April 17

Hi Baby Elijah!
Oh my goodness. I would say that today was one of the best days we have ever spent together! You were so happy all stinking day. You cracked me up every time I looked at you. This morning, we got up at 7:30, had a bottle then I was hoping you would sleep again. Daddy had to go to work and I said "Elijah, let's sleep until 12." Daddy left at 9:15 and you were in the middle of the bed. I told your daddy that you would be planning your sneak attack on me. Next thing I knew, your head was against me. Then, you squirmed for about 1/2 hour until you were sucked up against me. Then, we slept until 11:15!! When you were up and fed again, you were so happy. You have developed this new skill for getting all excited and then doing a new noise that is a cross between a squeal and a growl. it is the cutest thing ever!! I had to leave for a bit to hang out with your Grampa Keith and Uncle Zachary so you hung out with Daddy. When I got back, you were still super happy. I am doing a really bad job in communicating to you what an awesome day it was but I guess just know that I loved you every second of the day. Your smiles melted my heart each time. You know what else happened? You were playing on your mat and all of a sudden, you yelled out "Ma". Your dad and I stopped what we were doing and just looked at each other. It was so clear. We know it is not meant to be "mommy" but you definitely showed us you were capable of it!!!

At the last minute, mommy, daddy and your Uncle Zachary decided to go to a movie so we found you a babysitter at Sherry Shark's house. She said that you were so good for her and you were still in a good mood. She was so excited to babysit you. She has to get some good, quality practice time in so her skills are sharp for your friend Kylie to have a baby :)

As I leave you today, I need to share something with you. I realized something big today. I wanted you to come in our life really badly. I envisioned all cutesy baby things and little baby joys. But, I didn't spend any time thinking about what it truly meant to be a mom or have a son. I realized today that I love being your mom more than I ever, ever imagined. I just look at you and I smile. Every day, you are getting so much bigger and so much more interactive. Each day, I marvel at how blessed I am to have you as a son and I never would have imagined that this parenthood thing would be so cool! Yes, you still have fussy moments and yes, it won't be all sunshine and roses but overall, it is much better than I ever imagined!


I made a picture for you of your sneak attack. It is kind of a playbook of your maneuvering. :)

April 15 & 16

Hi Elijah!
I went back and was reading some of your old posts and I really enjoyed it. I had already forgotten a lot of that stuff and it had only been 3 months! What a treasure for me to have when you are lipping off as a teenager and I can remember the good old days when you were so sweet and innocent. But, it made me realize that I have been changing the focus of your blog and posting you quickies telling you your activities but not really talking to you a whole lot. That made me sad. Yes, I want you to remember who you were hanging out with but I also want to talk to you.

On Thursday, I got a phone call from your dad that you hurt his feelings. Apparently, when he dropped you off at daycare, you just gave him the evil eye stare. Even Mary said that she had never seen you act that way. I, of course, rubbed it in to your dad that it was because he has been deserting you for exercise class and you don't feel like he loves you anymore. haha. After work, I had book club so I didn't see you a whole lot. Your daddy took you over Gramma Ruth's to visit all of your family there. She said you are getting HEAVY :) I came home and rushed up to take your photo for the day - another lame-o photo from your lazy mom!

Today, you were such a happy baby this morning. You were smiling and cooing and making new noises I hadn't heard before. When I picked you up from daycare and took you to Great Gramma's, you were happy too. But, when I picked you up, you tipped the scales to fussy pants. You were over tired then hungry then tired so you were just a plain fussy pants. We did a video chat with Auntie Val and Brandon but you weren't too happy to see them because you were so tired. Poor Brandon was so excited to see you but you just gave him your bug-eyed face!

So, let's see what I want to talk to you about today. I will tell you about the deal that I made with your dad. I told him that we have 5 years to get our finances in order so I can reduce my hours at work. Not a drastic reduction - just an hour or so a day so that I can take you to school and pick you up from school. I envision that time after school to be our time together. I have a "Leave it to Beaver" vision in my head - you come home and tell me all about school, we do your homework together, we get dinner ready. In reality, you will probably not want anything to do with me. :) But, that is my plan for our life.

