Okay, as I type this, I am 37 weeks pregnant with baby #4...I am so over this pregnancy.  I go to the doctor once a week now and I was already measuring 1cm dilated last week.  I hope there is some progress this week when I go.  I need to start getting out and walking...

Here are my stats from last week - 36 weeks:

Weight: +22 lbs

BP: 101/72 (which is a little high for me)

Baby's HR: 138

Everything is on track for me to have another induction the week of January 17th...at least that is what I am planning.

The holidays were CRAZY!!! We didn't leave the state of Maryland, but managed to travel all over or so it felt.  I felt terrible the whole time and eventually went to the doctor on Monday, the 26th.  Upper respiratory infection - awesome!  Elli then came down with something the week after Christmas - just a virus...

I am now in organizing and simplifying mode - getting rid of all my tupperware (especially the ones with mismatched lids - there is nothing more annoying to me).  I got new pots and pans for Christmas so I am recycling my old ones...I hope you can recycle them - they are in the yellow bins...we'll see if they take it later this week...

Christmas decorations, tree, etc came down after our last Christmas celebration on the 27th, then I got a bug up my butt to sort and organize the kids toys.  We have too much crap.  I need to donate 50% of what we have...it is so hard though...maybe this will be a spring cleaning effort.  

My goals for this new year start with financial stuff - get my financial house in order and get rid of my one credit card...it is annoying that I carry a balance and I really need to get serious about getting rid of it.  I have been following a lot of money saving mom blogs, and hopefully they will give me a jump start and motivation to follow through.  It will be tough for the 6 weeks where I am not working...and our maternity leave plan SUCKS...it isn't a maternity leave plan, it is short term disability and it is just crap.  I love my company (well, I love the people that I work with) but the benefits are not that awesome when it comes to maternity leave...I will keep harping on the President until he fires me or until he retires...

Packing my bag for the hospital - this has been quite a challenge for me.  I think because I am just lazy right now and I keep putting it off because I know that I will probably have to be induced and it will be a night before I am scheduled to have the baby.  The problem is that with my last pregnancies it was always hot out, so I didn't need to really bring anything EXTRA.  This time it will be freezing out and I just feel a little unprepared.  Oh well, my strategy is LESS is MORE.  As long as I can take the laptop and get a connection at the hospital, all will be fine.  I will only be there for a day or two...

I installed the car seat this morning, after washing everything so it smells wonderful!  It will be weird to have 4 car seats in our suburban.  We will no longer be able to take the camry anywhere - for emergency cases, we were able to fit 3 car seats in the camry by slamming the doors shut, but not anymore...no room for 4!

Jake started his new "structured" playgroup this morning.  It is a one-on-one intense learning environment.  He cried the almost the whole time he was there.  The poor guy, in the past month, he has been to a neurologist, he has seen a sensory specialist, Thursday he is having his hearing checked, and we are still waiting on confirmation back from Kennedy Krieger to see if they will schedule us an appointment at their Center for Autism Related Disorders.  The structured playgroup is a free program offered by our county infants and toddlers program.  I love the county program and have been very satisfied with them so far.  Jake is 27 months old and not talking.  He babbles, but he doesn't say "Mama" or "Dada" or "Baby" - none of the words he is "supposed" to be able to say around the 12-15 month range.  So, he will go 3 days a week for 90 minutes each day to be seen by an Occupational Therapist, a Speech Pathologist and a Sensory Specialist.  We have been doing a lot with the sensory "diet" and he seems to be comprehending things more now, but not vocalizing anything...so, I hope this playgroup helps him.  They thought he might be on the Autism Spectrum, and they might still think this.  But, I had him evaluated by Dr. Marc Disabella from Children's Hospital and he said he thinks he just has a developmental speech delay.  More to follow on his progress later.  He is such a sweet boy.

Hank is just as lovey as ever.  He does this "thing" where he kisses my whole face.  He kisses my eyes, both of my cheeks, my chin, my forehead, my nose, and my lips and he is just so freaking adorable.  It just melts my heart.  I hope he always does this to me.  He also tells everyone all the time that he loves them...could there be anything more sweet???

Elli is also doing extremely well.  She was very interested in where Santa lives and why we celebrate Christmas and how old is Jesus?  She is so cute and in this questioning sort of phase right now.  She is also goofy as ever.  

Anyway, this is a long overdue update...

