Happy Birthday My Baby Girl!

Happy Birthday Eliana Jean Portman!

What a wonderful day to celebrate today, the day of my child’s birth
I can’t believe it’s already been a year, since she was brought on to this earth
It was a long journey for us to take, to create a life of our own
How could we have thought it would take so long, how could we have known
Two years our hearts yearned for a little baby to hold to tight
We thought about it constantly, every minute of every day and night
Everyone around us seemed to be happy for celebrating the sign
Because they were ecstatic to be blessed by those two little pink lines
We were very happy for everyone, now don’t get me all wrong
It’s just a bunch of mixed feelings we had, because we had been trying for so long
But wait is what we did, and the test and medicine we tried
We loved each other harder, we laughed, got angry, and cried
It seemed so long back then, but really went by in the blink of an eye
We were about to take a break for now, but decided on one last try
I had a vivid dream in the weeks that were to unfurl
That I was holding and singing to our new little baby girl
So a week or two later, we waited anxiously for hopefully our last test
And then one early morning Casey woke me up from my dead rest
She said, “Come here, I want you to look at something. I’m not sure what it is!”
I was barely awake, confused, and I really didn’t want a pop quiz
She pulled me into the bathroom and said, “What do you see?”
I was like, “No way? Are you sure you took this right?” This can’t be!
But a doctor’s visit would surely confirm any of our doubts we had
Casey was going to be a Mom and I, a new Dad
So we celebrated finally and the news began to spread
We now had to start planning, think about the steps, we needed to look ahead
So nine months came and gone, it really did go by so fast
But I was really glad to get all that nausea and bathroom breaks in the past!
So Casey labored for 15 hours, but the baby’s heart rate kept getting low
So they whisked her away, gave me a gown, to the surgery room we go
A C-Section was not how we envisioned this, it was not part of the plan
But none of that mattered anymore, as we heard something so grand
It was the cry of our baby, as she took her first breath into this world
She was so beautiful, she was finally here, our little baby girl
A few couple months were hard due to the lack of sleep we had
But that didn’t matter because I’m so happy to be a dad
I look at her now and she’s changed so much in a short amount of time
And I look at her older pictures and still can’t believe she’s mine
Oh my beautiful baby, I love you beyond what words can say
But know that you bring me great happiness everyday
So Happy 1st Birthday Eliana Jean, and know that you changed our world completely
Because you made this family of two, into a family of three ever so sweetly

My SuperGirl!

Wow, this is my baby girl. My little SuperGirl. I can't believe in just two days we will have her first birthday party! She'll be officially 1 on September 22nd. I can't believe how fast it's gone. I'm just so excited to see how much she has changed in this one year. From a baby that couldn't walk and barely did anything, to a walking, babbling, beautiful little toddler (that loves to walk and get into everything) Oh and she's definitely a little monkey too because she loves to climb in, around, on, under everything too!

Her personality is really coming out lately. She laughs when something is funny to her, she'll definitely let you know if she's frustrated about something. Such as daddy gives her the toothpaste tube to occupy her for a few minutes, then takes it away.....yes, I got to hear all about how that made her feel!

She's also eating a ton...or at least tries and about half of it falls in her lap. haha. But all in all, she's growing like she should, she's healthy, and that's the best part of all of this. I was truly blessed to have Ellie brought into my life and on her birthday we will be celebrating not only her one year of life, but also the one year of amazing happiness she has brought my wife and I. Nothing can explain it really. It's such a different kind of happiness and love. Just thinking about the way she hugs me or looks at me and smiles or makes a face, just makes my heart laugh out loud with an explosion of happiness. Thank you so much for this little girl in my life.

Well, enough sappiness now. Get to a few more updates on her....she can now say a few more words like dog, more, milk, Mama, Dada, and hot dog. Yeah, I said hot dog. The show "Mickey Mouse - Clubhouse" sings a song with "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" in it and Ellie really likes it. She doesn't watch a lot of TV, but when Mickey and the gang get on, she usually will watch them for a little while. But that song gets her dancing and really excited. So Casey and I will sing it, to the best of our knowledge, and we usually just repeat the hot dog sequence over and over and that usually will get her dancing again. Well, I know it's been a while since my last update, but again, at least it wasn't a year! Until next time....

A Late Night Snuggle

So, not too good at keeping up with the updates, but hey at least it's not a couple months down the road! Anyways, to my update. I love that my little girl is growing up. She is constantly amazing me at what she does and says and it gets me excited about what is around the corner and all of the fun stuff she has yet to learn. Just this past weekend, she walked around in some sandals that Casey put her in that she was too small to wear before and she loved them. Wouldn't let Casey take her out of them. It was too funny.

It's little moments like that, which make me smile and laugh and just love her so much more every day. But last night I realized something in the fact that she is growing up and that all these moments that I am enjoying now will becoming memories. Makes me a little sad every time I think about it. Every night I go into Ellie's room and check on her before I go to bed. I usually end up putting her blanket on her, even though I'm sure the wiggle worm will have it off of her in the very near future.

But last night she ended up waking up and she sat right up and just looked at me and waved her arms around like she wanted to be picked up. I tried to lay her back down, but she just rolled over and sat up again, this time with some whimpers, like she wanted me to pick her up even more. I did just that. I grabbed her, the blanket, and her pacifier and we sat down into the rocking chair and with her head on my chest, we just rocked for a good long while. It was that moment last night that I enjoyed that memory. Like, I know I'm not going to get many moments like this all the time, so enjoy it. Plus with Ellie, it's rare that she'll snuggle with you anymore. She's usually too distracted with the world around her.

