10 weeks and growing!!

Miss Annie

Hi- How's it going? 

First Smiles... 

Ella "talking" with mom.. 
Like my shades? I got all decked out for new years.. 
Ella & Grampy Bornstein
Maybe I'll just take a little rest here dad.. reading really takes it out of me.. 

The Bornsteins- 8 weeks
Ella & Mommy 7 weeks 
Ella and "aunt" Lori
Ella, Cathie & Keenan Sweeney Christmas
Ella & The Sweeney's Christmas 

Ella & Daddy- snooze time
Uncle Brian & Ella hanging out: Christmas

Grammy Sweeney & Ella - Christmas

Christmas baby
peaceful angel
Bath time at Grammys! 

Hello Everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since our last post- 6 weeks have flown by! A lot has happened since then- Christmas, New Years & Ella's 8 week check up! WOW! 

First things first Ella is now about 10 weeks old and how time has flown- too fast- tomorrow I go back to work! Yuck! But I know it is time, I will miss my little girl. But we have found a great daycare situation- our friends Derek & Tammy have a little boy Timmy (5mo old) who is lucky enough to have his aunt living with them to take care of him. They have generously opened their house to Ella as well! It is a great situation because there are only 2 babies and Ella will get lots of attention and it is only 5+ minutes from my work and 10 minutes from home. To ease the transition I am going to start by going back 4 days a week, so that should help and give me 3 full days of Ella & Mommy time! 

Ella is doing great as far as growth as well- she had her 8week check up 2 weeks ago and did well with her first shots! I think it was much harder on Jake and I! She weighed in at 12lbs 4 oz, 23 inches long- so she has really shot up! We really noticed her growth after we got back from NY for Christmas- she suddenly didn't seem as small in her bassinet! Her next visit to the doctors is in March for her 4 month visit- more shots eek! Oh well! 

The holidays were great, we headed to NY to bring mom back from her long visit with us and stayed for a week to visit with family and friends. This Christmas was extra special with Ella and she had a special holiday gift for us- lots of SMILES! Many new introductions for Miss Ella- she met her Uncle Brian, Uncle Jim & Aunt Cathie and Sweeney cousins. Of which Keenan was very entertaining for her- it was a great evening visit. Christmas was quiet at mom's with just Jake, Brian, Ella, Mom, John and I. A few days later we had our annual visit to the DeFonce's where Ella met "Ma" & "Pa" D , Lori, Dave, Robyn & the boys. It was a lot of fun! We can't wait to visit again soon! We were sorry we didn't get to visit with the Lockes while we were in town but a stomach bug kept us apart!But next time we are in Scotia for sure we will hook up and Ella will meet her cousin Ava! 

We came back to Maine for a quiet New Years Eve with some of Jake's old friends- we can't believe it is 2009 already! WOW- this year is going to go fast we are sure and Ella is going to grow like a weed! 

Some sad news though, we lost our dear dog Annie last week. She had been suffering from a neurological condition- we think she had a brain tumor. She got sick very fast and the best but most difficult decision was to end her suffering. We miss her very much, but know she is in a better place now. Maybe sometime we will get another dog, but right now we have our hands full with Ella. I  miss Annie's companionship, she was such a comfort during my entire pregnancy- she was there to cuddle and for my many walks to stay active and she was a gentle companion even in the last few weeks when I knew she wasn't feeling well she would always follow me around with Ella. Poor sweet girl we will miss her. 

Well time to check on Ella. Hope everyone is doing well, hopefully we'll talk to you soon! Enjoy these pictures from over the holidays. Love, Sheila, Jake & Ella Jane xo

4 week doctors visit!

Hello All

Just a quick note. Ella and I just came home from her 4 week doctors visit! She is doing very well- weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz, 21.5 inch long! So she is growing like a weed! Today is also her first snowstorm- we have gotten several inches of snow. So it is safe to say winter has finally arrived here in Maine. Ella doesn't seem to mind it as she is bundled up for outings. But Annie our golden retriever (imported/adopted from Arkansas) isn't too impressed with the white wet stuff! 

Anyhow.. just a quick note, back to making cookies! Love to all, Sheila, Jake & Ella Jane

Ella's First Friend!

Ella and Calvin Chillin under the mobile.. 

All arms! Excited about the mobile..
Hey bud!

