The life of a stay at home mom

I have had many people ask me "what do you do all day?", which is a reasonable question.  I use to wonder the same thing... Some days in fact I look back and ask myself the same question... those are usually the days where Ella has a bad day and I end up camped out on the couch all day still in my pj's.  Luckily now that Ella is a little older those days don't happen very often.  In the beginning it felt like all I did was sleep, feed ella, change her diaper and watch lots of tv haha...I went through two seasons of Ugly Betty during the first couple of months after Ella was born.  

I'm not going to lie at first the thought of being at home all day felt a little daunting.  Not that I wouldn't want to be home with my beautiful baby, but I just wasn't use to being much of a home body.  I had been at uni studying for the past 7 years, 5 of those years I was working full time while studying, and then once I graduated I was working... So I was use to being constantly busy and on the go.  I was worried that I might go a little stir crazy inside all day with limited adult contact. haha  The truth is I absolutely love being a stay at home mom.  In fact, I don't think there is anything better.  :)  I feel very blessed to be able to stay home and take care of Ella every day, because in this day and age it is some what of a rarity.  I am really enjoying the change of pace, and being able to concentrate on the important things in life, which is my little family.

My new years resolution for 2012 was to become a better cook.  Since I graduated I felt like I would finally have time to start cooking things that didn't come prepackaged, frozen or from a jar.  I wasn't a very "domesticated wife"... in fact when Brandon and I were first married I served him chicken parmigiana (store bought, which you just had to bake in the oven) that was still pink in the middle, and a salad that still had bits of dirt in it.  This all happened in one meal mind you.  haha.  Poor Brandon was probably a worried that he was going to have to live off of top romin for the rest of his life.  

I have lived up to my New Years resolution and have really made an effort to become a domesticated goddess in the kitchen.  Each week I plan out what we will eat for that week.  Most of my recipes come from Pinterest (which might I add is the greatest thing in the whole world).  Since I putting forth a little more effort, I have made some pretty awesome meals and now am much more confident in my cooking abilities.  I actually look forward to cooking and can't wait to try new recipes.  I have also made a bunch of freezer meals ahead of time, so that I have quick breakfasts, lunches and dinners on hand when needed.  Some of the things I keep stocked in my freezer are oatmeal smoothies, healthy breakfast muffins (with apples, carrots and coconut), mini quiches, soup and breakfast burritos.  Then I usually will take half of whatever I've made for dinner and freeze it for another meal.  I was tempted to take pictures of the different things I've made so far and post them.. but I'm not sure my readers would find this very exciting. haha Maybe I'll just post a few favorite recipes here and there.    

Ella shopping with mommy

My next goal since having Ella was to get back into shape. After having a baby your body goes to mush (at least mine did), and in the beginning I didn't have enough energy to do anything.  Now that Ella is sleeping more and has more of a routine I'm able to start exercising.  I am currently doing 8 weeks of Insanity (a beachbody training program).. and let me tell you it's called insanity for a reason.  They are work out videos I do at home, and it is seriously the best workout I've ever had.  I work out every morning Monday-Saturday.  I am currently half way through and already seeing results!  Ella loves to sit in her bouncer and watch me bounce up and down.  She is probably thinking "crazy mommy, what are you doing?" haha  I am 100% dedicated in completing the full 8 weeks, even if it kills me.   I also like to go on walks with Ella.  I like to get her outside so she can look at the trees, listen to the birds and feel the breeze on her face (which always startles her haha).   

          

Kings park

playing at the park

play time

Bumbo time!

 I am also fortunate to have two other mummies close by so we plan lots of play dates during the week with our little ones.  They are all pretty much in the same stage which makes it fun.  They are also doing the Insanity workout program with me, so we try to keep each other motivated.  

Luke, Ella and Mason

Other than that I try to go on little outings with Ella so that I don't go crazy inside all day.  :)

 During Ella's nap times I try to get some of the house work done, such as the never ending laundry.

Ella helping mommy

I am also in the process of making a photo book for Ella of her first year.  This is a little sneak peak (for some reason the writing isn't showing up, but oh well).  

I look forward to every night when Brandon comes home so that we can spend time together as a family.  I love watching Brandon as a dad.  He is the sweetest daddy, and Ella lights up every time she sees him.  We always give her a bath together and then read her a bedtime story.  

On Saturday mornings Brandon watches Ella for a couple hours while I go see a little girl for speech therapy.  It is nice to get out of the house and continue progressing professionally.  I always miss Ella like crazy when I am gone, and look forward to coming home and giving her a big cuddle.  I am also in the process of trying to get my qualifications to transfer over to the US... basically I have to do lots of extra professional development stuff like read articles, go listen to guest speakers, perform new assessments etc so that has been keeping me busy as well.    

Well that's pretty much my life as a stay at home mom!  :)   

Ella 2 & 3 months old

So I'm playing catch up... here are some pictures of Ella at 2 months and 3 months old.  Crazy to think that in a little over a week my little girl will be 4 months old.  Where has the time gone?!?!

I'm in the process of making a photo book for Ella of her first year, and these are a couple of the collages that will be in the book.  

