Looking Back: Just Born

A couple of my friends have done this for their babies right before their birthdays and I think it's a great idea. I'm going to do a post every day for the next 12 days leading up to Eli's birthday, Nov. 6th, and use these posts to look back and reflect on each month. For those of you just new to the blog, you'll be able to get a brief synopsis of the things my little man has been doing for the past year.

Just Born

My delivery day couldn't have gone any easier. Eli was 3 days late and rather than wait for him to decide when he wanted to come, Josh and I made the decision to go ahead and induce. I was so happy to do this since I am such a planner. I liked knowing that everyone that needed to be there was going to be there in plenty of time and we wouldn't have the added stress of wondering where everyone was when I was delivering. Josh and I went to the hospital early that morning to check in and they started me on pitocin.


Lots of family members and friends stopped by and called to check on me during the early stages of my labor. It was so good to see everyone. We were all so excited that we were finally going to be able to meet my precious little boy! Nicki was in charge of pictures and she did a wonderful job! Lots of these pictures are from her! (Thanks again, Nicki!)


After they broke my water and increased my pitocin dosage, my contractions started to get stronger. Mom and Dad arrived shortly after my contractions intensified and it wasn't long after that I requested an epidural (God's gift of medicine to pregnant women, in my book!).


My labor really progressed once my body was able to relax after the epidural. My actual delivery went great. Dr. C, my nurses, and Josh all did a WONDERFUL job of helping me focus and concentrate and after about 15-20 minutes of pushing, Eli Daniel Wilson entered our little world and it has not been the same ever since. He was 7 lbs. 14 oz., 21 in. long and had a head full of dark brown hair. One of my favorite funny memories from that day is right after Eli came out, he decided to say "Hi!" to all the nurses by peeing on them. How funny!




Josh and I were over the moon in love with our little boy and still are! We were so happy to show him off to all our family and friends. It was a great, great day! Our hospital stay was wonderful. Eli had lots of visitors and it was great getting to show him off to everyone.






My favorite time in the hospital was when it was just the three of us at night. Josh and I would unwrap Eli from his swaddling blanket and lay him on the bed and just stare at him marveling over just how wonderful he was. He was so precious!


Eli passed all his tests with flying colors and we were able to come home Saturday, Nov. 8th. Our new life as a family of three was just beginning and we couldn't wait to see what God has in store for us

Rolling on the River

Saturday afternoon we took Grammy and Pop to the flea market at the balloon festival. Hey, we live in a small town, so when something is going on, you pretty much go to it, even if it's a flea market! I had heard that there was a booth that was selling Egyptian cotton 1000 thread count and 600 thread count sheets for $20, so that's really the only reason I wanted to go. It was kind of wet, so we thought that we'd just take Eli in his wagon. That worked out great! He was so comfortable riding around looking at all the sights, while chowing down on his Lil' Crunchies and drinking his juice. At one point, he wanted out of the wagon and he had fun walking back and forth with Pop. There really wasn't anything at the flea market, but Mom and I did pick up some sheets. I love good deals! We took a few pictures on the river walk and then went home. It was another great day with Grammy and Pop!





We were leaving the flea market and heard these dogs barking. We looked to see where they were and this is what we found. I had to take a picture because it looked like they really were driving that car. How cute!

A BOO-tiful Surprise from Grammy and Pop

Grammy and Pop came to visit us and they brought Eli the cutest trick or treat bag I've ever seen filled with all kinds of goodies!


Eli was really interested in his goody bag when we got up. He and Grammy went through it together.









Eli got Gerber yogurt melts, juice, a Curious George book, pajamas, baby food, and lots of other fun treats. Plus, the best part is that the eyes and ears GLOW IN THE DARK! How much fun is that going to be?!

Balloon Races

Last weekend our area had their annual Balloon Races event. This is one of my favorite events that our area hosts. I love seeing all the colorful hot air balloons. This year, I couldn't wait to take Eli to the races, especially to the Balloon Glow Friday night. It was pretty chilly that night and I hadn't washed any of Eli's winter clothes, so I hurried home from school and washed and dried them before we had to leave.

Eli didn't really enjoy being bundled in heavy clothes. He had a hard time walking and kept falling over, but that didn't stop him from getting where he wanted to go. The balloon glow was supposed to start around 6:00 and the fireworks around 7:30. We got there in plenty of time, but to our disappointment there weren't any balloons on our side of the river. In the years past, they have had hot air balloons on both sides of the river, but this year it didn't work out like that. We saw lots of our friends, walked up and down the riverwalk, tried our best to keep Eli in a good mood, but when his bedtime rolled around and there were still no signs of glowing balloons or fireworks, there was no stopping the inevitable...we had to go. Oh well! Better luck next year!

