Meeting great grandma and Aunt Kathy

With in the first two weeks after Ella was born we were able to introduce her to Great Grandma and Aunt Kathy...I think they both liked her

January....and a new baby

Well we have survived our first 5 weeks with a newborn and a 2 year old.  I have to say some of it has been easy and so much fun and there have been other times that have really been a struggle.  The first two weeks after having Ella, I had a very hard time recovering and it was very different from my recovery with Parker so that was hard for both Darrin and I.  At one point this month someone asked Darrin how things were going and he said great...my wife is the single parent of a newborn and he is the single parent of a 2 year old...we defiantly had  our challenges.  We discovered that Parker does not slow down just because Mommy is tired or recovering from surgery.  But over all he has been such a good boy that Darrin and I both feel so blessed because we also know that it could have been a lot harder.
Ella is doing so well, and she is such a good baby.  Her growth is very different for Parker's.  She is almost up to 8lbs and last time we measured she was 19.5 inches long.  She does seem to have the same cheeks that her brother (and mother) have!!  She makes some of the funniest faces (which you will see in the pictures that I post).  On a more serious note we have said since she was born that she seemed to have an old  sole! We are convinced that her spirit comes from her grandma Burnett, who she is so appropriately named after, and who would have loved her so much.  We know she is looking down from heaven and watching over all of us!
The pictures you see below are from the whole month of January.  Ella has gotten to meet a lot of family and close friends.  There are also alot of pictures of Parker and Ella....it just melts my heart to see the love he has for her.

 The many faces of Ella

First Bath at nana's house!!

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Professional pictures in the Hospital

St Johns offers of professional Picture package that we took advantage of below are those pictures

Our New Year's Eve Surprise

Much to our Surprise our baby girl made a very early arrival on December 31st at 1:58am via C-section.  Ella Leona Burnett weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces, and 20 inches long.  She was 5 weeks early.  Because she was early she did have to be intibated for about 6 hours but then did very well and was only in the NICU for about 45 hours.  She was one of the bigger babies in the NICU so we feel very blessed that she was only in there for a short period of time

 This was the first bow that the wonderful nurses put into her hair.  She is less then 10 hours old in this picture

The second time I went down to the NICU this is what I saw....a very large headband...not my favorite but they try very hard in the NICU to make the babies look cute

This is the first time I got to hold her, she was probably about 30 hours old.  This was the hardest part about our little girl in the NICU was not being able to hold her right after delivery

After less then 2 days in the NICU she was able to come up and stay in my room with me.  They were still doing testing on her but they were able to do it from my room

Parker and Ella Meet...he was so excited and called her "my baby Ella"

I was just so happy that he was OK with meeting her

How cute are they

Going home for the first time!!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was so much fun!  Parker is still not sure what is going on, but he really like all the presents.  We always start out the day with our little family.  In the afternoon we go see my Grandma and then off to spend time with my parents.  I did not take to many pictures this day, mostly because I was just taking it all in and enjoying my family.  I do feel truly blessed that my entire immediate family lives in Springfield.  We had so much fun watching Parker and Ethan I think that is why I did not get to many pictures

Later in the week we got together with my best friend and her family.  Here are the pictures of the kids togeather

Christmas Eve

We always spend Christmas Eve with Darrin's family.  This year was a little different because Darrin's mom was not their. Christmas was her favorite holiday so we tried to carry on her traditions and spirit.  We started out the afternoon by visiting her grave and just remembering her and how much she would have wanted to be with us!

I actually got a good picture of Spencer who does not like to have his picture taken

Tyler is growing up so fast, but he has the cutest smile

Sammie loved the scarf that we got for her...she is growing up faster then I like!!

Parker was so overwhelmed but as usually he had a great time!!

I think we need to discuss not going overboard

I love how patient Spencer is with Parker.  By the end of the night they both needed to chill with a movie.