3 months to be thankful for...

It's hard to believe that Eli was given to us 3 months ago yesterday. Haven't had much time to write - has been kinda busy around here. Eli is growing a lot these days. He's right at 15 pounds and growing out of clothes left and right due to his length. Looks like he's got his Daddy's height - thank goodness! The past few days have been challenging as Eli has taken to screaming quite a bit. Apparently his little tummy has been in turmoil and he hasn't been eating much. Tonight, something clicked in my head to try a different formula supplement. He has been on Enfamil and tonight I picked up the Gentilease formula for fussiness and gas. He seemed so much happier with his bedtime bottle and it was amazing how well he took it. I'm sure it is hard to say that the formula made that much of a different instantly but it seemed to help. Eli has had screaming fits the past two nights going to bed and it must have been air in his system as he was not a happy little boy. Tonight we did our same routine but he was much calmer. Thank goodness for small miracles!!

Tomorrow after his first bottle, we're headed to the farm to spend the day with my parents. Fortunately, we're doing lunch at my Mom's instead of Grandma's so that will be less traveling for us. It'll be great to see everyone and eat some good food. Our family has been so blessed and we have so much to be thankful for this year (screaming and all!). I'll do my normal "Black Friday" shopping with Mom and then we'll head home Friday afternoon. Tim's parents will be coming to see us over the weekend and we'll celebrate our own Thanksgiving with them. I'm excited about their visit as we will also break out the 14' Christmas tree out of the attic. Hopefully they'll join us in putting it up and decorating on Sunday.

Looking forward to posting more pictures soon. Eli is getting so big and developing his little (stubborn) personality. He can handle his head much better and is trying to eat his hands right off his body. His smiles and laughs melt my heart and just make me so happy. It's amazing how a baby can cry and get you upset and then a few minutes later be laughing with you so much that your heart smiles and you forget about everything else. I guess I really am on that roller coaster called 'Parenthood'.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. You're all a blessing to our lives and make them better.

A big night.....in the CRIB

Well, we did it. Last night was Eli's first night in his crib and in his own room. I was worried about it and have waited so long because our room is downstairs and his is up. But, thanks to the video monitor I felt much more comfortable about it and I could switch the video on at any time to check on him. For some reason, I can't explain it, I just decided yesterday that that was the day. I have to make big decisions like that - make the decision and roll with it. So last night after bath, I took him up to his room for a book and his bedtime bottle. He did really well. I cried a little with him in my arms as I could just see in my mind Eli as a 3 or 4 year old little boy still snuggled up with Mommy for a story in the glider. I know everyone says they grow so fast and he already is. After book and bottle, he went right to sleep. I put him in his crib and turned the monitor on. He pretty much slept (with Tim going up once to replace the pacifier before we went to bed) until 2am. Bottle at 2am, back to sleep and then up for the day at 6am. I think we all slept much better last night; it just took me a while to get to this point. The video monitor is such a great thing. It has night vision so if I heard anything during the night, I was able to turn it on and check on him. I think that helps so I'm not running up the stairs at every sound and interrupting his sleep.

So one big milestone...of many. This morning we hung out in his room, reading books and playing toys. The best thing happened while we were playing. I started giving him lots and lots of kisses on his cheek near his ear and he just started laughing. I had to call Tim up to see. It just made my heart smile. Can't wait to show it off to the Grandparents this week!!

Picture Day

Today we took Eli to JC Penney to have his 3 month pictures taken. We also did some with Tim & I- our first family picture. Eli did so great and although every shot wasn't perfect, we did get some good ones. Eli was such a good boy and we also went to Babies R Us afterwards. He seems to enjoy being out and about showing off his cuteness but he does let us know when he's had enough. We ordered some pictures for us and the family that will arrive on November 30th - sorry they won't be here before Thanksgiving to show off. Everyone will just have to wait!

The rest of today was filled with house chores. Eli took an amazing 3 hour nap this afternoon so I baked some cookies and cleaned / organized kitchen cabinets while Tim worked in the yard. The video monitor has made it so easy to relax while he's napping in his crib. It has been a pretty good family day. Looking forward to another one tomorrow!

Video monitor mania

Last night, Tim installed the camera for our new video monitor in Eli's Room. With his room being upstairs, I'm not too thrilled about putting him up there alone. (Or walking up and down the stairs all the time in the dark!) So we bit the bullet and got a video monitor. It is soooo cool. We can see and hear him in his crib and it even has night vision! My goal this week is to get him taking his afternoon naps up there and I'll see how it goes. We need to get him in his crib but, of course, Mommy has more of an issue with it than Eli does. He'll be there soon enough.

Kickin' it Big Boy Style

The past few days have been a lot of fun. Some of the things we normally do with Eli - walking with the Bjorn and stroller - have changed. In the stroller, we have quit using the car seat and buckle him in facing forward. Tonight we went for a walk and I carried him in the Baby Bjorn facing forward for the first time. He seemed to really enjoy it. So now we say that Eli is kickin' it Big Boy Style!

Riding (napping) in style in the Bob

Ready to walk facing the world

Time with Grandma (and a bike ride!)

This weekend my mom came up to see Eli. She came up last night after work and was able to get here in time to help with bath time. After bath, she gave Eli his bottle and got some good Grandma snuggles in. It was very nice having her here as Tim & I were able to go out to eat after he went to bed. This morning was busy around our house. Grandma & Eli played while Tim & I tried to get a few things done that had been falling behind. This afternoon, we went on a mountain bike ride together. Tim informed me during the ride that I am now officially an MBM - Mountain Bike Mom. For those of you who didn't know me before pregnancy, I used to race mountain bikes and do lots of crazy other races. Tim & I even met on mountain bikes and dated through riding so being able to do my "return" ride with him was great. We went to Umstead, rode over to Crabtree, did a loop of the singletrack and then back to the truck. I think we probably did about 15 miles. I felt great doing it but know I will be paying for it tomorrow. I rode pretty well and can only imagine how fast I'll be when I get these 20 baby pounds off! We're looking forward to the spring when we can tow Eli in a bike trailer (when I say "we", I really mean Tim. Got to handicap him somehow!).

Mom also helped me make country style steak, teaching me my Grandma's recipe for doing it. Mom made this for us while she was here during Eli's first week and it is soooo yummy. Perfect for cooler weather!

We really appreciate my Mom making the trip up to visit us, or rather Eli. =) She even brought him his first Life is Good shirt! We'll be heading down there Thanksgiving day to see my family and eat lots of good food. It's days like this that we miss having all of the Grandparents closer, however it makes the visits we do get mean a whole lot more.

Love my Grandma

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Today is Grandpa Rodney's birthday. We hope that he has a great day!