finally almost completely better, and hopefully from here on out we can have a little bit of normalcy! But, we are still loving life and our beautiful little girl! :)

Still smiling at us despite her little swollen face!

FINALLY! Almost completely better :)