3 months old

I can't believe our little peanut is already 3 months old tomorrow! The time has flown by and I am trying to enjoy every last minute before I return to work in December. Ella is very busy these days "talking" up a storm and making lots of noises. She still loves bath time, swinging in her lamb swing and being rocked all the time. Pretty much as long as she is moving, she is happy. Here are just a couple quick pictures before we head out of town for the weekend.

All wrapped up after her nightly bath and then asleep in Dad's arms at bedtime. She still loves to be swaddled every night.

Mike captured this picture as he was dressing her this week and we thought it was so cute. Her expressions just crack us up!

Happy Birthday Dakota

On Friday we had a big birthday in the Hennessy household, Dakota turned 3 years old! Dakota has taken a backseat since Ella has arrived but we wanted to celebrate her big day and give her some extra treats. Dakota has really been great with Ella and loves to lay by her swing or crib and comes running whenever Ella starts crying. Ella loves when Dakota licks her feet. I think Dakota had a great birthday weekend.

We gave Dakota some steak for dinner instead of her usual dog food. She went crazy and ate it all in about 15 seconds. It was a beautiful weekend so we had a picnic in the park on Saturday and Dakota got to play with some other puppies.

It was another gorgeous day on Sunday so we went to watch Mike's soccer team play. I think we were his good luck charms because the team won and Mike scored 2 goals.

However, Ella slept through the entire thing, I guess she is not much of a soccer fan yet.

Ella is smiling and laughing all the time now. Here are some happy moments right before bedtime.

And finally asleep on a walk!

Halloween Weekend

We had such a fun Halloween weekend! Our little "pumpkin" had a big weekend and as you can tell from some of the pictures below was tuckered out by the end of the day. In the morning, we had a photographer come and take pictures of all of us. My brother, Court gave that to us as a gift and we couldn't wait to capture Ella before she gets too big. We can't wait to see how they turned out.
In the afternoon, our neighborhood had a big Halloween party with all the kids. I know we have said this before, but we are so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood with tons of little kids. Ella couldn't participate in the cookie decorating or the spider hunt yet but soon she will be running around with the rest of them.
We came home to greet the trick or treaters and unfortunately it was raining so we didn't have as many as usual. We did get to hang out with our friends Erin, Jeremy, Erin and Matt though who came over to check out the cute little pumpkin.
We also carved pumpkins Thursday night with our neighbors, Adam and Jaime and we thought they turned out well! It was a fun weekend and we already can't wait for next year when Ella can go trick or treating!

Our little pumpkin ready to party and then passed out!

Trying so hard to stay awake for the fun but eventually falling asleep in Dad's arms.

Mike's scary face pumpkin and Kristin's ghost pumpkin.

All 4 pumpkins, the F is for Flett, our neighbor's last name. All the kids in the neighborhood at the Halloween party.

Ella was all smiles and even laughing before her walk this week! She is smiling all the time now, just not when the photographer was here.

Ella sporting some cute outfits and an extra cute one with her name monogrammed.

She is really sitting up so much more these days and able to support her head more. She loves sitting in the glider.

Meeting New Friends

We had an action packed weekend and a lot of fun! Friday, Lynn, Steve and Caroline came to visit us. We haven't seen Caroline since she was 6 weeks old and now she is 5 1/2 months and is so big and adorable! Caroline and Ella loved to stare at each other and were fascinated with each other! Caroline was also very fascinated with Dakota, I think she might need a puppy at home!

On Saturday, we had a big Octoberfest party in the neighborhood and our old neighbors, Brooke and Michael that moved to Boston came back so it was great to see them again and hang out with all the neighbors. We are lucky to live in such a great neighborhood with great friends and lots of little kids.

Caroline and Ella hanging out together! Notice how they are both lounging, too cute! The funny thing is that Ella is actually longer than Caroline even though she is 3 months younger.

This pic was too funny, Caroline flinched and Ella gave her the funniest look! Lynn and I have been friends since elementary school so it's really neat that we each had daughters and only 3 months apart. They will be great friends, we only wish they lived closer.

Daddy dressed Ella on Sunday, notice the "beautiful matching outfit!" I guess Ella liked it though because she was very happy:)

Fun Filled October

Hi Everyone! We are having beautiful fall weather here in Charlotte and we are enjoying every minute of it with lots of walks and playing outside. Here are a couple of recent pictures of our little munchkin and a video of her playing with her Baby Einstein activity mat. She loves to "sing and dance" to the music and stare at the big star that lights up. We have a big weekend this weekend with Lynn and Steve coming to visit and Caroline and Ella meeting for the first time and then a Fall Party in the neighborhood on Saturday so will have lots of pictures to share next week.

Ella's favorite hour is happy hour! (Oh wait, it's Mom and Dad's favorite hour!) Cuddling with Dad after a hard day.

She still loves the swing and usually falls asleep and will sleep forever in there.

Out for a walk on a sunny, warm day!

Let's Go Yankees! Ella sported her Dad's original yankee outfit from over 30 years to cheer them on. As you can see, she was very into the game. (I swear I am there also, Mike just got in all of these pictures!)

Ella has her Halloween costume and is all set for the big day but the blog followers will have to wait and see those pictures after Halloween!

2 Months Old

Ella is growing up so fast! This week, she turned 2 months old which meant another trip to see the doctor. This time came with some shots which she is not a fan of and we like even less but she did great! She gained another 2lbs and is up to 11lbs 3oz and grew another 2 inches to 24 inches long! She is in the 96% percentile for length so she is a tall one right now! Some of her pants are starting to look like capris on her. She is also doing so much better with sleeping at night and the past couple nights has slept between 7-9 hours at a time. We hope it continues like this because it is so nice for Mom and Dad also! Here are some recent pictures and as you can see, she is smiling a lot more but it is so quick, it's hard to capture with a camera.

Big Smiles!

Ella sporting some cute new outfits, she is quite a fashionista! She likes them so much, many times will go through several outfits a day.

She loves playing on her back with the toys (that is when Dakota is not trying to eat them!) and getting ready for her big doctor's appt, she had no idea what was ahead.

U2 Concert

Mike and I had our first night away from Ella on Saturday when we went to the U2 concert in Raleigh with Erin and Jeremy. My parents and grandmother came to babysit so we could have an "adult" night! We had a great time and the show was incredible and did not disappoint.

Erin and I before the show and our view of the stage before the concert. We had great seats!

Bono and the band

We also lucked out with perfect weather since it was an outdoor concert.

The crazy claw stage they built.

Video of One they played during the encore.