Scary shots!

Tomorrow we have our two-month doctor's appointment. We are supposed to be receiving 5 shots. However, having done some extensive research, I am requesting an alternate vaccine schedule for Elijah. There are just too many chemicals, heavy metals, and other "stuff" in the vaccines! That's not to mention the possible side effects of each vaccine. They've known since I "interviewed" them (yes, I interviewed pediatricians before choosing one) that I was interested in pursuing an alternate vaccine schedule, so I'm not surprising them. I know they believe that the AAP and CDC schedule is what's best for kiddos. As a parent, I just don't think it's best for MY kiddo. That being said, please pray for favor with the doctor and the pediatrician practice as I make this request tomorrow afternoon. Also, pray that Eli handles the two vaccines I am requesting with ease--and that I handle them with ease as well! Thanks so much!!

Killing Two Birds...

Yesterday, in an effort to get as much done as possible, I figured out an easy way to bring the baby down from his nap and get the laundry downstairs, too! My hubby always says, "Work smarter, not harder!" Disclaimer: No babies were injured in this situation and the baby was not thrown out with the wash!

Date Night!

Matt and I went out alone for the first time since little Eli arrived. Jacob was at his mom's and my parents came to babysit the little guy. Being a first-time parent of a newborn, I've never had to leave a baby for the first time. No one warned me about the emotions that I would experience. Nervousness, anxiety, mood swings, difficulty thinking clearly--sounds like I'm detoxing from drugs or something. Anyway, we headed out to the local "nice" restaurant and enjoyed dinner. I almost got through the entire meal without bringing up the baby. I think I should get some credit for "almost" on this occasion. After dinner, we headed over to Pelican's for ice cream and snoballs--yummy! We were only gone a couple of hours, but it was such a nice treat for us. Eli was great for my parents, so maybe Matt and I can try to have a date night once a month! Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Brothers!

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. ~Marc Brown

The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out his nose. ~Garrison Keillor

There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother. ~Astrid Alauda

A brother shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams. ~Author Unknown

A friend is a brother who was once a bother. ~Author Unknown

To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega

Here are our two cuties!

This is baby Jacob--8 years ago!!
This is baby Eli--8 days ago!

Baseball and being a big brother!

It is baseball season and once again Jacob is playing at Garner Baseball, better known as GBI. This year he is on the Mets. They have had 4 games so far this season and they are 2 and 2. Unfortunately Eli and I have only been able to make it to 2 games, but Daddy goes to represent us when we can't make it! Jacob has been playing catcher and does a great job. Tonight he made a great play. The batter hit the ball so that is was between third base and home plate. Jacob threw off his mask, ran to and grabbed the ball, and threw it to first to get the batter out! We were so proud! He's also smacking the ball when he's up to bat! He just gets better each season. What a handsome kid!

On another note, the other day as I was driving Jacob to school, Eli began to get fussy. This is not unusual. Eli doesn't seem to like riding in his carseat. He is getting better, but that morning he was not having the whole "let's take your brother to school" thing. As he started up, I began doing anything I could think of to stop him--talking to him, singing, trying to rock the carseat with one hand and drive with the other, etc. I really hated for Jacob's day to begin by having to sit next to his screaming brother for the 20 minute ride to school. I don't know why I was concerned. Without any prompting, Jacob reached down in the floorboard, retrieved the little birdy infant toy, hung it from the backseat and Eli calmed down. Simple as that! What a great big brother! Again, I was so proud! I can't wait to see what their relationship holds for them!

Two months...already?

Happy Two Month Birthday (tomorrow), sweet little boy!

Holding on!

Check out Eli's new skill. He is grasping his rattle. Now, I know it's probably his infant grasp reflex, but it's still an accomplishment!

National Delurking Day!

Okay, so it's not really National Delurking Day, but I thought now would be a good day for it anyway! You know me...I make stuff up! For those of you who don't know, lurking is when you read a blog, but never comment or respond. Now that I added that FEEDJIT thingy on the sidebar that tells where people are viewing from, I know there are lurkers on this blog. Today is the day to make yourself known. Leave me a little comment to let me know you read. You don't have to include your real name or location, but if you want to I'd love it. Also, let me know how you know us or how you found our blog. I'll even make it easy for you by giving you a question to answer, so you don't even have to make anything up! Can't wait to see who is reading!!

PS: I love you lurkers and am glad you read our blog!!

If you had an extra hour in the day, what would you spend it doing?

Spring has sprung!

I love the spring weather and in honor of this season, I lightened up the blog colors. Enjoy!

AND, I added a new feature on the sidebar entitled "Books Impacting My Life Right Now." Check it out!

Schedule...what schedule?

Edited just a little from it's original content! :)

Being a stay-at-home mom is not an easy job. It's been eight weeks since little Eli arrived and I have quickly learned that the days of long stretches of uninterrupted time are history! Between juggling getting Jacob back and forth to school, playing with Eli(which is vital to his development and a priority for me), putting him down for naps, lulling him back to sleep when he wakes early from a nap, and feeding him, cooking dinner, helping with homework, and sports activities I am finding it difficult to get things done. I'm actually sitting here typing this while Eli is sitting in the bouncy seat beside me. Big thanks to my friend, Jen, for handing down the bouncy seat!! I'm splitting my time between talking and playing with Eli and composing this post, so if this sounds a little unfocused you'll know why! Don't get me wrong, Matt is an awesome husband and father and he steps right up to help with anything I can't get done! However, being who I am, I want to learn to do it all (or at least most of it), so he doesn't have to help quite so much!

