Eli's Two Months Old!

Can you believe it! Eli is already 2 months old! Time sure does fly by! He is getting so big! I can't believe how much he has changed in the past couple of weeks. He is smiling more and more. He squeels, and 'talks' a lot. He is especially happy in the mornings. He's been getting up around 4 or 5, then he goes back to sleep and gets up around 7 or 8. When I keep him on a good schedule he does better. We've been spending a lot of time playing on the floor. He like to lay on the big blanket great grandma got him and we play with his toys.

This is the toy that I have chosen for him to love :) It is the softest, cutest little bunny rabbit, and I am really hoping that he likes it as he grows older. I'm only moderately forcing it on him... :)

These are some pictures taken from today. Look at how cute he is when he smiles!! It is amazing, however, how quickly he goes from smiling...

To frowning...

To screaming, all in a matter of seconds. The funny thing is, he's cute no matter what face he's making :)

Eli is doing so well. He holds his head up better and better every day. Yesterday I put him in a 'bumbo' seat, which is a seat that helps kids sit before they are able to sit...anyway, he did pretty good. I had to hold his head steady a little bit, but he's not too far off from sitting in it on his own. He also spent his first night last night in his own room. Mom and dad have their room back!! He did really well (and so did I...I was worried I wouldn't hear him, and I did. Apparently 10 feet isn't really that far for noise to travel...) He also sat with us in his high chair at the dinner table tonight. We can now sit at dinner as a family.

He's really good at focusing in on things and following them. He watches his dad a lot when I'm holding him, and follows him with his eyes wherever he goes.

It's been such a fun 2 months. Hard at times, for sure, but amazing at the same time. I must be honest, though....it's MUCH easier, now that he smiles :)

Eli's First Christmas

I am so far behind! I am just now writing about Christmas, so it will be an abreviated version...
We had a wonderful holiday. We spend the Sunday before Christmas with the Melendez family. It was a nice time being together. Mom did a neat thing with Katie, and told the story of Jesus. Every part in the story had an ornament to go along with it, so Katie would put the ornament on the tree after reading a verse. It was a very cool way to remember Jesus.
Katie also passed out the Christmas gifts...except for the ones too heavy for her to move :)

And she got some gifts of her own.

It was such a nice time together. Mom had made a turkey and some rice, and we had a meal together before opening gifts. She also had a Hanukah table set up, as it was the first day of Hanukah. Eric and Leilani explained the significance of the celebration, and I think we all learned something new.

The next day Edgar, Eli, and I headed off to Michigan to be with the McGregor family.

We arrived a couple of days before Christmas, and we were able to settle in before everyone got there. Mom had 21 people at her house! I can't believe she didn't go crazy. The adults celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, which was SO nice. It was a nice quite evening, and we were able to enjoy being with one another. The kids were in bed, and we could open gifts and talk without having to 'worry' about them.

Chritmas morning came, and Eli was dressed and ready to go...except I don't think he liked his outfit :)

He finally settled down, and slept through most of the chaos that followed. When you have 9 grandkids opening gifts, it is sure to be crazy...and it certainly was!

I couldn't help but put this picture in...Julean got the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwhich this year (only the McGregor's could have a tradition like this...) He loved it, and ate it right away! On Christmas day we also went up to see Grandpa Tuinstra. All of the kids sang to him and he opened his gifts. He seems to be doing SO well! It was good to see him.

After Christmas day was over we all enjoyed spending time in Michigan. This is Eli's cousin, Adriana. She's got a new brother on the way! She looks like she's ready :)

Christmas day also brought the sad news that Edgar's grandmother passed away. It is hard to imagine that she is really gone. The last time I saw her was at Thanksgiving, and she seemed so healthy and full of life. She is now worshiping with our Saviour in Heaven.

Edgar went home to be with his family and go to the funeral. I wasn't able to go, but wished I could be there.

The week that followed was hard to be away from Edgar, but so good to be with family. I enjoyed Michigan so much, and always look forward to our Christmas visit each year.

Eli's Room

We have finally finished Eli's room...well...mostly. We are waiting on a couple of pictures of him, but for the most part it's done. I'm posting some pictures of the room, so you can see how it turned out. I'm really happy with it--I LOVE the baseball pictures, and I think Edgar did a really good job getting everything up-especially the bat.
The 'Simply Adorable' above the crib is something mom & dad got for Eli. It looks SO cute above his crib. Mom and I put it up while they were here...we nearly wrecked it...but we got it up :) Mom and dad also got Eli the mobile. It is a really neat one--it plays music, AND it has lights that shine up in the white 'lamp shade' thing. Eli loves to look at it when it is dark in the room. The daybed is finished too. Mom made the quilt and some of the pillows. I made a couple of the pillows too. It turned out EXACTLY like I wanted it to.

