Sunday, October 14, 2012

Time sure flies when you are having fun!

I knew it had been a while since I blogged, but didn't realize that it has been over 3 months!  So much has happened for the whole family!  I guess having two kids has kept us busy!

Well, I guess I will start in chronological order, so this post will be about July.  For July 4th, we headed over to Panama City Beach to hang out with Pops and go swimming.  I actually didn't end up with too many pictures, but I have one of Ensley in her cute fourth of July outfit!


Sorry for the pic quality - it was taken on my cell phone.

And one of Caden and Daddy swimming...

From 2012_07_04

Ensley had her two month check up.  She weighed 12 lbs 4oz and 23 3/4 inches long.  85% for weight and 91% for height.  I'm so used to Caden being off the charts, but she is still a big girl!

Later in July, Ensley got to take her first vacation (her previous road trips to Charleston don't count :)).  We packed up the whole fam damily and headed to The Hammock Beach Resort.  It was great.  Ensley relaxed in style by the pool...

From 2012_07_17


A little ice cream poolside...
From 2012_07_17
And Caden would not stay out of the pool with daddy and his cousins!





Then, Nana came up to meet us and we headed to Charleston to visit Uncle Ryan and Aunt AJ and to attend the Johnson Family reunion.  Ensley also had her second appointment with the Dr. in Charleston about her hemangioma.  He did another laser treatment and then said we'll have to wait and see until her next appointment.  So no real update there on the hemangioma.

We were even able to catch a quick visit with Aunt Nancy and Uncle David (my mom's side).

From 2012_07_21
Aunt AJ entertained Caden on Aunt Nancy's porch so I didn't have a heart attack if he touched and broke anything...


From 2012_07_21
Griffith became our photographer for the day, so I actually made it in a picture or two...


From 2012_07_21
From 2012_07_21
From 2012_07_21
Scary...Aunt Nancy gave the kids the keys to the golf cart to entertain themselves...

From 2012_07_21
Great to see Aunt Nancy and Uncle David!

Then we headed to the Johnson family reunion.  It was great to see all of our family on the Johnson side...some we had not seen in 20 years.  Here's some pictures that my Uncle sent to me from that day...

My dad's brothers from left to right, Uncle Dicky, Uncle Don, and Uncle Ted.


Ensley meeting Uncle Don and cousin David, with cousin Griffith helping to attend to her...


All of the Al Johnson family (minus Albert and Scott).  And poor Griffith got cut off...


The family tree that Aunt Clarasue worked so hard on.  Ensley even made it on there!
From 2012_07_21
Robert and our cousin Warren.
From 2012_07_21
Jen and Uncle Dicky.
From 2012_07_21
Caden didn't make it through the day, but fell asleep at the reunion and took a nap on Aunt AJ.
From 2012_07_21
Mom and Uncle Ted.
From 2012_07_21
After we got back to Uncle Ryan and Aunt AJ's house, Griffith continued to be the photographer...
From 2012_07_21
Then I took the camera back and snapped a few cute ones myself... The boys with Ensley.
From 2012_07_21
From 2012_07_21
Aunt Candy holding Ensley.
From 2012_07_21
All 5 of the Johnson grandkids!
From 2012_07_21
Then we rushed home to celebrate Daddy's birthday! Happy 35th Birthday, Daddy!
From 2012_07_25

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Ensley's first month and a half...

Ensley Anne is now almost 7 weeks old. There are so many pictures and things to catch up on!

Grammie stayed with us until Ensley was 1 week old. Then, we were alone until Nana got there the following Saturday. They were both such big helps!

During Ensley's first few weeks of life, she was a pretty good baby. She only really cried when she was hungry or when she had gas. Not that she is a bad baby now :), but she loves to be held, swaddled, and in constant motion...She loves to be in the baby bjorn most of the time or swaddled in her swing. She hates red lights!

Her big brother is still in love with her. He loves talking to her and kissing her. His voice goes up about an octave when he talks to her and it always starts with "um, hi, um hello". Not sure why, but that's how all of his conversations with her start. He likes to put her paci in, although we are still working on being gentle with it and even tried to pick her up once when she was crying (mommy ran down the hallway yelling Noooooooooooo and we all survived that one).
From 2012_05_28
After our first sponge bath at home...3 days old. She screamed most of the time.
From 2012_05_16
Eyes open - 11 days old...
From 2012_05_24
Great Grandmother, Uncle Andy, and Aunt Marilyn came to visit - 12 days old, right after she was done with her newborn photo shoot.
From 2012_05_25
Very comfy laying on my daddy at 2 weeks old!
From 2012_05_27
Nana came just in time to help with her first real bath...and look how her hair curls up!
From 2012_05_28
From Collages
Aunt Jen, Kaley, and Drew came to visit while Nana was here...Here are the Johnson grandkids (minus Griffith - we'll see him in a few weeks, so I will get a picture with all 5). Drew was not very excited that he was holding Ensley...but I assured him he would not break her :).
From 2012_06_03
Kaley and Ensley
From Collages
Nana and her granddaughters
From 2012_06_03
Aunt Carly and Jack came to visit, but we didn't get any pictures of that one...next time !

