Balls, balls and more balls!

Eli had a great birthday this week! I took him to lunch at Cessna and a TON of airplanes were landing and taking off, so he was in heaven. When Brandon got home we headed to Chuck'E'Cheese for pizza and games. He rode a couple of the cars but mainly wanted to do the Pop a shot! At one point, he had attracted a crowd watching him swish baskets over and over again. That's my boy....always a basketball in his hands. He loved it. I taught him to hold up his two fingers (for him that's his thumb and pointer finger) when asked how old he is. He's such a cutie. Thursday night we had an accident. Eli ran and his finger when directly in Brandon's eye. I could immediately tell it was scratched (having scratched mine twice before) and Brandon was suffering, so he headed to the eye doctor and found out he had a nike swish scratch that covered his entire eye. It's already better, but was uncomfortable for a while. The doctor joked that Brandon got beat up by a toddler! Last night we had a family night out to Pei Wei and Marble Slab for ice scream. Eli was a joy! I've been enjoying his new words of the week: Tick Tock and Doggy. I just ordered our double stroller online. Big sigh of relief!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELI!

Today is Eli's 2nd birthday! My, how the time has flown by. I'll never forget that wonderful day! I love this photo because it is the first time I saw him. I heard him cry and my doctor held him up over the curtain so I could see his face. What a little surprise he was. I expected him to look just like Brandon, but he didn't resemble Brandon's baby pictures at all. It has been a remarkable journey being his parent, and I look forward to the many years and learning experiences to come!

Exploration

Ah, I love weekends! I had a panic attack that I didn't have any newborn diapers, so yesterday morning we headed to Target and let Eli play around while I picked up some Organic Cotton diapers for Cora. We were walking through Target and heard Eli yell, "BRA!" and he went over and started touching all the bras. Oh boy. He is ALL boy! Afterward, we headed to Exploration Place (hands on science museum). I've been really wanting to take Eli to the new music exhibit that has tons of hands-on instruments, drums, etc. He loved it! He played in the music room forever trying out different drums and sound effects. They also had a Mr. Potato Head exhibit traveling through. He loved playing with all the games and activities. This little girl was playing in one of the exhibits with him and she kept talking to Brandon. Her mom came over and said, "She loves men. When you have two mommies....men are exotic!" It cracked me up. Eli liked the airplane exhibit too. He sat and did the Cessna flight simulator with Brandon for a long time. Brandon was teaching him how to land and take off :-). We headed to Seth Horst's 3rd birthday party last night. Eli had a great time playing with the kids and did pretty well with sharing. We all ate bierocks and Eli got some cake and ice cream...so he was in heaven. I took off and went to a movie with my friend while Brandon put Eli to bed, then when I got home Brandon went out with his friends to see a scary movie. It's been a great weekend! Brandon's going out of town for work tomorrow for two days. He's going to miss us! My brother is spending the night here so we're safe :-) I'll enjoy the help!

Cora update!

I had my 28 week doctor's appt. yesterday. I was measuring 31 weeks..yikes...too much junk food last weekend. Cora's heartbeat was good (still lower than Eli ever was) and my weight is good. I did my glucose test (for gestational diabetes) and antibody screen yesterday too. Both came back negative, but my iron levels were a little low...slightly anemic. I go in tomorrow to get my RhoGam shot and will add an iron supplement to my daily vitamins. We've had two gorgeous sunny days with highs around 50. It feels GLORIOUS! Last night we took Rica and Eli on a walk through the neighborhood and did some yard and garden clean up. Today Eli and I have been playing outside all morning and took another long walk with Rica. This evening will include a picnic at the park for supper! So pumped! I'm not letting the next three days of forecasted snow bring me down :-)

Eli keeps pointing to himself and saying, "BOY!" I asked him, "Is Cora a boy or a girl?" He responded, "MAN!" So that's why I'm so big!

Birthday fun!

I had no idea where to start with this crazy and wonderful weekend, so I posted a whole bunch of photos to get me started! Saturday was the first day Eli was actually acting normal again, thank God. He just had the worst week last week, so it was perfect to start again with a fun birthday party! Brandon's mom, and sister and husband came up from Texas with our nephew Gavin. Eli was so happy to see him. They immediately started playing. They are buds! He was also thrilled to see "Donna" as he calls Brandon's mom since he can't say "Grams". His party was great fun. We had my family and the Racchinis and Horsts over as well, so the kids played a lot. Eli loved his cake and made us sing him Happy Birthday twice. He also loved the cookies and strawberries with dip. He did really well on opening presents and tore all the paper off himself. We ordered a bunch of pizzas for dinner and enjoyed watching the kids play and laughing at the toddler drama ;-) Eli did great through all the chaos! Unfortunately, we partied too hard and Gavin came down with a bad case of croup Saturday night that required a trip to the ER and a night and day spent in the hospital. I felt so bad for him and Brittnie and Shane. They did not get any sleep after driving all that way. Finally, on Sunday at one he was released and seemed back to his normal self. I don't think they envisioned a stay in the hospital when they headed up to Kansas! At least Gavin had a lot of fun with Eli on Saturday.