This is the armoire. I love the basebally piggy bank :) A friend of ours got it for Eli. The picture below it shows the black and white baseball pictures I got out of a book. They look SO cool above the window. Mom is making curtains for the window, so those should be up after we see them over Christmas.

This is the wall next to the closet. I love how this turned out. I'm not exactly sure how Edgar got the bat to hang there, but I think it looks cool.

Yesterday we went to Eliott & Krista's house for Eliotts birthday. These are a few pictures from that.

The grandparents with their grandkids :) (I think Eli's mad that he can't have any cake...)

I thought this picture was so cute of Eli and Katie. She just loved looking at him, and kept wanting to touch his hands :) She was pretty sweet with him.

This final video is just a video I took. It's nothing spectacular, but if you're like me, you'll like just watching Eli move around :)

Eli's One Month Old!

Well, we've made it a month! I can't believe how quickly it has gone by! I also can't believe how much Eli has changed. It seems like every day there is something new I discover about him. It is fun (and sometimes frustrating...) figuring him out. He's doing SO good. He has been sleeping so well at night, and today ate every 3 hours like clockwork. We take him to the doctor's office on Friday to get his one month check-up and to get the second Hep-B shot. He'll get measured and weighed, so we will see how he is progressing. He doesn't seem to lack in appetite, so I am sure it will be a good visit :) In fact, the only problem I have nursing is that he gets mad when the milk isn't coming fast enough :)

The photos below are pictures taken on day 1 and today...I didn't get the exact same pose...but I think it is neat to see how his face has filled out. His hands look different too :) He's really so alert and strong.

We went to church for the first time on the 30th of November. Eli did so good. He slept through the whole sermon (sorry Lou...). Jennifer helped me hold him (yes...he's getting heavy!) and, though the sermon was fantastic, I couldn't help but be distracted by him, just looking at him (again...sorry Lou) I was a bit emotional as I sang, thinking of all of the Sundays I sang on the worship team when I was pregnant, and taking communion with him in my arms was amazing. I can't believe I finally get to take my baby to church!

We did go to church again on the 7th, and he did good again...but he did have to be taken out during the sermon (sorry Eric... :) ) Ryan was quick to volunteer to take him, so I got a chance to listen to the sermon while Ryan walked him around in the other building. Edgar went out to relieve Ryan after a few minutes...so 'the boys' took care of him :)
The next picture is one of Eli right after his first 'real' bath. (Love the towel Renae!) He LOVES his bath. He gets in the water and completely enjoys it. (Pees everywher...but enjoys it...) In fact, on nights when he's really fussy we give him a bath and it calms him right down. Unfortunately he's starting to get mad when I take him out...so the crying starts after he comes out...oh well...at least he's clean, right?

Edgar has been such a huge help. He seems to be there to take Eli right when I need him. He's learning to juggle a baby AND a pacifier at the same time :) Overall it has been an amazing month. There have been many times when I hold Eli and he is falling asleep in my arms that I just stare at him in amazement that he is mine. He's starting to smile a little bit, which is very fun. Yesterday I had to teach a class, and Jenifer watched him. When I came home as soon as he heard me he smiled...it was so cute...and exactly what I needed :) It is nice to know that he likes me :)

