It's Been SOOOO Long...Little Ella is 6 months old on Saturday!

Hi Everyone! It has been so long since I last posted. I am definitely not the best blogger. So, a lot has happened since my last post. On June 1st I went back to work FULL TIME! It is the hardest thing I have ever done, and is still difficult everyday. There is nothing worse then saying goodbye to your beautiful smiling baby and realizing that she might do something new while you are away. She did wait for me to be home to roll over for the first time, which I was thrilled about, but I have missed a lot of other little things, and she seems to change just in an 8 hour shift. I applied for the clinical pharmacist job that Fred Meyer created and got. It is pretty exciting and cutting edge. Two days a week I see patients I have 3 coaching programs: Diabetes, Fitness Weight Loss & Nutrition, and Smoking Cessation. I am also doing Heart Health screenings that involve checking peoples cholesterol, blood sugar, calculating their body mass index, and measuring blood pressure, as well as doing Memory (Alzheimer's) and Asthma Screenings, AND...immunizations, AND...medication therapy management (MTM). It has been more work than I anticipated, and has cut down on the already insufficient amount of time with Tim and Ella. Ella was baptized on June 20th in Weiser, ID by Father Victor, who married Tim and I. It was very beautiful! Ella experienced her first 4th of July, and love the fireworks! Ella turned 4 months old this month, and we had her pictures taken. At the end of July we went to Portland so that I could train for my new position. Ella had her first airplane flight, which could have been better! She cried quite a bit. We got there and stayed with Andrea Lindberg and Adam Nelson. We too Ella to the Portland Zoo, which was great fun. Ella had her 4 month check up and shots in August, and she weighed in at 16 lbs 4 oz. Officially doubling her birth weight. She was in the 90th percentile for weight, the 75th percentile for height and head circumference. So, our little girl is growing very quickly. Ella just began log rolling and that is her primary means of transportation now. We are still waiting for her to crawl. She had her very first solid food TODAY. We have been making baby food for Ella over the past month, as we want to make all of her food from scratch. We made her rice cereal this morning, and she only took a couple of bites. She did not enjoy it whatsoever. We will try again tomorrow.

So, things around here are moving right along. I promise to try to do better as far as getting things posted!

Ella's First Kickboxing Class, My 27th Birthday/Ella's 9 week Birthday

Ok, so I meant to work on this last week, but time has just gotten away from me. So, first thing...last Tuesday I took Ella to the Y as I usually go daily. Most days Tim watches her while I go work out, but that day he had to work on a presentation for school. Now for those of you who don't know, I usually do kickboxing on Tuesdays. I had originally planned to forgo the class because I had Ella, and go upstairs to use the elliptical machine instead. However, the instructor is my good friend and she convinced me that I should stay and that Ella should stay too. Her reasoning: "You came to class your entire pregnancy...she knows the music...she'll be fine." So I put Ella in her car seat just in front of me. I am ALWAYS in the front row, and I have my spot, so it worked out well. She tolerated the class very well and it was great to be able to exercise with her there. I was a crazy exerciser during my entire pregnancy so it was nice to have her with me again...just on the outside this time! Ella wore her super cute Nike outfit that my friend/the instructor of the classes I attend got her. So that was fun and exciting!!

My 27th birthday was on Thursday (May 20th), and Ella turned 9 weeks that day as well. It was a beautiful day. Tim got me a sweet locket with Ella's picture and our family picture in it so that when I go back to work next week, they are with me. I am sure that you can guess that I am having a ton of anxiety about going back to work and leaving Ella. It really stresses me out and makes me sad to think about it. My only comfort is that Ella will be with Tim and that they will come to see me during my lunches! But, back to my birthday. Tim also took me to coffee and to do a little bit of shopping, which was fun! Ella had to have her shots that day which was horrible. I will give you her growth statistics as they are great. She weighed in at 12 lbs 13 ounces (90th percentile for weight), 22 1/2 inches long (50th percentile for height), and 15 3/4 head circumference (75th percentile). So, she is growing nicely! She had 3 pokey shots and 1 oral shot. Once we got home Ella went to sleep, and I went to the Y for my Body Attack class. She slept all through class (she was home with Tim), and on my way home she woke screaming. Tim was so worried because she wouldn't open her eyes and she just shrieked. Once I got home I was able to calm her, but she wouldn't let go of me. In fact I was unable to shower that night because she only wanted me to hold her. I thought we'd have a bad night, but she slept through the night. She was cranky the next few days.

