Well, it had to happen...

Well folks, it's been awhile since we posted anything, but it has happened...we have officially become a family...we bought....a MINIVAN! Oh yes, a minivan. And, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it, because I am loving the minivan. And, Norm is loving it too, now that he realizes he can sit in the back and watch a movie while I drive him and Ellorah around town. The nissan armada was just too big of a truck for me, and for it's size, it really didn't hold much, as we learned on our trip to austin. SO, after Lee and Leah got one, and Sarah and Michael got one, by golly, it was time for us to bite the bullet and get one too. And they're all the same color. We could have a little minivan parade. So, if you're feeling "in the family way"...head on up to the good folks at Honda Cars of McKinney and pick one out yourself, tell 'em the Snowdens sent you.

Okay, onto bigger and better things...all things baby...Ellorah has been quite the talker/giggler/gurgler lately. She has learned to giggle...and she is definitely her father's daughter, b/c the thing that makes her giggle is when her daddy makes "fart" noises with his mouth. Yes. So that's been my soundtrack for the past week or so. She's also been doing really well with her sleeping, meaning, she no longer seems to need Norm to rock her to sleep every night, much to his dismay. She's little miss independent and can do it on her own, by damn! Just lay her in her bed...and there she goes. She still flips over to her side, which still irks me, but I have given up trying to get her to sleep on her back....she at least tolerates me moving her away from the side of the bed so her face isn't all squished up in the material, so we've come to a truce. She's been doing better with her tummy time too, seems to be enjoying it a little more instead of just screaming like a banshee. And, sadly, she's moved on to size 2 diapers, AND size 6 mos. clothes!! aaagh! She's getting too big too soon!! She goes back for her 4 month check up in a week or so, so I am curious to see how much she weighs and how tall she is! Last time I weighed her, she was about 15 pounds.

We had a little reunion with a couple ladies from our natural childbirth class weekend before last. It was fun, getting to catch up with them and their babies...all very cute, and close in age! We didn't really get to see them all interact with each other, as when one would wake up, the others would be sleeping or eating and vice versa. They'll have to interact next time, we're hoping to do one each season to see how they all have grown!

Well, until next time...here's some more pics to enjoy...

Ellorah

The Easter Funny

Well, it's been a bit since our last post, we're all still getting over our sicknesses, although Ellorah shows no sign of being sick at all, she's just a little congested sounding in the morning...so that may just be normal for her...hopefully we'll all be feeling better soon. Norm is pretty much on the mend, so that is good....I'm starting to get that way. I weighed Ellorah on our scale last night, and she weighed 14 lbs!!! That's over a pound of gain since we last weighed her. Oh my. And I can feel it too! It's getting harder and harder to lift her up to get her in the car. It's hard on my back, since our armada sits up so high...so, I went to the chiropractor the other day and oh my, it was nice! I feel all aligned now, plus they give you a 30 minute massage beforehand! Heavenly! I get to go back on Friday too. Wish I could record the "popping" noise when she aligns me. It's pretty freaky. You would think that wouldn't be a good thing, but it feels oh so good.

We had a fun Easter weekend, Ellorah got to play with her cousins, Seth and Logan, and hunt eggs. She found 4. Okay, Norm and I found 4, but she helped. It actually snowed a little on us too. And, the Easter bunny left her a basket full of goodies...mostly candy that her mommy likes, go figure.

Ellorah has a new little friend in the world, as of Monday, April 9th. Little Jack Beckham Ratliff was born at 8:06 a.m., proud parents are our good friends Lee and Leah Ratliff. He is a handsome boy (see photo!), and so little! (6 lbs). It's hard to believe Ellorah was ever close to that size. And, oddly enough, they are staying in the same room Norm and I did when we had Ellorah! It must be the lucky room.

Well, that's all for now, I've posted the link to our Easter pics, so click below and enjoy!

The Easter funny

Ellorah is 3 months old today!

Ellorah Ohana has been here for 3 months now, and what a joy she has been!

In the past three months, Norm and I have had countless questions about our daughters name, so for those of you who don't know, I thought I would explain it for her 3 month bday, and why we kept it a secret until she was here, much to the dismay of family and friends!

Ellorah is the name of a little redheaded baby princess from the '90s movie, Willow, starring Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis (who now plays Professor Flitwick in all the Harry Potter movies - yes, I'm a Harry Potter geek, I know). In the movie, the name is spelled "Elora" but I liked my spelling better. I saw this movie when I was in high school, and always had it in the back of my head, if I ever had a daughter, that would have to be her name. Once Norm and I found out we were having a girl, her name was set! And it's pronounced "ELLE oruh" like saying the letter "L" and adding "laura". The middle name was a little tougher, finding something that went well with Ellorah. I was stuck for quite some time, until one night I was at home, watching our wedding video(Norm and I got married in Kauai) and heard Monulele (the lady who married us) speaking about "ohana" in our vows...she talked about the "ohana who are always around us in spirit...or even those ohana we haven't even met yet"..."Ohana" is Hawaiian for family..and since that's exactly what miss Ellorah made us, it fit perfectly. Now, for the reason we kept it so secretive? Come on, people...there are so few surprises in life and this was one of them! Our friends and family had a heck of a time trying to figure it out...I did give clues...it started with an E...and was more than 5 letters...but I knew they'd never figure it out. : ) The closest guess was from Aunt Devon, with Eleanor...or "Ellie" for short (and no, we don't want to start calling her Ellie, just so you know.) Other good guesses were Evelyn, Elaine, Esther...and some crazy ones like Euphagania, Elwood, Elvira...etc etc...but, she is and will always be, our little Ellorah Ohana and we love her very much!

Ellorah Ohana Snotden

And oh, what a snot-den it has been!

Our baby has snot, and lots of it! Oh yes. Got it from her daddy and it's just so nice, and now I have it too. She did get to play hookey from school on Friday, b/c her paranoid mother wanted to take her to the dr, just in case it developed into something more over the weekend, and we definitely didn't want to have to make a run to the ER! We all know how that goes! SO, we took her in, they checked her out and said she was fine...just has snot. mmmhmmm. We knew that. Thanks. Anyways, she is starting to feel much better. She is tolerating the saline drops and aspiration, if the definition of tolerating is screaming like we're putting her in a pot of boiling acid. But, no, she really is doing pretty good, considering. She is putting up with her crazy parents very well, and is really doing great on her sleeping...usually going down around 9:30, and waking up around 4:45 a.m. I wish she'd go a little longer, until 6 a .m., but I'm not going to push my luck. Now, if she can just get her mommy on that schedule. I keep waking up every 2-3 hours to check on her, making sure she's okay, and she is, sleeping away! One of these days she's going to wake up and catch me with my face right up against hers, so I can feel and hear that she is breathing properly. We did not try to put her in her crib to sleep this weekend as I previously posted, with the snot and all, I was too paranoid. So, we'll have to give it a go next weekend. We got her a nice purple plush hippopatamus (say that 3 times fast) easter basket, and a cute little lullaby gloworm to go in it. I've got to find some other things to add in, maybe some nice candy that mommy would like! hmmm! I'm hoping to get some more pictures taken and posted soon, she is getting so big! She weighed 12 lbs. 10 oz. at the dr's the other day, they were quite pleased, as was I!!