Blog Catch-Up

Since I've been so lax in my blogging this month I wanted to add another short story. Dylan and I were sitting at dinner tonight and Eli, who has become quite fast on his bottom, was scooting in our general direction from our living room. He was either headed for us or his favorite floor lamp (remember the post about liking lamps? He's still carrying the flame). Personally my vote was for the lamp. Who can pass that up? Plus, he'd tried to get it earlier in the day and had been stopped by his Grandma Bev. I can just imagine the thoughts that went through his cute, round, little head. "Well, since they don't want me to get it, then it must be something REALLY GREAT!" So I told Dylan that he had to go intercept the little scooter before he broke his face on the lamp. He was elected by me to get up from the dinner table because he's the one who has been wanting Eli to be on the move since before Thanksgiving. And now he got his wish. And I told him to be careful with that particular one. Needless to say he barely made it in time, the lamp was probably inches from Eli's forehead when Dylan snatched it out of mid-air with a verbal reprimand to the baby. (the 11 month old baby for whom most words hold little meaning) This near miss was my first clue that movement could mean that I will need to be a lot more vigilant with this little guy now. The second clue came about 10 minutes later when he held up a bloody hand after opening the drawer under the oven. Who knew that it had such a sharp edge? Luckily the cut was small and Eli was more annoyed with the band aid process then anything else. The third, fourth, fifth, etc. clues came during the rest of the night when he bumped his head on the coffee table (while I was holding him), tried to drown himself in the tub with a cup of water (while I was watching him), and tried to eat the band aid off his thumb (that I had taken off and was letting him look at). Notice a pattern here? Now Grandma Jackie, before you get in your car to come down and protect the poor child from his own mother, know that I have vowed that tomorrow will be better with less bumps, bruises, cuts and attempted drownings! Or maybe this is just what having a boy is all about? Nah, I'm pretty sure this is mostly a new mom learning curve ;) Oh well, didn't people used to let their kids play with balloons or sharp sticks or something like that?

Christmas Summary

I have been putting this post off because I knew it was going to be long- there are so many things I want to remember about Eli's first Christmas! But you have to start somewhere and the best way to start is to just type away. Here are the moments in December that I want to be able to read about and remember how they made us laugh!

- At his first go-round of unwrapping at Grandma Bev's and Grandpa Gary's Eli tore off one small piece of paper....and then proceeded to play with it for an untold number of minutes. That's when we realized that the business of presents was going to be lengthy one unless Eli received some parental help!

- As soon as Eli unwrapped virtually any toy he wanted it out of the box for playing with INSTANTLY! I hadn't realized that this started so young, but I was okay with it because I also wanted to play with all of his toys right away!

- Starting with that first Christmas celebration with the Welch's and on to the last at my parents' house Eli received a large number of "My first Christmas Ornaments" and I love every one! When he is older and starting to deck out his own tree I will give him most of his first ornaments, but now that there are so many I can keep some for myself too!

- Eli loved the Christmas trees in each house he visited. In fact, I credit the tree with encouraging him to start scooting on his butt in a forward direction (finally!). I would sit him about a foot or so from a particularly delectable looking ornament and he would shimmy and bounce until he made it over for a bite! I'm counting on him forgetting next year that I actually encouraged him to 'get' the tree this year.

-Eli enjoyed three separate baking days over the Christmas season. He got to try fresh-out-of-the-oven sugar cookies, molasses cookies and pb kiss cookies and his love of sweets has been permanently cemented! We also got some cute shots of him and his darling cousin in mini aprons- short of smearing flour on their faces we had them looking very involved!

- We tried to take Eli to the Galesburg mall to see Santa but unfortunately Santa was a no-show that day. The good lady at the desk tried to tell us that he was tending his reindeer but I suspect he was instead tending a hangover.... just me being cynical! Eli probably wouldn't have really enjoyed it anyway, so we'll try again next year.

-Eli attended his first Christmas Eve bash at my grandma's house this year. He has gotten over his period of shyness for the most part which was good considering the house was full of people he didn't really know. Bless my cousin Maggie and my brothers for carting him around all the time throughout the holidays, he always goes right to Maggie and the boys!

