Madelyn 3 months old

Hard to believe this nugget is already 3 months old. She is getting so big and smiley and I love it so much!

Shortly after she was 2 months old I figured out that she has silent reflux.  We started her on Zantac, which worked for a fews week, but then had to switch her to Prevacid. She has been on Prevacid for about a week now and I can definitely see a difference.  She is less fussy and squirmy which is great!  Glad we go that figured out finally.

She is still doing great sleeping at night.  She has been sleeping through the night for about a month now.  She will generally go from 6:30 or 7:00 pm until 6:00 or 6:30 am.  It is amazing.  She is definitely the best sleeper of all of the girls.

Her naps are still pretty random.  I know that she gets tired about an hour and a half after she wakes up but the length of her naps are a mystery.  Some naps only last 30-45 minutes and other 2 hours.  Still never know what I'm going to get. If we are home I really try to have her nap in her bed but sometimes she still naps in her swing.  We have had some success with putting her down awake and she puts herself to sleep but most of the time I still bounce her to sleep.

She is a fabulous nurser and eats every 3 hours still.

She is still refusing to take a bottle.  I have tried several different types and have tried breastmilk and formula.  She just hates the bottle and screams when we try to give it to her.  This is a first for us and I have to say it is pretty stressful for me.  I am determined to get her to take one and feel like our only solution is for me to leave for a few hours during the day and pray she gets hungry enough to take a bottle from Eric.  I really hate to think of her hungry and crying but she has to learn to take a bottle.

She really does NOT like the car.  She cries about 75% of the time we are in the car, and with 3 kids we are in the car a lot.  Crossing my fingers this phase ends soon because it is wearing me out!!!

She loves laying on her back and playing

She smiles all the time and I have even gotten a few random giggles out of her.

She is getting much better about letting other people hold her and soothe her.  She still definitely favors me but I am seeing some improvement.  I am wondering if this is linked to getting the reflux under control.

She is such a lazy tummy timer.  She just puts her head down and lays there until she gets mad and cries.  Hoping she gets stronger on her belly before our next check up.

I am beginning to think she looks more like Ella than Campbell. 

I feel like we are in a pretty good groove now as a family of 5.  Some days are still very overwhelming with 3 kids but the overwhelming/scary days are getting less and less. 

I love this sweet baby so much and can't wait to see what the next month brings.

Ella is 4

Our sweet little firecracker turned 4 on November 9th.  On her actual birthday we headed out to my parents new lakehouse on Lake Kiowa.  When we asked her what she wanted to do on her birthday she said "go to the lake and fish." So that is exactly what we did.  We had her favorite dinner, Spaghetti, and a delicious chocolate cake. We spent lots of time by the outdoor fireplace and took a cruise around on the golf cart.  It was a great day celebrating a super special little girl!!!

Here are some tid bits about Ella the 4 year old:

This kid has a larger than life personality and keeps us laughing all the time.  She is seriously hilarious. 

She loves everything about music. Singing to it, dancing to it, playing it.  She tries her hardest to learn the lyrics to songs on the radio and sing along.  It is pretty entertaining.  Her current favorite is Katy Perry's Roar.

She is still a shorty compared to her friends.  She is the same height as a lot of 3 year olds.  I am anxious to go to her well check up to see her stats.

She is loving school and it is really fun to see her make her own friends and get excited about seeing them.

We still call her Ella Bu or Ella Bella Bu

She truly loves being a big sister now.  She spends lots of time laying with Madelyn on her playmat and trying to get her to smile.

She has grown to love riding her bike and is really good at it.  She can go pretty fast and has no fear!

She has a very specific bedtime routine that includes me singing her 2 songs, The Ella Bu song and You are my sunshine.  After the songs we kiss and hug and tell each other a secret.  I then have to refill her water cup turn and turn on her dream light and music box.  If I miss any of these things she will surely come and get me and make me do it whatever I missed.

She is a girl that knows what she wants and isn't afraid to ask for demand it.

I hope she will be my friend when she is older because she is one cool chick!!!

Ella's 4th Birthday Party

We had Ella's birthday party a week early so my sister, Aunt Heather, could be at the party.  We did it at the new pavilion in our neighborhood and had a butterfly theme per Ella's request.  We rented a bounce house, had a face painter and a piñata.  Everyone snacked on pizza and cupcakes and had the best time celebrating our crazy Ella Bella turning 4. 

 

Nora and Madelyn dressed as twinnies :)

 

 

 

Student of the Week

Campbell was student of the week  last week at school.  Each day last week she got to do a special thing.  Once day she got to bring something in for show and tell.  She brought the signed picture frame from all of the Disney characters from out Disneyland trip.  Another day she brought her favorite book. One day I got to go read to her class and eat lunch with her.  They really do make the kids feel special when they are student of the week.  To top it all off on Friday at her assembly she was recognized and called on stage with all of the other students of the week. She was so excited and we were so proud of her.  Way to go Campbell!!

 Walking on stage

 You can see how excited she was!

 

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween this year.  The girls had a blast picking out their costumes and running around trick or treating.  Campbell decided to be Barbie Mariposa, Ella was super girl, and Madelyn was a pumpkin.  The festivities started at Ella's school party and parade.  Let me tell you that this girl ROCKED her super girl costume.  It is such a fitting costume for this feisty, strong willed little girl.  She made us laugh so much while being super girl. It was very special that Aunt Heather flew in to celebrate Halloween with us this year.  We miss her so much when she is gone so the girls were super pumped that she came to trick or treat with us!  The Winston's also came over for the third year so the girls could run around our neighborhood together.  My parents were nice enough to stay at the house to hand out candy while we trick or treated.  Sweet Madelyn just slept on me in the baby bijorn for 2 hours while we walked around the neighborhood.