Happy Halloween!

So y'all know I'm pretty obsessed with playing dress up with Elle - well today I might have gone a little overboard...but I had an excuse...it's Halloween!

(her little Halloween outfit is what she wore for a part of the day yesterday - i love it!)

Outfit # 1 was her lady bug outfit - but I didn't get any pictures of that one (oops)

Outfit # 2 - decked out in red, white and blue to support our Ole Miss Rebs (too bad Rebel bows can't help those Rebs win!)

Outfit # 3 - our little bumble bee! It was a little too hot for her to wear this one for very long. Lee's grandmother got us this outfit before I was even pregnant. It was one of my Christmas gifts - maybe wishful thinking for a future great grand baby! Lee's nickname is Lee the Bee - so this was a very fitting gift for our future little bumble bee!

Outfit # 4 - Out little ghost - She had on a ghost t-shirt and her little pants had a little spider on it - but alas - no picture!

Outfit # 5 - Our little leopard! This isn't the same outfit as animal print Friday - it's WAY better because it has a tutu attached!

Outfit # 6 - our little eater had on a cute "I love candy" shirt but that was quickly covered in prunes

Outfit # 7 - pjs!

We had a wonderful evening tonight! My parents, Lee's parents and Lee's brother, Jake, came over and we had a little Halloween dinner. Elle Belle was soo good! She loved all the attention and loving that she got! It was a perfect 1st Halloween!! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe evening (and if you're like me...the no more candy diet starts tomorrow!)

AP Friday

We spent Animal Print Friday experimenting with a new food....prunes. Who would have known that Elle would have loved them as much as she did!

prunes prunes everywhere

prunes prunes in her hair

prunes prunes on the floor

prunes prunes give her more

prunes prunes in her ears

prunes prunes stopped the tears

prunes prunes are the fav

prunes prunes - what a flav!

She might have loved them but they were by far the messiest food yet! Lee thinks I purposely made her uber messy - I have to disagree - she did this one all on her own!

Nothing can dampen my spirit

The weather in Houston is absolutely horrible right now. But absolutely nothing can dampen my spirit! Last night I had the opportunity to visit with the members of SANG (Strategic Alliance Networking Group). They sponsored a happy hour to benefit Witt and Elle and the Wee Dream Foundation. These perfect strangers opened up their wallets and their hearts for our wonderful cause. In the short 2 hours we visited, we raised over $700 for the foundation. I walked away last night absolutely glowing. The amount of support for the Wee Dream Foundation makes me believe in the goodness of people - the goodness of perfect strangers. I'm at a loss for words. This has all just been so over whelming and truly incredible. Thank you so much for your wonderful support of this amazing cause. We are still selling raffle tickets and bracelets and gearing up for the golf tournament on November 16. It's not too late to sign up for the tourney!! Information on the tournament can be found on the Wee Dream website - http://www.weedream.blogspot.com/.

I was reading another blog yesterday and the author quoted something from her daily devotional - "Oct. 26th devotional was - FEAR NOT! God's timing is always perfect. The quote at the end of the devotional, "Set your thoughts, not on the storm, but on the LOVE that rules the storm." I think this sums up our little family pretty perfectly! The love we have for our little baby that has weathered some pretty bad storms and the love of our most glorious Savior that has held us through the ups and downs of the last few months.

Elle Belle is growing so much everyday. She is doing so well on holding her head up and tonight she even tried to sit up on her own. Yesterday we caught her sucking on her feet for the first time! I've had a great time playing dress up with her this week - gearing up for Halloween.

Our little pumpkin spice!

Our little monster!

Drink for a cause

For those of you that live in Houston and want to enjoy a little Wednesday evening drink...please come join us at:

Drinks for a Cause

Happy Hour and Benefit

for

Witt and Elle Lupher

Hosted by:

SANG (Strategic Alliance Networking Group)

Crapittos

2400 Mid Lane St @ Westheimer

Highland Village Area

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

6:00pm - 8:00pm

SANG will be accepting donations on behalf of Elle and Witt!

Notes on the weekend

We had a relatively low key weekend. Saturday morning Lee and my dad headed down to one of their hunting leases to do some work. Elle and I spent the morning hanging out and attempting to try the eating applesauce thing again. I was smarter this time and took off her shirt...doesn't her scar look amazing?! She was a pretty happy baby when she realized that she was going to be getting some real food!

