One year ago today...

I took this test and it was positive!!! Adam and I were were thrilled beyond belief! We had no idea what would soon be instore for us, and now we couldn't be happier or more blessed! We love our little snickerdoole more than life!

Doc visit and cereal

Today Ella Jae and I made a visit to the PEDS office. She has had a stuffy nose, not sleeping well or eating the greatest. She is fine, just a little congestion. Since she will be 4 mths this Sunday (omg...where is the time going??), the doc to go ahead and feed her cereal to see if that will help with her sleep habits some. So we tried it! She didn't know what to think! I sat her in her Bumbo seat and fed her with a spoon. She would kind of taste it a little and spit it out ha! It was the cutest! Then she started to get a little fussy, guess she wasn't getting her belly full fast enough so I put it in a bottle and she sucked it down. Then I gave her formula. She went out like a light. I hoping that she will sleep well tonight. I am pretty much running on empty, Adam too. I am still a little unsure of whether to continue to try to feed her the cereal by spoon or bottle...how do I prepare it for daycare...seriously, I can only feed her 4x a day...tomorrow should be interesting ha! We will just worry about that in the a.m. It is sleepytown for Mommy!!

Happy Father's Day, Adam!

Today marks Adam's first Father's Day! I am blesssed to have a wonderful husband and I always knew he would be a wonderful Daddy! Not only has he met that expectation, he has surpassed it. I could not have hand picked a better Daddy for Ella Jae. He loves his girls, and we love him more than words!

Ella Jae,
Do you know that you are a Daddy's girl already? Probably not, but you are. Your face lights up when you see your Daddy. You talk to him more than anyone else. I wonder if you can feel his love for you. He loves you so much. So much that sometimes I want to cry when I see him with you. You have the best Daddy, Ella Jae. He is so active in your little life already. He wants to be a part of everything I do with you and wants to learn all the things that sometimes only a Mommy knows. He is always eager to say, "Am, I'll get her." He gets up with you in the middle of the night. On your first doctor's appointment, he took complete control and I just sat in a chair while he undressed you and calmed you. He changes diapers, dirty ones and everything. He makes bottles and feeds you. He dances with you and does little workouts with you (we have videos of both, please ask to see them someday). He even sings to you on occassion, and your Daddy is no singer. I want to tell you a little bit about the man your Daddy is. He is a man of his word. He never says anything he doesn't mean. He is a man of virtue, he always does the right thing. He is honest. He never misses a bay of work, even when he is sick he still works. He is ambitious and so hard working, almost to a fault. He is always thinking about the future and how to make it better, sometimes forgetting to live in the 'now.' He is funny. He makes me laugh so hard sometimes that it makes my belly hurt. He is kind and everyone wants to be his friend. He is humble, he doesn't care what others think. He is a good person. You are going to learn so much from him. You are probably going to be like him in many ways. I tease him and say that because you look like him, you will act like me but the truth is you are already like him in some ways. You are scared easily like him, you don't like loud noises, you get angry when you are tired or hungry, you fidgit and can't be still very long, you like to watch t.v., you are serious most of the time but you can also make us laugh. I am excited to learn more ways that you are like him as you grow. I pray that you get the best qualities of each of us. I pray for your relationship with your Daddy. I know that you will always hold a special place in his heart. You are his 'cous-cous.' We are blessed to have a 'man among men' in our life, E. Your Daddy is one of a kind. He loves his girls. I know that he will always be there to love you and guide you in ways that only a Daddy can. I know that he will continue to surpass all my expections of what a Daddy should be. You are the luckiest little girl in the world, boo boo. And the best part, I get to share your Daddy with you. And that makes Momma a lucky girl, too.

All my love,
Momma

Weekend visit from friends

Last weekend our sweet friends from MA paid us a visit! We enjoyed having them so much. We had not seen them since their wedding last September so we were so excited to see them and for them to meet Miss Ella Jae! They are the sweetest couple and the best friends two people could ask for. I mean, how often is it that two couples totally mesh? Well, we are those couples!! We couldn't be more blessed for their friendship. We have a great weekend together enjoying food, late night chats, a baseball game, Church, Sunday dinner and some pool time.

