Month Two

Sweet Boy-

You are 2 months old today, yet it feels like you have been a part of us forever. The time is moving so fast and you are growing and changing at an alarming rate ( at least for mama). You now weigh 10 pounds 13 ounces and you're 22 1/2 inches long. The doctor said that puts you in the 25% on the growth charts... so you are a little peanut like you mama and papa.You are a chunky monkey, with a double chin and meaty little thighs.

We took you on your first road trip earlier this month to visit mama's family. You were great on the ride down, sleeping most of the time. You got to see grandma and grandpa as well as auntie rachel. You also got to meet mama's grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a busy weekend for you. Maybe a little too busy.  It seemed to throw you off a bit and made for a very loooonnng ride back to Maine. Boy were you mad. The drive that usually takes about 4 and a half hours ended up taking 8 hours after all of the stops we had to make to try to calm you. 

Month 2 has been a bit challenging for us. You are really fussy  in the evenings starting as soon as you get out of the bath. You cry and scream and nothing we do seems to help. The doctor says you have reflux so we tried a medication, but it didn't seem to help so we stopped. You had your first adjustment by our chiropractor friend, and we will go again to see if it helps even you out. We have been putting you to bed earlier, you are usually asleep around 8. This is much better than the 10 or 11 o'clock bedtimes you had last month. You do however still wake up every 2 hours ( we need to work on that). 

You are learning how to take a bottle and have done quite well. You are still not thrilled about it and would probably prefer it from the source but it is something you have to learn so that papa can feed you when I go back to work in a couple of weeks. That's gonna be tough on mama.

You still love bath time as well as taking showers with your papa. You always want to be held and fuss pretty quickly after we put you down. You are getting stronger, holding your head up well and pushing off our laps with your legs.You love when we help you jump and are all smiles ( yes, you started smiling this month too). We think your belly and sides are ticklish, papa says he even heard you giggle once.
You are making new noises, including ohhhs and ahhhs. Most of your 'conversations' take place in the mornings.  We take you for walks outside which you seem to enjoy. You mostly look up at the trees and sky. We think you will be a little nature boy.

 Two months down and forever to go. Love you always.

Fall

We have been enjoying nice fall weather around here this past week. Tony, Elijah, Aunt Denise and I all went apple picking a couple weeks ago. Eli seemed to enjoy it, staying awake the whole time and looking all around. We got lots of Macs and Cortlands and have been enjoying apple crisps and apple pies.
Elijah really enjoys being outdoors. He goes for walks in the woods with his papa and looks up at the colorful trees and watches the leaves fall. He and I had a little outdoor photo shoot and he was quite content just laying in the leaves.


I love this season and wish it would only last longer....unfortunately living here in Maine means winter is just around the corner.

6 weeker

Elijah is already 6 weeks. Supposedly there is a growth spurt that occurs right around now which can make for hungry, fussy babies. I am thinking we have it going on.... Our nights are long; up every hour and a half to feed and our evenings are spent finding ways to soothe a fussy baby. Bath time always calms him down for a while, as does bouncing with him on our big exercise ball. Hopefully things will calm back down after this growth spurt. He was sleeping for 4 or 5 hours straight at night for a little while, mama would welcome that again.

So Long Sweet Nora

We lost our sweet little Nora yesterday. She was hit by a car in front of our house. I am trying my hardest not to let myself think about it...but it is hard.




She was such a good cat. She showed up here as a kitten, just a tiny little thing. She was a momma to 5, earning her the more often used name of mommy. She was a happy cat that never really out grew being a kitten. Always playful and very affectionate. She would run around the yard and fly up into the trees. We really will miss her.

Month One

I can't believe you are one month old today...the time has flown by.

This past month has been the most amazing month of my life; and maybe one of the hardest too. You are changing so quickly, growing faster than I imagined. While I am excited to watch you become more and more aware and interactive, I am already thinking how I will miss my teeny tiny you. We went to the doctor today for your one month visit and you already weigh 8 pounds 15 ounces and you are 21.5 inches long. In one month you have gained 2 pounds (you weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces the day we left the hospital) and have grown 2.5 inches.



You are a sweet, sweet boy. You are cuddly and easy going (most of the day). You are very alert, always checking out your surroundings. We read books together and your favorite pages to look at are the baby faces and black and white checkered page.You seem to love looking at faces, mirrors, windows and lights the most right now. We lay you on you tummy on your activity mat and you just stare at yourself in the little mirror.


Your are a strong boy... I could have told you that when you were still in my belly. From the day you were born you have been practicing lifting you head up... and today you are pretty good at it. Your arms are constantly moving. Sometimes this is problematic for you... they get in the way when you try to nurse, you wack your face quite often, and recently you have starting pulling on your hair or you ears and making yourself cry.



