Have a safe and happy New Year!

I thought I'd take a minute to post this cute picture I found. Isn't it sweet? As you can see Daddy just loves his little man and Elijah just eats it up. He's doing his Cabbage Patch face. I could just squeeze him!
I hope everyone has a nice New Years. For me it's church and then to work at 11pm. They're hurting for staff and until the end of this week its double time. I figured I'd better take advantage of the extra money to help contribute to those holiday bills that are so easily acquired! Of course I'd much rather stay home with my family though. Jake and I decided we're going to go on a date on Saturday (hopefully!) so I'm just looking forward to that. We haven't had many of those since Elijah's been born so I cherish the time that we spend together.
All for now!

Elijah's 7 months old!

Such a happy baby he is! And he's getting better and better about playing by himself! He still loves when Mommy and Daddy play with him of course! I measured him today and he is 28 inches long! Weighing him on our scale at home still keeps him at 20 pounds (of course he only went to the doctor 2 weeks ago). We guessed he got longer because it just seemed like he did. He's wearing one of my favorite outfits for the last time. He's just too big and the shirt comes up and the pants are a little short. Sigh.





He now has a second tooth! You can just barely see it and can definitely feel it! He loves to chew on things! I gave him a banana to chew on yesterday. He wasn't quite so sure about it but loved to smoosh it in his hand.

Well, I guess that's all for now!

Merry (belated) Christmas..and a happy New Year!

Okay, so I haven't gotten around to blogging the way I like to but boy do the holidays take a lot of time! I was blessed to have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off (a rarity in the nursing world but I DID work BOTH last year!). Christmas Eve was spent at Jake's parents' house. It's been a tradition in his family to go to "Nanna and Nannu's" house on Christmas Eve. All of us (of course) wished we could be with all the rest of the Michigan clan at Buz Nanna and Buz Nannu's house but we at least had a few people to celebrate with. Jake's sister and brother-in-law were in town with our nephew and niece so we at least had some more family members as well as good neighbors to celebrate with. We repeated it the next day at our house. I had to cook the traditional things that MY mom makes at Christmas. It's just so hard to be apart from family at Christmas. Despite the merriness that the season should bring I often find it a very hard time, especially with all of my family in Michigan. I think it has been especially hard b/c I want everyone to be able to see what a joy Elijah is.





So what did Elijah think? Let's just say he loves paper. To eat it that is! He actually did open the presents that he had..mostly to get the paper, but hey, what can I say? The kid knows what he likes. He has enjoyed all of his toys but I have to say that he has really liked one toy that I never thought that he would. I had bought this little piano at WalMart the day after Thanksgiving for $15 (it was a good deal) and it's listed for 1 and up so I figured it was a "not yet" toy. I put it together just for kicks and (after I took the seat off that he kept falling off of) he LOVES it. Maybe this is just a hint of what's to come. I would be so proud if he learned an instrument like the piano and could play it in church. I guess we'll know in time. He sure does love music though. The one funny thing that we noticed is that he is very sensitive to music. Why do I say that? Because when he hears "O Holy Night" he cries. I think he senses that it's a very spiritual song..my favorite Christmas song too. Bummer for me because I couldn't sing it without him getting a big pouchy lip. Who am I kidding, I couldn't sing it anyway because I had NO VOICE! I lost it the Friday before Christmas and am just barely getting it back now. Those of you that know me well, know that it was SO HARD for me to not have a voice. Not just because I talk a lot, but because I LOVE to sing...especially Christmas songs. Who doesn't? They seem to be the one kind of songs everyone knows the words to.

Going on. Jake and I enjoyed our presents too. Jake got a Nintendo DS and an RC car and I got an IPod. I also got a bunch of goodies for the kitchen (cook books, olive wood utensils, ramekins, etc) and some other great goodies. On Christmas night after everyone went home and Elijah went to bed I ended up making a pot of tea in my new Japanese tea pot, sitting down and soaking my feet in my new foot soak, and watching White Christmas (my FAVORITE Christmas movie). I just love Bing Crosby. What a voice . Of course I love Rosmary Cloony too. The song White Christmas reminds me of my Grandpa. He was an excellent whistler and used to always whistle along. I miss him and my Grandmas (another hard thing about the holidays).

