4 months and cuter than ever!!!

Dear BauerMan,

I can't believe how fast these first 4 months have gone! You are an absolute joy. You are my little miracle baby-- I didn't know if I would ever be able to have a baby of my own. I promised Heavenly Father that I would be happy with any baby if He'd just give me one. He did not just give me any baby, He gave me you. I LOVE being your mom. Some of the greatest moments in my life have come while holding you in my arms.

Thank you for being so strong during the trials of your first couple weeks of your life. Thank you for your smiles and your laughs. Thank you for being so happy and easy going. Thank you for brightening many-a-days. Thank you for being patient with me as I learn this whole Mom thing. Thank you mostly for being You.

I love you more than you can ever imagine. Everyday with you gets better. I love you-- happy 4 month birthday Bauer!

Tired Mommy!

(I ran across this picture while looking for a good one of Bauerman sleeping and brought back a flood of feelings from Bauer's first couple weeks of life~ I can't believe how much he's changed in 4 short months!!! so precious!)

Let me preface this little post by saying that Bauer man is such a good baby! He's even becoming easier lately-- he sleeps super good in his carseat while I run in and out of HomeDepot, CFM and Miller Paint. He's been loving this little mat thing my mom has that has the toys over it. Yesterday he even fell asleep just laying there. But he's still not sleeping very good at night.
He'll usually go 3 or 4 hours til 2am, then it's anywhere from 30 min. to 2 hours after that. When he goes 3 hours he wakes up and has a good eating-- if he's hungry, I'm OK with it-- being a month early, I'm so glad he's growing-- but lately he hasn't been really eating very good when he wakes up; instead he smiles, laughs, and talks to me--VERY CUTE but it's not helping my lack of sleep problem. My tiredness has slowly turned to exhaustion and with the stresses of buying and remodeling this house, Andrew's long hours and other everyday stresses. It especially bothers me because as hard as I try, it's effecting the type of wife I am being. Andrew is super patient with me, but I find myself a little more short tempered, a little more sensitive, and a little more naggy (or A lot of all of those things...) I don't want to be that wife and Andrew sure as heck doesn't deserve it!
I've read most of Good Sleep Habits, Happy Baby and liked it-- Bauer's taking better naps in his crib during the day and he goes to bed around 7. I don't have trouble getting him to sleep really...
I don't really know what advice I am looking for...or maybe none at all. I know every baby is different and some just don't sleep fantastic (Bauer sure has many other endearing qualities!!) Some ladies I got together with from my ward on Friday night were talking about BabyWise-- i had never heard of it, but thought maybe some of you (or the 3 of you that look at my blog) may have. I heard it's a little intense, but would you recommend it? what parts did you find particularly helpful? I've started to let him cry it out a little here and there (i was hesitant to do so before now since he had the crying/breathing issues at the beginning) and I'm not opposed to it if that's the training that works best, but I just want to make sure I'm following a plan and doing it right if I'm going to start it.
Maybe my answer is just-- your a mom now, get use to it...and if that's the price I pay for having the extreme pleasure and blessing of being Bauer's mom, than I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING-- not even a full or even half night's sleep!

Bauer wanted to say hi...

A MUCH overdue update!

Hello!! I seriously can't believe how bad I've been at blogging since we moved! Bad is actually an understatement. I've actually been bad at taking pictures period! But I've resolved to take at least one picture a day so hopefully that will have a positive affect on my blogging habits!

So some quick highlights of recent happens with the Ellis Fam:

-- We bought a house! We are set to close October 23rd on this great little duplex in Sherwood, Oregon (about 20 minutes from my family.) We absolutely love and can't wait to get in there. It was a foreclosure so it needs a good cleaning-- along with some other small remodeling projects. We're redoing the kitchen (new countertops, refacing the cabinets, brick layers backsplash, and building a pantry,) taking out a window above the fireplace and mounting a tv, recarpeting upstairs and repainting throughout. Andrew working for a contractor is working out great for us right now as you can imagine! It's got a great yard and is just steps away from a super cute park. We've already started going to our new ward and we absolutely love it! We couldn't be more excited! Pictures to come!

--Andrew's job is going great! He loves going to work and the business is making lot of progress. We like to think their success is attributed to Andrew's hard work! :)

--I love being Bauer's mom. When I'm not playing, changing or feeding him, I like the scrapbook and as of late, shopping for things for the house. I'm healthy and happy- life couldn't be better!

--Bauer is 3 1/2 months now and growing like a weed, about as fast as our love for him! At his 2 month checkup which happened to be closer to 3 months (thank you insurance!) he weighed 11 lbs 3 ounces and was 23 inches long. He can sleep good at night but most of the time chooses to hang with mom every 3-4 hours. I can't complain-- if I'm going to have to lose sleep, there's nothing I'd rather be doing than cuddling with my little man! He does not like to be in the craddle position anymore except for the purposes of going to sleep-- he loves to look around at everything. He likes to talk and he even graduated from just smiling to laughing yesterday when he was playing with his Dad. He is the joy of our lives and we love him to pieces! ok now for the pictures...

At Bauer's blessing Labor Day weekend.

Little Man with Grandma and Grandpa Ellis who came all the way from Virginia for his blessing!

Buds at his first Blazer game. As you can see he was a little over stimulated and very surprised at how big the players are in real life. Thanks Papa & Grammy for letting us have the tickets to the first pre-season game!

Showin' off his good looks for the camera!

"How big is Bauer?" "SOOO BIG!"

His newest learned skill? Drooling uncontrollably! His dad would be proud to have you know in this picture, mommy was trying to play with him but he was too busy watching sportscenter to give mom the time of day! They start soo young!

"Sunday naps on dad are my very favorite!"

So-- there will be no more of these whirlwind updates. Instead I promise to post more frequently so my posts aren't so long!