The Stomach Flu of 2011 and Ella's First Trip to LA

Well on Wednesday night, Ella came down with her very first sickness. Unfortunately it was the stomach flu and it was not pretty! I am pretty sure I will never forget Keith calling from the living room as I was making dinner saying she threw up and then walking in the living room to see both him and her covered head to toe! It is amazing what can come out of such a little person!

Of course the great stomach flu of 2011 hit the day before we were supposed to make our very first trip to Louisiana as a family of 3. We contemplated not making the trip, but decided Thursday evening that we would suck it up and head out. So we hit the road and made it to Lafayette about 10 pm. Of course after an uneventful ride to Lafayette you would know that I woke up Friday morning with the BUG!

So needless to say our 3 day trip to Louisiana contained a lot of this... and of course this...

It was not a fun few days but we did get to see a lot of family which was nice and it was so great for all of them to meet little miss Ella Kate. We did warn everyone before they entered that they were entering at their own risk and we have unfortunately had a few casualties along the way. Keith's dad, aunt, and cousin have all come down with it! Whoops!

As I have already shown over my last few posts, I am the worst photo documentor ever! I really wish I was better especially since Ella Kate came along but I am not, at least this trip I had an excuse!

Here are the few pictures I did take!

Ella Kate and Mrs Dottie. Mrs Dottie has just been waiting for the little miss to come and visit her. Sure hope she survives without the bug!

Sunday we drove back to Lafayette so Ella Kate could meet the Guillory family!

Olivier and Ella Kate (Olivier and Scarlett are the latest victims of the bug). Unfortunately she was a little grumpy when we got there but she tried really hard to take a picture!

It was a great trip to Louisiana but I sure wish we hadn't been sick the whole time! Maybe next time we will be able to stay healthy so that we can actually enjoy our visit and eat all of the good food! Do you even know what it is like to go to Louisiana and have to just eat bread for 2 days... no fun at all!

Ella Kate Four Months

Ella Kate you are now four months old (well 2 days ago you were, but I wanted to wait until we went to the doctor today so I could have official measurements)! I can't believe how quickly it is flying by! Before I know it you are going to be a year and I will look back and miss these days. So what have you been up to this past month?

You are weighing in at 14 lbs 14 oz - 77th percentile

You are measuring 25 3/4 inches - 93rd percentile

You are still wearing a size 2 diaper

You are consistently wearing 6 month cloths. I had to officially retire the 3 monthers!

You are taking 5 bottles a day of between 6-8 oz

As you can see by this picture you are smiling all the time! We just love to see that smile and your are exceptionally happy in the mornings.

You are able to sit up really well with some support - you prefer that support coming from mom or dad and you just love to sit on our laps.

You LOVE your swing! At your old daycare they called you "The Queen of the Swing" cause you would get mad if they put any other kids in "your" swing. Guess it is a good thing that your new daycare has 4 so you don't have to share!

You still have not rolled over and you really have no interest in it! You would prefer to sit up or stand rather than lay around on your stomach.

You have been sleeping through the night consistently for the past 2 weeks or so. You sleep from 8 pm - 7 am and it is just wonderful!

We put together your Exersaucer this weekend and you are loving it. You just love to stand up so this is the perfect toy for you.

You are taking your first trip to Louisiana this weekend and I can't wait to see how you do in the car for 6 hours.

You are just growing so big everyday and we love you more and more as each day passes! I can't wait to see what the next month will bring us - well besides eating solid foods which we are attempting tonight! Cereal here we come!

New Year's

Since Keith was out of town for New Years and I had 4 days off, I decided to brave it and take my first solo trip to Houston. Luckily I have the best car rider EVER and she was amazing the whole 3 1/2 hours down there and back.

We had no plans for New Year's Eve and actually I was ready for bed by 9:30. They say what you do New Year's Eve is what you will do all year - sleep - very appropriate for me!

