Girls Night Out

Thursday night before the wedding I orchestrated a Girls Night Out for Kim. We went out for dessert fondue at The Melting Pot. We invited the girls in the wedding party, the mothers and a few other of Kim's friends. We got 4 different types of chocolate (my favorite was Bananas Foster) and had all sorts of treats to dip in there, rice krispie treats, brownies, cheese cake, pound cake, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows... yeah ... it was amazing. I think the funniest part of the night was watching Erin (flower girl) enjoy her chocolate. I think she was shocked at how much chocolate there was and how she had unrestricted access to all of it!

Silly Sisters

The whole group

One happy, chocolately girl

The Mothers

Yum!

2 months!

The best part about the 2nd month is definitely the smiles! I love nothing more than looking into Eli's crib and having his face light up in a smile when he sees me! He is also tracking toys and faces and really making good eye contact these days. He loves to be held "sitting up" and facing out so that he can see what is going on. He is still doing a great job holding his head up and will even push his shoulders off the ground sometimes when he is laying on his stomach.

All About Eli - Month 2

Eli Likes:

eating, watching his mobile, watching people and faces, taking walks, sucking on his fist, "sitting up", lying on his changing table naked, being outside, being held in momma's new wrap

Eli Does NOT Like:

sleeping in his crib during the day, shots, waiting to eat, riding in the car at night, having only part of your attention, getting put in his car seat more than 30 seconds before the car starts moving, the sun in his eyes

SleepStar!

Today is a day for celebration! No, I am not talking about Eli's 2 month birthday (my baby is growing up so fast!) or my Dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!). No, something even better, something directly tied to my sanity, my physical and mental health and my ability to function day in and day out!

Eli slept through the night last night!!

Well, he slept six consecutive hours, 11pm to 5pm and I am calling that sleeping through the night! And to top it all off he went back to sleep at 6:30 until 8:00am in his crib...for some reason he has always wanted to sleep with me in our bed during the early morning hours and would not stay asleep in his crib then, even if he slept great in his crib the night before!

I know, I know, I shouldn't get to excited. It could have been a fluke, he may never do it again (God help us), but it was wonderful last night, wonderful!

2 month "All About Eli" post to come soon, but just wanted to share the good news!

I'm Breastfeeding and I almost like it...

So, I am breastfeeding still... 2 months in. It may not seem like long, but if you would of asked me a year ago or even 6 months ago I would of said that I wasn't even going to try, that I didn't even want to, that it wasn't for me. Well, here we are and Eli is almost 2 months old and I am breastfeeding and I really enjoy it most of the time.

The other night for example, Eli was overly tired (we pushed him too far, it was our fault) and just wouldn't settle and I was feeling so bad for him, especially because I knew I should have put him to sleep sooner. It was great to put him to breast and have him calm instantly. I felt so much better to have him cuddle into me and he was so much happier too.

Also, I love not having to pack bottles and formula and worry about where we can get warm water if we are out. I always have his food with me which puts me at ease when I take him out because his eating schedule isn't at all predictable. I have fed him in the car a few times in store parking lots, it works out really well and gives us some flexibility to our schedules.

Another awesome bonus is it is cheap! We haven't bought any formula yet, even though we do supplement with formula, we are still using free samples that we have received from the hospital and doctor's office!

Now, I won't say that it is always wonderful and perfect... trust me it's not. There are days that my nipples are sore and I feel like a cow because all he wants to do is eat and I am tied to the rocking chair feeding him. Also, everything I have read talks about how breastfeeding is great bonding time for mom and baby and while I do enjoy feeding him most of the time, my favorite bonding time is playing with him and seeing his smiles.

The next big breastfeeding decision I have to make is how and when to wean him. I don't intend to continue to breastfeeding as his main source of nutrition once I go back to school. I might see if I can manage to keep enough milk to do a night time and possibly a morning feed if he is still interested in breastfeeding. I love that I can soothe him at almost anytime by breastfeeding and would hate to lose that tool in my bag of momma tricks!

