Birth Announcement

Really quick, here it is!

Yes, I really did send out birth announcements this late after the birth. I figure if wedding thank-yous have a year to be sent then birth announcements have at least that. They're way more fun and important. Here's the little update I added to the back of each one:

Sooooo it's a little late in coming, but here is our newest addition!

It’s hard to believe it’s already been 4 ½ months since Elijah was born. The time is going by so fast, and we are doing our best to cherish each moment. Words can’t describe how blessed we feel to be the parents of this sweet little boy.

Eli has (obviously!) grown a lot since he was born. He is now over 16lbs and measures a whopping 29”. He’s going to be tall, just like Matthew!

He loves to squeal and make little shrieking sounds to himself, and he seems to have a coy personality. He kicks so hard in his bed that you can hear the thumping from the basement, and he’ll frequently twist around in bed until the morning, when he has come full circle from where he started the night before.

Elijah giggles, smiles, rolls (sometimes), blows raspberries, and chews on his hands. He is an avid eater, and he definitely has the coolest rooster-do we’ve ever seen on a baby.He’s everything we ever dreamed of and more, and we are so happy to spread the news of our love and adoration for this sweet baby Eli.

 
 Today is Matthew's birthday and we've had a good time this evening celebrating. I made cupcakes, and they were quite delicious. I'm going to have to write about it all another day though, because it's late and it's bedtime.

Picnic!

Yesterday Matthew and I went to this beautiful park here in town for a picnic, pictures, and a walk. I had such a great time! It was so reminiscent of when we first started dating, and we had fun recounting that first date nearly 6 years ago.

I made sure we brought the camera so that we could **FINALLY** take some nice photos with Elijah and I. We don't really have any yet. I love the photos that we took, but sadly my favourites were overexposed. **sigh** I'm still working on getting the settings right. It's frustrating, because on the camera screen they looked fine. Oh well. I told Matt that if we couldn't do it very well ourselves, we were just going to have to hire a photographer to do some nice family photos of us.

Anyway, here's what we came up with:

(wish this wasn't overexposed!)

(attempt at a family photo. It's *REALLY* annoying and difficult to do because I have to set the timer and get the exposure right without me being in the photo. I'm thinking we're going to get a photographer to do our photos sometime in the fall.)

  Not too much else is going on with us. Just a nice, quiet Saturday of hanging photos, preparing Sunday lessons, and playing games. 

Happy Saturday!

100th post!

I have officially, as of this post, written 100 posts! Well, I've written 105, but I haven't published 5 of those because they became outdated before I finished them...haha.

My 100th post will be almost completely riddled with photos, although only a few are of Eli. (edit - I intended to make this mostly photos, but it turns out I had a lot more to say than I had originally thought, so....sorry! There are still lots of photos! To me.)

This past weekend was the Strawberry Festival in my hometown, so I mosied on down there and walked the town with my sis (except when we were retreating from the rain!) We had a great time, and I was able to get some really cute photos of her and my nephews. Here's what I came up with:

P would NOT pose for photos! He would run past me with this big grin on his face, or he'd hide behind my sister. In this photo she had just turned him around, and he hid again! Little rascal. He even went as far as to pull the hide-under-mommy's-skirt trick, which he's apparently never done before! I really drove him crazy, following around with the camera.

H

Here's how happy he is to finally be in a place where he can't escape! There I am with the camera but he hasn't noticed me yet. I say, "P, smile!!" and he goes (within seconds) from a "Huh?" face to a full out scowl! Reminds me of myself actually.

His little brother, A, was much more co-operative! My sister said that he smiles lots and then clams up as soon as a camera is pulled out, but I didn't get that from him. I don't know why! Maybe it's because he was just playing and I was taking pictures whenever he turned my way. He's not much of a performer.

He is OH so cute!

Maybe I just caught him in a really good mood??

So we hung around the house for a bit and then took off to the strawberry festival wherewe ate Panzerolis for lunch and were just about to get strawberry sundaes for dessert when it started raining. It was terrible timing! Especially because it was at that opportune moment when I ran into a friend from highschool, and I would have loved to catch up for a bit, but alas, we had to get the babies out of the rain. 