Sweet face...
From 2012_06_08
We called Caden "crazy haired Caden", but Ensley is giving him a run for his money. Scott and I produce large children with lots of hair!
From 2012_06_14
Mommy is definitely having fun playing dress up with a little girl! Loving all of her hair bows and flowers!
From 2012_06_15
From 2012_06_25
One night after her bath, I put her little hat on. Well, big brother said he needed his hat on, too. I had to take a picture!
From 2012_06_26
Then this morning, he said, he wanted to take a rest with "his baby".
From 2012_06_29
He calls her "his baby". He yells to me "Mommy, my baby is crying, get her some food". And makes sure to tell everyone we see that "babies can't talk yet and that's why she cries". And then he says "he woves to kiss his baby's tiny feet". And yes, I hope that they will read this someday and get embarrassed (just a little).

You may have noticed that Ensley has a birthmark right under her left eye. It's a hemangioma that popped out about 1 week after she was born. I have done a lot of research on them and we have opted to treat it early on. Unfortunately, there is not a doctor near us that treats them! So, Ensley was referred to a plastic surgeon in Charleston, Sc. Luckily, Uncle Ryan and Aunt AJ live there. So, Ensley and Mommy made her first road trip when she was 5 weeks old. We stopped often, but we eventually made it. Ensley had her first appointment and received her first pulsed dye laser treatment. After the treatment, you will notice a little scab on top of it. It fell off and now we are set to go back every 4 weeks for the next 3 or 4 months to receive a treatment. We are hoping that is responds positively to the treatment and does not grow anymore. The Dr. said that by the time she is 2, we should never even know it was there! Wish us luck!

We got in a quick pic with Uncle Ryan before we left...
From 2012_06_19
Other little facts...Her first night in South Carolina, she slept 5 1/2 hours! Her longest streak yet! Now, at almost 7 weeks, she slept 7 hours last night! Woohoo! Sorry, for all of the exclamation points, but that's exciting to a tired mommy. At about 6 weeks old, she started to find her voice and coos and smiles when you talk to her sweetly :). And her stats at her one month check up were: weight: 10 lbs 8oz. (80% percentile), height 23 inches (97% percentile).

Random pictures...
From Collages

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Ensley Anne has arrived!

Ensley Anne Harrell arrived on Mother's Day, May 13, 2012 at 12:56 P.M. at 8 lbs 14 oz., 22 1/2 inches long, and a head full of dark hair. Yes, you read that right, she was one big and long baby! We were all surprised about that considering the midwife just told Mommy on Thursday that she was estimating a 7-7.5 lb baby! Mommy started going into labor about 5 am Sunday morning. I timed the contractions for about an hour and a half before I woke Daddy up. I told him that I think we are going to have a baby today! We quickly gathered our stuff, called our friend, Tara, to come watch Caden and headed to the hospital. A funny side story is that Daddy didn't have any gas, so we had to stop and get gas on the way :).

Here are some quick pictures of our sweet little girl. We have been home for a day and big brother is still adjusting to not being the only one, but so far so good.

From 2012_05_13


From 2012_05_13


Grammie and Pops came by with big brother, Caden, when she was about an hour old.

From 2012_05_13


Note: His "big brother" tag that the hospital gave him.

From 2012_05_13


From 2012_05_13


From 2012_05_13


From 2012_05_13


From 2012_05_13


The nurses gave her a bow hat :).

From droid pictures


Here she is at two days old - the day we were discharged from the hospital. She was down to 8 lbs 5 oz. when we were discharged.

From 2012_05_15


From 2012_05_15


Ready to go for her ride home in her carseat.

From 2012_05_15


And here she is the morning after her first night home. First night was not so bad. Daddy bought her this fancy swaddle blanket and we probably need to read the directions since I don't think Mommy put it on very good :).


Big brother loves to kiss and hold her. He is so proud. She is the fifth grandchild on both sides. 1st girl on the Harrell side and 2nd girl on the Johnson side. More pictures to come of her first few days of life, but wanted to give a quick post for those that couldn't be near us to meet her.