Back to School...

Ella

Some of you saw on Facebook that Ella's little bum got a really bad rash from the diapers we had switched to within a day of starting them. After switching back to some leftovers we had stocked in our diaper bags it got better very quickly (within 2 diaper changes).  We think it was either the fragrance or the chemical in the diapers that are supposed to aid in extra absorbency. Thankfully she didn't seem to be in much pain from it but it was raw and the last thing we wanted was our little girl to suffer!  We are just glad we were able to figure out the cause so quickly because it was the only change in our routine.  Speaking of routine, Ella has been giving us some 6 hour stretches of sleep at night!

Monday morning we had orientation for Ella's daycare that is located on base. She will be starting this coming Monday!  It sounds like Ms. Julia will be here primary caregiver/teacher. We were very impressed with everything at the facility and think Ella will do great and get a lot of interaction with other children as she grows up. They have cute names for each room there and her room is called Little Explorers. So far she made a good impression on staff and they just adored her in all her cuteness. Let's just hope it stays that way! ;)

Thursday Ella was supposed to do her 2 month wellness and vaccines but we got called Tuesday night to move it to September 4th. Long story short, scheduling screw up on the office's end. At least we can delay the "torture" but now we might have a sore baby and a temporarily "blind" daddy/husband the same day.

Ella doesn't start daycare until Monday so Friday when Julie had her first day back, a co-worker of Curtis' and his wife watched Ella for us.  They have a little boy that is just a little older than Ella, Orion, and they watched her and took care of her for us.  It really helped to have such great friends watching her on Julie's first day back.  It also made the day easier when they sent Julie some of these ADORABLE pictures!  Needless to say, Julie and Ella will probably have lots of play dates with Orion and his mommy when we move into our new place because they will be about two blocks away!

First Sleepover

Orion & Ella Holding Hands

At one point, they went and laid the babies down on opposite sides of the pack and play to get a bottle ready for Ella and when they came back, she had wiggled her way over to Orion and was snuggling up in the crook of his arm.  Later, they ended up holding hands while they were sleeping.  I think we might be in some trouble if she's already picking up the boys at 7 weeks old!  It was such a cute picture that it really helped to brighten up Julie's day and gave her a really good laugh.  When Curtis saw the picture, he also laughed but he ended up picking Ella up after work and gave Orion and Ella a brief lecture that it was too early to start dating!  ;)

MILESTONE ALERT!!
Sunday afternoon, Ella did her first roll from tummy to back!  She has been pretty close but her arm always gets in the way for her.  Curtis picked her up and laid her back down with her arms under her instead of at her sides and she rolled over like it was no big deal!  Now we just have to see if she keeps it up!

Hi!!

Julie

Julie's first day of work in her new position was Friday.  It was a rough morning since Julie ended up dropping Ella off at our friends since there was a last minute schedule change for Curtis but this next week should be easier as she will be in charge of pick up followed by LOTS of snuggles!
This next week will be an in-service week with quite a few meetings but still no students.  There are a lot of changes this school year and Julie is sad to see some staff changing schools but also knows it's a great opportunity for each of them.  Julie got to re-meet and work with the new librarian purging a lot of old files and stuff left behind in their desks.  It will take awhile but Julie and the new librarian are determined to make the space their own.  There are a LOT of ideas and it won't be easy but Julie is very excited for the school year.  If anyone has any ideas to get high school kids excited about reading or into the library, feel free to message Julie!

Curtis

Curtis had his Pre-opt appointment for his eye surgery on Tuesday morning. He got his eyes dilated and got to wear the fun "sunglasses" which is the hot new style these days! Haha :) Sorry, no pictures of that...don't want to start a spousal photo war!  During the appointment Julie and Ella got to walk around the hospital since children are not allowed at the appointment and they tried to go see Nurse Beth who took care of us in the Mother and Baby Unit but unfortunately she leaves at 7AM. Hopefully she enjoyed her surprise of a thank you and picture from all of us when she came in the next day. Curtis had a few tests done and also had his eyes numbed; the tests were pretty interesting aside from the usual ones. One of the best parts was that the glaucoma test wasn't the annoying puff of air!!  After he was all done he was having a pretty hard time seeing anything within arms length. Next appointment Curtis will meet the team, get all the info,  and find out which type of surgery he will get, PRK or LASIK. We are hoping for LASIK but either way he will get better eyesight!

There isn't anything too exciting to report for Curtis and work but that isn't necessarily a bad thing either!

