Well I finally have a confirmation on my due date and how Eli is doing! It's been a long 2 weeks since I talked to my dr last week and she told me she wanted to do an ultrasound to check to make sure Eli was growing and to get a better idea of when my due date is. According to my last period I originally thought it would be April 3. Well then according to the first ultrasound they told me April 12 and the 2nd ultrasound told me April 7. Today they confirmed Eli is due April 2 and he is weighing in at 6lbs right now! It was so fun to see him at this point on an ultrasound. I only saw James at 18 weeks when we found out he was a boy. So it was fun to see Eli a little more plump! He is so active, the ultrasound tech couldn't believe how much he was moving around. He waved at me it was so cute.
So I talked to my Dr after the ultrasound and she said she won't induce me on April 6th (Mike and I had kind of decided we'd see if Eli decided to come on his own and if he didn't we'd induce on the 6th because it worked out good for both grandma's to take care of James!) So now I guess we are just going to wait and let Eli come whenever he is ready! I told my dr that I've been having a lot of Braxon Hicks already so she decided to check me and I was dilated 1.5cm and am 75% effaced already...so maybe we'll have a March baby! Who knows..it's just a waiting game. I guess I'll take my ribs being kicked a little while longer! I hope these next 5 weeks go by quickly! And I hope Eli doesn't want to be an April fool's baby. If we can be really picky..I'd really prefer he come on an even day too. (I'm not a fan of odd numbers..so I don't want him born on the 3rd or 5th.) I know..I'm crazy. Just glad I got some good news today!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Pinteresty Day
Lyndi and I were chatting the other day on facebook about what we were going to do this coming weekend. We didn't have anything on our calendars so we decided we quickly needed to plan something so we didn't sit bored all day Saturday. To some people it might stress them out..but I like to have a plan. So we decided to bake! We looked through our boards on Pinterest and planned out what we wanted to make and got the ingredients ahead of time. Lyndi wanted to make sugar cookies (which I was against because there was no chocolate involved!) and I wanted to make a chocolate bread pudding. Well we couldn't find the right bread at the "day old bread store" for the bread pudding so we decided on a cinnamon pull apart bread instead. I know..no chocolate! Don't worry though, even without the chocolate, the recipes we made today are fantastic. And then last minute we decided to make a cherry smoothie with our dinner. I have to say. I wasn't disappointed in any of our recipes today. Let me show you the goods...
Here are our sugar cookies. The recipe claims they taste just like Eileen's sugar cookies..and they do. You have to make them! I will tell you we didn't make our own frosting because there were several ingredients that we didn't have on hand and we didn't want to buy just for this recipe. So we just used store bought frosting..and they still tasted delish.
Here are two pictures of the Cinnamon pull apart bread that we made. I will say ours didn't look as amazing as the picture on pinterest. But it did taste pretty darn good. There are a few things I'd recommend if you decided make it. I got ahead of myself in cutting the bread and it makes it more difficult to put the honey vanilla butter inside the cuts if you don't follow the directions exactly. Make sure to get the butter spread evenly all over the bread or you will get some of the sourdough taste.
As Lyndi and I were trying this bread out we were discussing where you could serve this and we had a hard time coming up with the perfect location. It's great if you and your sister are just sitting at the counter digging in, but might be a little more difficult to serve at a brunch because the pieces don't tear off into nice pieces to put on your plate. Maybe I didn't cut it deep enough. Lyndi thought you could maybe cut it all the way through and then put toothpicks in each piece. Try it out and let me know what you decide!
And here is the cherry smoothie we tried out. The smoothie comes from Dr. Oz and claims it will help you fall asleep faster and keep your metabolism buring through the night. Of course the picture on pinterest looks a lot more enticing than our picuture..but it still tasted great and was so simple. And if the claim is true then you should probably make this smoothie every night!
The smoothie seperated pretty quickly and the top of the smoothie became pretty foamy. I'm not sure what caused this. We used almond milk instead of the soy (which is actually the ingredient that is suppose to cause you to doze easier. We had almond milk on hand and didn't think we should try to make ourselves tired at 5:00pm) so I don't know if that one ingredient change made a difference or not. But it still tasted great. I love the tartness of the cherries.
James loves to help!
Here are two pictures of the Cinnamon pull apart bread that we made. I will say ours didn't look as amazing as the picture on pinterest. But it did taste pretty darn good. There are a few things I'd recommend if you decided make it. I got ahead of myself in cutting the bread and it makes it more difficult to put the honey vanilla butter inside the cuts if you don't follow the directions exactly. Make sure to get the butter spread evenly all over the bread or you will get some of the sourdough taste. 
