Catching Up

Here are a few recent events. Nothing major, just what's going on in the Hesemann household.

We went to the doctor today, and she now weighs 12 lbs 6 oz. She is no longer a tiny girl. In fact, she's over the 50% for her age.

Our friend Ruslyan (aka "The Russian Concussion") came over tonight to meet Ella. The week she was born, he and his girlfriend took a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas including a visit to the Little White Wedding Chapel. He is such a happy groom. You can see that he loves babies and can't wait to have one of his own.

This is what he brought when he came over. Aren't they beautiful? What a sweet guy.

Laid back, with my mind on my money and my money on my mind...

Straight out of the bathtub. Couldn't you just eat her up?

The unfortunate event of the night. I don't know if you can appreciate the brown spots completely up the back of her onesie or the smear all over the changing table. Time for bath #2 today.

The aftermath...

Blessed

Ella and her cousin Max were both blessed at church on Sunday. Yet another of the cool experiences of having babies just five weeks apart. My sister and I get to share a lot of milestones.

Don't they both look beautiful?
Ella's gown is the one her Great-Grandpa Ritterbusch wore when he was baptized in 1911. I'd call that a family heirloom.

Look how sweet Max looks. He's such a happy boy. If he's awake, he's smiling.

Nap Time

This is what happens around our house when Mommy has been at work all night. Thank goodness my baby likes to snuggle.

Notice the quilt we're snuggled under. Nathan's mom made that for us. The patterned piece in the middle is from a quilt that Nathan's Grandma Ritterbusch made and all the grandkids used. When she passed away several years ago, that was one thing that all the grandkids fought over, so Lynn cut it up and made a baby quilt for each of the grandkids. Isn't that a great idea?!

Baby Babble

I have no idea who this baby is, but she's so funny. You have to go to this link and watch this video.

http://www.snotr.com/video/2630

Ella Update

I actually don't have too much to update on the world's most beautiful baby. The biggest news on her end is just how quickly she's growing. We went this morning for a quick weight check (just to ease Mommy's mind a bit), and she now weighs 8 lbs, 9 oz. That means that in the month since she was born, she has gained 3 lbs already. That's over half of her birth weight. That really makes me feel so much better. She is a really fast eater, which has been stressing me out since you never really know what they get with nursing. Well, now I feel pretty confident that she's getting plenty to eat. Now if she would just decide to sleep a little more at night. We did have a routine of one good 5 hour stretch at night. She has decided to do away with that and is now reliably eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours around the clock. Mommy and Daddy are getting tired.

Just to brighten your day, this is her yesterday, deep in thought.

My Flowers

This post is especially for Sarah Babbel because I know that you love lilies. Fortunately, we don't have a rabbit problem in our neighborhood. I planted these lilies two years ago and put absolutely no work into them since. Every year, they get bigger and bigger.

Meeting Grandma

Ella and I made our first trip home to Farmington this week. Thankfully, she did great on the trip. I fed her just before leaving, then we stopped at my sister's and ate again, and she slept the whole way.

On Tuesday, we made the rounds and went to see Ella's Great Grandma (Granny Nell) and Great Great Grandma (Grandma Rowe). Both of them cooed over her and said how beautiful she is.

Ella and Grandma Rowe

Max, Ella, and Grandma Rowe

Max, Grandma Rowe, Ella, and Ellie.

Three of Grandma's twenty-two great great grandchildren.

Grandma is 96 years young, and we feel so blessed to have her. She is such a wonderful grandma. When I was a kid, we used to love to go to Grandma's and play in her sandbox and run in her huge backyard. She always had strawberry soda and ice cream. She still does.

Mommy's Little Piggy

Today is Ella's 2 week birthday. It has been wonderfully uneventful. She is still trying to decide how she likes things. We change sleeping places and positions and times every day. Sometimes she eats fast, sometimes slow. She certainly keeps her mommy guessing. Our biggest news is just how big our girl is now. 2 weeks ago, she weighed 5 lbs 9 oz. We went to the doctor yesterday, and she weighed, get ready for this, 6 lbs 10 oz. That's right. She's done more than just catch up to her birth weight in the first 2 weeks - she's gained a pound. I'm not kidding when I say she's a good eater. We think she may even be working on some chubby cheeks.

