A Post of Pictures--first days in the new house

These photos are all from the very first few days in the house and some exciting happenings along the way....I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:)

First breakfast in the "New House" as Raelynn (still) calls it

Good Mornin' Bubba!

First bath in the new house!

 

 

 

Just hanging out with his bottle (which is very hard to break him of when Elliana is getting them several times a day!)

LOVE this photo! Because our internet wasn't hooked up yet, and Brent was scheduled to work from home on Monday July 22, he went to Mimi's house so he could work. He took Elliana with him and we met him later for lunch and Mimi and Mommy took the big kids swimming.

In N Out!!!! Just can't get enough of it!

Here is the family room with furniture! This is from July 22--still lots of boxes around

Elliana is sitting up SO well by herself now!  She doesn't fall over and can sit unassisted.

New food--peas!

I love catching them playing together:)

Mimi had been busy taking care of the Pampa house, but she came over for dinner with us each night

Elliana is beginning to push herself up while doing tummy time! Those little steps are big accomplishments.

playing upstairs in the loft

Declan's way of playing in the loft....he climbs on everything!

enjoying the swing....momentarily.  she isn't quite sure about it yet.

We knew we needed baby gates....

pondering how to get around the totes



Maybe I can squeeze around the side?

This is from a different day--the day he discovered he could push the totes out of his way! (and they are heavy!!)

As I'm in the kitchen I look over and see this.....

"This little piggy went to market...."

"Wee Wee Wee Wee, all the way home"



Ribs AND corn on the cob--this boy was SO happy!

LOVING solid foods and doing SO well with them!! She eats them all great!

Again, looking over from kitchen I see this....

zerberts!

Declan wanted in on it too, but he typically goes for her head.  This girl takes a lot of wrestling from her big bro! She takes it like a champ!

Mimi left on July 25 bright and early in the morning.  So, on Wednesday night, July 24, we celebrated her birthday just a tad early with some cake and ice cream!

 

My very first ever made-from-scratch-chocolate cake!

Mommy's little helper :)

 Happy Birthday Mom!! We love you!! So thankful that you were here to celebrate Elliana's homecoming with us and for all your help cooking and cleaning in the following weeks.  You made life much much easier and allowed us to spend quality time with our children.  Thank you!!!!

And we joke, because even though July is the worst time to come to Arizona, Mimi always finds a way to make it here--for our wedding, for Declan's birth, for Elliana's homecoming....what will it be next summer?

the candles were in boxes....so she got a #2

 Declan, meet Rosa.  This doll made Declan take a few steps!!  He thinks it is a real baby!

and I keep finding him giving her kisses...but he hasn't taken any more steps:(

I loved the way she was looking at her daddy, so I had to capture that.

Playing the piano!

Love this:)

Declan got a couple gift cards for his birthday, so we got some new trucks! We are lacking in the 'boy toy' department around here.  We were having fun zooming them around.

 

 

Still getting used to this whole 2-story house deal.  It's like you need double of everything! Well, that is if you don't like running back and forth up and down the stairs like me.  One thing that we quickly learned was to take bottles up at night! After one night of walking downstairs with a crying baby to get a bottle ready we figured that one out.

 

 

Any tips on 2-story housekeeping-please pass along to me! :)

And now, as of the past week or so, we don't even use two bottles at night!  Elliana is doing so well with her schedule.  We are starting to figure out her cues for being tired or hungry.  She goes to bed at 8pm with the other two and sleeps until about 2:30am, which she then gets a bottle.  She goes right back down and wakes again between 6-6:45am for the morning.  *Some nights she does wake around midnight and we usually can soothe her back to sleep without a bottle!*

She is eating oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast and veggies for her other meals.  She has tasted carrots, peas, broccoli, corn, green beans, avocado, and banana.  She eats her solids much better than she drinks her bottle! She is always so happy in the high chair.

She goes down for her morning nap around 10 or so and then an afternoon nap around 2.  If I'm lucky that day, then her morning nap will overlap with Declan's and her afternoon nap will overlap with both Declan and Raelynn's.  But that hasn't happened very often for one reason or another :)

 

Elliana continues to be very happy and smiley to everyone she sees.  Because of this, we don't know how she is truly bonding with us, so we are just continuing along the path we have been on to be her sole care givers and the only ones to meet her needs.  We know she must be recognizing our faces as the ones that are around the most, but we really can't be sure of how things are actually going.  So, for now we will just continue as we are and continue to pray for the transition and her attachment. 

She does cry for us to hold her and we do know how to soothe her to help her stop crying, so those are good signs.