The smoothie seperated pretty quickly and the top of the smoothie became pretty foamy. I'm not sure what caused this. We used almond milk instead of the soy (which is actually the ingredient that is suppose to cause you to doze easier. We had almond milk on hand and didn't think we should try to make ourselves tired at 5:00pm) so I don't know if that one ingredient change made a difference or not. But it still tasted great. I love the tartness of the cherries.
We had a lot of fun making our treats today...and actually got to try some of the stuff that I spend my time pinning! Thanks Lyndi for a fun day! Here are a couple other pictures we took today while cooking and trying out the treats.
Mike was really enjoying himself.
And he loves treats. He got his mother's sweet tooth!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
16 Months
The time is flying by and my little boy is getting so big. He amazes me everyday. He is funny, smart, helpful, and so sweet. He pushes me to be a better woman each day so that I can show him the love Jesus has for him. There are of course difficult moments, but I would say they are few and far between. I think I am about to have an awakening when Eli is born..but for now I am enjoying each minute James and I have together alone. Here is what James is up to this month:
-Talking! He says "yes, no, ball, more, please, mama, dadda, bye-bye, moon, nana (banana), up, papa, ma (for grandma), and Ba (for baily)" :) He also makes the "t" sound for truck. He is imitating all the time trying to say new words. He is is going be using sentences soon I think. It was funny we were at Trader Joes yesterday and we seriously had a conversation the whole time we were there. We walk in and he knows right where the samples are so he pointed over there and did the sign for "eat". So we went over there and tried the food. Then he saw the train that's painted on the wall and does the sign for train. He then signed "more" because he wanted more food. Then we are walking through an aisle and he does the "cow" sound because there is a cow painted on the wall. And then he sees a man wearing a hat so he does the sign for "hat." Then he saw a drinking fountain and signed "drink". I was dying laughing because he was full out communicating everything he was thinking while we were there. It was so fun.
-Gross Motor: James loves to be up on the "big boy" bar stool to eat instead of in his highchair or he'll grab a book and lead me over to the couch so we can sit there and read it instead of on the floor. He loves to step on books or the laundry basket so that he can then get up onto something else. He looks at me while he tries to climb up on the table because he knows he's not suppose to. He's a pleaser though usually and if I say no he will go find something else to do. There are certain things that he will do the opposite when I ask him to do something though..he still tests his limits. He also loves to stomp his feet (ever since he had to stomp the snow off his feet after playing in the snow)and go 'round and 'round in circles. He thinks is so funny.
-Momma's Boy: James has always come to me when he needs something, but this week he's taken it to a new a whole new level. Yesterday Mike had come home early and ended up getting James up from his nap while I was watching the bachelor (I was busy!) James always asks for "momma" or "dadda" when he wakes up..it's always the opposite of the person who is getting him out of his crib. So Mike took him to see me and then took him up to eat. James started screaming saying "momma" for like 5 minutes. He never did get over it. Mike tried to feed him and James ended up choking so he decided to quit and bring him down to me. And anytime I leave the room he is asking, "momma?" And has to come find me right away. So sweet. I read a blog today about how we should be delighting in the Lord's presence like our kids delight in ours. It made me think for sure. http://www.mannaformoms.com/devotions/thats_my_mommy.html
-An update from one of my last posts..he is still waking up in the night. We have continued to let him try and soothe himself and it still breaks my heart. I don't want him to think I am not there to comfort him when he's scared! There have been good nights and average nights. A couple nights ago he woke up and just whined for a couple minutes and was back to sleep. Then there was last night where he was crying for 10 minutes and I say to Mike, "will you go in there and pat him and sing so he isn't scared?" So Mike went in there and it just made it worse. James was then yelling for "mama" and wouldn't calm down. So I go in there and of course he tells me "eat" (he never forgets anything!) and I told him, "No we aren't eating right now, but I can rock you." So I rocked him for a couple minutes. Enough to calm down his deep breathes from screaming, and I put him in the crib. He kinda whimpered for a couple minutes and then was quiet. Of course 10 minutes later though he was crying again, but this time he calmed himself down and went back to sleep for the rest of the night. It's still such a hard thing to know what to do!
-He still loves to read. My sister got him a sign language book for Christmas and he loves to get that out and have me point to the picture and say "how do you say..milk?" And then he shows me the sign. He loves the animal sounds books and train books. He is obsessed with the garbage truck lately. The truck comes on Tuesdays right before we leave for MUMS and so each morning he looks out the window and asks me where the truck is. He sticks out his tongue (his way of saying trash or yuck) and then does the 't' sound for truck. Today the truck was a little late so it came as we were getting in the car and he wasn't as sure he wanted to see it! He got a little worried from all the noises it was making.
-He loves to help me cook. He especially loves to do the chopper. He will get out the chopper and a cutting board and pretend like he is chopping! It's so cute. He'll get out a pan and a spoon out of the dishwasher when we are putting away the dishes and start stirring. But he always wants up on the counter so he can see what I'm doing.
