Hotel Sleeping

Or rather, hotel NOT sleeping! We just spent two fun-filled days in Chicago visiting my youngest brother and meeting his new girl and we had a great time. We went out to eat and went to IKEA and went swimming in the hotel pool and on and on and on. I was exhausted at the end of each of the two nights we spent there. Being on the go with Eli is so much fun but it's a little work as well! However, being on the go with me must not be quite as much work for Eli, as he decided against sleeping for most of the second night in the hotel....

......well, that might be a slight exaggeration! But after getting solid, uninterrupted sleep with your baby going back to the getting up every 2-3 hours is brutal. And so, looking ahead to our trip to NE to visit friends and then to Disney world I'm beginning to get a little (understandably) worried. What if he decides then that sleep is overrated and is up at all hours of the night? How will I function? And so, as I lay awake last night listening to him trying to settle himself, unsuccessfully, I devised my plan for the week....

We are now entering sleep training: Phase II. Sounds impressive, right? Well, hopefully Eli will be impressed as well! Over the next couple weeks my goal will be to gradually move is night-time feeding (which used to be between 4-6am but last night was 12:30, 3:30, 5:30...) until it is at 8 or 9am. That is when he usually sleeps till and I know in my head that he really doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night, although convincing him of this may be more difficult. I'll let you know how the training goes! Pray for us!

Eli's video debut

Here is it! My first video posting of Eli! I can tell that this is going to be addicting, mostly because it is so darn easy. Plus, being able to look back not only at the words I wrote but of cute little snippets of video? I mean, c'mon, what could be better! So here is what Eli has been doing lately...

~He figured out how to roll from back to front and then back again! What a huge milestone! He refrains from doing it in the presence of his mother, but I'll take what I can get.

~Using his newly acquired skill he slept on his belly last night which is how he has always loved to sleep. Here's hoping this makes him sleep even better and by better I mean LONGER!

~He is eating everything in sight. This morning he almost finished 6oz of applesauce! For those of you how can't put that in perspective it's probably like you putting down a pound and a half of food at a sitting! So now I might have to delve into the world of homemade baby food to save a little money, the little monster is already through his weekly supply.

~He continues to love his exersaucer and is getting pretty tall in it- guess it's time to pull out the directions and figure out how to make it higher. Hmmm, I know I put them some place safe....

That's all from Eli's world right now. Later in the week we will hopefully be traveling up to Chicago to visit with Uncle Tim. Our Eva has been under the weather but I'm hoping she is feeling better now that she is on some medicine!

Video trial...

So this is a test video of Dylan on the couch watching the Olympics tonight. My cousin Roz, of benandlucien.blogspot.com, told me how to do it and I just had to try it tonight even though the main star of our show is sleeping. If this works I will battle with the urge to wake Eli up and make him do something cute for the camera.....but I will hold back because that would be ridiculous! However, I may post 5-10 times tomorrow depending on how adorable Eli is being. Well, here goes nothing!

PS- Disregard the lighting and non-entertaining conversation. Remember, this was a test, and I assured Dylan I would erase it. But I lied a little :)

You can tell you have pms when....

.... the beer commercial makes you tear up because the horse doesn't get picked in the beginning to pull the wagon. And then you tear up at the end when, after hard-core training with the dalmatian, the horse gets to be on the team...

Expectations

I was reading an article in Parenting magazine last night (always a great way to make yourself feel incompetent as a parent) and I ran across an article about mother's dirty little secrets. One of the 'secrets' was that your child might not turn out the way you want him to. The example was a mom who was very athletic and slender as well as good in school (basically the perfect child) and her daughter was none of the above, she was chubby and hated school and sports. My first thought was how could the poor child have ever lived up to those expectations- I mean, the mother was obviously perfect, right? But then I turned to Dylan and asked him what our expectations of Eli were. I thought maybe we would have a deep conversation about all of our hopes and dreams for him.....

Guess what we came up with.....

The one and only hope we have for Eli is that he likes all types of FOOD! How hilarious! I got the giggles and realized that our lives truly do revolve around eating :) And on that note, Eli had turkey and vegetables tonight and thought they were fabulous. We are well on our way to raising a little foodie!

