Monday, December 31, 2007

Playing in the snow


Last week we had a few inches of snow on Christmas, and then got a few more inches on Thursday, so Elijah and Daddy got all bundled up went out to play in it. It was the first time Elijah could actually get down and play in the snow, and we had fun watching him figure it out! He was a little stiff in his giant snowsuit, so "playing" mostly involved walking around and falling down. But E had fun until Mama decided his face was too cold!


Friday, December 28, 2007

Update

Here are a few recent pictures that I've been meaning to post:

Wearing the cool sweater that Bobbi made.
Talking to Bobbi on the phone and telling her about his dump truck.
Elijah loves to play the piano at Nana's house.


Sleeping
and more sleeping

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Elijah opens his gifts

Here is a rather long video of Elijah opening a few of his presents - mostly for Bobbi & Papa and aunts and uncles who sent presents but didn't get to see him open them. Thank you to all of you! Elijah had a great time unwrapping his gifts, and is enjoying all of them. This year both the wrapping paper and the presents inside were fun! Here's how it went ...

Merry Christmas!


We hope you all had a joyful and blessed Christmas. We had a lovely day of food and fun with family, and we all enjoyed watching Elijah, who was a little more involved and aware of what was going on this year. We woke up to an entirely unexpected snow storm and a beautiful white Christmas! Here are a few pictures of our day.



It snowed all day!





Elijah opening a gift with Patrick's cousin Becky

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

More cousins

Check out some fun cousin pictures over on Piper's blog. Thanks, John!

Friday, December 14, 2007

On naps, poop, colds and other fun stuff ...

Elijah and his Nana

I've been trying to blog lately, and mostly starting but not finishing. So here is one huge post about a bunch of random things, combining all of my unfinished musings. =)

Baby, it's cold outside...
It's been pretty chilly here this week, so we have to get all bundled up anytime we go out. We got a few inches of snow here earlier this week, and some more today. And now it's freezing out. But we still have things to do - groceries, doctor appointments, the usual. Elijah has been pretty good about it, but the mittens are a trial. Here are a couple of pictures of his lovely hat hair this evening!


Napping ...
Elijah is a napper. He just sleeps a lot - most kids his age have made the move to one nap a day, but E loves his morning nap and so we stick with two. He's still sleeping 12 hours at night, about 2 hours in the morning and 1 or 1 1/2 in the afternoon. (Yes, I am very thankful!) He usually wakes up happy and ready to run in the morning, but in the afternoon he sometimes needs a little time. The other day he woke up in a funk (yes, a Post-Nap Funk, or PNF for those of you who didn't spend too much time with me in college). Crazy bed head, sleepy eyes, and fussy. (And I was not feeling well at all.) He was grumpy but wanted to be held, so we sat on the couch and watched a couple of minutes of Oprah. (No, we do not generally watch TV. E watches about 10 minutes a week of his very cool Classical Baby DVDs so that I can safely trim his fingernails, toenails and/or hair as necessary. I definitely don't let him watch Oprah normally - give me a break though, I'm sick!) Elijah sat very still on my lap (what!?) and clapped when they applauded on the show and when it was over, he waved and said "bye-bye." He is such a cutie, even (or especially!) with PNF.

Poop, diapers and feeling pukey...
I do not recommend using cloth diapers when you don't feel well. Elijah has been pooping 3-4 times a day (especially smelly and gross, too) since I've been feeling sick. A huge, smelly, poopy diaper is not a good way to kick off a day when you're trying to prevent being sick. It's a great way to trigger a day of feeling miserable. Who can blame me if I want to use disposables sometimes?

The common cold ...
We had a couple of rough nights this week. It reminded me of Elijah's ear infection earlier this year, so I took him to the doctor. No ear infection, thankfully, but he does have a cold - runny nose and all. So, we are to watch him for signs of things getting worse, and push fluids. Elijah loves water, and since he is sick, I've been giving him some juice as well. The kid just drinks and drinks and drinks, and I change a lot of diapers and sometimes wet clothes. Ah, joy! While we were at the doctor, they weighed EJ again. He now weighs 24 lbs 12 oz - another big gain! The doctor said it was great. We'll find out in January at his 18 month appointment how tall he is, and what his percentages are. Hooray, Elijah!

