7 weeks old today!

Little Ella D is 7 weeks old. Insane! Our cool Chicago summer is flying by and we can hardly believe it. We had a big week this past week! My best friend, Sara, and sweet baby Kendall came up for a visit and it was SO NICE to have them here. We took a lot of walks, did some shopping, and just talked and talked. It was so nice for it to just be the girls and us....budding besties for sure....

I am slowly getting Ella to nap in her crib a little bit. It is really nice to lay her down in her crib and have her actually, you know, sleep for at least a little while. She is still sleeping in our room for now and I am thinking that the 3 month mark will be a good time for Ella's transition out of our room and into the pink oasis that is her room.

On Saturday, the day started out great. We took a walk to Starbucks with Sara and Kendall and I took Sara to the airport and left love bug with Daddy. Because we had some fabulous colic free days in a row, I was singing loudly to my ipod, crusing down 90-E knowing that my little one was at home with Daddy, being an angel that she was while Sara was visiting. Not the case....I got home and she was fussy and crying...I was a little worried about that night because I had a big night planned with girlfriends for the Rascal Flatts concert! Well, my intuition was spot on...I was only able to stay at the concert for a couple of hours until I called to check in and heard sweet little Ella in the background screaming and not taking her bottle. Such a bummer! I guess we need to give our little fuss pot another couple of months before going out for a fun night. It was so nice to have my 1.5 beers, though! First drinks in 11 months! Seriously! Next time girls, I will be whooping it up, don't you worry...we all know that I have it in me....

I posted some pics from this past week/weekend! I hope that everyone had a fabulous weekend...here's to starting another week!

Love you guys!

Baby girl is 6 weeks old?!!

Yes, our Ella is 6 weeks old. Unbelievable. Our time has flown by together...

We spent our Sunday morning this weekend running to Panera and getting the newspaper...pretty perfect, right? Ella was such a good girl yesterday. We were able to run to the airport to pick up friends and have dinner with our friends last night....nights have historically been pretty tough so we were elated to have dinner at the Vajda's last night (even if I did wear baby Ella strapped to my chest the whole time- thank you, wear-n-wrap!)

We were SO excited to see our friends, Karen and Jeff Hays, this weekend!!! We were unable to meet up for breakfast so Karen swung by our place to meet Ella on Saturday. We cannot wait to go out to CT to visit Karen and the boys! I see a girls weekend in NY in our future, right Karen? It was bittersweet to see Karen b/c it reminded me of how much I miss my friend!! We will see you soon, Kar-bear!

This week is super exciting for us because Sara, my best friend in KC, is visiting on Thursday! We can't wait to see her and meet baby Kendall! Scott will be outnumbered this week for sure! We can't wait for some girl bonding time....

Make a Smilebox photobook

Baby Bolger

Our good friends, Jeff and Jen Bolger (Scott's friends from college), just welcomed a beautiful baby boy to world this past week! Congrats, we can't wait to meet him in September!!

Ella and Miss O....

A little while back, our friends Holly and 4 month old Olivia came over for a playdate! We are so thankful to have such sweet friends to hang with....I have a feeling our littl ones will be great friends!!

E was a little out of it.....she must have been out on the town the night before....

Pics from the hospital...

I totally forgot to post pics from the hospital. I figured I would do it while I was good and productive tonight- dinner made, spin class in, baby fed and being held by dad, dogs fed (even if we are out of dog food and it consisted of rice and challah bread).

These pics are on the announcements we are sending out as well....hope y'all enjoy!

Love and kisses to all...

5 weeks and counting down until her stomach issues get sorted out....

Well, I HATE to say this but.....we think our little ray of sunshine has colic. Yes, the dreaded "c" word. Honestly, the hardest thing we have dealt with yet! I think I had too much of an easy time while pregnant and had a fabulous delivery that God thought, hey, I should probably mix things up a bit for these two. Well, we are getting a run for our money! We have been inside ALL weekend long trying to get Miss Ella quiet and happy. I have memorized every single colic support site out there. Literally. Every. single. one. I hope none of the precious readers of our blog are ever subjected to HOURS of crying without any relief in sight (yikes!) but, take heart...if you do, I have a list of resources for you!

While house bound this weekend, I made the most delicious pulled pork ever. Honestly, the best! I think that Paulina Meat Market should seriously consider hiring me for this reason alone. We are up to our ears in pork at the Francis house and if anyone would like a generous helping, come on by!

We wish we had fun pictures and crazy fun from our 4th to upload, but alas, we don't. I did take a great picture of Ella snoozing in various positions around the house. Yes, I know that "they" say not to let babies sleep on their bellies but you know what? Ella loves sleeping on her belly for naps and if she is happy, mama is happy. You can see that Finlay likes to sleep above her on the couch to keep an eye on things...

We thank all of our service men and women for helping keep our country free! Big shout out to my bro in law, Clint, who is a marine! Hoo Rah!

Love and kisses to you all! Pray for our colic peak to happen sometime soon....REAL soon....