So we went home and then went back an hour or so later for the sundaes, and without A. P was super tired and not feeling 100%. The kid even turned down pony rides, going on bouncy slides and castles, and a few bites of his mum's sundae! Poor kid. I don't remember where this came from, but I love this face that I caught on him at one point:

Completely unenthused.

And here's my sundae:

I took the picture and my sister said, "Did you really just take a picture of your icecream?" I think maybe she was embarrassed to be seen with me for that moment, but I just replied, "Of course I did! How else will I be able to blog about it??"

Then I high-tailed it home, changed because I was SO warm, speed-fed Eli, and then was off again to a bridal shower. I won't post any photos from that (except a cute on of Eli at the end of this) because I've realized that I'm not very good with indoor, fluorescent light-lit, more-than-one-person sorts of settings. It's a weakness of mine that I need to work on. 

Here are a couple photos of Eli from earlier in the day at my mum's house:

Peekaboo!

Happy boy!

So in about a month we're going to be starting Eli on baby foods, but in the meantime I've been allowing him the taste of little things here and there. At the shower I had a piece of watermelon that I was letting him lick, but he wasn't getting a whole lot off of it, so I bit into it so that there'd be more juices. Well, there were more juices, and he was loving it until a little piece that was dangling off the watermelon got into his mouth and stuck in his throat, causing him to all out choke. Scariest. Moment. Ever. Like, women around me started gasping, and I just looked at mom and said, "I don`t know what to do." I was patting his back which I have since learned is NOT the thing to do, and she said to just stick my finger in and scoop it out. I did so, but only succeeded in pushing it back more. CRAP! Then he spit it up on his own, and I caught it as it oozed out of his mouth. In minutes he had forgotten about it, but I am *STILL* scarred. Like, when I started typing it out my heart started racing. He fell asleep a few minutes later, no doubt pooped from the whole experience, and he looked so cute and peaceful that I had to snap some photos of him like that (besides the fact that it distracted me from the traumatizing experience!)

So I'm chalking the whole thing up as a learning experience. Now I know. Don't pat the back. Scoop it out. Raise their arms above their head. Take a child resucitation class. Seriously! I'm looking into taking a two-day St. John's class on infant and child first-aid in my area. Anyone interested in taking it with me? It'll mean a Saturday/Sunday thing, which I've always avoided, but you know what? I feel this is pretty darn essential, so I'm going to let the one Sunday slide. 

Anyway, not too much else is going on here. The skies are grey and they're calling for lots of thunderstorms this evening and I am excited (like, Steve the monkey excited.) There was an earthquake today but I unfortunately did not feel it, as I was out for a walk with Elijah. I feel so ripped off! There was one when I was in highschool too, and I didn't feel that one either. I don't want to feel a big one, but I'd like to experience the shaking a little TEENY bit. Just once. Oh well. I should be grateful really, living in such a sheltered area of the world and I AM grateful. Just a tad foolish too.

As an aside, I love hearing from the other room Matthew saying things like, "Aren't you the cutest of all babies?" and whistling "I Am Like a Star Shining Brightly" to Eli. Melts. My. Heart. Oh, and then there's, "Hush little baby don't say a word...................that's all."

So our race is in 6 days and I am totally not ready! I have come to a conclusion, which is that I just don't have time to run every day right now. Not when I can't run with Eli or put him in daycare at the Y for the hour I work out. We're still going to do the race, but it'll probably end up being 50/50 for running/walking. 

I'm reading a book right now by Emily Watts, and it's called "Take Two Chocolates and Call Me in the Morning." I'm really liking it so far! The first chapter has already revolutionized my outlook on my day and my time. The first chapter is, "Know When to Say No" and she makes the point that you can't say yes to everything. Not rocket science, right? But she also points out that when you say "yes" to one thing, you are automatically saying "no" to a whole myriad of other things. I had never looked at it that way! That choosing to do one thing makes me incapable of doing another, and I shouldn't stress over this fact. I just need to choose wisely. 

