Saturday, August 30, 2008

Discovering My Inner Chef... And Salesperson!

Last night I took the plunge and did something I have thought about doing for years. I began my career as a Pampered Chef consultant!! I've been loving being able to be a stay-at-home mom, but I also wanted to be able to contribute to the family finances. So in an effort to be able to do both things, I decided the time was right to give this my best shot. I am SO EXCITED about getting started with this! I love to cook, I've always loved Pampered Chef products, and I really want to be able to get out of the house and meet people. So I think this is just the perfect thing for me right now. I'm a little nervous about trying to get started here where I don't know many people, but hopefully the few that I know will be willing to host parties and then we'll be off and running! I just ordered my kit last night, so next week I'll have a Kickoff Celebration cooking show at my house, and then hopefully some of the people that attend that will schedule shows of their own, and voila! We're in business!

Unfortunately, all of my blog readers live too far away for me to be able to come do cooking shows for any of you. (Unless you want to buy me a plane ticket! Ha!) But if any of you would like to help me get started, I will have a website soon where you can order products yourself! It is also possible to do catalog shows long-distance; I would just mail you some catalogs, which you would pass out to your friends and take orders, which I would then submit. So let me know if you're interested in that!

I am thrilled about this new venture, and I am just brimming with ideas on how to make my parties fun and profitable not only for me, but also for my hosts. CAN'T WAIT to get started!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Our First Visitor!

Last weekend we had our first visitor come to see us! (Besides my parents who helped us move in...) We have a friend, Tanya, who we met in Moldova. She was a missionary there, and has since moved to the St. Louis area to work in the stateside operations of her organization. So on Saturday she made the long drive to come visit us and spend the day! We had a LOT of fun catching up, cooking and eating together, and remembering the good times we had in Moldova! Plus, Tanya was excited to finally meet Elias now that he's OUTSIDE my tummy. :) We're so glad you came to visit, Tanya! Come again soon!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

How Am I Not Completely Bald?!?!

Just posting a quick note... I didn't realize it had been so long since I've posted anything! I'd better get cracking on some more pictures for your viewing enjoyment! In the meantime, though, this post is about me, not the baby.

I had heard that women whose hair is thicker and healthier while pregnant can expect that it will change after giving birth, and that it will seem to dry up and all fall out at once. So I was prepared and expecting that to happen to me. It happened later than I expected - it didn't start until I was 10 weeks postpartum. Then it was just like my hair all decided to just start falling out! Seriously HANDFULS of it in the shower when I'm washing it! Sorry that's gross, but it's what happened! What I was not prepared for, though, is how long it's lasting! It has been 4 weeks now, and it shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Still just handfuls of it! And every time I brush it or even just run my hands through it, I get several strands! Poor Elias ALWAYS has some of my hair on him - I'm always pulling it out of his hands or picking it off his clothes. I'm afraid he's going to end up with it in his mouth and choke on it! I just can't believe that I have that much hair to lose... I mean, how am I not just completely bald? From what I can tell by looking in the mirror, it doesn't really even look thinner. So where is it coming from, and when will it stop?!?! Nasty!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Rollin'

Elias rolled from his tummy to his back today! That means he's rolling over both ways! I'm so proud of my big boy... :)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Photographic Evidence

My darling baby boy is THREE MONTHS old today! I seriously cannot believe it how much he has grown and developed in three short months! Since I did this post about the new developments E has made, I've been collecting photos to prove it!

Laughing
I still haven't managed to catch any video of him laughing, but I took several pictures of him in the car the other day (Justin was driving!), and a couple look like bonafide smiles! I made them into a little mini-collage of the many faces of Elias.
Grabbing
I have two different photos of this. The first one is Elias on his Activity Mat, which he still loves. There is a little plastic ring on it that rattles when you shake it. Well, instead of just shaking it, Elias likes to use brute strength to actually rip it off the overhead bar, and then he swings it at the duck! Absolutely hilarious. Poor duck. So here's little E slamming the duck with the ring.
And we did manage to get a pic of Elias trying to hold his own bottle. This is the first time he's ever gotten the left hand involved too, although it was more on top than on the correct side. He's done it several more times since then, and I even managed to let him hold it on his own for a few minutes once!

Rolling
Pretty much every time I go into his room at the end of a nap, this is how I find him even though I put him down on his back:He manages to get that arm out from under him every time now, so I consider him to be officially rolling over! He's actually enjoying tummy time a little more now that he can be the one who puts himself on his tummy... He's even sleeping better! I don't know if he just sleeps better on his tummy or if the antibiotics are helping his infection and that's what's making him rest better. Or maybe a combination of both. But either way, it's nice and peaceful around here these days!

