Our Five Days of Christmas!

Get ready for a ton of photos. . . 

Merry Christmas!
(This was our Christmas card picture)

On the first Day of Christmas. . . 

Sibling picture! 

 We started off the Christmas celebrating on Christmas eve. We did our secret sibling exchange! I had Meagan this year and Sean had me. He got me an adult coloring book and some candy. We had to skype him since he couldn't come home.

I was so excited for Eila's first Christmas! One of my favorite things I got for Eila was her ornament. When I was little, my parents got us an ornament each year to hang on the tree. I started that tradition with Eila too. Dan and I really wanted to find a bunny ornament for her since she loves her stuffed animal bunny so much. We went to pretty much every store and ended up finding one on amazon! 

We didn't have a big tree this year due to all of the animals and a crawling baby. Instead we had a little table top tree- it was the perfect stop for Santa to drop off some presents :) 
Eila had a lot of fun trying to chew them open! 

On the second day of Christmas. . .  

My mom made us "weasley sweaters" a few years ago. The photo on the left is from Christmas 2014. Eila was just a little wiggly baby in my belly at the time! The photo on the right is from this year- Eila got her very own sweater!
(also, ignore dan's hair. It was wet from the shower and he thinks he looks goofy in this picture.)

Every Christmas my family goes to see a movie. This year, Dan stayed home with Eila while the rest of us went to see "Sisters".  We changed out of our sweaters, into our Christmas outfits, and headed to Dan's mom's house.

Eila (and her cousins, all of which were there- yay!) did a great job at the Christmas party. They were all very tired by the end of the night and we ended up leaving around 7:00 (way earlier than usual). Eila loved munching on turkey, asparagus, green beans, and corn with me while we chatted with her auntie.



 On the third day of Christmas. . .  

The day after Christmas was another busy one! We had Dan's sibling gift exchange. Dan had Greg and I had Michaela. The babies all wore matching jammies and it was adorable!

Dan's sister, Michaela, got each of the babies the cutest little shoes! She got Eila, Nora, and Maeve baby converse and Jack and Evelyn baby toms. It will be little while before Eila fits into these but she will be oh-so-adorable when she does! 

On the fourth day of Christmas. . . 

Eila went to Nora and Maeve's house for a play date. The girls played so nicely together (well, as nicely as 15 month olds and an 8 month old can)! They all took a nap before we headed over to Dan's mom's for a baby party.

Eila played with her cousin, Evelyn, during the Packer game. 

We had a baby party so that some of Dan's family member who couldn't make it to Christmas could see the babies. His cousin got them matching snowman hats (again, so cute!). The older girls looked so proud while they were wearing their hats. The little three kept checking each other out/trying to figure out what was on their heads.

On the fifth day of Christmas. . .  

These babies are one month apart! They were born in March and Eila was born on their due date. 

We had lunch date at Dan's mom's house. His sister and her family was in town, so we've been spending as much time over there as we can! A snowstorm started earlier in the day, and by the time we left her house, it was in full force! We haven't had much wintery weather so far this season, so I was kind of excited about it. We snuggled up inside for the rest of the afternoon. 

Eila had some sensory play time with a little snow. At first she wasn't too sure about it. Then she started eating it! 

Eila had a nice, soothing bath after all of her excitement and went to bed early tonight. It was such a good first Christmas for her!

8 Months

I can't believe my little pudge has been around for 2/3 of a year! Where is the time going?! She's at such a fun age right now- probably my favorite so far (although I've said that about every age along the way)!

It's so much fun to see her personality continue to develop. She's a happy, silly, strong-willed, determined, on-the-go little one.

She eats pretty much everything we eat and gets really excited when we put her in her highchair or open the fridge. Her favorite foods are raspberries, veggie tots (they're tater tot type things I make), pancakes (I make a wide variety- everything from spinach to pumpkin to cinnamon and pear), and slices of fruit.

There are two little bottom teeth in her mouth. I think they are just the cutest things, but recently she has had some vampire moments while nursing (ouch!).

She hasn't been to the doctor since her 6 month check up, so I'm not exactly sure how much she weighs, but my guess is close to 20 pounds.

Her current favorite toy is a measuring cup. She carries it around, chews on it, taps it on things, and throws it so she can crawl after it. Her current favorite game is called "slalom skier". Basically, I swing her back and forth while walking through the house and pretending like she's going down a hill. I narrate her trip down the hill and talk about how she needs to watch out for the poles, trees, and people. She thinks it is wildly funny.