Hanging out with Max and Sam

Max is the son of two of Dan and I's friends, Taylor and Sam. Sam has been an awesome friend for me during my pregnancy and now in the beginnings of motherhood. I for one am quite determined that Max and Eli should be the best of friends! They are obviously too young to "play together" right now, but Sam and I like to hangout together and so the boys are already getting to know each other.

Big Guy, Little Guy

(I LOVE this picture!)

Max wanted to play with Eli's toes! :)

(Max actually showed interest in Eli the last time we got together, it was cute)

2 Month Check-Up

Today was our 2 month check up with Dr. Powers. Of course Eli was due to eat at the same time as the appointment, so that made things a bit more interesting. I ended up feeding him a bottle in the waiting room and finishing it up in the exam room while we were waiting for the doctor. Eli did a great job at the appointment. He really didn't fuss at all except for the shots. Yes, shots...lots of them. He got 4 vaccines today, 3 shots and one oral vaccine. Although, he screamed during the shots he recovered fairly well once Momma picked him up and cuddled him. He actually was smiling again by the time we got out to the car! So far today the shots haven't made him super fussy or anything, but he does seem extra sleepy, but I am A-OK with extra naps!

Vital Stats - Month 2

Weight - 10 pounds 4 ounces (21st percentile) Still just a little guy!

Length - 23.75 inches (83rd percentile)

This is a big jump in length percentile,

no wonder his footed sleeper outfits haven't been fitting recently!

Two Blue Cameo Band-Aids to mark his battle wounds!

Coming Soon:

Month 2 Pictures and "All About Eli"

Recap of our busy weekend

A blog about our friend Max

and next week pics and posts from Wedding Weekend!

My Husband is Awesome!

My handy husband has been at it again! This time he built us a new bed! As usual he researched and designed the ideas for the platform bed for weeks before he started building it. Once he started building it it was done in two weeks or less. I am always impressed with how quickly the projects go once he gets started.

Anyway, it is a platform bed with storage underneath. It has 5 spaces for canvas bins on each side and a pullout drawer at the end. We are putting things like pajamas, belts, and hats in the bins and a blanket in the drawer at the end of the bed. It is painted dark brown and looks really nice. Dan is still thinking about what type of headboard to build for it, we can't decide if we want more storage in the headboard or something nice to lean up against and watch TV.

** These pictures are one of the few times our bed has ever been made. We aren't bed making people, at all.

Wedding Outfit

Well, all the buzz around our family these days is Sam and Kim's wedding! Everyone is getting tux fittings, dress fittings and buying new clothes. Not wanting to be left out Eli picked out an outfit, too! Knowing that the wedding colors are yellow and pink (and not wanting to look like a girl and wear pink) he chose a handsome yellow and gray overall outfit.

Heartbreaker

Okay Mom, I am done with pictures!

Oh and in case you were curious he will be styling a red Cardinal onesie at the Rehearsal Dinner.

A few of my favorite things

This post is about some of my favorite baby things. These are the tools of my current trade and some of them I don't know that we would make it through a day without!

Swaddlers - My baby loves to be swaddled. Many of my friends have said their babies hated being swaddler, but Eli is not one of those babies. He loves to be swaddled and often falls asleep quickly after being swaddled. The swaddlers are so easy to use. We call Eli a Baby Burrito when he is all wrapped up in one. I often ask him "Chicken or beef?" when I am wrapping him up into a "burrito".

Baby Burrito

Mobile - As mentioned previously, Eli loves his mobile right now! It is a lifesaver when I need to drop him somewhere safe and run to the bathroom or something. Dan calls it his "friends". It is nice too that Eli doesn't get too mad when the "friends" stop moving. He gives us a few minutes to get to him and wind them back up before he fusses... one of the few times he is patient!

Sling/Carrier - I have both a sling and a front carrier for Eli. Eli and I are both getting better at using them. Eli is getting better about being happy in them and I am getting better about giving him a chance to be happy in there. He does really well sleeping in his sling when we are out and about like at the grocery store. As long as I am walking or moving he will stay in there forever and I get to use both my hands.

On the Night You were Born by: Nancy Tillman- This book was given to us by my friend Kellie and I ABSOLUTELY love it. It is all about how special a baby is and I get teary nearly every time I read it, pathetic, I know. I think it is going to become my standard baby shower gift from now on.