So, in the case of running, I have to say "no" right now, because if I say "yes" to running, it means saying "no" to other things, like napping, cleaning and relaxing. Right now I feel like those things are trumping running, and that that SHOULD be okay. But along with that comes accepting my body the way it is, if I'm not going to do a lot to change it right now, which makes this a more loaded decision than it appeared at first. The conclusion of it all is that I will walk regularly WITH Elijah, so that I'm more active day-to-day and it's something I can do when Elijah is awake. I'll also keep not eating chocolate, and I'm going to make an effort to cut back on all sweets, rather than just the chocolate ones (because I'm quite proficient at concocting other sinfully delicious creations that may not assuage the craving for chocolate, but that definitely feed my sweet tooth!)

Aaaaaaaand that's all I have to say! Random finish, I know, but Matthew is looking after Eli and is not feeling so hot, so I'm going to go relieve him. I'll finish this off with a super cute photo of Eli and Matthew:

A mom like that

So I've been at this "mom" thing for almost 5 months now (can you believe it?!) and I'm learning more and more about who I am and who I want to be. Some days I despair because I feel the disparity between the two is so great that I'll *NEVER* get there, but mostly I think it's just something you work on. Also, I don't think anyone feels they are as good a parent as they actually are. It comes with the territory of living inside of your own head.

One of the things that I'm realizing is how much work having a baby is! I always knew it would be, but seriously. It tires me out. Sometimes what I need is to take a good look around, and draw inspiration from others who are doing it and doing it well, and then I feel more motivated and downright excited for the future (because it truly is beautiful!)

I draw inspiration from a number of sources, but my favourite ones are (true to form for me!) a few blogs that I adore. There's the photography one, an eating healthy for families one, and this great little one that combines endless craft ideas with photography skillz. That particular blog I found through my sister-in-law (the author of it is my sister-in-law's sister-in-law!) when she was having a photo contest and we were sent there to vote for Aaron's and Rachelle's photo (although I admittedly voted for a different photo because I liked it better, and that's what voting is for, right? Not that I didn't love the one of A and R too! Sorry R.)   It's great though, because the author, Heather, has combined her photography with her love of doing crafts with and teaching her kids, and it has gone from one thing I find inspiring (her photography) to more and more things I'm inspired by (spending quality AND quantity time with your kids.)

Here are some examples of the things that she does with her daughters:

Baking with her kids

Making learning things fun, like this table-setting placemat

Gospel-centre ideas, like teaching the true meaning of Easter through an Easter-egg hunt

Anyway, I highly recommend you check the website out. You won't be disappointed, and you'll be motivated to do all sorts of fun things with your kids too!

Here's the website again: Heather Lynne

Photos of Eli to come (my battery is seconds from dying!)

My Life Right Now

I know, I know, I've kinda fallen off with the whole posting thing. I can really only write a post when Elijah is sleeping, and lately instead of posting I've been working out during my limited free time.

So the race! A little anxious, really. The good news is that, even on days where I feel like I've pushed myself a fair bit and am hoping it's not too far, Eli has yet to push me away and demand tastier milk. Which, to me, means I'm doing just fine with the jogging bit and can keep it up. Now, if only my BODY would allow me to keep it up, I'd be set!

This week I've been jogging and I did Yoga once. I really enjoyed the Yoga, but the next day the muscles in my legs were stiff from all the stretching, and they're still a little sore, so maybe I need to ease into it a bit more. It is my goal to be able to touch my toes, though! I haven't been able to since I had my back problem when I was 13. That's nearly half my life ago!

So I've been busy working out. Then I've had things like VT'ing appointments, a doctor's appointment, and dentist appointments. My fillings are filled and I'm about to get my mouth guard which I'm really excited about (how boring and grown-up is it to be excited about getting a mouth guard???) Seriously, though, it'll make my life happier. I clench my teeth at night and sometimes grind them, and lately I've been having headaches or migraines because of it. So, life will be happier soon.

Eli had his 4 month shots today (a couple weeks late) and it went well. At least, as well as poking a defenseless baby can go. He cried, but he got over it faster than he did for his 2-month ones, and he hasn't needed Tempra, AND he didn't freak out this evening whenever he moved his little legs. So score. He weighed in at 16 lb's 1 oz (can we say "growth spurt"?? He has gained 1lb 2oz in 3 1/2 weeks.) which is the 50th percentile, so average and nothing to worry about. He's 28.5" now, so he's gained a half inch in 3.5 weeks too. That could explain why his sleeping patterns have changed.

