6:45am
My body clock has decided this is the time for me to wake up each morning.  It turns out though that this works out fairly well as I get a chance to escape the upstairs before the kids are up at 7.  I keep the stairway gate closed and sneak down for some me-time on the computer.  (And while Brent may not appreciate being stuck upstairs with the kids first thing in the morning, I think we both know that if I took the kids downstairs he would fall back asleep for who knows how long.  Brent = not morning person.)

7am
Lydia is up and likely enters our bedroom (not sure on her exact routine because as mentioned above, I am happily downstairs).  Upon waking Brent and realizing I am not there, she goes into Eli's room.  Usually I have a monitor on downstairs so I get to listen to the two of them converse for awhile.  Lydia looks at books and then drops them into Eli's crib for him to look at.  They talk and giggle and I enjoy listening to my sweet babies getting along so nicely.

7:20ish am
Once I hear Brent is out of bed, it's time to go get water/juice for the kids while he rescues Eli from the crib.  Brent opens the gate for Lydia and before long she is downstairs with me asking to play the caterpillar game (Cootie) or play on the iPad.  I inform her that breakfast will be first, but turn on Disney (Mickey Mouse) for the kids to watch while they eat.  Brent sleepily brings Eli down and puts him in his booster seat.  Eli immediately begins asking for food.  The boy loves breakfast!  Lately he wants cereal bars and starts shouting out what color (flavor) he wants.  One red and one green have been the trend.  And after finishing those, he then wants a bowl of cereal with milk.  Lydia, not nearly the big breakfast eater that her brother is, prefers toaster strudel or waffles for breakfast.

8am-11am
Our mornings are not routine at this point, though with Lydia starting preschool in just over 2 weeks we'll be force into one soon.  The kids generally watch a show or two while eating breakfast, then play and do whatever in the house the rest of the morning.  They are beginning to be really good at playing together alone (as in without me) and sometimes will go down in the playroom to entertain themselves.  It's nice to get a chance to get a few things done... makes me almost wonder why I'm starting over with another baby!!  Almost.  :-)  The temperatures have been nice in the mornings lately so sometimes if we can get everyone dressed and out the door we try to go out.  Sometimes just running errands, but sometimes going to the zoo or just playing outside.

11:30am
Lunch time.  While he loves his variety of breakfast foods, lunch and dinner are a much bigger challenge with Eli.  His absolute favorite is grilled cheese and he'll hardly eat anything else for lunch.  Sometimes he'll do okay with PB&J, but he has absolutely decided chicken nuggets are no good anymore.

Noon
Sweet freedom comes at naptime.  :-)  Once lunch is over the kids are upstairs for 1-2 hours.  Eli usually sleeps, but Lydia doesn't sleep much anymore.  She stays in her room (mostly) and stays quiet, but I can tell by the way she acts that she often doesn't sleep.  This can get frustrating because I know if she would rest she wouldn't be so wound up and prone to getting in trouble later in the day.  But anyway, the kids rest for awhile and I get a chance to catch up on work/couponing or just to rest/relax myself for a bit.

2pm-5pm
Kids are up from naps and we're on to the afternoon.  Again, the agenda is relaxed and depends on what we need to do that day.  Both kids love to be outside.  Lydia is getting really good at pedalling her tricycle and Eli loves being in the cozy coupe.  We also enjoy playing on the deck or in the backyard sometimes.  Lydia likes running down the hill into the drainage area behind our lot pretending she's going to the jungle.  She'll run down, then go back up the hill to her right where there's an empty lot, then make the journey back to our yard.  Sometimes she'll just do this over and over and over again because she enjoys it so much.  Poor thing isn't going to like it so much when we get our fence put in soon.  But it will be much safer for the kids having a fenced backyard and eventually we'll put a swingset up too.  Besides being outside, the kids have some favorite indoor activities too.  Lydia likes to ask me to play "tickle bug" which basically just means she and Eli run around and I try to grab them and tickle them.  So we play or watch movies or do chores for the afternoon while we wait for Brent to get back home.

5:15pm
We hear the garage door open and Lydia immediately runs to "hide" behind sometime so she can surprise Brent when he walks in.  This is her new favorite thing... anytime anyone leaves someplace and then returns she wants to surprise them.  Makes it not very surprising actually.  Eli on the other hand generally runs to the door and starts trying to open it.  Opening and closing doors is his new favorite thing.  Often when I'm getting dressed in the morning he is going in and out the bathroom door telling me, "Hi!" or "Bye, cya later." each time.  But anyway, both kids are excited for Daddy to be home (and so am I because I'm in need of a break at this point!) 

5:30-7pm
Dinner, possibly bath, and bed for the kids.  Eli's bedtime routine:  He wants to turn all of his fans on and also his nightlight.  He loves to do things by himself, so it's very common to hear him saying "Do it? Do it?" or "Turn? Turn?" as in, "I want to do it." or "It's my turn."  And yes, everything he says comes out sounding like a question.  Once his PJs are on, his teeth are brushed, and he has adequately turned on what needs to be on in his room, it's time for books.  He always gets two books.  Lately the Elmo books with buttons to push for music/sounds are his favorites.  As soon as books are done Eli immedately yells, "Ginkle! Ginkle!" ... ie, his favorite song "Twinkle Twinkle."  We can never get away with not singing this to him before bed.  He'll let us sing a different song first, but "Ginkle" is asked for as soon as the other one ends.  Once he's had his song, he's pretty content to give hugs and kisses (a hug on each shoulder followed by a kiss on the lips) and get into his crib.  He usually insists on a final hug & kiss after being put into bed, then he'll grab his one and only must-have toy frog we call "Ribbit" and lay down to sleep.  Lydia's bedtime routine:  She also wants to do everything herself, so we usually stand by while she strips herself down, goes to the bathroom, and gets her PJs on (not always in that order and not often very quickly).  We help her brush her teeth, then she gets one book and one Bible story.  Lately she's had a bad habit of picking at her upper lip, so chapstick has become part of her morning & evening routine.  Then she usually chooses to either "elevator" up to her bed (where we lift her off the ground from her feet) or to "blast off" (where she counts down, says blast off, and we jump her into bed).  Hugs and kisses happen in here somewhere, but she changes when and where she wants them.  She doesn't like to pick a stuffed animal out for herself and prefers that we choose her "friend" for her most times.  We do bedtime prayers next.  Sometimes she will repeat after us as we pray and other times she has us pray and then we pause so she can say some things she is thankful for.  Lastly she gets a song which she generally asks that we pick one instead of her.  Before we close her door, though, she always wants to say one last thing and it's always, "*click click* My light is on/off, and I'm as snug as a bug in a rug."