I've always had a schedule at work and always carried a planner. That's just how I work and it's served me well! So, today I decided to sit down and design a flexible schedule--just a little something to help me stay on track with housework. As I sat down with a blank Excel spreadsheet to get started, Eli woke up early from his nap. So I pushed aside the dreams of a schedule and headed upstairs to attempt to lull him back to sleep. Sleep came easily, transitioning back to his crib did not. After three attempts and three wake ups, I resigned myself to just sitting in the rocking chair and holding him while he slept for the rest of his nap. I actually enjoy just holding and loving on him, so this was not a problem, but I did lose one of the few uninterrupted periods of time I actually do get. Following the nap it was feeding time, followed by some play and a diaper change and now here we sit. Hopefully, I'll get to that schedule soon enough.

For now, here's to all the SAHMs out there! I admire you all!

AND...if you have any advice on being a SAHM and handling all the responsibilities, please leave a comment!!

Sing-along

Here's the sing-along video. Listen carefully and you can hear Eli singing along!

I got whooped!

A few days ago, I joined Jacob on the basketball court in a friendly game of H-O-R-S-E. He proceeded to pretty much demolish me (H to HORSE). So, I thought I'd give myself an opportunity for redemption and challenged him to a game of P-I-G. Again, I was beat. So, I grabbed the camera to catch this basketball champ on video. Unfortunately, he didn't perform so well under the pressure of being videotaped, but I think our boy has a little bit of a competitive streak. I can't imagine where he gets that!! Maybe you can tell by his comment, he likes to win!!

Wanna play??

Eli and I have been enjoying some floortime in the mornings. We read, look at brightly colored toys, lay on our tummies, exercise our muscles, and sing songs. Eli tries to sing along and I'm trying to catch it on video to share with you. So far, no luck but I'll keep trying! Until then, enjoy these pictures of our seven-week old Elijah!

Little story and lots of posts

I had a little time on my hands, which has been hard to come by recently, so I posted a few things today. Scroll down so you don't miss any!

Earlier today I had my first "baby brain" episode. (In case you didn't know, baby brain is the condition that occurs following the birth of a child caused by little sleeping, baby soothing, diaper changing, floor-time playing, bottle preparing, house keeping, errand running, doctor visiting, and rarely slowing.) As I was preparing bottles, I realized I only had 3 caps and 4 bottles. I thought I'd go ahead a prepare all 4 bottles and then locate the missing cap before shaking that bottle. I poured the water and formula into all 4 bottles, and capped the three. At that same time the dogs go tearing through the house barking and then run out the door making a crazy amount of noise (of course the baby was napping). I look out the window to see what the ruckus is about and simultaneously pick up the bottles to shake them. Guess what...yep, I picked up one capped and one UNcapped bottle and began to shake. Needless to say, formula went everywhere. I'm sure it was quite a sight. Thanks goodness no one was around to witness it. Oh well, at least Eli will think I smell good!!

A stretch and a smile!

Check out our first video post. It was recorded with the great camcorder my husband bought me for my "delivery gift" for having his baby :)

I hope you enjoy it!! (Look for the smile around 1:20--it's a quick one)

Shave and a haircut...two bits!

Okay, so no shave yet, and no bits, either. Nonetheless, there was a haircut. Just look at my studious son reading while getting his haircut (and I didn't even have to bribe him)!!

This is before...

And this is after...

Now that's a handsome kid!!

What's this about?

I don't want to turn this blog into a debate, political, or social reform message board (which is why I turned the comments off on this post), but this YouTube video really got to me. I saw it on another blogger's site. It has really caused me to think. The video is a little radical. The Obama thing at the end is a little much--I'm not endorsing him, but this was a little much even for me. BUT, what is it that Oprah is really peddling here with this book? Let me be sure to post a disclaimer here. I have not read this book or participated in any of Oprah's skype classes on it, so please do your own research. I just thought this was something to think about and find out more about. Check it out for yourself. It will take a little of you time, but I think it's worth looking at!

Life

So, it's been Spring Break around here and Jacob and I decided to play a little board game while Eli caught a nap. I know we all wish so much more for our kids than we have! Well, if this game is indicative of what his future holds, then this kiddo is set!

I was beaten at the game of Life. I guess experience doesn't count!

Just a Swingin'

Elijah found a fun place to catch some zzz's last week! I thought it was too cute and just had to take a picture.

Autism Awareness Month

April is National Autism Awareness Month! I have been working with individuals on the autism spectrum (in one way or another) since I was 12 years old. Autism awareness is a cause near and dear to my heart.

Here are some facts about autism:

**1 in 166 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder everyday

**Autism is the second most common developmental disability, following mental retardation

**It is four times more common in boys than girls

**Autism impairs a person's ability to understand, interact, and communicate with others

Here are some characteristics of individuals with autism:

**Have trouble relating to others or have no interest in doing so

**Avoid eye contact

**Prefer to be alone

**Appear to be unaware of when other people talk to them but responds to other sounds

**Have trouble expressing their needs using typical words or emotions

**Laugh, cry, or show distress for no apparent reason

**Prefer not to be held or cuddled (or only when they want to)

For more information, see the Autism Society of America website or Autism Society of NC website, or the Autism Speaks website.

For a look into what life with autism can be like, view this video (approx. 7 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDMMwG7RrFQ

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. This is God's promise for ALL his children!!

Please Pray!

Many of you who read my blog might remember me mentioning this family before. This is Tricia and Nate Lawrenson. Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis. She delivered a beautiful little girl (15+ weeks prematurely) 12 weeks ago. Yesterday (which was Nate's birthday...wow), Tricia received word that she would be getting new lungs. The double lung transplant was performed overnight and she is now in ICU at Duke. You can get all the details at Nate's blog here and his dad's blog here.

Please join me in prayer for this family as they continue this journey!

From the very beginning you have been a steady and loving presence in my life, helping me become the person I am today. I am so grateful that God blessed me with you as my Daddy!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!