Please also notice that now that he's sleeping on his stomach most of the time, he wakes up with this HUGE puddle of drool underneath him. You can see it pretty well in the picture below: Um, yuck! But I can't really stop him from rolling over, and I don't really want to. So, we'll just have to change his sheets more often! :)

I'm so proud of my big, strong, smart 3-month-old!!!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Prayers, Please!

We got a call from the doctor's office today with the results of Elias' urine analysis, and they think he DOES have a urinary tract infection! So we got a prescription antibiotic that we'll start this evening. I am thankful to have caught it this early before it gets bad or causes any damage, but I am pretty nervous about giving my 3-month-old antibiotics! Please, please pray for us that he won't have any reactions to the medicine, that God will heal him quickly, and that the infection won't come back!!

Nursery is DONE!!!

Yippeeeeee! The nursery is done! (Well, almost. I still have to sew on the extra ties for his crib bumper so the bottom ties to the crib as well as the top... I'm not going to make that tiny task keep me from saying the nursery is done!) You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Here is the view from the door of his room:On the left, there is the crib with the comforter hanging on the wall above it.You've already seen the inside of the crib and the bumper here. In the back corner is the changing table, diaper pail, and dresser. Then on the right is the table, glider, and closet.Finally, behind the door we squeezed in a little set of shelves for his toys and books!I am so thankful that the nursery is finished and so cute! Thank you to the MANY people who gave us things for the room! Especially to my parents for the furniture set and to Justin's parents for the glider. Seriously, though, looking around the room, I can only find like 3 things that we actually bought ourselves. The whole room is a testimony to all those who love Elias, and I remember that every time I walk in there!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Officially A Weirdo

I'm pretty sure I have now officially become one of those weird health food people... I have started making my own granola!! But it's easy and delicious! The stuff you buy at the store, besides being loaded with sugar, is also full of weird additives and preservatives. So I've started making my own sugar free granola, and it's good!
I thought I'd post the recipe in case anybody was interested. I adapted it from this recipe, found at cdkitchen.com. It makes loose granola, like cereal, not like granola bars.

Applesauce Granola
Ingredients
* 3 1/2 cups rolled oats
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
* 1/2 cup slivered almonds
* 1/4 cup milled flaxseed
* 1/4 cup oat bran
* 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4-1 cup Splenda (depending on how sweet you want it)
* 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
* 1 cup raisins or other dried or fresh fruit

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 275F.
2. Mix all dry ingredients except fruit. Add applesauce to dry mixture in 2 to 3 portions, thoroughly mixing before adding next portion to evenly distribute throughout.
3. Spread on nonstick half sheet pan or rimmed cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes total, stirring every 15-20 minutes.
4. Add fruit. Store in an airtight container.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Big AND Tall

We pulled out the yardstick and attempted to measure Elias' length... He's about 25 inches tall! That matches his weight to put him between the 75th and 90th percentiles for his age. Our big boy! He's developing so fast and making so many new discoveries every day!

He still loves to "stand" and "walk" with us holding him. Here's a picture of him walking with Daddy. He just loves it!Other new developments in his world:
Laughing
He's laughing! It is the sweetest thing I have ever heard in my life. I plan to try to capture it on video, but he tends to be so transfixed when he sees the camera that he won't do anything but stare at it. That's why we don't have good pictures of him smiling either. I promise, he really does smile!

Grabbing
He's getting so good with his hands! He can grab onto a toy and hold it for a few minutes before he drops it. He's even starting to try to hold his bottle when he's eating. He usually manages to get the right hand on it, but hasn't figured out that he needs to put the left hand up on the other side to hold it by himself.

