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.