Party On

I dare say I may be getting the hang of this. I wasn’t sure, well, because we’ve had help up until yesterday afternoon, but Eli is asleep in the swing after having been fed, clothed, and diapered. I even convinced him to go back to sleep until 8:30 am. That’s a success in my books. Sure Optimus is in time-out for having ate the peanut butter off of my French toast while I was washing bottles, there may be laundry that hasn’t been folded, and maybe I ate a half a granola bar that fell on the floor, but at least I know I vacuumed the floor yesterday and there is food in my belly as well. The dogs have even been groomed within the past week. See? Success. I think Eli is just getting over a growth spurt. For two days straight he was up every 2 hours starving . Not just thinking he’s starving, but eating an extra 3/4 ounce starving. Poor baby! He was so uncomfortable. I am hopeful it’s over though, as he actually slept for a four-hour period last night. Yay! We had a great week with my ...

Well, last night was our first ‘real’ fussy night. Eli’s been fussy before, but nothing like we encountered last night. All day he struggled a bit and at 9:30 when he got up to eat it all started again. We fed him (again), we tried the 5 S’s, we bounced and rocked and walked and tried to let him cry it out for 5 minutes. All of this went on for 2 hours until I finally got him to sleep, only to have him get up an hour and a half later to eat again. This stirred up so many emotions: frustration (I tried everything I could think of), guilt (I should be able to calm my baby. Was it something I ate? Am I doing something wrong? Someone else could surely calm him), helplessness, empathy for him (surely he’s uncomfortable), etc. I was so relieved when he finally rested, but even more so when he went back to sleep after his 1 am feeding. Thank God for Josh and his willingness to help me and comfort Eli. Also- thank God I don’t have to go to work today! How do people do this by themselves and wo...

Today marks one week since Eli’s birth. I can hardly believe that. In some ways I feel like he was just born yesterday, in other ways I can hardly recall what life was like without him. My life is upside-down, but only in the best ways. Here’s a bit of Eli’s birth story… On January 6th we went to the doctor to have a check-up. The doctor stripped my membranes while we were there, but it didn’t do a thing. Not one contraction followed but, we had a great Bishop score, so we set up an appointment to start induction on the 10th, the day after Eli’s due date. On January 8th, Josh and I had a big finale dinner at Fleming's, the kind of restaurant you wouldn’t take a child, to celebrate his upcoming birth. While we were there we ran into some of Josh’s co-workers who graciously took care of our check. What a blessing! I think that was the meal that started it all. On January 9th, Eli’s due date, we went to go pick up my parents from the airport. While we were there, I started having ...

Be warned- this is very content heavy. Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great time bringing in the new year. For so many people January 1st marks a day of hope, of potential, and of change. I stopped making new year’s resolutions a few year ago I believe, not because I don’t see the benefit in that, but because I know I’m more likely to fail if I set strict ‘resolutions’. Instead I decide to focus more on my values than goals, per se. This year- I’d really like to be more present and watch what I say. Sometimes I feel like this is truly the world we are living in… I want to remember my life, my real life- not my digital life. This concept of being more present also addresses my tendency to be impatient and/or anxious. I waste so much time and energy trying to make things happen now, instead of appreciating the now. As Henry David Thoreau would say, “Why should we live with such hurry and waste life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry” (Walden).  O...