7-10pm
At last we can relax!  Well, that is as long as Lydia stays in bed.  She still occasionally gets out of bed to ask us some silly question, or we'll hear her get up to go to the bathroom 5 times in the hour after she is put in bed.  But for the most part we get to enjoy some quieter time together in the evenings before I can't stand to stay awake any longer.  I still struggle to stay up past 10.  I guess pregnancy and toddlers will do that to you.


So that's basically what goes on around her day in and day out.  Of course there are all kinds of little stories that could be told each day, but this captures the essence.  Some other noteworthy things about each kid:

Lydia:
She starts preschool soon and is very excited.  It amazes me how grown up she already seems.  She converses very well and I'm often floored by how sophisticated her speaking is for a 3.5 year old!  Lydia is an amazing big sister, looking forward to the arrival of the new baby and also teaching Eli so many things.  For the most part she does well being patient with Eli when he doesn't understand her and she shares very nicely.  She makes me so proud!  I especially love how well she is doing with memorizing verses for church.  She has done the memory verse every week for the past 3 months and even today she can recite all 3 of them with little to no help at all.  It's going to be odd not having her around all the time when she starts school, but I'm really looking forward to talking to her about all she is learning and doing there.  She's going to love it!

Eli:
He has become quite the chatterbox.  He is realizing how many words he knows and never fails to point out people/objects/colors everywhere when he sees something he can say.  A typical conversation may go as follows:  "Fan? Fan?"  "Yes Eli, that's a fan."  "On?  On?"  "No buddy, it's off."  "Off?  Off?"  "Yep, it's off."  etc.  His lately accomplishment has been mastering colors.  He's 95% accurate with blue, red, green, yellow, orange, and purple.  Whenever we drive anywhere I can expect various colors to be shouted out at random when he sees a car of that color.  I know that he is super smart and wish I had more time to work with him on these skills.  Perhaps when Lydia starts school.  I'm really looking forward to that alone time with him for a few months before baby 3 arrives.  Eli also has a super fun personality.  He is just so happy most of the time and loves to smile and laugh.  He can be a bit of a softy though and whenever he is sad or hurt even the slightest bit he comes crying to me saying, "Chair? Chair?" until I take him to the recliner and snuggle with him there.  It's his comfort zone, head on my shoulder rocking in the recliner.

Baby 3:
Still in waiting mode with this one.  Waiting to find out the gender and waiting to feel more consistent movements.  I am happy to feel baby move a bit more often these days.  Usually once a day, sometimes more sometimes less.  But they are getting stronger and more like popcorn pops than tickly butterflies.  My next appointment is in a week (I'll be 18 weeks) and hopefully I'll get to schedule my ultrasound.  I'd love to get it done at 19 weeks, but they may make we wait until 20.  Mom & Dad will be on a cruise that 20th week and I'm hoping I can sweet talk my doctor into an earlier ultrasound so I can be sure I can get ahold of my parents.  People have asked me if I have a feeling either way about the gender.  I really don't have any intuition about what this baby's gender is this time.  Pretty sure I thought both Lydia & Eli were boys at this point, but this one I really don't have any clue.  I'm just looking forward to seeing my peanut again!  We haven't really discussed names yet and said we'd wait to find out the gender, so I'm really looking forward to that.  Ready for baby 3 to have an identity all his/her own!

Every night after we read some books Eli lays his head down on my shoulder to rock for a couple of minutes while I sing him a song. Lately he has been settling in as usual, but as soon as I start singing he lifts his head and waits for me to give him a kiss before laying back down. I think I'm in love. ♥

Eli is fast approaching 15 months old and I haven't done much writing down of his life milestones. So let's see... a day in the life of Eli...

Well, he usually wakes up around 6:30 (ugh!) but will talk/play in his crib until I can drag myself out of bed to get him. He is absolutely in love with his stuffed frog that is in his crib with him. Every night when he goes to bed he pounces on it and uses it as his pillow. In general he really likes stuffed animals and there are several that he tackles at first sight. Eli is definitely a cuddler. Some mornings I can get him out of his crib and he will lay his head on my shoulder and snuggle in the rocking chair for a little bit before we get our morning started. I love those times!

Eli continues to be our big boy. He is slimming out some as he loses that baby fat, but he's no twig! And he certainly likes to eat. Unfortunately we've been dealing with a milk allergy (that he will hopefully outgrow) so finding things he is able to eat is tough. Between the allergy and his pickiness, the boy practically lives on bread and chicken nuggets. He is very particular about textures, so I've had a hard time getting him to eat fresh fruits, but he still does well eating baby food purees so I just stick with those for now. We recently tried giving him coconut milk and that has worked out well. Eli still does not like to drink anything other than water, but the coconut milk goes well with cereal or making pancakes and is a good source of calcium for my growing boy. He will meet again with the allergist in May.

As of early January Eli is a walker! He took his first solo steps on January 7th and before long was growing more and more confident in his new ability. Today (20 days later) he toddles all over the house. He still looks a little unsteady, and if he does happen to fall down he has to hold on to something to stand back up, but I'm so proud of his progress! Eli is also talking a decent amount these days. He says mama, dada, nana, grandpa (something similar sounding), ball, toes (sorta), uh oh, night night, bye bye, hello (only to a phone), go, and boo. He will sign more, please, eat, and all done. He also does animal sounds for monkey, snake, and puppy.

His favorite game at the moment is anything he can open and close. He makes quick work of our kitchen cabinets, opening all of the cabinets in his reach and throwing things on the floor. And he constantly rearranges the items in my lazy susan. It always means a lot of cleanup, but I love seeing his little mind work. He is going to be like his Daddy, always investigating how things work. Eli is always studying the mechanics of things.

So that's basically Eli's day. Wake up, tornado through the house, quick nap in the afternoon, eat a lot, then go to bed around 7.