Moving Day
Moving day is quickly approaching!  August 30th and 31st we will be moving about 10-15 minutes down the road from where we are currently.   We have been packing up the little things and hope to move all of that Friday night and leave the bigger things for Saturday morning when we should be having quite a few friends and co-workers of Curtis' coming over.  We are all very excited to be going to our new place and having more room!  We tried our best to send out our new address via email and Facebook but if for some reason we missed you or the messages didn't reach you, please let us know!

6 Weeks and Growing

Ella

She continues to do well and grow like a weed. The transition to her crib seems to be going well and hopefully will continue that way. Some of Ella's longer night stretches are 3.5-5 hours long and as she's getting ready to wake up for the day they tend to decrease to 2-2.5 hours.  Even the shorter spurts aren't too bad but we are still taking it all one night at a time and trying to not get too excited since we know her schedule is always changing. Ella's little rash has been clearing up really well with the cream we got from the doctor and we will continue to keep an eye on it. Bath times continue to go well and we catch Ella kicking her feet in the water! Julie is ready to get her in the water at the pool to kick around more and get used to the water.  Julie was anxious to get her in the water before she was even born!  Ella had sunblock and a long sleeve rash guard shirt before she even arrived and the only thing missing is a swim bottom!  Ella had her first non family babysitter on Wednesday while Julie went to sign her papers for school and she seemed to do pretty well for the 3.5 hours with minor fussy moments! We also got the call Thursday about an opening for daycare on base!!  It will be sad to have her there but we know it will be beneficial to get her used to it and socializing early. At least she will be just a few blocks from daddy! ;)

Watchful Kitty

Roomies <3

Tummy Time

Getting Stronger

Julie

Julie had her onboarding for her new position on Wednesday and is officially the new Library Media Assistant at Bayside High School (once the school board approves it at their next meeting)!!  This is the same school she was a permanent substitute at this past year and first day back for staff is August 23rd with the students starting September 3rd.  Friday, Julie had her 6 week postpartum check and is all clear!  That means the swimming pool is officially okay and she can lift over 20lbs again!!  It's the little things ;) Mostly she's excited to not have restrictions anymore and that she can maybe get Ella in the pool to splash her feet around before we move.  For now, Julie is enjoying snuggle time before going back to work. 

Our Peaceful Sleeper

Curtis

Curtis had an adjusted schedule Monday through Wednesday which was kind of nice but having to go back to the early mornings Thursday and Friday were not as enjoyable. Give and take!  This coming Tuesday he has his first Pre-op appointment for eye surgery (LASIK or prk) which is exciting but nervous. His surgery will either take place on September 3rd or 4th but we will keep you informed!  

Daddy and Ella

The Spit-Up Club

Meet the co Vice-Presidents, Curtis and Julie. 

Want to join?  No applications needed.  

Inductions performed by President Ella with special picture ceremony to follow. 

1st Inductee

2nd Inductee

A Growing Baby

Ella
Ella has been doing really well lately and sleeping 2-4 hours at a time.  Okay, we spoke too soon, Ella was NOT a happy camper last night but at least she waited until Thursday night instead of the middle of the week. Mommy and Daddy are VERY tired and hoping if this is a growth spurt that it goes quickly. We are slowly making the transition to her crib from the pack and play's bassinet.  We each got what we are calling her first real smile on Wednesday. Julie got hers during the morning and Curtis not long after being home. We are both anxious to hear her laugh but are hoping its not an evil laugh like some of the noises she already makes!!  All in good time!  She is picking her head up more and more each day and getting more control as she looks side to side. She prefers tummy time on our chests instead of on her mat but we will keep trying. She still seems agitated when she can't move, or it could be gas ; ) She did great in the bumpo seat and really impressed us with her control and not fussing!  We can tell her eyes are starting to focus more as she gets a little distracted at times.  All in all, she's making great progress!

As some of you may know, when Ella was born there was concern that she may have a false anus. When she was born the doctors noticed it was closer to her vagina than "normal" and have been monitoring her since. The head of GI, pediatric surgery, and possibly a few other department heads all saw her before we left the hospital and decided there was nothing to worry about but just to monitor it as she gets bigger. The main concerns at the moment are infections, especially as she gets older. She had her 1 month follow up with the pediatric surgeon on Wednesday morning and everything seems to be okay minus a rash. Ella will continue to see the pediatric surgeon in conjunction with her wellness checks and eventually may go to the OR for some testing at 6 months or after to make sure the muscles down there are properly working and everything truly is okay. As of now, everything is definitely working down there for Miss Ella, sorry for the future embarssment, and we don't have any reason to be concerned. In the mean time, we need to try and get this tiny rash cleared up and keep enjoying our baby girl!  And for those curious, Ella weighed in at 10lbs 2 oz and she was measured at 20.5" which we aren't sure of because at 2 weeks she was 20.75" and each office did a different method for measuring. Either way, we have a growing, healthy, and happy baby!  Her next wellness appointment is in a couple weeks (day before Julie goes back to work) where she will get 3 shots and 1 oral vaccine and the next pediatric surgeon visit won't be until November. We aren't looking forward to the vaccines but we are hoping she will do great with them like she did at birth. 