Don't mind me.. I like to wack all my friends.. 
Dad and Ella having some music time.. 

Chillin... 

Hi All

Things are going well here, Ella had her first "play" date today with her friend Calvin. He is 2 weeks older than Ella and the son of our friends Tiffany and Josh. He is such a cutie and so mellow compared to our little pistol! And love that hair and his little nose! Tiffany, Calvin, Ella and I enjoyed a nice walk today in the balmy 50 degree weather-- I know weird for December in Maine. Especially after we just had an ice storm this past weekend. (more on that later)

Then Calvin and Ella hung out in the crib and enjoyed the mobile- before Ella became miss stinky pants and had a fit! Anyway here are the pics of them "playing" together-- so darn cute.

Well as I mentioned before we had a bad ice storm here in Maine- we lost power Saturday morning and got it back Sunday morning. So not too long a time but long enough with an infant. We were lucky to have great friends in Portland who still had power who offered us a place to hang most of the day Saturday. It was a good time visiting with Deb, Paul, Abby, Mike, Lily and Noah. We are very thankful to have power back- especially heat back! I don't think Ella noticed much though- she was bundled up in her snow suit and luckily her swing works on batteries so not much changed for her! 

Anyhow our little girl is 4 weeks old today- pretty crazy! She has her doctors appointment this Wednesday- I am eager to see what she weighs- she has been wanting to eat more frequently lately so I think she must be going through a growth spurt! Anyway I better sign off but enjoy the pics of Ella & Calvin playing. Also a few pics of Ella and her dad hanging out! 

Love, Sheila, Jake & Ella xo

Continuing adventures of miss Ella Jane

Yeah I am pretty cute.. 
YOU talking to ME? 
Hi Ya! I love my calistenics.. 


Really mom - enough with the close ups.. 

Hi All

Well we can't believe it but miss Ella is already over 3 weeks old! It is crazy how fast time is flying. And she is changing everyday. Milestones so far- last Thursday she finally lost her umbilical cord stump-- uh gross we found it in our bed. Well actually funny story- I guess Jake found it and left it there because he thought some how I would want to scrap book it? Yuck! No offense my sweet Ella but don't want to save that! Anyway loss of cord gave us the go ahead for her first real bath- it went pretty well with Grandma Sweeney's help. She wasn't so sure at first but then decided she liked it- since she could look out our kitchen window while sponge bathed- lucky gal. We have also started to try and do tummy time- she isn't a big fan yet- but she does like to lay on her back and give her legs a good work out in the evenings while dad serenades her with guitar. So needless to say we are having a lot of fun through all the spit up! One final milestone- she is chunking up and we have moved out of newborn diapers- now we are up to diapers between 8-14lbs! We will get an official weigh in next week at our 4 week pediatrician visit- but all looks good for this pretty little girl. Here are some pictures I took of Ella in motion. Enjoy. Hope to talk to you all soon! For those of you in NY we will be coming to Scotia 12/22 and leave 12/28- so we hope to see some or all of you on our trip. We are making it quite an outing- renting a mini van so we can bring our dog with us as well. So it will be a full house at 15 Robinson Rd! Much Love, Sheila, Jake & Ella Jane

ELLA Has arrived!

Hello Everyone!

Well our world has totally changed, our sweet girl Ella Jane arrived Monday November 17th at 8:50pm via C-section. She weighed in at 8lbs 13oz, 20.5 inches long! We have no idea what life was like without her or how we could love someone so much. She is our joy! So far we are falling into a good routine every 2-3hours for feeding and sleeping. We are tired but so happy. We are so  lucky to have Grammy Sweeney here to help, the extra hands are great as I am still recovering from C-section. But have to say I am feeling pretty well, other than tired. I stayed at the hospital through Thursday so this weekend it was great to get back in our own bed! Major bummer is I can't drive for 2 weeks, but that is OK hibernating with our little sweetie is wonderful. Jake had this past week off, but back to work today. But at least it is a holiday week and he will have Thursday and Friday off, so nice 4-day weekend. We are going to Stephanie's house for dinner- should be yummy! I am just about starving all the time from the breast feeding so I am really looking forward to it! 

Anyway I better get back to my sweet girl- she is enjoying her vibrating chair right now! But here are a few pics to tide you all over. More to come I am sure! Love to all, Sheila, Jake and Ella Jane xoxo