She likes to go wherever I go. If she's playing in the living room and I walk into the kitchen or bathroom, she crawls as quickly as she can after me. She likes going on field trips to the zoo and target, but still isn't a huge fan of being in her carseat.

Bedtime starts around 6:00pm. We have lotion time, diaper time, then jammie time. Then we go into her room, read a couple of books, sing a couple of songs, rock, and into bed she goes. She sleeps on her belly, face down, with her bunny under her face or in her hand, every night. She usually ends up in bed with Dan and me sometime around 4:30ish so I can feed her and then stays in bed with us until sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 when she wakes us up for the day.

The last 8 months have been crazy, but I wouldn't trade them for anything!

Catching Up to 8 Months!

Well things have been a little busy for the past few months! Dan lost his job in August and we couldn't afford to live in our apartment, pay student loans, car payments, and baby related expenses on my teacher's salary, so we moved back in with my parents. (We will hopefully be able to save up some more money to buy a house once Dan finds another job)

Also in August:
This little chunk turned 4 months old! She went to her first Irish Fest and charmed everyone who met her. She also had her first babysitter (my friend, Sarah) while Dan and I spent an evening at Irish Fest baby-free.  Eila was going through an I-only-want-to-be-by-mama-and-don't-want-bottles-phase, so she was not the easiest baby to babysit. Around this time, I got a job at a new school! I loved my old school, but it was a 45 minute drive to get there (in good weather, no traffic) and that was just too long to be away from my baby.

In September:
Eila turned 5 months old! We officially moved in with my wonderful parents. September was kind of a stressful month- we were (and still are) stressed about Dan's lack of job. He had some other health issues creep up, which did not help the situation. As far as exciting things went, Eila learned to roll from back to belly! Almost immediately after, she started creeping all over the place! That girl could army crawl so fast! She could sit up for very short periods of time and liked being propped up by her boppy. She started making more cooing noises and "talking" to us more.

 In October:
Eila turned 6 months old! She went on a trip to Cincinnati to visit her cousins for their baptism, played on the swings at the park, went hiking at Holy Hill, went to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin and go on a hayride, went apple picking, and won 3rd place in a costume contest (she was a chicken!)! She weighed 17 pounds, 8 ounces, was 26.75 inches long, and was in the 75th percentile! She could sit up a little longer on her own and could creep around a little faster. She also tried her first food: avocado! We decided to go with "baby led weaning", based on her doctor's recommendation, and she loves it!

In November:

Eila turned 7 months! Right before she turned 7 months, she went wedding dress shopping with her Auntie Meggie and started pulling herself up. She could sit like a champ, liked playing on the swings at the park, had her first thanksgiving, went on some brunch dates with Auntie Sarah, and learned to crawl like a real baby :)  We also started to get Dan's health issues figured out- which was a huge relief! Although he's still working on some things, he's feeling better already. He is, however, still on the hunt for a job. 

I'll add the 8 month update tomorrow- I can hear a baby over the monitor tapping her paci on the side of her crib, which means nap time is over! 

Three Month Update!

Can you believe we've had this happy little baby for about three-and-a-half months?! I've said it before, but it feels like she's been around so much longer than that! She's such a big part of our family that it's weird to think of how things were before her. 

A couple of weeks ago, Eila decided that she likes sleeping with something on her face. In fact, she easily puts herself to sleep (fairly quickly) with a blanket on her face. Although this was a great discovery, it also worried me a little. I would lay her down with a blanket, she would immediately pull it over her face, and fall asleep. If I tried to move the blanket, she would scream until I let her pull it over her face again. So I ended up sitting near her until she was really sound asleep and then sneak the blanket away. This worked when putting her to bed, but after her  middle of the night snack,  I didn't want to sit up waiting for her to totally fall asleep with a blanket again. 

Which leads me to the bunny.

I like to call it the magical bunny because when she seems a little tire, I give her a pacifier, her bunny, and she almost instantly calms down and falls asleep. And I don't worry about her falling asleep with it on her face because it falls off easily and can't wrap around her head. 

It's definitely her favorite thing right now. 

So far. . .


Eila is a smiley little lady! She frinkles up her nose, squints her eyes, and gives the biggest gummy smiles.

She coos and babbles like nobody's business. We have some good conversations about all sorts of things :)

She is one drooley baby. She puts her hands, toys, our shoulders, fingers, her bunny, burp clothes, and really anything she can get her hands on into her mouth.


She can roll from her belly to her back- more easily during naked tummy time. those cloth diapers make it a little trickier!


