The Motherload of Posts

Video: Elijah Giggling

Feeding Time

Elijah LOVES to eat. We've gone through almost all the fruits and veggies you can think of and the only ones he hasn't really liked are the green beans. I think it's the texture though, when I puree them they don't get quite as smooth as some of the other foods. I've been making all his baby food with this gadget. Best investment I ever made. I can pop pretty much anything in it and Voila Baby food!

No, that isn't blood or lipstick, it's beets. He was clean for about two seconds until he decided to rub his eye. Too cute.

 

Elijah's 1st Birthday Party

Elijah attended his first birthday part a few weeks ago for his friend Zoe. We had lots of fun watching the big kids and playing.

 

Elijah has never seen so much pink in his life, we'll hopefully remedy that in a couple years:)

 

 Elijah wearing a party hat. He looks thrilled, no? It was getting close to bedtime.

  

Zoe opening her gift from Elijah-some finger puppets and a little purse.

  

Trying to get a good pic of him in the outfit the Metcalfs got him. Not having it. But doesn't he have the cutest fussy face?!

  

I've given up thinking Elijah would stop spitting up by now. So I figured I'd make the most of it by getting him a cute church bib.

  

Playing all by himself. This was a few weeks ago, now he doesn't need the boppy to support him, and he'll hit and shove all those toys in his mouth. I can't believe how fast he's growing. (wow, I can't believe how filthy my carpets look in this picture, good thing I just got them cleaned, I'm such a good housekeeper, ha!:)

  

  

My Christmas present (hat) from Jon,Cher, Ella,Will and Noah. The sweater is from Auntie Katie. It finally fits. Thank you!

  

Whad up!!

 

 I'll just hand him a bottle now and he'll go to town. One day I went to check on him thinking he was already done. He was playing with his bottle still full of formula and getting it all over himself. He thought it was very funny!

Video:

Playing with Mom- I think mom was having more fun than Elijah! (Don't mind my evil smokers laugh or voice and what does goobey goobey goo mean?)

 

And because I've discovered that cooking is one of my outlets, I made these delish cupcakes from a dry mix from WilliamsSonoma. So good. Cooking is good for the stress but not for my muffin top. I guess exercise will have to become my other outlet :)

SO Big!

Elijah's getting his first tooth! I noticed it yesterday when I was tickling him upside down and this morning I felt it with my finger! That sucker is sharp! He is getting so big! I just had to update because I was so excited!

First Time Apart

Yesterday was our first time away from Elijah since he was born (not counting when family watches him). Our neighbor Stefany and her daughter Malaina (love them!) stayed with him. Although it wasn't under ideal circumstances. No fancy date or weekend getaway, just a trip to the ER! I'd only been to an ER once and I forgot how long everything takes. FOREVER. But the wait was worth it, we got a really good doctor. Matt has been fighting a fever for the last week, he went to the doctor twice, did some tests, said we'd have to wait a week for results, given antibiotics, blah blah blah. Well I had had enough of keeping him in quarantine and being worried if Elijah was going to get it. Finally his fever spiked at 103.4. We called Mom A. and we headed to the ER after I put Elijah to bed. And for the record Matt is NEVER EVER sick. I've known him 7 years and I have yet to see him go to the hospital or to the doctor for other than a physical exam. I don't know if I've ever seen him throw up. So I naturally freaked myself out by googling his symptoms and I thought he had cancer or something. Remind me to never do that again. Anyways, the verdict is he just has a bad viral infection, he's taking a strong antibiotic just to kill off anything bacterial and a combo of tylenol and ibuprofen. So it has been a very exciting week here in Texas.

Utah Trip/ Militoni Sealing

We went to Utah at the beginning of January because Kiersten, Chase and Emmalee were sealed in the temple. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a loving family given the promise of being able to be together forever. I bawled like a baby. We had lots of fun staying at Amy's and seeing all of our families. They drooled over Elijah (or maybe it was vice versa?). The pics below say it all.

 

Ethan had fallen asleep and he is the deepest sleeper known to man, so Matt decided to have a little fun with him.

  

Kiersten and Chase after the endowment session

   

The Happy Family

   

 Emma wanted to show us how her dress twirls

 

    

Matt practicing his photography skills

  

Reece and Shana

  

Auntie Kiersten with Dani and Elijah- who is entranced by the television

  

Hangin with Uncle Aaron

  

Elijah with Great Gma Anderton- He slimed her moments after taking this pic.

We went to visit Great Gma and Gpa Anderton while we were there. It was so good to see them. We love them.

 

Elijah with Great Gpa Anderton

  

Elijah's adorable crooked smile

  

Opening Christmas present from Mom and Dad A.

  

Present from the Grandparents- Can't wait to use it in a few months!

 

I love to eat my hands.

6 months Old

 Stats: 17lbs 8oz (25th percentile)

           26 7/8 inches long (50th percentile)

           17 1/2 inch head

*Such a sweet little boy. Love him to pieces.
*He's tough. He cried for like 2 seconds after he got his shots and then was as happy as a clam. Might be because I gave him Tylenol an hour before, who knows. Although, I hope I'm not developing and emotionally unavailable child- we've started ignoring him when he cries/whines. You know- fake crying.
*Best sleeper ever. Of course I can't take all the credit (thank you family for the sleeping tips!) It's like he loves sleeping and he gets reeeeally mad if you steal some of his sleeping time away.  Sleeps 12 hours at night and takes 2-3 naps a day.
*Holds his own bottle and feeds himself. He's starting to get distracted very easily when he eats so I have to usually go over to him and make him focus on his bottle.
*Rolls over when he feels like it.
*Can almost sit up by himself.
*Loves being in his bumbo or exersaucer.
*Had developed a very high pitched scream. He loves screaming and in a good way. Instead of waking up crying, he wakes up screaming/squealing with delight. I can just leave him in his crib for an extra 1/2 hour in the morning and he'll just jabber at himself. It's adorable how vocal he's becoming.
*Loves sucking on his left thumb.
*Eats oatmeal for a snack and for dinner and loves it.
*Is a pro at pulling his binky out and putting it back in.

