new words

Amelia has been saying the cutest things lately. We taught her this week to say "Nice to meet you." and Amelia replies "I eat you." She is really just trying to repeat what you say, but it comes out meaning a whole different thing :)

She has been entering into the "bossy" phase also. At dinner she was telling Michael to eat his food. She would say "eat mouth" and point to his mouth. I think she is mixing up two different things we say to her to get her to eat. "put___ in you mouth." and/or "eat___."

She also loves to try and count to ten when we are waiting for the microwave. She sometimes forgets 7 and 8, and she might get a little creative with the order of the numbers but she surprise me with how well she can count.

Mr. Daniel is growing so much too! Just this last week he has been much more awake, wanting to look around and study things for long periods of time. He smiles so much now, it is so cute! I will be turned away watching Amelia or talking, and I will look back at Daniel to find a huge grin on his face. So cute!

4 years ago...

Four years ago today Michael and I were sealed in the temple for time and eternity! I love you Michael!!

Here is a look going back 4 years ago when our marriage and family began!

Smiling and Holding Daniel

On August 7th Daniel smiled for the first time. It is so cute!

Amelia got to hold Daniel for the first time too! She has been asking to hold him ever since! She was very sweet and gentle to him.

The Stroller

So for a long time I researched and thought about what type of double stroller would be best for me right after the baby was born. I knew I would need to get out and go for walks. When the sleep is lacking, I have to do other things to help keep my mood even :)
Well I can't tell you how many times I changed my mind. But decided on a double stroller that seats the kids front to back. Our neighborhood does not have sidewalks, so I didn't want to take up the whole road, or get ran over. So that narrowed my search. The next is I wanted it to be carseat compatible, and to have the carseat in the back, not the front. That way Amelia can have a good view. Well I found one that does all this!! The Graco Quattro Tour Duo Stroller. I LOVE IT! It is large... and you get many looks, but it works, and does the job well! Plus Amelia loves it and jumps into her seat whenever we pull out the stroller, that is really nice ;)


I know it will not fit our needs forever... but we bought it on craigslist and thus, I don't feel bad about selling it when we are ready for a sit and stand, or whatever will be our next step :) Thanks to all of you that gave me advise!

One Month

Yesterday Daniel was 4 weeks old, and this Friday the 6th will be his one month birthday. I took a picture with Amelia on her 4 week birthday also, you can compare and see what you think. Do they look like brother and sister?


Both lost the hair just on the top of their head in the first month.


Daniel is a wonderful baby. He has slept as long as 4 hour (cross your fingers it continues!!) He is still in newborn clothing. I am not sure of his weight, we go to the doctor at 2 months. We have been trying some reflux medicine to see if that helps him at all. He is not too bad, but it seemed like something was bothering him, and he spits up a lot. The doc said we should see a difference in a week after starting it... so we shall see.

I have decided Daniel is very much like his Dad. They have the same dark skin tone. Daniel has Michael's nose, and he has long fingers so he can take after his Dad's piano playing. :)




He was Blessed last Sunday. It was a wonderful blessing, but it was extra special because his Cousin Allison, who was born 5 days after him was blessed at the same sacrament meeting! It has been so fun to share these special times with Nichole and family!

Here are more pics from his first month:










Michael got a lot of bonding time with Amelia while he was home those first few weeks. Here he is asking her to "make a face"











Michael was growing out his beard for the first time!

What is your favorite kind of cake?

This last weekend my friend made a wonderful cake for my baby shower that Michael's family put on for me and Daniel. She is super talented and did an awesome job! She wrote me a few days before the shower to find out what kind of cake I like. I told her my favorite kind! WHITE! I like white cake with white frosting, it is the best. Her reply was something like "Are you sure? That is as boring as liking vanilla as your favorite ice cream!" I told her "yup, that is my favorite!" And she wrote back "you are funny, but that is why I love ya."

I have been told that I am a little funny around my birthday for years now. Usually someone wants to make a special birthday cake, and in my family, they want to do a fancy cake, not a boring cake. So when I say that I want a white cake with white frosting... they are disappointed. I just laugh and don't think much of it. I guess because I usually win when it is my birthday. :)

What is your favorite kind of cake?