Oh, I have another plan that I would like to share with you. This one is a bit more serious. I hate to make decisions about our family without your input but you are too little to provide any input on this one. When I look at you, I just can't imagine life without you. I already miss your newborn stage. I realized how badly I would like a 2nd little kiddo in the house. So, I think we may try to make you a baby sister (I know it will be a girl. Just like I knew you were a girl. haha) over the summer. I know it seems crazy since we just had you. But, I have to confess that I don't want to have kiddos much older than I am now. I would like a 2nd baby, I would like you to be close in age and I would like to be young. So, that doesn't leave us much time. I worry how that will affect you - you won't be the center of attention, you won't have had much time with your mom and dad all to yourself, etc. However, there are plenty of well adjusted kiddos out there that have siblings when they are over a year old so I think you will recover. When your dad and I got married, I really thought we would have 3-4 kiddos all in a row and I would be done having kiddos at 30. Well, that didn't really work out for us, did it? But, God brought you here with us and we can only pray that God will bring us a baby sister for you!

April 13 & April 14

You are in so much trouble buddy. When I picked you up on Tuesday, Mary told me that you rolled over. Remember our agreement? You were not supposed to do anything from 8-5 Monday through Friday. I will let this one pass because we have seen you roll over. You did it a long time ago and did it several times then you stopped doing it. But, back to tummy rolling over, walking, talking, etc - all those need to be done on evenings and weekends.

After daycare, we went to Heartland Park and took a bunch of photos. We walked around the lake while your dad did his boot camp. After all these years, I have never walked around there before. I really enjoyed it - nice scenery, good exercise and you enjoyed the time in the stroller. Your photos turned out so awesome. I took 90 of you just to get 10 really good ones.

Wednesday
You were a happy, happy baby this morning. I love that but it does make it a little hard to say goodbye to you and ship you off to daycare. Before your dad left for boot camp, he left you in charge of the TV and remote. He is training you early. Later, we put you on your mat to play with your toys. You started fussing after awhile and when we looked down, you completely jimmied off the play mat!! No rolling over but you are such a wiggly worm that now you move everywhere!

4/10-4/12

Hi Elijah!
We had a busy weekend, huh? Saturday we went to Lincoln where you hung out with Auntie Becky & Uncle Steve. They were so excited to take you to the park and see if you were big enough to swing. But, you fell asleep on the way there. I think they had fun with you anyway! After that, we went to dinner with your future wife - Vivianne or Isabella (whichever you choose!) Lindberg. You were a good boy at the restaurant.

On Sunday, you played outside for a bit while we cleaned out the cars. Then, we relaxed before going over your cousin Brandi's house. You got a beautiful new quilt from Roger & Darnell. We tried out your new baby wrap and it was a total success! You loved it and fell asleep twice.

On Monday, Gramma Debbie picked you up and she hung out with you. You were in a good mood for her and I think she enjoyed you flirting with her. We ran errands together while daddy was at his Boot Camp. You are starting to get back to yourself - only unhappy when you are tired, hungry or dirty.

April 5 - April 9

Hi Baby Lijah!
Another week gone by and your mom is behind on your blog. You weren't yourself again this week. We sure wish that tooth would pop out or we could figure out what to do to make you be happy Lijah all the time. Mary said that you are getting better at her house so that is good news! She also gave you a good report card because you did tummy time for 10 whole minutes without screaming. We have seen a noticeable difference in how well you are holding your neck and you can stand for a long time now! Big boy! But, mommy got a bad report card because your Gramma Debbie keeps stealing Mary's bibs when she picks you up. So, your mom got her hand smacked!

Monday - you went over Gramma Debbie's after Mary's. Then, we went to Goldbergs for dinner. YUMMY.


Tuesday - bath night. You did so good sitting in your exersaucer while we got your bath ready. Then, we put you in your bouncy seat downstairs. You stayed in there quite a long time. All a direct result of your neck getting better!

Wednesday - Kylie was ungrounded from you and she was able to pick you up and hang out with you. You screamed when Mary gave you to her. What is up with that? Kylie likes you so much and you hurt her feelings! We then went out to dinner with both of your Gramma Deb's - Gramma Debbie and Gramma Debi D. It was Great Gramma Marianne's 80th birthday. Donnie and Chuck went with us too.

