Uncle Brad Photographs Elijah

My brother, Brad has been visiting us for the past couple of weeks which has been great! He brought with him an AWESOME camera (ahhh, camera envy) that our Aunt Shula gifted him with when he went with her to Hawaii recently. It takes incredible pictures and Brad and I had some fun with Elijah in the park. I am hoping that we get to take some more and that maybe I can convince Brad to take a family portrait of Chip, Elijah and me.  Here are some of my favorites!

Brad caught this one earlier in the day when Elijah was napping

I LOVE that sweet smile!

He sat by himself for a total of three seconds. Brad was able to snap a picture just before he fell over. :)

Love this little baby boy!

Mommy readjusting a bit

He opens his arms a lot. He is very trusting and laid back. 

He also folds his hands which I adore. 

"Dear God, thank you for this beautiful day. Love, Elijah"

Beautiful Boy

His hair is still looking red like his Grandma Parish and Uncle Brad. I wonder if it will stay that way. 

Silly baby

I just love this sweet face!

"Mommy you're funny"

Adventures in Babywearing: The Ergo Sport

The Ergo Sport was my first baby carrier. I found a great deal on Craigslist very early in my pregnancy.  I knew I wanted to practice attachment parenting and that I would be wearing my sweet baby as much as possible. At the time, I must admit that I hadn't done a lot of research and did not know that you could not do a facing front carry with the Ergo. What I DID know what that Ergo sport had great reviews, and was lightweight...great for the Houston heat.  In retrospect, I am glad that I did not know you could not do a face forward carry with it because I might have skipped the purchase and I so LOVE this carrier.  It is one I use daily. Elijah and I take a walk every morning and it is perfect.  It keeps us cool in the Houston summer heat. It is also a very soft material and it is a carrier my husband enjoys using.  I have found that I have my preferences of carrier for different activities and as a result, my collection is now 8 carriers and I am on my way to purchasing a ninth. LOVE LOVE LOVE my ergo!

Elijah and Mommy, all ready for our daily morning walk in our Ergo Sport!

Super easy to put on and very secure with the straps in the back

I put Elijah in the Ergo when he was a week old with the infant insert. I must say that I found the insert to be a bit too hot for Houston in the Spring, although he seemed quite cozy and comfortable. We only used the insert a few times. I found other carriers much more user friendly for newborns. Elijah was able to fit into the Ergo sans the insert at about a month old. 

Snuggles with my little buddy

The Ergo is Daddy Friendly too!

Three Months Old!

Well here we are, three months old! A year ago, we were getting ready for our frozen embryo transfer in mid August, fingers crossed and hands in prayer! And now we are parents of this amazing little baby boy.  I have to say it is everything I ever hoped for and more.  Elijah is such a delight to be around.  He has a sweet disposition and brings so much joy to our home.  I am also LOVING being a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM).   We attend La Leche League and North Houston Babywearers monthly. I am thinking of also attending Houston Wrappers which is a group that focuses just on wrap carriers. I am planning the purchase of my first woven wrap carrier and am very excited about being a part of this part of the Babywearing community. We also attend some local Moms groups in our community and plan to start attending MOPS in the fall.  Elijah loves our time with the other moms and especially their children. He is happy just watching them play and run and I can see his desire forming to be a part of it.

We had our three month doctor visit yesterday and Elijah is continuing to grow at perfect pace. He is now 14 pounds 11 ounces and 25.1 inches. Thank goodness the growth spurt slowed a bit so I can enjoy my little baby a bit longer. :) So far he has reached all the milestones on time or ahead of schedule:
*Sleeps through the night
*Lifts head at 90 degrees when on tummy
*Rolls over from front to back
*Rolls over from back to front
(He does not do the rolling over very often but he can do it)
*Swipes at dangling objects
*"Talks" Lots of very serious sounding and fun sounding conversations and he will go on for several minutes using both vowel and consonant sounds
*Stands when holding my hands and supports entire weight on his legs
*Makes facial expressions so happiness and other emotions. (He has one heck of a bottom lip that sticks out when he is upset about something. That lip will be the death of me!)
*Definitely knows who Chip and I are
*Has great hand eye  cordination. He began picking up objects about three weeks ago and after only a couple days was able to get them in his mouth
*Grasps hands together. This is one of my favorites. He looks like such a sweet good boy with his hands folded. He also does this while nursing which is ADORABLE!
*Follows objects, people, animals with his eyes
*laughs and squeals with delight (another favorite of ours!)
*Staring to nap regularly, at least one long one a day and several shorties
*Has great head control and I am even able to wear him on my back now, but I still prefer the front holds so we can snuggle
*Can sit up when leaned on something
*blows spit bubbles...gross but also cute. He is not a big drooler yet thank goodness.

So as you can see we have been very busy. He also had some favorite toys. My mother gave him this rattle thing that has these rubber tubes shooting out of it in different colors. He reaches for that first and can spend fifteen minutes or more chewing on and playing with that.  He also loves these bride and groom rubber ducks that we have on the edge of our tub and spends the first five minutes of his bath time admiring them. We took our monthly photos yesterday (a day early) and I cannot believe how much he has grown! See for yourself!

I love this smiling boy! This was my favorite 3 month photo!

Just chilling with Mr. Bear

"Mommy, we are having breakfast after this, right?"