Lydia is fast approaching her 3rd birthday. I am constantly having to remind myself that she is still only 2. She is SO smart! I signed her up for preschool for next year but I'm sure she will already know most of the things they teach already. She knows the letter sounds and can spell her name. She is constantly pointing out what letters are on signs wherever we go and is slowly catching on to how to read the words. I have no doubt she'll be reading by age 4. Brent has been working on teaching her left and right, and she can count to roughly 14 (the teens get a little mixed up most of the time). Lydia is a constant stream of questions and we do our best to teach her as we go. So academically I'm not thinking she'll need preschool, but I'm looking forward to her having more social interactions and working on her motor skills as well. She will start in late August and will be in class MWF 9-11:30. A couple of our friends have their daughters in that class as well, so it will be nice to spend more time with them.

Hopefully some more interaction with others will help Lydia get over some of her fears. She has been awful with going to the childcare at church. She used to LOVE it, then suddenly she started crying every time. We'd put her there and try to leave her in hopes that she'd get over it, but usually we get called back and/or they inform me when I pick her up that she's cried basically the whole time. Not sure what sparked this, but it makes it really difficult to go to church these days. Eli doesn't do well in the childcare either, so too often we find it more convenient to just watch the service online from home. Lydia is also pretty sensitive about loud noises. She can absolutely panic if there is suddenly some sort of noise like an alarm going off or someone using a power tool. She sometimes is okay with sufficient warning, but boy have we had some major meltdowns lately when an unexpected noise happens!

Lydia's favorite shows right now are Mickey Mouse and Toy Story 2. She pretty much requests Toy Story 2 every day right now and will quote lines from it all the time. Because of her obsession with this movie lately I thought she might want that for the theme of her birthday party, but she decided months ago that she wanted Dora and she's sticking to it! It's funny to me because she rarely talks about Dora and we don't watch that show, but she isn't budging from her party choice. Silly girl!

This age is a trying time for us with Lydia. Lots of questions from her and lots of testing her boundaries as well. But overall, she is a sweetheart who brings us overwhelming joy. I love being able to have conversations with her and being able to watch her learn. She gets so excited when we get to do special things. I love watching her eyes light up! Love my girl. :-)

We are still a bit in recovery mode after the loss of our 3rd child, but we are hopeful for the future. After having a D&C on the 9th, I had a follow-up exam on the 25th and everything is going okay. My doctor said that we are free to try again whenever we are ready. I would still love to be holding a new baby in my arms in 2012, but we will trust in God's timing.

I'm usually pretty good about going with the flow when it comes to the growing up of my kids. I embrace the phrase "This too shall pass" which my mom consistently reminds me of. All of the good moments and bad moments alike will pass and I am okay with that. I love my life as it is right now and a part of me is sad that my kids won't stay this way forever, but another part of me is excited to watch them grow and knows that I will love a lot about the next phases of life as well.

Attempting to blog while Lydia is awake (and playing in the office next to me). Crazy? Probably. This will likely be short!

Two. I have a two-year-old. It's crazy! And she is defintely beginning to ACT two. It is common for Brent and I to look at eachother, shrug, and state, "She's two" after any number of Lydia's antics. She is very much developing a mind of her own. Today I asked her if she would share an orange slice with me. As I reached for one, she quickly guarded them with her hands and said, "Um... no thank you, Mommy. No thank you." She tells us "no" and has random spaz sessions where she refuses to tell us what she wants. Ah to be two! :) But she is an absolute joy in our lives and considering how she COULD behave, she is a very well behaved little girl.

Eli is getting more and more fun each passing day. He can roll over now and enjoys sitting in the exersaucer for short periods of time. He's so tall and heavy that he doesn't have the muscle strength yet to be in there for long. He weighed in at exactly 18 lbs at his 4 month check-up. Still top of the charts for height and weight! He loves to smile and laugh and he continues to be a very social boy. Always wanting attention! It's so much fun to see him watching Lydia as she runs all over the place. He gets a kick out of watching her play and she likes to bring him toys and show him how to make things play music.

My life has been busy lately as I have continued in my coupon crazy madness. Most free time (which is limited) is spent looking up deals and planning shopping trips. I'm going to do my first "official" couponing class soon, so this is occupying my thoughts as well.

We're also hoping to potty train very soon. I am sooo not looking forward to it, but had told myself we would take on the challenge once Eli was sleeping better at night. He is finally going to bed around 7 and staying there until 6 or 7 in the morning. Of course some nights are still better than others, but with a more restful household I decided it was time to get back to business around here.

Spring has arrived (supposedly) and I'm looking forward to warm weather and walks outside again. Lydia will love going to the park this year now that she is big enough for more playground equipment. I'm hoping Eli won't take too much longer to be able to sit up on his own. It will be really nice to be able to sit him on a blanket with some toys while Lydia plays with other things outside.

There's a brief update on our lives. And hey, Lydia didn't completely destroy the office in the process - though the pile of clothes I had set aside to take to MOPS is now scattered around the room. Could be worse. :)

My dear sweet Eli - you are 3 months old already!

You are a very social boy these days. You get upset if you realize you are in a room by yourself and get the biggest smiles on your face the instant someone comes over to talk to you. You are also very vocal. You love to coo on and on as long as there is a person there to coo at.

Eating and sleeping still aren't super structured. During the day you eat roughly every 2.5-3 hours. Most times after eating for a little bit, though, you get much more interested in smiling and talking to mom to eat any more. You are still up at least once at night to eat. This is making Mommy VERY sleepy! We would all really love for you to sleep through the night, but you still haven't figured out your own way to comfort yourself when you wake up. Mommy is trying really hard to be patient and give you time to learn this skill. Praying it will be soon!

Sometimes you have big mood swings too. You will be super happy one minute and then be crying the next. Usually I think it is because we stop paying attention to you and you get mad until we talk to you again. But in general you are a happy guy. I have noticed that you seem to have a sensitive side. You can only take so much of Lydia "playing" with you before you seem to get a little scared. I know... she's loud... one day you will get used to it! But you make the most adorable face when you pout and stick out your lower lip. I know you are sad, but it always makes me smile because it's so darn cute!

