Oh all the updating I do. I am so behind, but I'm catching up!  I was just released from my calling as the Stake Relief Society Secretary.  It was so fun and I will miss meeting with the ladies in the presidency every week.  However, I am happy to have more time to do the things I've been putting off for so long.  I am so excited to get things done and out of the closets.

So for Halloween (technically the Saturday before) we went to Boo at the Zoo with Grandpa and Grandma Huntington and Aunt Stephanie and her little boy Callen.  It was pretty fun.  They had booths sponsored by different businesses and organizations that handed out candy.  Ellie had a good time seeing a lot of animals for the first time!  Only downside was that the whole world was there and we had to park way far away.  Besides that it was pretty fun.  I do have issues though seeing some sad animals pinned up in really tiny enclosures.  It sort of breaks my heart. :(


For Halloween we went to our stake trunk or treat.  It was a mad house.  We were one of the few trunks to actually decorate our trunk.  It was funny to see some of the young kids reach in thinking that our monster was going to chomp their hand off.  Of course I encouraged this thought and told them to be really quick, or else....  hehehe :)

Auntie Ann and Uncle Keefe.  Scary child snatcher!

Oh my sweet pea :)

This picture is so cute!

Ellie with the Elliephants!  Funny face :)

In mid-October we thought we'd take a hike out in the mountains and so we took off and climbed up a bunch of boulders. It was a beautiful view from the top.  Also, I've included a few of Ellie being cute :)

Reading good books

For the record, that's my cookie monster. I have a pic of me around this age with it too!

Pretty path

Notice the tree growing in the rock.  Question: what came first? the crack , or tree? 

Yes, we hiked up there :)

Totally tuckered out.

We Bought a Piano

So I had an impression after church back in August that we needed a piano since we were going to be in Laramie for at least another three years.  I felt like I was losing my "talent" (as in I'm not that good, but Michael is).  I really enjoy playing the piano--its like therapy for me, sooooo we looked at good old craigslist and found this beauty for only $175 two blocks away from us. This old man was selling it and it had sat in their basement for 34 years in a corner.  Turns out his kids chose to play different instruments.  So we pretended it wasn't as cool as we thought it was so he wouldn't know and raise the price.  The sound is even good and not that out of tune.  Amazing, I know. :)

This is my favorite carving on the piano.  So pretty.

Before we cleaned it up.

34 years of dust (at least)

Half and Half.  Amazing the difference.

All cleaned up :)

Baby Blessing

So I know this is delayed, but I thought I should still post these fun pictures from when all our family came up for Ellie's blessing.  We had a good time playing a little tennis as you can see.  My mom made Ellie's gorgeous dress.  Oh so cute, I just love the smocking on the bodice. 

First time meeting Grandma Hurst

Relaxing.  I can't believe how small she is here :)

My nephew Grant playing golf with his tennis racket.

Clearly not a happy girl.

Four generations.  Cool.

Huntington side of the Family

Hurst side of the Family

I love this picture of my mom with Ellie.  Poor baby, it was a big day for her.

Yum. BBQ at the park :)

Finally an Update!

From age 2 months:

So our little Ellie baby is getting BIG! However she is still so small :)  Of course Dad just had to get this picture of them watching a Tennis Tournament on TV.  Funny thing is she seemed to really like tennis.

Its true.  She loves her daddy!

Sleeping beauty

This was so funny.  Look at her legs and her hands just dangling.  She is mesmerized by whistling!

Funny Face

I love this!  What a sleepy little girl!

I couldn't believe she fell asleep in her bouncer.  She usually hates it after 5-10 minutes.

Check out how strong she is at only 8 weeks!  Super Baby!

Hugs for Auntie Ann!

Dad again.  The truth is that we don't hardly ever have chips.  Still funny nonetheless.

 

 

 

 

I will try to update more regularly now.  Life has just been crazy with this little girl!  We just found out she has a cow's milk protein intolerance.  No wonder she was so colicky her first 3 months of life!  Now its like I have a different child, and its a very positive difference! 

Our first BABY! Ellie Rae

 It has been about three weeks since we had our baby and things have calmed down enough that we can write down our story.  As told by Michael. (However it has taken a while to find the camera cord to download the images so really its been nearly 10 weeks since Michael wrote this :)


June 8 3:00am
Amber who had been awake since 1am, woke me up with some deep breathing and really loud exhaling.  I got up and we timed the contractions for a while and had reached the magical 5 min or less for contractions.  We had some occurring every 3 min as well.  So we got everything we needed and headed for... my office.  Because that is where I had left our video camera.  Then off to the hospital.  We checked in and Amber got a ride in a wheelchair.  A very fast ride as the nurse had delivered a baby just weeks ago in the elevator.  We informed him that Amber's water had not broken so he slowed down. 

oh so fresh!

Once in the hospital room.  The nurse came and showed us all the different things we could do to help with contractions.  Sit in the bed, walk the halls, exercise ball, and most enjoyable a hot bath.  Contractions kept getting closer together and more intense.  (Michael was a great coach, constantly helping me breath through the contractions, I quote, "Deep breath, hold it....slowly exhale," over and over again, which at the end I really needed him to say to keep me focused and not just yell in pain :)




9am

Our little doll

Our doctor came in to check on our progress.  Amber was 7cm.  Some of you know what that means some don't.  I will explain briefly:  It means we are pretty close to having this baby.  The doctor predicted 2pm birth.  Which sounded great to us.  More contractions, more trips to the tub, some bouncing on the ball and 2pm came and went.  By then the doctor had checked and Amber was past 9cm.  But still not a lot of progress and her water had still not broken.

4:30pm  Not a lot of progress.  So we decided to have the doctor break Amber's water.  Then the real fun began.  Pretty quickly Amber had some serious contractions.  From my view I knew that these were a lot more intense than the others, Amber says they were 10 times harder.  Well this did the trick and after a number of these difficult contractions, the doctor confirmed that Amber was at 10cm, the baby was in the right position and it was time to push. 

Ready to go Home!

We are a little sketchy on how long Amber was pushing but we figure more than an hour for sure.  Contractions were coming super intense and often every two minutes like clockwork.  There are some details that I am omitting but this was the craziest thing I have ever seen.  After a long while of pushing, the doctor came in brought in a table of instruments, another nurse and we all knew it was close.... ask amber about the details here...( Thanks Michael, I will. AHHHHHHHHHHH!  After 45 min. passed I just kept asking the doctor between contractions how many more pushes at which he never answered but said as with Michael and the nurse "we can see the head".  Well so I decided I wanted to eat dinner and I was sick of pushing so with the next couple contractions I gave it my all.)  6:47pm Finally, one final intense contraction, Amber pushed 7 times in one contraction, Ellie Rae took her first breath and let us know with a cry.

Proud Daddy!

Happy Mommy

Two months later and she still lets us know with a cry.  Between growth spurts and bodily functions she is quite a vocal girl about her feelings.  She didn't sleep a whole lot during the day for about a month, but we are getting a little better at napping now.  The smiles and coos are the best!