The Spicer Family: One Month.

Ellisyn was home for a week and nearly eight days away from her original due date when she hit the age of one month. Gestationally, Ellisyn was still suppose to be snug in the womb. This was obvious as her most favorite thing was snuggling tight and close to mom or dad. She spent most of her days, and nights, sleeping with hunger being the only thing to stir her from her constant slumber.
Even though Ellisyn spent most of her time sleeping, her personality was strong-willed and shining since she surprisingly entered the world too many weeks early. Throughout her time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Ellisyn stood out as the small but very in charge five pound beauty. The NICU was filled with other premature babies hooked up to multiple machines, which resulted in endless noises. By day two of Ellisyn's life, she had to be moved to a far corner of the NICU away from the majority of the sound. She had already made it clear that she would not stand for those other beeping babies. Ellisyn had to be under the UV lights for several days, as well, and she was apparently very unhappy about those bright lights interrupting her beauty sleep as she required a blanket or stuffed animal to be covering her eyes. It also wasn't surprising to see Ellisyn kicking herself to the top of her bed, pulling out her feeding tube, or grasping the ventilator with what looked like the intentions of pulling it out. The doctors and nurses were constantly telling us how feisty and particular Ellisyn seemed to be from the very beginning. Daniel and I found these things pretty comical, but we might not think they're so funny when she's a feisty, strong-willed, particular teenager. Nonetheless, we absolutely adored everything about Ellisyn and her first month on Earth with us.
Once we finally got to bring Ellisyn home, we couldn't get enough of her. Every sound she made, every face she pulled, and every outfit she wore was perfect in the eyes of her two inexperienced parents. She continued to eat more and more, and we could quickly see her growing from a premie to a newborn. She had always slept well, thanks to the NICU. The nurses there certainly sleep trained Ellisyn for us. She would sleep three hours between each feeding and didn't have any problems being in her crib.
Ellisyn has been such a joy in our lives. She's really living up to her middle name. It has been so fun to have such a sweet, innocent spirit in our home. I can't imagine our life without her. She loves to be home with mom during the day, but she sure is glad when Daddy comes home. It's amazing how quickly she became a Daddy's girl, and it could just about melt my heart to see them interact together. Her fingers may be small, but she's got her Dad wrapped around every single one of them. Ellisyn sure kept us on our toes for the first month of her sweet life, and I have a feeling she'll continue to always keep us on our toes. We sure love you, Ellisyn!