1st Father's Day & growing like a weed!

Ella had her First Father's Day a few weeks ago and she celebrated by playing golf with her Daddy, me, Poppa D, DanDan & Uncle Chip.  She is so good at the course and seems to love riding in the golf cart, naps well in it too.  Scott really enjoyed spending the day with her but it was also special for me to be with my Dad and my daughter.

Scott & his baby girl

Poppa D, DanDan & our future LPGA superstar

Ella started daycare and really seems to enjoy being around all the big kids.  We are blessed to have found someone we really like, trust and know is taking great care of our precious baby girl!  Everyday when I go to pick her up, all the little girls at daycare huddle around her carseat and ask a ton of questions about why Ella is leaving....they are such a bunch of mother hens and it's adorable.  I am just so thankful that God put Lacy in our lives, I can't imagine anyone else watching her.  

I resigned my position in Child Welfare recently.  While I loved what I did, it was just going to be too much with a new baby.  Surprisingly, or maybe not, the Department of Human Services is not the most family friendly place to work.  With football season coming up, we were looking at Ella being at daycare for 9-14 hours a day.  I had been really upset about going back and had been praying for weeks.  God had it all worked out and in His timing (the day before I was supposed to start back) I got a call from my old supervisor in Oil & Gas that he had work and wanted me back.  I jumped at the offer and we truly believe this is the best possible scenario for our family!  I am thrilled to be working for someone I trust and who I know is a man of God.  It is a HUGE blessing for us!!! 

The Courter household is starting to gear up for our 1st football season as a family of 3!  We had our annual golf tournament this past Saturday and Ella came with us to help work the registration table.  She was quite the social butterfly as her Daddy showed her off to all the alumni and SE football supporters.  She was "talking" to all the golfers as they passed the registration table.

Ella also turned 12 weeks old yesterday.  It is unbelievable how fast the weeks have flown by!  The whole weeks/months thing is a little confusing so next month we are going to start counting months in terms of the 4th of the month and not weeks. She is such a happy baby and loves to talk and smile.  She is so much fun and we are honored that God chose us to be her parents! 

We are looking forward to a trip to Houston to visit some great friends, Ella's first pool experience, the start of fall camp and football season.  It's getting busy around here but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Thumbsucker

Well, Ella found her thumb yesterday and it was love at first taste.  I immediately started imagining a 12 year old who refused to stop sucking her thumb and the internal freak out commenced!  I quickly came to my senses and realized that A) she's only 2 1/2 months old and B) this was the first thing my daughter had ever done for herself to feel better....it was a big moment for her.  It's pretty cute too.  It's also a way for her to self soothe that can't be lost, is almost always clean (clean enough anyway) and we can't forget it when we travel!  So, we are the parents of a thumbsucker and couldn't be happier.

"Hey Ella...You'd Look Awesome In Green!"

I didn't know Coach Scott Bostwick all that well; I had met him several times and instantly liked him, but my husband, Scott is a different story.  Scott knew Coach Bostwick as a player and then later, Scott coached alongside him as a GA and the two Scotts logged many hours in a car or hotel room together while on the road recruiting.  So far during our life together I've heard more Bostwick stories than I can count, and I am lucky to say that I've heard a few of those from the mouth of Scott Bostwick.  So when the news came last Sunday that he had died, we were shocked.  Surely it was a mistake.  Once we got the sad news we started making arrangements to head back to Maryville, it would be Ella's first real road trip.  We were excited to take Ella to Maryville but just couldn't believe the reason for the trip. 

Tuesday before we left, Ella had her 2 month doctor's appointment and received her first 2 vaccinations.  We were concerned about how she would do on a 10-13 hour road trip in general, much less after her first round of shots.  I'm not sure why we were so worried, from the beginning she's been proving how tough she is.  The nurse gave her the first shot and she didn't cry, after the second, she wailed for a minute but then I got her in my arms and she calmed right down.  She was pretty clingy the rest of the day, but was still our smiley little girl.

