Say It Isn't Snow....

Just kidding! I love that it snowed again! We got an inch of ice, made up first of freezing rain, and then sleet, finally turning into a solid, frozen mess. After a few hours of this, it finally starting snowing. This is a record breaking winter for Oklahoma, we got five inches of snow on Thursday! This storm was much different than the blizzard we had last month. The snow falling was calm and peaceful, actually beautiful. I loved being able to see each little individual snowflake, as opposed to a blurry winter blizzard.

I don't mind the bad weather. They were predicting it was going to be worse than it actually was. Everyone was heading out to the stores to stock up on non-perishable foods the day before the storm. I bought a few candles in case the power went out, but we already had plenty of food. I was so glad our power didn't go out during the storm. I am also lucky because my job is always were I am, so I don't have to leave the house to go to work. Good thing, because I don't like driving in any weather disaster.

JR shoveled the driveway on Saturday morning. It wasn't as hard to shovel as last storm. A few reasons, it wasn't as cold this time so the ice didn't freeze as much, there weren't any snow drifts either. He also shoveled the neighbors driveway (how nice). She has been working long hours and also got trapped at work for a few days, so we helped her out. Eli and I also took care of her dog for a few days, he enjoyed that! The dog, not Eli. Eli seems to be a bit scared of dogs. I kind of forgot that fact when I went over there one day to let him out of the kennel, and Eli was standing about 10 feet away from the dog when I let him out. Sammy, the dog, headed over to Eli and Eli immediately started crying. Woops!

I got Eli all bundled up after his nap and we headed outside. It was going well at first, but he didn't want to keep his gloves on. He loved the snow so much more than just a month ago. And this time he noticed the ice too! That's why he didn't want to keep his gloves on, he couldn't pick up the ice. Once he picked it up, he HAD to taste it. Yup, he loved it! I thought maybe we'd be able to make a snowman, but Eli's hands were starting to hurt from holding the ice, so I took it from him. BIG MISTAKE. He started to have a fit, so I gave it back to him. But this wasn't good enough, he was still crying. I mean, snot dripping, tears streaming down your face crying, after only a minute! We went inside for a few minutes, to regroup. He was still mad inside. He calmed down for a few minutes so we went back out, but it started all over again. We came back in right away and this made him even madder! He cried for another 10 minutes after we came back in. So I scooped him up and we sat on the bean bag chair for a few to calm down. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. That tantrum really wiped him out!

After he calmed down, I told him we would go out again tomorrow. And we did, we all did this time. JR and I took turns pulling him around in the "sled". It's actually the laundry basket, but it works. He did much better this time, but the cold got to us. Actually, his nose started bleeding a little since the air was so cold. And we went back in. We weren't even out for very long, but it was cold enough. Poor little guy.

Will we get snow again? Is Oklahoma going for the hat trick this winter? Stay tuned!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Making Time for Myself Again....

I was thinking last night how good it feels to be making time for myself again. I knew that having a baby meant giving up some things, like going to the movies, eating out a lot, missing out on sleep. But I didn't really think about the small things, like painting my nails and my toes. In fact, these two things got placed so far down on the list, it took the power going out at night for a few hours for me to actually do them! Yup, painting my nails by candlelight.
So with the new year, one of my resolutions was to start eating better and exercising. This is actually the only resolution that I have kept, which is amazing! I am really proud of myself because I am working out at least every other day, with usually an extra day thrown in there. So 3-4 times a week! I am also proud, since I am doing these workouts during Eli's naps. And all I usually want to do when Eli finally goes down is sit on my butt! But there is no way that I can workout while he is awake, he would not leave me alone.
After almost 4 weeks of working out, I am starting to notice a difference. I can almost get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans! I know they will never fit quite the same, since my hips spread out a little, but it will feel nice to get them back on. Especially since they are a $70 pair of jeans!
It feels nice to be making time for myself again!

My Nursing Career is Officially Over ( Some photos, not graphic)

I always knew even before I became pregnant, that breastfeeding would be the way I would go. With so many great benefits, immunities, nutrients, a way to bond with your baby, and not to mention, absolutely free--you can't beat it! After I became pregnant, I decided that I would breastfeed my baby for a year, at least.

During the pregnancy I read up on it as much as I could. JR and I even went to a breastfeeding class hosted by the hospital. It was very helpful and she even recommended a few books on the subject. I settled on one and read it thoroughly--even highlighting information I thought I would need when it came time.

Towards the end, I packed my bag for the hospital and threw the book in there too! After all, I would be nursing Eli for the first time in the hospital. What if I needed to reference the book?

With all the information in the book, also came the advice not to give babies anything but the breast for absolute success! I listened to this advice and decided I wouldn't give Eli a pacifier for at least a few weeks so that he wouldn't get "confused" between the nipples. I also made a sign that said something like "I am learning to breastfeed, please do not give me anything without my mommy's permission." and gave it to the nurses. I felt a little silly, but I was determined.

Within 20-30 minutes of Eli's birth, I was asking the nurse when I could nurse him. They were very encouraging and even showed me how to get him to latch on and different positions. Thankfully I still remembered some advice we got from the class and all my reading. I didn't have any trouble the first time. In fact, it went really well and Eli ate eagerly, haha! JR and I enjoyed our new baby, just the three of us, for the first hour of his life. After our family came to see him, he seemed to be hungry again. Everyone stepped out to grab some food or make calls or whatever, and I started to nurse Eli again. But this time, he got tangled up a little in my awkwardness, all those stupid cords they have attached to you! I called the nurse in to rescue me and Eli and she repositioned him. All I have to say is, once you get to the hospital, it seems you have to throw your modesty out the window!