Typical Elijah face

Sweetest little feet I ever did see!

Such a happy baby! Big smiles for Mama!

Lots of smiles and then........

........he sees the camera and we are all serious. This is why it is so hard to get smiling pictures. He gets very serious as soon as he noticed he is being photographed for filmed!

Our laid back baby!

"Ok I think I am done for the day"

"See you next time!"

Elijah Meets Nancy

I had really wanted to take Elijah to see my old boss, and good friend, Nancy! She was a great cheerleader for us through our fertility struggles and I was so excited to introduce her to our son. Finally the stars aligned and we were both available at the same time so we went up to see her at work, Hotel Sorella. Elijah ADORED her and immediately started to chat up a storm. He is "talking" a lot lately. Such good jibber jabber and even though they are not actual words, he tells quite a story (as you can see in the video below). It was a fun morning and we even got to see Godmommy Heather!  It is so much fun taking Elijah to meet new people and watch him open up and give that welcoming smile. He is definitely a people person, just like his parents!

I love that toothless grin!

Nancy is so good with him!

They were just cracking eachother up!

Telling stories

Always snuggles for Auntie Heather

Elijah and his Daddy

 It is so much fun to watch Elijah as he develops, learns and becomes more interactive with us.  Elijah and I were recently gone for a couple of days and when we came home, he had the biggest smiles for his Daddy! You could just tell that he was so happy to see him.  I don't know if he has developed the concept of actually missing people but he was THRILLED to be with his Dad.  Even in the evenings which has become a bit of a fussy time (new to us!), he has smiles for Daddy when he comes home.  Our boy is VERY happy in general and gives smiles to everyone he meets, but there is just something about the joy in his face in these moments that is so special. He also has the sweetest giggle.....his mouth opens really wide and very little sound comes out but he is so over joyed that he almost has to look away. It is as if  we are just too funny for him keep looking. He is such a sweet boy and every day with him is awesome.  I love watching his personality develop.  Even at just under three months I can see so much happiness in him.  I just hope that, as his parents, we are able to love and nurture him in the way that he needs so that spark never goes away. He is such an incredible little boy. Love you, Elijah!

He was just so happy to see Daddy! Big boy in Daddy's Chicago Blackhawks hat!

We ordered a special father's day card that FINALLY arrived! I had to email the company and let them know that we never received it!

Elijah makes some of the funniest faces. He has a very expressive face, just like his Mama!

Father's Day Card

Toes to the Nose! Elijah's favorite game. This always cracks him up!

We love you, Daddy!

Raising A Philanthropist: Donating our milk

I have always been somewhat of a bleeding heart for certain causes; animals, children.  And I would like to be more active in my pursuit community outreach.  I would also like Elijah to have compassion for others and  the desire to help make a difference in his community and in the world.  One thing that I vowed to myself (and our son) when the discussion of me staying home was on the table was that if this happened, I would become more active in the community and participate in charitable projects with Elijah. As he gets older, we will focus on his likes and passions when we choose how to spend our charitable time.

Since we initially thought I was going back to work after two months, I began to pump my milk and build up a frozen supply as is necessary when a breastfeeding Mommy returns to work. Once we realized I was going to be a stay at home mom, I realized this was a golden opportunity for our first act of giving as a family.  I knew there were lots of sick and premature babies out there that were in desperate need of the antibodies and nutrition that only breast milk can provide and lots of times their mothers are unable to provide it.  Because I had pumped early in my motherhood, not only did I have a frozen supply, but there was also a healthy supply continuing to be produced. I did some research and came across Mother's Milk Bank in Austin. They had some drop off centers right here in Houston. One was at Woman's Hospital of Texas where we delivered! The screening was thorough and I was able to pass with flying colors quickly. We made our first donation of 150 ounces about a month ago! We will continue our donations until Elijah is six months old when I will save the frozen milk for his consumption after he weans. 

This is a great first step in teaching Elijah to be a giving, charitable man.  It is really his milk we are donating. And even though he has no idea what is going on right now, it is something we can talk about when he is older and he can feel good know that his charitable deed, when he was just months old, may have saved lives and at the very least, made them better. 

As a disclaimer, I would like to say that Elijah comes first. I would never do anything that would deprive him or cause him harm.  He is healthy boy who eats a TON and is, in no way, deprived by these donations. I feels so blessed that we are able to help babies that are not as fortunate as ours is and I cannot wait to share this first act of charity with Elijah when he is older!

For more information on milk donation, please go to http://www.milkbank.org/

Nan Sings To Elijah

Recently, Elijah and I drove to San Antonio to visit Nan.  She just LOVES this baby! She told me a few days before that she missed him so much and was feeling blue, so we decided to cheer her up with a visit...and it worked like a charm! She showered him with affection and love and sang to him many of the songs she used to sing to me and my own mother. I was thrilled to catch it on video. We went again to see her a couple days later and got some more photos as well. Nothing is sweeter than seeing my Grandmother light up when she holds Elijah.

Nan is so happy to see her guy!

Always big smiles!

"Mommy, I'll just stay here with my Nan"

"Hmmm, what can I get into over there"

Nan telling Elijah stories

Fun lunch with Nan at Cheesecake Factory!

Elijah kisses taste so sweet!