You are still a big boy and everyone makes sure to tell us that when they hold you. Grandma and Papa Tom held you today and said you feel like a bowling ball! I love how "sturdy" God made you and know you are going to be a nice strong man someday like your daddy. You are currently wearing size 3-6/6 month clothing and wearing size 2 diapers, but we're moving you into size 3's as soon as the current open pack of 2's is gone and are washing your 6-9 month clothing in anticipation of you needing them soon!

The only place you really like to hang out is still your bouncy chair. You are okay with the swing these days, but if you are fussy that's not where you want to be. We've also tried letting you sit in the bumbo seat and you aren't a big fan of that either. Maybe you'll like it more when you get a tad bit more neck strength. I keep wanting to let you try out other things besides the bouncy chair, but that's really the only place you love! You nap there a lot, but do pretty well napping and sleeping at night in your crib (except at 7 or 8 at night which is the one time you completely refuse to go to sleep in your crib). You don't typically go to bed for the night until 10 or 11, and if we're lucky you'll sleep for at least 4 hours after that. You've gone 8 hours once or twice, but there are also nights that you still want to wake up every 3 hours. We haven't done as much cry-it-out with you as we did with Lydia, mostly because we don't want you to wake her up but partially because we're waiting to see if you find a way to soothe yourself without us having to intervene.

Your sister loves you a ton. It isn't uncommon for her to get up in the morning or after a nap and immediately start saying, "Eli? Eli?" until we let her know where you are. She brings you toys and makes sure you have your blanket on (or off if she sees you just woke up). She even loves to rock you when you get upset over being put in the carseat.

You've only been here for 3 months and already I don't know what life would be like without you. We all love you SO much, Eli! You are getting more and more aware of the world around you, and I can't hardly wait to see all of the changes the next month will bring. Love you, little man!

At the Pirolli household, 2011 entered with a lot of coughing and sniffling. We should have seen it coming. Brent and I both had sore throats around Christmas, but it never turned into any more than that for us. We had a wonderful time in Cincinnati with my family and made it back home on the 29th to relax a bit before the new year.

Or so we thought.

By evening of the 30th it was obvious that both kids were getting a bug. It is oh so much fun to have a sick not-yet-two-year-old and a sick 8 week old. Ha! Lydia was a trooper on New Years Day when we took her to Great Grandma's and then to Grandma's house to open gifts from Brent's side of the family. But the poor girl could only take so much. She opened so many presents that by the last few she was actually pushing them away and saying no. It didn't help that she was completely exhausted from being sick.

With the holiday endeavors behind us, we've been at home trying to get everyone well. I took Eli to the pediatrician on Monday and found he has an ear infection. Beyond that, though, he has been handling this cold quite well. Lydia on the other hand has been a wreck. She's barely eating anything and it takes constant coaxing to keep fluids in her. She wants to be held all the time (very difficult to do as a nursing mom to Eli), she's had a fever, and she has been so tired. Yesterday I thought she was doing better... she seemed to have taken a nap well (short, but no crying before or after) and was playing as normal. But by mid-afternoon she was a mess again.

So there I was trying to cook dinner so Lydia could try to eat before going to bed early, Eli was fussing unless I was bouncing him in his bouncer, and Lydia was super tired and crying on the couch in the living room. Ugh! I just kept plowing through dinner while trying to encourage Lydia to lay down and watch her video... then suddenly I turned around and she had completely crashed. She was on the pillow, mouth hanging open, snoozing away. Scared me at first, but I felt better once I was sure she was still breathing! Poor girl!

After that experience, I decided today that if the whining picked up in the afternoon I was putting her down for a second nap. And thus it has happened that it is 4:30 and Lydia has been in her room for nap #2 since around 3. Here's hoping she'll be a much happier little girl this evening! It's so hard for me to watch her be so exhaused but be struggling to sleep. I know how tough it is to sleep when you can't breathe normally... I can't imagine trying to make sense of it when you are two!

Praying for health to return to both of my little ones ASAP. I have goals for both of them once they are back to feeling better: Potty-training (or at least more prep) for Lydia and a solid bedtime routine/schedule for Eli (with ultimate goal of getting him sleeping in his crib, preferably through the night!). A mom's job is never ending.

Dear Eli,

You are two months old today! Though it always seems a little funny to me to celebrate on the 4th. You were born so early in the morning that by mid-day on the 4th it no longer feels like the anniversary of your birth. Instead I often find myself thinking through the events of that day in the evening on the 3rd. How I called your dad at work to tell him what was going on. How we ate dinner, called Aunt Sarah to stay with Lydia, then headed to the hospital. How I was lying in a hospital bed listening to your heartbeat while watching Survivor on the tiny hospital room TV.

Regardless, you officially arrived on the 4th making you two months old today. I have loved having your in my life for every single moment of those months. You don't smile a ton or "talk" a ton, but I think it's just because you are a bit more reserved and quiet. It melts my heart when I do get to see those precious smiles and hear those adorable coos, though. :-) You are a fiercely growing boy, always at the top of the growth charts. And you are strong too! You like to stand and you do great pulling your head up. I'm so excited to watch you grow and develop even more in the next month (and the next one and the next one and for years to come!). I never once doubted that I would love you just as much as I loved Lydia when she was our only child, and it has proven to be true. You are SO loved, little man! I am blessed to have you in my life and look forward to every minute to come.

I love you, Eli!

- Mommy

I'm so bummed because I'm becoming more convinced that Eli simply does not like being in a swing. The swing was SO nice with Lydia because she could hang out in it (happily) and then drift off to sleep when she was ready for a nap. It really helped me get a break once in awhile.

Thus far Eli has only had one decent nap in a swing. Beyond that, he tends to cry whenever I put him in it until I transfer him to his bouncy chair. I'm really hoping he still grows to enjoy swinging!

I always have high hopes of keeping up with my blog, but there always seems to be so much going on and so little time to write about it! So here's a brief update on our lives.

Lydia is doing great, but noticeably approaching the terrible twos. She tests limits constantly and we've had to introduce timeouts (which she seems to find amusing...) and spankings (which have only happened a couple of times). She usually stops the bad behavior after a warning, but the annoying part is that she gets a warning once or twice a day. A part of me feels like she should get warned if it has been several hours since she was told not to do something... she isn't even 2 yet afterall... but another part of me KNOWS that she is aware of what she is not allowed to do and perhaps enough is enough with the warnings. We're still learning around here.