Rolling
When I do my early morning pump, I like to turn on the video monitor and watch him as he's sleeping and waking up. Well, this morning when I turned it on, he was on his stomach in his crib! But I put him down on his back! It freaked me out so much that I went in and put him on his back again, but by the time I had gotten back out to the living room and looked at the monitor, he was flipping onto his stomach again! He just arches his back and flings his legs up, and the momentum just carries him right over! His arm is still trapped under him, so it won't count as officially rolling over until he can figure out how to get that arm out from underneath him, but I am very impressed. He's such a strong, smart boy!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Big Boy, Big Toys

We took Elias to the doctor today. We had been wanting to go ahead and find a good pediatrician anyways, but then yesterday he was fussy and had a low-grade fever, so we wanted to get him checked out just in case. We asked several friends for pediatrician recommendations and none of them use a pediatrician! Everybody we know takes their kids to the same family health clinic, where the same doctor sees the whole family. That kinda weirds me out. I mean, can one man know enough about health and medicine to be able to accurately care for both me and my infant son and the 85-year-old we saw leaving the clinic?! I sure hope so, because that's where we went. Anyways, turns out there's nothing wrong with him, probably just a little virus and he'll be better in a couple days, says the doc. He did give us this weird little baggie thing in which to collect a urine sample to take back just to make sure it's not a urinary tract infection, since in infants those usually don't have any other symptoms besides fever and fussiness. But I don't think that's it - I think E will be fine in a couple days.

But we were glad to go to the doctor because we got to see how much our big boy weighs now! 14 pounds, 8 ounces! That puts him between the 75th and 90th percentiles for his age. Perfect! They didn't measure his length, so we might try to do that here at home just out of curiosity. He sure looks like he's growing taller!!!

Since he's getting to be such a big boy now, we're starting to be able to pull out some of the fun toys that have been handed down to him by his cousins. Last week he tried out the Bumbo seat for the first time!He does well in it for a few minutes, but he's not quite confident enough with holding his head up to sit in it for long periods of time. He really enjoyed it, though! I'm afraid that by the time he's ready to really sit in it, he'll be too big to fit! :)

Then today we pulled out his new bigger bouncy seat, since he's kicking his way out of the little one. He kicks so hard that he bangs his heels on the plastic of the on/off switch, and although he doesn't act like it hurts him, we still don't like it. So the new big one is called a Kick & Play - designed for him to kick it! He REALLY likes it with the way it plays music, flashes lights, and has a mirror he can look in.

So he's getting to be such a big boy and playing with such big boy toys! Give us just a little longer and then we can pull out the exersaucer! Whoa!

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Officially a Mommy

Well, I think I can say that I'm officially a Mommy now that I've gone and gotten a bonafide "mommy haircut." Here's the new me:
Sorry the picture is so bad - I took it of myself in the bathroom mirror! But it gives you an idea of what I've got going on now.

I went to the salon today not having a clue of what I wanted, just knowing that all the hair had to go. There were three reasons for this: 1- With a 2 1/2-month-old at home, I don't always have time to blow dry and/or fix it, and my old hairstyle looked TERRIBLE if I didn't blow it dry. 2- I've got the whole postpartum thing going on where my hair is drying up and falling out by the handful. I'm sure it won't last forever, but I hate having so much hair all over my house! Plus, it was so long that it just felt nasty and dry. 3- My child has now learned to grab onto things, and this includes my hair. That hurts. Since I don't always want to wear it in a ponytail, then I wanted something shorter that's less likely for him to rip out of my head.

So I just went in and told the stylist my situation, and she told me what she thought would look good. She showed me a picture of what she had in mind, and my hair ended up looking nothing like the picture she showed me. But I like it nonetheless, and I know it's going to be MUCH easier to take care of and try to look decent with. So I'm a REAL mommy now. :)

Friday, August 08, 2008

Mutant Giant Baby?!

Mothers worry about their children. That's just an unavoidable fact of motherhood. And apparently in the absence of anything legitimate to worry about, we worry about completely ridiculous things. For example, Elias is beautiful, perfect, healthy, and growing. So I worry that he's growing TOO fast and he's TOO big, and I don't know what that will mean as he gets older. (Anybody remember the movie "Jack"?!) Feel free to roll your eyes at me. But there are several reasons I think this:

1. Every time we meet someone new and they learn how old Elias is, they always respond with shock and ask things like "How big was he when he was born?" and "Did you have gestational diabetes when you were carrying him?" Most even just respond with disbelief. "No way. He's older than that." Nope, he's just big and that's OK, people!

2. I went to buy him some socks and the smallest size was 0-6 months. Well, Elias is 2 1/2 months old, so this is definitely his range. But when I got home and pulled one out of the package, I thought they looked pretty small. Then I noticed that on the back of the package, there is an outline showing you how big a foot will fit in these socks. So I hold it up to Elias' foot... Yep, his foot is bigger than what this sock company designates as a 6-month-old foot! I had to take them back and get the next size up, which was 6-18 months! My son is wearing socks made for an 18-month-old!