Saturday afternoon my mom came over and gave me her scouting report on a craft show that was taking place in Rosenberg. She found some amazing stuff so we made plans to go on Sunday.

Saturday evening Mark and Vickie came over and played with Elle Belle. Elle is so lucky to be loved by so many incredible people! Vickie was trying to put Elle to sleep and right when we thought she was asleep in her pack n play - the crazy kid woke up! So - we put her in our bed and of course - she went right to sleep. It's funny - because while I was pregnant - I swore I would never let Elle sleep in our bed. There was no way I was going to start her in the habit of only being able to fall asleep in the bed with us. Yea - that's a no go now. We've recently gotten in the bad habit of letting her fall asleep with us. Most nights I try to move her to her bed - but for the last few nights she has only lasted a few hours in her bed before she wakes up and wants to be in bed with us. At this point - she can sleep in bed with us as long as she sleeps which means we all sleep! Everyone had this image of what they are going to do as parents and then when you actually become one - everything changes!

Lee got home late Saturday night so Sunday my mom and I headed out to Rosenberg for the craft show. I love homemade stuff and every time I go to a craft show I think "I could totally make that!" So after our trip to the craft show I came back home inspired to start attempting cute clothes for Elle. We will see how this goes - I'm a great starter of projects but a not so great finisher of projects.

I love this picture of Elle - the stop sign says 'Please wash your hands before touching mine." Lately it has become Elle's favorite chew toy and this weekend it became her sleeping buddy too!

I'm a sucker for good jewelry...

and this is a perfect accessory (besides a cute baby)!

The Wee Dream Foundation ordered these awesome bracelets. They say "for witt and elle" on them. You can order your bracelet through the wee dream blog at www.weedream.blogspot.com. Thank you so much for all your support for this wonderful cause!

Seven months ago...

We welcomed our sweet baby girl into this world. I can't believe it has been 7 months! That's a lot of Animal Print Fridays!

What's going on in the life of this precious 7 month old?

- Weighin' in at 15 lbs 6 1/2 ounces

- Wearing 6 month clothes - some 6-9 month clothes

- You are 1 month post open heart surgery

- You've just started doing these funny smiles - one we call your popeye smile because it's straight across and you look like popeye! Your other new smile is soo funny - you open your mouth real big and crinkle your nose...from the pictures you look mad but it really is your new smile

- You hate wearing your hearing aids! You are constantly taking them out and sucking on them!

- You are eating 180 cc every 4 hours 5 x a day but we are experimenting with baby foods too! So far your favorite seems to be applesauce

- Everyday you are staying in your excersaucer for longer and longer - holding that head up like a big girl! We have exercises we do everyday to help strengthen your neck

- You are sitting up with assistance - you can't really sit up on your own yet - but we're working on it!

- We're still on quarantine but you could spend all day rolling around on the floor rolling from one side to the other playing with your toys

- you discovered your feet a while ago but just recently you've been holding onto your feet and rolling from side to side

- you are chewing on everything! anything and everything you can get your little hands on you put right into your mouth - you may have a tooth coming in but we're still waiting to see it!

- you love it when we sign to you. you recognize hungry, eat, milk, silly, pretty, girl and I love you. We're trying to get you to recognize mom, dad, grandmother and grandfather

- you hate being left alone. if you realize no one is around - you start screaming but as soon as you see someone - you are all smiles

- you are still sleeping in your pack in play in our room - i just can't move you yet to your room - you're still my itty bity baby!

- you sleep through the night but lately you've been waking up at 2am just to play for a bit and then you go back to sleep until around 6am

- you love to watch cartoons in the morning. your favs seem to be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny - you are so mesmerized by them. You still love Baby Einstein too!

- you like to hang out in your stroller - we go on walks around the house and in the backyard

- you've recently discovered our dogs - you love to let Reggie lick you toes and then you try to pat him on the head

- you LOVE your baths - you wiggle down your little bath seat so your legs are in the water and you love to kick them around and splash water everywhere

- you are such a silly little girl and we love you soo much! we are so blessed by you!

An Apple a Day

Elle tried applesauce today and seemed to love it! Peaches last week were a no go so I was glad we were able to try something new today. My fault for not putting a bib on her - but the mess on her face was too cute not to share.

I decked Elle out in her Uncle Benny = My Favorite shirt today. What a difference a few months can make!