But it was nice. I just kissed her head and rubbed her back while her little hand tugged on my shirt collar. It's moments like that I realize how much I love her and how blessed I am to have her in my life. She makes my life sweeter every day. And what's even better to have Ellie in my life is to have Casey with me too. I give amazing "props" to the woman and men out there that raise a child on their own. Casey is my support on so many levels and I love her so much. I have two amazing girls in my life and I'm lucky that they love me back! haha. Until next time....

Daddy Daughter Day

Well, my wife got to see some of her old friends this Sunday. I got to spend some time with Ellie all by myself. As you can see by this posting, we survived. No house fires or anything broken. Of course the living room had toys strewn around everywhere!

Ellie and I had a great time. I think I could watch her facial expressions all day. Her little smirks, smiles, "questioning" looks are absolutely entertaining. Oh, and she finally stood up all by herself. She has already been pulling herself up on things like the couch and shimming around, but this was the first time she literally just stood straight up in the middle of the floor. She was smiling right at me and me right back at her, but of course there is never a camera, camcorder, cell phone, polaroid, etc. when you need one! But I'll at least have the memory of it. We will definitely get it on camcorder when she does it longer.

Overall it was a great day. Ellie and I have a blast and Mommy got some well needed time with some old friends. Now, another week of work begins. Wish me luck!

Hiatus Over Hopefully

I haven't written anything on this blog in a while. I was trying something new and basically got side tracked for the past couple of months. I will try to keep this going more often. Maybe something every couple of days if time permit.

So a lot has happened since my last point. Mainly, my little girl is now a little over ten months old! I can't believe it. As everyone has said and will say in the future, "Time does fly!" I feel just like last week I was getting up every couple of hours on the couch while my wife and I touch shifts to feed Ellie. Now she's crawling around and getting into everything that she can reach and touch. Even though that is a new level of toughness in becoming a parent, it's wonderful to see her develop and start to mature.

Her personality is really coming out and she's really starting to grow into her own little person. No longer is she the little baby that use to just watch me wash her bottles and snuggle. Now she's the little baby that can follow me around, and wants me to hold her so she can wash the bottles with me, and when we snuggle....well, let's just say that she loves my glasses and loves poking her finger in my eye!

She also has some new stuff that she can do. She can basically say the word dog, dada, and mama. She of course has her baby talk which is absolutely hilarious but mostly just sounds like a Sims character. The funny thing is that she can say dog and my wife and I thought that it was her understanding what our dogs looked like. Well, we were half right, but now she thinks anything with four legs that doesn't look like a human, is now a "doogg" Well, I'll post more and definitely try to keep up with this. For now, I leave you with a most recent picture of my little one.

One of the Latest Pics

Just wanted to post a pic of her in her bumbo. She's starting to like that more.

Good Stuff

So, I know by now while reading this blog, it seems that all I ever talk about is how sleepy and tired I am. I wanted to write a little about all the stuff I love so far being a new dad. I thought about it last night while holding my little girl. I never knew how much the smell of my baby would just make me feel comfortable and relaxed. There something about when I kiss her neck or head and I smell her right after a bath or just at the end of my work day.


It's hard to explain that smell. It's unlike any thing you have smelt before and it becomes familiar and calming. I also love when she smiles at me when she sees me. It could be because she thinks I'm funny looking, but I'd like to think it's because she is happy to see me. She's starting to hold on to things too. I love when I pick her up and she can now sort of wrap her arm around my neck. It's exciting to know that she'll only be able to do more as she gets older. Of course it's sad, because I know that as that happens, she'll never be this little any more.

So for now, I'll sit back and enjoy this small moments. All the smells and all the little things. It's a truly amazing experience to be a dad and nothing can compare to it. I hope that everyone that wants to experience this, can. Well, that's it for now. I'll post more later.

Animals

So, I thought that raising a child would be extremely hard. I could not imagine doing it with a toddler or another baby. But why is it that taking care of the pets you have becomes harder? I feel like we have been neglecting them recently with play time with them, but there isn't enough hours in the day to do that. And with that being said, it seems that they are "acting" out more. Isabelle decided last night that she would let me know she was lonely and starts to whine at 4a.m. I was so exhausted because I had just put Elle down to sleep for her 3a.m. feeding. Hopefully this won't happen again.

Elle is doing great now. I just got over a sickness, which kicked my butt for about a week. My wife is fighting it now and hopefully will be back to normal by this weekend. Elle is still a little sick as well, but she's always smiling through her coughs and such. I hope that her attitude towards sickness stays that way, but who knows. She's has her baby well check up on this Friday and I'll post her weight and length. I'm curious because I know she's grown because she's not fitting in any of her clothes anymore. It's time to move up to the 3-6 months finally :) Well, I'll post more later on Friday afternoon.

Sickness

So, I haven't put anything on here for the past while, but now the holidays are over and I should be able to update this more frequently. The past week, I have been sick. My little girl is sick too. That stinks, because that leaves mommy to fend for herself and take care of two sick pups. :) Hopefully I will be better by the weekend and Elle will too. Let's also hope that Casey stays well, and doesn't get sick her self.

Overall, Elle is doing great and I love being a Dad. She went through a little growth spurt and bundle that with a sickness, she was getting up about every hour on the hour throughout the night, which made it very difficult for me to get sleep. I'm on the night duty! But now, she seems to be feeling better for the most part and is pretty much sleeping from 7ish to about 2-3a.m. Gets up, I feed her, and then she goes back down to bed. Then I usually have to wake her up in the morning to take her to the babysitters. Well, I'll post another pictures soon and give a little more updates later.