Budgeting

Now that I am working one day a week and staying home with Eli the other six, I have needed to find some innovative ways to budget our money. I thought I could share them and you can pick and choose any that fit into your life- Read on!

1) Discuss and create budget with husband. Potential opening conversation:
Dylan: You know you are going to be home six days a week.
Me: Yeah, I know.
*Silence for a few minutes while Dylan stares at me*
Me: Are you trying to tell me I can't go to the mall and spend money every day?
Dylan: Yeah.
Me (defensively): I know! (But I was totally planning to spend my days like that, darn!)

2) Discover free ways to entertain yourself. Some suggestions that I have found plausible:
-Open facebook page and spend hours 'stalking' people
-Bug your friends frequently with phone calls and/or text messages
-Minutely organize baby photos
-Update your blog frequently (check!)

3) Find alternatives for things you used to frivolously spend money on.
Example: Instead of getting a french manicure (which costs upwards of $35 at the cheap place) simply apply desitin under each nail- looks just the same and comes with the added benefit of being easily at hand during diaper changes!

4) Shop at Deals for a Dollar. (I used to shop there all the time, then Dylan had a break down when some of the tortillas I purchased wouldn't just pull apart without ripping- what a food snob :) So now I'm going to buy non-edibles like garbage bags that break when you pull them out of the can, etc.)

5) Live vicariously through others. I love shopping with Cammie, I feel almost the same shopping rush when she buys something as when I do- but we have been slowly morphing into the same person....

6) Discover innovative toys for Eli to play with, and by innovative I actually mean free. See my previous post about motrin bottles and magazines (thanks for the offer of sending more Laura- I'll let you know!).

7) Accelerate Eli's diet to the Gerber stage 3 foods. These come in 6oz jars and are way cheaper then those plastic containers. (You may have to disregard Gerber's advice on this one, but don't you think they want you to buy those expensive plastic containers for as long as possible? I think babies can chew chunks with their gums, don't you?)

8) Begin watching my diet again (for the umpteenth time since delivering Eli). Hopefully I will be eating less, losing weight so as not to have to buy bigger clothes and therefore saving money. Also, there is the added benefit of good health and looking better. But mostly I'm doing for the money....

9) Decide to grow your hair out. Not only will this save money on haircuts, but most husbands secretly (or openly) want long hair anyway and then I'll look more like my picture on my work badge- double bonus!

That's all I can think of now but I'm sure there will be more. While my hair, nails, baby's diet, baby's brain development (non-educational toys? *gasp*) and sanity (re: hours on facebook) may all suffer, there is a greater good to be had here. Staying home with Eli is worth all the sacrifice (except maybe his brain.... eh, I'm sure he'll be fine!)

Eli Update

I started this blog to write about my darling child, and in a round-about way I suppose I have although probably nothing he'll want to read about when he's a teenager (lengthy post about poo? Check!). So tonight I've decided to update you on what Eli is up to. If Eli had a personal profile on facebook this is what it would look like.....

Activities: Eating, sleeping, pooping, playing, hangin' with my peeps Eva and CJ, laughin' at my dad, sucking on my toes, and just a few days ago I discovered how to whine (mommy loves it)

Interests: I am interested in a multitude of things for .45 seconds at a time. Keep the new toys/items coming: rattles, stuffed animals, books, baggy full of gobstoppers, motrin bottle, junk mail (mommy gets desperate)

Favorite Music: I have to listen to mommy's music- some Augustana crap- thanks for nothin' Uncle Eric!

Favorite TV Shows: I used to love the TV, now I could take it or leave it. I believe the change in interest is that I can't shove the TV in my mouth which is all I really enjoy doing with anything anymore...

Favorite Movies: No movies yet, if any get watched at my house I have to be in bed.

Favorite Books: Hmmm, this is a toughie, I love my Pajama Time book, the cardboard is so satisfyingly firm but then any magazine is also acceptable. If you can suck off small pieces of paper and then cough and choke on them count me in.

Favorite Quote: When mommy said "Oh crap" and I actually had, all over myself and my carseat. Aunt Cammie likes that one too.

About Me: In summary, I am an adorable baby boy who just learned to sit up a few weeks ago, loves to eat anything and everything in the babyfood aisle, will smile at absolutely anyone (even the nurse who gave me shots) and is a champion at going to sleep now (mommy still loves Dr. Ferber)