Bath time might just be your very favorite thing to do. You can be crying your eyes out only to stop in an instant when we bring you to your tub. It seems to mellow you out.

Papa has brought you into the shower a couple of times. Both times you fell asleep. The only downfall with bath time is when it is time to get out. You are not impressed with this. We bundle you up in your towel and sit in front of the heater and this seems to help.


Evenings are your least favorite time of day. Come 6 or 7 o'clock you seem to think the world is crashing and begin crying your eyes out. The only thing that will console you is nursing. The last few nights you have stayed attached to me for over an hour (poor mama!). Your papa and I take turns trying to calm you down. We swaddle you, rock you, bounce you, bathe you, change you, sing to you, nurse you, you name it, we've tried it. Each thing will work for a few minutes and then you will start right back up. Eventually, around 10 or 11 things settle down and you fall asleep. Some nights you will sleep for the next 5 hours, which means we get to sleep too.


You are full of all sorts of noises. Lots of grunting, little squeaks and sighs. You get mad if we move you when your asleep sometimes and let us know by scrunching your shoulders up and whining. Your are always grunting and stretching too. There are lots of other noises that come out of you as well... you are one gassy boy and could compete with grown men. Sometimes I'm not sure if certain noises are coming from you or your papa. You stinker.



I could go on and on about you and how much we all love you....

Forever. Mama

Happy Anniversary!

The second week

Things are going well. After 2 weeks of having my mom stay with us to help out we are now on our own. Just having an extra set of hands around the house was amazing helpful. And all of her cooking and cleaning wasn't so bad either.

We are beginning to understand what Elijah needs when he cries... the majority of the time he is crying about gas. He is one gassy baby and gets really uncomfortable. It is hard for his mama to bear sometimes. We are trying some gas drops as recommended by his pediatrician to see if they help. Sleep is up and down. Sometimes he sleeps in 3-4 hours stretches, other nights he is up unless we are holding him.

More to come. I want to write out our birth story... but honestly don't remember all the details. I'll get Tony to help and will get my act together soon to get it written.

Week 1

New Life

Things are going well....Lots to learn for both baby and his mama and papa. Will post details soon, when time allows, right now I need to use Eli's nap time to eat breakfast and shower.

Papa and Eli napping at the hospital

A very tired looking Mama and Eli our second night home

Auntie Rachel and Eli

New Family

Elijah Arrives!

Elijah Louis entered the world August 27th at 3:34pm. 7 lbs 5 oz. 19 inches. Tons of hair. We are so in love and everyone is doing great. Will post more when we are home.

Due Date!

...........and no baby........

39 Weeks

7 days

I have every intention to put together a real post.....an interesting one with lots of updates and pictures. However, I kept getting held up. Camera batteries are dead. Computer is not working right. A lot of it is just me being lazy. I am sooo tired again and find myself falling asleep on the couch everday after lunch. I am bored and anxious waiting on this little guys arrival. As happy as I am that summer school is over, its seems that my days are dragging on and on while I wait. I am too uncomfortable to leave the house very often, so most of the time I lay on the couch and crochet, read blogs, watch tv, or sleep.

Need to upload belly pics to my laptop so I can post another slideshow. The belly is huge.

Still here

We're still here, still waiting on baby. 2 weeks until our due date, but we are hoping to go before then. Today was the last day I had to teach summer school. What a relief to have that over with. I will put up a real post over the weekend, need to upload pictures.

After the Storm

We are creeping into thunderstorm season here in Maine. Our area always seems to get pretty intense storms that come in from out of no where. One minute it will be sunny and the next the skies turn dark. The light after the storms pass is one of my favorites. Everything glows and eerie pink/orange color.

It was a bit of a stormy weekend here, both in reality and metaphorically. My body seems to be trying to tell me that I am doing a bit too much, and after a scare this weekend it is time to cut back on my cleaning jobs. Money will be tighter than it already is...but we'll get by.

32 weeks

Welcome to the Jungle.

Our lawn mower broke last month. Weeks passed and the lawn turned into pasture land. As if everything else wasn't already overgrown, this just topped it off. Grass and gardens blended into one. There was a lot of pretty wildflowers, and the clover was nice, but enough is enough. Last week Tony finally managed to jerry rig the mower to get it to work.

Gardens are in desperate need of weeding and the edges of our woods are in need of thinning. The day lilies are blooming around the pond ( we have probably close to 50 of them out there) but you can only see about half of them. The rest are hidden in the banks, covered up by overgrown underbrush. I'd love to be out there pruning right now, but it is so hot out (over 90).

I took my first swim of the summer in the pond today. It was nice, and felt good getting this extra weight off of my feet and back for a bit. Tomorrow.....summer school starts :(