Christmas and Beyond!

This was Elijah's first Christmas. He had fun watching mom make goodies for the neighbors and he loved looking at the lights on the Christmas tree. He is getting so big. We bought a new pack of size 2 diapers and he has grown out of them already- and there's still half a box left! He got some wonderfully soft organic onsies for Christmas, he's not really into toys yet, he just likes to sit and blow bubbles and swat at stuff. I keep practicing with him to roll over but he won't have it. He loves staying on his back and kicking his legs like crazy. I've expected him to roll over by now but then I remember that he was born a month early so naturally he would be at least a month behind plus some of his physical development was measured as being 34 weeks gestation when he was born. So once again I must be patient. That seems to be a VERY common theme lately. Patience. Matt got his present a month ago- a new camera. I also made him a spinning photo caddy for his office. I got a sweet new ipod shuffle, and Matt made me a cute photobook on shutterfly. Christmas Eve we chilled and at the last minute Matt went to go see Avatar. Christmas day we made a yummy Eggs Florentine ala the Pioneer Woman. And then we went to our friends the Ashton's house for Christmas dinner. This is what the holidays are for- relaxing and spending time with the ones that mean most to us.

Lately I've been a little sensitive to people telling me how small my baby is for his age. I should just carry these two pics around and that will shut them up :) He's literally triple the size he was when he was born.

1st ride in the jogging stroller. Loved it and slept for an hour. 

Bath time fun!

Dracula meets Squiggy from "Laverne & Shirley"

 

Old man Elijah

Matt circa 1995- The Buttcut

1st HAIRCUT!

Before

 

After

 

I'm pretty cute.

Caught him spitting up, yum!

Big Blue Eyes

I couldn't help myself. I had to post this picture.

Videos

Right before nap time (doesn't know whether to laugh or cry)

Pre-bath anticipation



Bath Time!

Sensitive tummy+ Sleep training+ Insomnia= NO BLOGGING (and 4 months old!)

Elijah - 2-3 months - Wow, the last few weeks have been a little rough to say the least. But now everything has been great the last few days. Here's the lowdown: Eli has a super sensitive tummy and doesn't nap very well during the day because he is always waking up with gas pains. (Now he is doing great). We do everything to prevent them but his doctor said it's just something he'll grow out of as his system matures. Luckily he's so exhausted by bed time that he crashes and usually sleeps really well. We burp him obsessively, give him gas drops, changed nipples on his bottles, bought a special mixer for his formula so it doesn't get air in it, give him gripe water, we've tried all manner of massaging his tummy and helping relieve gas. He is such a trooper for putting up with it. We considered switching formula but the next step is soy and his doctor said that wasn't necessary and makes most babies constipated. But the last few days have been really good for all of us. He is a super sleeper when you put him down. He usually goes right to bed unless he has a burp he needs to get out. And sleep training has been a breeze for him probably because we've had the same routine for him since he was 2 months old. Now I just need to sleep train myself. After waking up every 3 hours to feed him or pump for the last 4 months, I now have the worst sleeping habits. I can't go to sleep when I should and I can't stay asleep. Lovely. So even when I have a happy, sleeping baby I'm still tired. Matt has been so wonderful taking over when he gets home and on the weekends. I couldn't ask for a better man. And FYI breastfeeding is now over- I went to pump one day and nothing came out. It was decided for me. And I'm so done feeling guilty and crying about it it. Sometimes I can't believe I got so worked up over it, it's not like he's gonna become an axe murderer or something.

Elijah- 4 months

The last two weeks Elijah has really started sleeping well. Most nights he'll sleep from around 8 PM to 4AM and last night he slept from 8PM to 6AM. We were estatic!

Elijah had his 4 month checkup and is growing like a weed. 5 lbs in 2 months, not bad bubba, not bad :) He's growing out of his 0-3 month clothes length wise and fits well into his 3-6 monthers length wise, but still isn't chubby enough to fill them out. So his pants look like floods right now.

( I'm not sure about percentiles, every growth calculator/ chart is different. Our pediatrician says most growth charts are out of date and as long as the child continues to grow well it doesn't matter. Which I actually prefer, so I'm not always comparing him to other kids- a dangerous place to doddle in.)

13 lbs. 12 oz.
25" long
16 1/2 " head

Right now he:

Blows bubbles, coos, laughs
Loves his play-yard
Laughs when we dance with him
Takes 3 naps a day, Sleeps 12 hours at night! 8-8 with only two feedings one at 10pm and one at 5am.
Smiles on command
Loves moving his little arms and legs around
Doesn't have to be swaddled anymore
Loves his binky and softie blanket
Loves having his diaper changed and taking baths
Is the noisiest sleeper I've ever seen
All of his baby hair is about gone
Still doesn't like tummy time, but is getting better

And now for large picture and video post!

This was at about 3 months. He fell asleep playing. Cute and very rare.

I like to sleep like this

Love my play-yard

Hate being taken out of my play-yard

I love to smile and giggle

All dressed up for church- don't mind my Hammer pants:)

I love to read books

I need a haircut