Lots of Emotions and Lots of Travel

Ella and Nonna at week 1


Our original plans for Christmas were to have Christmas Eve at our house with my parents and brother and then have Christmas Day with Hal's family. Seemed pretty self-explanatory, and we were all looking forward to spending some quality time together for Ella's first Christmas.

Unfortunately, the day after my parents arrived (Tuesday), they had to drive back to Dallas to be with my grandmother, who had been very ill for a few months now. My brother and I got a call on Wednesday that she was not doing well, so we packed up in a hurry and headed to Dallas as well. Sadly, she passed away just a few minutes before we arrived.

From that point on, the holidays were a frenzy of travel, planning, changing plans, joy, and of course, grief. We ended up going to Big Spring the day after Christmas for her funeral, and then went straight to Albuquerque to spend some time together as a family. Hal, unfortunately, had to stay in Austin and work, but he did get a chance to see my folks and brother before we all left for West Texas.

Ella and I got back last night from New Mexico, and while we had a wonderful time being with my family, I also have a renewed feeling of gratefulness for Hal, our home, and our life together with Ella. She was my grandmother's only great-grandchild, and Nonna adored and loved her so much. Right after we arrived in Dallas, and right after she passed, my grandfather thanked me for Ella, saying that she was the best gift Nonna could have asked for. What a blessing our precious daughter is to us. And what a blessing she is to our families, too. I am humbled when I think about how much joy and love Ella has brought to all of us, and this Christmas, I thought mostly of my grandmother, and how it is my job to help Ella to know how loved she was by her Nonna.

Contrary to popular belief...

Ella has a neck. She's even started showing it off occasionally.

Updates...

Well, Ella is finally sleeping on her own for the first nap of the day. For those who don't know, I (and anyone else who watches her) have been holding her for three naps a day for 6 months. Let me be clear, there are only a handful of times that I have actually minded holding Ella. Most of the time I can truly see and feel what a blessing it is to have that special time--to watch her sleep peacefully, to be the one she smiles at when she wakes up refreshed and happy. I will miss that, without a doubt. However, the time has come for her to have a routine that doesn't require Mommy's constant companionship.

So, in order to foster her independence, I agreed to let her "cry out" her first nap of the day. Terrified, I put her in her crib each morning, and relieved, I listen to her fuss for a few minutes and then fall asleep. What an accomplishment! It turns out that Ella seems just as ready for a little breathing room as I am. :) Second nap of the day to come soon.

A couple pics in front of the tree...

6 months yesterday

Half a year has gone by, and Hal and I agree that the first three months went very slowly and the last three months have flown. It's amazing the difference some sleep makes on your perspective. :)

Ella is up to the usual 6 month old things--sitting up, eating solid foods and LOVING them (shocking since she's so skinny to begin with...), etc. There are a few things she is doing that I want to document for my own memory.

1. She still naps only while I hold her, but that's not new. The newest development is that when she wakes up, if my eyes aren't open to greet her, she immediately reaches up and rests her hand lightly on my chin until I open my eyes. Then, there is a big grin and a loud sigh until I tell her, "Hello, baby".

2. She and Kaiser have become great friends, and he lets her pet him every day while he licks her hands. Yesterday, I looked over to discover Ella licking him instead.

3. Last but certainly not least, she now officially doesn't mind the carseat,which is a huge development. I like to think that she's so smart that she knows it means we're going somewhere, and thus she accepts the buckling in. More than likely, she's just given in to being in it after the first 5 months of torture every time we went anywhere in the car. Either way, it's a much more enjoyable ride these days.

6 months and getting more fun every day!

Ella's first day bouncing really tired her out...

Eye doctor

Today Ella had her first trip to the eye doctor. I think that normal people probably find the eye doctor a pretty blah experience. I have not ever had that experience, and so far, neither has Ella.

This was not a vision check, that comes closer to her 1st birthday. This was a specialized visit to have the doctor check out a bump Ella has had on her upper left eyelid for close to 4 months now. When she was a month old, it appeared randomly. We assumed, as did our pediatrician, that it was a stye, so we commenced to put warm compresses on it twice a day. After a month, we reluctantly gave up on the "stye" theory and set up an appointment to see Dr. Busse, a pediatric ophthalmologist, the best in Austin. It took almost 2 months to get in to see him, but our pediatrician told us it was nothing to worry about, so we waited.

Well, today we found out that the little bump is actual a non-cancerous blood vessel tumor on Ella's eyelid. Dr. Busse explained that there is nothing that needs to be done at this point, as it isn't growing any bigger, and he showed me pictures of what it would look like if it DID grow. He said, at that point, we would need to get into action. Apparently, this thing is nothing to be concerned about, and it will only look smaller and smaller as Ella grows up. She'll just live with it. I was really impressed with Dr. Busse's demeanor and explanations. As we were leaving, he said, "This is nothing to worry about. But, I'm willing to body slam this thing if I need to."

Anyway, Hal and I are not overly concerned, we're just going to watch it for now. But it was really hard to hear that something, even minute, is wrong with your child. Where did this tumor come from? Why is it there? Why will she have to deal with it forever?

For now, we wait and pray that God will miraculously shrink this tumor so that we don't need to watch it for changes or growth. And if not, that it would stay just like it is forever, no worse, no different. All prayers would be greatly appreciated. :)