A weekend away

So Ella did fine... and so did I. :) Once we landed in Memphis for our connection I was pretty relaxed and knew my in-laws were fully capable of taking care of Ella as well as surviving themselves.
I got this photo after we landed in Orlando with the caption "nite nite mom and dad".



What's funny about this is she's in her pj's... and her car seat! I thought, well I know they drove Grant around a lot at night to get him to sleep so maybe they did the same for Ella. Sure enough, apparently they took LOTS of drives over the weekend. When ever they could not get her to stop crying they hoped in the car! Not a bad game plan I have to say.
Also, after a little bit she started taking a bottle from them, whether asleep or awake so that was great.

Saturday morning as I was getting ready I got this photo.



That's Ella sleeping next to her "Junie". In the morning I often bring her to our bed when she wakes up, feed her and let her sleep next to us for an hour or so. Since she's in her own room now this is really a special time for us so I was glad to see that they got to share that with her.

I did better away from her than I thought I would. Oh, I missed her, and took every oportunity to talk about her and show people photos but it wasn't so bad.

Grant will never let me live down the early flight we took that required us to get up at 4 Sunday morning just so I could get home to her. I was tired of pumping and just wanted to be home. Physically it was straining. My back hurt, I had blisters, but it was good to be home with my little girl.

The wedding we shot was fantastic. It was at the Loews Portifino Resort in Orlando and was so beautiful. One of the nicest weddings we shot. The resort is set up to look just like Portifino Italy, which to me, looks just like Venice. It was sooo beautiful. Me and Grant felt like it was a mini vacation despite all of the work. :) Late Saturday night after the wedding we went down to the water and had some gelato... just like Italy. :)

We got home around noon on Sunday and it was so good to be home.

Terrified

Tomorrow afternoon we are leaving to shoot a wedding in Florida. I'll be away from Ella for about 44 hours. Last night Grants parents got here to watch my routine and see all of the things we do to survive our fussy little girl. I was glad because Grant had a hard time giving Ella a bottle Tuesday night and I wanted them to give her a bottle a few times before we left. I had no idea what we were in for. Ella will NOT take a bottle from anyone but me, and this seems to have just started.
We tried everything under the sun, from suggestions if friends to ideas online. I eventually showed them how to force feed her with a sirenge if need be. We tried every position, tv on, walking, outside, even in the bath... this child has a will. We even went and got some different bottles and nipples to try. No luck. Finally for Ella's last feeding today we made a small breakthrough. If we slipped the bottle in while she was still asleep or just waking up she drank. We are not leaving until 4 tomorrow so the game plan is to try this technique and see how things go.

I am sick to my stomach.

I know she'll survive and be okay, but she's starting to have attchment issues and between that and the feeding issues I am scared to death to leave her.

We have no choice. I am terrified.

Hit Reset

So last weekend we went up to Grant's parents house to hang with family, do Halloween together and celabrate 50 years of his parents being together (dating anniversary). Honestly I was a little stressed out about going. Ella's been so fussy and not feeling good... I just dreaded throwing our routine off even though it wasn't very sucessful in the first place.
Well I have to say it was nothing but a blessing. I was shocked how excited Ella was when we got there. Having 2 young cousins to entertain her plus soo many things to look at in "Granny & Junie's" house - she was beside herself with happiness.
Plus I discovered that Grant was a very fussy baby... now I know who to blame!!! It was wonderful to see her so happy all of the time, and it was nice to have other people hold her while I did things.
It was a very different experience than at the beach where I had a hard time relaxing, this weekend felt like vacation, a gift, a time to heal. On our way home I told Grant it was nice to look back at her when she started stirring and not think "oh no, she's waking up!" but instead... she's got cute feet.
Now that we are back home she's still fights naps and is occasionally fussy, but I think she's just bored. So I'm trying to come up with new ways to entertain her. Most importantly though is that I feel like I've changed. It was a much needed break that I'm so grateful for.
Who knew that a little trip would be like hitting reset.
:)