Eleanor Amelia

0k I started this right after she was born but I was waiting to add pictures and I guess I was just really busy you know having 3 kids.

Eleanor Amelia Bell is such a perfect little baby! I couldn't be more blessed! She is so sweet! I really couldn't ask for a better baby

Eleanor on her blessing day. My mom worked hard on her lovely dress! (Photo cred goes to my SIL Tomi Ann)

 

yawn!

found this nice basket at DI and thought it would be a good photo prop

sleeping beauty

first family photo



Birth Story: At 38 weeks (wed) I had my membrane stripped, I was at a 2 which is how I was with Libby. I was totally convinced I would go into labor the next day like I did before.  The next night I was having contractions! Yay! Then they went away. On Friday Richard and I went on our last date before Eleanor arrived and Richard made me walk through the entire Ikea. I was having some contractions again and really wanted to sit down but also wanted to not be pregnant anymore. I stuck it through and more contractions during the night... still no baby though. My parents got there Saturday and then finally Monday around 3 am I realized the contractions were regular. I downloaded a contraction counter app and tracked them all night and finally made Richard get up at 7 when they were 3-4 min apart. We got to the hospital around 8 am and I was immediately admitted and then they started me on antibiotics (I was group b strep positive). After a few hours they broke my water and I eventually got an epidural. Penny came and taught us how to play farkle and we played cards. I went from s 7.5 to 10 pretty fast. When it was time to push the dr told me she could see a good head of hair. I only pushed a few times and she was here! Less than 10 minutes!  I was amazed. The cord was around her neck 2x and she was very purple. It was a little scary even though the dr assured us she was fine. We had to stay an extra day because of the strep thing (she didn't catch it but they have to make sure no symptoms show up)

Eleanor with the men who helped with the blessing. (Chad, grandpa Hill, Richard, & Ryan)

sweet baby toes



Father-Daughter picture

One of the times Richard was visiting and we were playing cards we looked over and Eleanor was staring at us from the bassinet thing. It was so cute. She was just watching quietly with those big beautiful eyes

I think she looks the most like I did as a baby compared to Liberty and Elliot. She has chubbier cheeks like me. She was 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long. At 4 days old she was already almost back to her birth weight. By 2 weeks (when they want them to be back at  birth weight) she was 8 lbs 9 oz! The dr was very impressed. She is a super efficient eater, way faster than I remember the other 2 and obviously getting enough. She sleeps pretty good still too. Some nights I only get up once! It's great.

Libby and Elliot both love her a lot! Many mornings Elliot asks "hold baby girl?" first thing. It's cute. He gives her kisses and lets me know "mommy's turn" when he is done.

grandma and aunt Diane and ivory visiting

welcome home!

watching us play cards at the hospital

Libby holding her baby sister for the first time

waiting for Eleanor to make her debut

ready to go

almost 38 weeks

Getting ready to meet our baby girl. Last Wednesday I was 2 cm dilated, we'll see if I've changed much tomorrow. I can't really think of anything else to do to get ready. Both kids rooms are decorated, we have diapers and anything else we should need. We rearranged and actually decorated our room so there is room for the bassinet and rocking chair. The baby seems to have dropped down so my ribs aren't so sore, which is nice. I feel ready and nervous at the same time. I'm kinda afraid it've forgotten how to have a baby since Elliot was so different; I never even felt contractions (epidural was in before so my blood pressure wouldn't go any higher) and I didn't push at all-he sorta slid out being so small. I'm sure ill remember just fine and it will go great, but I am still nervous for labor. I actually had to go to labor and delivery Saturday because I was super swollen and couldn't get it to go down, which is a sign of preeclampsia. My blood pressure was fine though so they just monitored me and baby for 45 min and sent me home. They want me to be extra cautious though, so every little thing is important.

Summer in pictures

So I finally uploaded some pictures! This post will probably be pretty random...

Libby took a pic of me and Elliot and it actually turned out pretty cute

Richard in our front room/Music room shortly after moving in

We got a badminton set for our awesome backyard. We've gone through like 20 birdies this summer 

Elliot is helping Tim out

Grandma and Grandpa Hill sent "flat grandparents" and a story for the kids. We haven't  been very good about remembering to take them on adventures, but the kids sure love playing with them when we find them

Elliot wouldn't let Libby have a turn holding flat grandma

Went and fed the ducks a few times. This is a really pretty park

Loving the swings

One of my favorite things Libby learned this summer is how to pump her legs on the swings! I just give her a good starting push and she is good for quite awhile.

