Baby Bennett #2 Ultrasound #2

Today we had our second ultrasound with baby Bennett. I know, we just had one, but this is part of what they call an NT (a new screening to assess risk of down syndrome and other major health issues). Everything appeared normal, which is what we expected with no family history that would make us think anything else would happen. We were told that the doctor will keep our due date at the 29th of October officially, even though our ultrasounds show us about half a week ahead of that. However, that is fine with us as it gives us more time to try and have this baby before our due date comes and the doctor schedules a c-section (that's his policy). Really, not much else to say. Ellie came with us for this appointment where it was just a short ultrasound and that was easier than asking someone to watch her. She sat with Steve and was really focused on what the tech was doing to me and wanted me to hold her, but she did well. She kept pointing to the screen and saying "See! Baby!" Needless to say we were told numerous times how cute she is.

So far, this baby isn't nearly as active as Ellie was at ultrasounds. It lays there for the most part and occasionally waves hands and feet and does little hiccup motions. Ellie was always flopping around like crazy and super active. It is as stubborn though as it took the tech a while to get the pictures she wanted because just like big sister, this kid didn't ever want to look at the machine. And with that, enjoy the pictures.

Isn't it amazing to look at the last post and see how much the baby has grown and changed in just a couple weeks? The human body is a miracle that always testifies to me of a knowing Heavenly Father and Creator.

Oh, and I guess the one other piece of news is that they scheduled our 20 week ultrasound where we'll get to find out what we're having. So, unless baby doesn't cooperate or they move our date for some reason, we should find out whether Ellie is getting a little brother or sister on June 12th. Enjoy guessing along with Steve and I until that point in time!

Easter Weekend take 1: Spokane

Whenever Steve has a break from school, we try to get out of Dodge and go see family. Friday, March 30th, we headed to Spokane to see some of my family. Here are a few pictures from that trip.

This is Ellie's cousin Wyatt and her playing with his toy on Sunday. Not a great picture, I know, but I included it for my sisters who haven't seen them in a while purely so they could see how big they've both gotten. It's one of the only pictures of them both upright together.

The next pictures are from our pre-Easter celebrations with my Dad, Kerry, my sister Jennifer, and her son Wyatt. We had fun with the kids both opening baskets from Grandma and Grandpa, and then they opened what we brought for them. We also had a fantastic ham dinner - yum! This picture cracks me up because Kerry (Grandma "Sun" according to Ellie - love it!) put her Easter basket from the grandparents in front of her and then told her not to touch it for pictures. This was the happy and confused picture we got as a result. Gotta love the hands in the air as she isn't sure what to do with them.

Here is a picture of both the grandkids with their baskets from Dad and Kerry. Wyatt was way more interested in what Ellie was pulling out of her basket than in doing anything with his. And Ellie is old enough that she dug right through her basket looking at everything and then informed us "All done!" when it was empty.

Here is Ellie digging through her basket we brought. The girl definitely understands gifts for her now. One of my favorite parts was a little Tangled doll we got her because Ellie is in LOVE with Tangled and calls per Punzel. We were pretty boring though and filled it with a few fun things and lots of stuff she needed anyway, like sippy cups, silverware, a new toothbrush, and socks. I know, we're awesome. Only we would replace candy in an Easter basket with a new toothbrush.

Once the kids had dug through their loot, we headed outside for Ellie's first Easter egg hunt. It took her a minute to figure out what she was supposed to do, and I don't think she understood that there was a benefit to collecting the eggs, but once she realized what to do, she needed no assistance. The girl loved collecting eggs in her cute little bucket.

After the egg hunt was over, Ellie spent some quality time with Daddy over at Grandma and Grandpa's pond. Ellie loves the koi that are in the pond (she loves all fish, really) and wants to go over and look in the water for them all the time when we go see "Papa" and "Sun". I love this picture. The joy these two bring each other makes me happy. Steve is such a fantastic father.

So, that's how we spent our first weekend of Spring Break. The next day brought a Monday full of travelling in the car to Preston, where we had a great rest of our break. Thanks Dad and Kerry for lots of fun!

Bennett, Party of 4

Did you know that if you go back to our Valentine's Day family picture there are four of us in that photo? We were hoping that was the case, but didn't actually know till after. That's because this is what I found out on February 17th, 2012.

And when Steve got home from work, this is what he found waiting for him as a "late Valentine's gift". He wasn't nearly as much fun with this one as he was with Ellie though. He saw the Godiva chocolate cigars and went "We're pregnant." And that was that. Totally rain on my parade why don't you.....