-Still no luck on potty training. I tried a couple days of putting him on every hour to see if he'd go. And I tried giving him some chocolate (he loves treats) if he went potty or poop. Basically putting him on kept him from going all day and then he'd go in the evening when I wasn't as attentive or I'd catch him starting and we'd go sit on the toilet so he'd go a little in his diaper and then nothing on the toilet and then the rest in a new diaper after we got off the toilet! So that was wasting more diapers than just letting him go! So I have backed off a little bit. We'll see in another month or so if can catch on. It is just so amazing how he is so smart and understands most of what I say and will do what I ask him to..except poop in the toilet :)
In other news..I am 32 weeks along with Eli. I am feeling pretty good. I kinda hit a point this week where I was like, "um I feel big and uncomfortable and I still have 8 more weeks to get bigger!? No thanks!" But I'm trying to enjoy each minute I have with James because I know it is about to get crazy. Eli is an active little guy though. He is always moving! Well until I tell Mike to put his hand on my stomach to feel him..then he's absolutely still. It's so funny how that happens every time.
.JPG)
Today is Valentines Day. Mike and I are going out to dinner tomorrow night so we can miss the crowd. We have a couple coupons for Famous Daves so we are going to go there. And then we have a gift card for Lazlos so we plan on using that in March. We are trying to be intentional about getting a couple of dates in before Eli comes because then it's back to having to nurse every 2 hours (at least!) and just being tired again! I feel like Mike and I are doing pretty well relationship-wise. I have been trying to be more intentional about tapping into his love language..touch. Mine is acts of service and so that's how I try to show love and that just doesn't do it for him :) It seems like I do it for a week and then slack off again, but hopefully I can keep it going a little longer this time!
-Gross Motor: James loves to be up on the "big boy" bar stool to eat instead of in his highchair or he'll grab a book and lead me over to the couch so we can sit there and read it instead of on the floor. He loves to step on books or the laundry basket so that he can then get up onto something else. He looks at me while he tries to climb up on the table because he knows he's not suppose to. He's a pleaser though usually and if I say no he will go find something else to do. There are certain things that he will do the opposite when I ask him to do something though..he still tests his limits. He also loves to stomp his feet (ever since he had to stomp the snow off his feet after playing in the snow)and go 'round and 'round in circles. He thinks is so funny.
-Hiding: It's hilarious. I will be cooking or folding laundry and all of a sudden I don't see James and it's really quiet. So I go look for him and one of the first times he had found a hiding spot as I'm calling his name I looked in our room, his room, the bathroom and didn't see him or hear him still! I seriously got a little worried. I checked the bottom of the stairs to see if he had fallen down them without me knowing! He hadn't..so I rechecked the bedroom and then I see his feet sticking out of the curtain! So I look behind the curtain and there he is smiling looking up at me. So since then I have found him behind the shower curtain, under the bed and behind the curtains. He just likes a little quiet time!
-He is eating well still..likes to try everything and will eat anything we are eating for dinner. Daddy feeds him with combinations of food on each spoonful. James prefers to have at least one pea or kernel of corn with each bite. Daddy says, "corn, potato and chicken" and James nods his head. Daddy says, "potato and chicken." James says, "no" and points to the corn. It's just amazing how well he understands what we are saying. He will respond with the correct "yes" or "no" most of the time.
-Momma's Boy: James has always come to me when he needs something, but this week he's taken it to a new a whole new level. Yesterday Mike had come home early and ended up getting James up from his nap while I was watching the bachelor (I was busy!) James always asks for "momma" or "dadda" when he wakes up..it's always the opposite of the person who is getting him out of his crib. So Mike took him to see me and then took him up to eat. James started screaming saying "momma" for like 5 minutes. He never did get over it. Mike tried to feed him and James ended up choking so he decided to quit and bring him down to me. And anytime I leave the room he is asking, "momma?" And has to come find me right away. So sweet. I read a blog today about how we should be delighting in the Lord's presence like our kids delight in ours. It made me think for sure. http://www.mannaformoms.com/devotions/thats_my_mommy.html
-An update from one of my last posts..he is still waking up in the night. We have continued to let him try and soothe himself and it still breaks my heart. I don't want him to think I am not there to comfort him when he's scared! There have been good nights and average nights. A couple nights ago he woke up and just whined for a couple minutes and was back to sleep. Then there was last night where he was crying for 10 minutes and I say to Mike, "will you go in there and pat him and sing so he isn't scared?" So Mike went in there and it just made it worse. James was then yelling for "mama" and wouldn't calm down. So I go in there and of course he tells me "eat" (he never forgets anything!) and I told him, "No we aren't eating right now, but I can rock you." So I rocked him for a couple minutes. Enough to calm down his deep breathes from screaming, and I put him in the crib. He kinda whimpered for a couple minutes and then was quiet. Of course 10 minutes later though he was crying again, but this time he calmed himself down and went back to sleep for the rest of the night. It's still such a hard thing to know what to do!