New Year's Day mom and I had a little shopping planned but it was short lived due to the ridiculous crowds out there. It looked like Black Friday all over again! We met my dad for lunch after our short shopping trip. While we were at lunch, little Ella Kate learned something new.
We think she has begun teething (oh joy!) and she has really started chewing on things. Normally she enjoys her fingers, but while we were at lunch she learned how to hold her toy in her mouth and chew on it. Probably a good thing since she has been known to chomp down on her fingers a little too hard and erupt in a scream!

After lunch on New Year's I decided to take a trip out to Missouri City and visit Courtney, Brad, Easton, and Rowan. Ella loves to go and see her Nanny and family so of course I couldn't take a trip to Houston without a quick visit. We decided while I was there to try and get a quick picture of the newest Dicke grand kids.

Don't they look like they are already telling secrets! Those 2 are going to be the best of friends I just know it. I love that they are only 3 months apart! I can't wait until they are just a little bit older and they can really interact. Though I have a very bad feeling that Ella will probably try to be the boss!

Sunday we took a trip to church and then my old roommate from college, Megan, came by to meet the little one. Of course I am horrible with taking pictures so I forgot to even get my camera out during her visit. It was so great to see her and for her to meet Ella!

Monday of course I had to get back to Tyler and it was time for the weekend getaway to come to an end. It was a wonderful trip and it was great to learn that I could make the 3 1/2 hour trip without problems!

Ella's First Christmas - yes I am a little late

I am definitely a little late posting this, but Keith left on the 28th for North Dakota and just got back so things have been really busy around here while I played Single Mom. So here's a quick overview of how our Christmas was.

Almost the whole family was here for Ella's First Christmas. My parents (Granny and Popi), Keith's parents (Nona and Papa) and Uncle David (also known as Parrain as he is Ella's Godfather) were all here for the big event. It was wonderful having that many family members here to share the special occasion.

On Friday night we cooked a gumbo and then headed out to Christmas Eve service. We were a little worried how Ella would be as church started at 7 and that is normally when we feed her the last bottle of the day, followed by Pjs and bed, but she was an angel! She ate while we were in church and passed out before she even finished the bottle! It was great!

Here are just a few pictures from Christmas Eve
Us with our little First Christmas baby. Surprisingly she actually behaved for the few pictures we took!

Granny and Popi with their granddaughter. My parents had actually spent the beginning of the week in Arkansas with my brother, Jennifer, and Austin then stopped in on their way back. They had one long week of traveling.

Christmas morning we had no real plans, but we knew that we would be up pretty early since Ella Kate always wakes up by 7 and sure enough we were all up by then!

The tree with all the presents before we started opening. Yes, over half of those are for Ella.

The mantle! We made sure everyone had a stocking and Keith and I filled all of them. Stockings were always something my family did and I plan to continue that tradition. My brother and I would wake up ridiculously early (like 3 and 4 am) but we were not allowed to wake my parents until at least 5:30 so my mom always made sure to leave our stockings for us so that we could open them and keep ourselves occupied until it was time to wake the parents.

Someone was excited about Christmas! Ok really she had no clue what was going on, but I caught this picture of her and she just looks really excited!

Ella Kate surrounded by all of her gifts before we opened! She is definitely one blessed little girl. She got so many great things and we are still getting around to playing with all of them. Keith had said she didn't have enough toys, but that is definitely no longer true!

All the gifts after Keith and I sat and opened them! She got toys, movies, clothes, and of course necessities like formula and bottle nipples!

No matter where my dad goes, he always has his computer with him. Ella wanted to make sure and help Popi with his work on Christmas morning!

The whole Underwood family after we got cleaned up and all the presents were opened. Looks like Ella had her eye on something she wanted to play with and was trying to escape!

Our little family on our First Christmas as a family of three. We sure did enjoy sharing this experience with all of our family that was able to make it and I know Ella Kate loved having extra hands here to spoil her!

Now if I can just get the Christmas tree and all the decorations down! Maybe before the next holiday!