Month Two

Dear Ben Jammin,

You are such a cool little dude. You're pretty chill and laid back and just go with the flow. We are so lucky to have you as our son. We are getting so many smiles, laughs and coos from you and those are just the best and melt my heart to pieces every time. You give them to Halle the most. She knows how to get you to smile. She loves to get right in your face and make silly faces, and crazy loud noises and every time she gets too in your face and I'm about to tell her to take a chill pill you give her the biggest smile and that just makes us both crack up. You have been holding your head up strong for a while now. When you are in your bouncy seat and get antsy you push with your feet and try to roll out of it. It won't be long before you can do it. You're sleeping okay at night. You sleep from about 7pm-12am and since dad is a night owl he does your 12 feeding and sometimes you like to stay up with him for a bit then you wake at 4 for me and then up and ready to go with smiles on your face at 7am. If you could live outside you would. You love to take naps outside in your bouncy seat or the hammock. If it's a good day, which is the norm, you will nap for three hours straight. We are pretty much living outside this summer. haha. 

1 month stats:
Length: 22.5 inches (89%)
Weight: 10 lbs 1 oz. (47%)
Head: 15 inches (79%) 

2 months stats:
Length: 24 inches (90%)
Weight: 11lbs 5oz (28%)
Head: 15.75 inches (79%)

Today you had your 2 month checkup. I had been a little concerned about your head because you favor laying on the right side of your head and it has become slightly lopsided. I just thought it was normal because your bones are still fusing together. The doctor said it is normal but yours is more than normal. It is a condition called torticollis...AKA the muscles on the left side of your neck are tight and you will need physical therapy to help stretch it out. We are really working on tummy time. I'm sure you will be fine and you may need a helmet but we won't decide that until you are 6-9 months. We are also struggling with nursing. You don't seem to be getting enough from me so we are having to supplement. The dr. was concerned that you didn't gain that much this month but you are strong and healthy so not to worry. You are such a blessing Ben!!! We love you so much buddy!!!

My Dad

 It has been 9 years this month. Wow it doesn't seem that long. You were such a fun dad and I hate that we didn't get the chance to grow together and become close friends. You would have been such a fun grandpa and would have spoiled my kids to death. Every time around your anniversary I get depressed and sad. However, without realizing it we chose our wedding anniversary date of July 7th and Mike's birthday is on the 9th so your date of the 8th is surrounded by happier times which helps me get through the week on a more positive note. This year you made the 8th even happier. Mike and I were driving the kids to Halle's swim lesson and on a quiet little road we saw a Hill-Rom truck pass us. Wow you couldn't have made it more clear that you are still in my life and are always looking out for me. I have never seen a Hill-Rom truck before and there were no hospitals around. It was a pretty awesome moment. Thank you for that ray of sunshine on a hard day.

Fun memories of you as my dad:
*You were at every single one of our games, dance recitals, swim meets, etc. And that you were determined to get us to try every extra-curricular activity there was.
*Being my softball coach and throwing ball with me at night.
*You made ordinary things much more monumental-The way you surprised us with Bo, how in order to get my ears pierced Rand had to hit a home run over the fence (I was his biggest cheerleader for a while)
*Being your shopping buddy! - You had the greatest taste in clothes and could shop for hours. You took me one time and I had to buy all of my clothes but when we got the car you paid me for them all ( I thought that was such a good idea because then I only bought what I really loved)
*Your huge smile with your loud laugh-I can still hear it
*Christmas morning and taking your sweet little time in the shower making us wait in anticipation at the top of the stairs-You thought that was so funny and would purposely take forever!!
*Getting so excited seeing us so excited
*Thanks for always loving us!

After you passed away we drove to Yellowstone to one of our favorite hikes and spread your ashes in the beautiful river behind us. For your 10 year anniversary we plan on making it out there and making that same hike in honor of you.

You were so goofy. This was taken on a daddy daughter date to Six Flags.

This is us after my school play. I seriously admire that you were at every single one of our events.

Love you dad and wish we had more time together. Thanks for all the memories!!

I'm Back!!

(another funny story I didn't blog: Nursing Ben inside while she painted herself blue)

Okay, I have been feeling guilty for not blogging. All of these fun and cute things halle says or does and just fun moments in our lives are happening and I am forgetting to write them down and now i'm not remembering and it makes me sad. So from now on I vow to write them down and keep them journaled. So instead of beating myself up about it here's two cute moments from yesterday.

Halle has really struggled with sleeping. When I tell her it's time to get ready for bed she says, "No, I don't like that game". Lately she will sleep in her bed till about 1am and then come crawl in our bed. We fought it for a while but then we caved. Lately, though we can't sleep with her wiggly butt so now we are carrying her back to her bed or she can sleep on our floor. Yesterday we were too tired to deal with her 1 o'clock shenanigans so she slept with us. In the morning I told her that she really needs to sleep in her bed. She looks at me all sad and then a light bulb goes off in her head and very excitedly says, "I have an idea. You and daddy can sleep on the floor and I can sleep in your bed." She then gets a big grin and laughs. Uh I don't think so little girl!!
Update: Mike said she came into our room around 5am tapping him on the shoulder asking him if she could move our fan so she could sleep on our floor. While he moved it she went to get her pillow and blanket and curled up to camp out in our room. So cute. I asked her in the morning if she slept good and no she didn't. She said it was too hard. Let's see how tonight goes. So far not so good. I just heard a a thud and whimpering and ran into to check on her and she was face first in the carpet not moving. She had fallen out and what sounded like hit her head on the table. I picked her up and put her back in bed without her fully waking up. I hope there's no goose egg in the morning. 

