Our First Few Weeks as Four.

Someone in the hospital had a cold (not a shocker I know) and unfortunately it spread to my dear hubby, which he then unfortunately gave to our dear eldest daughter Emma, who then also passed it on so sweetly to our newest baby daughter Ella…oh boy. Three stuffy noses, a mommy recovering from childbirth, a one and a half year old adjusting to having a new baby around….thank goodness for my mom who comes to stay with us for the entire first week after the baby is born because that is a lot to handle!

Emma trying to get rid of her stuffy nose!

Basic rundown of our first week at home: Eric, Emma & Ella sick with colds. Emma accidentally locking herself in our room & having to remove our door handle just to get her out. Emma climbing out of her crib during naptime as she yelled for mommy (I was at the time having to nurse little Ella). Amy (my sister) & Drew’s wedding and a very long night in our hotel room (the night before their wedding) with the two babies.

My sister Amy and her husband Drew on their wedding day, a very small private beach wedding, simple and beautiful!

A week old and an 18 month old in a hotel room together, when both are already a little stuffy…not recommended. However, I do have to say Eric & I make a great team…no way we would’ve made it through that night without our parenting teamwork, so thankful for my hubby! All funny memories now, but that week…quite exhausting!

Eric showing his part of our parenting teamwork, love it!

Eric had the opportunity to officiate his first wedding, for his cousin and her fiance, just two weeks after Ella was born. He did a great job! We are also happy to report that Ella is now officially an expert in wedding guest etiquette after going to two weddings in her first two weeks!

All ready to go to Eric’s cousin’s wedding (Emma stayed home with my mom, that being the reason she is not dressed up) with little 2 week old Ella!

Then just as the stuffy noses had finally cleared up the stomach flu attacked our new little family, no joke.

The girls out on my first real outing alone with both babies…only hours before Emma got sick.

It happened on a Wednesday afternoon. I was allowing myself to feel a good sense of accomplishment after a successful first outing with both girls in tow, even stopped to get Emma & I a small McFlurry on the way home to celebrate our success. Little did I know that a few hours later that McFlurry would end up all over me (in the form of little Emma’s throw up). Yep…mommy had to throw away a shirt and a sweater that day (mine not Emma’s)….there was just way to much “yuck” to get out. It came out of nowhere, poor little Emma. :( That was Wednesday, Eric caught it Thursday and by Friday morning I had caught it as well. Thankfully little Ella (only 3 weeks old at this point) did not catch it and by Sunday this little Durso family was back to full health, phew!

Emma very happy to be eating her Mcflurry….which I had no clue would be all over me in a very different form in just a couple short hours.

Once March rolled around things had somewhat settled down for our new little family of four. My sister had her second little boy on March 1st and we went down to meet him a week later. So fun having the cousins so close together!

Holding my sister’s 1 week old little boy, Cooper, while she holds little 4 week old Ella!

Then as we slowly got into a new groove with two little ones yet another exciting new transition phase for our family began as Eric accepted a position as the Youth Pastor at Grace Brethren Church in Simi Valley and we got ready to say goodbye to our current church and hello to a new church family.

Our little family just enjoying our crazy first month together!

Yep, we like to cram as much change into a few months as we possibly can…more about our recent church transition in my next post!

Ella Faith has Arrived!

In case you haven’t heard the wonderful news(or guessed it from my recent absence from the blog as a busy mommy of TWO – under the age of 2 – now)….little Ella Faith Durso has arrived!!!

Our sweet little Ella Faith on her birthday!

Ella arrived on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012, weighing in at 7lbs. 12oz. and 20.5in. long. She is beautiful and healthy and we are overjoyed to have her in our family, so thankful to God for another huge blessing in such a tiny little package! She has been very busy growing weighing in at 9lbs. 10oz. and 21.25in long at her 3 week check-up, surprising even the doctor with her quick growth spurt, yay, good job Ella! Curious to see her recent growth at her two month (well make that almost 3 months now) check-up soon!

So happy to finally meet our little Ella face to face and hold her in our arms!

Quick rundown of the labor story (for those of you interested): I went in for my usual weekly check-up at 9AM, found out I was dilated to 4cm (I had had two nights of pretty decent contractions the two weeks prior and was happy to hear that morning that they had made some progress for little Ella’s arrival). Because 4cm is considered active labor my doctor asked…”ready to have this baby today?” Ella had dropped and the doctor was convinced once labor started it was gonna go fast, making it safer that we just go to the hospital while things were still not in full swing. So, I called Eric and about 3 hours later Emma was at Grammy & Papi’s  house and we were checking into the hospital!

Last belly picture with Ella Faith...just about to leave for the hospital!

The doctor broke my water around 3PM, started me on the very lowest dose of pitocin around 5:30PM (after which they thought it would take a while to kick in, so they had the epidural lady stall a little by explaining to me – for what seemed like forever – all the ins and outs of the epidural…let me just say, it did not take long at all for the pitocin to start working hard and by the time I had the epidural they later realized it may have been just a little bit late…I’m sure it took a bit of the edge off but still, no stalling next time people!?!?). Anyway, just 5 short hours of real labor and only 10 minutes of pushing, Ella Faith Durso arrived safely at exactly 8:15PM. I cried, so thankful for yet another beautiful precious gift from God, another little girl…precious.

Eric holding Ella for the first time!

Now, just a quick sidenote…I have to say one of my favorite parts of labor (besides the obvious ending of meeting your new little one at last!) is the teamwork and support I get from my other half, my hubby! Eric is right by my side the whole time, doing all he can to just be there for me and help me.

Eric and I. :)

Then seeing his face when he meets our baby for the first time and catching his eye with that “I am so proud and impressed by you baby” look that he gives to just me….it’s priceless and I am absolutely speechless at that moment at God’s goodness to me (with both deliveries) as I cherish the loving/adoring look from my hubby and hold our new baby in my arms, there are no words.

Sitting there enjoying God's goodness, watching my hubby and our new little Ella!

Ella is a little dream baby, rarely cries. When she actually does cry we know something is wrong, and generally it is just a quick feeding or diaper change needed and she is right back to her laid back little self. She is also quite the little smiler and talker! She shares tons of smile throughout the day with us and is very eager to be a part of family conversation with her adorable little coos, we love it!

Our sweet little smiley Ella!

Some of our favorite smiles to see are when she is smiling back at little Emma, who just loves talking with her new baby sister and making her smile by quite consistently saying “mamamamamama…” to Ella! So fun watching the girls interact already! The latest, just this week Ella did her first rollover, very exciting and crazy how quickly she is growing!

Emma holding Ella for the first time!

I must say, our first few months as a family of four was a little busier and a tad bit more unorganized than this organized momma had originally anticipated! Nonetheless, having two little ones now and watching our little family adjust has been even more of a blessing than I had originally anticipated as well! God is so good and these first few months of learning and growing as a mommy of two (the lessons are unending I am sure of it!) have been eternally profitable in my relationship with my Savior, no joke! I am more than 100% convinced now (just in case I hadn’t been fully convinced before) that I could not make it through one day without His grace and joy sustaining me. But thankfully because I do have His unending grace and joy sustaining me, I really cannot get enough of the daily ins and outs of being Eric’s wife and Emma & Ella’s mommy, I love it, craziness and all!

Our little family of four!

And let me tell you there have been some serious crazy moments in our first few months as four….I’ll let the next couple blogs fill you in! For now just know that Ella is here and we are so thankful and happy to be a little family of four!