Halloween 2011

So, this is gonna be a short post, because frankly I'm tired. Very tired. Ella's havin' a rough night and I'm not particularly in the blogging mood.....but I'll try :)

We did and always do have a fun Halloween season. We had our traditional Pinson Halloween party (pic's on FB...not posting those twice), and we stopped by the Holmes like we always do. Jill had gotten us Pinson kids special treats (donuts, cookies, juice) and my sis-in-law Alex was there and took some really cute pic's of Ella in her ghost costume (made my yours truly!).

Adam looked amazing in his gladiator costume, and I looked, well...hmmmm. Not my best year for costumes :( Kinda thrown together but that's what happens when you're a mom! Hopefully next year I'll look better and will have more time/energy to worry about my own costume.

Even though she wears me out, I am so in love with this little girl. I miss her all day at work and am so happy to see her happy little face when I get home.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween this year!!!

Cobblecreek

 So there are A LOT of pictures in this post...but we lived here for two years, so it kinda deserves the space.  We moved into the Cobblecreek Apartments in October of 2009.  It was the first time Adam and I were REALLY on our own in a long time, and we were so excited about living here.  From the moment we pulled into the complex we both looked at each other and kinda just knew that this was the place for us.
  This is where we lived when we decided to start a family.  It was in our little bathroom that we saw that little digital word "pregnant" that told us we were going to be parents.  It was our cozy living room that we brought Ella into and said "You're home, baby."
  It was here that we truly became a family.  There are no bad memories at Cobblecreek.  It represented such a peaceful time in our lives.  When Ella got old enough to enjoy walks, either Adam or I would walk around the Cobblecreek grounds with her.  She loved being near the fountains and hearing the ducks quack.  This will always be the place that we will look back on fondly and remember truly being happy and content for the first time in a long time.  Thank you for being a warm, safe home for us Cobblecreek!

This is just a few pictures of the BEAUTIFUL grounds at Cobblecreek.  It was so peaceful to walk around here in the evening, I will miss it so much!

This is Ella on one of our many walks.  This was the first day that the temperature had dropped and I got her all bundled up.  Doesn't she look just to die for?!?!

Another one of our evening walks.  I can't even tell you how much I adore this face.  I would get her inside and snuggle her face to mine and feel her cold little cheeks gradually warm up next to mine.  Nothing better in the world, I'm tellin' ya.

I was watching my nephew Jude one day.  He and Ella LOVE each other so much, it's the sweetest thing.  It was all fun and games until one of the ducks nabbed the bread right out of Jude's hand.  He was DONE with the ducks after that :)

This was our last family walk together.  We walked around for a long time and reminisced about all of our good times here.  We were both feeling bitter sweet about it all.

I couldn't ask for a better dad to my daughter.  Adam would come home from work, strap Ella in the Baby Bjorn and walk around for an hour, bonding with Ella and goofing around with her.  She seriously has one of the funnest daddies around :)

When Ella and I would go on walks, we would always end at our favorite spot next to the main pond.  I would tell her how much I loved her and how blessed she was to be born into such a loving environment, and how blessed we were to have such a beautiful, healthy baby.  She won't remember these talks, but she will always know how loved she is.

This was taken before bath time after our walk.  The picture on the right was literally taken seconds after the picture on the left.  She goes from party to melt-down faster than you can blink an eye!!!

Sleep Improved..YES! Sleep trained....not so much

So 9 days ago we decided it was time to sleep train Ella. I was beginning to go out in the living room and kick things after my 5th or 6th time of getting up with the baby, so Adam and I decided that it had gone on long enough :) And while I would LOVE to say that Ella is just like all the other babies I've read about and that after a couple of nights of minor crying, she is sleeping 12 hours a night.....that is just not our child. Things have DRASTICALLY improved however, and I'm hoping with another week or so she will really get the hang of it and become one of those said babies. Here's a little break down of our experience so far:

Night 1: T..O..R..T..U..R..E She cried for 2 hours, slept for 2 hours, then was up again crying on and off for 4 hours. After that I cannot say because I literally passed out despite my childs cries. (worst mom ever, right?!?!) However...when I woke up at 7:30 (yes, that is what time I'm supposed to be at work) and ran into her nursery in a panic, she was smiling and playing in her crib and still gave me goodmorning snuggles. So she didn't despise me and disown me :)

Night 2: She cried for 20 minutes, slept for 7 hours ( oh my gosh! ), but then was up crying again for 2 1/2 hours. She then went back to sleep for 3 hours.

