Rolling On Through The Week

There hasn't been too much activity in the Fransen household since the last blog. After the "blizzard" weekend we return to our normal weekly routine. However, Gabe got to take advantage of us needing someone to watch Ella on Monday and worked from home with her. They apparently had a pretty explosive day....literally, I came home to a pile of clothes that Ella had either pooped or drooled on. Needless to say they were both still in great moods and had had a great time :).

The rest of the week went by pretty fast with work and all. Thursday night we took a family road trip out to Dunham's to find me a new putter and some golf clubs. Gabe was hold kids clubs up to Ella explaining that soon she would be out on the course with him. The scary part is that she was really fascinated with watching us putt in the store....just what I need, another golf-aholic :).

Friday night we laid low as a family and had a movie night which meant Ella and me fell asleep on the couch about 20 minutes into the movie while Gabe stayed up watching the entire thing :) Saturday morning Gabe and I went golfing in the rain and cold while my brother and his girlfriend came to watch Ella for the few hours. They couldn't believe how much she had changed in the couple of weeks since they had seen her last. She has really begun to drool EVERYWHERE and is so much more alert to her surrounds. She loves to grab at things now and especially love to play with other peoples hands while they are holding her.

Sunday we went out to Gabe's brother's house for a birthday party for him. All of Gabe's family was out there so it was great to see them all and for Ella to get to play with her cousins. She stayed up most of the time that we were there so she crashed pretty hard that night when we got home.

This week has been up and down for her with sleeping and eating. Seems like she is growing again because one day she will just much on the bottle and sleep most of the day and then the next she is back to her clock-work eating and napping normally again.

Yesterday was gorgeous out...almost 75 degrees, so Ella and I were outside or just out and about for most of the day. We went to visit the Mount Royal clinic where I used to work to take some pictures for my co-workers for work related stuff. A few of my former patients who are residents at the apartments stopped by to see her. Most of them had not seen me since I had first found out I was pregnant so poor Ella's cheeks were subjected to multiple pinches by these elderly women who wanted to eat her up.

We also went down to the boardwalk with my friend/co-worker Jill and walked for over an hour. It was so great to get outside and not have to bundle her up either. Needless to say both Ella and I crashed last night and slept in until 9am this morning. She has been sleeping a lot today but very happy and playing when she is up. She loves to play in her Bumbo chair with her toys on the tray now and is realizing she can bang things around on it (not too sure we are going to think that is so cute very soon).

She is also doing a great job on her tummy as you can see by the pictures. She is developing really well and is right on schedule with all of her gross motor milestones. This includes her starting to try to roll over. She has started to try to roll on her tummy from her back. We have been helping to show her how of course (punishment for her having a mom that is a pediatric therapist :) ) and she has been responding very well over the last couple days. In fact yesterday she started to initiate it all on her own!! She can get her upper body to start to roll, but can't quite get her legs to follow yet. She is so close that I am sure it will be withing the next week that she has it figured out. I really think that she's going to be up and running when she starts to move.

It's so great to have a great husband/dad like Gabe who is so eager to see her develop and so encouraging and supportive of her already! Its just as much fun to see how much he lights up when she smiles at him or does something new for him. I know both of us are excited for her to be able to start playing sports and activities, but at the same time we are just having so much fun seeing her grow and develop right now.

Well, Ella is starting to move around so I need to get ready to make goofy noises and funny faces for a while :) Hopefully the next blog we will have been out on the golf course and out in the sun!!!

Girls Weekend

Despite the blizzard we had to start this weekend it turn out to be a chilly but sunny, relaxing weekend for Ella and me. Gabe headed down to the Twin Cities for a bachelor party for our friend KK early Saturday morning for the weekend which left Ella and I for our girls weekend. I had originally planned to meet up with some friends in the Cities as well this weekend ,but things changed when all the nasty weather hit on Thurs/Friday...amazing how your plans change so quickly when a lil one is thrown into the mix.