We spent the next several weeks with me sick, having to take time off work because I couldn't function, sleeping a lot because the doctors gave me unisom to treat morning sickness (unisom is a sleep aid and I'm VERY easily influenced by medications), and waking up to find out whether Ellie had been good and played quietly or whether she had stuffed a comb all the way down the toilet... Fun times. But, things have definitely started looking up! And, on March 28th we went in for our early ultrasound.

Here's what I looked like at just shy of 10 weeks (according to our ultrasound).

Yeah, number 2 is definitely showing WAY earlier than Ellie did!

And here are the pictures we got to see of our little one. It was a big relief to see something in the ultrasound where I never feel pregnant till sometime in 2nd trimester and kind of wonder if it's all real. Then it was a relief to hear the heartbeat. Our final relief came when the baby moved a little after about 5 minutes, kind of waving its back hand back and forth and then hiccuping up into a scrunched position and then back down again. So fun! This picture isn't great, but it has our stats, so I included it.

This is the picture they printed off for us, so this is the one all the family got to see as they found out.

And this is how most of the family found out. Sorry, Ellie wasn't staying still for the picture, but you have to read the shirt. Best part is that grandparents understood and other people to a large degree either didn't read the shirt or thought it was a really weird hand me down to let her wear...

Ellie has been trying to feed and diaper her babies and stuffed animals a lot lately though, as well as any real babies she comes across. We think she'll be a fantastic big sister come late October!

Ellie at 18 Months

Ellie turned 18 months old on Steve's birthday, February 12th. Her 18 month appointment was on the 16th of February, so that's where these stats are from. At 18 months old, Ellie is 34.25 inches tall, which places her at 97-98th percentile for her age group. I know, the pediatrician literally looked at us and said "You guys, she just hasn't stopped!" We know. We get to keep buying bigger and bigger clothes as she is now in 3T completely. Ellie is also 25.25 lbs which puts her in the 70th percentile for weight, and her head is in the 60th percentile. She also gets longer and curlier hair by the moment it seems.

Although her head isn't enormous, her vocabulary certainly is. The pediatrician told us she is WAY ahead in her language abilities, which doesn't surprise us as Ellie is a little parrot right now. She loves repeating the last words we say to her and trying to read books back to me. She also mimics our actions lately, like eating pretend snacks out of her empty hands, putting fake lotion on her face, etc. It's all pretty cute.

Ellie also certainly seems to be getting smarter by the day. She makes connections we in no way expect her to. She watched me put on deodorant all cock-eyed one day and I told her it was so I wouldn't be stinky. So Ellie says "stinky" (parrot, remember), runs to her room smiling, and comes back to me with her book "I Love You, Stinky Face" and sits down and looks at the book next to me. Later, I was telling my sister Julie on the phone how Ellie always picks out her scripture stories to read at bed time, and Ellie listens, runs to her room, and brings out her scripture stories to look at. That girl listens, and comprehends. We'd better be awfully careful what we say around her for sure!

My favorite story of her brilliance comes from yesterday, and Steve. Steve was with Ellie at the playground at our mall, and Ellie likes to go down the slide there. Apparently there was a little boy sitting at the top of the slide and he wouldn't go down, so Ellie climbed down the steps to the slide, and walked around till she found something shiny. Then she took the shiny thing, went back and climbed up the stairs, and showed it to the little boy. He looked at it, and then Ellie rolled it down the slide. The little boy followed after the shiny object and Ellie laughed, then proceeding to go down the slide. Talk about problem solving and manipulation all in one! Yeah, we're in for trouble when she's 13 and waaaay smarter than I am, but for now, it just makes me laugh. Hard.

Ellie also likes to "read" more and more of her books back to me after we read them. I love that she says "mama, mama" on pages of I Love You Stinky Face, which is what the little boy says at the beginning of about every other page. Tonight at bed time, she was saying "Naw-ness" to a page in a board book of Disney princesses on animals that had Lucifer the cat from Cinderella. I realized she remembered what the page said as it reads "Lucifer is a cat, but he's not very nice." I love that she was trying to say not nice to Lucifer.

Beyond that, Ellie continues to find new fun games. She loves buttons, and her belly button, all of which she calls "butt". She also loves Fraggle rock, Sesame Street (especially Elmo), The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot About That, or any other PBS kids show with music. I personally like that most of these are on Netflix, which is why we watch them.... That and the fact I only really let Ellie watch shows I can stand and approve of. I know, mean mom. Ellie just says "On! On!" to watch anything though, at home or on her DVD player in the car. She can be rather insistent...

One of her favorite past-times as of late is sitting with daddy and watching "ball" (basketball) or "boom" which is the computer game Plants vs. Zombies.

