It's a...

BOY!!...not ours but Jenn & Aaron's!! That's right Mommy & Daddy are going to be an Aunt & Uncle. We are so excited for little Ella to have a playmate!!

Quarantine...

After an impressive 5 days without holding his baby girl, due to never ending cold, Daddy finally scrubbed up and put on a mask so he could snuggle with the little one. Needless to say, Mommy won't let Daddy anywhere near Ella without full surgical gear...no sick babies on my watch!!

Swing Time

Ella has started to really like her swing. Check out the end of the video, she follows the fish around the swing! (The bottom right button makes it full screen)

Sunday Family Day

Sunday was so beautiful that I drug Daddy and Baby Ella to Oglebay for a walk and some lunch. I almost had a heart attack by the time we got up the hill but it was worth it. We found some shade to eat our sandwiches and Ella enjoyed dreaming of the day she could have a sandwich instead of just milk, milk, and more milk. The spring flowers aren't blooming quite yet, but by the weekend there should be some pretty flowers to take Ella's picture in!! (Maybe we will drag Grandma & Grandpa Green with us...)

Baby "Wella" & the "meows"

On their way to see Curious George Live at Wesbanco Arena, Michelle, BJ, & Gaige poked their heads in to see Mommy and Baby Ella or "Wella" as Gaige would say. I'm pretty sure Gaige was more interested in the "Meows" otherwise know as Mollie & Maggie. Daddy missed all the fun because someone has to bring home the bacon.

Spring Fever...

Although it was still a little cold and the babes is still too tiny to know what is going on, Mommy & Daddy headed off to Camp Russell (really, there is a camp named Russell at Oglebay) with Denis, Erin, and Alexander for Maple Sugaring Day. We bundled Baby Ella up for her first hike in the woods in the infant carrier. Daddy is already very protective of his baby girl and wasn't so sure about going hands free.

Along the hike, we learned how the process of tapping the sugar maple has advanced over the years. My particular favorite was the Native American guy...about 40* out and still no undies!! This wasn't our first encounter with the undie free Native Americans. Our first encounter was last fall at Fort Henry Days. It was a little warmer then but these guys are really serious about the accuracy of their reenactments. (You can't really tell in this picture, but trust me..no undies)

Daddy's favorite part of the hike was the "stethoscope" sap lines...

After our hike, we had to wait for what seemed like forever for our pancakes and fresh Oglebay-made maple syrup...at least that gave us enough time for a quick diaper change. Little Alexander passed the time playing with a poor little fly that Papa Denis pointed out. Mama Erin got it all on video.

Baby Ella enjoyed her yummy bottle of homemade milk while the rest of us enjoyed our pancakes! The fresh hot syrup was extra yummy after burning all those calories on the hike.

Mommy, Baby Ella, and Little Alexander were all in need of a nap after our exciting morning; so, we headed our separate ways. But it was such a beautiful day, we couldn't resist the offer for a cookout and fire later that evening.

(Yes, those are socks on her hands...don't judge me, her hands were cold and we had no mittens so I improvised. You have to admit, it makes you smile doesn't it!)

Baby Ella met some new friends of the teenage kind...whats that you say teenage girls that love babies...hmmmm. Mommy and Mama Erin might not be such good friends down the road. Luckily there are 2 teenagers so just maybe Mama Erin will share the baby-sitter wealth!

Baby Mobile

Well, it's official...we got a mini van! Just kidding! I'm not ready to be soccer Mom just yet. We did however buy a CR-V. And I finally got a vehicle with some color...





It is much easier to get the infant seat in and out of the back seat. Plus there is more room for someone to sit in the back with her on our long trips home. Yes, 3 hours in the car will now be a long trip for us. I'm still not sure we have enough storage room, but I'm not sure we were going to find that and not end up with the dreaded mini van.

Visitors, Visitors, & More Visitors

So we have gotten really far behind in posting blogs entries of all our visitors...all of you are important but unfortunately for you playing with Ella must come first. So without further ado...