Her speech continues to skyrocket and she is now using combinations of phrases (ex: "Where is the bear? Oh here it is. I found it.") She knows the appropriate response when asked what her name is and knows the sounds all of the letters make (except vowels). I get a running commentary of what she sees/does/wears/holds throughout the day, and she absolutely INSISTS that I say "Bless you, Lydia" any time she coughs or sneezes. She, of course, makes sure to tell Eli "Bless you" when he sneezes, as well as anyone else in the house. We've been working on counting with her and she quickly recognizes when there are two of something, but generally any quantity above one gets labeled as two or three.

As for Eli, he's still growing! I took him in for a follow-up appointment after he had an infection at his one month well check and he was 13 lbs at 5.5 weeks old! He is now almost 7 weeks old and I'm moving him into 3-6 month clothing already. He smiles a little bit, but it's much harder to get smiles out of him than it was with Lydia. But when he grins and coos at things it melts my heart. I love my little boy!

I've tried to get him on a semi-regular schedule, and he's doing okay with it, but he definitely has a mind of his own. I haven't quite been able to figure out his pattern (if there is one). He's eating 8 or 9 times a day - usually once or twice during the night. He does alright at night, sometimes going 4 or 5 hours between feedings, so I'm hopeful that I'll eventually sleep through the night again. It took Lydia until she was 3 months old, so here's hoping Eli will meet or beat that!

And... now I have to stop blogging because the boy wants to eat. See? This is why I can't blog anymore...

Today marked day 1 of our "new normal" around here. All of my family members are back at their respective homes and Brent was back at work. It was just me and the kids here all day. I admit the day did not pass tear-free. I had high hopes for at least a short nap after a rough night last night, and it was looking promising when I had Eli fed before Lydia went down and she didn't throw a fit about naptime. I was SO close to having Eli asleep in his bouncy chair and could see my nap on the horizon... but fate would not have it. Lydia slept well (got to give her credit there), but Eli continued to fight it. I'd get him so close to being out, or so I would think, and then his eyes would pop open, he'd start to squirm, and we'd be back to square one. Why oh why must kids fight sleep so much?!

This attempted sleep continued until it'd been a couple of hours since he last ate and I decided to give up and just feed him instead of fighting to get him to sleep. Brent was home for lunch by that point anyway, so I took the boy downstairs and fed him... and cried over my failed attempt at getting some rest. Of course, he eventually settled down and slept. Just in time for Lydia to wake up. *sigh* But his long nap did allow me some time with Lydia and a chance to get some laundry done.

All in all I feel we survived the start of our new normal okay. I know each day will come with new ups and downs, but such is the life of a parent. It's definitely feeling a little overwhelming and I still don't know how I will ever get much done, but ultimately I'm glad we are moving forward. It was SO nice to have the help I have had for the past 3 weeks. I can't thank my mom enough for all she did for us! But I think it will be good for us, Lydia especially, to get back to a sense of normalcy. It's got to be hard for a not-yet-two-year-old to adjust when things are still changing on her. Now I feel like we can get back to her routine and she can better adjust to life with her little brother.

At the same time, I do recall how quickly life with a baby changes. When Lydia was this little, I remember that as soon as I felt like we were at a point of calling something "normal" she would change and we'd be adjusting again. Eli will do the same thing to us. Before I know it he will have a completely different schedule and completely different needs than he has right now. I can hardly believe he's going to be a month old this weekend. Wasn't I just pregnant yesterday?? Oh how time flies...

So here's to our new normal... and the next normal after that, and the one after that, and the many more we have to come. I can't say life is boring anymore!

Life is definitely different with two kids, but I feel like it was all "normal" the instant we came home from the hospital. But maybe that's because it hasn't been too hard with all the extra help.

Brent has been off work since Eli was born until yesterday. My mom & dad came up this past weekend and Mom is staying all this week to help out. It is SO nice to have extra hands around to keep Lydia occupied while I tend to Eli. I'm a little nervous about how things will work out when it's just me with the two of them! It has also been helpful to have someone else around so I can get a break and get some extra sleep if needed. Most nights have been pretty good and Eli has often only been up once in the middle of the night to eat. It is great to only feed him once between 11pm and 7am, but I admit I wish the process was a little faster. It seemed Lydia was always a very quick eater - we'd be done within 15 or 20 minutes. But Eli takes his time more than she did. He'll get through half his meal in 15 minutes or so, then we'll have to do a diaper change (because he poops like a madman), then it's another 15 or 20 minutes of eating, finishing up with possibly another diaper change, burping, and trying to get him settled in. The entire process can easily take a one hour chunk out of my night. But I'm not complaining! I know it could be much much worse and I also know that he will likely get faster as he gets older.

Last Friday we had Eli's one week checkup. If I recall correctly, they mostly aim for babies to be at or a little past their birth weight at this appointment. My boy? He was up 10 ounces... weighing in at 9lb 8oz! The doctor even commented that he didn't need to ask me how feeding was going, he could tell! He was measured at 21 inches long... actually less than they had him down for at birth, but they guess that's due to cone-head. Either way he landed in the 90th percentile for both weight and length. 50th %ile for head size. Everything looked great at the checkup and the doctor kept saying he looked perfect. He's strong and has good reflexes. So fun to see him grow!

I'll be taking him to MOPS with me this week. Looking forward to showing him off and thankful that my mom will be here to stay with Lydia. So far Lydia has not made it through an entire MOPS meeting for the year. I always have to go get her before we are done. So I'm looking forward to sitting in there the whole time with my little man this week!

Before the memories get too foggy, I need to document my sweet Eli's birth story! So here goes...

As mentioned before, my 37 week checkup had me excited thinking that my son may arrive ahead of schedule. So naturally I was anxious to see the doctor on November 3rd for my 38 week appointment. I was really hoping we'd see lots of progress and have a better idea when he might make his debut. But try as I might not to be disappointed, I admit I was pretty bummed when my doctor said I was the same as I had been the week before. No more progress made despite the fact that I'd been having quite a few contractions that morning (strong, but 10-20 min apart and had stopped by late morning). The doctor did however offer me the option to induce that weekend (the 6th/7th) if I wanted to. It was the only time she would personally be available for the birth, otherwise I would have some other doctor in the practice.

