Life with Ellie

How did 2 weeks go by already? It seems like just yesterday that I was waddling around the neighborhood trying to induce labor. In the blink of an eye, our lives as we knew it changed... for the better, of course. We are experiencing all of the cliche new parent changes - time running in fast forward; sleep deprivation; figuring our what makes Ellie tick, only for her to change the very next day; constantly worrying that our daughter is happy, healthy, and comfortable; changing a diaper, then hearing a loud diaper explosion 30 seconds later; non-stop laundry running trying to rid our textiles of  poop, pee, spit up, and germs.

Despite all of the various changes and stress, we are loving life with Ellie. Her personality is definitely already starting to blossom. We've learned that she loves to snuggle, embraces constant stimulation, eats more than any newborn I've ever known, hates the confinement of a swaddle, has the most aggressive rooting tendencies, enjoys holding hands with just about anyone, and like a true Austinite baby, she LOVES music. Her favorite tunes to date are anything by Jim James/My Morning Jacket.

We had a big week with Ellie:

: Nana visited this past week from Kansas City - Ellie and Nana even hung out solo while we ventured out for our first date night post-baby.

: Great Great Aunt Sally and Uncle Jim visited from Georgetown - how lucky is Ellie to have "great greats" in her life (and in Austin)! However, Aunt Sally insists on just AS because adding a G would make her "GAS."

: We went to the doctor again this week, and Ellie is up to a whopping 8 lb 3 oz.

: We've been on many walks in the neighborhood and also had a date with Nora Dennis, who was born the same day as Ellie.

: Goodbye umbilical cord, hello bath time!

We are soaking in the last 2 days of Justin's paternity leave. Thank God for FaceTime because I don't think Justin will be able to go more than a few hours without a pictorial update on his daughter. Ellie already has Daddy wrapped around her tiny little fingers;)

The newest member of the Thomas household - our very own power washer

Now that Justin has a daughter and a power washer, I think it's safe to say he's fully domesticated.

Miss Ellie - 2 weeks old

Nana brought my baby pictures from KC, and it's obvious that we have a mini Sarah on our hands;)

Ellie, just minutes after birth

Ellie loves her Nana;)

First walk in the neighborhood

Great great Aunt Sally & Uncle Jim came for a visit. Ellie's lucky to have them so close - just a 45 minute drive from South Austin.

4 generations!

Ellie loved her first real bath

Our Bathing Beauty:)

Breakfast date (or sleep date?) with Nora Dennis and her parents, Mark & Elisa. Ellie is only a few hours older than Nora...

Ellie showing Nana cheek tricks. Lots to work with here...

Ellie, Week 1

What a week it's been for us! We are enjoying every minute of parenthood... while we have had our ups and downs, our ups far outweigh our downs, so we consider ourselves lucky. What I would give for our daughter to be able to tell us exactly what she needs.

Ellie has had quite the eventful week with lots of visitors, her first pediatrician's visit, a lunch outing, a breakfast outing, 2 KU basketball games, and a stretch of 6 hours of consecutive sleep. Whew, we've been busy!

Here are some pictures to capture our first week with Ellie... As I started to upload pictures, I realized that I'm one of "those" parents with the excessive pictures. I just can't seem to whittle them down to just a few;(

Thomas, Family of 3

Mom and Ellie having a chat...

Dad and Ellie having a chat...

The Hacks came to visit and were nice enough to bring food to the hospital. Auntie Meghan also surprised us with flowers in nearly every room of our house upon our return from the hospital. How lucky we are to have such amazing friends!

Uncle Brian is a natural!

The Greagers also came to visit us and came bearing P Terry's. Meredith and Jason are expecting a baby girl in July - we can hardly wait to meet their bundle of joy.

Ellie's first KU game. Daddy made sure to clear a path for pacing in the hospital room.

Steven and Cameron Johnson came to visit after the KU game. Cameron came decked out in her KU cheerleading gear complete with a pearl necklace. Such classy fans;)

Welcome Home Ellie!

Bama and Grandpa drove all the way from Alabama to meet their 2nd granddaughter. It was love at first sight;)

I think Grandpa will agree that Ellie is the best snuggler...

First pediatrician's visit: We're skeptical that Ellie is ours with her height in the 75th percentile (weight 50th). She was a champ and didn't cry the entire visit.

After comparing baby pictures, the verdict is in - Ellie is identical to me (Sarah) as a newborn.

Snoozing away, cheeks, chins, and all.

Andy & Essie came for a visit. Andy is pretending to look disgusted with me but deep down, he thinks I'm a keeper.

The picture of comfort - letting it all hang out in Essie's lap. I think Ellie enjoyed the extra lap space that Essie offers compared to her parents...