Thanksgiving Week

We've had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Edgar was just commenting this morning on how blessed we are, and how good we really have it :) November's been a very good month for us. We spent Sunday the 23rd at Edgar's grandparent's house. The picture above is his grandparents--Francisco is holding Eli Francisco :) It was a very nice afternoon. Edgar's mom cooked an amazing feast, and we had a great time with family. Eli was a big hit, of course, though he slept most of the time. When he did wake up, he wasn't super happy, but he did really well during picture time.
On Tuesday I went to see my doctor, and she said that everything is healing really well. I asked her when I could start running again, and she said I could start now! Of course, since I can't even walk a mile yet, I think running is a little far off, but it's good to know I can start working toward that. I have already lost 20 pounds, which is exciting. I have quite a few more to go, but at least I've got a good start :)
Thanksgiving day was spent at Ryan and Jennifer's, though we did go back to Edgar's grandparent's house for a quick visit--it was their anniversary. Once we got to Ryan's house we had a relaxing day of eating and hanging out. Jennifer did an amazing job on dinner, and I now refuse to believe that she doesn't cook. Everything was fabulous. My favorite? The corn casserole. I just finished off the last of our leftovers, and am kind of wishing I took more :)
After dinner we went for a walk with the kids--including Eli (He seems to really love his stroller. I can't wait to try running with it!) We walked just over a half mile, which is frankly, about as far as I can go on a full stomach...I'm going to try for a mile today...slowly, but surely, right?!
After the walk we had dessert and coffee, and had a highly entertaining time watching Ben & Carly sing with the Karaoke machine. I was laughing so hard Edgar had to take Eli.
We came home and put Eli to bed. He is doing so good at night. He eats about every 3 hours during the night--sometimes he'll go longer. The only problem seems to be he has an extremely wet diaper at about 3 am, and for the past 3 nights in a row I have had to completely change his pj's in the middle of the night. Now I'm barely awake when I dress him in the morning, let alone at 3:30 in the morning. I am hoping the trend changes...I'm going to try and help the trend change by maybe getting some more absorbent diapers :) This morning at 4 am when I was putting new pj's on him, I did notice, however, that his umbilical chord was gone. I have no idea where it went--I looked through his pack 'n play, and through his pj's, but it's not there. It must have been in his diaper. I'll be glad to give him a 'real' bath tomorrow, and not have to worry about getting that wet.
Here's a picture of what his bellybutton actually looks like :)

This morning Edgar dressed Eli, and he promptly proceeded to poop right through all of his clothes, so we redressed him...again (yes, that's 4 outfits in 4 hours...yup, I'm doing laundry today) I thought this outfit was pretty cute. It's a 0-3 month outfit, so it's a little big, but I LOVE the red on him. I think he looks really cute in darker colors. And check it out! He's sitting up on his own! (Just ignore the pillow propping him up :) )

Believe it or not, there are some things going on in our lives other than Eli :) Today Edgar is out shopping for a new car. Hopefully we will have a new car by the end of the day. My car is...well...Edgar doesn't like it, it doesn't get very good gas mileage, things are starting to wrong with it...and the biggest issue is, the stroller doesn't fit in the trunk. So we are buying a fuel efficient car for Edgar to drive to work, and I am going to take over his Honda. I'm excited to get the new car, even though I won't get to drive it much. It will be nice to have 2 very reliable vehicles. We also got our laptop in the mail today. I'm SO excited to have this! Now I won't be confined to the office when I am doing my work for my classes I teach. We also got a new vacuum today (Feels like Christmas today!) Edgar got it out of the box and vacuumed all of the carpet in the house. He was pretty excited to have the carpets cleaned.

Once we actually get the car home, I'll be sure to send pictures.

Anyway, that's what's going on with us. Hopefully everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

On our own...well...sort of :)

Well, mom and dad have left, and now Edgar and I are 'home alone' with Eli. Fortunately for us, our family here in Florida is sure to swing by often--which I am very thankful for. Right after mom and dad left Eli ate and took a nap, and I was watching him sleep, and noticed for the first time how fast he was breathing, and I suddenly realized how many questions I have for my mom :) Fortunately Jennifer assured me it is very normal for a baby to breath faster than an adult.

These past 10 days have been so much fun--exhausting, but fun. I have loved getting to know my son, and still can't believe he's mine. (well...he's Edgar's too :) ) I still get teary eyed everytime I think about the fact that he gets to stay with me. He's just so beautiful. I'm pretty sure my hormones are running rampant, however, and I will probably stop being so mushy soon (yes...I am crying while I write all this...hormones are exhausting!)

Eli is getting big so fast! I can tell he has gained weight--soon I will be needing pillows or a bopy to prop him up while I nurse him. His face has filled out nicely, and I secretly think he is looking more like a McGregor all of the time (although now the secret is out...) Don't get me wrong, there is no denying he is Edgar's son...but I think he's got a little McGregor in him too :) He is really quite strong as well. He holds his head up so well! And I swear when I put him on his belly he nearly pushes himself over. I'm sure that won't happen for a while, but he really pushes with his arms. He's so cute when he's awake. He seems very alert, and looks at everything. I put a video at the end of the blog of him watching the mobile dad and mom got for him. I love watching him watch it. The video is kind of long...sorry, but if you have 2 minutes, you might enjoy it :)

The nursery is still a work in progress. Mom made the pillows for the 'day bed' and we put up a 'rubbing' on the wall (is that what you would call it?) Edgar and I are going to get the pictures hung this weekend, and hopefully have it all put together. I will post pictures as soon as it is done.