Giving her sad face

Showing off her first band aid

Cuddling with Daddy

The next morning we loaded up the car and headed north.  Ella was better than expected, she slept a lot, and enjoyed the stops every few hours to stretch and be held.  

Ella strapped in & ready to go

We pulled into the 'Ville a little before 7 PM, but she still had to eat, so we didn't have enough time to go to the prayer service at 7, so we listened to it online.  It was a nice service and the Priest really nailed how I think everyone was feeling.  We had a good night with family & Scott got to hang out with some old friends he hadn't seen in a while.  Thursday was the memorial service and it was perfect Awesome.  There were lots of great stories and words of wisdom from Coach Bostwick, and I think everyone who spoke really gave a great description of the kind of man he was.  I never dreamed that the first time Ella heard the Bearcat fight song in Bearcat Stadium would be because Bostwick was gone.  The two moments that really got to me were when the team walked out; because I couldn't help but think how unfair it all was, all those years he waited and he should have been able to lead them out, just once.  The other moment when I lost it was when Sue Bostwick and the kids walked out, through her tears she blew a kiss to the massive crowd.  It was the definition of heartbreaking.  If you're reading this and you knew him, I hope this post did him justice.  If you're reading this and you didn't know him, I hope you can see how much this one man touched so many other lives.

Ella's Red Hat Tribute to Bostwick

Daddy holding his baby Bearcat

After the Memorial Service in the stadium, everyone moved to the Raymond J. Courter pavilion (yep, it's named after my wonderful father-in-law) for a good ol tailgate, beer, burgers and Bearcats...just like Coach Bostwick would have loved.  We got a chance to talk to a lot of friends and show off Miss Ella.  

Grammy & PaPa Courter loved showing off their newest grandbaby and of course they got her a Bearcat onesie!

All of us

So in the end, we said goodbye to Coach Bostwick, we spent some wonderful time with family and we got to see old friends and after all was said and done Bostwick was right....Ella looked Awesome in Green!

 B-E-A-R-C-A-T-S!

Miss Social Butterfly

Ella has been entertaining quite a bit lately so there has not been much time for blogging.  First we had a visit from some of our best friends, The Stevenson Family.  Auntie Iashah had to get some good cuddle time in so Ella obliged by waking early from her nap.

  

Braeden & Amirah both took turns holding Ella and were so sweet.

Fanny even dressed for the occasion.

We went down to visit MeMe Sharon & she was having a good day so she got to hold Ella!

A few days later we had a special visit from Grammy & PaPa Courter as well as Uncle Adam, Aunt Jill and cousins Pierson & Kendal.  Pierson was far too busy to bother with a baby but Kendal was curious about her new cousin, she just couldn't seem to navigate how to give Ella kisses while she was in her car seat.

Grammy & PaPa Courter with all of their grandbabies! I'm thinking it was worth the wait!!

Here's the whole family all together

We had a great time with all our visitors and got to spend some good family time together!  We are trying to really enjoy this family time because we know it will be hard to come by this fall.

Oh and last but not least, Miss Ella turned 2 months old!!!

First Photo Shoot

Our good friend came over to the house a while back to get some pictures of our little family...George and the cats were left out of this one as we wanted Dan to leave in one piece and to avoid mass chaos. Here are a few of our favorites. We're looking forward to our 1 year anniversary/family photo shoot with Josh MCCullock sometime this summer.

Road Trips, Doctors Appointments, First Dates & Golf

We have had a busy & informative last few weeks. We went down to Dallas twice last week, once for my appointment with the colorectal surgeon (still waiting to see how everything heals before he decides if reconstructive surgery is necessary) and then the next day for Ella's appointment. Our poor Ella has been having a horrible time with reflux.  We have learned that babies who have a traumatic birth are more likely to have reflux and need chiropractic adjustments so we took her down to Highland Village to see a chiropractor who works on tiny humans.  Her adjustment seemed to go well and he said she had a lot to work on, when he was done there were visible changes to her little ribcage; we go back down this week for a follow up.  The best part was, while we were down there we also got to visit with some friends and their new baby boy Reid who was born the day after Ella.