I went home after the appointment and spent the rest of the morning into the afternoon stressing over this decision. It wasn't my first choice to get an induction, but with a toddler to deal with and my mother having a 3+ hour drive to get here, I was considering the option. I couldn't come up with a decision, and Brent thought we should go ahead and take the induction on the 6th, so ultimately I figured that would be the conclusion. I called my mom and coordinated with her under the assumption that we'd be telling my doctor to schedule me to be induced on Saturday.

The rest of the afternoon continued as usual until around 4:00 when I started to feel contractions again. This time they felt even stronger than they had that morning, but were still far apart. I sent a text to Brent & my mom just telling them fyi the contractions were back and around 9 min apart. No need to take action at that point, I thought. I tried to get up and keep busy around the house knowing that activity often slows down or stops false labor, but by 5:30 the contractions were ranging from 4 to 6 minutes apart and getting stronger. Fearing he'd be delivering this baby on the side of the road if we didn't act fast, Brent went into action mode. He ordered a pizza and called his sister while I went to take a shower (still wondering if this was truly the "real thing"). I then called my mom and told her we'd probably be heading to the hospital and she could either wait until we knew if we'd be admitted or could just start driving this way. She opted to hit the road!

We ate dinner, got Lydia fed, and packed up the remaining items to be brought with us to the hospital. I was driving Brent crazy by not hurrying as much as he wanted, but I was trying to make sure Lydia was set for the night and into the morning if necessary. We left the house around 6:30 with contractions still around 5 minutes apart and some of them quite painful (hard to talk through). Though these didn't seem to hurt my back as much as they did with Lydia.

After some difficulty getting to Labor & Delivery (lots of areas of the hospital under construction meant that we had to enter through Emergency and get taken on a long walk to the other side to get there) I was in triage by 7. The nurse went through a whole long list of questions and ultimately said she wasn't sure what the doctor would do if they didn't think I was in active labor yet. My chart had two due dates on it: November 13 (based on LMP) and November 5 (based on the ultrasound). Neither had been specified as the ultimate one to go by. But we were told that they could not legally induce labor before 39 weeks, meaning if I wasn't in active labor and the doctor went by the 13th as the due date I might get sent home. In the end that didn't matter much because when they checked me at 7:30 I was 3cm dilated. The doctor (Dr. Neuhoff) said that if I had been at 1 just that morning and was at 3 now, things were progressing and she would keep me there.

By 8:00 we were settled into a delivery room watching Survivor while the RN (Renee) continued to ask more questions and get IV's and monitors hooked up. They did not give me pitocin and said we would wait and see how things progressed on their own, especially after they break my water. The doctor was busy with another delivery, though, so we kept being told she'd be in to break my water soon and then it'd feel like we waited forever. Around 9:30 the anesthesiologist came in to see if I wanted an epidural. My plan had been to wait until after they broke my water since I wasn't in too much pain at this point, but the anesthesiologist said he was called down to help with surgery and wouldn't know when he might come back to L&D. Not particularly wanting to risk not being able to get the epi later, we had him go ahead and do it. The procedure seemed more uncomfortable than I remember it being the first time, but ultimately it did the job.

Just after that was done the doctor came in to check my progress and break my water. I was at 4cm at 9:35pm when that was done. Eli's head was in a position such that he was plugging the hole as they tried to break the water, so it took a little while but it finally broke and we continued on. Brent hooked up the laptop and we watched the movie Yes Man as we waited. At 11:50pm I was up to 6cm, and when checked at 1:45am was unfortunately still at 6. I'd been lying on my right side to watch the movie and they said Eli's head was in a bad position for dropping into place, so we switched to my left side and put my leg up to help him reposition. I was feeling the contractions a bit more due to the epidural meds pooling on my right side, but still didn't feel pressure to push at this point.

We decided to try to get some rest while we waited, and I might have dozed off for a brief minute here and there, but my blood pressure monitor kept going off and beeping until the nurse would come adjust it. The second or third time this happened (2:55am), the nurse was adjusting Eli's monitors when I started to feel pressure. I told Renee and she asked if I wanted her to check me again. I said she could if she wanted, not really feeling confident that I needed a check, but she immediately exclaimed that it was time, I was at 10! She hurried around the room constantly telling me "don't push... don't push..." It almost made me laugh because I wasn't feeling THAT urgent a need to push. In fact, I was slightly afraid they'd go to all the trouble to get ready to deliver and then see that it wasn't really time.

Less than 20 minutes later (3:11am) there were 4 or 5 doctors/nurses/med students at the end of my bed talking me through pushes. I still never felt the strong urge to push, but I knew how I needed to do it and did my best to get in 3 good pushes with each contraction. Three contractions and 7 minutes later, Eli Anthony arrived at 3:18am on Thursday November 4th! I heard them say he had the cord around his neck, but they quickly unwrapped it without a fuss. He was much more purple than Lydia had been (she was unusually pink for a newborn) and had some bruising on his head from how he'd had to shift to get into position, but he was perfect. Tears welled up when I heard his first little cries, but he didn't cry for long. They put him on my stomach to clean him up (where he promptly peed all over me), then we cuddled and nursed. This was when I knew my son would be ALL boy... he snuggled up against me eating... and farting! Yes, my son wasted no time getting around to peeing, eating, and farting. Haha!

He weighed in at a whopping 8lb 14oz. The doctor knew he was big and had even commented that she didn't want to go too far away because she wanted to know how big he was! He's tall too. They measured him at 21.5 inches and said he has big feet too! Going to be tall and strong like his daddy, I bet.

Being the middle of the night we didn't have too many visitors right away. Tom & Rita came in to hold the little guy, but that was it for then. It seemed to take forever for the nurses to finish everything they needed to do. Finally at 5:20am we were moved to our recovery room. More nurses reviewed necessary paper work with us (while we struggled to stay awake enough to at least nod like we were listening) and by around 6 we were attempting to get some rest. I still couldn't believe that not long before I'd been stressing over the option to induce and it didn't even matter. Eli had his own agenda!

We only stayed in the hospital one more night and headed home Friday evening. Lydia had not been very enthusiastic about seeing Mommy in the hospital and I was anxious to get home to be with her and adjusting to life with our new little man.

Nine months of waiting (more if you count the time trying to get pregnant) all wraps up with 7 minutes of pushing and the first sweet cries of my firstborn son. It seems funny how quickly things can change. The waiting seems eternal and then in a flash it is done.

