Well we did it. We accomplished a half-cross country move from Dallas to Savannah. We are back in the south again...back to white cheese dip, Spanish Moss, Publix Subs, Braves games on TV on a summer night, stifling humidity, family and friends we love!! Not to say we don't miss our Texas friends (we could never forget you for a second). But, we are back in our ELEMENT! This is literally the first time I have sat down for an hour since my last blog over a month ago. Ella continues to prove that she is quite the personality! We never have a dull moment or any downtime around here. She is still about a 16 hour a day gig :) We love her just the way she is...but I had forgotten what it feels like to sit down and regroup. Miraculously she fell asleep at 7 tonight...it's now 8:15 and I'm expecting her to wake up any minute...but it's been a relaxing hour and a half. Ella is now 7 months old...can you believe it?? The colic is gone (the hysterical screaming) which has been a true blessing. Now we have "The Real Ella" and boy is she a trip. He's the 411 on Miss Bells...We call her Elles Bells or Bells a lot now:
1. She fights a nap like something fierce. You can tell she totally needs to nap, but she won't let herself...she fusses and cries, but by George she will not give in...until she PASSES out. She requires 3 cat naps a day...they are about 30 minutes each. Just enough for me to run around the house like a chicken with my head cut off to get something like laundry or dishes accomplished.
2. She still loves her jumperoo, BUT you have to sit on the couch and watch her bounce. If you don't, she will cry hysterically and throw her head back. I try to let her cry it out...but she's so determined sometimes I'm afraid she's going to do a backflip out of the jumperoo!
3. Ella loves to eat...girlfriend can put down some food. Her FAVORITE food is squash, followed by apple sauce, carrots, peaches, and pears. She also LOVES oatmeal. She gets that from me...Brent thinks oatmeal is disgusting. She's not such a fan of rice, but we sneak it in her bottle at night to help her sleep better...ha, it doesn't work, but for some reason we stick with it!!
4. Ella still wakes up at least once a night...sometimes three times a night. We think she's teething. It's like having a newborn all over again. I'm actually starting to feel sleep deprived again. We have to work on letting her cry it out, but our life has been so crazy with the move that we haven't started working on that yet.
5. She hates the feel of the sand on her feet. We've taken her to Tybee twice...once for her 6 month pictures with Lauren Bavaro :) and once one night after dinner. Ella cried most of the photo shoot, but Lauren took beautiful pictures any way. I'll add some to the blog when the disk comes in the mail. They were great! Any way, she freaked out when her feet hit the sand. She loves to feel textures, but sand was a major dislike.
6. Ella loves to swim! We took her swimming in St. Simons and she had the time of her life. Brent's parents got an awesome new condo there and we went a couple of weeks ago. We took her to the pool one evening and she LOVED LOVED LOVED it. I was so excited about this because both Brent and I grew up loving the water. I think we were both like little fish!! We are going to join a neighborhood pool here so Ella can continue swimming. I'm also signing up for mommy and me swim lesson with her. Can't wait to see how much fun she has!
7. Ella will be crawling any day now. She is scooting backwards and rocking back and forth. I think she's going to take off any minute. Time to baby proof the house!!
8. Ella loves to laugh and smile. She loves attention, she loves to be noticed, and she loves life. I hope she always stays so intrigued by the world. We love to watch her blue eyes light up as she discovers things like the kitchen timer, her tongue, and other children. It is an AMAZING blessing to watch her discover the world.
We are loving Savannah and are continually grateful for the life we have. I do have to reflect on a terrible tragedy. Recently, Brittney Fox Watts, an amazing woman that I went to high school with and had the privilege of being an AXO sorority sister with was murdered in a parking garage in Atlanta in what appears to be a random act of violence. I keep asking and so do so many others, why her?? She was an amazing, bright, gorgeous lover of life. She had everything going for her and it was taken away in an instant. I wasn't overly close with Brittney as I was a couple of years older, but I had the privilege of being her acquaintance. I have so many wonderful things to say about Brittney. Her smile lit up the room, she was funny, fun to be around, cared deeply for her wonderful husband and amazing friends. I knew all this about her from being just an acquaintance. I can't imagine what the people who were close to her are feeling right now. My thoughts and prayers go out to Brian, her family, and all her wonderful friends. It is truly a situation that those of us on Earth will never understand because it's just too tragic. I know that heaven got a beautiful angel and that the world is a little less bright without her in it. I know so many look forward to seeing her sweet face again in heaven. Brittney's story has shown me something over the past week... It is so important to live your life to the fullest and to make sure that you say what you need to say to all those you love. I am certain she did this. Because of her, I have tried to love my family and friends a little harder and to realize the beauty in the simple things in life. She left us with the lesson to embrace life and realize everyday is a gift. Each day seems a little more sweeter now because life is so fragile. Thank you, Brittney for leaving us with this lesson amidst such tragedy...you truly are an angel.
Hug the ones you love a little tighter, say I love you a little more, and do the things you never thought possible because we are not guaranteed anything on Earth. As believers we have heaven to look forward to which is such a magnificent blessing. But, while we're here we should be kind, loving, and always enjoying the now--just like Brittney did. I will try to blog more often and update everyone about Miss Ella. She's a character!! Love to all!