So Ella and I met up with my friend/co-worker Jill on Saturday and did some shopping around town and went out for lunch. Ella loved riding around in her stroller and stayed awake for most of the trip while humoring us both as we held dozens of outfits up to her. She fell asleep while we were out to eat and pretty much slept pretty much the rest of the day when we got home. I joined her for a much needed nap when we got home and vegged out for the night with movies and snuggling.




Ella woke up bright and early this morning at 7:30 ready to play of course and was all smiles. We played for much of the morning in between me doing some laundry. After her bath I put her in a new outfit that I had bought for her at the Nike Outlet in Albertville about a month ago. Of course she wasted no time hamming it up for the camera as you can see.



Ella had another first today...she offically held her bottle all on her own for her feeding. She has propped with one hand before, but never actually grabbed at her bottle to hold it up before. She started to grab at it and I thought it was just a fluke, but even after her burpings she grabbed at it again to hold it up! I had to take a picture to show Gabe since he was out of town still. Notice again how she hams up and shows off for the camera :)


The rest of the day includes watching the Masters (golf) and continuing to veg out since tomorrow it's back to work again for me while Ella gets to stay home with Daddy for the day who will be working from home with her.

Ready For the Next Season

Well let's see....last Friday my close friend from college (pitcher on the softball squad), Azur, came over to visit us in the afternoon. Azur herself is pregnant and due the end of July so it was great to visit and talk with her about her pregnancy and everything to expect. Ella is so excited to meet her future teammate :) and I can't wait for Azur to be a "mommy" with me so we can have play dates!!

Over the weekend Ella had the joy of meeting my mom's best friend from high school, DeeAnn and her significant other Don. Both of which are very close family friends and we always enjoy when they come to visit...even though it isn't near enough! Friday night we had them, my parents and my brother and Jen over and we all just vegged out and visited which was great.

Saturday, Gabe, Ella, and I ventured over to Mille Lacs to a resort bright and early in the morning to get a "prize" that Gabe had one from a drawing....needless to say it was a pitch for a time share. To sum things up we worked them over and got a great weeks vacation next year for dirt cheap :)

Once we got home we met up with my family and friends down in Canal Park and did a little shopping. Sat night we did much of the same as Friday. One of my best friends from college, Diana, and her fiance, Jeff also stopped by to visit...it was Jeff's first time meeting Ella. Diana looked like a nature holding Ella :). Later that night Gabe and the guys tried to get a fire going....which they did, only to have it downpour/sleet on them :( . Us girls took a road trip up to Walmart and bought Ella a mobile for her crib and put it together. Ella loved it and went to sleep about 5 minutes after lying her down.

Sunday was a lazy day....Mom and Dad came over before they left town and watched Ella so we could go hit a couple bucket of balls at the Dome. Well...not sure how much they "watched" since they all took much needed naps. :) Much of the rest of the day was like this.

Well, it was the first week back to work for me since Ella was born. I was expecting it to be really hard and long, but it proved to only be a little hard and very long! My first day back I had a full day schedule, but all of my patients except for the last one of the day were no shows so I pretty much twiddled my thumbs all day which made it extremely long. Needless to say, it was great to see my co-workers again....missed their sarcasm and jokes :).

Ella spent Monday with Jen (my brother's girlfriend) who will also help watch her on Fridays and Tuesdays she will be hanging out with Grandma Louise (Gabe's mom). She did really well for both of them and they both survived. Louise got a taste of Ella's frequent diaper changing, having changed her diaper only to have her poo in that one while she was buttoning up her outfit.

Ella has really begun to suck on her fingers/hand lately. It's funny because she tries to put her pacifier in her mouth with her hands, but gets frustrated and ends up putting her hands in. She hasn't rolled over since her first experience a couple weekends ago, but she continues to try to army crawl. She is also holding her head up higher while on her tummy.