NEWS!

Just a quick post to tell you that Elijah has his first TOOTH! His bottom left tooth is just barely up. It's hard to see (especially with a drooly tongue that gets in the way) but I can definitely feel it. He's been fussy today with a runny nose so I'm wondering if the right one will be here in a couple days. We'll see!

I'm HUNGRY Mom! Can I eat THESE?

At least that's what these pictures look like. I'm thinking that Elijah may be teething. He is chewing on EVERYTHING and pulling on his ears. I know that he has had a cold but he is MUCH better and just has a little runny nose. He is back to sleeping the whole night and isn't nearly as clingy. I guess we'll find out soon. Anyway. Just wanted to do a quick post of some more pics!

Sick

We have officially caught "the bug". Well, maybe not me, but Jake and Elijah have. Poor Elijah was up all night (poor me too!) because he couldn't breathe through the stuffy nose. I don't have much time as he just fell asleep for his nap so I want to take one too (go figure) but I wanted to post a few of the pictures we got this weekend before little man got sick. Isn't he too cute! There are a lot more "keepers" I just didn't have time to pick "the best" so those will come another day.
Keep us all in your prayers! Hopefully Elijah will be better tonight as Jake is home with him for the next 2 days b/c I work. I don't want him to keep Daddy up all night since Daddy doesn't feel well either!

Look How BIG!

We went for Elijah's 6 month checkup on Thursday. It was in the morning and on a day that Mommy worked so of course there were a few snags. Most occurred during bath time. Like the fact that he peed on me right when I went to put him in the tub. Of course it couldn't be just on my shirt it had to be on my shirt, sweater, and skirt (not to mention the floor..and socks!). What's up? Then (of course) he proceeded to throw up in the tub. Not a little either. So here I am, peed on, pulling a wet (and now chilly) baby out of the tub while trying to dump the nasty water out. Nice picture I'm sure. We got to the Dr. in time despite all the misc occurrences. As for Elijah he is doing great. He's 20 pounds and 27 inches. I get 27.5 inches but I'm a little more aggressive in my measurements :) I can't believe it! At this rate he'll be out of his infant seat by February! Anyway I thought I'd share a snapshot of him sleeping now and 5 months ago on his Boppy pillow. Crazy, huh?

How do you keep a 6 month old occupied?

Elijah is just so funny. He has a very short attention span but when he finds something that he likes he will stay occupied with it for about 20 minutes. That's 20 minutes that I'm running around trying to get the most I can possibly get done in the shortest amount of time. Here Elijah is chewing on a bow while I'm wrapping presents. I know...not the best thing for him to chew on but it crinkled, was sparkly, easy to handle...he loved it. Who was I to interfere...at least until it looked like he might get a piece of it off because he had gummed it so much. The other picture is of him chewing on his pacifier...backwards. He no longer can chew on just the nipple part. He also has to chew on the back too. Crazy kid. That's all for now!

Baby Food

I decided awhile ago to try to make my own baby food. It's not that I'm super concerned with organic baby food and things that may be in store bought (although with the whole melamine in formula you never know) but I just think it's gotta be a lot cheaper and not too hard to do. I decided that I didn't want to do the whole ice cube trays and baggies thing though. It just seemed like a hassle. Instead I found these containers that are 1 or 2 oz (I bought the 2 oz) that are similar to ice cube trays but they are individual and have lids on them. They can be frozen, microwaved, and are dishwasher safe. Anyway. So I invested in 4 sets of them and they came in the mail Monday so I started making food this week. The picture of the "green stuff" is actually a comparison of Gerber and homemade peas. The homemade ones are brighter green. To be quite honest I think they taste much better. I'm not a fan of canned peas, I like frozen or fresh. I made them from a bag of frozen peas that I got for free. Yes, free. They were on sale for $1 and I had a 0.50 coupon that was doubled. Yeah, I think making your own food can be cheaper. I am going to keep up with the cost so I can figure it out in the end, factoring in the cost of the containers (which can be used for the next baby(s) I might add). So far I have made peas, green beans, acorn squash, peaches, and pears. I was going to make prunes but there is only one brand of prunes that doesn't have additives and Fry's must not have realized that b/c of that there is actually an expiration date on them...the whole shelf was expired. Anywho...the peas were the hardest to make because of the casing. They just needed more time in the food processor. I used canned peaches and pears that were free of additives (just 100% juice). They were super easy AND I got 4 oz of juice from each that I also froze to mix 50/50 with water once I give him juice. I figured out that I made 46 oz of baby food and 8 oz of juice for about $6. It would have been a lot cheaper had I not made the squash. I need a garden for those b/c they're kind of expensive. I'm not going to make carrots or sweet potatoes until he is older b/c they say the homemade nitrate levels are higher. Apparently Gerber etc. takes this out somehow.