She loves her mama, daddy, grandmas, grampsa, aunties, and uncles but gets overtired when they all hold her. . . although her overtiredness doesn't show up until the evening after a busy day.


Eila fits in 3-6 month onsies and tops. She wears mostly 6 month pants (her diapers add a little extra bulk).


She likes going for walks, vacuuming, tummy time, being on the go, watching the lights on her swing, singing, and talking to anyone who will listen :)

2 Months and some Weekend Goodness

I never thought it would be so tricky to find time to post some pictures and write a little blurb about them here and there! People always ask if Eila is a "good baby". I think this is such a goofy question- I know what they are getting at. They want to know if she's fussy or needy or whatever, but babies don't do that stuff to be sassy! They fuss because they need something. So I always say yes :) Partially because it's true (she's a "good baby") and partially because I don't think there is such thing as a "bad baby". 

She is, however, a snuggly baby. Which makes getting things done tricky. During the day, she likes to be held most of the time. And I really don't mind. So many people have told me, "It goes by so fast" or "they're only little for a short time" and things like "I wish I could go back- savor every moment". I'm really trying to do that- I will get all of the snuggles I can! So I hold her, bounce her, walk around with her, and talk to her all day long. I have a baby wrap, so when I want to get some things done I wear her in that. She is content as long as she is in someone's arms. 

At two months old. . . 

She weighs 13 pounds, 1 ounce. 

She is 23 and 1/2 inches long. 

She's in the 90th percentile for height and weight. 

Her head circumference is in the 50th percentile. 

She smiles at us when we talk to her. 

She coos and waves her arms and legs.

Her eyes seem like they are turning brown. 

She fits into her cloth diapers and we've been using them regularly for about a week. 

She loves bath time and when we sing to her.

She likes to be on the go- this little one doesn't like to sit still for long. 

We've been so busy lately! Last weekend, Dan was in his roommate from college's wedding.

I was a little nervous about going to the wedding because it was in Minneapolis, which without a baby takes a bout 6 hours to get to, but Eila did great! She slept most of the drive there. She also slept during the ceremony and then went back to the hotel to play with Meagan so Dan and I could enjoy the reception with out a baby.

When we got back from the wedding, things didn't slow down. We went right to Dan's mom's house to finally meet our niece and nephew! They are such sweet babies :) 

We had lots of cousin time the rest of the week. We mostly just hung out at Dan's mom's house, but we also went to the zoo and a walk to a new ice cream/chocolate shop in our area. 

It was so much fun having all of the cousins together! The oldest two are about 9 months, the middle two are 3 months, and Eila is 2 months! 

Eila was SUPER crabby Friday night and early Saturday morning. I'm still not sure what was bothering her, but she was much happier by late Saturday morning. Alli came over to visit and Eila slept peacefully in Alli's arms :) In the afternoon, Eila and I went to Cedarburg to walk around with Sarah and in the evening we went to my parents' house for dinner.


Today was a more relaxing day- we needed it!
I got up early-ish and made bacon cupcakes for Dan and my dad for father's day.

These turned out interestingly. . . the taste is good, the texture is a little weird. I think it's from the bacon fat. 

We got Dan some table legs he wanted (he likes to build things and is making a dining room table), an Aaron Rogers baby onsie, and I etched one of Eila's footprints into a pint glass for him. We hung out in the morning and relaxed a little. We went to my dad's hurling game in the afternoon and cheered on his team :)

Happy Father's Day, Dan! We love you so, so much! 

Weekend Goodness (and Sadness)

What a busy, energy and emotionally draining weekend! Eila has been sick with a little cold- my poor, congested baby! Her stuffiness is making it hard for her to fall asleep, which made for some late, long nights! During the day, as long as she's being held, she's a happy congested baby :) Anyway, onto what we did this weekend. . . 

Chrysanthemum got spayed on Friday. The people at office were so funny- When Dan signed her up to get spayed, they had to look up her name a bunch of times to figure out how to spell it. When i brought her in, the person at the front desk asked who I was bringing in and when I said "Chrysanthemum" she said, "Oh I know how to spell that now!" and showed me the paper work haha!


We found out that my grampa was moved to hospice a few days ago, so my mom, sisters, Eila, Dan, and I went to go visit him Saturday morning. He was super tired- like we couldn't really wake up tired- and it was crazy how much he had aged since we brought Eila to visit him about a month ago. It was really sad to see him dying, but he's been ready to go ever since my gramma died.