Did I say that I am DONE with this pregnancy???  Who knows maybe I will go into labor naturally???  Ha!!!

October - where did it go???

So, it is October 21st and seriously, where does time go?  We have had a very very busy October so far.  Starting off we had the boys' combined birthday party which was AWESOME!!!  We knew we were having live animals come out to the house, but Little Barnyard Buddies brought ALL their animals for the kids (and adults) to play with, pet, and even decorate.  It was so much fun and I just want to give a big shout out to the owner, Cindy Jimenez (which turns out she is a mother of 5 and her hubby went to USNA).

Then I was SUPPOSED to host a baby shower for my friend, Emma, but she had the baby the day before the shower - no, I'm not kidding!  She had a beautiful healthy baby girl and she named her Isabelle Edith Martin.  We were so thrilled for her and Doug.

So, since we didn't have the baby shower, we decided to go to the Hank Williams Jr. concert at the Patriot Center that night and we went with my brother, Michael and his wife, Katie, my sister-in-law Teresa and her husband Stuart.  A good time was had by all...a little too good of a time:)  Both of my brothers' and Daniel's birthday are all within one week, so we did that for Michael's birthday.  The following Monday, October 11th we went to the Caps game.  It was my first professional hockey game and it was awesome!  Butch, Stuart's dad, gave us the tickets and we had a blast!

The next weekend on the 16th we went to Old Stein Inn for Daniel's birthday.  A few friends and family joined us and we ate SO much, but it was SO good. 

Lately, I have been going on this website called www.laaloosh.com - a friend at work, Abigail, recommended it.  The owner of the website is also a weight watcher and she experiments with different recipes.  Everything that we have tried so far has been AWESOME!!!  So, let's hope that it helps as the weather gets colder and all I want is pasta, carbs and fattening (Cream-based) soups!

Speaking of weight....ugh, I have been hovering around the 147-148 mark...which is fine, I would be happy at this weight....BUT, I am obsessed with the number 140.  And, I have no idea why??? 

After all the showers, I opened up my own Etsy shop to sell the cake pops, cupcake pops, oreo truffles, and I am also going to try brownie pops this weekend.  I haven't gotten any hits yet, but maybe when the holidays start approaching.

Holidays - I have already started shopping for the kids - I PRE-ordered Toy Story 3 from Walmart's website.  It was only $16, so I am sure it will probably be a HOT item this year.  It will be hard for me to hold off until Christmas, but I have the will power (I think...:)

I am going to Virginia Beach this weekend for my girlfriend Andrea's baby shower.   She is also having a girl in December.  Her husband, Josh (one of my best friends from NAPS) is a SEAL deployed to Afghanistan.  I think of Josh almost daily and hope that he is okay.  I have heard that they (SEALS) have been very busy...

Well, I am excited to get a night's sleep without a toddler on top of me, or kicking me or asking me for juice, water, etc.  And, the shower is at a wine bar, so I am sure that I will have a glass or 10!  ha! 

Hope this finds everyone well! 

Quick update on the kids:
Elli had her post-op with Dr. Som (who I secretly have a crush on:) and everything went great!  She did so well throughout the process.
Hank is saying more words everyday and he will be switching school from one full day to 2 half days a week starting next week.  He is still in the Infants and Toddlers program and he is improving everyday.
Jake is ALMOST walking...he has taken a few steps, but it hasn't been more than 3 or 4.  I'm not in a rush for him to start walking...

Alright, talk to you soon!

Weekend

Happy 2nd Birthday, Hank!!!!  We celebrated with a cake, but the party is next weekend.  We are having a barnyard (blue and orange) themed party for both the boys with a Mini-cow, goat and pot belly pig going to be making an appearance!  We are so excited!!!  I had this girl on Etsy - Chickabug (Heather from Ellicott City) design the cupcake toppers, favor tags, buffet cards, water bottle labels, etc.  I wish I had talent to design my own paper goods...maybe one day!

So, I am listening to Elli sleep....she doesn't snore anymore...but, I secretly wonder if she still has sleep apnea.  I will talk to the doctor at her post-op.  They just got home this afternoon.  Daniel took the kids to the beach this weekend in order to help me out.  What a sweet guy! 

