Church Nursery

Okay, so I know in a previous post I mentioned that our pediatrician recommended keeping Eli out of the nursery as long as we could, but I really wanted us to go to church last night as a family. Plus, I knew there wouldn't be nearly as many babies in the nursery on a Wednesday night like there are on a Sunday morning. So, we all went to church as a family last night. How fun!

Mr. Jon, Eli's self-proclaimed "Godfather", met us when I went to check him into the nursery. Eli had not seen Mr. Jon in several weeks and wasted no time in giving him lots of smiles. I guess they're kindred spirits. Can I just tell you how much fun it was for me to check Eli into the nursery? I know this sounds odd, but I loved writing his name on a nametag, labeling his bag, and receiving a pager. It made me really feel like a Mommy! Mr. Jon took Eli into the nursery and I went to meet Josh in church. It was so nice to be able to sit next to my husband and listen to the service without any distractions. Those of you who are parents know that there is a big difference in your attention span when your baby is in church with you as opposed to when he/she is not. I found out that I pay much better attention when Eli is in the nursery because I'm not so on edge and paranoid about him being too loud and disturbing others. We went to church last week and kept Eli with us and I honestly can't tell you a single thing that Dan said. Sorry, Dan. Eli was a little restless and I focused so much on keeping him content that I missed the entire message. I'm glad that our church has a nursery with so many wonderful volunteers that we can leave Eli in trusted hands while we listen to the message every week. Once the weather warms up a little more, we'll be using the nursery a lot!




As soon as the service was over, I went and got Eli. This is what I saw when I walked through the door. Do you think he had a good time or what? LOL! Mr. Jon and Eli bonded a lot while I was gone apparently. Eli was so comfortable he fell fast asleep!

Eli's Mammy

Before I had Eli, Josh and I decided as a family that I would go back to work when Eli was 3 months old. I love teaching and I have always felt that it was what I was called by God to do. I love the joy I get from molding and shaping young minds. Plus, kids are just so much fun. I love that I can be a goofball in front of them and they don't care or judge me at all. I've thought about it before and honestly, if I didn't teach I have no idea what I would do. I love it that much.

Since I was going to go back to work, we knew that we had to find someone to keep Eli. We didn't really want to put him in daycare and wanted him to have one on one attention while he was still this young. We didn't really seek anyone out; we prayed about it and knew that God would send the right person to us. A few months before I delivered Eli, a good friend of ours, Tammy mentioned that she would keep Eli for us. I didn't think she was serious at first, because Josh had always jokingly told her that she would keep our kids for us. They have the kind of relationship where that type of banter back and forth is completely normal. In fact, she affectionately refers to Josh as "the Brat." Well, it turns out she was serious! I am so relieved and so thankful. Tammy only lives 5 minutes away from my work, so it's going to be so easy to drop Eli off and pick him up every day. I am so glad that Eli is going to have Tammy, a.k.a. Mammy, to watch him and love on him every day. Plus, it's good for him. I want him to be able to go to lots of people and not get so attached to me that he cries every time I leave the room. I want him to be well adjusted and I think having someone else watch him is going to help that.

Yesterday Tammy, Eli and I did a practice run of her watching him. I wanted to go ahead and start bringing over some of his things and I wanted them to get the chance to spend a little time one on one before we started leaving him there on a daily basis. Eli and I got over there around 10 yesterday morning and after everything was brought in and set up, I left. It was hard, but I knew that they were going to have a great time together. I ran a few errands in town and even went shopping for some clothes (much easier to do without a stroller) and then around 2 came back to pick him up. Tammy said he did GREAT! I was thrilled. She said that he played, laughed, cooed, ate, and slept just like he was supposed to do. I was so happy! I'm so glad that Eli is going to get to spend time with Tammy. It gives Josh and I such peace of mind to know that he is going to be in great hands!

"Hey, Mammy! What's up?"

"You're coming back, right?"

Big Boy

Josh was feeding Eli a bottle the other night and Eli decided that he wanted to do it instead. He started off strong, but then got a little tired towards the end. That milk was just SO GOOD!