I'm putting a few pictures on the blog, and will send more on the Kodak site. Enjoy my beautiful baby boy!

One more update! I tried to send this yesterday, and it wouldn't send...so it's now Friday, and we just got back from the doctor's office. Eli now weighs 8 lbs exactly--which means he gained 12 oz in one week--my boy can eat!

Abuela & Abuelo came to visit on Sunday along with Eliud, Krista, Katie & LeilaniCarly helping me get Eli dressed.On Friday we went to the doctor's office for his first check-up, so we gave him a bath--this was my first attempt at giving him a bath...a little scary.Dr. Yee checking Eli out. Everything looks good! He's already gained 4 oz!After the doctor's offuce we went to Cracker Barrrel.Today Eli was playing on his playmat, and was just staring at himself. It was pretty cute :)

Ok...so I can't get the video to upload for some reason...I'll try again another time.

Eli has arrived!!!

Eli has come home! We are so excited to finally have him here. I am pretty sure he is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. I'm so amazed at how perfect he is! I love just sitting there and staring at him :) For those of you that don't know, he arrived Monday morning (the 10th) at 9:34 am. He was 7 lb 7 oz, and 21 inches long. Labor was not at all what I had planned...we went in to the hospital to get checked because I was concerned that my water had broke. They admitted us, and started us on Pitocin. I had that from noon until 6pm, and got to experience some fabulous contractions. They took me off the pitocin and were going to keep me off of it for the night, and give me a different drug overnight to see if it would help labor get going. Well...right before they were about to give it to me, my water broke completely (a very odd feeling, I must say...) So we continued laboring through the night, rather than 'taking a break' like the doctor had planned. At this point, I was exhausted. I hadn't really slept for the past 2 nights, and I hadn't eaten all day...so I decided I didn't think I could labor all night and then push out a baby that was potentially very big, and was up really high. I knew I would be pushing for a while, so I decided on an Epidural...the one thing I vowed I would never get :) It was about the scariest thing I've ever experienced. I was shaking so bad, but once it got in, I felt nothing. In fact, I slept through the night while I labored. The nurse came in every hour or two to check on me, and that woke me up, but I went right back to sleep. They put me back on pitocin right after they started the epidural, but Eli was not responding well to it. His heart rate would drop pretty low, so they took me off the pitocin at 1 am, but I continued on with labor just fine (though I felt none of it) In fact, at 5 I was dilated 5 cm, and at 6 I was dilated 10...(yup...slept through that). The baby was still up pretty high at 6, so they tried to get him to move down for about 45 more minutes by changing my position often. At 6:45 I started to push, and pushed until 8:30. At that point the dcotor was getting concerned because his heart rate continued to drop during contractions, but then would shoot up to 190 or 200 in between. They said I would probably need a C-section. I asked if I could push for a little while longer. I really wanted to try to push him out. I pushed like mad until 9:00 (really trying to avoid the C-Section) and he made some progress, but not enough. His heart rate was still doing the same thing, and then I got a fever of 102...and the pushing was done. We had to have a C-Section. I was pretty upset, but Edgar was right there, and was very encouraging. He made the final decision, which was a blessing, because I really didn't want to. They increased my epidural, and delivered Eli. He cried as soon as he was out. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard!!! I didn't get to see him right away, because they were concerned about his heart rate, and thought he might have a fever, so they took him right over and examined him. Edgar went over and took some pictures, and came over and showed them to me. Eli was running a very low fever-not high enough for him to have to go to the NICU, so they brought him over and I held him while they stiched me up. Edgar was right there the whole time. It was one of the most precious moments in my life. Once I was stiched up, they took us to recovery, and then to our room. My fever came down right away, so we were in our room by noon. Eli stayed with us the whole time.

My mom and dad arrived that evening, and we had visitors throughout the day. It was so fun to show him off!!! We stayed in the hospital until Wednesday morning, and are now home. We basically just stare at this beautiful baby all day :) He is so content, and is doing so good. He is nursing really well, and is SO alert when he is awake. I've put a few picutres on, and there is a video at the end of his first bath. If you want more pictures, let me know. I am going to upload them to the Kodak site, and I can send you the link. I will try and keep you updated!This is Eli AND Edgar's first diaper change. I thought these pictures were hilarious. Daddy reading to Eli :)Finally home!