Julie

Julie has been relaxing when she can and has been able to get a little more done during the day when Ella naps. Other than mild pain at her spinal and epidural site, she is doing well and is excited to hopefully get the all clear from the doctor next week at her appointment. She has been anxious to run which is unusual but that's okay because it's motivation and she'll take it! Julie will also have her onboarding meeting for school next week where she will get to fill out paperwork for her new position and apparently be bored to death about the healthcare she won't need...unless it covers chiropractic again!  Julie has also been working to get prepared for Ella to go to daycare or have a friend watch her until she is placed into base daycare and getting a good supply of milk frozen and stored. That is currently her biggest "fear" of not sending Ella with enough milk but it will be trial and error and we will get it figured out. 

Curtis

Curtis has been working pretty hard these days as his shift at work is under manned compared to what it normally is. He is constantly running around and when he gets to come home and stop moving for awhile, he is glad to be there. And when he gets silly faces from Ella, even better!  Curtis is waiting to hear about Officer Candidate School selections but won't hear anything until sometime in September. Fingers crossed even though it will mean some time a part but it will be extremely worth it in the end! 

Congratulations Jim!

Jim, Curtis' brother, recently became a Chief Petty Officer (CPO) Selectee!  Jim has been working VERY hard for this for years and soon we will get to call him Chief Spencer!  Even though he is on deployment, we still got to congratulate him by email and will be sending a care package, shhh! Don't tell! ; ) CONGRATULATIONS AOC SPENCER!! We are very proud of you and love you!!

Video Clip of Ella and Curtis' Playtime!! 
**8/12/13 Video should be working now, sorry about that!!**

She is much cuter when she is sleeping!

One Month Old

One Month Old :)

Ella and Family Visitors

Ella had more visitors this past week/end! "Grandpa" and "Grandma" Rodhouse came to see Miss Ella and we suppose they wanted to see us too ;) while they were here we got to give tours of NAS Oceana (Curtis' base) and Norfolk (Jim's base when in port). We also got to check out Route 58 Deli and had HUGE sandwiches. The deli was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. If you ever get a chance when in Virginia Beach, check it out because it is delicious!!

"Grandpa & Grandma" Rodhouse

Jerry & Diane's Reuben Sandwich

 

 

Julie's BLT

Curtis' Super Reuben Knish

Ella

Ella is still picking her head up but even more and for longer periods of time. While we have her on our chests, she tries to "stand" or push off and use her legs more. It seems like she is trying to move but can't yet and frustrates her a little.  She is getting stronger every day! Her smiles seem to be more reactive and less reflexive and you can can tell she is slowly able to focus on our faces a little more this week.  Ella is battling baby acne which is looking better every day.  As of now, it doesn't look like she's lost or gained any hair but it does have a mind of its own at times!  Bath nights go pretty well around here but diaper changes still come with crying.  Sleeping at night has slowly been getting better with 2.5-3 hour stretches which we hope continues amd even increases but we will take it one step at a time!  We have a happy and healthy baby :)

Béla

Béla has been adjusting VERY well!! We are very proud of our little fur baby :)  Julie has noticed that Béla will show concern when Ella starts to cry or stir but sometimes we still find her running out of the room. She just got her yearly shots and did a great job. We do have to keep an eye on her weight as she is down a pound from last year but still healthy. We found out that the distemper is now a 3 year shot and next summer will be the renewal of her 3 year rabies shot. This means 2 years off for Béla and shots after next summer!! Lucky girl :)

Moving Update

We are slowly getting ready for our move down the road at the end of the month. Books and fine china are packed up with our overflow in storage. It sounds like we have a lot of helpers that will be coming out to help us move!  We do have our new address so if you would like it, just get a hold of one of us or leave a comment here with where you'd like us to send you the info (text, email, fb, etc.)  We are starting to get pretty excited about the extra space we will have but a little sad to be losing the fitness center and pool in the community. Where we will be moving is right across from the Army Reserve base we go to for the beach so it isn't a terrible trade off!  One other advantage to moving again is downsizing on stuff we don't use!  Anyone need a gas dryer?! ;) At least this move we are all together and in the same place!

Pictures to Enjoy

 

 

 

"I got gas!"

Snuggle Bug

Ahhhhh!!!!!!!

Ready to tour base with my "purse"