Busy busy

Wow, this has been a busy week. Of course, I tried to cram a thousand things into my last few days. Here's what we've been up to.

Tuesday - Terminix came for service, ran some errands and did some Christmas shopping for the family. Also, had a great afternoon hanging out with my friend Kara and her son Owen (Owen is exactly 2 weeks older than Eli).

Wednesday - we waited for a contractor to come give us a quote for our sunroom and he never showed up. The afternoon we went to Amazing Glaze and made pottery with some friends of ours and their babies. Eli made me a great mug that says 'I love Mom'. It has both his handprints on it. I'll pick it up next week. I also went out to eat with two friends from my neighborhood.

Thursday - Contractor showed up for quote.....wow, wasn't expecting it to be as much as he said. Went to Eli's daycare to check it out, learn the system and routine, meet his teachers and just try to get an idea overall about everything. My organizational skills are going to come in handy getting everything ready. I felt much better after being in his classroom for a little while and talking with the teachers. Eli actually fell asleep in my lap so he will have no problems being there! Then we went to have lunch with the guys from the jobsite and go visit my Chapel Hill site. It was so great to see my team and also let them see how much Eli has grown.

Friday - today, we went to Panera to meet our friends Megan and Tina for hot chocolate, a bagel and some time together. This was my last Mommy outing during the regular work day for a long time. I have enjoyed seeing and spending time with Megan and Tina the past three months. Then we went to Brier Creek to do some Christmas shopping and cross errands off the list. Had to run by Eli's doctor to get a form filled out for him to start daycare on Monday. I should have known something would be required but I didn't get it until yesterday. Oh well.

Now Eli's down to sleep and it's time to do house chores as he was not a good napper today and didn't give me any time to get things done. Hope everyone is doing well. I enjoyed my last week of maternity leave and crammed a lot in. I'm a little sad to be leaving him on Monday but it will be great for both of us and our mornings / evenings will mean so much more.

Pictures of our fun....

Fun at Amazing Glaze

Eli found a new use for the plans

Dry Run

Tim & I decided to do "dry run"s this week since I'll be going back to work on Monday. So, we're trying to figure this schedule thing out and how to get us all ready to go by7am. This morning we did pretty well. I get up, make Eli's bottle and take a shower - all by 6am. Then I'll feed Eli when he wakes up and Tim can shower. This morning we were all ready and fed by 6:45am. That was pretty good, leaving us some time to play and for small errors. We'll tweak the nighttime and morning schedules as we go but we know it's doable. We're not sure how we'll fit exercise into all of this but we're committed to both Eli & our own personal health and well being so somehow we'll get it all in.

This morning I also took Eli to the doctor about the rash on his face. It has been coming and going but really flared up this past week so I was worried with him going to daycare on Monday. Turns out it is Seborrheic Dermatitis - good news to us since we were worried about eczema. This type of dermatitis is the same thing that shows up as cradle cap on their scalp (and Eli definitely had that too!). I am supposed to put 1% cortisone cream on the areas and it should start clearing up in a few days. Whew....I also took the opportunity to ask about his reduced eating. He had been eating 32+ ounces a day and the past two weeks has been at 24-28. He's gaining weight and the doctor said the amounts are normal; the earlier one probably was a growth spurt. That was good news too. The fussiness and gas....just normal baby things we'll have to work through. (He's actually a little fussy in his crib right now.) Stats for today: 15 pounds, 7 ounces and 26-1/4 inches long. I'm going to have to get him a new car seat soon if he keeps growing in length!

We're headed to the daycare on Thursday to meet the teachers and see the routine we'll be doing for drop off and pick up. I'm still a little sad my time is up but it's what is best for us all. That will help us figure out the rest of our routine. Man, this takes a lot of planning!!

Our Second Thanksgiving

This weekend, we had fun celebrating Thanksgiving a second time with Tim's parents. It's so hard living away from your family during holidays and trying to travel to see everyone. We're so thankful that Tim's parents traveled to us this weekend to spend some time together.

They arrived yesterday and we spent some time together in the afternoon doing a lot of nothing. Tim's dad helped him install a new outlet in the garage and his Mom helped me in the house with Eli. I was able to get a shower and run a few errands by myself (so much faster!). Last night we had our Thanksgiving dinner - no turkey this time, filet mignons on the grill, baked potatoes and salad followed by key lime margarita pie and sweet potato pie. Yummmmmy. Eli was a bit fussy so we had dinner later than planned but it was nice when we finally were able eat.