Eli is 11 days old today and I have loved every bit of it thus far. He is SUCH a good baby! He eats well and sleeps well and hardly ever cries. I can already tell that he is laid back. Lydia took a little bit of time to warm up to him, but she loves him now and gives him plenty of kisses. I am so in love with my family of four!

Eli - Words can't express how happy I am to have you in my life. It is such a joy to hold you in my arms at last. I love looking into your bright eyes when you are awake, and watching you peacefully sleep too. You are going to be a spectacular little man, I can already tell. Though the time is already flying by faster than I'd like, I'm so excited to watch you grow. I love you SO much! Welcome home, little buddy.

Just had my 37-weeks-and-2-days doctor appointment this morning and things are looking good! First of all the scale this week lied to me (in a good way) and said I'm only at 157lbs (less than 40 up from starting weight), but that's about 4lbs less than last week so I know it is lying haha. With Lydia I ended at 169 though, so I do think I'll manage to stay under that this time around. I did not get to see my regular doctor because she is out this week, so I am trying to keep in mind that different doctors may say different things and not to get too caught up in what I was told. But regardless, this doctor said I am currently at "a good 1cm", 80% effaced, baby's head is nice and low, and the cervix is nice and soft. I talked to her some about the possibility of scheduling an induction if he hasn't come by his due date and her response was something along the lines of, "There's no way you are going past your due date." Ha!

Honestly I hate it when doctors say things like that because I know that it still may not be true... and I hate to get my hopes up or anyone else's hopes up! But she said it, so there we go. It's in my head now. She said she was pretty convinced that I will go into labor on my own. But again, can one really know THAT well? As always, only time will tell.

It is exciting, though, to think that Eli's arrival could be a little sooner than later. I'm looking forward to meeting him and experiencing what it is like to have a son. I'm looking forward to hearing those sweet baby cries again, holding a sleeping little one, seeing how Lydia reacts to him, and just getting to know another of these little miracles. I've been busily preparing as much as I can around the house. Most of the baby equipment has been cleaned up and moved into Eli's room until he arrives. I've got the spare freezer stocked up with frozen pizzas and other quick meals so resting and getting to know our boy can take priority over having to cook dinner. And I am *trying* to get the house relatively clean so I don't feel so bad about letting it go for a couple of weeks post-baby. The biggest things that are not done are the little keepsake things I want to have - his baby blanket (which I've already decided will not be finished until after his birth - sorry Eli!), his baby book, some scrapbooks that are in progress, etc. But these are nice-to-haves, not things that I need done before his arrival. However, there are still things to be done so I really should get off the computer and do them. It's much harder to prepare for a new baby with a toddler to tend to, so naptimes are crucial!

I'm so horrible at making myself sit down and write what's going on in our life. Do I say that every time I post? Probably.

As of yesterday I am full-term with the pregnancy (37 weeks). I'm excited for the day of Eli's arrival, but at the same time feel very at peace about when he decides to make his debut. I am enjoying life as it is now, understanding that change is coming, and will be fine if it is another 3 weeks before my son is ready. At the same time, I would be just as thrilled if he wanted to show up tomorrow! I've been bad about posting little details of this pregnancy, but have one I wanted to be sure to write down. A few days ago we were relaxing and watching TV while Eli danced around in my belly. Usually I am not good at differentiating between body parts (his elbow as opposed to his heal, for example), but that night I was poking at him and could very clearly feel his sweet little baby foot. Looking forward to kissing on that tiny foot next month!

At my last OB appointment I was showing no signs of progression towards labor yet. My next appointment is tomorrow (on weekly visits now) so we'll see if anything has changed. I have felt a few Braxton Hicks contractions (I think... I never had them with Lydia), but nothing substantial. I am not at the point of counting on him staying in there until his due date, but also not convinced he will certainly come early. All we do now is wait and try not to schedule anything too important in the coming weeks.

Lydia continues to do well, growing and learning as always. She gets better by the day at speaking in sentances, though the words are still sometimes out of order. She is a fantastic little helper and does well picking up her toys when we are done with them and following directions. I'm sure if I was not expecting a baby in less than a month we could be successfully potty training. She will talk about the potty and has started to put her toys on the potty for them to use it. But alas, I still don't want to be dealing with all of it when I have a newborn, so we will wait. Good thing I continue to get cheap/free diapers with my couponing. :)

Well... technically 33 weeks 4 days... but who's really counting?

I am beginning to remember why the end of pregnancy is very not fun. As Eli grows and grows, my body is starting to feel the effects. If I'm standing up or walking around for any length of time my back, hips, and legs begin to ache. I guess an extra 40 pounds will do that to you. This wasn't such an issue last pregnancy because I could basically sit and rest whenever I needed to, but with Lydia it is much harder. She is constantly begging me to get up and dance, jump, spin, run, etc and she really doesn't understand that mommy needs to rest sometimes. I wish we could find more sit-down activities that she enjoys.

The heartburn has kicked up a notch too. I've relocated to a couch to sleep at night so I can prop myself up better, but I have to be super careful what I eat in the evening or I may regret it. Between that and how much Eli wiggles around in my belly, sleep is getting hard to come by. Often I am up every couple of hours. I suppose I could say this is just preparation for when Eli gets here, but lack of sleep isn't really something I like to prep for!

But really, I don't mean to complain. I know that all of this has a beautiful end result that is completely worth it, and I do not take that for granted. I'm so excited to see and hold my little boy! On a lighter note, we continue to make progress preparing for his arrival. He has a good supply of clothes washed and put away in his room along with clean bedding to welcome him home. Brent is almost done with decorating the new nursery then all that's left is to clean up the baby equipment that's been stored in the basement since Lydia used it.

Mom & my mother-in-law are both still thinking Eli will end up being an October baby. As long as he is healthy, I would not be opposed to this!

When I was showering on Friday I noticed a small line of what looked like bug bites under my left arm. I didn't think much of it until that night when my back was itching and Brent saw I had a cluster of around 14 more bumps on the left side of my back. We assumed they were bug bites until I did some research on Sunday night and found that rashes in pregnancy are not only common, but something that should be discussed with your doctor.

