Three Months Today

Wow, Chloe is three months old today. In a way, it seems like she's been here forever and in another way it seems like it's flown.

She is doing great! She smiles all the time. Especially when she sees Emma. And as far as sleep goes... We've got a pretty good routine going where she sleeps from 10 til 5 Hip, Hip Hooray!! Then I feed her and she sleeps until 8!! Woo Hoo! She's been doing it for several weeks. I just keep forgetting to give you all and update on all of that. We all have had this yucky sinus stuff. I was the last to get it and I seem to be on the tail end of it so hopefully we can get rested back up and back to normal life... whatever that is.

Love from above :)

Chloe's First Tea Party

Emma is trying her best to play with Chloe. It's pretty funny actually. Today was Chloe's first tea party. I think Chloe is going to enjoy the girlie things her big sister is going to teach her.

Boycotting Thanksgiving

We decided that we were going to skip Thanksgiving this year since we weren't going to have any family to share it with. So, this was the plan... We were going to go out to eat for Thanksgiving lunch. Great plan if you ask me. I hate cooking and hate cleaning up the mess even more! I didn't think this would be a problem since there were restaurants open on even Christmas last year but apparently, people think Thanksgiving is a family day or something... Weird... So, we stopped by Walmart and picked up some hamburgers and Adam grilled us hamburgers. Then, on Thanksgiving evening, Ruby Tuesdays was open so we went to eat there. The most important thing... I got out of cooking.

I was all prepared to wallow in self-pity because we were having to spend Thanksgiving without our family. However, my parents have plane tickets to come visit Dec. 7th. So with knowing that they would be visiting soon, we actually had a very nice Thanksgiving, just our family. I think it's the first time that we've ever had three days in a roll at home. Adam watched a movie with the teenagers on Friday evening but other than that, we had him all to ourselves. I must say, it was very nice. We watched a few movies, played a few games, and got some much needed housework done. It would be ok with me if we made breaking Thanksgiving traditions a Thanksgiving tradition.

Who Needs Sleep?

ME!!! I could use my momma too!

I don't understand what's happened. Chloe had been doing pretty well. One night, she even slept from 10:30 until 6:15. Now, she's waking up every two and a half to three hours. I think she's just got her clock stuck because she's waking up around the same times every night. When I nurse her, she only nurses for a few minutes. I don't think she's actually hungry. We have a retreat with the teens this weekend. After we get back from that, I think I'm going to have to let her cry it out. Those of you who have been there before, suggestions would be great! Emma slept through the night by six weeks. But, I was tougher then. I can't stand to let her cry. Why have I become such a softy?

Other than that.... which is a big THAT at this point, we're doing great. Chloe is very pleasant. When I put her down to sleep, I put her down awake and she just lays there until she drifts off. IF I COULD JUST KEEP HER THERE. Last night, Adam set her highchair up so she could be with us while we ate dinner. Even though she doesn't eat yet, leaving her out just didn't seem right. She just grinned the whole way through dinner.

Mrs. Maidens had offered to keep Emma during the retreat. Emma was very excited about that idea until she realized that that meant she would be away from Chloe. This is how that conversation went:

Me: Are you excited about staying with Mrs. Maidens?
Emma: Yes, that will be so much fun!!
(lightbulb comes on) (Big crocodile tears) But that means I won't be able to see Chloe in
the morning.

So, after much deliberation, we have decided that Emma will go with us. So yeah, even less sleep. I figure that at some point, I'm going to have to become a coffee drinker.

A couple of funny things Emma has said lately:

The other day, Emma was watching me while I changed Chloe's diaper. Somehow, she decided that she was an expert on these things and decided to tell me how to do it. So, I turned around and said, "Thank you little miss bossy britches, I don't know how I ever got your diaper changed without you telling me how to do it". To which Emma said, "I AM NOT LITTLE".

And, relayed from Mrs. Maidens: There are a list of developmental milestones that they are supposed to be able to do by the time they go to kindergarten like tie there shoes, zip their coat, skip and things like that. They have a little chart and when the achieve one of those things, they get a sticker and at the end of the year, if they have all of their stickers, they get a trophy. So the other day, they were learning about zipping their coats and Emma raises her hand and says, "Um Mrs. Maidens, I'm not sure this is fair because my coat buttons".

Oh, fun days in the Ellis family.

Love from above

My Wish List for Santa

I have gotten the privilege to write for a local parenting magazine in town on behalf of my mom's club. The articles for the December issue were due today. The theme is holiday. I can't believe it's that close!! Anyway, I was hoping that I could write something that would be insightful and would enrich everyone's life that read it. Well, I guess I just didn't have it in me right now to come up with something serious so this is what they got.



Dear Santa,

I’m writing to let you know that I have been a very good mom this year. I have survived a pregnancy with no morning sickness (it was all day long sickness). I navigated two stomach viruses, many colds, and some kind of rash. I have become very skillful at detecting cups of milk left under my daughter’s bed, fishing keys out of the toilet, getting bubble gum out of hair, and hiding happy meal toys under the trash in the garbage can. I have learned how to put a band-aid on the boo-boo of my preschooler while I change my newborn’s diaper and how to make boats out of apples so that I can get my child to eat a nutritious snack. All of that...and today, I’ve even showered.

In return for my good mom behavior, I would like to order a self-cleaning bathroom. I could send you the design if it would help the elves. This bathroom would be completely covered in tile and would have a drain right in the middle. Instead of only the toilet flushing (which never happens at my house) the whole room would flush. It is imperative that the drain be made at very specific measurements of 4x6 inches. This would ensure easy disposal of the hundreds of tiny toys that have invaded my bathroom and the globs of toilet paper that has resulted from the developmental milestone I celebrated when my toddler learned how to unroll a brand new roll in one fluid motion. Also, these dimensions would guarantee that I won’t accidentally “throw the baby out with the bath water.”

I realize that even Santa has a budget and will have an even tighter one once you receive my kids’ Christmas wish list but...hey, a mom can dream right? If this is too large of an order, I would settle for good health and blessings for me and my fellow hardworking moms who have also merited a self-cleaning bathroom.

Dana Ellis
Parkersburg Mom’s Club