Today was the day to put the BIG Christmas tree up. It took several trips to move it down from the attic and I swear, it grew over the past year in there! For those who don't know, last year we purchased a 12' artificial tree. It was so expensive to keep getting live trees and just plain hard to get them home and put up (not to mention trying to find sturdy limbs for ornaments). So we bit the bullet and got the artificial one and, you know, it's nice not to worry about going out to get a tree this year. The fun is getting the tree put together and hoping all the lights work. We were so happy that they did! Eli woke up from a nap to find this big tree in the living room. Next year he'll really enjoy it. We don't have ornaments on yet, it was a victory to just get the tree up and fluffed.

A little confession....ok, so there are no ornaments on yet because during Eli's long nap this afternoon, Tim & I played a little 'Guitar Hero III' on Playstation 2. We used both guitars and played a show together. It was so fun and a great break after the holiday hectic-ness. Tim commented that the game is so anti-me and it is; I'm not usually big on video games but this is just so much fun. We did take a great family walk around the neighborhood with the dog this afternoon. So nice to be out in the fresh air.

Better run and make dinner....here are some pictures of our weekend.

The BIG tree - Grandma's on an 8' ladder

Santa's helper tuckered out

Grandma and Grandpa

Santa baby....how sweet

All bundled up for our walk

Thanksgiving on the Farm

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents' house - the farm. Our original plan was to drive down Thursday morning after Eli's first bottle. With the way he had been this week, we knew we would be on the road by 7am. Well, first thing Thursday morning, Tim & I had a lot to be thankful for. Eli slept from about 8pm to 6:30am with only one waking to be fed. It was the most sleep we had gotten in a while.....whew! So we actually hit the road about 8:30am. Traffic was much heavier than we expected but we had no problems getting to my parents.

All my life, I remember Thanksgiving lunch being either at my Great Grandmother's or, after her passing, at my Grandmother's. Well, this year it was at my Mom's house. I guess she is "Grandma" now! It was nice not having to travel anywhere else once we got there but it felt weird not being at my Grandma's house. My aunts, uncles and cousins were all there and of course, we had lots and lots of food! After lunch, everyone hung out while the men went outside to target practice with their guns (have I mentioned that I grew up in the country and we're rednecks at heart?!). That was fun and somehow, Eli took a nap inside during all of that. During the afternoon, my brother introduced us to Guitar Hero on the Playstation. That was sooooo much fun. I'm not much of a video game person but that game was fun. It took a while to get used to but I finally made it through a song. I think we will have to get it for our house; it would be a blast with a group of people. Last night, Tim & I went on a double date for dinner with my brother Billy & his girlfriend Laura while Grandma & Grandpa kept Eli. Our dinner date was almost in jeopardy as we had trouble finding a restaurant in town open on the holiday - we had no idea, it wouldn't be like that where we live now! Finally found one and had a nice time. The amazing thing was that about 7pm as we were driving around, we passed the Best Buy and a ton of people were CAMPED OUT there. Crazy!!!

Ok, so I must admit that my Mom & I always go out on Black Friday to shop. We're usually not searching for one specific "must have" thing but we enjoy going together and seeing what kind of bargains we can find. Well, Eli got up for his bottle at 2:40 this morning and I just stayed up. Mom & I left at about 3:15am to go to Kohl's in search of treasures. We went to the only 2-story Kohl's I've ever seen. It was a madhouse but we got some good deals. From there we went to the mall and then called it a day, back home around 8am. So we're not all day shoppers - we're early birds and then we like to be home. We hung out for a while and then went to my other Grandmother's house before heading home.

The day and a half we were gone seemed like 3 or 4 because we crammed so much in. BUT it was fun and we're glad we did it. Eli had no trouble going to sleep tonight. I think we all were happy to be home. As much as we love going places, we really love coming home. Now I'm doing laundry & some cleaning in preparation for Tim's parents' arrival tomorrow. Then we get to eat more and have more fun! We'll put up the big Christmas tree and start getting into the holiday spirit.

Hope everyone had as fun of a Thanksgiving as we did. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Gobble Gobble

Great Grandma & Great Grandpa

Tim the Guitar Hero (this was FUN!!)

My little turkey's 1st Thanksgiving

I love my Grandpa

Hangin' with Uncle Billy

Grandma loves me (don't ya love my camo?!)

Great Grandma

3 months to be thankful for...

It's hard to believe that Eli was given to us 3 months ago yesterday. Haven't had much time to write - has been kinda busy around here. Eli is growing a lot these days. He's right at 15 pounds and growing out of clothes left and right due to his length. Looks like he's got his Daddy's height - thank goodness! The past few days have been challenging as Eli has taken to screaming quite a bit. Apparently his little tummy has been in turmoil and he hasn't been eating much. Tonight, something clicked in my head to try a different formula supplement. He has been on Enfamil and tonight I picked up the Gentilease formula for fussiness and gas. He seemed so much happier with his bedtime bottle and it was amazing how well he took it. I'm sure it is hard to say that the formula made that much of a different instantly but it seemed to help. Eli has had screaming fits the past two nights going to bed and it must have been air in his system as he was not a happy little boy. Tonight we did our same routine but he was much calmer. Thank goodness for small miracles!!

