January 13 and 14

Hi Little Lijah,
Son, keeping up on this blog stuff is hard work. It is hard to feed you, change you, raise you with good manners and also try to write to you to keep you informed with all of your daily activities :) I am failing at the good manners since you seem to have gas on everyone that holds you.

Yesterday, your mom went and got her haircut and you were able to meet all the salon ladies. Those ladies were just cooing all over you. While you were inside cooking, those salon ladies kept tabs on us to make sure we were all ok. Each visit, we would have to give them updates as to how far along we were and how you were growing. Each ultrasound, we would text the photo to Dana and she would share it with everyone. I know I have told you this a lot but I don't really think you can comprehend how many people were praying for your well being and your healthy arrival! The salon ladies are just another example of that. Dana was a tad sad for us though - because it appears that you have my fine, thin hair. She will just have to do her magic on you when it is time for your styling needs :)

Afterwards, we ran errands and had dinner. You were a trooper but it was a rough night because you were a bit fussy. Once I was able to get you to sleep at 12:30, you did awesome. You slept in 4 hour blocks. Here is a silly picture I took of you last night and dad was boxing your ears to keep your head straight.

Today, mom is well rested because you slept so good. I put you in your maya wrap and we did some food prep. Then, Gramma Debbie came to love you up. Now, you are sleeping on me. I look down at how big you are and it amazes me that you were actually inside my tummy. You are the same weight now that you probably were when you were born. You are about 2" longer but how did you fit in there? No wonder your mom was so darn uncomfortable! Here are some photos I took of you while you were sleeping.


Tonight, we are dropping you off with Debbie, Shane and Morgan while we go to a movie. Your first out-of-the-house-babysitting night. I hope you do us proud and aren't too much torture for them. But, it may be good if you are torture because it will squash Debbie's hormones to have another one :)

January 12

Hi Baby E,
Do you wonder how long you are going to be titled as "Baby XXX"? I don't know myself but given that you are only 2 weeks old, I figure I have a year to determine the answer :) Today was a good day for everyone! Sleeping was good, Grampa Keith came and loved you up, Gramma Debbie brought you more clothes and dad took you on the Wells Fargo road show. Plenty of Elijah to go around.

I have to tell you a secret. My favorite part of the day is right when you are done eating and you are hazy. You are about to go to sleep but your eyes are still kind of open and you are in between sleep time and awake time. You grin and make the best faces. Today, I just held my phone above your head until I got a smile from you. Not the greatest photo but it is the first one we have captured with your smile.

An update on our goals - you slept in your bassinet all night (woohoo) with no issues and you did a great job feeding. The only problem is that it takes an hour for you to feed and it makes your mom really sore. We are going to continue to work it out!

Also leaving you with a photo I took to send to your Aunt Kim. She bought you this little outfit for Christmas just a few weeks ago!

January 11

Hi Baby Lijah,
What a great night last night - we were like clock work. Food, few minutes to get to sleep, pump, 2.5 hours of sleep. We can sure live with that cycle. Your mom doesn't even feel exhausted today. This morning, it was our first morning together when dad went back to work. It went really smooth! If everyday was this easy, we will sail thru these next 6 weeks by ourselves!

Your dr gave you a clean bill of health today. You have gained a few more ounces, grew almost 2" and everything looked good. We are cleared for another week - she wants to make sure you gain more weight over the next week and our feeding is going good. Our goal for the week is to get our feeding habits worked out. You have been doing about 25% formula but if your mom can't amp up her production, that number is going to continue to increase. So, we have to work hard this week to get you 100% on breast milk. It will be hard work for both of us!

You did get some bad news at the doctor but you don't know it yet. The dr. said that we need to break you of your sleeping habits immediately! She said that if we continue to let you sleep with us, you will be "hooked" and we will never get you out of our bed. I predict a rough couple of nights ahead.

Here is your photo for today and I leave you with a couple of scrapbook pages I have done recently. Your 2009 pages are wrapped up!!

January 10

Hi Baby Eli!
What a crazy day today, huh? You had your first job today. Yes, your parents put you to work before you were even 2 weeks old at your Kelley Ryden photo shoot. You did a great job. She said that you did several really hard poses right off the bat. One pose, the shoot two photos and then crop them together. However, you were so awesome that you held the pose on your own so you didn't need to be photoshopped! We should get 3 different poses and you were butt nekked :) They were about to plop you in a bucket when you started having some poo issues. You were a little backed up and decided you had enough of the photo shoot! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos to show you for at least 2 weeks and possibly up to 2 months! Thankfully, we did order your birth announcements with the photos we took.

