What a cutie!!


Cutie again!


Ella's hair really gets out of control sometimes...


But she really loves her baby sister!

My mommy finally found a paci I like! Thank goodness!!

My first big smile!! Actually caught on camera!


A little fuzzy, but still a cute smile!



Nana and Anna (Anna modeling the dress mommy wore home from the hospital 28 years ago!)

Anna's heart is almost all better! She has a murmur that is abnormal, but it is not a problem. Her atrial septal defect (the hole between the upper chambers of her heart) has turned into a patent foramen ovale, which means the hole is extremely tiny and no problem. She still has the ventricular septal defect, but it is also smaller and will likely not cause any problems. Basically, all that means that she is fine!! Yeah!!

We went to the zoo. Ella loved the animals. The real ones - the fake ones were a little scary (as shown by her expression in the picture). Her favorite were the naked mole rat babies.

Ella learns the value of breastfeeding. (She did this on her own - we didn't tell her to do it!)

Anna's umbilical cord came off last Wednesday (10/3), so yesterday she had her first real tub bath!

Naptime for silly girls:

Ella wants to be just like her mommy!!


She loves her new bath paints! She also apparently likes looking like she is stoned...

Doctor Visits!

Ella and Anna went to the doctor yesterday for regular checkups. Here are their stats:

Ella - 28 lbs, 35 inches tall. She is doing great!

Anna - 8lbs 9oz, 20 inches tall. I tried to get advice about Anna's gas problems and the nurse practitioner basically said to burp her more and give her gas drops. Wow...that's helpful. However, after searching the internet, I found info about hyperactive letdown and gas issues. I think this is what is causing Anna's pain. So, I'll try some things that deal with the hyperactive letdown. If that doesn't work, I think we'll unfortunately try breast milk from a bottle (or formula) to see if that makes a difference.

Because of Anna's gas troubles, I've barely been able to get 2-3 hours of consecutive sleep at night. Needless to say, I'm tired, cranky, and going a little crazy. Add a needy two year old to the mix and I feel like a zombie just trying to keep everyone happy.

After the birthday party, Ella needed to rock out a little.

Ella's birthday party was a huge success!! She had a great time, ate yummy cake, and got lots of great gifts!

She liked the rings and bracelets on her feet better than her hands!



She especially likes her animal hospital (of which she received 3)! She carries around her "Beow" (Cat) and "Woof" (Dog), and treats all their various ailments. Thanks everyone who got her that! She also likes her fridge magnet letters. However, that one is a little maddening to mommy. I can only listen to the alphabet song and "B says buh, B says buh" so many times in one day before I go a little crazy. I will admit it is really helping her with her letters, though.


Nana helped Ella blow out her birthday candle!

Anna got into the festivities...


Thanks everyone for the great gifts and your wonderful presence at the party!!

Woo Hoo!!! I did it!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLA!

Our two girls (pictures taken today):



Anna was three weeks old yesterday and Ella will be two tomorrow. I can't believe it has only been three weeks since Anna was born! I feel like I've been Mommy to these two girls forever (in a good way). We are so lucky to have two healthy and beautiful little girls!

Ella is getting more and more jealous of Anna. She normally wants nothing to do with me, but lately she has been more needy and clingy. I try to give her as much attention as I can, but sometimes it just isn't possible to give enough. Today she wanted to go play outside and I couldn't maneuver keeping both girls happy out there, so we just came back inside. Ella screamed and cried because she had to come back in, but I didn't know what else to do. I hope she knows we love her as much as we always have even if we don't give her all of our attention.

Fortunately, Ella's birthday party is this weekend! I hope the undivided attention of 20 adults will be enough for her! The birthday decorations will all be SpongeBob, and I will attempt to make a cake that looks like SpongeBob for my girlie. I hope it doesn't look too horrible!!! Wish me luck. :)

Anna's hospital pics:

Anna!

Just fill in the appropriate info and you will go straight to her page.

Anna and Ella!

Little, sweet Anna is doing wonderfully. She is eating like a horse, which is great for her and a little tiresome for Mommy. She rarely cries, only when she is hungry or has pee pee in her diaper. I guess I would cry if I had pee pee in my diaper, too. Ella is adjusting well, but she does require a little more attention right now. She also refuses to go to sleep in her bed. Oh well, we now have 4 people in our bed - good thing it is a king.