It's so funny to say this of a 4 1/2-month old, but he used to sleep through the night. USED to. Those were the good old days! Then a couple weeks ago, it all changed. It started with a 2:30 or 3:30am feeding instead of 4:30-5am. Then it became a 1-2am feeding AND a 5am feeding. Now it's looking like 1am, 3:30 (sometimes), 4:30-5, 6-7am (at which point he's up and NOT falling back asleep) and then 9am or so, when he goes back to bed for his first nap of the day. I am TIRED. And I think it's that much harder when I was getting used to sleeping through the night. It's like having a newborn all over again! Except now his feeds are 10m or less instead of 45m-1hr.

Another reason for the tiredness may be a lack of iron. STILL. I don't really know, but I'm beginning to suspect something is up with my body. I talked to an iron-deficient veteran, and she said that it could take 2-years for an anemic person's body to recover. 2 YEARS!! I personally don't think it'll take my body that long, because I wasn't anemic perse, I had just lost a heck of a lot of blood and so of COURSE my hemaglobin levels were low. So I was hoping that once the blood replaced itself I'd be fine, but now I don't know. I'm still so tired all the time. So I'm going to look into that.

So Father's Day is coming up, and so is Matthew's and my birthdays. I've got Father's Day covered, but I'm still drawing a blank on Matt's birthday! I usually am full of ideas, but this time, nadda. At least, nothing that takes less than 2 1/2 weeks to prepare. It doesn't help, of course, that Matt has been reminding me every single day (EVERY.SINGLE.DAY) that he already has my gifts and it's not the day before my birthday. He does it because he knows it drives me crazy, wondering and guessing, and also because he's proud that he has gifts taken care of before me. But seriously. What am I going to get/do for him?

Oh! Fun in the life of Holly = getting a cheque in the mail from the government for $330, along with a promise of another cheque in December and another one next June. Matt says it's to make people more cheerful and less likely to complain about the HST thing next month, but seeing as I wasn't complaining to begin with, it's a bonus to me. Thank-you, government! I feel like I just got a bail-out.

I turned to Matt after eyeing the cheque and asked, quite innocently I might add, "Can I keep it?" to which Matt warily replied, "What are you going to do with it? Spend it over time on dinners at Kelsey's?" to which I (indignantly) replied, "No! I'm going to save it."

In the end he wanted me to save it in the savings account, but I objected strongly to that, because we're about to use that money to repair our car's brakes, pay land taxes, and get Merry and Pippin up-to-date on their shots and grooming. We have the money for all of that, but if I put the money in there, then it'd just get spent on some random BORING thing like getting Merry fixed, which is SO not a necessity (right now, because she's not in heat. I might reconsider when she actually IS in heat...) No no, I don't want this hard-earned, government-is-actually-giving-ME-money-rather-than-the-other-way-around money to go to something so mundane. I'm going to save it and buy a pretty pretty camera or a shiny, new lens.

Anyway, I'm starting to bore myself, I'm so sorry!

Here are some fun and unboring photos (at least to me, because I know and love these people.)

So I did have captions that were brewing in my head at the time I was photoshopping these photos, but it's nearly midnight and I am not evening going to attempt being witty at this point, because it'd only be a bid fail. AND the screen is going blurry I'm so tired. (aaaaand upon proof-reading this paragraph, I totally caught the two spelling mistakes, but I'm going to leave them in there, just to drive you crazy, and also to prove my extreme exhaustion. I'm so tired I started typing words that are still words but not the words I was looking for. Haha)

So goodnight!

Committed

I did it. I just signed up for my first 5k race. I think my heart is actually beating faster just thinking about it.

When is the race?

3 weeks today.

Am I insane?

Just maybe!! I can go the full 5k (I can go further actually!) but I combine jogging with walking still. Hopefully by race day I'll have no problems running the full 5. We'll see.

Pictures and stuff coming tomorrow. Or the next day. ;)