Just like starting over....

I don't know why I've decided to start a blog. Maybe I'm jumping on the blogging mom bandwagon. Maybe I'm just taking advantage of the internet this time around to share such a wonderful time with my family out of state. Who knows? I know that I love having a new baby after all this time. I have 2 boys that are 14 and soon to be 11 so having a new baby girl is surreal to me. I never thought it would happen. The great thing is that this time around, I am financially and emotionally better than I have ever been. I have a wonderful and hard working husband and I get to be a stay at home mom for now. I will be returning to school in the fall but won't be graduating for a while so I'll still be staying at home most of the time. I love that I can do that now. I guess I'll start posting about family life here in the house of redheads. I'm hoping I can at least post weekly but we'll see. Being a mom is a time consuming business. First I need to catch up on the last 3 months of little Elliott's life (at least in photos!).


This is Derek's first picture with Elliott after she was born on January 6, 2009. She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 inches long. Derek was awesome during the delivery. I thought for sure he wouldn't want to cut the umbilical cord because he thought that would be gross. Plus he had never heard of that before. After Elliott emerged, the doctor asked if Derek wanted to cut the cord and he said yes. Then the nurses took the baby and cleaned her up and handed her over to new daddy. After he held her for a little while, they gave her to grandma then to me (after a little bit of clean up) and she started breastfeeding like a pro right away. We struggled for few weeks on and off with her latching on technique but now we've got it down. It feels great to be able to breastfeed her when I wasn't able to breastfeed the boys. It also makes going places a little easier. I don't have to carry bottles and formula and all that.

Here's a picture I took after a feeding when she was a couple weeks old. I really hope she keeps the blue eyes. Isn't she a doll?












I love this picture. She was sleeping so soundly. Babies are so flexible! I don't see how anyone can sleep comfortably like this. That is one of my favorite little outfits but she has already outgrown it!














Okay just a couple more and then I'll stop for now. Elliott is starting to wake up from her nap and she'll want to eat. Then I'll be able to go shopping for Rayn's (the soon to be 11 year old) birthday party supplies.

Elliott is cooing and smiling a lot now. She hasn't begun to laugh just yet but she's getting close. That will be an exciting day and it will surely bring a blog post about.

















This final picture is of Elliott and her grandpa Lindeman with the dresser that he handmade for her. Isn't it beautiful? She will cherish this when she grows up.















See you next week (or sooner) with details of Rayn's final soccer game and his birthday party!