LOTS of pictures of Ellie J

So, I've been telling myself (and family members - oops!) for over a week I'd get some pictures of Ellie up since we came home from the hospital. Finally working on that... I've only taken a few hundred pictures already, so I'm just going to share some of the best faces and important events. Sorry it took so long, but Ellie typically only gives me a few opportunities to get things done each day, and the blog wasn't really priority number 1 right away... Enjoy!

So, first we start off with a few Bennett family traditions. This is the Bennett bassinet. Steve, some of his sisters, and every grandchild so far has slept in this bassinet when they were first born. Ellie continues the tradition.
Ellie is really good at grabbing things with her hands, especially when she's upset, which means that often times her hats and hairbands end up pretty low on her eyes...
Another tradition on the Bennett side is that Grandma comes and stays for at least a few days to help out while Mom rests some. We really appreciated Reva coming and helping us. She also paints the toe nails of any female grandchildren before she goes home.
Next are just some fun pictures I took of Ellie.

Here she's wearing one of the really cute flowers that the Robert Clan sent us. Thanks!

One of the really cute outfits Aunt Julie sent from Japan.And Ellie in her carseat when we went to the Yakima Arboretum Friday August 20th while Reva was visiting. We love our carseat (thanks again Aunt Julie) and our cover (thanks again to the Roberts)!

This was the first playtime Ellie had - mostly because it's the first time she'd been very awake while we were home, on Monday the 16th. The Elephant blanket is from Aunt Kathy and it's great for playtime!She cracks me up with her funny faces every day. Especially when she goes cross-eyed.And Ellie enjoying her swing that the Gregorys gave us. We love this swing and she is starting to use it more! Thank goodness for our swing and bouncy seat so I can get things done even if she's not napping.

Precious Daddy time. I love watching Steve with Ellie. He is so loving and such a great Daddy.

This was Ellie's 3rd bath. The first one she protested, the second she seemed to enjoy, and this one she tried to sleep through! PS she has a bellybutton now instead of her blue cord stump. Much cuter...And a few more adorable faces.

I have some really great pictures on my phone that won't be great quality, but I'll try to get up before too long.

Just as a quick update as well: Ellie had her first check ups and is healthy and doing well. She still goes through diapers like crazy, but is putting on weight. In fact, we weighed her last night (well, Steve holding her, then without her) and she is over 9 lbs now! We double checked with me holding her because we couldn't believe it! But she is already so much longer and her head is fusing and getting bigger with chubbier cheeks every day. She already holds up and basically controls her head, will push herself up off my lap when she's laying against me, and gets halfway to rolling over. She also does hilarious things like projectile poop at us during diaper changes and spit out her vitamins on us. She is such a happy baby for the most part and we are loving every day with her! She is quirky and likes to sleep on her sides not her back, so we try to let her nap with us on her sides when she gets cranky about being on her back all the time. She also likes to sleep using her arms as pillows just like an adult which always makes me smile. She's already in the crib because she was shoving herself into the top of the bassinet at night by scooting along using her feet, she hasn't lost any of her hair, and she still makes great hilarious faces. She is also a clean freak about her diapers. She won't eat if they're too dirty, and we found out when she had a little diaper rash that she hates diaper cream - we think because she feels like it's a dirty diaper. Thanks to a suggestion from Aunt Kathy, we switched to baby powder and she is much happier making us much happier.

Here is what she looked like today napping in her bouncy chair.
We can't believe how much she's already grown and changed!