We also met Mary, your day care provider. You were such a good boy and didn't hardly fuss at all. We are set to go and take you on 2/22.

One funny for you today. You are so out to get your dad. I gave you a bath and changed you and you dribbled a bit of pee each time that I caught. Then, your dad came into the room and you aimed and fired at him. Later, you got him again. I think you just ready, aim, fire at him to hear him squeal like a girl each time you do it :)

January 9

Hi Baby Eli,
We had a rough night last night didn't we? From about 7-11, you just cried. I fed you twice, I changed you, I rocked you, and finally, your dad came home to take you and repeat the process. First time (besides the contractions) you made me cry that weren't tears of pure joy & happiness. I just plain didn't know what to do with you. Turns out, you were hungry. The pediatrician kept telling us to only feed you about 2 oz every 3 hours but didn't remind us there would be times you would cluster feed. You ate 5+ oz last night before you were full and calmed down. I wish I would have realized that you just needed a lot more food - I was too paranoid to feed you too much. But, after that, you slept on schedule.

Your cousins Brandi and Jeff took pity on me today and came to love you up :) I slept for 2.5 hours and your dad relaxed too. I didn't get to talk to them before they left but it sounds like Jeff even loved you up. Your dad told me that you made us proud with a burp that shook the house. I think you did that for some male bonding with Jeff and your dad!

Your cousins Cory & Lauren came and loved you up too. I bet it just gets them so excited to love you up knowing that Baby Jake will be here soon. Finally, Great Gramma Marianne and Gramma Debi D came to love you up today too. Of course, you were an angel for all these visitors and then tonight, you will turn into that kiddo that won't sleep!


Two scrapbook pages for your book little man! These only took like 4 days :)

January 8

Hi Baby E,
I have to give it to you straight today buddy. This parenting thing isn't all rosey cheeks and smooches. It is draining. The first week, I did a bit better with the sleep deprivation than your dad did. Now, I am dying & he seems to be adapting well. Last night, I couldn't get you to sleep - no matter what I did. You would sleep for a bit but as soon as I put you down, you would cry. I was kind of exasperated and I needed some sleep :) In my head, I thought "This kid is taking it out of me." Just then, you started making a noise and I looked down. You were laughing. You probably didn't know it since you were sleeping but it was a laugh none the less. It was so darn adorable and brought a tear to my eye. Made the next stretch of sleeplessness a bit more worth it!

This morning, we did your photo shoot here at home. Since we had decided not to get Kelley Ryden photos, I had wanted to see what I could do. Even though we are now getting Kelley Ryden photos, I still wanted to see what I could do with just stuff at home and your Etsy hats. They turned out SO good! You are going to be a great model for Kelley on Sunday. Your dad was the perfect assistant. He was really enjoying himself posing you and talking to you. I just kept snapping away hoping for a few good ones and you did your job well! Here are a couple of my favorites.






After that, you had a lot of visitors come love you up. Your Grampa Keith and Heather, Gramma Debbie, Debbie and Morgan. You hammed it up for all of them and never once let them see that little 2 am monster that lurks especially for your mom :) Debbie snapped some photos of you with Morgan. I think we have a great baby sitter lined up here!

January 7, 2010

Hi Baby E,
It sure is cold out there isn't it? Unfortunately, we had to drag you out in that sub-zero weather. First, we went to visit Dr. Bonehead. He gave your mom a clean bill of health and I am cleared for another 4 weeks! He got to see you and love you up a little bit because he only saw you for a second when you were all gooey :) I think he felt as much paternal pride as your dad does - he went through a lot with us to get you here. He would hate to know I am putting this on your blog but when he was posing with you, he was trying to pose your fingers with an "extra special finger just for mommy." Yeah, that is the kind of doctor he is - flips off your mom with your own finger. But, we wouldn't go to anyone else.

After that, we went to your Dr. to get you weighed. They were super happy with your growth - you put on 4 ounces in 2 days. They said your mom and dad must be doing your feeding right. It sure doesn't seem that way when I am stressing out about formula vs. breastmilk. But, you must be thinking everything is OK if you are gaining weight.

Then, we did some shopping and your mom and dad ate dinner out. You slept through all of this. You slept the longest you have ever slept today - 5 hours. This was after the nurse said "Please call the doctor if Elijah doesn't wake for his feedings." Needless to say, your mom got a little worried but we are just going to watch it and see.

I am leaving you with 2 photos of you with your parents. We hadn't taken any decent photos with you except when your dad was in his scrubs. I told your dad I was doing my hair and putting make up on just so I could have a picture of me with my son!