It’s not super exciting, but we wanted to share the first video of Ellie we captured. This is her playing on her activity mat for tummy time two days ago. We thought it would be great for people who haven’t had a chance to see her in person yet to get more than just a picture. She is holding her head up for quite awhile now, making lots of faces and smiling, and chatting quite a bit…like father like daughter:) Here is the video, please enjoy!

We can’t believe that it was four weeks ago today that we had our little peanut. So many emotions and learnings have happened in such a short period of time and we’re just loving every single moment with our little angel. One of my favorite things is just watching her face, especially right after she eats and is falling asleep.

We’re on a relatively regular schedule of eating every two and a half to three hours and Ellie has been sleeping in her crib for the past three nights. We’re starting to get into a pretty good routine, but we’re being very cautious about getting excited because we’ve heard it’s right when that happens that stuff hits the fan. See how I did that, “stuff” instead of the real word? Becoming a parent also means censoring yourself, something easier said than done in some cases!

We’ve been getting out with the Ellie bean a lot more lately, which takes good planning and execution. Being a career woman for so much of my life, I must say, being a mom really is as tough as I’ve heard. It is non-stop and you can’t take a break or lunch when you want, but it is definitely incredibly more rewarding than any job I’ve ever had.

Brian reminded me that this is the first year I get to celebrate Mother’s Day as a mom. He also sent me a link to the Run Like a Mother event, which I’m really excited for. Training will start in two weeks. I think 3-4 weeks is enough time to get ready for a 5k. Here’s the event: http://www.runlikeamotherrace.com/city/seattle-wa/

We also got signed up for our PEPS class, which starts in April. I’m very excited to learn more about being a parent and how other parents are doing things. It’s the little things I’m curious about, like what do people do for diaper rash and is there anything we need to know when transitioning our little one from the bassinet to the crib? We’re also wondering about tummy time and and what we should be doing to help Ellie’s development and when we should begin. So much to learn; luckily we’ve got lots of support and a fair amount of time. Thanks again to everyone for all your help and support! Here’s a little pic of one of Ellie’s faces as she’s falling asleep:

It’s funny how quickly perspective can change with life events. It never ceases to amaze me how everything in your life can seem so minuscule when there is a literal life or death experience you encounter. Many of you have heard of the bike accident with my very good friend Christian. He is doing better, but still in the ICU at Harborview, working toward recovery. I am excited to see him when the time is right. He is so strong and so full of life that it’s hard for me to imagine this happening to him. I know that strength and life will benefit him in every way while he works through this recovery. I know the strength of the women close to him as well and I’m sure this experience is testing their strength in every way. We pray for him and his family every single day.

With the birth of Ellie, so much in our lives is secondary and at the same time we want to do everything for her now instead of for ourselves. I used to think so much had to be given up when you have children and I’m sure there will be moments like that, but for now it seems like so much was actually gained in our lives. I used to watch commercials with babies and think they were cute, but now I have a whole different emotion around it. I saw this Pampers commercial today and just thought it was so amazing and worth sharing with everyone:

This morning we also went to the doctor’s office for Lulu’s two week checkup. The doctor said she’s looking pretty perfect and normal, but he also gave us a warning that the time between two weeks and two months really is very tough. We took a big gulp and mentally prepared for sleeplessness and crying, but are crossing our fingers this is kept to a minimum. Ellie is now measuring 21 inches tall (in the 90th percentile) and has gained 11 ounces in the last 7 days! This is really fantastic weight gain. She’s now at 8 lbs., 6 ounces and in the 65th percentile. Her head circumference is normal, in the 50th percentile. We don’t go back again until Ellie’s 2 months old, so I’m sure a lot will change in the next six weeks.