Beach Weekends

We went to Hilton Head Island Memorial Weekend and the following weekend! We really just relaxed the first visit. We really enjoyed the long weekend. We did not take Ella Jae to the ocean. But we did on the second visit. Adam and I just stayed over night with his family. It was a whole family affair. We really wanted to make sure Ella Jae got to experience the ocean that trip. She loved it, too!! We didn't put in the actual waves, just in a little pool of water that had gathered on the sand. I think she thought she was having bath time because the water was so warm ha! Bless her little heart though because she could barely keep her eyes open because it was so bright. All babies are sensitive to light but I think E is ultra sensitive because Adam is to. I call him 'squinty!' I guess I will have two squinties on my hands :) I cannot wait to take her again to the ocean. Adam and I don't really have much vacation time so we will just have to sneak in little visits when we can. If it were left up to me, we would go every weekend :) I am excited for next year because E will be running all over the beach and having her little self a good ole time which will be so fun to see!! It was pretty neat she her little tootsies in the sand this year, too!!

I -heart- you Little Debbie

Oh my gosh...

These are the best thing since sliced bread!

I am totally and completely in love,
even more so because they are only 100 calories!

The perfect amount of sweetness!

They also come in red velvet, chocolate, spice, and yellow cakes! They are all on my list. They are NEW from Little Debbie! I mean seriously, who doesn't love Little Debbie? She and I would totally be BFF's!!

Memorial weekend and recipe

For the long Memorial weekend, we went to Hilton Head Island! It was so great getting away for the long weekend! Friday, we arrived late because we drove up after we got off work. E did pretty well on the car trip, I was pleasantly surprised! She would just get a little fussy when she lost her paci but never had a meltdown so that was great! Saturday was a pretty lazy day. E didn't sleep well and I was up with her 2x during the night being in a new place, I guess, and she has had a stuffy nose. We grabbed lunch at our favorite Italian place on the island and came back only to get ready to go to dinner and Coligny Plaza! We ate at Bonefish Grill and walked around Coligny, had custard, and listened to a guy sing and play the guitar there. It was fun and E did SOOOO good while we were out!! Sunday, we got more sleep and woke up rested. Me and mom went to the outlets while the guys stayed with a sleeping baby. We were able to get some shopping in all while she slept and made it back in time for some yummy wraps. We took E for a walk around the campground then came back to get ready for dinner and Seapines. We ate supper at Mellow Mushroon and took a ride to Seapines to walk around and enjoy live music. Adam definitely came within centimeters from backing my NEW SUV into a tree. It was so packed at HH that we had to squeeze in where ever we could and when he realized that we couldn't squeeze into a particular place, he began to back up and I just happened to turn around and saw the giant pinetree he was about to hit! I yelled "STOP, THERE'S A TREEEEEEEEEE!!!" It was more like a screach than a yell!! I think I scared everyone except E. She was too busy knawing on her little fists to care about my screaching haha! Ahhh, praise the Lord he didn't hit it! I would have beat him over the head with that tree hahaha!! We had a great time after laughing so hard it hurt about the incident lol! Monday, was a sad day because we left. Mom and I got up early and headed to the Fresh Market to get some yummy pastries and fruit. We packed and enjoyed the outside before heading back. We had a super fun weekend and I look forward to many more HH trips this summer...we will be headed back this coming weekend!! What can I say?...It is our happy place :)

*PICTURES COMING SOON*

I also wanted to share a yum, quick summer recipe that would be great for the grill:

Honey Balsamic Glazed Chicken and Asparagus

Ingredients: 4 chicken breasts, 1 cup balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp butter, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 bunch asparagus

Preparations: Simmer vinegar until it has reduced by two-thirds. Add honey, stir until thoroughly mixed. Then add butter, stir until dissolved.

Brush chicken and asparagus with prepared glaze, reserving some glaze. Grill chicken and asparagus using a stove top griddle or outdoor grill. Cook 4-5 minutes. Serve chicken and asparagus, then drizzle with remaining glaze.