Night 3: Went down without a peep and slept almost 4 hrs...fussed for a second and then put herself back to sleep for another 5 1/2 hrs. Then was up for 1 1/2, then back to sleep for 45 minutes.

Night 4: Cried for 45 minutes, then asleep for 11...count them...11 hours!!! I couldn't believe it, I had gotten a full nights sleep for the first time in over 6 months!!! I felt amazing, and foolishly thought that maybe that was it, she was cured! Nope.

Night 5,6,7: Average of 15 minutes of crying, then asleep 8-9 hrs. She then INSISTED on eating ( yes, babies can insist on things, even though they are very very tiny and can't talk....don't judge me ) but would then go back to sleep for about 2 hrs.

Night 8: No crying, slept about 10 1/2 hrs. Confused....and then...

Night 9 (last night): Cried for almost an hour..only slept 5 hrs, then cried 1 1/2, then back to sleep for 4 hrs.

So as you can see there is no rhyme or reason to what this kid is doing at night. I would love some more of those 10-11 hour nights, but I will be grateful that at worst she is only waking twice a night, usually only once, sometimes not at all. So much better that what I was dealing with before!!!

Adam and I have decided that Ella will continue to break any molds that other babies set. And instead of being frustrated or jealous of other "Normal" babies....we are going to enjoy our little spunky squirt and hope that this strong will of hers will come in handy later on in life!!

Ella, parties and fun :)

Well, It's been a while since I posted some pictures, so there are quite a few!! This is just a few examples of what we've been up to!

Keslee turned 4!! Shelisa threw an adorable Tangled birthday party with this amazing cake.

We spent Labor Day at the Miller Family cabin in Lambs Canyon. We enjoyed some delicious food and good company. I love going to the cabin because there is no TV, no internet, no phone service. Just a lot of people who love each other spending time together...doesn't get better than that.

Ella loves watching TV in her swing now. Her favorite show is SuperWhy :)

So I know this one is hard to see, but I was trying not to wake them! Ella loves when Daddy snuggles her for naps. So sweet!!

Me, Shelisa and Keslee went and saw Lion King 3D. This was one of my favorite movies when I was younger, so I was stoked when it came back to the theatre! The 3D really added a cool element to it, and it was so fun to be there with two of my favorite girls :)

On the left is Anthony, my cousin Stephanie's little boy. He has been through two heart surgeries!!! He is such an amazing little guy. I'm so glad that I was finally able to get Ella over to meet him. She was being a DIVA and crying everytime he growled. But I finally got her to chill out and lay by him for a picture :)

She also loves her jumper, especially if someone is paying attention to her while she jumps!

Uncle Danny came over for a sleepover, and they were chillin' watching some TV. Love it :)

This is one of my favorite pictures. Just somethin' about that face man. Love her!!!!

This was taken at the annual summer BAAb-que (charity event for the recovery meeting club Adam goes to). Ella was not a huge fan of this event because the music was VERY loud :( Oh well, she did enjoy the snuggles from Daddy :)

I CANNOT get enough of her smile....It will melt me everytime, no matter what. She basically has Adam and me wrapped around her little finger.

She was thrilled when her doctor told her she could start eating baby food :)

Just as a little side note I have to mention that today, finally, she turned from her back to her tummy!! She just has not been interested in rolling to much up until now, but she finally did it today!! I was such a proud mamma :)

10 YEARS!!!!!

Adam and me before the University of Utah Christmas Ball 2002

10 years ago today, a guy named Adam asked me to be his girlfriend in the ZCMI parking garage. I said yes, and the rest is 10 years of incredible history. I've said before that we've been through so much, highs and lows.....but the key is that we stuck together. Even in the really hard times, we still had some really happy memories. We never stopped loving each other, so no matter what life threw at us, we made it through together. If I could have taken a glimpse at my life now, 10 years ago in that parking garage, I wouldn't believe how wonderful things turned out to be. Responsible, handsome, loving husband....gorgeous, healthy baby daughter. I am so blessed. I truly can say that I love Adam Michael Miller with all my heart. He has made me stronger, and more importantly, he has made me a compassionate person. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring. I can't wait to raise Ella with Adam. 10 years under our belt, and here's to the next 10!!!

