Selective Memory

Things have been a little wild around the Baby Days household lately.

I'll take a breather from my usual selective memory blogging to tell you: It seems the little one has a case of reflux.  If you've ever had a baby with reflux, you know it's not conducive to blogging or photography.  (Or sleeping or speaking in complete sentences or leaving the house). 

Poor Eli just does not feel good.  And he's taking us all down with him.

But the good news is we've started Eli on some medicine and we think...we hope it's working.  I'm taking the time to blog and writing mostly in complete sentences.  That's a good sign. 

So let's get back to the selective memory blogging, shall we?

Here's Eli during a few precious moments of contentment. 

Little fingers and toes...that's what this mama will remember. :-)

Happy Easter!

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen!"   Luke 24: 1-6

Happy Easter from all of us!

Baby Pictures and Spring Stuff

Eli is already 5 weeks old. 

He smiled for the first time a few days ago, which is just about the best thing in the whole wide world.  I always feel like I've earned those first smiles.  Like the tiny little one is finally acknowledging the pain of birth, the up-all-nights, and the endless nursing, changing and bathing. 

Or maybe he just has gas. 

No matter.  Either way, it's cute.  And I have earned it.

Spring has totally sprung around here and I am thrilled!!  Even in my sleep deprived state, I had to stumble out into the yard to take a few pictures. Our resident gardener planted flowers with a little help from grandma.

Our little spring flowers are in full bloom.

Can't you just smell them??  Happy spring!

Settling In

Eli is 3 weeks old now.  :-)

He's starting to uncurl and wake up for us.  It's exciting to see him begin to become his own little person.

It's not quite as exciting to watch him become his own little person in the middle of the night.  We're really, really tired.  But this time we know, just like his littleness, this part is only temporary. 

Brooke can't get enough of the little guy. 

Here's the scene I walked in on the other day.  (Yes, little boy is rockin' the pink bouncer.)

And Nathan?

He's doing...better.  Man, it's hard to lose your status as baby of the family.

Meet Eli.

Eli Jacob

February 21, 2012

7 pounds 15 ounces

20.5 inches long

Proud big sister and big brother.  Pictures courtesy of Scot, my backup photographer. 

Poor Nate didn't know what to think of everything.  He went quietly from grandparent to grandparent, asking to be held. Promises of a hot dog perked him up, though.   

Brooke was just the opposite.  She was totally in love with Eli and couldn't get enough.  She brought a book to "read" to him and sang him Happy Birthday.   

The grandparents were pretty proud, too.

I might get in trouble for posting the next pic, but I love it.  The expressions on the grandparents' faces are great.  :-)

You know as soon as I was up and around I took some pictures of that new baby.    

  We are so in love.  And so, so thankful for baby Eli.

Macro Fun

Hmmm...what to do while passing the days waiting for baby? 

Most women clean and nest and all that good stuff but I AM SERIOUSLY TIRED.  So how about a little experimenting with macro photography instead?  I am in love with macro.  You know what I'm talking about, right?  Pictures of teeny tiny bugs or the itsy bitsy bits inside flowers?  Basically, a picture that magnifies the subject.  That's macro.  

There's a macro lens I would love to have.  But it's very expensive.  When I mentioned it to Scot he just laughed and mumbled something about diapers and college.  He can be so unreasonable sometimes. :-)  So instead I plunked down ten bucks on some extension tubes--tubes you can use with your existing lenses that allow close-up focusing. 

Here's my first attempt.

Strawberry.

Maybe some little baby finger and eyelash pictures in my future?  :-)

Stream of Consciousness

I don't really have a topic in mind here, I just wanted to check in and post a few pictures before they get lost in the abyss that is my computer. 

Still here.  Still pregnant and planning to remain so until the 21st.  That means in just SEVEN DAYS I'll be having my little guy!  We're excited, nervous and anxious, but mostly excited.  I want to hold him. Because I love him.  And because if I'm holding him that means I don't have to be pregnant anymore.  (But mostly because I love him, for the record.)

I'll spare you the belly pic.  No, I'll spare ME the belly pic.  I'm big.  Sometimes I'll catch the kids just staring at my belly with a concerned look, like they just realized their mom has ballooned up to twice the normal size.  Big.

On to something else.  You know how your kids disappear to play and later you find them sweetly reading together in their room?  I didn't either until a few days ago. 

I got about five pictures before the moment was done.

Yes, we're trying to transition Brooke and Nate into the same room.  The first couple of nights were rough because Nate didn't like being in a new room.  The nights after that were rough because Nate decided it was the coolest thing ever to be in a new room.  Brooke and Nate stayed up talking and laughing and we found plastic food from Brooke's little kitchen in their beds after they'd fallen asleep.  A few night of this and they were both exhausted. 

So, Nathan is back in his old room and we've decided to live in denial that this baby is going to need Nathan's crib soon.  We have a little setup in our room, though.  Complete with impossibly tiny little diapers.

And now we're just waiting... :-)