Siobhan's shower was a big success!  I felt a little frazzled at first because people started showing up and I was not FULLY prepared!  So, I put my great friends from high school to work - thankfully they were asking what they could do to help - how wonderful!  Crazy that I have known Siobhan for 30 (THIRTY) years!!!  THIRTY YEARS!!!  I can't get over it.  We met when we were Elli's age and now she is having a little girl too!!!  Now, Emily just needs a girl and the Trio will be complete - hee hee! 

I fell asleep last night at 8:30pm and tried to sleep in, but was up at 7am.  I tried to have the whole house in order when Daniel got home.  All the laundry was done, all the dishes were cleaned and now I have all the kids clothes to put away from his two day trip. 

This week is going to be HUGE!!!  HANK starts school on Tuesday!!!  Can you believe it???  I won't even be able to see it since I have a business trip and have to leave VERY early on Tuesday morning:(  This is me whining:(

Anyway, so excited for the boys' birthday parties!!!  I am going to attempt to make a big barnyard cake, with some interesting cupcakes....I might try the cake pops from Bakerella with the cows, pigs and chicks....but, we'll see...not sure if I will have time!

Hank's playgroup on Fridays is going GREAT!!!  FABULOUSLY!!!  His speech is improving everyday.  Right now his favorite toy/character is Buzz Lightyear!!!  It is so cute how he says Buzz!  I have packed his backpack and got his lunchbox ready for his full day of school on Tuesday!!!!  Oh, and he has been going pee and poop on the POTTY!!!!  He even went today when we were at Siobhan and Jason's!!!!  CRAZY!!! 

Just bought this....for the kids!!!  Elli is so cute, she has been singing along with all the songs from the Disney DVDs....so I love Beauty and the Beast, so I can stand to hear the songs over and over!
Alright, I'm gonna finish watching Brothers & Sisters and then go to bed! 

Reunion, Anniversary, and Elli's surgery

First, the reunion was the weekend of September 11th. It was SO awesome to see everyone! I keep in touch with most on Facebook, but it was also nice to catch up with those not on FB. All of the women of our class look better than I remember they did at school, and I am not exaggerating. Everyone seemed so happy and that makes me happy. The whole reunion was a HUGE success thanks to the whole committee, Lauren and John. What a fabulous time! My voice is still recovering after a week...

Friday night, we had an event at the Fleet Reserve Club. The event ended around 10pm and we should have gone home....but instead, I wanted to go to O'Brien's, then Acme, and then to top it off we went to Mangia (not WW friendly) and got pizza. All i remember is Jonnie Iadonisi coming out with handfuls of pizza. We got into a cab and went home. The poor cab driver had no idea how far he had to drive. He was probably annoyed.

We used a new sitter for Thursday and Friday. We found her on Sittercity and have been really pleased. She lives close and the kids love her.

We just celebrated 4 years of marriage on Thursday. Crazy how time flies. The 4th Anniversary Gift was Fruit and Flowers. So, I found Georgetown cupcakes for Daniel - they came with little flowers on them, then I gave him a candy apple for the fruit - anyone that knows Daniel knows how he loves sweets. He brought me home some beautiful flowers and we went to The Palm in DC for dinner. It was so good.

Elli had surgery yesterday to take out her tonsils and adenoids. The surgery only took about 30 minutes and we were home around noon yesterday. It was a long day though...she doesn't like the taste of the pain medication...so I am going to try and take it back to the pharmacy to get them to flavor it some more....hopefully that helps it taste a little better. I had to laugh last night, because Elli was running away from me saying, "it's not tasty." I couldn't help but laugh.
She will not be at school this week....because she is supposed to rest. After about a week to ten days she should be back to normal...

Today, Elli and I will be hanging at home while the boys go to a few birthday parties. I will be working on all the last minute details for Siobhan's shower and also for the boy's birthday party. I just got the favor tags, waterbottle labels, and cupcake tags for the Farm Animal themed birthday party!!! Should be interesting. Now, I just need to get the cake made...

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Slacker...again

Okay, so I don't even know if anyone even reads my posts, but I have been a BIG FAT PREGNANT SLACKER!

Where did June go? July is shortly going to be over too!

Updates about the kids - they both had check-ups in June.

Elli weighed in at 28.5 lbs, and was 35 1/4 inches tall. She is doing great and the doctor was so impressed with her verbal skills.

Hank weighed in at 22.5 lbs and was 30 inches tall/long. He has 3 teeth now and the teething is kicking our butts.