Ellie continues to become increasingly independent, but we're understanding each other better and better all the time, so her independence doesn't necessarily mean as many fits lately. Honestly, she really listens well and is a pretty fantastic kid. She definitely has a temper, but usually she throws micro-fits where she flails and then is done.

But, she also eats better lately and is getting much braver in trying foods. She will often try anything once when we try it in front of her - totally monkey see monkey do. But, she'll also try foods on her own and eat more variety now. For instance, we fed the missionaries last night and Ellie ate heavily seasoned steak, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and spiced apples. She also now likes cucumbers, fresh pineapple, raisins, and lots of other foods we don't think she'll like when we try giving them to her.

She likes to run, dance, play "blast-off" games, sit in her toybox and cover herself in stuffed animals,

do anything with Daddy (on a side note, we're going through a daddy withdrawal phase this week where Ellie randomly breaks down for Daddy, to be held by Daddy, and calls out for daddy throughout the day), play with toys, read books, sing songs (she now says sing, and tonight was singing the babies on the bus go waa, waa, waa with hand motions), and play with her new kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa Rose. She pretends to make food, make microwave button noises, washes her hands, cleans the stove with a washcloth, and uses a bowl and spoon to feed herself, me, and her baby doll. Here are a few pictures of her playing with her kitchen. The front of the fridge and freezer are magnetic, so that's what the little shapes are, and the side has chalkboard paint, and she really loves coloring on it lately.

We love all the personal touches Grandma and Grandpa added to Ellie's kitchen! For instance, the microwave time is 9:02 AM - the time Ellie was born. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

And, here are a few pictures from Presidents Day weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's picking up the kitchen. Ellie really liked their spring horse, and learned the word horse as a result.

Aunt Jennifer and Cousin Wyatt. These are hats Kerry's friend Mary made for Ellie and Wyatt.

Oh, and our last exciting news is that we may be nearing potty-training! Ellie managed to open her closet door and fit herself inside, trying to close the door from the inside the other day, and it turned out it was because she was poop(ing or y, not really sure, didn't ask her for details) which is supposed to be a good sign. She also recently got into wipes at Grandma and Grandpa Roses and was wiping herself down under her dress. And, yesterday and today I got her to pee in the toilet! Not of her own will, but because I realized whenever we run the bath she reflexively pees. And, it worked! So, that may be our way of introducing Ellie to potty training in the near future. Although, based on the little I know about potty training, I'm not sure if I'm more excited or disgusted by the prospect.... But, on the bright side, Ellie now sings a rousing version of "If you're happy and you know it pee on the potty" where she fills in "happy" and the "pssssss" sound at the end of each phrase. I know I'm awesome.

Valentines Day 2012

Last year I started what has hopefully become a nice tradition for our Valentines Days as a family. Ellie and I dress up nice and when Daddy comes home from work we make a nice dinner in. So, being clinically insane, this is how I let Ellie play all day - and miraculously managed to keep her clean.

Ellie loves these zoo animal puzzle magnets Grandma and Grandpa Bennett got her for Christmas. And seems to have figured out how to match them already! She likes the song when they're all matched up....

This is how I looked waiting for Steve to get home.

And this was my nice Valentines gift from Steve. We'd agreed not to get any big gifts for each other, but I didn't mind getting flowers in the least bit.

We went out and about after Steve got home, planning to get Ellie something small and a few supplies for dinner. We had planned to get Ellie a balloon as she loves seeing them at stores, but she was tired and for some reason terrified of the big character Valentines balloons at Walmart. So, we found a book she LOVES and has us read at least daily called "Elmo Loves You". And that was her gift.

Oh the differences between Steve and my dinners that night. Here is what Steve ate: king crab and steak. I know there's asparagus on his plate, but I ended up eating it. He figured why waste room with good asparagus when there was meat to be had.

Here is what I ate: steak, potatoes, and asparagus.

Ellie enjoyed a few bites of steak and asparagus but was pleased with her cheesy baked potato.

After dinner we tried to grab a quick family photo before Ellie ran wild.

And talk about going wild, she went positively native! She even started cooking her beloved Elmo! She still loves Elmo, but when it comes to trying to choose between cooking and playing with Elmo, why choose at all?

One Proud Mama

So I had intended on our next blog post being about Ellie's 18 month stats and our Valentine's Day. I was planning on writing it after Ellie's 18 month appointment tomorrow. But, sometimes something happens you just are bursting to share and you have to blog it right away. And when you teach swim lessons for a living (sort of a piece of a living really...) then the first time your child blows bubbles is one of those moments. Ellie can blow bubbles with a bubble wand, so I knew she could physically control her breath to do it, and then she started copying my noise and putting her mouth near the water a few days ago after I tried to show her in the pool at work last week. But today, she just up and did it! There is no way I expected her to figure it out where I couldn't show her actually putting my mouth in her bath water, but she is too smart for such obstacles to keep her from bubble-blowing mastery! So, without further ado, here is our Ellie girl blowing bubbles!