Thanks Angela for making me a wonderful white cake, with white frosting!! :)

The Birth Story

So... where did it all begin? Well I am not too sure. Mr. Jo-Jo as we called our unborn son, was feeling a lot bigger than his sister did at 37 weeks. At my 37 week appointment I was measuring 1cm, and 50-60% effaced. Nothing surprising for that time. I was not sure what I was feeling was normal or not, because this size of a baby was new to me. I was feeling nauseous, getting leg pains, and having to go to the bathroom a lot that week! At my 38 week appointment on Tuesday the 6th at 12:20, I was 3cm and 80% effaced. My doctor said that was really good progress for one week, and that I would most likely have the baby within a week. We both jokingly agreed that Friday, the day he was on-call, would be a good day. I left the appointment feeling excited that he was almost here! I thought Friday sounded good, but if I had to wait a whole week, that would still be soon enough for me. Little did I know, we were going to have the baby that night!! I had a discussion with him about our family history of fast labor with the second pregnancy, and whether or not he thought I might be on the same track, (ie- you go into labor and you race to the hospital so you can make it in time.) He said "well, I think if you have contractions for an hour, you should probably come in."

I came home and visited with my mom, and sister who were watching Amelia during my appointment- they stayed until 3pm and took off. Michael got home a little after 4pm, and I noticed I was having some discomfort- which I thought were Brackston Hicks, so I kept about my business. Michael invited John, his brother over to help cook a yummy dinner. I was a little worried that these contractions might go somewhere as dinner time rolled around, but I was not sure. With Amelia I was induced, and had no Brackston Hicks with her, so I didn't want to worry too much in case it didn't go anywhere. I decided around 6:30 that since the contractions hadn't gone away I should time them to see if it is really something to worry about.

At this point I couldn't remember if my doctor had said and hour of real labor contractions, or just any contractions- I didn't quite know what to do. When do you call it labor? Man I was wishing I took that refresher course on labor. After timing for a while I saw that I was having contractions every 3-5 min, and they lasted 40-60 seconds long... hum...I didn't know what that meant- I knew from class you go in when you have 60 second contractions every 5 min, and when it has been consistent for around an hour. Well I decided to call triage around 7:30pm- thinking this might be it. They convinced me to NOT go in. The nurse was telling me- you can always come in, but I am pretty sure we would send you home. I was not happy, but figured she new more then me. I decided to stop timing them- and to call my mom and then go take a bath. In the bath I felt better, but I think they contractions where getting stronger- Michael came in and said, hum... you are reminding me of when we were in the hospital with Amelia, I think we should go to the hospital. That was all I needed to hear. We packed the last few items into our hospital bag, asked John to stay and watch Amelia- Michael had already put her to bed. (perfect timing!! ) Then we were off, it was round 9:30pm- and on the way to the hospital I became convinced I was in labor, it was getting harder and harder to manage.

We checked in and the silly people said Admitting was in the ER and we would have to wait for them. I was really not happy! Michael said we waited around 20 min, and they decided to just bring me right back to triage. From that point on, I just remember a lot of pain, a lot of questions, and lots of nurses doing stuff. I asked if they were busy- cause I wanted my epidural, I had just planned on having one. But by the time I got to my room, I was 9cm, and they said that we might not have time. Afterwords the doctor said that he didn't want to tell me no, but he knew I would not really get an epidural, I didn't want to hear that!!

At 10:49pm on Tuesday July 6th we had Daniel Lee Ellerbeck!!

In the end the nurse said I was at the hospital an hour and one minute before I had Daniel, and we were in the delivery room only 19 minutes before he was born. ( I think that is fast, but it felt a lot longer to me ) Looking back, if I had just come in after and hour of strong contractions- say 7:30, I think it would have gone much smoother. ( I think that is what my doctor was recommending now that I look back... too bad I couldn't remember ) So next time- I am just going to go in, and if they tell me to go home, I will wait in the lobby :)

Baby Daniel Lee Ellerbeck and Visiters

So, I have a lot of pictures to post :) We have a lot from Baby Daniel of course, and all the visitors that came to see him.