-Eli got some extra presents on Christmas Eve from my aunts and uncles- must be because he is so stinking cute! A favorite is the soft truck from Aunt Shelia and Uncle Jerry and his giraffe scooter from Aunt Janet and Uncle Stan- he'll be cruising around on that before too long!

-Eli got to hang out with some of my silly uncles and experience some Christmas Eve traditions (Uncle Brian with bows all over his shirt and a delicious array of appetizers). He also played with my cousins who were great with him and if they lived closer I'd hire them to come babysit for me all the time! (Thanks Jake, Sam and Nathan!)

-Dylan and I got to have our first Christmas Eve toy assembly extravaganza this year and I have to say that it was all I had hoped for! I think Dylan had fun too....despite a little grumbling about pieces/stickers/etc. I know Santa appreciated our help because he's a busy guy this time of year :)

-My mom and dad helped me finish Eli's stocking that I made for him the morning of Christmas Eve- just under the wire! I think I'll start the next one pre-conception. That way I'll for sure finish is when the time rolls around! But now the tradition to have home-made stockings is continued in our family!

-Christmas morning with Eli was great fun. I won't say there were shrieks of joy or anything like that, but he clearly thought all the paper and excitement was great fun. Some days now he looks around as if to say "when are we going to do that again?". Don't worry Eli, you've got a birthday coming up!

-All through Christmas day Eli had a great time playing with all his toys. His Grandma Jackie got his a neat little push car and he surprised me by standing and walking behind it! He and Eva are getting very close to setting off on their own!

Many more Christmas memories were recorded on video and in pictures! I know we'll have fun looking back when they are older and remembering their first Christmas for them. The holidays can only get more fun as the babies get more aware of the joy of the season!

What's so funny?

Here is an awesome video I took of Eli while he giggled with near hysteria at me. I would make you all guess what I was doing while he laughed his head off, but I'm almost sure know one would get it right, it's just to weird!

Eli derived more joy out of me licking envelopes then anyone probably ever has! So contrary to what I told my friend Lacey, I did not use a sponge to wet down the flaps on every single one of my Christmas cards. I did the old-fashioned way, just so I could listen to those giggles for as long as possible! (wooziness from the glue passed quickly)

Off to the Christams Tree Farm!

Oh, we're off to get our Christmas Tree,
Everyone is so excited.
Except for the little boy Eli,
He seems less then delighted.
Here he is a-snoozin'
Before the chilly trip.
He had to be awakened,
Mom and Dad wouldn't let him skip.



Right after the rude interruption
Of his daily morning nap,
He is stuffed into a snowsuit and thinks
"How did I fall into this trap!"



But his parents think he is the cutest
And off he is dragged to the farm.
He perks up among all the trees and snow
And begins to turn on his charm.



Here he is with his dear cousin Eva,
With cheeks oh so rosy and red.
Each wishing their arms could be mobile,
Instead of feeling like lead.



But the day ends on a happy note,
With a trip for some Mexican food.
And each baby was a perfect angel,
Mommy's couldn't ask for a baby so good!



The End!

Picture Day Continued...

Let's see, where did I leave off. I believe I was about to fetch the chattering child and make my way to mall to see if we could pull off these photos on a short nap.

First things first, Eli needed his hair combed in a desperate way. I suspect he sleeps standing on his head but have yet to catch him in the act. Yet another reason I covet the new video mo niter my friend Pam has. But whatever the reason, his head looks like a hay stack when he wakes up so we headed to the bathroom where a combination of water, hairspray, and spit held down most of the fly-aways. Then I hastily gathered up our stuff and we headed out the door.

I hit the next bump in the picture taking day as a result of hastily gathering our things. I realized when I was about halfway to the mall that I had forgotten Dylan's sweater! You know, the sweater for our sweater and jeans family look! I ruled out turning around- then I wouldn't have had time to eat lunch at the mall foodcourt before our appt. and I NEEDED sarku. Plus, I had already killed some time by running through McDonalds to get Eli the least messy lunch item I could think of that he could also eat by himself- a plain cheeseburger. This way I wouldn't be feeding him when I should be focusing on my sarku. That's priorities people! So I quickly decided that Dylan could either A) buy a new sweater because we were at the mall already or B) just wear the shirt he had on (luckily a dashing green collared shirt some cute girl got him). So we made it to the mall and Eli began munching on his burger while I waited for Dylan. Lunch proceeded uneventfully.