We just got back from a trip to NC for our annual 4th of July celebration. It was great to see all of Daniel's family and it wasn't THAT hot down there this time. My parents also came down and we enjoyed the fact that they stayed at a hotel with a pool. We definitely used that to our advantage. I bought Elli a swim vest that you

zip up over her suit and by day two she wouldn't let anyone hold on to her. It made me a little nervous at first, but she did great. I think she swallowed half the pool the first day....but that's okay.

We have a wedding this weekend - thank goodness that it is in Annapolis. I am so excited. It is our friend's Doug and Emma. I am sure that it will be quite the USNA 2000 reunion. I am in the wedding and just picked up my dress tonight. I also made sure to get a matching tie for Daniel so that we can at least be color coordinated! My mom is going to watch the kids for us on Saturday, but they will come with us tomorrow night!

Elli went pee pee on the potty today and she peed A LOT! She almost filled the little potty up. I was so proud of her. But, not more than an hour or so later, she had on her training underpants and she peed all over the kitchen floor. I guess I got my hopes up that this was it!!! I need to remember to buy more treats at the store so when she does go pee pee I can give her the same thing every time instead of offering her whatever I have on hand.

Here are some pictures of us from NC.

Update

Just a simple update to what has been going on in our lives.  I have no idea where April went, it seriously flew by.  

Last Friday, Elli went pee pee on the potty for the first time.  It was very exciting and she also went once on Saturday as well...but then, we let her run around naked and she pooped in our room.  Daniel said, "no more no diaper."  It was pretty funny...because she was so sneaky about it!  You have to laugh, right?  

I was really excited when the weather started to get nice because I was able to get out and about in our neighborhood and meet some of the neighbors and their kids.  We have been invited to a birthday party about every weekend...so that should be fun for Elli to interact with new kids.  

We also found a church that I really love.  It is literally right up the street from where we live, so it is very convenient.  The people are great and Elli spent the whole service in the nursery yesterday.  They have so many toys that she didn't even realize that I was gone!  Then they served lunch afterwards.  It was a good thing too, because I was STARVING!  They are having a Mother's Day service next week and giving out tomato seedlings, which is great because I got myself one of those topsy turvy tomato planters and am going to try and grow my own tomatoes this year.  

Hank is just about to start crawling, I swear, any day now.  He manages to get himself around okay by rolling everywhere, but before we know it, we are going to have a crawler.  He is also very squirmy when you hold him.  He likes to move!  Hank still has only the two teeth that came in around the 6 month mark, but he is drooling like crazy and putting everything into his mouth.

Life is great right now.  Busy, but great.  I am feeling great.  Our sonogram is scheduled for the 13th of May, so 9 days away.  We are NOT going to find out the sex.  I know, so unlike me...but we are going to make this one a surprise!  We have one of each, so we are just hoping for healthy!

Hank is 6 months old

Hank just turned 6 months old on the 26th.  It is crazy how fast time flies.  He weighed in at 19 lbs, 6 oz. (85th percentile) and was almost 29 inches long (over 95th percentile.)  He also just got his first two teeth, on the bottom.  It has been a little rough at night with the teeth coming in, but other than that he is a BIG healthy baby boy.  

Elli is talking more and more.  She is constantly pointing out people in pictures and saying so many words.  It is the cutest thing when she says, "please" and "thank you."  I love it!

Anyway, just about 13 weeks now and wish I could say that I haven't been sick, but I have had morning sickness.  I am also very tired, especially when I am home with the kids.  I try and nap but to get both of them down at the same time is a challenge in itself.  

We are hoping for nice weather this weekend.  Hopefully we will catch the last home Navy lax game and possibly Navy rugby on Saturday.  

Slacker...

So I was able to schedule Hank's induction on the 25th of September.  They scheduled me at 7pm that Thursday evening.  I asked for an epidural right after they hooked me up to the pitocin, before the doctor checked my progress.  That was probably the smartest thing that I did.  I got the epidural and then about 4-5 hours later, I was ready to push.  I actually watched the birth of Hank.  The delivery was much easier this time around.  The recovery was 100% easier as well.  I didn't have to use any ice packs and the bleeding was not as bad either...

So, Hank Daniel Oxendine was born on September 26th at 2:35am.  He weighed in at 8lbs, 14oz.  and was 20 inches long.  He was a BIG baby.  

