Ella's Room... (Mostly) Put Together

Andy is still finishing up on some shadow box style shelving and will probably have to build an armoire to fit more of Ella's things (her closet is full and it just houses what she can wear/use now), but here are a few pictures of what it looks like now. I also have to find a rug for her too, but that will have to wait for now.

Closet curtains made by my mom

Baskets and blankets...

Some of Ella's clothes

The mommy corner; I still have to recover the pillow. 

Changing station, made by Andy.

Ella modeling in the crib daddy made.

Close up of watercolors above crib. One of mom's friends did them.

Crib detail

More crib detail

Welcome Home Ella!

   We were very happy to welcome Ella home a week ago Thursday after spending the night rooming in with her at the hospital the previous night. She is growing so fast! At discharge her last measurements were 5 lbs 9 oz and and she was 18.3 inches long. Last week at the pediatrician's office she weighed in at 5 lbs, 15 oz, and measured just under 19 inches long! She should be gaining about an ounce a day at this point.

   A lot of prayers were sent up by a lot of people for our little Ella and we appreciate them all. She is a perfectly healthy baby and her pediatrician is confident she will be caught up for her adjusted age by the end of her first year. She is definitely enjoying having our undivided attention, and is no longer a quiet, sleepy baby, but a very vocal and alert one at home.

Big dress for such a little girl!

Going home... barely big enough to ride in her car seat.

Sitting taller (and on a washcloth) a few days later.

We're starting to like bath time.

Ella Today

Two Weeks... Pictures of Ella

I am a little late in posting this, but we've been a little busy around here. Ella decided not to wait any longer to make her appearance, and after being admitted for the third time Tuesday, June 18 for preterm labor precautions and contractions not stopping despite medication, we were told two days later that once I dilated to 6 they were breaking my waters.

That happened Saturday, June 22. We were told at about 9 AM we were having a baby that day and Ella Rose Harris came into the world at 4:13 PM weighing in at 4 lbs, 12 oz and 17 in long. Developmentally she was at 34 weeks and 1 day. She was on room air for the first three days and had a few arterial lines, IV fluids and nutrition, as well as being on no fewer than four monitors.

 As of a few days ago Ella is resting very comfortably in an open crib with nothing but her feeding tube and monitors attached. She was 36 weeks developmentally yesterday and 2 weeks old today. She now weighs 4 lbs, 14 oz and alert more and more each day. The nurses tell us she is the best behaved baby in the NICU. She rarely cries and is very smiley when she gets attention.

Day One: Sprawling out in Open Warmer

Day One: Checking out Daddy

Day Three: Breathing Tube Gone, Working on Feed Tube

Day Three: Checking out Mommy

Day Three: Sleeping after First Bath

Day Four: Hanging with Daddy

With Daddy in NICU

Getting her Tan on Under Bili Light in Isolette

Week and a Half Old: I'm Awake!

13 Days Old: Full and Happy

She'll be coming home as soon as she has mastered feeding on her own. We're getting there slowly but surely; at 36 weeks she is just now fine tuning the suck swallow motions required, and it is pretty exhausting. She had a great feed yesterday, and as you see in the above picture she was pretty pleased with herself.

Keepin' Cool

We had to spring for a few unexpected upgrades last month after the heat and air went out at the end of April. I woke up one morning to find the original 1970s avocado green furnace going haywire, and came home to find the 1991 condenser taking on a life of its own. So, after a few weeks of keeping the windows open and estimates we are back in business.

Smaller, more efficient... and NOT green!

Huge improvement over the old grate; and the filter is so much easier to access.

New, smaller, much more efficient condenser...

fancy... little touch-up paint still needed

Making Room for Baby

We've been playing musical rooms since February trying to work on the nursery, then our room, leaving things a little crowded in the third bedroom that has served as a dedicated home office. In order to start work on the nursery everything from the guest bedroom we kept had to go to the tiniest room in the house. When it came time to work on our room we just added to the mess. Now that both the nursery and master bedrooms have ceilings, walls, flooring, and trim done we have switched it up again. Each room is still a work in progress, but at least now they are functional works in progress...

Master Bedroom

The bathroom door is not framed out for a reason...

We want to install a sliding barn door (red or stained, not yellow) eventually. 

Still need to find new bedding and lamps

Blank slate in the closet

 Nursery

Ella's closet

...with some of Andy's clothes

Ella's dresses... and my clothes on the top rack...

Going home outfit and stuff for hospital bag

Changing station, built by Andy, wall art to follow...

Window by (not yet built) crib area. Love the curtains and wall colors!

The mommy corner; mirror, new pillow, and table coming soon...

The "Grandma Suite" for just in case...

Master Bedroom Update

Since Andy finished the paint, flooring, trim, and closet in Ella's room we've moved (partially) into it so Andy can work in our room. So far he has scraped the popcorn off the ceiling, wired for cable, additional lighting, textured the walls and ceiling, painted, and with the help of both dads put down flooring. All in a few short weekends. Oh, and installed the new ceiling fan.

We went for nice, calm, cool blues.

The North wall is painted one shade darker than the other three.

I love the new ceiling fan. Our room has served as a guest room the last few weeks. 

The blank slate that is our closet. Andy will be designing and building a closet system. Next up trim, a new bedroom door, and, of course the aforementioned closet system.

Nursery Curtains

Mom and I (mostly mom) made curtains for Ella's room last month(which we are currently borrowing while our room is  getting its own makeover, but more on that later). I love how they turned out; they really girl up the room. Coordinating closet curtains are coming soon.