Little "Hood"lum

We went to our friend Max's 1st birthday party on Sunday. It was at a park and was lots of fun! It is so fun to look at big boy Max next to little guy Eli, it is kind of like looking into the future. Anyway, back to my story about the birthday party. The party was outside and it was kind of a gray, rainy day, so I planned on having Eli wear a jacket that we had been given as a hand me down from a friend so that he could be out at the party, but still warm. Well...the best laid plans... I have become a big time "forgetter" since Eli was born and left the jacket at home. I was stressed about him being cold so Dan stopped at Target and I ran in to see if there was anything warm for him to wear that I could buy real quick. I found a blue zippered hoodie (which coincidently matched his outfit.. lucky!) and we got back on our way to the party. Anyway, here are the pictures of our little dude in his slightly too big first hoodie. We think he looks like a pretty tough little "hood"lum!

Tough Guys

(no, daddy is not choking him, promise)

7 weeks old!

Eli is already 7 weeks old! We can hardly believe it. It seems unbelievable that he has been with us for nearly 2 months! He is still a little guy, but we are all convinced that he is growing. It is hard to tell when you are s with him all the time whether or not he is any bigger. He goes to the doctor on the 24th and I am excited to see how big he is! He has been making progress developmentally, he is getting great at holding his head up and will sometimes pick his head and shoulders up when he is on his stomach (I have video of this and hopefully will figure out how to post it soon). He is also smiling and cooing a lot. His favorite word/sound is "ahh-goo", It is a very happy sound and makes Momma and Daddy giggle* too.

He is becoming so much more fun to play and interact with. He doesn't like to be held like a "baby", he likes to sit up and see the world like a big guy! He likes to sit on our laps and smile, "talk" and look at toys we hold for him. He also LOVES his mobile in his bed, he will sit and watch the mobile for a long time. It is great for momma to get some cleaning up done or run to the bathroom or do her hair.

* Dan notes that he does not giggle.

Playing with his mobile "friends"

"Super Eli"

We Are Tired...

...All of us. No one slept last night. I am hoping for a better night tonight, but not really counting on it! My real Mother's Day gift was an awesome Spa gift card that I can't wait to use, but my other, much needed Mother's Day gift was a NAP. It was fantastic and I am very grateful to my husband for both gifts.

Eli has been very congested recently and we have been having to clear out his nose with saline drops and the bulb syringe... this makes for a very MAD Eli. He gets so angry and it makes me feel so bad, I try to tell him that I am just trying to help him, but you can't really reason with a 6 week old. I should take a picture of him all mad...it would be a striking difference to most of the pictures I post here.

Eli's 1st Trip to Farmington

Last Sunday, we took Eli down to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bembower at their house in Farmington. Eli did a great job in the car. He slept the whole way down there! We got to their church in time to say hello to some of their church friends then we headed out to lunch. After lunch we went back to their house and played and took naps! It was a great lazy afternoon!

Smile!

Elijah has learned the best new trick! Smiling! Real Smiles! He can now officially melt his momma's heart! It is so awesome to have him respond to us!

These smiles make all the late nights, hour long feeds and fussy moments (sometimes long moments...) totally worth it! After a month of caring for this little guy who had no way to respond or interact with us it is so amazing to have him respond to us.

Wall of Frames

While I have been on maternity leave Dan and I have been watching a lot of HGTV and DIY. All of these shows have given us the itch to do projects around our house. We have a list of projects a mile long and who knows when we will get them all done or if we will be able to afford half of them, but it is fun to dream.

Thursday Dan came up with an idea to add some character to a huge blank wall in our dining room that has been driving me crazy for a long time. We worked most of Friday afternoon and evening on building a 8 foot by 3 foot frame on our wall and then filled it with a variety of picture frames. I have decided to call it The Wall of Frames. I adore it and thought I would share the before and after pictures!

Before

The frame goes up. It is made of trim that we painted white.

The Layout

I love it!!

Oh yeah and THANKS to my AWESOME husband!!