We went home on Sunday, September 28th and have been busy ever since.  

Another big happening is that I went back to basics with Elli sleeping in her crib.  Ever since we went to Mexico in March Elli had been sleeping with us in our bed.  Mostly because I was pregnant, tired and lazy (I didn't want to hear her cry).  On Thursday, I started putting Elli back in her crib and staying right by the crib until she fell asleep.  It took her 45 minutes to fall asleep that first night, then 25 minutes on Friday night and last night it only took 18 minutes.  I have been re-reading "Good night, Sleep tight" by Kim West to give myself the motivation and kick in the pants I needed.  

I thought that I would wait until we moved into the new house, but I thought we would have already been in the house by now.  I wanted my bed back.  Hopefully tonight will go as smooth as last night.  I am going to keep putting her in her crib and going to stick to our schedule.  She thrives when she is on a schedule.

We met up with some friends last night that we hadn't seen in  almost 2 years.  JD and Lora have a beautiful 1 year old, Daniel and it was great to see them last night.  Lora barely looks like she has had a baby in her skinny designer jeans.  Daniel was so adorable, despite being  on west coast time.  It was great to see them!!!

We are rooting on the Redskins today, they play the Lions at 1pm today.  It is a beautiful day and after the game we may try and venture to downtown Annapolis just to get outside and walk around.  They have a wonderful playground for children that Elli really enjoys.

On the double stroller front...it is between the BOB and the Phil and Ted Sport.  Argh it is so hard to decide between these two strollers, but they are so expensive and such a big investment...I am leaning towards the Phil and Ted's just because of the width...

Anyway, less than two weeks until our trip to Tampa...should be exciting.

Lots of Happenings

So, I have been a little delinquent in the blogging world. I have had good reason. Since the middle of May we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We went to the beach for Memorial Day weekend, planning bridal showers, my cousin got married, Elli turned 1 and we had a party, our house got delivered, and I have been sick and exhausted.

Memorial Day weekend: we found out we are having a little boy! It took me 11 days after having the sonogram and the "envelope" to rip it open and find out that we are expecting a BOY. That figures why I have been sick and even last week I had some sort of stomach virus...great!!!

Anyway, we had a blast at Bethany Beach. Elli loved the sand and water. She actually liked the sand so much that she ate the sand and then had a nasty diaper rash right afterwards and I learned that I will only dress her in two-piece bathing suits when we go to the beach until she is out of diapers (it just makes changing her a whole lot easier).

One of my best friends, Emily, is getting married in July and so I threw her a bridal shower in the beginning of June and it was so fun. I love planning showers and parties.

The next weekend, my cousin Kyle on my dad's side got married. The wedding and festivities surrounding the wedding were in Baltimore, so that was so nice not to have to travel a very far distance. We did hire a babysitter for the Saturday night wedding. It was great!!! Carolina was amazing with Elli and we are totally going to use her again...

Then last week our house was delivered. What a process that is...and we had some issues. First, a girl ran her car into one of our boxes. She was on her cell phone and didn't see everyone pulled over on the side of the road and she almost decapitated herself. Luckily she didn't, so we didn't have to send the house back. The company just brought in an engineer and fixed the outer part of the box where she hit. The poor girl had to be cut out of her car...she is okay and the house seems to be fine.

Then Elli turned ONE last Friday. It is hard to imagine that a year has gone by since she was born. Time just goes by so fast...

She had a party on Saturday in the townhouse, so it was a little crowded, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves. It was a busy weekend. Then on Sunday, another one of my oldest friends, Siobhan, had a bridal shower. It was a lovely party. I was glad to just relax a little Sunday night with Daniel and Elli.

I have been feeling ill lately. The doctor is a little concerned about my blood pressure. I think it is just because I am gaining weight. I am almost to the third trimester, I am trying to enjoy eating. Last Wednesday, I was sick, and then on Friday I was throwing up. I even had to pull over on the side of the road twice. It was awful...

Anyway, I will post some more pictures of the birthday party. We now have two digital cameras and now have twice the pictures, so it might take me a while to sort through them.

One of the pictures above is of Elli's eagerness and aggressiveness to give out kisses and hugs. The little boy is a co-worker of mine, Allison's son Andrew. Andrew is 3 months old and here Elli is loving him. She is a little aggressive with the hugging, she has even knocked down my 4 year old niece a few times trying to get a hug. It is pretty funny, and I am glad that she is a lover.

