Happy Holidays

This was Eli's first Christmas and it was wonderful. We were able to work it out so that we could see all of the extended family as well as make it home to have our own Christmas together. Eli of course had no idea what all the fuss was about opening presents.
Of course we would hand him one and begin to open it hoping he would be interested in trying to rip into it himself, but he simply wanted to chew on the bows. Having a child makes Christmas feel completely different. Of course it was exciting to get my own presents, but it was far too much fun to watch Eli play with his new toys or the boxes they came in. Enjoy these pictures from our first Christmas with Eli!!! Eli is almost 9 months and we are guessing he is somewhere around 19-20 lbs.

Happy Feet

Eli's first Halloween was oh so cute. He went as a penguin which we found last minute and thought it was perfect! We didn't go trick or treating, but we made it to the grandparents' houses to pay a visit. Eli tried his hand at giving out candy, but each piece only made it as far as his own mouth. The kids didn't seem too interested in those pieces.... hummm... Joe and I decided last minute to find costumes to wear and we went as Grease characters, even though we really didn't look much like what we had hoped. Anyway, we had fun and it was cute. Can't wait until next year when Eli will be excited about dressing up and going out.
Here are a couple pictures from Eli's first Halloween!

Wow, Eli is growing and changing so fast. So several things have happened since our last blog. Joe and I took Eli to his first Yeand family reunion at the cabin on Rough River in Kentucky. It was a 5 hour drive and on the way there he was crying quite a bit. But while there amoung the many nurses and mothers they managaed to get Eli to sleep in a pack 'n play by himself. It was amazing getting to 2 nights of sleep in the same bed as my husband without a baby crying all night. However, once we got home he decided he didn't like his pack 'n play. It was good while it lasted. A couple days after we got back Eli had a checkup for his surgery. Amy took the bandage off and it looked great. Then the same day he got his shots! He was so mad about that, but did a lot better then I expected him to once we got home.
He continues to smile more and more and is awake longer throughout the day. He is now 3 months old and still giving us quite a problem with the sleep routine. He does not want to be alone for long at all. So Joe and I are still switching off being next to him half the night each. Everyone keeps telling us different things on how we SHOULD be dealing with this problem and that we should just let him be by himself and cry. But it kills us to let him do that since Joe has to work in the morning and has to get some sleep and Eli doesn't give me a chance to sleep during the day so we are just surviving the sleeping issues for now.
In the past couple days he has started to stick his tongue out all the time when he's happy and it is so cute.

Eli Update: 13 weeks old, 12 lbs

Picture Update #1

Here are some more pictures if you can't get enough!

Got Milk?

Well, this has been quite a week. It started off bad with me running a high fever over the weekend through Monday. Then it was a busy week with getting ready for Steph and Tom's wedding running back and forth from Indy, doing nails, having lunches, rehearsal and dinner, then finally the big day. Joe and I turned over Eli to the grandparents for 2 whole nights while we remained in Muncie for the wedding extravaganza! It was both stressful and wonderful not having Eli connected at my hip for 2 1/2 days. So I went to get ready for the wedding at the church, I pumped twice be fore going out for the ceremony and of course I begin leaking in the dress before we even walk out. Thankfully, it was not going all the way through so no one could tell but me! Sitting in a wet dress through the whole celebration, then pictures, then the first dance and cutting of the cake I finally ran to the bathroom to pump and change into another dress I had brought just in case. As I stand in the stall my batteries die so there was no pumping. I change clothes and within an hour I had leaked all the way through the new dress and it was more obvious then the last, but I couldn't do anything about it so I didn't. Lesson learned: ALWAYS BRING BACK UP BATTERIES!!!

So on Sunday we trucked it home to prepare for the dreaded surgery. Bright and early Monday morning we made our way to St. Vincent's and with Eli now in his 4th hour of not eating when he normally he eats every 2 he was a very unhappy camper. The crazy surgent came in and drew a smiley face on his hernia. Eli was in and out of surgery in about 30mins. When he was brought to us he was so sleepy from the anastesia we were doing everything to wake him, but had no luck for probably a good 10mins or so. So, now we are home just trying to heal and he is doing much better then we thought as far as being upset. Here is a picture of Eli with his St. V's bear and his battle wound!

Eli Update: 10 lbs!!!

BANG! BANG!

This week I was having some MAJOR cabin fever while Joe was at work all day. So while Eli and I were out for a walk I saw a wonderful little spot for a picnic. I called up Jess and her son Alex and Sarah and her daughter Ella to meet for a mommy and me outing for the next day. We met and set up camp in a green and shady spot where we were away from everything. It was wonderful being able to have this little support group of first time moms to meet with and swap stories. Alex is the oldest, born Feb., then Ella in March, followed by Eli in April so they are all so close that we are going through many of the same things at the same time. Since we are all nursing moms we all have a baby on a boob and out of nowhere this college aged guy dressed in all camo walks right up to us and tells us he is apart of ROTC and will be doing some training in the grassy area a few yards from us but that we were fine where we were. So all around these three nursing moms are about 15 big ROTC guys running around, yelling BANG! BANG! and tackling other guys wearing black ski masks. It was quite a sight, we didn't know we were getting dinner and a show!!
Last weekend while Tonya was out at a bachlorette party I got to keep Eli all night! We had a couple of my friends from college over to meet Eli for the first time. It was a late night and when Tonya came home in the morning she let us sleep in until noon.

"You're never fully dressed without a smile"

This week Eli purposely smiled for the first time!! It was such a great feeling to be looking at him and he had a full, mouth open, toothless smile. Joe and I were just sitting in bed talking to him and there it was. Hopefully next time we can get him to do it long enough to get a picture.

We went on a picnic at Minnetrista again this week and while sitting in the grass with not a person in sight I had to feed Eli. Laying on the blanket to feed him in a side laying position here comes this little dog running full speed towards us with a man of about 35 running after it. I try to gather up Eli and myself to not to become victim to the dog and the man is right there just in time for a little show. He quickly apologized and continued running and the dog followed not missing a beat.

Unfortunately, Eli now has cradle cap, but its not on his head... he has it on his ears, which I didn't know could happen. We had been bathing him and using the curry comb we were given at the hospital to prevent the cradle cap, but I can't very well use it on his ears! We have been bathing him everyday now and it seems to be much better.