So yesterday (Monday) I called my OB and went in to have her look at the rash. I was expecting to hear it was something pregnancy related, so I was surprised when she told me it looked like shingles! I know some people who have had shingles and it was NOT fun for them. The doctor said I am more susceptible to them because of the pregnancy & subsequent compromised immune system. She actually said I was the third case she's seen recently.

Now I'm on medication for the next 10 days to help get rid of it and trying my best not to scratch my back despite the constant itch. It's so funny to me to see the various differences in pregnancies. With Lydia we had several scares that resulted in a lot of stress at the start, but not a whole lot of physical ailments for me personally. With Eli I've already had two illnesses that I've never had before: sinus infection and shingles. Let's hope this is the end of it... less than 8 weeks to go!

With less than 2 months to go until his due date, Eli and I are doing great. I'm still feeling really good with the only complaints being some aches and heartburn at night (oh and the getting up to pee a lot). Eli moves a ton but not in such a way that it is uncomfortable for me often. He stays out of my ribs and only occasionally uses my hip as a punching toy.

Had my latest checkup today and all is going well. I'm still measuring big, but only by a couple of weeks this time. I was that way with Lydia too (I'm short... there's only one direction for the baby to go...) so I'm not too worried anymore. The doctor estimates he will be in the 8lb range. I can handle that. My weight was also better than I expected. 154 lbs. That's up 33 from my first weigh-in at the doc's office. With Lydia I gained almost 50, so I'm quite pleased with 33. 8ish more weeks to go, so even at a pound a week I shouldn't end much more than 40 pounds up from the start. Not bad if you ask me.

Eli's room continues to come together. All of the base painting is done with just a decorative tree left to be painted. Today I bought the letters to spell out his name on the wall. So besides the tree, we just need to buy/install curtains, buy picture frames, and print out the pictures (images from his bedding) to put in the frames to go on the walls. I've been doing occasional loads of laundry to get clothing ready for his first few months and am looking forward to organizing it all now that the furniture is arranged.

It still seems so unbelievable that I'm going to have a son in a couple of months. What a wonderful Thanksgiving I have to look forward to this year! So much to be thankful for... hopefully including a healthy little boy in my arms.

I know I probably say this in pretty much every blog post, but things seem so busy these days and I find it hard to remember to stop and write it down. I can't believe it is September already! Here are some updates on the kiddos:

Lydia

18 months old now and getting smarter by the minute. I was asked the other day how many words I thought she says now and I guessed around 100. Today I decided to try to make a list and made myself stop after passing 250. So the real number is probably somewhere between 250 and 300, and these are words she actively says without us having to say them first. There's no way I'm going to try to add to the total with words she won't say unless we say them first or words that she clearly understands. Within the past week or so she has also become more and more confident with using multiple words together and forming small sentances. Mostly these consist of "Bye-bye {insert person/object here}" or "All done {insert item here}", but there are a few others that pop up here and there in her daily chatter.

At her 18 month doctor checkup I loved seeing the doctor's reaction to all that Lydia knows. Especially the face she made when I said Lydia already knows most of the alphabet! She now recognizes all of the letters and only has slight hang-ups on a couple of them (such as, sometimes "C" starts out as "G" and we have to correct her before she will say it properly). She's getting much better at colors now too and frequently points out orange, purple, pink, and green objects... which I find funny since blue used to be the one she assigned to everything, but now she seems to ignore blue things.

Sleeping, eating, playing... Lydia does them all well and she is a complete joy to watch. She continues to be on the go constantly. My mom, Brent's mom, and I all took her to the butterfly house last weekend and it was nearly impossible to get a picture of Lydia because she wouldn't stop even for a second! She just ran around saying "buh-FLY!" As she is getting older and gaining more independence, we are starting to see her testing her limits a bit more than she used to. I hate punishing her and wish she would go back to just listening right away (and don't get me wrong, she is a GREAT kid and obeys very well), but sometimes she pushes it too far and gets a hand slap for touching things she was told not to touch. But like I said, in general she is very obedient and loves to help clean up, do laundry, or other small tasks I set her on.

Potty training is sadly on hold right now. I was hoping to be getting a good start in these coming weeks, but Lydia decided she was going to get some sort of stomach... something... and be pooping like crazy. We even got to the point of being told to bring a sample in to the doc's office so they can check for bacteria, but as soon as they requested this Lydia has seemed much better (this was just 2 days ago). But there's no way I was going to attempt potty training a child that is pooping out some nasty stuff 5 times a day. So for now we are waiting for her system to get back to normal and will go from there. Still hoping we'll give it a go at some point this month.

As a final note on Lydia's life at the moment, I am getting excited to see her as a big sister. I really think, and hope, that she is going to absolutely love Eli. We talk about him all the time already and I try my best to convey the idea that he is a baby and will be here soon. She loves to give kisses and hugs to my belly and will smile and say "Eye-Yeye" (Eli) whenever she notices my belly or even sees baby boy clothing around. Can't wait to see my two little ones interacting!


Eli

Pregnancy week 30 is just on the horizon. So far things continue to be going along smoothly. If I remember correctly, I seem to recall being a lot more uncomfortable at this point with Lydia. My only complaints right now are heartburn and aches at night, but those are pretty minor irritations.

I had my most recent doctor appointment at about 28 weeks along and she said I was measuring 33 weeks! Yikes! I know those measurements can be off by quite a bit, and that I measured big the whole time with Lydia too, but now I'm slightly nervous that I'm cooking a 10-pounder here. Perhaps this will just mean he will arrive a little sooner. Mom is predicting a halloween baby... so we'll see! I also took my glucose test at that time and sadly failed the 1 hour test. This meant I had to go back in for a 3 hour test where I would get my blood drawn 4 different times and checked for glucose tolerance. While it was an annoying way to spend a Saturday morning, I did get a lot of work done on Eli's blanket while sitting around for over 3 hours, and I passed this time so no need for a special diet.

We finally got started painting the nursery this past weekend. And by "we" I mean Brent and my dad. My parents were here last weekend and Dad helped Brent with Eli's room while Mom & I were at the butterfly house. The walls are slated to have tan and green, so the tan was started and finished on Saturday. This coming Saturday we'll be working on the green, then Brent plans to paint a tree in one corner of the room. So excited to see his room come together!

Eli at 26 weeks 2 days