Thursday - we did a video chat with Auntie Val. You smiled a bit more than last time but you ended up getting fussy. You slept all evening - 6:30-10 then you ate. Then, you were asleep again until 1. I brought you up to sleep with me and you are a bed hog. I put you in the middle of the bed with nothing around you. Next thing I know, you are kicking me in the back. Not only are you an inchworm, you are loud. You make so much noise in your sleep - grunting, talking, smacking on your hand. It was quite the reassurance that you are meant to sleep in your crib.

Friday - Off to Great Gramma's while mommy had her meeting. Then, we went to the Vet and over the Beaty's. We went for a 2 hour walk! You did so good. We mostly had you in your stroller but I had you in the sling for a bit too. When you got home, you were knocked out and I hope you sleep really good because we have a road trip to Lincoln tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Baby Elijah!
Your first Easter with us and we tortured you appropriately. You will have new material to tell your therapist! You slept in today - until 8:30! Then, you went to Starbucks with daddy and bought your mommy some Easter candy. After your nap, we dressed you in your bunny costume and tortured you with photos. After that, we went over Gramma Ruth's and then you went over Grampa Keith's. When you got home, you were a fussy pants. Grampa Keith Heather said you were wheezing and coughing. You might have your first cold. Gramma Debi D surprised us by dropping by and delivering your Easter presents.

Yep, kiddo, Easter was like a second birth or baptism. You got a ton of loot! Luckily for your mom and dad, lots of people gave you candy so we could munch on it :) Let's see, what kind of loot did you get?

Clothes
Stuffed Animals
Books
Candy
Money
Sippy Cups
Toys

What did your mom and dad get? To eat your candy and write all your thank you notes :)

Anyway baby, can't wait until next year when you are running around with your cousins Tyler and Andrew and doing an Easter Egg hunt! Hope you feel better soon or Mary will throw us out of daycare until you get better.

A week later...

Hi Baby!
Man, this is the longest I have gone without talking to you! This past week you haven't been yourself. You have been kind of irritable - not in a way that I want a refund but in a way where I just know you are uncomfortable and not being your happy-go-lucky-self. Speaking of refund, since we are past the 90 day mark, I think I am officially stuck with you forever :) Oh, who are we kidding? I was happily stuck with you forever back in May when I got that positive pregnancy test!

Anyway, we don't know if you were coming down with something or if you are teething. From what I can see on the internet, you have all the symptoms of teething but those people who have raised babies tell us it is too early for you to have some teeth. What your dad and I do know is that you feel much better after a dose of tylenol but once that wears off, you are back to being irritable. I think we will just hope that you end up being yourself again soon.

This week, you have decided that you are going to scream in a new fashion. it is a high pitch wail that hurts our ears. We don't know where you got that from but we wish it would go back :) It hurts our ears and then it worries us that something is truly wrong with you. Mary says that you have started doing that in the middle of your naps too but then you go back to sleep.

You had lots of visits this week. Gramma Debbie picked you up from daycare on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday, she brought you to Darbys so we could have tacos together. She bought you a spiffy suit for you to wear on special occasions. Friday, you had your weekly Friday afternoon date with Great Gramma then you went over Gramma Ruth's house while Daddy and I went to a movie. Today, we went to Des Moines to see your baby God Daddy play soccer then we had dinner at Auntie Sheila's with lots of our family - Brandi, Jeff, Jeremy, Kylie, Lauren (baby Jake), Uncle Tyler and Uncle Zach.

You have already received quite a few Easter gifts but I will tell you all about them tomorrow. Hopefully, we will get some good photos of you in your Easter clothes!

Monday, 3/29
Another day where mommy forgot to take a good photo so I had to sneak in at night. We had to replace your swaddle this week because you are too big for the winter one. You were starting to bust out of it on the night's your dad had overnight duty and he didn't like that too much!

Tuesday, 3/30
You and Daddy hanging out on the love sac for a nap. Can I tell you a secret? Your daddy loves snuggling up with you on the love sac.

Wednesday, 3/31
It was Fajita Wednesday and then we went to Maggie Moo's for an ice cream treat. Daddy shared his vanilla bean ice cream with you.

Thursday, 4/1
Photo from Gramma Debbie

Friday, 4/2
In your swing. Now, you are starting to play with the toys in your swing. Mary told me that you have learned that the toys on the swing at her house activate the music so you pull them to hear the music.

Saturday, 4/3
With baby Goddaddy in your soccer duds.