7 Pounds 12 ounces

Our big girl is now 7 pounds 12 ounces...Aaron lost the bet, : ) he was hoping for 10 pounds (we are close!). Ella has a lot of personality now and every day we see more smiles and hear her stories...she loves to talk, but if you know me then you understand the apple didn't fall far from the tree...hahaha. The pics are just an example of her personality...first piano lesson with gram, and falling asleep with her penquin under her arm.

We are looking forward to taking her out into the world and meeting all the people who have held her up in prayer the past 7 months. September 17th (Ella's birthday) seems so long ago, when you look at how far she has come in that time.

Our prayers and thoughts go out to the Capers family who lost their dear mom & wife, Gayla. She was a follower of our blog and left many uplifting, encouraging words during our time at the NICU. She was an amazing woman who will be missed. Love to all the family from Ella, Christy, and Aaron

Happy Easter

Here are some pics of our big girl on her first Easter. She is very aware of things around her now and loves to look at her toys. She didn't get to go to church on Easter, because she is still living in a bubble, but Mom and Dad watched the service via computer.

We go see one of her doctors this week so I should have an updated weight (we're placing bets on what it might be). Overall, she is doing great...eating well and growing like a weed...: ) in fact, she has graduated from preemie clothes into newborn and won't stay there long...yipee!!

Reading

Aaron has started reading to Ella and she loves it, but at this point it's all about the tone of voice and not the content, as you can see from the engineering magazine. (we're starting her early...hehehe)

Everything is great, our big girl is growing (don't have an updated weight because we haven't seen the doc since the last time - which is a good thing) and showing off her personality. Our goal for the last two weeks is to get her to take naps in her bed instead of someone's arms because unfortunately, the NICU creates some bad habits. When it got to the point in the hospital where we could hold her whenever we wanted we just held her all the time and now we are retraining. I am not complaining because she is healthy and home, so all the other stuff is just that stuff and will be taken care of in time.

Our time in the NICU is starting to become a memory instead of thoughts fresh in my mind and I have to make an effort to remember all the things that happen while we were there. I admit that I didn't think this day would come when the NICU days would fade.

Ella seems to be adjusting well to being at home, but I am looking forward to taking her out and about. We are still keeping her housebound just to be on the safe side because of flu and RSV season. Once school is over and it is warmer outside we plan on carting her around and showing her the world, but until then she is still our little girl in a house bubble. : )