More pictures of Ella, of course!!

So, Yes I'm posting more pictures of Ella, because she is pretty much my world right now (and I guessing this isn't going to change anytime soon....so get used to it). A couple of non-Ella things have happened since I posted last, one of which being that I turned 27 yesterday. My sister-in-law Amanda came over with her son Jude. They brought me lunch and then we went to the pool here at Cobble Creek. Neither Ella or Jude were that excited about getting in the cold water, so we just hung out on the steps of the pool and talked for a while. It was really nice of them to come over! Then Ella took a 3 HOUR NAP (that never happens) and I was able to watch TV, take a nap myself, and talk to my best friend Liz for a while, uninterrupted! Ella must have known it was my birthday ;) Then Adam made me a nice dinner and helped put Ella to bed (which is no easy task these days).
Speaking of that.....she teased us for a while by going down very easy and only waking up once...but this was short lived. Now it takes several tries of going in and rocking her until she finally goes down, and then she wakes up 2-3 times. Not sure why this is, but I just have to drop all expectations when it comes to nighttime, because she is apparently a very un-predictable child! I did get a new Nikon L120 camera for my birthday, so I have been having a lot of fun snapping shots of my kiddo :) Hopefully with more practice I will get better at getting good pictures. Here are some I've taken so far....

Ella on mommy's bed

Ella doing her two favorite things...bathing and chewing on her fingers!

This is one of my favorite ones so far...laying on the rug in her nursery

So far, her eyes are still blue...not sure but I think they will turn brown like her daddy's :)

She looks like she's taking a stand for something here! You know what they say, If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything!

Ella Miller and Isley Howard--new buddies :) Got together with Ali, Jessie and their husbands at Ali's last weekend to celebrate our August birthdays. Isley is just adorable, and I think these two will be good friends :)

My Grandma Pinson and Ella. I just love this picture!! Ella will really treasure this one day. I have one with my Great Grandpa Olsen quite similar to this when I was a baby.

Lot's of pic's, not a lot of time!

So there has been a lot that has happened since I posted last, but what happens when you have a baby is you have more important/better things to do then blog all the time!! I'm a full time working mother and so when I have free time I generally like to spend it with my daughter and husband, but I got a nice long nap today, so I can actually stay up past 9pm and get some pic's up on this thing!! So, in absolutely no particular order, here goes!

Adam and Ella at our pool at Cobble Creek. She actually kinda likes the pool! Hoping to make her a water baby :)

Once in a while she will surprise us with a smile in her careseat. Usually she is screaming her head off :)

Me and Ella at the pool. So glad we have this nice pool to play in all summer!

Ella and her dolly Lucy

She can sit in a bumbo now!! She totally looks like a bobble head in it, but still!! I'm impressed!!

Went and saw my cute preggo friend Britney in Midway. She has such a cute family and home.

Went and spent the day with at my sister Amy's in Mapleton. Ella loves her cousin Abbey :) I see lots of babysitting in the future!

Ella chillin' in her favorite spot (her boppy)

My best friend Phyllis came to visit from London. She has sent NUMEROUS gifts to my baby girl, and she was so excited to see her she insisted on having her all to herself for an entire day. Despite what you see in this photo, Ella loves her Aunt Phyllis :)

Ella was blessed on July 3rd by her daddy. He did a beautiful job. She wore her cousin Abbey's blessing dress, shoes and blanket compliments of Grandma Pinson, bow cut off of my garder belt, and bracelet's from Jill and Phyllis Holmes. Quite the ensemble!! It was such a great day filled with family, friends, love and the spirit!

Some cute pic's of my fam on the 4th of July. I left early because I was stressing out about getting Ella off of her nighttime routine. (I'm slightly OCD when it comes to this). Oh well, sometimes a good nights sleep trumps having fun :)

This little girl is just full of smiles these days. It is so much fun to talk and sing with her. She is quite the jabber mouth!!