3. He's wearing 12 month onesies!! The picture below is him today, and that onesie is a 12-month.
Now admittedly, the only onesies he can wear the 12-month size in are Gerber, which are known to run small. In the Carter size, he can still wear a few of the 3 month things, and the 6 months are pretty roomy. But still! I about freaked out the day I put a 12 month onesie on my 2 1/2 month old son and it fit!

So those are a few things that make me nervous about how big my son is. But I'm just glad he's healthy and growing considering the rough start we got off to! So grow on, my son!

To completely change the subject, the pic above gives you a sneak peek at the beautiful furniture and adorable bedding in his room! :) I finished his tablecloth today and got started on the curtains, so we're rockin' and rollin'! Completed nursery pics coming soon! You'll notice that Elias has turned himself sideways in his crib - he does this almost every naptime. This is because the comforter from his bedding set is hanging on the wall above the crib and he absolutely loves to stare at it. I'm so glad he likes it! I do too!

Monday, August 04, 2008

A Fungus Among Us

I mentioned in a previous post that Elias' cradle cap is getting much better. It IS getting better, but it's being pretty resistant to completely going away. So, we decided to get really tough with it. The pediatrician had told us that Head & Shoulders would be the first thing to try, but if that didn't work he gave us a prescription for an antifungal cream that has proven to work on cradle cap. Cradle cap is not a fungus, but for some reason it has been known to respond to this particular cream. So, we filled the prescription and we've been using it on E for the past couple of days. I think I can see a real improvement! We've still got some flakes, but the rash is almost completely gone! Yay for that!

I also realized yesterday that I have thrush (a yeast infection of the breasts). Yippee. I had thought that the pain and redness were just a part of pumping, but thankfully another mama on my pumping mama's discussion board educated us rookies that it is NOT and we probably have thrush. I have all the classic symptoms. Although it's frustrating because from what I read, thrush is pretty hard to get rid of, I am thankful that this pain is not just something I have to live with, and there's actually something I can do about it. One good thing about pumping is that it is highly unlikely I'll pass the yeast to Elias through my milk from a bottle, so I will have an easier time getting rid of it than if I were actually breastfeeding and we had to treat both me AND the baby. So I have a different antifungal cream for that! I tell you what, our bathroom is starting to look like a science lab with all the different creams, cleaners, and sterilizing equipment! But hopefully before too long we'll all be healthy!

Saturday, August 02, 2008

A Real Bonafide Nursery... Complete with Trauma!

Our nursery furniture arrived yesterday! Justin and I spent last night and today putting it together, and it is now in Elias' room! I do still have some sewing to do before the room is complete and ready for me to post pics on here, but I'm pretty excited about how much like a real room it looks for my precious boy. I am SHOCKED at how beautiful and sturdy this furniture is, considering it was the cheapest thing WalMart had. You won't believe the pictures. At least I don't believe how nice it is... :)

We did have a little bit of trauma with the crib, though. We put the crib together last night and went ahead and put it in Elias' room so he could sleep in it. I had the dust ruffle, mattress pad, and sheet all ready to go. I did not, however, put on the crib bumper because modern wisdom says not to - they say it's a suffocation hazard if baby gets his face trapped between the bumper and the mattress. So I had been planning on using the material from the bumper that came with our set to make valances for the windows instead. Man, am I glad I hadn't cut it yet! I was very relieved when Elias went down to sleep in the new crib with no problem - I was a little nervous because he's never slept in anything but the Pack N Play. He went down like a champ, though, and slept through the night. In the mornings, however, he wiggles around for about 30 minutes before he finally wakes himself up enough to want to eat his breakfast at 7:00ish. Wiggling didn't work out so well for him this morning, though, in a bumper-less crib. Justin and I were awakened at 6:30 to SCREAMS coming from the nursery. Yep, my poor baby had gotten his leg caught through one of the crib slats and couldn't get it back in. He calmed down fast when Mama rescued him, but Mom and Dad were pretty shaken up. So he took his next nap back in the Pack N Play, and by then I had gotten the bumper and figured out how to put it in his crib, and he has been fine in the crib for all of his naps today. Keeping our fingers crossed that the bumper can withstand the wiggling tomorrow morning!

It actually is pretty sweet because he LOVES the bumper! It has little cars and trucks going all around it, and for every nap today he has fallen asleep just staring at them! So it's a REALLY good thing I hadn't cut it up to make the valances yet. Maybe it's alright that it takes me ages to accomplish anything these days! I'll use something else to make the valances... eventually. :)