Anyway, we are off to North Carolina in a few weeks for the annual 4th of July Pow-Wow! My parents are coming down to see it too. My brother Michael is taking his girlfriend Katie to Key West or I am sure they would be coming as well. It is a sight to see. I am excited, just not excited about the humidity.

Alright, I am off for now!

Horrible...Where does time go?

I can't believe that I did not post one thing in the month of March and we are half way through April...shame on me. So much has happened. Well, I am in my 16th week of pregnancy #2, we have our ultrasound/sonogram appointment set up for May 14th. Daniel wants to know the sex of this baby (he wants a boy) and I am on the fence. I think it would be neat not to find out, but I don't want to stop Daniel if he wants to know. I think it is another girl because I was so sick a few weeks ago. Knock on wood, this is the first week that I HAVEN'T gotten sick in four weeks.

In the middle of March, Daniel and I took our first vacation without Elli. We went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with our good friends Mike and Ellen (who also left their daughter for the first time.) We left Elli in North Carolina with Daniel's parents and she had a blast. She started crawling while we were away and is now a tornado in our house...we can't turn out head for a second and she is off, pulling herself up on everything that she can (tables, chairs, legs, etc.)

Elli had her 9 month appointment and she weighed in at 23 lbs, and 31inches long. She is growing like a weed. She is feeding herself with her bottle and sippy cup. She eats more and more table food, but she still likes her sweet potatoes. She is on a pretty regular schedule and I have been trying to move her bed time up to 7pm.

Right before Easter I was in a car accident. I was hit from behind by a big Chevy truck and it totalled my car. So, we found a new(er) car. We purchased a 2005 Toyota Camry. It gets great gas mileage and that is what I need right now to get me back and forth to work (the two days that I go into the office.) This picture is the night we purchased the car, Elli is playing with the car keys.

Anyway, another big milestone in our lives happened this week. We FINALLY got our building permit. We signed our construction loan and we are finalizing our house plans at the end of this week. Hopefully, within 6-8 weeks we will be out of the townhouse and in the new house. I can't wait...

I hate the first trimester

I have been feeling so ill and extremely tired lately. I got sick for the first time yesterday, thank goodness all I had in my stomach was water. I have an achy back and my stomach feels queasy all the time. Okay, that's it, no more talking about this stuff.

Elli is wonderful. She has managed to scoot herself around the house and loves to try and pull herself up on tables, pulls herself up in her crib. We (Daniel) finally lowered the crib this past weekend and she loves to stand on her crib and hold on to the rail.

She is getting another tooth. I saw yesterday that she has another top tooth coming in. So, needless to say, she has been chewing on just about anything that she can get her hands on.

12 days until Mexico. I spoke with my OB today (the practice that I am leaving) and she said that she wouldn't prescribe me anything. She told me to take Tylenol PM or benadryl. We'll see what my new OB says next week when I go meet them for the first time.

On Thursday, I am going to get my passport updated with my new name. All you have to do is be within two weeks of travel and bring all the required documents and, of course, the money. I hope it doesn't take all day...

Weekend Activities

This weekend was pretty low key. We stayed in both Friday and Saturday nights, this makes four weekends in a row that we didn't even go out to eat. Now, Friday we ordered food from one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the area, Diego's. Lacey recommended it and I absolutely love their guacamole!















Saturday we spent pretty much the entire day over at my parents house, trying to help them get the house in a little bit better shape. My Aunt MJ and cousin Lauren also were helping. It was a family affair and it was good to see them. We are almost done with my mom's room, and we started on the kitchen. My mom is such a great sport, because I know how hard it is to let go sometimes...but she has been GREAT!




But, before we headed out to Columbia, I gave Elli a bath and dressed her up a little bit. I am very much into hair accessories right now. I love finding little headbands or barrettes to put in her hair, even though she doesn't have a TON yet!


Today, we just hung around the house for the most part. Elli has this nasty cough that we are trying to monitor. I even had her in the bathroom today with the shower going so that she could inhale the steam...hoping that it would make her feel better. She is in so much pain because of her top teeth. The third tooth finally broke through the other day, but her fourth tooth - the top left one is coming in now. She keeps trying to chew on my fingers. It hurts soooo....bad. On my mother's recommendation, I gave her a mesh feeder with some ice cubes in it and she absolutely LOVES it! She was so tired today, Daniel got her to fall asleep in his lap. I thought it was so cute, so I took a picture.

