Ella is GREAT and BIG

Ella is so big--to us! She weighs 9 pounds 2 ounces! We have had home health care nurses in 3/4 times a week to check her blood pressure, and it seems to have been going down. Hopefully the kidney doctor will agree and give us the "all clear".

We had an eye appointment today to have her ROP checked and BOTH EYES HAVE RESOLVED themselves!! Yea!! We do not have to go back to get them checked for a year. It is so nice to check something off the list of worries...

She is cooing, and smiling....she is a big eater. I still wake her every 3 hours to eat...but she is doing great! We are truly blessed!

Happy Mother's Day

My mom is WONDERFUL! She is truly and amazing mom, grandma (Guh Guh) and friend. She was there when Ella was born and stayed at the hospital with Ryan and I when I was in the hospital. She was such a help to us when we needed it the most. She stayed with us for a month after Ella was born. She is such a fun grandma to Carter (and Ella. He loves seeing her and loves going to garage sales, donuts, sonic, target...with Guh Guh! Mom, we love you so much and I am so glad you are my mom! You are very special to me.


I am so proud and honored to be the Mother of Carter and Ella. I love it and have so much fun with them!!

It was a fun and relaxing day--just what we needed. I was able to get some things done around the house, which feels nice. We went to dinner and had ice-cream at TCBY--my favorite! Ryan bought me beautiful flowers and special cards from the kids. He did a great job and made me feel special.

Happy Mother's Day to all our spacial Mother's in our family: Guh Guh, Nana, Mema, Grandma Marie, Aunt Jennifer, Aunt Patrice, Aunt Connie, Aunt Bonnie, Grandma Deb, Grandma Ruth Ann, Grandma Carol, Grandma Gwen, Aunt Carrie, Aunt Marilyn and the Mothers-to-Be Aunt Stacy and cousin Megan!! You are all very special to us and wonderful grandmas and aunts and mothers!!

4 months

Our beautiful, sweet angel baby!! I LOVE this picture! It is just a sneak peek of pictures we had taken this week. Becky did a fantastic job-I can't wait to see the rest of them. I did have a few taken of Carter and Ella together. I will post more soon!

At four months, Miss Ella is sure a talker! She grunts constantly. She loves to be held and will lay on her back or tummy for short periods of time. She does a great job holding her head up for short periods of time. She is more awake lately in between her feedings. We still wake her every 3 hours to eat. She weighs 8 pounds 2 ounces! What a big girl! All the doctors we saw this week thought she looked great.

We saw the cardiologist on Wednesday at Children's Mercy. Ella had an Echo cardiogram done. The doctor feels that the high blood pressure is not related to her heart. He said her heart is normal size and working great, as is the blood flow and arteries. He did say she has a 0.44 mm hole in her heart. This is something that the NICU doctor had put down on the paperwork, but it is something we did not remember hearing before. This is not a problem or causing Ella any harm or pain... It should have closed at birth and didn't. We will go back and see the cardiologist in December to see if it has closed. If is has not, we will look at doing a small procedure through a catheter to "fill" the hole. It would not be a big surgery and it is not for certain. It has nothing to do with her high blood pressure.

We saw the NICU follow-up doctor on Wednesday, as well. We were SO EXCITED that Kim, our favorite daytime and primary NICU nurse was working at the clinic that day! We were so happy to see her. Kim and the doctor both thought Ella looked good and much bigger. The doctor increased her feedings and kept her on the reflux medicine. She is still sleeping on her tummy for about 4 more weeks, and then we are to try her on her back.

Nurse Carol, the Children's Mercy home health nurse came on Thursday and weighed Ella. She thought her gain for the week was good. She also took her blood pressure and it was still above the average. ( I think it was about 110 for the top number--and they would like it lower than 100).

On Friday we went to the pediatrician. She was booked, so we saw her nurse practitioner that said everything was going well. The nursing staff gave Ella 4 shots, which she screamed about! Carter was just glad none of the shots were for him.

Today was BUSY

Today was a busy day. I am already in my comfy clothes and can't wait until the 8:30 pm bottle to put Ella and Carter to bed. Ryan and I are both so tired.

The March of Dimes walk was this morning. The walk began at 10am (see post below).

Aunt Stacy's baby shower(Ryan's sister) was today at noon. It was hosted by Annie and it was so much fun to see Tri Deltas. :) It was a very nice shower with cute decorations, and the cake was delicious!! Carter came with me and he even got to help Aunt Stacy open her presents.(Picture in the baby shower post below of Stacy, Carter and Grandma Deb).

Today at 2:30 pm was Ryan Bennink's wedding. He is the son of Miss Debbie (who is our AMAZING daycare provider and her family lives across the street from us). Carter has always enjoyed seeing "Dude". Ryan would say, "Hi Dude," to Carter when he was little, so then Carter began calling him Dude. Dude married Melissa.Carter has always been really shy around Melissa...I think she is his first crush! It was a beautiful wedding. The colors were just gorgeous! I have attached the above pics of the wedding. It was also one of our first outings as a family of 4! :)

March of Dimes walk

The March of Dimes walk was this morning. It was a beautiful morning-not too cold and not raining. It was held at the KC Power and Light District. Meg and I walked in honor of Ella. Next year we will have an ELLA TEAM! Thank you to all those who donated and those of you who prayed for us and all the walkers today.It was very eye opening for me today to walk and see pictures of babies that did not make it, even though they were larger and gestationally older than Ella. It was great to see babies who were preemies and are now big, healthy and amazing!! Our St. Luke's NICU team tent was right next to a team tent that had a lot of the St. Luke's NICU nurses on it. It was fun to see their familiar faces again. Thanks, Meg, for joining me on the walk.

Ella's Baby Shower

We were blessed and showered on Friday, March 19th.

Megan and Jennifer hosted the shower, and it was so much fun. It was so nice for me to get away from the hospital and spend time with my friends. Little did I know that Ella would be coming home the next week and I needed to get a few things to be prepared for her. I loved unwrapping all the PINK items. Thanks so much, girls!!

Showers of LOVE

It is so fun getting together with friends to celebrate their arrivals, as well.

We are excited awaiting the arrivals of Baby Brent Lee, Baby Ethan, Baby Caden and Baby Hayden. We have met Baby Ashlyn and can't wait to meet Baby Lou (who was born last week). Congratulations and best wishes Michelle, Candi, Stacy, Summer, Ami and Lindsey!!