Elliot is afraid of slides by himself this summer, but loves to go with Daddy

Libby testing her climbing skills

They had a nice good snuggle before we left

Took the kids to watch Richard's soccer game and Elliot slept through the whole thing

Father's Day after church

Handsome boys

Touring Adobe with Perkins and Egans

Elliot watching Daddy play soccer

Libby watching a movie instead of watching the soccer game

We had a Jurassic Park movie marathon with Thomas and Mary Mann. The kids seemed to enjoy it

Some of our old buddies from Rexburg who also live in Utah met up with us at the splash park! Elliot was too busy to sit for a picture and apparently none of the kids wanted to look at the camera

Loving the water

Backyard sprinkler fun

Elliot thought the play ladle was a good cup

Taking a sand break. Not sure if you can see the glittery sand. Libby thought it needed to be prettier and dumped a container of glitter in there

Elliot goes through hat obsessions and a couple times has insisted on wearing them to bed

Pre 4th of July celebration with the Egans and Perkins

Insisted on sleeping together in Elliot's toddler bed. Very snug.

We got a pool and of course the kids must ride the daddy boat. unfortunately our grass has not recovered from having a pool there for 3 days....We have plans to put it on the patio with some padding under. We need to pump it up again though

4th of July with Chad's family and some neighbors

Richard somehow didn't realize that he bought like 30 tanks but it worked out, the boys loved driving the used ones around afterward. Elliot wouldn't give his up for a few days.

Isaac and Cody doing sparklers.

little fish

Today after church the kids were eating otter pops and Richard and I were hanging in the living room (which leads to the backyard). The door was open so the kids could eat outside. After Elliot was done I asked Richard if Elliot had gone outside and to see what he was doing. We have a little kiddie pool that still had a couple inches of water from yesterday and Richard looked out and said "yep, Elliot went outside. He is getting naked by the pool." He was down to a diaper and working on the last sock. It was pretty funny. Richard made him put swim shorts on which are somehow too big around (12-18mon size). They lasted about 5 minutes before falling completely off and Elliot continued to play in the nude. It was funny. He loves water so much! He kept laying down in the water and pretending to swim and then he'd switch to his back. He doesn't care if his face gets wet at all, which is awesome but also scary. He doesn't seem to have much fear which makes me glad we don't have a real pool. 

still in the oven

I just wanted to point out I am NOT in the hospital. And that is awesome. This time in my pregnancy last time around I may have been convinced I was dying in the hospital and had Elliot the next day. I have had some weird, uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms but we're pushing through. Probably about a month left, I keep having to remind myself that it's not that much longer and no matter how uncomfortable and gigantic I feel, we're glad the bun is still in the oven!

Talent show and film festival videos

our little Liberty was so brave and sang in the ward talent show! When daddy said he was doing it, she wanted to too, we didn't think she'd go through with it though. We both thought she'd chicken out when she got up there but she proved us wrong.




For the Bell Family reunion we had a little film festival, all the videos were awesome, hopefully the other videos are posted. Here is our submission featuring Libby and Elliot. I took some random footage of the kids and Penny and Richard did an amazing job of editing it all together. I was surprised at how they put it together so well.

28 week pregnancy update

We have hit the 3rd trimester of pregnancy now!  I am now 29 weeks but at 28 weeks we got a peek at Miss Eleanor. She looked quite comfy all stretched out in there. She is measuring at the right size and I am no longer partial previa so a c section isn't required! Yay. I had a bunch of tests done and I passed the diabetes, platelet count, and liver tests! Another yay! My blood pressure was also really good. The only not so great thing was my iron was low. They'll check it again next time and might put me on a supplement. I wish I liked leafy greens, like at all, so I could get my iron and increase veggies, but I find them generally repulsive, I can only stand small amounts of lettuce on sandwiches. Anyways, fingers crossed I keep passing my tests.

I am getting anxious to be done with this pregnancy though. I have had horrible heartburn lately and I am very uncomfortable all the time. I've made some cute things for the baby's room too which make me excited to decorate. Her room is being used as a temporary workspace though. I am a vendor at the Wonderland boutique June 6-7 so I have been working like crazy. Richard is gone a lot of nights and I don't like being down in the basement while the kids sleep. (not used to this big house I guess). I feel like I haven't done nearly enough for the boutique but I have worn myself out, plus trying to get ready for the Bell family reunion and generally have fun with my kids, iI think I may finish the last few I have cut out and call it good. One of my aprons will be on TV on Tuesday. I don't really know any details, but the boutique is getting a shout out and my Elsa dress up apron will be featured. Woohoo, almost famous!

Sorry no house pics yet! We're getting our couch delivered on Tuesday, so we have to wait for that and we just barely got the desktop to connect to the internet and that's where I like to do anything with pictures (i'm way too lazy to look for the USB camera cord, I'd rather just stick the card into the card reader). For now you can see random pics on Facebook/Instagram.

Also hopefully soon we'll have a video of Libby singing in the ward talent show. I'm so proud of her, she really did awesome! We didn't know she'd be so brave!