My wonderful parents came up on Friday to watch Ella so that Tim and I could go out for my birthday. We went to Gino's and it was lovely. Tim surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. The food was awesome and the restaurant a lot of fun! My mom made my favorite dessert, Strawberry Trifle, for us to enjoy once we got home. After dinner we went home to bathe Ella and put her to bed and hopefully get to a movie. Unfortunately, it took us a while to get her to sleep so we didn't make it to the movie. Instead we went on a freezing walk and to bed. My parents hung out the next day until 1:00 when my dad took my mom to the airport to fly to North Dakota to see my grandma and drive with Katie back to Idaho for her wedding next week. Tim's mother, Addie, and Parker came up to visit and arrived shortly after my parents left. Unfortunately, Ella was still cranky from shots, and usually naps from 1-4, and the weather was awful. They had to drive through a horrible blizzard. It was nice to see them for a short time though. Some friends from high school stopped by to meet Ella that evening. Becky and Michelle Hazen, Michelle's husband Chris, and friend Jessica, came by for about an hour to visit. It ended up being a long day with a lot of company. Ella was cranky that evening...probably due to overstimulation. She seems to get overstimulated easily.

Well, that's about all that has happened. I'll hopefully start posting more often, but we'll see.

Ella's Newborn Pictures

I just wanted to post some of Ella's newborn pictures. They were taken when she was 2 weeks old, but they are super cute!

It's Been Awhile!

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the gap in posts. We've been really busy lately. Ella is growing like a weed. She weighs around 12 lbs. and has nearly outgrown her 0-3 month cloths. She also has outgrown her newborn napper that we have had her sleeping in since we brought her home. It is sad!! She smiles all the time and is doing a lot of talking. She loves to play in her jungle gym, hitting her hanging toys, and looking at her monkey.

I had my first Mother's Day, which was so important and special to me. There is nothing in this world like being a mother, and I feel so blessed. I spent my day with my little girl. We went on a long walk, and enjoyed the nice weather.

I am going back to work in 2 weeks, which I am extremely anxious about. I am not sure how I will handle being away from Ella all day! Fortunately, I am breaking myself in slowly and only going back for 1 day, before I head to Twin for Katie's wedding.

I will try to keep up on this blog a little bit better...

Hope all is well with everyone!

Date Night!

My parents came up yesterday afternoon to watch Ella for a few hours so that we could go out. We haven't been out alone since Ella was born. We decided to go to dinner and a movie, though I was quite nervous about leaving Ella for that long, as it would be the longest amount of time I'd been away from her since she was born. So, after giving my parents all of the pertinent information (and some that was not pertinent), we headed off. We had planned to go to Gino's, but they were full. Our second choice was Tucano's, but their wait was an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. So then we thought we'd try Asiago's downtown, which ended up also being booked. Our next choice was Angell's Bar and Grill. When I called them they had room in their bar, and told us that their dining room was totally booked due to prom. PROM...that figures. The one night we can go out it is prom. So, we went to Angell's, and got a nice seat next to the window. As we waited for our meal we watched all of the high schoolers in their tuxes and gowns wandering all over downtown. We also realized that the theme for this year's prom dresses involved very full skirted dresses with VERY skimpy bodices. And I found myself thinking "Ella will not be allowed to wear a dress like that!" To which Tim was also thinking "The only dress she'll be wearing to prom starts at the neck and ends at the toe. If she doesn't like that she won't be going." So, after we voiced these thoughts we began to eat. We continued to watch the kids go by until we saw one couple sit down under the tree outside of the restaurant. At first they were just talking, but then it escalated to kissing, etc. WOW! So, I now have another fear: Ella...kissing a boy under a tree in front of a restaurant downtown. I am probably overreacting but still. WOW. So we finished our meals and headed to see Bounty Hunter. I called my mom on the way there to make sure that Ella was doing ok. As she was fine, we continued on to the movie. The movie was hilarious. I highly recommend it! We got home around 9:30, put Ella to bed, and went to bed ourselves. All in all a nice night out. Though I did miss my little Ella very much, and my thoughts never strayed very far from her.

THANK YOU Mom and Dad for coming to Boise to take care of Ella so that we could have a night out!

Ella is five weeks old TODAY!

My little baby is 5 weeks old today! I can't believe that it has been that long since she was born. So far she has moved from her newborn diapers to 1's as well as from her newborn clothes to the 0-3 month clothes. Amazingly I tried a couple of those outfits on her only a week and a half ago, and she was so tiny and they were so big, and now they fit. Time flies so quickly. We are taking her to the doctor today because we aren't sure if she has baby acne or a rash on her face...not good. Other than that we are not doing much today, just hanging out! We hope everyone has a great day!

A Long Day

Well, we have had a very long day here at the Oler house. Ella is sleeping about 4 hours at night before I have to get up and feed her, so I am getting much more sleep than I was before. That being said, she also is staying awake much longer. Today was the longest time at 7 hours of eyes wide open. She wasn't cranky, but rather looking around at everything and requiring that mommy carry her everywhere. Needless to say I got nothing done. Thank goodness for Tim, luckily he was able to come home for a few hours before work, which allowed me to get my much needed daily workout! Unfortunately, he is working this evening at Mr. Casanova out at the C of I, so Ella and I are having a "Girl's Night," though she is currently sleeping.