I took these pictures of Elijah yesterday..little cutie. He has been SO clingy though! I really can't get anything done. I set him on the couch next to me so I could sort through some things and within minutes he was asleep.Little stinker fights sleep so terrible. He thinks he's going to miss something I think.

Well, that's all for now!

Love My Family

Today has not been the greatest of days. I wish that I could say after six months I am finally back to my self but I can't. I still have so much trouble focusing on things. I sometimes feel that the only time I am truly focused is at work and I'm sure that is out of necessity. Today I had a long list of things to do but they were pushed by the wayside. I'd like to say that happened b/c I had something important to do...not really. Maybe...See I've always had this thing when I'm feeling down I make my Grandma's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They always make me feel better. My mom always had them on the first day of school. Change has always been hard for me and being the great mom that she is she anticipated my need for a little something special. I am so thankful for her! We are planning to put the tree and lights up today. You'd think I'd be looking forward to that and could get some things done...but not really. I wish I knew exactly how to pinpoint the way that I feel..but I can't. And I think that is really hard for some people...including myself...to understand. I guess all that I can say is that I look forward to the day that I can make a list, stick to it, get everything done and not feel like I'm going to have a breakdown and rush to the nearest exit (meaning my car and wherever it takes me...generally Target) or to bed with the baby wishing I could just sleep reality away. I feel pathetic..like a failure...but I know I am doing all that I can and Elijah's being well cared for. He doesn't care that there is a pile of ironing or that the floors need to be washed (at least until he starts crawling). He just wants his Momma to hold him tight and love on him. That, I can do.

So Thankful

For some reason I can't get this picture to move where I want it. I had to show it off b/c I love it! Jake and I took Christmas card pictures yesterday and this is one of the ones I just love!

I apologize for not posting as quickly as I wanted! Thanksgiving was a wonderful time to reflect on all of the blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon us as well as spend time with family and fill ourselves with yummy food. Of course I was a little saddened thinking about last Thanksgiving. We were able to fly to Michigan and tell our family our good news about us expecting Elijah. I miss everyone "back home" so much and holidays seem a little bit harder because of that. Anyway. I was able to get a picture of Elijah in his 1st Thanksgiving outfit right before he pooped ALL over it (I'm talking ALL over it). What a little cutie pie!


I had decided that Thanksgiving would be when I started him on more solid foods (other than cereal and the occasional prunes to get things moving) so he had peas for the first time. Not so fond of them as you can see. Unfortunately he didn't just make this face on the first bite. It's a consistent "EWW" face. Oh well. He's not going to like everything. We're still trying with them though.


On Friday I joined the other crazy people in the world and went to Kohls at 4 am...with Elijah. He was sleeping and I just couldn't bear to leave him home with Jake's mom b/c I eould be working later and love all the time I get with him. He stayed in the Moby and slept the whole time. Why 4 am. Well, I had to work Friday night so I wanted to get back and get some sleep AND they had toys 50% off. How can you beat that. I went to Walmart too. Never doing that again. People at Kohls are civilized. Not so much at Walmart. Needless to say I was a little frustrated. I was home and in bed by 630.

He loves his Moby as you can tell by this picture on Thanksgiving.




This is a picture of him after our outing on Friday. We slept from 630 to 1pm. Amazing huh? Great for a gal that has to go to work!