After we visited Grampa, Dan, Eila, and I went to my friend, Danielle's, housewarming party. Her house is so cute! We couldn't stay long because we needed to get Eila home to take a little nap before she met Dan's Aunt Peg.


Aunt Peg loved Eila :) And Eila slept super calmly in Aunt Peg's arms.


And then we (specifically me) were super exhausted so we went home and went to bed (well, tried to. . . like I said before, it took Eila a while to fall asleep).

On Sunday, we took Eila to her first hurling game to watch her grampa play! It was really sunny and pretty chilly, so Eila stayed bundled and slept through most of the game.

My Grampa also died on Sunday. :( My Aunty Kathy was with him. He just stopped breathing and died. I'm really glad we visited him the day before and I'm also really glad he died so quickly- he was so ready to be with my gramma. 

I'm glad these two lovebirds are back together. . . but I sure do miss them!

Eila's 1st Month

It feels like Eila has been a part of our lives for ever- it's weird that she has only been out in the world for a little over a month! It's also weird (and super cool) that I've been able to keep a small human alive this long with my body. 

At her doctor's appointment last week, we found out that she weighs 10 pounds, 9.5 ounces and is 22 inches long. This little chunk has been doing lots of growing! 

We also found out that she has torticollis. It means that the neck muscles on one side are tighter than they should be, which causes her to prefer turning her head to one side (she likes to look left). I noticed her preference in the past few weeks and thought that maybe her head was getting slightly flat on one side. When I asked the pediatrician about it, she was impressed that I noticed and said she usually needs to convince new moms that it's happening. So now Eila gets to see an occupational therapist next week so we can learn some stretches. Other than the torticollis, she's doing great!



Eila has started smiling socially in the past couple of days. It is the cutest thing ever! She has been sleeping in longer stretches at night too. She slept for two 4-hour chunks the night before my birthday and I joked that it was her birthday present to me. Who would have ever thought that getting a solid 4-hour chunk of sleep would feel refreshing?

 It's fun to watch her personality develop and learn more about her. Dan I like to talk about what we know about her- some of the things we've discovered. . . 

She really hates being swaddled. If you try to keep those arms covered, she will do everything she can to fight them out and if she can't, she will scream until you free them. 

She prefers to be held upright so she can look over your shoulder rather than a cradle hold but does not like to be held upright facing out. 

She is not a fan of her carseat, but is getting better about tolerating it. She used to scream the entire time she was in it (traveling anywhere in the car was super fun), but now she fusses or cries a little and then usually calms down. 

She likes her swing when she's already fast asleep or wide awake and alert. If she's drowsy or barely asleep, she doesn't like it. 

She likes to be carried around in the baby k'tan and go for walks to do activities with me.

She likes brunch :) Or at least I like to think she does because she's slept peacefully through the brunch outings she's been on. 

She can read texts (in her sleep). There have been a couple times I have texted Dan or he has texted me asking is she's asleep. As soon as we respond saying that she is, she wakes right up! haha

I can't believe how quickly this little baby is growing already (I'll probably say that forever, but it's true!).

Eila at 2 Eeeks, 5 Days

Dan is back at work, Meagan is back in Madison, and Eila is napping in her swing. It's just the two of us at home now, so it's tricky to get anything done- this girl loves to eat and snuggle (which I love too, it just takes up a lot of time)! 

Eila definitely broke in her changing table! When Dan was changing her, she projectile pooped!  I didn't see it, but thought it was hilarious anyways! Haha! 

 Eila's first couple of weeks were good! Dan was home for the first week and half and we were sad when he had to go back to work. But, Auntie Meagan came the next week to help me out during the day! 

Eila and her alligator :) 

Eila has been growing like a champ! At her two week check up, she weighed 8 lbs, 7 oz! She not only met her birth weight, but surpassed it :) I was really happy about that because it was hard for me to get her to eat for the first week or so and I was worried might not be gaining enough weight.

She loves to be held like this so she can look around and/or chill. 

She makes the cutest and silliest faces! 

In the past two-and-a-half weeks, we have been busy! We've been to the doctor, grocery store, Target, my parent's house, Dan's mom's house, for walks, to meet my Grandpa, Milwaukee Public Market, by the lake, and to get brunch with Sarah and Alli! 

We have learned that Eila does not like being in her carseat unless the car is moving. She cries when we put her in it (unless we swing it side to side). She cries when we stop at stop signs and lights. She just does not like it! I hope that as she gets a little bigger and fits in it more comfortably, she won't hate it as much. 

It's weird that she was born less than three weeks ago. I feel like she's been part of our lives forever!