Well, the "season" has begun...for those of you who don't know, that means baseball. Ella has already been corrupted with the Yankees plague. Her father and Grandfather (Ron) are well....a bit obsessed with the Yankees and Gabe has every intention of passing this disease onto his first born. If that's not bad enough, others have begun to support them...including my great aunt who got Ella this T-shirt (pictured) and also a Yankees pacifier. Gabe's former college teammate, Jake, got her a pink Yankee hat, which the way her head is growing will probably fit her next week! Needless to say, Grandpa Ron and Gabe were very happy to see she is fitting into her T-shirt and supporting the Yanks, despite their slow start this season.



Well for those of you outside of Minnesota or anywhere warmer than here, you might have heard that we are in the middle of a blizzard right now...hence me blogging in the middle of a Friday afternoon while I should be at work :). We have been hit with 60mph winds and a snow/sleet/rain for the last 24 hours...so much fun. Luckily Ella and I ventured up to Target yesterday and bought some extra wipes and diapers for the weekend.

I went to a jewelry party at my friend Kara's after Gabe got home last night before most of it hit...minus the winds. Once home, I bundled Ella up in her cuddly sleep sack and we vegged out on the couch for most of the night.

We woke up this morning to about 5 inches of snow and howling winds at about 60 mph which have been tossing ice off the trees into the side of our house.



The two trees in front of our house on either side of our front steps are completely bent over from the wind and ice/snow that have built up on them. One of the limbs is leaning right over our front door. You can't see it too great from this picture, but you get the idea.

Needless to say Ella and I will be watching some DVDs this weekend and probably taking a lot of naps (Gabe has a bachelor party in the Twin Cities tomorrow). Hopefully the snow will met soon so we can start the next "season".....GOLF!!! Ella can't wait to ride in her stroller on the course. Until then, she will continue to sleep the snow away :)

Spring is here!!!

Yesterday was so gorgeous out that I was able to take Ella out for a walk in the 57 degree heat wave we had! She had a "growing" day where she slept a lot so she slept a lot during the walk, but it was great to get out for an hour and walk myself! I only hope it continues through the weekend because my parents and some family friends are in town so hoping to do some shopping down in canal...something that is always easier when the weather cooperates :)




Ella achieved one of her gross motor milestones last Sunday and rolled over from her tummy to her back all on her own in front of Gabe. He thinks it was an "accident," but was so excited none the less. I was upstairs doing something and heard Gabe yell "Yeh, you did it! Kel, she rolled over all on her own!!!" I was so excited that he was able to witness cause having been home with Ella the last 3 months I have gotten to see most of the new "tricks" on my own so it was great that he got to experience the excitement.

Ella has also started to really use her hands to grab and play with toys. She really enjoys her floor mat that plays music when she moves it, but she has also started to pick up her rattle off her tray when sitting in her Bumbo chair. So fun to watch her get excited when she discovers these new things.

Ella also had one other first this week...she managed to poop all the way up her back into her hair. Now we have had up the back many times...daily occurrence usually, but into the hair was a first. So needless to say she went right into the bath! I thought about just dropping her and her diaper in the tub(a maneuver her father accidentally performed earlier this week) but realized it would only have to clean her and the tub! I would have taken pictures to embarrass her as a teen, but I was home alone with her and frankly the thought of wearing any more poo is just not appealing to me :)

Gabe's oldest brother EJ and his family have moved back to MN this week and are living here temporarily until they move out the the Carolinas. So Ella was able to meet to more of her cousins, Alona and Elisha for the first time when they came over to visit last night. Alona was pretty excited to hold her cousin while Elisha was still a bit shy around her. It will be great to spend time with them while they are here since they have been out of state for the last few years.

Well, that is it for this week, I will be sure to update after the weekend. Monday is my big first day back to work and Ella's first day to get babysat. I am sure it will be a hard and long day....only for me I am sure, but I am sure it will go just fine. The good news is that I am only going back to work 3 days a week for right now :)