Babies in Bloom and a New Tooth

Yesterday, Elli and I were very busy. We went to the Annapolis Library for Babies in Bloom. We got to hang out with Makana Neverosky and Brooks Cherneski. It was a lot of fun and Elli always loves to go. She is starting to become more social, by trying to grab other kids' faces and what looks like eat them, but we are going to assume she is trying to give kisses!


Then we went to the gym so I can continue to TRY and get rid of this excess baby weight. ARGH! And, then we had a doctor's appointment. Elli woke up in the middle of the night Wednesday night screaming and Daniel and I now we know why....She just cut her first top tooth! It looks so painful when I look at it coming through. And, the other one is right behind it...so needless to say the next few days (hopefully not weeks) will be a little rough on her...

Here are some pictures of yesterday's adventures with Makana and Brooks!

Thankful

I thank God everyday that I met Daniel. I may not tell him (Daniel or God) out loud, but I really am blessed. He is such a wonderful husband and an even better father. It is so neat to see Daniel interact with Elli, sometimes I watch when he doesn't know I am looking.

27 Dresses

On Friday, Elli and I went to see the movie 27 Dresses with our friends Ellen and Olivia. Olivia is 6 weeks older than Elli and was an absolute gem during the entire movie. I wasn't sure how Elli was going to do in the movie. I spent most of the movie on my feet in the hallway just listening, but got the gist of what was going on. It was such a cute movie and Elli and I might try again for another movie, however, we will try and go to one around 1pm which is her nap time...

Olivia had the cutest hairdo...and Elli was dressed up with a headband that was way too big for her, but she tolerated it for about 15 minutes....

Elli's Growth Progress

Here is a list of the growth progress with every doctor's visit we have been to, so far. Our next appointment isn't until March (9 months).

Born: 8lbs. 9.98oz. and 20.5 inches
1 month: 9lbs. 10 oz. and 22 1/8 inches
2 months: 13lbs. 8.5oz. and 23 7/8 inches
3 months: 15lbs. 6oz. and 24.5 inches
4 months: 16lbs. 9oz. and 26 inches
6 months: 19lbs. 3oz. and 28 1/4 inches

Needless to say, she has been in the 95th percentile (at least) in everything since her 1st month.
She is a growing girl and we can't wait to see what the future holds.

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Elli is almost 7 months old. I have to say that she is the best baby. She is so easy, she sleeps well (now) and eats like a champ. She has been a dream since she was born. We had a little bit of a hiccup in the beginning of November when her two bottom teeth came in and I/we didn't sleep for about a month and a half.

I need to give a shout out to my friend, Anne Mill. She recommended this book called, Good Night, Sleep Tight by Kim West (who happens to live in Annapolis.) I bought this book before Elli was born, read the first few chapters and then forgot about it. At two months Elli was sleeping 10 hours a night, so I didn't think I needed it. I actually lost my first copy and ended up buying another around the middle of December. This book and the fact that we put Elli in her own room has saved our lives and she is now on a schedule and back to being the gem that she is.

I would ask friends about schedules, but I think I needed something in writing to follow. This book breaks it down for you and tells you the signs to look for when the baby is tired. The book recommended when was the best time to get out of the house and run errands and now we work our schedule around Elli's nap schedule. Sometimes when we miss a nap or are off-schedule, you can really tell. Elli loves to be on the schedule and all of us are much happier when she is on-schedule.

At first, I went to the pediatrician to talk about what we could do and he said that we would have to let Elli "cry it out" - which was so hard for me to do. The first night we tried, we actually left Elli with my brother Michael to watch and he let her "cry it out" and did the hard work for us. (Thank you, Michael.) But, ever since December 20th everything has changed for the better and now Elli sleeps 11-12 hours a night and takes two 1.5-2 hour naps a day. It's wonderful and I just wanted to give a shout out to the book which I think saved my sanity and to Anne for recommending it. (Anne has plenty of practice, she is a mother of three herself.)

So, Thanks!

Peek-A-Boo

I never knew how much fun a game of Peek-A-Boo could be until I had Elli. She is just learning cause and effect and it is amazing to watch her.