Church!

We finally got to take Eli to church today! We dressed him up in a "big boy" outfit. Everyone thought he was so cute and kept commenting on how his hair reminded them of Brandon's :-) Both my boys are balding :-) At least Eli's is growing back in!!!! A song we always considered one of Eli's songs, and we sang it to him all through my pregnancy and now is Sometimes by Step by Rich Mullins. The crazy thing was when we walked into church that was the first song our friend Josh was leading for worship (we've never even done that song at our church). God was welcoming Eli! Yesterday Brandon heard our bird Shiloh say "That's Eli's!" That's what I always say to our dog Rica when she starts to go towards one of his toys. He picks up the funniest sayings. Every morning now we do our best to get Elijah laughing. Usually blowing raspberries on his stomach does the trick. We love it. Brandon was proud that with our fajitas last night he was able to eat cayenne peppers from our garden. I'm ready for the spinach and lettuce to be ready so we can eat some fresh salads. That will help with continued weight loss! I can't eat less obviously because I'm nursing, but we can eat healthier and exercise. Brandon's already lost 5 lbs just from us walking every day, and I only have a couple more to go. We have a fun filled May planned. We have something going on every weekend...so I'm looking forward to a lot of good times with family and friends!

I should mention...our band is playing at Common Grounds Coffee House in Hutchinson, KS on July 11 at 8:00 p.m. doing all of our songs in an acoustic set. I know it's far off...but mark your calendars! We'd love for you all to come and hang out!

Mall!

Yesterday we took Eli to the mall for the first time to walk around. He absolutely LOVED it! Usually in his stroller he falls asleep immediately, but there was so much to look at he was constantly intrigued and fascinated. For a couple hours he checked everything out. People commented on his pretty eyes and one lady said she wished her kids were calm like him. I was nursing him in a dressing room at Dillards, and all of a sudden he had a giant fart/poop explosion. Unfortunately, there was a couple in the dressing room next to us....I sure hope they didn't think it was me! When Brandon saw shirts, jewelry, etc. with neat patterns or colors he'd show Eli and he would just examine everything carefully. I gave Eli a "What Not To Wear" lesson when he started staring at these aweful mens shirts. Now we know where to take him if the weather is nasty and we need an outing or a walk!

The day from.....well you know where!

Eli didn't feel good yesterday after the vaccinations. He was fine for a couple of hours, and then started fussing and crying. He never had a fever (I did check like 20 times), but I could tell that his legs hurt and who knows what else. No matter how I held him he acted like it hurt, so I basically sat by the bouncy seat all afternoon between feedings and changings holding in a pacifier :-) He sure was tired and cranky. At around 5 he was back to his normal self, which just so happened to be when Brandon comes home (he always lucks out). I don't know who cried more...Eli or me :-) Poor Brandon had to deal with a very drained exhausted me (but later I found gold earrings under my pillow that he hadn't given me yet....maybe I should have bad days more often)! Brandon got us both out of the house for a good walk along the river last night and it was refreshing. Today Elijah acts like nothing happened, and we've been having a lot of fun to make up for yesterday. I think we held a 30 minute cooing/smiling conversation. He's getting good at it. We think Eli is sort of laughing now. It's not very often, but once in a while he does this little laugh thing. I can't wait until it becomes an every day thing! He loves songs and anticipates the actions; it's so funny. He reacts to Peek-a-boo and Pat-a-cake now too. Today is very windy and chilly, so we're going to take our walk in the mall.

2 month appointment!

This morning was Eli's 2 month appointment. He smiled and cooed at the doctor and loved the chime hanging above the table. Everyone always comments on his big beautiful eyes! He's gained 2 lbs and grown 2 inches. He weighs 11 lbs 1 oz and is 22 inches long. He didn't like the next part so much. He had to get 4 shots and screamed!!! We've never heard him cry like that, so we were both traumatized. I didn't cry, but I did tear up! I'm probably going to take his temperature like 50 million times today to make sure he's okay. We'll see how it goes. We finally can get him out and about more! We are excited for church this weekend. It's been 2 months for me! Next mission: second attempt to rid him of cradle cap!

Thanks Granny!

We had a great date last night at Red Lobster and a few other stops. Eli was great for my mom! She took him on a few walks; one in the stroller and one in the baby bjorn front carrier. I guess they joined in on a pow wow in the park and danced the friendship dance. Eli has like 3 different Native American tribes flowing through his blood, so it came naturally :-) The only aspect that has been really hard for me since I had Eli is my upper back pain. For Mother's Day Brandon got me one of those massagers that goes on your chair. It really works great! Hopefully it will save Brandon having to give me a back rub every day after work! We are loving it now that Eli has finally settled into a pretty predictable pattern. The only thing is, now we don't want to mess it up! Last night he slept for a 5 hour stretch and then a 3 hours stretch! Yippeee!

Tonight Brandon and I are going to Red Lobster (thanks to a gift certificate from Brandon's sister) while my mom babysits. We're excited! I'm nervous for Eli's 2 month appointment on Thursday morning. He turned 2 months the day before yesterday. I can't believe he's on his 9th week! I can't wait to see how much he's grown and am nervous for the vaccinations. I'm seriously going to pray over them. What else can I do?

Brag Alert

These are all the things that Eli can do as of now:

1. Lifts and turns head when on stomach

2. Can see far and loves to look around inside/outside, toys, and at peoples faces

3. Socially smiles and smiles at toys

4. Holds head steady when upright

5. Coos and makes vowel consonant sounds and many vowel sounds

6. Holds and shakes rattles

7. Reaches for objects and hits objects under play mat

8. Follows objects 180 degrees

9. Looks and sucks on hands

10. Finds Brandon and I's voices in a crowd

11. Recognizes both Brandon and I

12. Puts weight on legs when upright

13. Gets excited for ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider and a few other songs

14. Likes to read books and look at the pictures

15. Squeals in delight