Olivia & I with our babies....who would have ever thought?!?!?

First Date. There is an arranged marriage in the future for these two.

We have also found that Ella does well on road trips but she does not like a slow driver.  So be advised, if you're driving Miss Ella you better go faster than 65 mph!! 

Yesterday was a big day as Ella turned 6 weeks old!!!  We celebrated by heading over to visit PaPa D & DanDan at Falconhead. 

Daddy & Daughter's first golf outing

Ella seemed to love being outside on the course

 

We're hoping this isn't a referral!

Ella was full of advice for PaPa D

Today we went to the pediatrician because she was having some issues we were concerned about.  It turns out that Ella is allergic to the protien in milk.....cows & mine!  The benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the side effects and we are giving 2 meds now for the reflux as well as some cream for the skin reaction.  Poor baby girl is a tough one!  Hopefully we can get things under control so she's not hurting and uncomfortable all the time. 

So we can have less moments like these

And more like these

My First Mother's Day Weekend & other updates

This weekend was my very first Mother's Day.  I used to hate Mother's Day.  Don't get me wrong, I have a WONDERFUL mother and loved celebrating her and all the things she did for my brother and I, but as far as me personally;  I hated Mother's Day.  As a woman in my late 20's and early 30's who did not have a child I always felt like people were thinking "What's wrong with her? Why doesn't she have kids?"  Those feelings intensified after someone literally asked my mother what was wrong with me and why didn't I have any kids. (Yes, that actually happened, and at church no less) So each year I would go to church and sit through the service while they gave flowers to every other woman in the room and looked at me with those "you'll understand when you have kids" eyes.  Stupid eyes.

As you can probably guess, I had become bitter.  I looked forward to the day when I would become a mother but I wasn't getting any younger.  I don't know the pain of infertility but I can imagine some women who struggle with it must hate Mother's Day far worse than I did.  Even as I hold my beautiful baby girl on my very first Mother's Day I have a love/hate relationship with the day.  I love that it celebrates mommies and the love they have for their children but I hate how it only focuses on the mommies who can hold their babies.  There are a lot of women out there who already feel like mommies, they long to hold their babies, they just don't know how their children will come into their life.  Will God allow them to grow their children in their tummy or will they be sent their children through "first mothers" (got that term from reading more adoption blogs than I can count)?  I used to wonder the same thing and my dear friends daughter must have noticed because she called me a mommy who didn't have any babies.  I thought that was a great compliment.

Well now I'm officially a mommy with a beautiful baby girl and I had a fantastic First Mother's Day Weekend!  On Saturday I went to visit my mom and she seemed to be doing better.  When I looked in her eyes I saw my mom and not a stranger, it was a wonderful blessing and I am so thankful that God gave me that gift.

The rest of our weekend went like this.....

Ella's "big brother" Dean came to see her

 

Later that day we left Ella with our friends the Willrich's and went on our first post baby date

We had a great time and although we missed our girl we look forward to many more date nights!!

On Sunday we relaxed and had a great day at home with our sweet baby girl. I got flowers from Scott, Ella, Fanny, George, Cecil & Polly

and from my amazing in-laws

I held her a little longer and stole a few more kisses than usual and it was awesome.  We took a family picture but as usually Fanny refuses to look at the camera.

In other news; Ella had her first rescue who was VERY sick and went to DFW pug rescue (you can click on the link to donate or adopt).  

She also met a baby horse who was born 2 weeks before she was.  

We had a horrible evening with reflux one night but since I made some diet changes she seems to be doing better but that night broke our hearts.  

That's what the Courter's have been up to!  We are looking forward to getting the professional pictures back, Ella's first trip to visit Poppa D & Dan Dan at Falconhead and a visit from Grammy and PaPa Courter, Uncle Adam, Aunt Jill and cousins Pierson & Kendal.  So lots more pictures are coming!  We are NOT looking forward to me going back to work.

Until next time!