Family

Last weekend ella j got to see her Grandpa George again and meet Grandma Liz! We had a nice visit on Saturday. Aunt Kendall and Kenyon came over and we spent the day hanging out around the house together. We had a great smoked chicken lunch, Clay got to show off the much worked on pond, and the fam went on a nice stroll through our cemetary. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the front porch staying cool as some thunderstorms rolled in. Everyone enjoyed seeing Ella J; especially Grandma Liz and Kendall. Grandpa George was a little hesitant about holding such a 'little' one but he did great. I can tell he's conserving his energy for when she gets a little bigger and they can go wild together! Clay was so happy that Liz brought down some of her famous peanut butter chocolates...so happy that he ate them all that night!

A letter to Ella J on her 1 month birthday.

Dear Ella J,
A month has gone by since you were born and you have grown mentally and physically in that short time more than your dad and I will grow the rest of our lives! I'm amazed by how much you've grown, how much you already know, and how much you can already do.
This month I've also learned what people were talking about when they said "sleep now before the baby comes". Motherhood definitely has it's challenges. As a mother, I've never: slept less, showered less, cried more, managed to do more errands in the five minutes I get a day to do them, seen Clay less, worried more, and felt more incompetent then I have this month.
However, there are some pretty awesome rewards to this motherhood thing-I will do my best to describe my favorites for you here:
1. I've never been able to celebrate toots and burps as much as we do around our house these days. Every one is answered with an "alright, girl" or "ooh, good job!" or "get it out baby". We have toot songs, getting-the-toots-out strategies, and records of the last toot or burp.
2. Before you fall asleep, your face physically displays just about every emotion there is. First you smile, then you frown, then you get mad and red, then sometimes if I'm lucky, you laugh. It's a wonderful falling asleep routine that makes me giggle.
3. I love giving you a bath...you become so relaxed and alert and seem to enjoy it as if the water is where you belong. We will have to get you to the ocean soon.
4. There is pretty much no feeling better than when you lay your head on my shoulder and relax into my body and remind me that I'm your mom. I've done some pretty awesome things in my life and it's pretty much safe to say that none compare.
5. I cannot fully explain in words how awesome it is to be able to think of a human being as absolutely perfect. Prior to you, I'd never met one.
6. No matter how rough our night or how little sleep I'm going on, every morning you wake up so bright eyed and cheery and I fall in love with you more than I was the day before.

I love ya Ella J and I'm so glad I get to be your mom.

Our little water baby

One of our favorite things to do everyday is to give Ella J a bath. She loves them! She seems the most calm and alert during this activity...I think it was because she was born in the water :). Here's a video of her in the tub....

All about Dad

Ella J has a fantastic dad.
Clay returned to work this week and..I have to be honest, I was panicked about how things would go. But Clay handled the week gracefully; he managed to go to work, help take care of Ella J, do the grocery shopping, install a brand new backyard, keep me from losing my mind, and gave me an awesome massage today :).

Dad the SuperNanny:
This week Clay and Xander planted a garden and-the coolest thing-learned to walk on bucket stilts! Clay also received his Montessori diploma for ages 0-3 this week! He'll soon be starting on Montessori certification for ages 3-6. He's busy preparing for August, when his 'peeps' will double from two kiddos to four: Xander, Hutch, Ella J and Xander's little sister (due in June)! I'm so happy Ella J will get to spend all day with her dad in their very own 'natural childlife preserve'.


Dad the Gardener:
Clay found some free sod on Craigslist and loaded the backseat of his car with it and started on Ella J's backyard oasis. His car was completely weighed down with grass..it was hilarious! He's been working on this project for a couple of weekends now...and it's getting close to being finished. The hole Clay is standing in will soon be a fountain with fish to eat the mosquitos.


Just Dad:
Even though he's short a couple of functional breasts, Clay has been busy helping take care of Ella J. She's beginning to understand that the tall goofy guy with the bandana is her Dad and will be sticking around for a while and smells pretty good. He's our very own 'baby whisperer' who gives me great baby advice quicker than I can look it up in any of the 20 baby care books I have. I am so happy that Ella J has a man in her life who is as creative, loving, nurturing and patient as Clay is; we both couldn't be luckier.

Belly button today, driving tomorrow!

A few mornings ago we woke up to find Ella J's umbilical cord stump had fallen off. She officially has an outie belly button (for now). This little step towards independence had me a little worried about her growing up too fast, but she spent the rest of the day snuggled up to my chest to remind me that we still have a little time together :).
I was super excited to see her umbilical cord stump had fallen off because that meant we could try out different types of diapers now that things can touch her belly button. Clay and I decided to go with cloth diapers. I think that used to mean just simply "cloth diapers". Not any more. There are over 10 different cloth diapering 'systems' with at least 20 brands of varying quality for each 'system'.
There are 'all in ones', 'all in twos', 'one sizes', 'prefolds', 'fitteds', etc. People on the web who talk about these diapers like to make it even more confusing with crazy acronyms for every system and brand...so there are AIO BG's and OS FB's...I actually found a discussion forum on the internet about cloth diaper acronyms! This is by far one of the most challenging things I've taken on as a parent.
Fortunately, my ability to make decisions in less than a week's time has returned since no longer being pregnant. I'm happy to report Ella J will be sporting Bum Genius 3.0 One-Size Cloth Diapers. These are really cool because they are adjustable for babies 7-30 lbs and will be the only diapers she will ever need. So hopefully, I will not need to visit anymore cloth diapering forums any time soon.

Lots and lots of visitors!

