Christmas cutie

I made this little dress for Elle for our family photos. And since we focused on family photos I wanted to get a few of just her in her festive get up. Things started off rocky and the song I'm gettin' nothin' for Christmas was playing in my mind throughout all the tears. But after a quick milk break Elle soon got into the holiday spirit. 

And I just love these last ones of Elle and Ben. Gosh her brothers seriously love her so much. This kid can cause me a lot of grief but he is always the sweetest big brother to this girl and she is so lucky to have him. I can't wait to see how their relationship grows.

Elle's blessing

We blessed Elle in our church on November 9th. It was a very special day. Since we don't have church these days till one we hosted a little brunch at the house for family beforehand. All of James' siblings from out of state were there, including uncle Jayson and auntie Kaitlin who were meeting Elle for the first time. The weekend was made extra special as Elle's great grandmother, Sylvia, was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the day before. She was also meeting Elle for the very first time as she lives in Florida. 

This is the most hilarious picture of Ben above. He and I were cracking up for days. He dubbed it his angry cowboy pose. 

James have a very sweet blessing and for the first time one of our babes fussed a bit during it. She wasn't exactly screaming her head off or anything just an uncomfortable cry throughout most of it. She wasn't liking how all those men were holding her because once she was back in her daddy's arms she stopped crying. Elle has already blessed our lives so much and we are all completely smitten with her. She was a beauty in her special dress, shoes, and headband. Mommy's little angel for sure. 

Three months

I just keep getting later and later with these updates. Oh what can I say about this sweet amazing girl of mine. I'm just so head over heels for her and she is developing her little personality and just becoming so fun. She now babbles all day long and laughs for us almost everyday. She laughs especially hard for her oldest brother. His spit noises just crack her up. Elle also loves to make her own spit noises and her lips are constantly covered in bubbles. The smiles she gives me could melt me into a puddle. It is very easy to get this girl to crack a smile. She's a happy one like brother Jackson, who always had a smile on his face. We haven't had an official weigh in for a few weeks but according to my own scale Elle has packed on a couple more pounds over the last couple weeks, putting her right around twelve pounds. Some rolls are definitely starting to form and she's looking like the most beautiful cherub to me. Doc was concerned for a while about her liver but after several blood tests (no fun) everything is perfect and I hope that weight concerns are also going to be a thing of the past at her next checkup in January. I'm still nursing but my supply isn't quite cutting it, so we've finally settled on soy formula and I think it's the best for her spit up issues. Although she still has her very bad and wet days (but that only means multiple outfit changes!) We are at the beginnings of getting on a sleep schedule. She's still my very sleepy girl and falls asleep in the car a lot so it's not exact. Wake up is currently around 6:45 then it's back to bed by around 9:30/10 for a couple hours. Then another hour or so nap around 4. Bedtime is promptly at 7; otherwise it's grumpy town. This girl still loves her brothers and is rarely bothered by their craziness.  They enjoy trying to get her to play with toys and watching their shows with her. Ben, the iPad and Elle is how I manage to make dinner some nights (when I actually cook- not my strong suit). Elle has mostly given up the paci but will still take it to settle down to sleep. She has replaced the paci with her hands as you can tell from some of the below photos. She tries to stick both in her mouth at the same time and is always loudly sucking on them. Rolling is in the very near future as she's gotten very close. Elle's a strong little thing and handles tummy time like a champ, sits straight up on my lap, and loves to sit in her bumbo. As with my boys, I'm so excited to get to know this girl more and discover her personality and watch her grow. But at the same time it's going too dang fast. Slow down sister girl. Love you so much babe.