Left with Daddy

This past Sunday, I (Amanda) was able to go to Sunday morning church for the first time since I had Eli. Since Eli was born during the coldest part of the year, our pediatrician, the first time we saw her, recommended keeping Eli out of the cold and away from the church nursery for as long as we could, meaning no church for us for awhile. When we went back a few weeks ago for his 2 month well visit, she said the longer we kept him out of the nursery and away from other little kids bearing germs the better. I was a little disappointed to hear that because on one hand, I have been anxious to go to church as a family; on the other hand though, I don't want my little boy to get sick. What's a mother to do? Thankfully, Daddy came to the rescue. Josh said he would miss church Sunday morning and keep Eli so I could go. I was so happy to go fellowship, worship, and hear God's word. It was so refreshing! I was also glad to go because it gave Josh and Eli plenty of Daddy time while I was away. I will be honest and say that I did hope that Eli would have a poopy diaper while I was gone. Am I horrible or what? LOL! Josh has only assisted so far on changing a poopy diaper. He hasn't had the full experience himself, yet and I really wanted that to happen. Unforunately for me and fortunately for Josh, that didn't happen. Oh well, there's always next time! While I was gone, Josh was in charge of getting Eli ready for lunch at his Mamaw Chandler's house. I was so happy to find pictures on my camera of my little man all dressed and ready to go eat. The Hargon's gave Eli this little Polo outfit and it's so cute. Unfortunately, this will probably be the only time he'll get to wear it. It's a 3 month, but the legs are already too short for Eli. He's growing like a weed! I always heard people say that babies will never "wear out" their clothes. Now I realize how true those words are! If I can get him to wear something just once before he outgrows it, I'm lucky.

When we got back from lunch, the weather was so nice that I suggested taking the entire family, Maggie included, on a walk around the block. I can't believe the weather we're having in January! It feels like spring most days. I love it because Eli and I can get out of the house, but I kind of wish we would have a few cold days (I've got an entire winter wardrobe that I haven't even touched hardly this year!). Also, Eli has winter clothes for this stage, not spring clothes. I'm going to have to go get him so more outfits if the weather stays this nice.

After our walk we attempted to get a picture of Maggie and Eli together. You've heard me mention in previous posts how hard it is for Nicki and I to get Jonah and Eli to both look at the camera at the same time. Getting a dog and a baby to do that is even harder, especially when the dog has a serious case of ADD. I was able to get Maggie to sit next to Eli, but then she got tired of that and decided to roll in the grass. I thought I could get her to lay next to Eli, but then she decided she wanted to check out the flower garden. This is the best we could do! I wish I could say it will get easier when Eli's older, but I don't think it will.

Maggie and Eli
(after several unsuccessful attempts to get them to "pose" together)

Newborn Pictures

When I was still pregnant with Eli, Jami Ainsworth and Tanya Mallory gave me an amazing gift-a newborn photo session with Jami. I was so excited! I had seen her work in my doctor's office and online and couldn't wait for her to photograph my little baby. She does such a great job photographing newborns, unlike anyone in our area. When Eli was 2 weeks old, we went and did the photo session with Jami. The pictures turned out GREAT! I am still debating which images I want to buy because they are all so good. She did an AMAZING job capturing my sweet little boy. I'm going to post some to my blog, but if you want a preview, head over to her site. You can see my handsome, little man there. Leave Jami a comment, too, and let her know what a wonderful job she did!

Someone's "Mini Me" (From Eli)

The other day my Daddy caught me snoozing again. I don't know why these people that I live with insist on documenting every single thing about me. I feel like I live with the paparazzi. It's a good thing I've gotten used to the flash from that camera they always have pointed in my face or a baby could never get any sleep! I guess it's good though, because one day I'll be able to see all the cute things I did when I was little. Although, I have a sneaking suspicion that my Mommy put something on here the other day that might cause me some embarrassment in my teenage years (something about pooting, I think). Just wait until I'm old enough to hold a camera, Mommy! I'll get some embarrassing video of you and post it for the whole world to see. I hope that video didn't hurt my cuteness factor. I want to get a date one day, you know!

Mommy was in the back of the house getting ready and Daddy was watching me. Scary, huh? Not really, hanging out with Daddy is fun! He put me in my glider that the Shirley's let us borrow and he started to serenade me with the guitar. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings, but his playing put me to sleep almost instantly. When he looked up to check on me, he found me in this sleeping position. Apparently, there's a man that my Daddy works with, let's call him Mr. "Biff", who has been known to occasionally fall asleep in this relaxing, unique, R.E.M. sleep cycle inducing position. Hey, it's hard to run a bank. Oops! Hope that didn't give it away :) All I know is that you guys are the ones missing out. We know great sleep when we find it!

Comments Please

I know there are a lot of people that follow this blog. Josh and I have family scattered all over the United States that keep up with our lives through the reading of this blog, which is the main reason I started it. Plus, it's a great online scrapbook for him. Think about it...his entire life (since we first found out we were pregnant with him) has been documented on this website. So cool! We hope that you enjoy all of our posts and that you love watching our little boy grow just as much as us, but we want to hear from you! Please leave us comments and let us know what you think. If you don't know how, this is what you do:

1. Click on the comments link at the bottom of the post you wish to leave a comment
2. If you don't have one of the accounts listed, then you're going to have to post as ANONYMOUS.
3. Click on ANONYMOUS.
4. Write your comment, but be sure to SIGN YOUR NAME just like you were writing an email
5. Click PUBLISH :)

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