We brought our little man home and he crashed immediately. He was so tired. He was going to have a busy weekend because Grammy and Pop were coming to visit!

This is the only picture I was able to take that night.
Eli loved being able to pat the concrete wall overlooking the river.
Hey, he had to entertain himself somehow since he didn't have any balloons to look at that night!

Getting Closer to the BIG 3-0

Today I turned 28 years old. WOW! That's two years away from 30 for all of you that struggle with math :) The good news is that I still feel just as young as ever, well, maybe that's not true. I do seem to exist in a perpetual state of exhaustion these days but that has nothing to do with my age and everything to do with chasing a little boy around :) Lately, my mind hasn't been the best at remembering things (see reason about exhaustion previously stated), so I have been making lists like crazy. I've never been a list person; Josh, my husband, has, but not me. Now I am one! I'm so obsessive about it at school that sometimes I write things down that I've done that I forgot to put on my list in the first place just to scratch them off my list. OCD much?? In honor of my 28th birthday, I thought I'd list 28 things that make me happy (I can think of more than 28, but I thought I'd stop there for now).

1. Josh and Eli
(This birthday was so special because it was my first one to celebrate as a Mommy!)
2. Hugs
3. Kisses
4. Eli's face when he sees me after work each day
5. Coffee
6. Sleeping in (hey, a girl can dream, can't she?)
7. A day with nothing planned
8. Rocking Eli at night
9. Watching movies with Josh
10. Reading a new book
11. Fall leaves
12. Drinking apple cider
13. Colorful pens/Sharpies
14. Crafting blogs (addicted to these lately, even though I have yet to make a single craft!)
15. Text messages from my hubby checking on me
16. Snuggling
17. Watching Josh and Eli "play" the guitar
18. Watching Josh read to Eli and do all the animal sounds
19. Taking Eli for wagon rides
20. Warm apple pie and pumpkin spice candles
21. Vegging out on the couch
22. Taking a nap with Eli and not worrying about whether or not our snuggle time is going to mess up his schedule
23. Watching Eli's face when he hears the first notes of Praise Baby
24. Spending time with family and friends
25. Coming home to a clean house
26. Laughing
27. Sonic
28. Being a wife and mommy to the best two boys in the entire world!

I feel so incredibly blessed. The past 28 years have been great! I am so thankful for all the many blessings God has so graciously poured out on my life. I know I don't deserve any of them, but I am thankful nonetheless. I can't wait to see what the next 28 years bring!

Daddy Time

Eli got to have some Daddy Time tonight while I went to church to teach my 1st and 2nd graders. Eli was going to go to church with me, but right as we were about to walk out the door, he fell and hit his lip on the leg of an end table. (Yet another gray hair for Mommy!) He was fine, but he did cut his lip just a little bit on the inside of his mouth. I decided to just let him stay home with his Daddy and have some male bonding time. While I was at church, Josh sent me a text that said, "Your son is so funny." I took that as a good sign that they were having lots of fun together. I couldn't wait to get home to see what my two boys were up to without me! I came home and Josh showed me all the pictures he had taken of our little man. What a good Daddy! He knew that I'd want to post :)

After looking at these pictures you'll see why Eli is starting to get more bumps and bruises on his poor little head. My kid is fearless! There isn't anything he can't climb, knock over, pull on top of him, throw, kick, or play with in some way. You cannot leave him alone for one second! He is SO SO SO ACTIVE!

Yes, that is a guitar case. Yes, that is my baby.
Yes, that is my baby STANDING on top of the guitar case!

Enjoying the view

Where's Eli?

The 96 cents I spent for this bowl was SO worth it!

The videos below show you all the fun my two boys had while Mommy was gone tonight! Looks like they had a blast!

Foreshadowing

Please tell me this is not a sign of things to come. Eli loves to open cabinet doors when we're in the kitchen; however, locked cabinet doors do not make him happy. He saw me open the doors under the sink-the ones that house all the cleaning supplies-and he ran to the doors so he could investigate. I was slightly faster than him, grabbed what I needed, shut the doors, and tightened the zip ties so he wouldn't be able to open the doors. Here's how he reacted...can you say temper tantrum??




P.S. Just a note to clarify any misconceptions you may have about why my child seems to always have a messy face at night. He eats his supper and then usually goes straight to the tub very soon afterwards. I don't see the point in wiping his face when he's just going to get cleaned in the tub anyway, especially since he hates having his face cleaned. Just one less battle I'd rather not fight. Oh, and he does wear bibs, but somehow he still manages to get food everywhere!