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A day late and a dollar short

The title may as well be literal. I usually take a few days to write my blog, since interruptions are quite common with a newborn baby, but this week I haven’t gotten around to it until today. I did finish up some crafts and managed to create some programs for my sister’s student recital (she teaches violin), but time just slipped away from me. Next up- the baby bathroom. Here’s what I worked on this week…
for Tiff Mark-ups for Tiffany’s recital
Here's her pick & the finished product

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My other projects this week. A decoupage of the NY Times Newspaper from the day Eli was born. I used a projector to put the quote on it. Not my finest work, but Eli will know I made it, as it’s crooked. Hey, the canvas kept moving. Also the LOVE project got finished. Eli was not letting me open up his hand so all I got were his footprints and paint splatter all over him and myself. Someone got a bath afterwards.

As for the dollar short? I may or may not still be employed. I feel so foolish! My doctor originally filled out my leave paperwork with a return date of March 11. Well, the time away from work center decided I should only get paid thru yesterday. That’s fine with me, but I didn’t know that as of yesterday I had to have a doctor’s note saying I would take unpaid leave until March 11. It made no sense to me. You already have paperwork from my doctor saying March 11 is my return date, so why do I need a new form with the exact same information? Regardless, I saw that I had missed two calls from the company while Eli was sleeping/crying and when I called them back I found out that hey- I should have actually sent in said paperwork…3 days ago. Yikes. I basically had a meltdown. I couldn’t get out of the house in time to fax it in, and our scanner wasn’t allowing me to scan the paperwork to e-mail it. Twenty minutes later it got faxed in with some help from Josh, but not before some of my sanity slipped away. I’m still awaiting information about whether or not I’ll be let go. Ah! On top of that, Eli’s daycare changed managers and he’s no longer guaranteed a spot as of March 11. I definitely did/do want to return to work for at least a period of time. There are definitely pros and cons for returning, but I need to try it out for myself in order to see what will be best for both myself and my little family. Time will tell!

Here’s a few extra photos of my life this week…
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What we bought: A few more jammies for baby boy (which ended up being too small, whoops) and a St. Patrick’s Day shirt for him. I also had my first post-baby shopping excursion, which was only slightly depressing. I’m down 18 lbs and have 16 to go, but I’m still 3 sizes bigger than my pre-baby self. I hope to start exercising next week but it’s not a bad start. 
Invaluable purchases: We bought the Dr. Brown’s set with the large and the small bottles. Good thing! Eli is drinking 5 oz at night now and 4.25-4.5 oz during the day. He officially graduated to the big bottles.
Best moment: Eli giggled! More on that in his weekly check-in.
How my life has changed: I can be up in the middle of the night after only having 2 hours of sleep and still be happy. Of course I’m exhausted, but Eli will smile at you like, “You know you wanted to be up anyways” and it’s worth it. Almost everything I ate this week (during the day) was pre-packaged. Meal bars, Go-Go Squeeze (actually really good, thanks for the suggestion Ali), and Gatorade=meal of champions. But honestly, at least I’m eating. Speaking of the diet, I gave up milk for the past week to see if it would ease Eli’s gas. It did not. Now to either cut out all dairy and see if that has an effect, or throw caution to the wind and have some cereal…or brownies with a huge glass of milk. Mmmmm.

Eli: Week 6
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Sucking my thumb and my binkie
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Milk drunk, smilin’, and wearing my awesome Mario shirt

This week I giggled for the first time while awake. I kept teasing mom and dad with dream giggles, but I finally broke out the daytime giggle. I was crying because mom wasn’t holding me, so she picked me up and set me in the boppy on her lap while she ate lunch. She’s kind of a mess, so she dropped a pea from her pot-pie filled fork onto my blanket and it was hilarious! Hence, my first giggle. Grandma was jealous she missed it, so I’m pretty sure I about convinced her to come back to see me in April. I also let mom get a little video of me smiling. Some things that make me smile: seeing my reflection in a mirror, the little birds moving at the top of my swing, getting my diaper changed. Dad tried to play peek-a-boo with me, but it only made me cry. Mom finally let me try out my tummy-time play mat. I can’t decide if I like it or not. We had our first tornado warning which didn’t phase me a bit. Dad thought I actually liked the sound of the siren. However, it was a bit crowded in the half-bath with 3 people and two puppies. My eyelashes came in a lot darker this week and I’ve enjoyed snuggles just as much, if not more than usual. I still like to suck my thumb whether or not I have my binkie in. I like grabbing mom’s hair. It’s one of my favorite things.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! We’re going to try to see a movie…again. I missed out last week due to Eli’s feeding schedule. Well, that’s it for me.

-Shantel

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