-He still loves to read. My sister got him a sign language book for Christmas and he loves to get that out and have me point to the picture and say "how do you say..milk?" And then he shows me the sign. He loves the animal sounds books and train books. He is obsessed with the garbage truck lately. The truck comes on Tuesdays right before we leave for MUMS and so each morning he looks out the window and asks me where the truck is. He sticks out his tongue (his way of saying trash or yuck) and then does the 't' sound for truck. Today the truck was a little late so it came as we were getting in the car and he wasn't as sure he wanted to see it! He got a little worried from all the noises it was making.
-He loves to help me cook. He especially loves to do the chopper. He will get out the chopper and a cutting board and pretend like he is chopping! It's so cute. He'll get out a pan and a spoon out of the dishwasher when we are putting away the dishes and start stirring. But he always wants up on the counter so he can see what I'm doing.
-Still no luck on potty training. I tried a couple days of putting him on every hour to see if he'd go. And I tried giving him some chocolate (he loves treats) if he went potty or poop. Basically putting him on kept him from going all day and then he'd go in the evening when I wasn't as attentive or I'd catch him starting and we'd go sit on the toilet so he'd go a little in his diaper and then nothing on the toilet and then the rest in a new diaper after we got off the toilet! So that was wasting more diapers than just letting him go! So I have backed off a little bit. We'll see in another month or so if can catch on. It is just so amazing how he is so smart and understands most of what I say and will do what I ask him to..except poop in the toilet :)
In other news..I am 32 weeks along with Eli. I am feeling pretty good. I kinda hit a point this week where I was like, "um I feel big and uncomfortable and I still have 8 more weeks to get bigger!? No thanks!" But I'm trying to enjoy each minute I have with James because I know it is about to get crazy. Eli is an active little guy though. He is always moving! Well until I tell Mike to put his hand on my stomach to feel him..then he's absolutely still. It's so funny how that happens every time.
.JPG)
Friday, February 10, 2012
little boys and a momma's heart
I don't know how he figured it out..but James has figured out how to get out of bed at night. Not on his own, but with my help!
He's so smart. It started about a week and a half ago. He started crying super loud. I always let him cry a little bit to see if he'll go back to sleep on his own. Well he cried past my "time limit" and I went in there and rocked him and put him back to bed. I thought he must have had a bad dream because after I rocked him and put him in his crib he fell back asleep on his own no problem. Well the the next night he starts crying again so I go in and try to rock him and he won't stop. He's screaming and arching his back and then looks at me and does the sign for "eat." I'm like.."okay lets go eat." It makes sense to me that he must be hungry because he's never acted like this before.
So he eats a whole banana, I rock him for a couple minutes and put him in his crib and he quietly goes back to sleep on his own. I thought it was pretty funny.
I was like.."well I guess I'm glad he can tell me what he needs other wise he would have just been screaming and I wouldn't know what was wrong!" Then he does it the next night. The exact same routine. Then the next night he sleeps the whole night through. Then two nights ago he wakes up at 10:00 and eats and then at 2:30 and wants to eat.
But I'm getting tired of waking up and feeding him! And getting nervous that this is going to become a habit and I'll be waking up with James and Eli for nightly feedings and I know that can't happen! So when he woke up last night at 12:30 Mike said, "he'll give up eventually just let him cry, he's not going to starve."
Oh my gosh it was so hard to stay in bed.. I felt so bad! How can you tell him he can't eat! He cried for 20 minutes until he gave up and went to sleep. And of course I was then up for another 20 minutes at least making sure I couldn't hear him and just having trouble going back to sleep because I felt bad for him. I don't want him to think I don't care that he's sad! So I got back to sleep and guess what..3:30 came and I hear him again!
I said to Mike, "okay this time he has to be hungry! And if we don't feed him he'll be up at 6:15 ready to start the day!" Mike said, "He'll be fine." So against my will I stayed in bed again. He cried for about 15 minutes this time and went back to sleep. I couldn't believe it when I woke up at 7:45 to him just talking in his bed this morning.
Mike says, "Gotta do it the Mike way" I know it's for the best, but I sure hope tonight is better. I just don't get how while I'm laying in bed listening to him cry and feeling awful for him Mike has fallen back to sleep! God made mamma's with these strings that pull at your heart that your boys can tug on and get you to do whatever you want..you have to be careful because otherwise they'll be ruling the house! Good thing God also made dads! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)