Meeting Nana Sagar

During the second week of April, Ruth came to visit her first grand-baby.

Meeting her Nana Sagar



















a trip to the botanical garden to see all of the cherry blossoms in the Japanese garden














Ella was a little sleepy!

Meghan and Lisa

Ella also had a visit from Aunt Meghan and Aunt Lisa!

Cuddling with Aunt Meghan on the couch














Max decides to join the group














Hanging out with Aunt Lisa














Playing dress-up with some new accessories that her aunts brought her!














Snuggling with Mama














a quick nap...

Visitors and Such

Ella had some visitors during her first couple of weeks at home, and she also had several new experiences - like baths in the kitchen sink!















not too happy about being pulled out of the warm bath water into the cold kitchen



















our friend Megan Washington














Papa comes to see his newest little grand-baby Bulldawg!



















Gigi stayed with us for a week and helped us to figure out all of the new things we needed to learn...she also came to the rescue when James and I both got a stomach virus the first week we were at home.

2 Week Formal Portraits

When she was two and a half weeks old, we took Ella for some formal portraits at a local studio. They turned out great!

She was already holding her head up on her own, too, by the way!

Ella Belle

So we had the baby =) See facebook for more pictures.

Arriving at the hospital to start our new adventure - can you tell we're excited? Ha, ha!














Here I am at Barnes, in labor!














Elizabeth Anne Sagar, about a minute after she was born!














Beautiful flowers from Papa and Gigi Patton, for the new little lady.














she's not too sure what she thinks about this whole outside the womb thing...














but daddy makes everything better





































A visit from our friend Katie Baird



















and a visit from our friend Kim Chik, who stopped by on her way to work














coming home from the hospital!

Ready to Go!

After many months, I think that I've FINALLY got things ready for this little lady to make her debut. The nursery is done, and I've got my bag mostly packed for the hospital. I know that I've packed more than I need, but that's mostly because I'm taking Ella's diaper bag with clothes in it, so that she can wear her own clothes at the hospital instead of the ugly things that the hospital puts onto new babies. Here's what we've got...

Here's our family suitcase to go to the hospital, complete with James's CPAP machine bag and the baby's diaper bag.














...and yes, Dad, I made a list of all the things I need to take, just so that I can check it right before I leave!



















I finally found a little table to go beside our rocking chair in the nursery, and we've got James's favorite little kid book, Goodnight Moon, sitting there ready to go. (He's already read it to Ella several times.)



















Lots of fun toys that we got as gifts!














Megan Washington painted the baby's initials onto these beautiful canvases - Elizabeth Anne Sagar!

































The crib is all set, and we've mounted the baby monitor onto the wall in the corner so that we can check on her without opening the door.














I think Max is trying to figure out why we got a new fancy wooden cage and put it into the pretty room upstairs. Are we getting a new dog? Or maybe his crate is getting an upgrade? Boy is he in for a surprise!














Diaper changing station



















pretty new curtains for the window
































finally finished!

The Philosopher

Sometimes I wonder what goes through Max's head. Most mornings, he just wants to go outside, patrol the yard, and come back in to hang out on the couch. But every once in awhile, he rings the bell to go outside and just sits on the deck. He'll let the wind blow through his ear fluff, raise his nose to sniff whatever is in the air, and just ponder life. Sometimes he sits for a long time doing this, and I like to just watch him through the window. He seems especially philosophic during the spring time - maybe he's trying to ascertain whether spring is coming, even though there is still snow sitting on the ground. It's his special thinking time, and I love to watch him.

February Snow!

While the east coast is getting hammered with feet of snow, we've only had a few inches so far in St. Louis. If we were just a few hours north, I think we'd be in trouble, so I'm VERY thankful to be far enough south that it's not too bad. Max is, of course, having a blast playing in the powder in the back yard. He's loved the snow ever since he was a little puppy, but his paws get really cold after just a few minutes, and then he wants to come in and warm up. I've been trying to convince him that it's not really much fun to play in the snow, so that he doesn't keep trying to go out into it every half hour, making me wipe his paws every time he comes in!

Here are a few pictures:

Max checks out the fresh powder from the deck.














I'm thinking that this rosemary plant probably won't make it! I should have brought it inside back in early November.



















He's looking for a kong wubba toy that got buried - eventually he found it, but he got a cold, wet nose in the process!



















Checking the backyard for squirrels and birds before coming back inside.














A view of Tower Grove Park across the street...and the path that I shoveled yesterday to the car. Unfortunately, more snow blew into the path, so it's not clear anymore!