Cousins

This is Ella with her cousin Max in a picture I stole from The Freeds' blog. In this picture, he is 5 weeks, and she is 3 days. It is somewhat deceiving since she's all curled up. But his 10 1/2 lbs compared to her 5 1/2 is pretty impressive.

Bringing Home Baby

In the hospital just before we came home.

The 10 minute trip home from the hospital will really take it out of a girl.

And out of a daddy.

Can you tell that Nathan is completely enamored?

This is pretty much what she does. Her wakeful times consist of about 5 minutes after she eats if she makes it that long. Most of the time, she falls asleep while eating.

Ella Grace Hesemann

Our little angel made her debut on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 9:40 pm. 5 lbs 1 oz, 18 inches.

She was wide awake and very calm as soon as she was born.

This is what happens in the nursery when your daddy is a doctor.

This is what happens in the nursery when your daddy is an eye doctor.

My mom was video taping all of this from behind the glass. When the nurse brought out the tape measure, the grandpas were joking about how it looks like the conservation tapes for measuring fish. She measured in right at 18 inches, to which they both said, "She's a keeper." It's pretty funny on the video.

Overall, we're doing well. We're all adjusting to each other and trying to get into a routine. I've been a pretty nervous mommy so far and really thankful to have my mom here to help me. I don't know how people bring babies home without having help.

We really feel blessed that Ella is doing so well. We didn't mention it to a lot of people before, but we knew for a while that she would be very small and at risk for complications. We and lots of people around us have been praying very hard, and our prayers have definitely been answered. So far, she's acting very much like a normal baby, just small. She is very strong and has great head control as if she's telling us all that we worried for nothing. Somehow, I don't think the worrying will stop anytime soon, though.

A Bit of Advice

Having a baby just before your birthday is fun. What a great birthday present. However, this particular birthday just happens to be the one when my drivers license needs to be renewed. I completely forgot about this until about 2 days ago. So, knowing that when my license expires 3 days from now, I'll be a bit too busy to go to the DMV, off I went today. Now, my last license picture was taken the day after we got back from our honeymoon. That was the thinnest and tannest I've been in the last 10 years, not to mention 5 years younger. Fastforward to today's picture. Approximately 40 lbs heavier, a little swollen, and haven't seen the sun in, oh, about 9 months. To compound the problem, I decided to get my hair chopped last week. I got about 5 inches off the bottom layer and a lot of shorter layers. It will be fine, but it always takes me a while to get used to a new haircut and to figure out exactly how to style it. Now, you're getting the idea of what my new picture looks like. It ain't pretty, folks. My advice is to get out your drivers license right this second and see when it expires. Plan ahead for your new picture. Months ahead if need be. I'm now stuck with choppy hair and 39 weeks pregnant until I turn 35.

The Newest Portrait

Another cute profile. She was doing a lot of puckering and sucking so her little lips are all pooched out.

That's her foot right in front of her face. And, yes, she did eventually get it up to her mouth and suck on her toes. It was funny to watch, but I think I'll have to try to break her of that habit fast. Those of you who know how I feel about feet can only imagine how I feel watching my daughter with her own foot in her mouth.

Now for the awesomeness. Unfortunately, she was hiding behind the placenta so we couldn't get a great picture of her face, but this is pretty cool. Look at that sweet little mouth.

I think she looks like her daddy.

Dualing Bellies

My mom, sister, and niece came to Columbia this morning to visit. As you might imagine, we weren't exactly wild - 2 preggers, a grandma, and a 2 year old. It was fun, though. As you can see, Katie is 38 weeks pregnant. We're looking forward to meeting Max any day now.