Please, disregard the ridiculous woman in the background. We don't know who she is, but she seems to intrude upon a lot of our family videos....

Like a Weed

I'm sure you all know what this title is about, but can this kid slow down already? We've definitely hit a growth spurt lately. For a while Ellie was sleeping 13 hours at night, taking two naps, and still so tired she was a total grump. Now we're back to one really good nap in the day and sleeping through the night most nights, which is GLORIOUS. But, instead of sleeping all the time, she is never full these days. She can eat half a can of ravioli and 15 minutes later down a bowl of peaches these days. Speaking of eating, we've been working on Ellie using her own utensils lately. And suddenly, after buying some toddler sized silverware, voila! Oh the joy of tool use!

In other news, this kid gets cuter by the day. It's kind of ridiculous. Here are a few pictures of our cute girl from last couple of weeks in chronological order.

Real pigtails! I'm winning the war of doing her hair! And I can't believe it's long enough for pigtails already! Don't mind the part.... I may have won the war that day, but we did take some casualties....

We got absolutely dumped on with snow a couple of weeks ago. When it warmed up some we tried to take Ellie out to play in it, but we'd gotten some freezing rain too, so it was no good for playing in thanks to the inch thick layer of ice across it all. We carved out this whole to try and get some interest, but failed.

As a result, Ellie just liked walking around in it.

But she got cold pretty quick and went to Daddy to bring her back "side" (her inside or outside). On a side note, seeing what our neighborhood looked like 3 days after the snow here, we were so grateful to have the Durango!!!

When we went back inside Ellie had to play with these headphones. She likes to wear Steve's shooting muffs for a few minutes at a time too.

This kid cracks me up. She will make cute faces for half a second if I have the camera and tell her to "smile big" while I smile at her now. I just need to get faster so I can capture more of her cute cheesy grins.

Her feet have grown, but not this much. But this girl loves wearing shoes and will try to put any on that she can find.

Have I mentioned this kid has spunk? Maybe once or twice? Here she is rocking out with the hair and attitude to complete the look. Believe me, flowered thermals are all the rage in rock and roll right now. She's a kid ahead of her time.

We live in a very pro-Husky area, which drives Steve nuts where he was a Cougar for 3 years. So, Ellie always has some WSU gear. She was all decked out this day and looked so cute! This was right before she pulled every last book down on herself and read books from her buried position.

This isn't a very good picture (crappy phone) but, she looked awfully cute this day too.

Some other random Ellie facts. In a few pictures you see her carrying around her foam letters. She's totally into B and O right now and will find them on her alphabet chart in the hall, find the letters and carry them around, or say the name of those letters with her alphabet blocks. I guess it's time we start working on the alphabet! She'll also call just about every letter O or B right now, even E which she has known for months, but we're still pretty impressed. You know you are too.

She's started saying Please and Thank you beyond just signing them, and the Nursery leader (from church) told us she said Thank you to her without prompting yesterday, so we must be doing something right! Our favorite recent development is that she's saying words to get what she wants without needing prompting all the time now. If she does wake up at night and can't put herself back to sleep I'll go in to have her say "mouf" while she points to her mouth and then usually follow it up with either "hurt" or "molk" (milk). It's FABULOUS! Even if she's upset, if I ask her what's wrong, she usually tells me!

She also knows what the potty is and we have her sit on it and sing songs any time she has a messy diaper so she gets used to the idea that she sits on the toilet. She actually asked Steve to sit on the potty yesterday. Nothing happened of course, but we're just happy she's starting to show interest for down the road.

She's also learned how to climb up on furniture, although she sometimes forgets to get a leg up and just strong-arms it. It's fun to see her get up and then "Yay!" and clap for herself. Other times it makes me nervous because even though she's my cautious little girl, she still likes to run and plop on the couch and stand in the middle of the coffee table!

I've decided parenting is one heck of a hard time on your emotions. We haven't even gotten to very tough stages yet, but it doesn't matter. Over and over I'm so proud of her learning new things and becoming more self-reliant (she needs no help being independent), but at the same time it makes me a little sad to see my baby growing up. To everything there is a season I suppose.... On the bright side, every stage is more fun and full of even more personality than the last, so we're just hoping that our girl remains so happy and cheerful all the time so we can enjoy laughing at how quirky she is every day!