Adam and his mom ran the Cell to Well 5K. I was supposed to run it with his mom but I got a clogged milk duct the night before (ouch), so I had to bow out :( So proud of Adam for being such a great man, inspiration, and adorable daddy!

Can't get enough of her!!!

These are some great pictures that my sister-in-law Alex and brother Randy took of our family. It really is strange to think back 7 weeks to when we didn't have her here. She is just such a major part of our lives now!!! What did we do with all our free time?!?! (crazy things like flushed toilets whenever we wanted, watched T.V. at full volume, washed our hair, washed dishes, etc...) But all of those things are overrated compared to having a happy, well-rested baby girl, right?! She is giving out plenty of smiles these days, and has been pretty consistent with sleeping 6 hrs a time at night.
I went back to work Monday, and that was one sad morning! It is THE craziest thing to be with someone 24/7 for almost 11 months straight (counting pregnancy) and then all of a sudden being "ripped" away to go be with adult people for 8 hrs. It was not easy, but once I got to work I was ok. I have some wonderful people who are taking care of Ella.
On Monday's, my sister-in-law Amanda watches her. This past Monday went great, her 2 year old Jude even pushed Ella to the park in her stroller :)
On Tuesdays my mother-in-law Linda watches her. They had a great time watching the ducks in the pond!
WEDNESDAYS I'M HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Best day for sure)
Thursdays my co-workers daughter Jamie watches her. Today went really well and Jamie took great care of Ella.
Friday's my mom will watch her.
So, she is getting passed around a lot, but so far she seems to be adjusting just fine. She is a trooper!
So, my back is breaking, my eyes-lids are permanently at half-mass, and I'm pretty sure I stink like baby vomit, but it is all worth it. She'll thank me one day for all of my sacrificing, right?!?! ;)

First Non-Crying bath time!!

So, up until yesterday, bath time was a drama filled event for Ella. It appeared that this supposed "calming, soothing" bedtime ritual was just the opposite for her. While she was still small enough, we were using the little basin that the hospital sent home. Adam had to hold her up while I washed her. And she cried. Me and my mom tried the kitchen sink. And she cried. We tried a larger baby bath tub. And she cried. Finally I found this little contraption of my sister-in-laws in storage at my mom's house. I put it in our tub, hopped in with her, filled it up with nice warm water, and...........TUH DUH!!!! A cry-free tubby time! Yeah!!!! This may not seem like a big deal to you, but to a mom who has been wanting this bonding experience with her baby daughter, it was a great accomplishment :)
She is almost 6 weeks old now. She also has started to give smiles!!! She gave my mom two good smiles on Tuesday, and today she has smiled at me several times. It is so nice to get some positive reinforcement from you baby. You start to wonder if they are happy, or if they love you...(silly, I know, but my hormones must still be out of wack!) so a little smile here and there does so much to boost your confidence as a mother! I will attempt to get a smile on camera and post it so you can all see just how dang cute and special it is ;)
Here's to many more happy milestones!!!!!!

Ella Sophia one month old

My goodness, today my little girl is one month old! It's crazy, in some ways, I can't believe it's been a month already, but in other ways, it feels like she's always been here. Our past month has been full of lots of different emotions! The first week having her home was an emotional roller-coaster. Feeling blissful one moment and completely blue the next. After that the emotions got more stable, but adjusting to this new routine did not! My day literally revolves around this little person and her needs. It's a little overwhelming sometimes to know that this little girl relies entirely on me! No pressure!
It's been a learning experience, but I love it. I love her. I love my husband and everything he is doing for us both. He is madly in love with her, and it is so fun to see them interact with one another. I'm afraid he is in big trouble when she gets older and is able to use her powers on him for evil doing ;)
So, I'm going to pat myself on the back for making it through this first month, and having high hopes for the months to come. Hopefully we can continue to settle in to this new life as a little family!