On Sunday, Eli handed out his Sesame Street Valentines he had so carefully chosen for each specific family member. So cute! I enjoyed the cards and presents for my 24th birthday and Valentine's Day. That afternoon, my friends threw a baby shower for Cora at our house. I had my wonderful relatives and close friends there to celebrate this little life inside of me! I was showered with girl clothes, shoes, etc. Oh, I about died these clothes are so cute! I'm so excited to wash them and get them all ready to go (AFTER I have another sonogram in a few weeks and double check it's a girl). Cora is going to be the best dressed baby in Wichita this summer!

Birthday/Shower weekend!

Birthday Cake

I finished Eli's electric guitar birthday cake this evening! Woo...fun but tiring! Let the good times begin!

Strep throat!

I am SO glad that I took Eli to the doctor on Monday. Brandon and I were pretty worried about him. I've never seen him so miserable. Since Saturday night he'd had fever and chills and looked terrible. The only thing that kept me not totally freaking out is that he was drinking a lot and eating better than expected. If we didn't keep him on Tylenol he literally would be crying/whining nonstop. Needless to say, we haven't slept very well since Saturday night (so far neither of us has gotten sick...oh please God!). The doctor was pretty positive that he had strep throat and we started him on antibiotics on Monday. He's officially not contagious anymore and is sleeping better and feeling better. Big sigh of relief! You know Eli's miserable when he didn't touch a ball or want to play Hide and Seek for two straight days! WOW! Pretty much all he felt like doing was reading books and other relaxing things. My mom came up yesterday for the broadway show The Wedding Singer and brought him a special cupcake. He was thrilled to see his Nana and get a cupcake! I so needed a night out and enjoyed every second of it. Eli was feeling well enough that he had a great time with Dad!

Stuffed Animals

I'm posting a cute video of Eli after waking up from his nap (don't mind the half dressed half pajama clad kid). He is super affectionate and super sweet to people, our dog, and his stuffed animals. It's wonderful! I pray he's the same with Cora! He named all his stuffed animals and the two he mentions are named Dada and Amy (the hilarious cat stocking he fell in love with at the store and LOVES).

I'm not going to whine about the fact that Eli's had a fever since last night and we're stuck at home miserable on Super Bowl Sunday (okay, so that might count as a whine...get over it :-)). What am I going to do with all the vegetables I bought to make vegetable trays for the two parties we were going to?? Luckily Eli loves veggies! I made him some special oatmeal cookies to cheer him up and when I offered him one he didn't want it....he wanted a mango. I just wanted to die laughing. He is the healthiest eater I've ever seen. Only my kid turns down cookies for a mango! I'm going to make one of his favorite foods for supper as well...broccoli cheese soup. We'll be nice and warm and cozy when this Winter storm hits tonight (4-9 inches expected).

What's the Buzz???

We had a wonderful date night last night! For my birthday my mom got us tickets to see the touring Broadway show Jesus Christ Superstar. It was a treat to get out and we all loved the show (mom came too). Jesus was played by the original actor from the movie, which came out in the 70's, so we were curious to see if he was still able to even sing :-) ha ha. It actually was great! My dad and brother babysat. They were so proud of themselves because Eli had a great time and went to bed easily. It's always wonderful having family babysit. Eli has been in grandparent heaven. He asked about both of them the second he woke up this morning and forced them to play with him every second they've been here :-) Eli loves wearing "Bum's" watch! We met Brandon for lunch and they left to go home. Eli gave out kisses, hugs, and plenty of "I love ya's" as they left.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Eli enjoyed listening to Cora's heartbeat (which was 137). I'm measuring exactly 26 weeks, which is great. I found out I'll have my glucose test done in two weeks and they'll also do an antibody screen at the same time to check on those. So far so good! I'm entering my 3rd trimester next week and am still working on getting everything ready. Brandon is doing our taxes this weekend, so I'm hoping for a nice chunk of money back to cover our roof fixing expenses and my c-section! Brandon's boss gave me another bag of baby clothes. It felt like Christmas morning again! These were all 0-3 month clothes. All I need are some newborn clothes and a few other things to be ready!