Ellie ~ 4 Months Old

Weight: 14 pounds 1 ounce ~ 51st percentile

Height: 25 1/2 inches ~ 84th percentile

(Stats from her appointment on August 23rd, I added them in here.)

4 months old already?!  I cannot believe how fast time is flying by.  It is ridiculous.  But we are loving every minute of having Ellie in our lives :)  She continues to bring so much joy into our home.  I cannot imagine my life without her.  I'm so grateful to be able to stay home with her and experience all of her accomplishments.  She's such a doll.  Here are the happenings from the past month:
* Her vision has come in!  She can see you from a lot further away...it is so much fun!!!  I love it that she can see me from across the room now and will react.
* She's been sleeping a lot longer at night...one night she slept for 10 hours!  Granted, she ends up in bed with me about half way through the night, but I'll take it if she sleeps that long.  Toward the end of the month she has been sleeping through the night in her crib :)
*  7/17/13 She started sleeping in her crib.  After a very restless night due to Ellie being really squirmy in her bassinet and then waking up at 4:30, I was ready for a quiet room to sleep in...the next night I put her in the crib and she slept great!  It didn't seem to bother her at all :)  I was only a little worried...until I fell asleep!  It's been great since. 
* 8/6/13 After talking to Chantell I decided it was time to get Ellie on a routine.  So we started a bedtime routine where we get her in her pjs and sleepsack, read her 2 books, say a prayer, cuddle for a few minutes and then put her in bed.  We've been letting her "cry it out" and I hate it so much!!!  The first night she cried for 50 minutes, then 40 minutes, 25 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 45 minutes (I think it took longer because she got on her stomach...that's the way I found her when I checked in later that night) and tonight she went RIGHT to sleep!  Yeah!  Hopefully we're getting there.
* 7/18/13 Laughed Out Loud. Literally. At nothing particular, she just started giggling.  Since then she hasn't done a deep giggle like that, but she does this cute little laugh when you play with her.
* 7/20/13 She rolled over for the first time!  It took her a while to start doing it regularly but now she does it a lot...from her back to her stomach.  She hasn't quite mastered going from her stomach to her back yet, so we have to rescue her often. 
* She doesn't hate tummy time quite as much as she used to :)  And it's nice to see her getting so strong!  Now that she's rolling over she gives herself tummy time, I like it.
* She LOVES her hands...to eat them that is.  She's chews on them all the time...and since she is so drooly it is a big mess! 
* She also has found her feet.  It is so cute to watch her play with her feet!
* Can you say DROOL MONSTER???  This girl has so much saliva...I don't even want to know what it will be like when she starts teething...

Hardy Family Pictures 2013

We updated family pictures this year before Adri and Jared headed off to England.  It still blows my mind that WE have a BABY!  Love our family!  We're pretty good looking :)

Reminiscing...

I finally got our pictures hung up in the house...it's only been 6 months!  In the process I redid a collage frame and organized some photo albums and it sure brought back a lot of memories!  I have amazing friends and we have some awesome memories.  I sure did love those years I was single...it wasn't always easy, but I tried to make the most of it.  I love being married now and the adventures we have, but there is just something special about those years when you get to do what you want when you want!  Here's to good times and even better friends!

How many memories can one styrofoam cup hold?  One pretty big one...when I put my thumb through the bottom of the cup and got 44 ounces of Dr. Pepper all over my lap, while in Amber's car!  Oh, good times, good times...

Ellie ~ 3 Months Old

This past month has been so much fun!  Ellie is growing so fast, but it is amazing how each stage is great in its own way.  I do miss her being super tiny and sleepy and cuddly all the time, but at the same time I love when she is so happy and smiley and cooing/"talking."  It is so adorable.  I love her so much and can't seem to get enough of her.  I just want to squish and kiss her chubby cheeks all the time!  I love being able to spend every day with this little girl.  I'm so blessed.  Here are some things I've noticed about her this past month:

* She is grasping at things more, if she gets something in her hand she'll hold on!
* She's starting to nap again without me holding her...she likes her swing!  And this means I get to actually get some things done :)
* Crazy baby hands!!!  She gets her hands going so much while she's eating and trying to fall asleep, sometimes I have to hold them down so she'll calm down enough to fall asleep and to keep her from knocking her bottle out of her mouth.
* LOVES her changing table!  I think it is her favorite place to be.  Too bad it is completely unsafe to leave her there alone.  She is so happy (98% of the time) when she's lying there.  It is so cute.  (One day when Adri and Jared were over we brought it out to the dining room so we could lay her down while we ate.  Brilliant.)
* She is getting so strong.  She sits up really well (obviously I'm still holding onto her) on my lap.  She also sits really well in her BUMBO seat.  It's awesome.  She also likes to "stand" up a lot.  It's so fun to see her growing!
* She is sleeping great at night.  Most nights she sleeps for at least a 5 hour stretch!  There have been some nights where she did 6 or 7 hours...and two nights she did a stretch of 8 HOURS!!!  It was awesome.  She'll wake up and eat and then usually sleep for another 3-4 hours.  It's been pretty great.  I love sleep.  I love it when Ellie sleeps. 
* In the mornings I'll put her in her crib while I get ready for the day and she is usually so happy.  I love listening to her "talking" in there.  Sometimes she is just quiet and looking around soaking it all up.  It's adorable.
* She's a TV junkie already!  Just like Mommy and Daddy...  She'll turn as far as she can so she can see the TV if it's on.  It is quite hilarious.
* Her vision is starting to come in more.  I can tell she can see me from further away.  Also, when she's eating she seems to get a little distracted sometimes because she wants to look at things. 
* This past week she has started sticking her tongue out, in the left corner.  It is so darn cute.  She definitely inherited that one from her Daddy!  I finally got a picture of it today! 

A Day at the Park

Happy Summer!  Today the Hardy family got together at Willow Park in Logan to hang out and play.  It was so fun to spend the day with family!  Henry, Harrison and Calvin played hard all day and ran around like crazy.  Ali was pretty content playing by herself and got all tuckered out :)  Ellie was just content lying on the blanket all afternoon!  She was sooo good.  Oh!  Ellie and Grandma Nita finally got their picture taken together...it only took us 3 months...  And of course Harrison had to hold Ellie...he just loves her so much!  It is so adorable.