One big day...
Thursday we had a big day. We got up in the morning and rushed around to get to Elijah's appointment with the doctor, and then rushed home in time for his morning nap. When he got up, we ate lunch and ran to the grocery store. Unfortunately, my being sick has not been good for everyone else around here. I haven't felt much like cooking, and food generally grosses me out. Therefore, we were completely out of everything edible. But for the last few days, I've been feeling a little better, so I ambitiously made a list and Elijah and I went on a marathon grocery run. We got home, and while Elijah took his afternoon nap, I carried lots of groceries up three flights of stairs and did some chopping and measuring. Then when Patrick got home, I made an actual, no mixes or boxes involved, dinner. I was pretty tired! I went to bed at 8 pm. It was a big day!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Cousins

Check out a great video of Piper and Elijah taking a tubby on Piper's blog! The kids had a lot of fun together over the weekend. Elijah gave Piper a hug a few times - very cute, but they do end up falling over usually. Piper loved Elijah too, although he still isn't sure that he wants her to touch him. They tried to figure out how to play together, and did pretty well some of the time. Piper really enjoyed watching Elijah - he moves around so much! I'm sorry we don't have pictures of them to post.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

There and back again

We really enjoyed our weekend out west. The drive took longer than normal (due more to the ski traffic, though the roads were not great) but we got there safely. The kids had fun playing together and we enjoyed a relaxing weekend spending time with John & Linde. And we got home again just in time - we're getting more snow today!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Winter storm watch

We are getting ready to drive over to the western slope of Colorado tomorrow. Patrick is assisting the Admissions Department at DU by helping them interview high school seniors as part of their application process, so we all get to go visit John and Linde and Piper. It is usually a beautiful drive, and we always have fun visiting there. We've been getting a little nervous, though, as we've been watching the weather for the past few days ... There's always a chance for rough weather when you're driving across the mountains in December. We haven't had too much snow yet this year, but apparently we're about to get some. Today they posted a storm warning for the mountains for the weekend, starting tonight.
Don't get me wrong - I love snow. Just yesterday we were happily singing, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." (Elijah and I have been listening to the easy-listening radio station in town that plays all Christmas music all the time in December. The kid loves it!) But I have to echo the sentiment of the song - snow is wonderful as long as you can stay home and eat popcorn by the fire. Snow is not good when you're driving all day.
This could turn into a tough trip.
Update: Patrick got us a 4WD vehicle for the weekend, making John & Patrick (and my dad) a little less worried about our drive. Nice job, babe! =)
Uncle John & Elijah (last December) wearing their Carhartts. Nice pants!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Preggie blues

Not that I want to use this blog to complain, but since many of you all have asked ...
I am still not feeling well. I'm feeling sick most of the time, hungry most of the time (not a good combination!), congested and not sleeping very well. Thankfully, I'm not throwing up too often, as long as I keep eating every half hour or so. Some days are better than others. Basically, I'm looking forward to the second trimester and hopefully feeling better at some point, as well as sleeping better, looking pregnant instead of just chubby, and being able to keep up with Elijah a little better. At least this can't last forever! Thanks for asking and praying.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

108th Army Navy game

Go Navy! Beat Army!
The game started at 10 am MST. We're watching for Cameron - let me know if you see him. My brother John and his wife Linde are in Baltimore at the game - how fun!

Here's an article from Military Times about the game where they interviewed Cameron (they call him Richard) and other prior enlisted players.

Update: Navy won and Cameron did dress for the game - and even got to play for a while. Hooray!
Navy 38 - Army 3

Update #2: Check out some more Thanksgiving pictures and video.