Mark, Julie, & Marissa came to get Mimi out of our hair after a week (Aunt Jenn came too but she is starting to hog the blog entries...)

After Mimi left, Grandma Susie came to stay with us for a few days. She left Pappy Rodney come for 1 day but sent him packing after a few hours. Grandma Susie seemed glad to get away, but Pappy Rodney kept calling to check on us.

If you look closely, I think you will see where she gets her dimples from...

No, Grandma Susie isn't sleeping but Poor Ella must have been exhausted!

Emily & Steve came to visit next. I'm sure they won't rub in that they got to see Baby Ella before everyone else in the Green family. Emily even got to give the little munchkin a bottle. Steve put the babes right to sleep!

Erin & Alexander also came by to have lunch with Mommy & Ella. Unfortunately, Mommy got distracted by the delicious sandwiches for lunch and stuffed shells and homemade bread for dinner that she forgot to take pictures of the entire event. So sad. But dinner was so so yummy!!

After much waiting, the rest of the Thompson clan arrived!! We were so excited. Well, Mommy was anyway! They even hugged Mommy & Daddy. We all know that Mommy is Aunt Lorie's favorite but now she really has some competition!!

Cody may have just come along to go to Cabelas but we are OK with being used for an excuse to go shopping. We managed to get him to hold the babe for a few minutes.

Uncle Boydie knew better than to get in their way, but he really was more interested in Maggie cat...

Roman suckered Aunt Lorie into letting him hold Ella for a few minutes only to hand her off to Katie.

We had to check Ella's toys before they left to make sure Katie didn't run off with the babe's taggie blanket and ball...

A big sneeze!

A big sneeze, but even better, a cute little sigh at the end!

Our First Outing

Mommy was starting to go crazy after not leaving the house for over a week so we packed up the babe and off we went. It only took us a few hours of preparing to get out the door. We had the stroller, 2 diaper bags, a breast pump, a cooler with milk, and of course the infant seat. You would have thought we were going on vacation for a month, but really we were just headed to Ohio to Sam's club. That's right Ella's first outing was out of state. Probably not such a big deal considering it was only a 15 minute drive but we are first time parents so it was a big deal to us!! Plus, Mommy drove. It took us a few minutes to get up to speed but we managed to drive the speed limit on the highway.

Sunday, we made out first trip to PA to meet Aunt Jenn & Uncle Aaron in Washington at the Outlets. We, obviously, were in search of some cute baby outfits. We each took a turn pushing the stroller. I'm not so sure Daddy and Uncle Aaron can be trusted alone...

Then off to Babies R Us to show Aunt Jenn & Uncle Aaron all the cool baby stuff they can look forward to in August. Things were going so well we even decided to take Ella to the Olive Garden for dinner. I doubt her dinner was as tasty as ours but she didn't complain!

Later in the week, Mommy & Ella went to Wheeling Park with Erin & Alexander to enjoy the warm weather. Hopefully, we can get out with them again soon!

One month already!

Well, baby Ella survived her first month...oh, how time flies!

We had our one month check-up on the 10th.  Ella was 8 pounds 12.5 ounces & 21 3/4 inches long.  Mommy & Daddy like the nice doctor, but I'm sure Ella doesn't care for him after he jabbed her poor little leg.  At least she got an awesome band-aid out of it!

To make all things better Mommy plopped her in her swing and away she went...the swing still scares Mommy just a little but the little poop monster seems to enjoy it.  She also enjoys sitting in her bouncy seat...Daddy thinks she looks a little like Frankenstein.  I'm sure she doesn't even know who Frankenstein is!

The babes is holding her head up very well for her age.  Despite her protesting, we have been doing "tummy time."  She only seems to like tummy time when she is asleep on Mommy's tummy!!  I'm not so sure she likes sitting in the Boppy pillow, but come on...it's not ALWAYS about what Ella wants!