Sitting Pretty

We have been practicing sitting up around here. Ellie does best when she is on our bed and has the boppy pillow for support. Won't be too long until she can do it on her own!

Nana Came to Visit

We had such a good weekend with Nana! We just hung around the house most of the time and relaxed. Nana even let Carter and me go to a movie one night and then dinner another night! It is great to have such a good babysitter :) We miss you Nana!
(Any time Ellie is sleepy and getting cranky, we just take her outside to the porch swing and she goes straight to sleep. Works every time!)

Baby Food!

We started stage 1 baby food this week. At first Ellie did not like it at all and would make this awful face and throw her head back and gag. Maybe it was because we tried sweet potatoes first? I switched over to carrots and she's been eating those the last couple of days and seems to like it! The only problem with all this is that it makes the biggest mess and she ends up having to eat naked. For the first attempt, we tried out the highchair but we have ended up eating in the bumbo chair...probably won't use the highchair again until she can sit on her own :)

The Beach!

We took Ellie on her first family vacation to the beach! Every summer, my family goes down to Seaside, Florida and I was so happy to take our baby girl with us this year. Last year when we were there on Mother's Day, we surprised my parents with the news that we were having a baby. So it was really neat to be there again and have Ellie with us! We had a lot of fun and just relaxed at the beach and ate some really good food. Ellie got to put her feet in the ocean, lay in the sand and go swimming for the first time.
We also celebrated my brother graduating from college (an 8 year process :) We had a surprise "Star Wars" themed party for him one night and wore shirts that my mom had made for him.
It was a great trip, and we are ready to go back!

5 Months Old!

Today Ellie is 5 months old! I really don't know where the time has gone, and I can't believe that she has been with us for almost half a year!

Here are some things she's been up to lately:

-eats cereal in the morning and evening (still takes 5(6-7 oz) bottles a day)
-really interested in her toys these days
-reaches out and grabs toys and can hold them for a long time
-gave us a real belly laugh the other night! (it was my favorite thing she has done so far...brought me tears of happiness!)
-can roll in one direction but really does not like to try (trying to roll the other way when she wants to get to a toy)
-practicing sitting up
-she does not like to be left alone and cries when i leave the room
-will turn her head and acknowledge you when you call her name
-prefers riding in her umbrella stroller when we go shopping now (this keeps her entertained and happy most of the time)

Some pics from today (she still likes to get serious when I pull out the camera:)

practice, practice...

Ellie can now roll from her front to back while in her bed or on our bed. She really won't do it on the floor though (guess she likes the soft surfaces better?) She is a little mess!

Re is Crafty!

Grandma Re came to see us this week, and we've had lots of fun! (Carter was out of town for work so we loved having the company :) She even made Ellie some super cute summer dresses!
Ellie is still growing so much and getting so big! She and Harper have become really good friends too. They have never really paid much attention to each other until lately and they seem to get along great.
Ellie has discovered her feet, and we've still been practicing rolling. She gets so close but is so mad the whole time we try it, and she always ends up in tears. She would much rather practice standing or sitting up! Oh well, we may just skip the rolling step!