We arrived early at Portrait Innovations and it was a zoo!! Why did I think it would be any different? It is the holiday season and I'm sure everyone was doing the same thing we were. So we were resigned to waiting. I wanted to stand up on the couch and make sure the employees knew that we had a very small window in which Eli would remain happy but I'm sure that would have been unappreciated and perhaps lead to a longer wait. Luckily there was a lego table that was interesting for awhile, even though Dylan wouldn't let him put the blocks in his mouth. We made it into the portrait room soon enough and began our pictures. Here's a little tip to any mom who is going out to do family and individual shots with their kids. Do the family first! Because in the individual kid shots you are working up a sweat doing cheers, cartwheels, backflips, etc. to get your darling to smile. By the end of our picture session my hair had fallen, my forehead was shiny, and my lipgloss nonexistent. This was okay because we did our family shots first- if only by happy accident.

Eli did beautifully through the whole session! That's through three different outfits, different props, some lady making funny noises at him- all things that have the potential for scaring and upsetting he found simply delightful today. The flashing umbrellas? Fascinating. There was one small incident when you could tell he earped a little (remember the bottle I fed him in hopes it would put him back to sleep?) and there was a disturbing flash of white in his mouth but he was a trooper and sucked it back in and down. After a little eye-watering (must have been sour!) he was back to his cheesy grin and his touchdown trick.

Things went a little south through the picture choosing session. Who can blame him? I think Dylan was just as antsy but he cried less then Eli. Let's just say by the end of the picture choosing/ordering/paying they were both sitting on the floor by the diaper bag eating fruity cheerios and drinking out of the sippy cup. Or maybe just Eli had the cup!

All in all, picture day was a huge success, much more so then I thought it would be. We have awesome pictures of Eli, our Christmas cards are ready to be put in envelopes and mailed and we have our first official family picture done. What a day! Dylan put it best when he said it was relatively painless, which I'm taking to be a compliment!

Get Ready to say "Awww....."

Picture day was a total success! I'll post more later but I wanted to get up some of the pictures, they turned out simply fabulously!!!

I'll save the family picture for a surprise in my Christmas cards- but they also look great. I just love Portrait Innovations!

Picture Day

Today is picture day. We are going to attempt to take our family picture for our Christmas cards (yes, I'm going to be lazy and send out a pre-made card!) as well as get Eli's 9 month/10 month pictures. I say attempt because the last time we tried to get some cute pictures of Eli, Mason, and Eva it was disastrous. I'm hoping it was the oncoming ear infection and not the large, flashing umbrella lights that made Eli so unruly and uncooperative.

Being an organized person I had today all planned out and made the appointment to reflect the best time of day for Eli, after we had eaten lunch and had a nap but not too far after when he'd be wanting to lay down again. We are supposed to meet Dylan at the food court at 12:00 and eat lunch then off to Portrait Innovations for a 12:40 appt. Since Eli usually gets up at 8:00, lays down again by 10:00 and is up by 11:30 I thought this would be perfect. Yeah, right! I can here all you more experienced mothers laughing at my imagined control over Eli's schedule. I'm sure I'll laugh about it too....later....

So this morning started off as usual. Except for the fact that Eli woke up at 6:30! What the heck was up with that!? So we got up, me vowing to keep him up until 9:00 so that he would be really tired and sleep until at least 11:00. Well, that went well, we played and he sort of ate and by 9 he was really ready to lay down. Again, I thought, perfect! Well, I apparently forgot to let his colon in on the plan and at 10:30 he woke up screaming with extremely dirty pants. Totally off schedule and super cranky! So I figured I'd change him quickly, lull him back to drowsiness with a bottle and lay him down again in hopes he'd sleep another 45 minutes and be happy for picture time....

Currently he is in his bed, full belly, and initially he was quiet and I again thought, perfect! (why do I keep jinxing it in my head!) He is now babbling happily and saying all his words and noises.....Oh well, guess we'll get him up and get ready to head out to the mall. Hopefully this goes smoothly, they should let you do a dry run before charging you! If this goes well I might have some cute pictures to post and if not, I'll post what we get and have a great story to tell!