Nana arrived from KC a few hours ago... We had a spa day with Ellie's first sponge bath;)

Thomas, Party of 3

Our precious baby girl joined our family this morning at 3:46 am! Eleanor "Ellie" Jane Thomas weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long. We were able to cheer on the Jayhawks in the middle of labor, thanks to the miracle of epidurals. More info to come, but here are some pics from the big day.

A huge thanks to everyone for the support, emails, phone calls, well wishes. We are so incredibly blessed to be Ellie's parents. She is a fighter and super chill baby so far... looking forward to friends and family meeting her soon!

Mommy loves epidurals. Watching the Jayhawks in action... great pre-birthday activity

After thanking Ellie for letting us watch the game, we quickly got acquainted. We were amazed at how alert she was!

Chubby cheeks + double chin + arm/leg/back rolls = Lots to love

Proud Papa

Thomas, Party of 3... so in love!

We love our daughter, even with her rat tail. We have no idea where all of this dark hair came from!

Sleeping Beauty

E is for Eleanor;)

March Madness

We are now 9 days out from our daughter's official due date. At our 39 week doctor's visit this morning, we learned that I have not progressed in the last week. I'm not all that worried about it as I could go into labor as I'm typing this;)

We had a great week last week full of work, baby prep, and play. With SXSW here in Austin and March Madness in full throttle, we were a little overstimulated. Nevertheless, it was a great way to spend some of our last days together as a family of two.

Friday Lineup: Work : SXSW : Basketball

SXSW - heading to South Congress for music, amazing people watching, and walking the baby to her birthday

Frontgate show with the Hacks. Free booze for the non-pregos and a somewhat respective Port-o-potty for me.

 

Shifting gears - we headed home from SXSW to cheer on our Jayhawks. Notice 3 games running at 1 time. Technology at it's best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday Lineup: Work : More SXSW : Even More Basketball 

Our neighbor, Brian, is in a band, The Governors. We went to his show at Highball... great to see him in action. Here is his lovely wife, Allison, and precious daughter, Audrey.

While I held the couch down Saturday afternoon, Justin attended (VIP style) the San Jose SXSW show. Free booze and celebrity sighting, Bill Murray (here in blue)

Sunday Lineup: Walk to the local coffee shop : Baby prep : More basketball

On our walk, we had some great bluebonnet sightings. The flowers are beautiful since we've had so much rain lately.

Sidewalk graffiti is pretty violent in our neighborhood...

Wood fired coffee makes for a perfect start to our Sunday

...So do breakfast tacos and donuts. Breakfast of pregnant champions.

Signage at the coffee shop. Wonder what would happen without the accompanying visual...

In the spirit of music festivals, Justin thought it was only appropriate to start the lullaby collection...

38.5 Weeks - Belly now serves as a sturdy shelf for our daughter's future playmate/neighbor, Audrey

 

T-2 Weeks

We went in for our 38 week visit, and it appears as though our daughter is nice and comfortable in-utero. (And by comfortable, I mean kicking and punching me 882x/day.) In the meantime, life goes on while we wait for her birthday... work, house chores, baby paraphernalia shopping, cleaning, more cleaning, etc.

Goals for this week:

: Get creative with my wardrobe - I've officially grown out of all my maternity shirts and refuse to buy any more clothes. So if you see me wandering around Austin in a robe or the same 3 dresses, don't make fun:)

: Crank on work - The community I've been working on for 2 years starts to move homeowners in in 9 days... perfect timing.

:  Walk - Well, it's more of a waddle, but I do my best. Trying to help gravity do it's magic.

: SXSWing & Rock Chalking - We're going to spend Friday distracting ourselves with SXSW shows and cheering on our beloved Jayhawks. Austin in March is the BEST!

Stay tuned! We can't wait to introduce our daughter to our friends and family...

38 weeks

Home Stretch

We are officially on the home stretch... T-3 weeks. It's hard to believe our family is going to soon grow by 33%. Judging from all of the baby paraphernalia that surrounds us, it's going to feel like 150% after the big birthday.

In the last week, we took a Child/Infant CPR class as well as a Childbirthing class. Both were about as exciting as we thought they'd be, but we feel better that we faced the challenge.

I'm now going to the doctor weekly. So far, our daughter has shown us that she's quite comfortable in the womb (aside from her constant kicks and jabs). Although our daughter is nice and cozy, I've officially entered the "I'd-rather-not-be-pregnant-anymore" phase. From growing out of all of my maternity clothes to getting 30 minutes of sleep at a time, I think I'm officially ready for our daughter's big debut;)

March in Austin is the BEST - beautiful weather and great energy

36.5 weeks