Tomorrow after his first bottle, we're headed to the farm to spend the day with my parents. Fortunately, we're doing lunch at my Mom's instead of Grandma's so that will be less traveling for us. It'll be great to see everyone and eat some good food. Our family has been so blessed and we have so much to be thankful for this year (screaming and all!). I'll do my normal "Black Friday" shopping with Mom and then we'll head home Friday afternoon. Tim's parents will be coming to see us over the weekend and we'll celebrate our own Thanksgiving with them. I'm excited about their visit as we will also break out the 14' Christmas tree out of the attic. Hopefully they'll join us in putting it up and decorating on Sunday.

Looking forward to posting more pictures soon. Eli is getting so big and developing his little (stubborn) personality. He can handle his head much better and is trying to eat his hands right off his body. His smiles and laughs melt my heart and just make me so happy. It's amazing how a baby can cry and get you upset and then a few minutes later be laughing with you so much that your heart smiles and you forget about everything else. I guess I really am on that roller coaster called 'Parenthood'.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. You're all a blessing to our lives and make them better.

A big night.....in the CRIB

Well, we did it. Last night was Eli's first night in his crib and in his own room. I was worried about it and have waited so long because our room is downstairs and his is up. But, thanks to the video monitor I felt much more comfortable about it and I could switch the video on at any time to check on him. For some reason, I can't explain it, I just decided yesterday that that was the day. I have to make big decisions like that - make the decision and roll with it. So last night after bath, I took him up to his room for a book and his bedtime bottle. He did really well. I cried a little with him in my arms as I could just see in my mind Eli as a 3 or 4 year old little boy still snuggled up with Mommy for a story in the glider. I know everyone says they grow so fast and he already is. After book and bottle, he went right to sleep. I put him in his crib and turned the monitor on. He pretty much slept (with Tim going up once to replace the pacifier before we went to bed) until 2am. Bottle at 2am, back to sleep and then up for the day at 6am. I think we all slept much better last night; it just took me a while to get to this point. The video monitor is such a great thing. It has night vision so if I heard anything during the night, I was able to turn it on and check on him. I think that helps so I'm not running up the stairs at every sound and interrupting his sleep.

So one big milestone...of many. This morning we hung out in his room, reading books and playing toys. The best thing happened while we were playing. I started giving him lots and lots of kisses on his cheek near his ear and he just started laughing. I had to call Tim up to see. It just made my heart smile. Can't wait to show it off to the Grandparents this week!!

Picture Day

Today we took Eli to JC Penney to have his 3 month pictures taken. We also did some with Tim & I- our first family picture. Eli did so great and although every shot wasn't perfect, we did get some good ones. Eli was such a good boy and we also went to Babies R Us afterwards. He seems to enjoy being out and about showing off his cuteness but he does let us know when he's had enough. We ordered some pictures for us and the family that will arrive on November 30th - sorry they won't be here before Thanksgiving to show off. Everyone will just have to wait!

The rest of today was filled with house chores. Eli took an amazing 3 hour nap this afternoon so I baked some cookies and cleaned / organized kitchen cabinets while Tim worked in the yard. The video monitor has made it so easy to relax while he's napping in his crib. It has been a pretty good family day. Looking forward to another one tomorrow!

Video monitor mania

Last night, Tim installed the camera for our new video monitor in Eli's Room. With his room being upstairs, I'm not too thrilled about putting him up there alone. (Or walking up and down the stairs all the time in the dark!) So we bit the bullet and got a video monitor. It is soooo cool. We can see and hear him in his crib and it even has night vision! My goal this week is to get him taking his afternoon naps up there and I'll see how it goes. We need to get him in his crib but, of course, Mommy has more of an issue with it than Eli does. He'll be there soon enough.

Kickin' it Big Boy Style

The past few days have been a lot of fun. Some of the things we normally do with Eli - walking with the Bjorn and stroller - have changed. In the stroller, we have quit using the car seat and buckle him in facing forward. Tonight we went for a walk and I carried him in the Baby Bjorn facing forward for the first time. He seemed to really enjoy it. So now we say that Eli is kickin' it Big Boy Style!

Riding (napping) in style in the Bob

Ready to walk facing the world

Time with Grandma (and a bike ride!)

