Ellie LoRene Green

She's here! I'm a mom! The past two weeks have been surreal. I still can't believe it when I walk past a mirror and I don't see a huge 9 month pregnant belly. I still can't believe it when I wake up to baby noises in the middle of the night. I still can't believe I get to cuddle with the cutest baby all day. I can't believe that this is real life!

Thursday, September 19, 2013 at about 11pm Josh and I left our house for the last time as non-parents. We knew that we'd be coming back home with a baby, a new little family. At least I knew that there was no way they were sending me home! I was in too much pain and I wanted to see my little girl! They made us wait until around 1 am before officially checking us in, just to see if anything was happening. As soon as my nurse told me I was definitely staying and having a baby, I told her to call the anesthesiologist to give me an epidural right away. After the epidural, life was so much better!

They got our hopes up a few times, saying "she'll probably be here in 5 hours" then 8 hours later "oh, she'll be here by 1pm for sure." Finally at 3:12pm on Friday, September 20th, little Ellie joined our family! They immediately laid her on my chest and I burst into tears. I was exhausted and completely happy. Its crazy, because its only been two weeks, but I can't imagine life without Ellie. Everyday Josh says over and over, "She's so darling" or "How did we get so lucky?" or "She's the cutest baby!" And she really is!

Ellie wasn't our top name, but after she was born, Josh and I both had Ellie come to mind and we loved it! And its perfect for her! In fact, while I was holding her in the hospital and Josh was sleeping, I called her Ellie without even thinking about it. And Josh almost told the nurse her name was Ellie when she asked as she was measuring Ellie. Naming her wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! Her middle name, LoRene, is Josh's grandma's name. She's one of the cutest ladies I've ever met. She loves her family, playing games, the gospel, and having fun. Those are all things we would love for Ellie to love as well.

Ellie loves to sleep and loves to eat. Occasionally when she's sleeping she throws her arms in the air and shakes them, lets out a squeal, then settles back down. She loves her pacifier and we love that! She lifts her head up and looks around when she's on her tummy, she's realllly strong. Her hair is fluffy crazy cute. She's got the cutest dimples and the longest delicate fingers. Oh, and a crazy skinny long tongue. And she never ever likes to poop in a dirty diaper, only fresh new ones for this princess! To say we are in love with our little girl is definitely an understatement!

My parents got to the hospital an hour or two after she was born and I loved seeing them hold her. It was so sweet! They stayed at our house by themselves until Sunday morning when we finally got to go home. Then my dad had to go home but my mom stayed for the whole next week! It was so so nice having her here. Bringing home a baby and all of a sudden having to take care of her is a bit overwhelming! It was so comforting to have my mom there to ask all sorts of questions and to have her take care of Ellie while I was laying down trying to get rid of the worst headache I've ever had. Seriously, the epidural was amazing, but the lingering headache for a week afterwards was not so amazing...

Anyway, it was fun having my mom all to myself for a whole week. Well, all to myself and Ellie. She made us delicious food, cleaned up our house, took care of Ellie at night so we could get some sleep, and watched some movies with us. It was so fun and relaxing. Sunday, when she left, I cried. It was so sad to see her go! And I really appreciated all she did on Monday when I was left by myself with a baby!

 

I absolutely LOVE being a mom. My whole life, all I've wanted to be was a Mom. I think a lot of that is because of my mom. She is the best mom and totally and completely gives everything to us kids. Having her as my mom showed me how wonderful being a mom can be, and I hope I can be as great of a mom to Ellie as my mom is to me!

I also have realized in my short career as a mom, that taking care of a baby is a lot more work than I thought! If I can get a shower or even just get dressed before Josh comes home for lunch(or the end of the day..) its a miracle! All I do everyday is change Ellie's diapers, feed Ellie, wash Ellie's clothes, and cuddle Ellie. And I wouldn't have it any other way!