I would like to make a few changes to the comments I made for her at 1 month... The whole sleeping for 7 hours at night was unfortunately very short lived.  She went through a phase for almost a month where she wouldn't go to sleep before 3 am, and she would be fussy and screaming the whole time.  Not fun for mommy and daddy.  Of course once Grandma and Grandpa Reese came to visit Ella decided to get her act together and was on her best behavior, but hey I'm not complaining.  It ended up that she had really bad reflux, so at night when she would lay down all the acid would come up and she would be really upset.  The doctor put her on omeprozale and after a few days she was back to being a jolly baby.  Thank goodness for that!  

Two months old

• 12 lbs 8 oz (in the 75th percentile)
• Height in the 75th percentile
• More alert and playful
• Loves to smile and coo
• Interested in toys and tries to hit them
• Loves going for rides in her stroller
• Hates the car seat (unfortunately she like to scream every time we go for a drive)
• Sleeps for about 6 hours in between feeds at night and every 4 hours during the day
• Loves being swaddled and cuddled 
• Loves sucking on her binky sideways... every time you fix it she moves it back sideways
• Is the happiest in the morning
• Had her first international flight, and did amazing!!!!  She slept the whole time.  I had to wake her up to feed her because she was so sleepy.  Apparently the white noise and slight rocking motion of the plane put her right to sleep.  

Three months old

• 14 lbs (75th percentile)
• Has settled into more of a routine.  She eats then plays for about an hour and a half, then goes back to sleep.  She usually takes a two hour nap in the morning around 9:00 or 10:00, and then an afternoon nap around 1:00 or 2:00.  
• Eats every 4 hours during the day, and wakes up for one feed at night usually around 3:00am
• Loves going for rides in her stroller
• Is very interested in her surroundings
• Loves to grab toys and put them in her mouth
• Can finally sit in her bumbo.  yay!!!!
• Rolls on her side
• Hates tummy time 
• Loves to watch baby Einstein 
• Still hates her car seat unfortunately

Boathouse girls reunite!

While in the US visiting I got to catch up with my old roomies from college.  We were called the "boathouse girls" because we lived in a strange circular house that looked similar to a boathouse.  Lots of memories made with these lovely ladies. It was so great to catch up with them. Miss you girls )

Visiting Rachel in Cali

Ella and I went to Cali for a few days to visit Rachel.  One of the days we were there we went to Crystal Cove Beach.  It was Ella's first time at the beach!  She was fussy at first, but after a cat nap in the shade she was a little more chipper.  Rachel took some great photos of us at the beach... sadly we didn't think to get one with the three of us together.  Oh well.  There will definitely be another Cali visit in the near future.  Thanks Rach for letting us visit! 

First visit home with Ella

So I am extremely late in posting this.  I was waiting for a certain someone (cough Michelle) to send me pictures from her phone, but I'm still waiting haha, so I decided to do a post with the pictures I have on my phone.  In August I flew home with Ella for a visit.  It was Ella's first plane ride, and I was panicking for weeks and weeks before the flight.  I was so stressed to be flying with a newborn.  You have to take 3 flights to get home... Perth to Sydney, Sydney to LA, LA to SLC.  The Sydney to LA flight is 16 hours!!! So you all can appreciate why I was stressing so much, however Ella surprised us all and did AMAZING on the flight.  She slept seriously the whole time.  I had to wake her up to feed her, and then she would fall right back asleep.  Apparently the high altitude can make babies very sleepy.  No complaining here! 

 I was also fortunate enough to fly to SLC with my mother-in-law Joni.  She was so much help, and I am so grateful that she was there with me.  We also had a lot of funny memories on that trip home haha.... one not so funny memory was that I left my phone in the LA airport.  My phone was unlocked meaning the person had access to everything.  A nice man found it, and mailed it to my parents house.  Definitely a blessing!    

Michelle meeting Ella for the first time.  This picture says it all.. :)  It melts my heart every time I see it.  There were so many emotions.  Two of the most special people in my life meeting for the first time.  Still makes me a bit teary eyed looking at it.

As you can imagine Ella was smothered in kisses by her grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends.  

My grandparents were visiting from Indiana.  I was so happy that they got to meet Ella, and that I got to spend some time with them.  I haven't seen them since our wedding in 2008.  My grandma is an amazing seamstress, and she taught me how to sew.  I made a bib for Ella, and am still in the process of making a diaper bag.  

4 generations

Ella and I flew to Cali for a quick visit with Rach.  I had so much fun. Little baby Ronan is due any day.  It was so much fun seeing her pregnant.  Such a beautiful mommy! 

More kisses

Ella in her bassinet on the plane

I am horrible at remembering to taking pictures.  I didn't get any of the Reese family while I was visiting, even though I spent equal time with both families.  :(  I am so happy that I got to bring Ella home to meet family while she was still a newborn.  She is growing up so fast!  

Ella's baby blessing

I am completely failing at this whole blogging thing.  You would think that now that I am home with a baby that I would have more time to blog.... well I have good intentions of posting on my blog each day, but some how time seems to get away from me.  So although I am a couple months late posting this, here are pictures from Ellas baby blessing.  Ella was blessed at our church in Dianella, Western Australia on July 15, 2012.  It was a very special day, and we were so blessed to have Brandon's parents there to share the day with us.  Here are some pictures from the blessing.  :) 

My sweet family

Gorup involved in the blessing circle

Thanks to all those that came!