This weekend my mom came up to see Eli. She came up last night after work and was able to get here in time to help with bath time. After bath, she gave Eli his bottle and got some good Grandma snuggles in. It was very nice having her here as Tim & I were able to go out to eat after he went to bed. This morning was busy around our house. Grandma & Eli played while Tim & I tried to get a few things done that had been falling behind. This afternoon, we went on a mountain bike ride together. Tim informed me during the ride that I am now officially an MBM - Mountain Bike Mom. For those of you who didn't know me before pregnancy, I used to race mountain bikes and do lots of crazy other races. Tim & I even met on mountain bikes and dated through riding so being able to do my "return" ride with him was great. We went to Umstead, rode over to Crabtree, did a loop of the singletrack and then back to the truck. I think we probably did about 15 miles. I felt great doing it but know I will be paying for it tomorrow. I rode pretty well and can only imagine how fast I'll be when I get these 20 baby pounds off! We're looking forward to the spring when we can tow Eli in a bike trailer (when I say "we", I really mean Tim. Got to handicap him somehow!).

Mom also helped me make country style steak, teaching me my Grandma's recipe for doing it. Mom made this for us while she was here during Eli's first week and it is soooo yummy. Perfect for cooler weather!

We really appreciate my Mom making the trip up to visit us, or rather Eli. =) She even brought him his first Life is Good shirt! We'll be heading down there Thanksgiving day to see my family and eat lots of good food. It's days like this that we miss having all of the Grandparents closer, however it makes the visits we do get mean a whole lot more.

Love my Grandma

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Today is Grandpa Rodney's birthday. We hope that he has a great day!

Picture time

Nothing super exciting going on; Eli is discovering new things every day and changing before our eyes. It's so hard to explain what I do with him all day but each day is filled and never boring. Of course, I take lots and lots of pictures - gotta love digital! Time to share a few.

He now sees the mobile on his swing

Sporting robe and slippers after bath time

Little Bumbo boy - been working on his head control

A new outlook

This week has brought about a totally new outlook for me on my time with Eli. As of yesterday, I only have four weeks until I go back to work. While I thought I would be excited to go back to work (and in a way I am), I am kind of sad that I won't get to spend my days with Eli. Yes, I get frustrated at times when he's being super fussy or cranky and I can't make him feel better immediately but this is an amazing time for me and him. Over the past few weeks, I have found myself trying to do entirely too much and getting stressed out and in turn, Eli has been off. Well, this week I decided to quit overcommitting us and relax more and just hang out with him. There are just some times where being at a location at a specified time just isn't worth the hassle for whatever we were going to do. I'm learning big life lessons in priorities. Right now, the most important thing is my family and the time I have left with Eli. So, hopefully those of you who I see a lot won't get annoyed if we're a few minutes late or if we decline invitations to do things. I am just realizing you can't do it all and still be happy....no matter how hard you try!

On a good note, I talked to our daycare yesterday and Eli does have a slot secured starting December 3rd. We hope that Eli will make lots of new friends and continue his development as a happy little boy. Tim & I are both a little bummed that it's about time but unless we win the lottery or something real soon, it's what has to happen. Fortunately we think we have selected a good daycare and hope they will take wonderful care of him. I just found out yesterday that Ryan, son of one of our new mom friends Carol, is going to be at the same daycare so Eli already has one friend there!!

Yesterday, we hosted a playgroup at our house. Right now, mainly the moms chat it up and "play" but the babies will soon. Five moms and babies came over and it was pure baby-land for a few hours. I am thankful for all the new moms I've met and friendships that have developed. I hope they continue and our children grow up together.

Today we hope to meet some friends for lunch at the mall. I need to run a few errands there and also start looking for something for Eli to wear for his 3 month picutres and our Christmas pictures. I hate shopping for me but for him it's pure joy! Our plans are very loose for the rest of this week and for this I am thankful. My mom will be coming to see us, I mean Eli, this weekend and we look forward to that. She is going to be amazed how much he has changed since we were down there. She even mentioned that Tim & I could go on a bike ride while she watched little man. That will be way fun!! Looking forward to her visit.

GO PACK

Wanted to post this yesterday but didn't get a chance. Here's a picture of Eli celebrating NC State's 19-16 overtime win against Miami. He watched the game all decked out in his Pack gear.

Go Wolfpack!

Vaccinations Round 2

Today our little trooper had his second round of vaccinations. Eli had to get his HIB and Prevnar - one in each leg. He did amazing. A little scream with each one but Mommy love made it all better. He has big boy band-aids on his legs to show Daddy how tough he is. Now we don't have to worry about any more until he's 4 months old. Yippeee!

On a fun note, Eli discovered his car seat toy today. I was so excited. I had to go to Chapel Hill this morning and drop something off. On the way back, I noticed that he had his jingly elephant in his hand. He had grabbed it and then started hitting it with his hand to make noise - so cute. Amazing how much he changes every day.

That's my toy!

So cute

WOW

That's all I can say....Wow.

Eli slept 10 hours straight last night. It may not happen again for a long time but it was a well deserved night for Mom & Dad.