Up until today, we actually didn't have any pictures of the two of us together. Unfortunately, today was not a great day for pictures. My regular camera has a dead battery, so we had to use my phone. And, the lovely Missouri spring is catching up with me - allergy time, so I didn't even bother putting on any makeup today. My watery eyes would wash it away in about 5 minutes. But, you get the idea. Of course, my mom is so excited, she can hardly stand it. Ellie told me several times about how she is going to hold her baby brother and snuggle him and says she will play a lot with Laura's Baby Girl. We're still working on who is a cousin and who is a sister. That one's a little hard for a 2 1/2 year old to figure out.

Girl Time

Last weekend, I went to Kansas City for a big combined shower. My friend Carie and her husband, Jonathon, are expecting a baby girl (Riley Marie) any day now, and my friend Monique is marrying her sweetheart of a fiance, Adam, in May. My college girlfriends are the best. We still have about 15 or so of us who were all sorority sisters (Emily is an honorary ADPi) who still get together a couple of times a year. Every time we're together, it's like we just saw each other yesterday. We just pick up right where we left off. It was so much fun. We spent the weekend doing what we usually do - eating and laughing. I love these girls, and I am so blessed to have them in my life.

I'll try to get a new belly picture up soon. I just keep forgetting to actually take one. Just picture me the same as last time with a bigger belly. I've actually started to outgrow some of my maternity shirts. Scary. I have 8 1/2 weeks to go!

The Belly

I almost forgot how big my belly is until I saw this picture. It was funny taking it because I couldn't figure out how to stand. It's hard to relax when you're trying. I kept either sucking in or pushing it out.

I will officially be 24 weeks tomorrow. The last few months have really gone by fast. This little girl is really growing, and she is definitely getting strong. She's not quite hurting me yet, but she does love to kick and wiggle. I'm surprised that I can already see her movements on the outside. Nathan finally got to start feeling her recently, which he thinks is pretty cool. We've narrowed the choices some on the name, but still nothing official.

Marler Family Christmas

Cinderella's Castle all lit up for Christmas

Instead of buying each other more stuff, we all decided to take a trip together for Christmas this year. We went to Orlando for 4 days and took full advantage of the Park Hopper tickets. We made it to all four Disney parks in 3 days.

Here's the whole crew. I'm not kidding when I say that this is the best picture we got in a 10 minute span. I think the babies all know when we really want them to cooperate.

Until I saw these pictures, I had convinced myself that I haven't gained weight anywhere but my belly, but I'm seeing now that that's not true.

Hannah, Ellie, and Ian

After a busy day, the grandkids all hung out with Granny and Papi while the mommys and daddys took naps. As you can see, a Dora movie, some milk, and cereal make for 3 happy kids. Hannah actually is happy here. It's just hard to get a good picture of all three posing.

Papi and his girls

Uncle Jason and Hannah. These two absolutely love each other. Every time we're all together, they end up together. They crack each other up.

Papi and Hannah getting Uncle Nate. This is at the Rainforest Cafe. Except for the occassional "thunderstorm" complete with thunder and lightning, the kids had a great time.

This is Ellie showing why we call her Ellie Belly. One of her new tricks is to show you big belly, little belly. She's so funny when she sticks her belly out because she's actually so petite and thin. I think this has all been helped along by her Mommy's growing belly.

Daddy (Andrew) and Hannah riding the train. I can't count the number of times we rode the train on this trip. It's funny how we spend so much money on these trips, and the kids have the most fun the in hotel and on the trains and shuttles. Ian's favorite activity was riding the Monorail.

Here She Comes!

Sorry for the censorship, but I couldn't put my daughter up like that on the internet for all to see. I just thought this was really cute how the ultrasonographer put the arrow and the text on the picture.

I'm happy to say that I was right. I, with the help of my friends Emily and Brooke, have ultrasounded myself twice at work. Each time, we decided I was having a girl. Nathan refused to believe me. Hm.

Sweet profile.

How cool is this picture? I love the 3D ones. We tried for seriously 15 minutes to get a good shot of the face, but she keeps her arms up with her hands over her eyes. I think she's very shy.

One picture of her face. Looks like she already has the pouty face down.

Now that we know it's a girl, let the great name debate begin!