Elle and Uncle Benny April 16, 2009 in the NICU (3 days post heart surgery # 1 and 10 days post nose surgery to put in the stents)

Such a happy little girl (4 weeks post open heart surgery)!

Too bad for Uncle Benny - but I don't think she will be wearing that shirt for too much longer...it was a wee bit snug!

The Wee Dream Foundation Golf Tournament is in full swing. Raffle tickets just came in and we are getting super excited about all the events of November 16! If you are interested in purchasing a raffle ticket (1 = $10 or 3 = $25) - you may contact me through email at lblupher@gmail.com or via this blog...or you may contact Angie Goings through the wee dream blog at www.weedream.blogspot.com. There are some awesome items beings raffled!! There are forms on the wee dream blog for the golf tournament. If golf's not your thing - we will also be having a bbq dinner and silent auction after the tournament. We are praying for a wonderful turn out for the amazing event!

Some days are a waste of a good outfit

Oh man - today was a crazy day...and a total waste of a complete outfit! Not for Elle but for me! Elle is always dressed to the nines...me...not so much. I haven't lost the baby weight yet so my wardrobe is very limited. When I actually do fish something out of my closet that fits, it's an exciting day and usually one that is super productive. Funny how I feel better and get more done when I get dressed, hair done, makeup, jewelry... Well - today, I got up early with Miss Priss, got her taken care of and then fixed myself up for a trip to the hospital to pick up one of Elle's pain medicines. I left our house at 10:30am - got to the hospital at 11:30am for what I thought was going to be a quick run in, get the prescription from the cardiologist and then get it filled there at the hospital. Nope - not so much. Long story short - they couldn't even get us a prescription (when we had been told it was already ready) and I left the hospital 4 hours later with a crying baby and no pain medicine. The nurse I was talking with told me to come back tomorrow. What a waste of an outfit! I hate being at the hospital with all the flu/rsv going on so I think Lee is going to have to go back down to the med center tomorrow to pick up her meds. I can't wait for this weaning schedule to be complete and for Elle to be off all the pain meds! Elle is doing good with the 2 hours feeds. I personally hate them but as long as she isn't puking - we will do anything! She is growing up so much and is such a little blessing! She talks so much and is such a happy baby (for the most part). We've noticed that she hates being alone. She screams and cries when she realizes no one is around and as soon as someone looks her way - she is all smiles. Oh what a little diva!

Big girl holding her head up and sitting up. We have exercises that we do with her to help strengthen her neck so hopefully one day she will be able to hold that head up straight!

Elle Belle was being a super diva today. One of her pain meds was decreased today so we think that was what was causing the extreme fussiness...either that...or Elle is getting a tooth. She's had the same white speck on her gum for 2 weeks now - we're just waiting for that tooth to come in! My poor mom had to deal with Elle while I went into work. I feel so bad when Elle is fussy all day and she is with my mom. She is a handful and I just feel awful when she is being a diva. She cried so much today that on the way home today her voice was hoarse. Poor little baby...and poor Granna Anna!

Last Thursday we went and saw Elle's gastro doctor. Her thinking on Elle's puking is that her body's reaction to surgery is for her reflux to get worse. She increased one of Elle's reflux meds and we are also playing around with Elle's feedings. Currently, she is getting 180ml per feed - but those feeds now take 2 hours instead of an hour...augh! I feel like all we do is feed her now! She eats 5x a day and now her feeds take so long she usually falls asleep during them...but...the good news is that she hasn't puked since we slowed her feeds down! You gotta take the good with the bad!!!

Animal Print Friday - Elle was decked out in her new french poodle outfit. I'm not sure you can tell by the pictures but her little dress has poodles and Eiffel towers all over it! We spent the beautiful afternoon hanging out with the pups on the porch - Elle has just recently begun to notice our dogs. Reggie is the only one who will pay any attention to her - Duchess is completely indifferent.

Saturday we spent hanging out at our house. Elle is doing so well at holding her head up so we put her in her exersaucer. She did so good! She is able to play in it for longer and longer. Saturday night Lee and I went on a date while Elle stayed with his parents. It was so nice to be out and about just the two of us!

Sunday was my dad's birthday so he and my mom came over and spent a few hours with Elle and the pups. Elle sure is one lucky little girl to have both sets of grandparents here in Houston and so close to her!

We are praying for a better day tomorrow for our little miss!