Our first week at home is over! I have bittersweet feelings about Ella J's one week birthday. She's already grown so much! I'm so happy and proud to see such a beautiful healthy baby in our home. The rapidly passing week has also made me understand a little of the "enjoy them because it goes by so fast" advice the seasoned parents repeat.

Clay and I have found ourselves often wondering what she will be like: what will she do when she grows up? what will her voice sound like? what color will her hair turn out to be? will she be a little elementary school bully? will she want to go to college? will she become the opposite of her parents-a rich, conservative republican? (we hope...then someone can take care of us! :)!.

One great thing about this week is all the friends and family that have come to visit little Ellie J and bring food, love, advice, support, and joy about our arrival. I don't think the week would have been as easy to enjoy without all of our caring, generous friends. I have received so much advice and kind words from the Moms too...without them I'd be a crazy lady with a very cranky baby! I'm so glad we are part of such a caring community of people who enjoy helping us.

One of the best visits we received this week was from little Hutch. He and his family came over and Hutch decided to celebrate Ella J's homecoming by blessing her home with his first steps! We were all sitting in the living room hanging out and Hutch walked all by himself for the first time! Of course the pictures Clay managed to take reflected the level of excitement in the room...but the picture at the top of this post is of some of Hutch's first steps!

Ella J and Aunt Kendall at the Birthing Center

Ella J and the happiest Grandpa on earth!Ella J and Aunt Anna

Hans and family coming for a Saturday visit
Ella J and Grandma Jeanie

Happy Birthday Ella J!

Hello Friends and Family!
Welcome to the BLOG...our way to share all of Ella J's daily adventures with the ones we love.
Ella J arrived April 19, 2009 and we are thrilled to be with her! Her arrival was an adventure and a wonderful story we will enjoy forever. Each member of our Bradley Birthing class sends in their birth story with the group and Clay did not want to leave out anything for ours ;). So here is the story, written sweetly and thoroughly by her Daddy.

*More pictures of the big day here.

we would like to share with ya'll the birth story of our daughter ella j. she was born sunday april 19 at 8:48 pm at the austin area birthing center. 9lbs 1oz, 20 3/4 in long.

ashley was kind of prophetic. the week before she had said she believed sunday would be the day. and lo and behold it was.

we had an appointment with one of our midwives friday the 17th, at this time ashley was 3 cm dilated and 100% effaced. roswitha, our midwife, said it probably wouldnt be long.

saturday in an effort to get things going we had an afternoon walk, then an italian dinner heavy on the basil and oregano (spices said to help induce labor) at around 5:30 sunday morning ashley had some mild contractions and a little discharege. amniotic fluid? we werent sure.

we waited until around 11 to call the birthing center. annabel wanted us to come in and test the discharge. sure enough it was amniotic fluid, a high tear in the water bag that would only leak with contractions. at this time, ashley was still 3 cm dilated, 100% effaced and the baby was at a -1 station. annabel gave us some herbs and a recipe for a castor oil ice cream shake concoction and sent us on our way with instructions to check in around 5 ish. also the clock was ticking, you only get 24 hours after your water breaks to deliver at the birthing center. after that off to the hospital, an alternative we werent really prepared for.

we went home and just kind of hung out. ashley took the herbs, choked down the castor oil concoction, and we went for a short walk. ashley spent most of the afternoon alone in the bedroom, riding out small contractions, with the visual image of surfing them.

at around 5:45 ashley felt a big kick and then a gush, the water had really broken now. contractions began getting more intense. we called the birthing center, annabel said come on in. we packed our stuff, loaded up and got there in a hurry arriving a lil after 6:30. ashley was feeling very nauseated and a strong urge to bm. side effects of the castor oil (btw ashley has vowed never again on the castor oil route) ashley threw up outside of the birthing center before we got inside.

annabel did another cervical exam around 7pm. ashley was now 4 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and baby was still at -1. she prepared our birthing room, i called ashleys sister our assistant coach and we were on our way. we were in the room in no time, ashleys sister showed up around 7:30. ashley was experiencing heavy contractions, vomiting, and loose uncontrollable stool. (stock up on those chucks pads! and bring some scented candles, its kind of thick in there) she wanted no music, and was in an immense amount of pain. annabel suggested a shower and we tried that out. after about 10-15 min of that ashely was back in the bed.

at around 8 ashley tells me, in a voice that i was reluctant to argue with, to go tell the midwives we are going to the hospital. the pain is too much. i cant do this for 6 or 7 more hours. i said babe, are you sure. "GO GET 'EM!!!" i immediately did as i was told. the midwives jennifer and annabel came in and asked ashley what she wanted to do. ashley responded, "i cant do this anymore. the pain is too much, i want to go to the hospital and get an epidural" jennifer said that there were things they could do here first and to let her do a cervical exam first. ashley agreed, the results of the cervical exam surprised us all.

just an hour prior ashely was at 4cm, 100% effaced, at a -1. now she was at 9cm, 100% effaced, and at a +1. the baby was here and ready. upon hearing this ashley decided she could do it. they recommended ashley get into the tub to see if that would help ease some of the pain. it did. after about 30-40 min of pushing in various positions and with varying degrees of primal grunts, moans, and screams out came lil ella j. our little water baby.

ashleys dad arrived about 1/2 an hour after the birth and he and ashleys sister stayed with us in the birthing room til about 3 am. after filling out all the required papework, bathing ella j and talking to the midwives, we were in the car and heading home at 7 am monday morning.

mother and baby are doing fantastic. they are both so beautiful.