Last night she woke up around 11:30 and ran out to tell Daddy that she got a brand new kite and was flying it at the beach. At first he had no clue where that came from but he could tell she was still kind of asleep. What an innocent little dream. Love it!

Okay, so I promise you will be hearing more stories from the Ells fam. I have posted three other posts below that were bigger and funnier moments that I didn't want to forget.

Benjamin Michael Ells

Benjamin Michael Ells

Born 5.25.11 ( Two days after sis)

7 lbs 10 oz

21 inches

You just were not ready to come into this world and were too comfy in my belly. Your due date was May 19th and May 19th came and went. The doctors wanted to induce me so that there weren't any complications. I went to the dr's on monday (Halle's birthday) and they did a stress test to make sure you were okay. They were looking for a response in your breathing to clear me. If they didnt see it then we would have been induced that day. They had to see it within thirty minutes and by minute 29 they saw the right movement and we were cleared to go home and be induced Tuesday night. That 30 minutes was pretty scary though. Even though the drs downplayed it dad had to leave the room to regroup. You were extremely active my whole pregnancy and the last two months you had really slowed down. I kept telling the drs and they kept saying it was because you had less room to move. I also went into pre-term labor with you at 30 weeks and I had to go to the hospital so they could give me a shot to stop the contractions. So seeing that you might possibly be in stress really scared us.

Dad and I headed to the hospital Tuesday night after eating Los Amigos for dinner. I was given my cervidal at 9:30pm and Dad helped me get all settled for bed and then was off for his weekly poker game at Ryan's. Haha. It was 5 minutes down the road and I didn't mind. I watched No Strings Attached and when he got back we had an ice cream date before bed. I slept for about three hours before I was woken at 5:15 to shower and get ready for your big arrival. I was given pitocin at 6:30am. Dr. Metherall came in at 8:10am to break my water. At 10 I was dilated to a 3. At 11 I was at a four and got the lovely epidural shot. Your poor dad couldn't fully use his hands for almost an hour because, man that shot is brutal but oh so worth it. At 12 I took an hour long nap and at 2:45 I started feeling contractions. At 3 i told the nurse I was having an urge to push and she could feel your head and went to get Dr. Bradley. They were ready for me to push at 3:15. Nurse Liz that helped deliver you also helped deliver Halle. Pretty coo

l! Dad was put to work and helped hold one of my legs up. He was a trooper. After 3 contractions of pushing you were up on my chest and finally in my arms. Dr. Bradley downplayed how scary your birth could have been. The cord was wrapped around your neck twice and you had a true knot in your cord. He said the combo of both of those was very rare. You are our little miracle baby. He also predicts that you will probably be a very active person due to your very active time in the womb. Haha.

Halle was so excited to meet you. Throughout your whole pregnancy she kept asking if you could come out and play, just for a little bit. She was waiting in the lobby with gma and papa and they said that she was jumping around saying, "I'm so excited!". When she c

ame in her eyes were wide and she was very chill and a little reserved. She came up on the bed with us and couldn't take her eyes off of you. She helped hold you and gave you kisses. Her eyes were glued and she was in love.

Ben, you are such a joy and we are so happy that God has given you to us. You have brought a new dynamic to our little family and we can't wait to watch you grow and see what you will become.

Halle's Three

For Halle's 3rd Birthday we thought we were going to have Ben with us so we had a very lowkey party. We invited the neighbors to the waterpark and then had family over for pizza and cake. The theme was Olivia the Pig so everything was red and black. She had a great time butwas pretty worn out from the waterpark. Her grandma and papa got her a trampoline andwe got her a baby alive doll and loads of chapstick and lipgloss. You will never see her without her "lips". She went through one tube on Christmas Eve on our hour car ride. She is addicted to this stuff.

Halle, you are full of spunk and so much personality. Once you have warmed up around people

you like to be the center of attention and you can definitely command it. People just love you

everywhere we go. You are just so sweet, caring, hilarious, and my little miss independent. i love you girl!!

April Fools

I thought it was a funny April fools joke when Mike texted me at work that Halle had gotten a hold of a pair of kids craft scissors and poor Riley. But then he sent pictures and it is was no joke. Haha. He had gotten in the shower and Miss Halle had a little too much fun with scissors. He came out of the bathroom to find a huge spot of dog hair, 3 $1 bills shredded up and her cup holder to her camping chair cut up. And there she was standing in her now shredded pajama pants that were cut halfway off her body. I'm just thankful she didn't give herself a new haircut.

P.S. Riley's hair has just now grown in and it's mid July. Everyone thought she had some kind of skin disorder. Poor Dog!!