Ella is turning two in two weeks. I planned to have her party on September 30, but I unfortunately forgot that her Nana has to work that day, so the party plans may change. Either way, there will be some form of SpongeBob cake and other SpongeBob party favors. I'm most excited about the SpongeBob pinata.

Well, I know my loyal readers don't come here to read, they come here for pictures, so here they are.

Catching up...

So, since my last post a few things have happened. First and foremost, Anna was born (see post below). The end of this pregnancy was pure torture. I hate being pregnant, but I love the outcome. Here is a picture of me 2 days before Anna's birth. My mom said my belly looked like a watermelon.

Ella is as wonderful as ever. Papaw has been watching her while Chuck and I work. She completely adores her Papaw, and he can't get enough of her. She is truly "Papaw's girl."

Ella also likes playing in the rain and getting wet at Nana and Papaw's house.


My mom has two cats who recently had kittens. Ella's favorite thing to do at Nana's house is to see the baby kitties and hold them. She constantly wants to go get the baby kitties and carry them around. Here is a picture of three different kitties - all identically marked. Mom with the "mom," me with the "daughter," and Ella with the "grand-daughter."


She also loves Rufus.


I think I'm fairly caught up now. More to come on Anna and Ella later!!!

Anna is here!! She was born on 9/4/07 at 12:27pm. She weighed 7 lbs and was 19 in long. The birth went wonderfully and we are all doing well. Ella loves her new baby sister.

Have I ever mentioned how pretty our little girl is?

We have the sweetest and cutest and most wonderful girlie in the world. Anna has quite a bit to live up to!!

The evidence:

News Flash!!!

Ella slept in her big girl bed last night! :)

We will have a baby shower/birthday party for Anna and myself on July 21. Obviously, gifts are not required, but I know some people can't stand the idea of not buying something for the new baby. So, I've created a small gift registry at Target that has the stuff we need for Anna. You will see it is pretty bare because we have so many hand-me-downs from Ella. A few things not on the registry: little socks, bibs, size newborn and size 1 Huggies Supreme diapers. We hope to see all our friends and family there!

Target Gift Registry

Wow, time for another big update since it has been a couple of months. Here we go...

• I got a new job! I will be teaching Senior English and Creative Writing at Central Hardin starting in August.
• The baby girl #2 has a name: Anna Elizabeth Pearsall!
• Anna is growing, and growing, and growing. She is running out of room in there and letting me know about it by kicking me painfully.
• Anna will be born via c-section on September 4, 2007 (at least that is the plan).
  
• We got a new puppy - Ella named her Dot. She is a black and tan chihuahua.

And now....ultrasound pics!

Hmm...what has happened since December? So much that I'm just going to have to list everything (in no particular order).

• I am pregnant.
• We moved to E-town.
• We found out the baby is a GIRL! (Yay, a little sis for Ella!)
• Ella had her 18 month appointment and is perfect (as usual) - 26lbs, 32 inches. Wearing size 2T-3T now.
• Ella stopped using the bottle and uses sippy cups. She also uses utensils.
• Ella can say Daddy, Clock, Bob (Spongebob), That, ABC, 123, Thank you, Love you, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Mom, and Dee (I'm not sure what that means). Of course these are all translated by mommy - they don't really sound like that coming out.
• Ella can read (well, she pretends to read and that is good enough for me).
• Spongebob is on every day at the Pearsall's.

Well, I can't think of anything else right now. I'll put up some ultrasound pics and new pics of the Girly ASAP. Right now I'm procrastinating writing a 10 page paper for one of my classes...I'm on page 5 so I thought I deserved a break. :)

Ella had a wonderful Christmas! Thanks to everyone! This little girl is nothing if not spoiled! Oh, and how could I forget - her best Christmas present of all - a big fat lip from her Uncle Jay! (unintentional, of course)

Ella's 15 month check-up was today. The good news: 24.15 lbs, 31 in tall, healthy as a horse. The bad news: we have to consult with a surgeon about her umbilical hernia - she may need surgery to close it up.

Check out Christmas pictures in the gallery! Also, wonderful pictures of our trip to the Newport Aquarium with Grandma.

Ella's gallery has finally been updated! We now have TONS of new pics in the 11/2006 gallery and a few in the 12/2006 gallery. Check them out by clicking the gallery link on the right.