six months

twenty-three weeks

twenty-four weeks

twenty-five weeks

six months! (where has the time gone?!)

five months

eighteen weeks

nineteen weeks

twenty weeks (and mostly sleeping off her first cold)

twenty-one weeks

five months! (and she started rolling from her back to her front, then complaining loudly that she was stuck on her tummy!)

home for the holidays

after christmas, we flew over to london for ellie's first visit. she got to meet the rest of her family and a lot of "aunties" and "uncles". we were really nervous about flying with a baby, but ellie was great (although she was more interested in people watching than getting any sleep). i'm so happy that my family and friends got to meet her and that she got to spend time with her london grandparents in person rather than over skype. plus, sean and i got to have a few evenings out on our own - i don't think i've ever been so excited to go out to dinner! no matter how long the trip, we just never seem to have enough time when we visit london. and i always miss it so much when i leave. until next time, london...

christmas lights in london

girlie chats

new years eve with a baby (a very jet-lagged ellie was kind enough to finally fall asleep just before midnight)

ellie totally spaced out at the airport after hardly sleeping on the flight

four months

fourteen weeks (and getting super chatty!)

fifteen weeks

sixteen weeks

four months old!

the giggle

in the past week, ellie has started giggling and it's amazing! it's crazy how each little step in her development can have such a big impact on us, making us so incredibly happy that i actually had tears in my eyes the first time she giggled. i can't wait to see what she'll be doing next!

three months

ten weeks (and smiling!)

eleven weeks

twelve weeks

three months old!

ruffle butts and twinkle toes

two of my favourite things at the moment...

two months

five weeks

six weeks

seven weeks (that little smile melts my heart)

two months old!

reese & ellie

when we were looking to adopt a dog, it was important for us that the dog would be ok with kids. we couldn't have asked for more with reese. he's taken the arrival of ellie all in his stride and even checks in on her when she's fussing in her sleep. he's been showing her the ropes with tummy time as well...

one month

one week

two weeks

three weeks (look at those cheeks!)

one month old!

life's surprises

i love surprises and the last few weeks have been full of them! it all kicked off with my doctor making the surprise decision to induce me straight away following a scheduled scan...and the next day eleanor mary dugan arrived in our lives. she surprised me by being a girl when i'd been convinced we were having a boy. she also surprised us all by being a teeny 4lbs 6ozs, which meant that she had to spend some time in the nicu before she could come home with us. but the best surprise of all was discovering how much i already love her. and how much my heart swells when i see sean holding and taking care of her. i didn't think it possible to love anything so much, or to love my husband even more than i did before...but i guess that's just one of life's amazing surprises :)

getting ready...slowly

we've had some baby stuff piled up and staring at us for a while, but now that there's less than 4 weeks to go until my due date, i figured that we should start getting ready for our new arrival. i thought that it would be a bit scary, but it's actually made me more excited to finally meet the little one!

a little shower

my lovely sister-in-law threw me a lovely baby shower this weekend. they're not so popular back home, but i think they're a brilliant idea, especially when you're starting with nothing! i love the cute favours and message that went with them - so perfect for a Brit - and they were even labelled as "jam" and not "jelly". we got so much great and much needed stuff from very generous family and friends and yet still seem to have so much more that we need. plus, i have no idea where to put it all in our tiny apartment...right now it's just piled up in a corner of the living room serving as a very real reminder that our lives are going to change dramatically very soon! to be honest, i'm actually looking forward to trying out all the stuff with the baby. i feel like i have a new bunch of toys, but no one to play with! luckily i don't have that much longer to wait..!