Party On

Well, that didn’t go as expected. Eli and I had a little extra time and a little more company than expected on our trip home. We had planned on spending 6 days in Thermopolis enjoying our family, but instead we ended up at 10 days and only 2 of those were with full functionality on my part, as I ended up having an appendectomy. Luckily Josh came out and got to help and enjoy time with everyone and I got some time to rest. Then, instead of flying back from Casper we ended up driving 6 hours to Denver before hopping on a flight home. It was a big to-do, but it was worth it. Eli so enjoyed his cousins and running wild I’m sure. I’m still pretty sore- but every day is better than the last.   Eli: Month 19 months I say new words like… Eli, cereal, cheese, please, Shiree, Mimi, Op (for Optimus), hot My favorite food is raspberries. My favorite toy is my builder truck that goes with my blocks. I love to push it around the house and I sometimes put it on top of furniture. Some...

It’s been a full year and one week since our lives changed forever. Our little guy is so sweet and smart- it’s been a joy. A lot of work and sleepless nights and stress and worry- but always joy. I wouldn’t change it for anything. On the sleep front- Well, I don’t know what my assessment is. On the one hand, he’s gotten down to only waking once a night now that we’re home and back on a schedule. He’s going to sleep now without me holding him, but with me just singing to him in a chair next to his crib. This also means that he’s got to be feeling better. On the other hand, when he does wake he’s up for 2 hours. More often than not one of us takes him to the guest room to sleep with him while the other gets some (much needed) rest. With me, he’ll wake repeatedly even doing this- and it would be nice to spend a whole night a) asleep and b) asleep next to my husband. On the feeding front- we made it! We made it all the way to a year. Now we’re on the task of weaning. I started introduc...

This is a mash-up of my ‘must-have’s’ for baby’s first year plus advice I wish I would’ve had (or listened to!). So hold on to your horses! Let’s go. Birthing Pandora , heating pad , massage ball (like this one , but it vibrated too) 1. Hold off on the epidural until you seriously need it. Don’t risk the chance of using up your tolerance toward the meds when you’re only “uncomfortable” 2. Try music. I don’t care if it sounds cheesy, it works. We also used a massage ball and heating pad (which, by the way, they make you get rid of once you have the epidural) for pain relief, but what helped the most- see #3. 3. Have your mom there! She helped me through transition like Josh couldn’t, because she had been there and knew where it would hurt. This was particularly helpful when I was in so much pain I couldn’t speak. She knew- and she helped. 4. Don’t worry about other people. I tend to be very empathetic towards others and spent a lot of my labor worrying about others (What if Jo...

I’ve been wanting to take on this challenge for a while now, so here it is. A full documentation of one day in Eli’s life. 6:40 Wake up, play with the blanket Mimi made me in my crib while talking to myself merrily (and loudly) until mom comes to get me. 6:45 Mom comes to save the day! After a diaper change, I cruise around, play with my pull puppy, and push around my chair while mom picks up. I get quite upset that mom won’t let me play with her camera. 7:00-8:00 Breakfast! I have a bit of apple juice and some beet-strawberry puffs.  When the real food comes out I refuse it, thinking perhaps mom will relent and let me have some of her cow milk drenched cereal. She doesn’t. I finally have most of my pumpkin cranberry mix while sitting on the kitchen floor with dad, but only after he lets me try to put the cap on myself. I pull down most of my fridge magnets cheerily. 8:00-9:00 Play with mom and dad, the puppies, and my toys until I start getting grumpy from tiredness....