Ella's Story

So our 9 month wait is FINALLY over! Ella Sophia Miller joined our family on Sunday, April 17th at 6:40am, weighing 7lb, measuring 19in long. It all started for me on Saturday morning. I had decided that there was just NO WAY I was going back to work on Monday. I was tired, in pain, and just exhausted in every sense of the word. I was going to do everything I could to get Ella here ASAP! So Saturday morning I put on my walking shoes (which were a little tight due to my swollen feet and ankles) and went for a walk around our apartment complex. We have beautiful grounds here at Cobble Creek and it was a great day to take a walk with my unborn daughter. I gave her an official eviction notice, telling her that mommy was worn out and didn't think she could handle one more day of caring her around in her tummy. After I got back to the apartment, I looked up how to do accupressure to induce labor. There's a spot on your leg that you are supposed to press, so I did this for a while. Then that night, Adam and I went to Z'Tejas at the Gateway to celebrate his Grandmother's birthday. I ordered a nice spicy pasta dish :)
When we got home, we decided to watch a movie. About 3/4 of the way through, I was sitting on the LaZ Boy chair when a felt a "POP" and then a gush of water. I told Adam to pause the movie and ran to the bathroom. Sure enough, my water had broke!!!!!!! I told Adam and he literally jumped about 5 feet in the air off the couch and started getting our bags together that we had packed. In the middle of hurrying around, he pulled me into our bedroom and asked that we have a prayer together before we left. After that I felt much more calm. We got in the car and continued on to the University of Utah Hospital. We were both in such a daze and were so happy and in shock that the moment was finally here!
We got checked in to the Hospital around 10pm. The nurse asked if my contractions were painful. I told her they were not, and she suggested we take a walk around the Hospital to get things going faster. Well, it didn't take long for those contractions to become painful once I was up and moving!!! We booked it back to the room and they checked me out. I was dialted to a 4 and fully effaced. I still did not get the epidural at this point, and the reason is kinda gross, but I'll share in the most tactful way possible. I really wanted to be able to use the lady's room BEFORE I became numb from the waste down, in order to avoid an embarrasing incident during the pushing part of labor, if ya know what I mean!!! So, I waited until 2:30am to get the darn thing! Once I got it, it only worked on my right side. They turned me over and asked me to try and sleep (yeah right) and hope that the medicine would work it's way over to my left side. It did a little, but for the most part I was feeling a lot of labor on my left, which would end up being a blessing later on.
At 5am, they checked me again. They said they were going to have me start pushing in 1 hour. So we called our family and told them to get to the Hospital ASAP!! My mom and brother Randy arrived first, and I had Randy and Adam give me a blessing. Then Adam's parents and sister Amanda arrived. After a few minutes, we cleared the room and waited for my doctor. Unfortunately, she is the mother of twin boys, and the wife of a surgeon, who was operating that morning. So that left her stranded at home with her sons. BUMMER!!! I had really wanted her to be part of my birthing experience, but it just wasn't happening. I got over it quick, because the anticipation of meeting my daughter was really kicking in. A very nice resident Dr. Yi was there, along with my wonderful nurse Melanie.
We started pushing at 6:15am. They kept telling me what an amazing job I was doing, and that it would not take long for me to get the baby out. Once her head was close to being out, they realized that the cord was wrapped around her neck. I didn't know this right away, they didn't want to alarm me too much, but they just said that I had one more chance to push her out or they would have to use the vacuum. Well, I was not about to let them stick a vacuum hose to MY daughters head, so push I did! I felt this total relief and I looked down and saw my baby!! They took her aside to check her vitals, then brought her to me and laid her on my chest. She just started at me and I stared at her. It was such a beautiful moment between me and her. Then Adam got her bathed and dressed. He was so happy (and tired), as was I. It all went by so fast, I still can't believe it's all over. It's like that Christmas morning feeling, but on steroids!!
I'm so grateful for everyone who came and visited in the Hospital, it was so special to share that time with you!!! We are loving parenthood and learning and growing together everyday!!!

9 months.....ready or not.......

Well, I've got under 3 weeks left! I'm carrying this little girl mostly out front, from what you can tell from the pic's. And yes, the back is killing me! At my last visit, they told me I'm about 85% effaced and at 2cm dilated, and her head is VERY far down....so it can't be too long before she gets here! I'd like her to wait at least until April 13th, because that's when my doctor gets back in town! But the fact of the matter is, she'll come whenever she wants to come, and no matter when that is, I will be THRILLED to meet her! If Adam had his way, she would have been here yesterday :) But the exact moment she'll get here.....your guess is as good as mine?!?!