Eleanor Renee Ylitalo

December 23, 2010

7 lbs., 8 oz.

20 inches

Adam and I are so overwhelmed by our baby girl's beauty. She is precious, amazing, wonderful...the most incredible gift we could have ever dreamed or hoped. We came home from the hospital on Christmas day and are enjoying snuggling our child as I recover. Jake and Tucker are doing so well too- they are quite curious but gentle and are turning out to be great big brothers!

We love the meaning of names, and our baby girl's name is so special to us. We call her Norre for short, pronouced "Norrie," but chose the spelling N-O-R-R-E based on N-O-R of Eleanor plus R-E of Renee.

Eleanor
Meaning: (Greek) Bright as the sun; shining light.
Spiritural Connotation: Kindhearted
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32.

Renee
Meaning: (French) Born again.
Spiritual Connotation: Joyful
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Galations 2:20.

 On our way home. Is it just me or do I look a bit tired??

Sleepy girl. 

Our first Christmas together- and our first day at home.

Welcome home, Norre! 

We were still in the hospital here. She has beautiful blue eyes- but you just can't tell with her sleeping in every picture. 

Big yawn! 

More progress on Eleanor's room. The butterfly chandelier is fantastic. Why would she have a regular mobile when she can have a chandelier??

 Jake loves the baby's room. He thinks our new chair is his new napping spot. He is wrong.

 We love our new chair and the little shelves (my old dorm room night stand- ha!) I added behind it for her books. So far our favorite book is "On the Night You Were Born" and we read it every day. It's just magical. I read a statistic that babies who own 25 books are more likely to go to college than babies who don't.

Eleanor: Harvard class of 2033!

Or Yale... Or Baylor.

I'm pretty sure that she would own at least that many books regardless of this statistic.

And I'm also pretty sure that 89% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

I also added a monogram on the wall over the changing table/dresser for Eleanor Renee. But I don't love it. I can't decide what's wrong with it...so suggestions are welcome. I used frames and paper in the colors of the room and cut out the letters myself, but...I just don't love it. It was super cute in my head and then it didn't really work out. Adam thinks it's the "Y" but I think it might be the font. Not sure.

I thought E-L-E-A-N-O-R would be a bit large for her small room, which is why I opted for the monogram instead. Plus, we love "Y"s.

What do you think?

So here it is! Ready for baby girl.

The boys are very interested in Eleanor's toy basket. We've never had stuffed animals in the house that didn't belong to them, so they are a bit confused-- but doing very well. They just like to sniff around and they know not to take anything out. So cute. They will be great big brothers!