Everything went fine at the hospital. I did agree to let the doctor give Eli a little sugar water for his circumcision. It makes them feel a little better while they do the procedure, so I agreed. Through teary eyes, they took him away. He slept for about 4 hours after that, and I started to panic because I hadn't nursed him in awhile. I was afraid my milk wasn't going to come in if I missed a feeding. We tried and tried to get him awake, looking through the book for advice, nothing worked. So I called the nurse in to help. She got him latched on, but he didn't eat well. I guess he was exhausted from the procedure. They gave us a sheet to record all his feedings, pees and poops! He was doing really well. Eating every two hours (at least) and going through tons of diapers! That part I felt confident in.

It was hard in the beginning. Somewhat uncomfortable, especially when my milk came in. Holy moly! That part was extremely painful and I was relieved it only lasted for about a day. The worst part about nursing for the first time is the uncertainty. I never knew if he was getting enough, because he always seemed hungry. So then I began to doubt myself. Maybe I was doing something wrong? I saved some postings to a mother's help website during those first few weeks. Here they are:

This was on October 22nd, he was two weeks old!
Lazy/Rester Breastfeeder, help

Hello everyone,
My little guy is 2 weeks old today, some days I feel confident the breastfeeding is going well. He certainly poops and pees the required amount (and then some) and he is gaining weight. However, I feed him for about 40 mins plus sometimes, he falls asleep or will just be really lazy. After he falls asleep, i will burp him and try to put him down and he starts screaming that he wants to eat again. Sometimes this will go on for 3 or 4 hours. I don't know if he is crying for other reasons, i try to calm him down with shooshing and make sure he has clean diaper, etc, but he always wants to be at the breast. I have also tried a pacifier, he doesn't like it. I don't want to start any bad habits, but will he ever get into a routine if this keeps up. Could he be using the breast to put himself to sleep? Maybe that's why he is fussy? I am not doubting my milk supply and I definetly want to breastfeed exclusively, can anyone give me some peace of mind on this? I have a million baby books and look up info on the web, but nothing makes me feel okay about his patterns. Any info would be great, thanks!

Hehe...I'm so glad I kept these!

Here's another one, just five days later!

Hello mamas,

Just another question regarding breastfeeding. I am going to go to a breastfeeding support group this Wednesday, they also have professional help there so I am looking forward to it. After feeding my two and half week old son (sometimes sessions will last about 40mins, he is always falling asleep) I will burp him and he will still act like he wants to eat. I am having a hard time determining if he is really still hungry or just fussy. If he is still hungry, would he give me signs like rooting and putting his fingers in mouth, or would he do these things even if he wasn't hungry? He is so confusing, I just don't want to overfeed him. Will he take the breast even if he is full? I am just afraid I am misreading his cues and overfeeding him, causing this domino effect. Thanks ladies.

I did end up going to the support group. I was also able to weigh him and it reassured me to know that he was gaining weight. I must've been doing something right.

I asked about my breast pump once, which I only tried to use a few times. I never got much and it just seemed to be too much work! Eli never had a bottle.

Although strictly nursing did have it's downside sometimes, like early on I could only go out for an hour or two at the most before returning home again to nurse him. I was never a big fan of nursing in public. I did take advantage of the dressing room once and used my car more than a few times. But I don't regret it, I always had food for him wherever we went.

I have to admit that when Eli turned one, I considered nursing him for much longer. I felt sad that this bond we had, our one on one time, might be lost. Then I realized I would just have to substitute the time we spent together usually nursing, with some other special quiet time.

And so the weaning process began. Eli would nurse when he woke up in the morning, at his morning nap, when he woke up from his nap, at his afternoon nap, when he woke up from that nap, in between nap and dinner, and then finally bedtime. Although, if he did wake up at night, I would nurse him back to sleep then too. So I cut out the nursings after he woke up from his naps. Those were a little tough, because he would wake up cranky, and wake up wanting to nurse. I would distract him and give him something to drink. This went over well! Then I cut out the nursing between his afternoon nap and dinner time, I gave him a snack instead. During this time, Eli transitioned from taking two naps a day to just one nap a day. That made it easy to cut out the other nursing.

Cutting out the first morning nursing was probably harder on me than it was on Eli. This was my chance to wake myself up in the morning. And sometimes, Eli would fall back to sleep after the morning nurse, that was always nice. But it had to go. Instead, I became a coffee drinking machine. So at this point we were just down to the morning nap nurse, the bedtime nurse, and the midnight nurse (or whatever time he woke up nursing). I knew if I was going to be serious about it, I would definately need to get rid of the middle of night nursing. Again, very difficult, because I just want to get back to bed in the middle of the night. And the fastest way to do that was to nurse him. Once I did it a few nights in a row, I knew I couldn't surrender and give in. So I succeeded!

For the nap time nursing, I decided we would go to his room and read some books for 15 minutes or so when he started to get sleepy. I always have the music playing in his room, so after we were done reading I would rock him in the rocking chair and sing to him. He was usually passed out in a few minutes. I did this for two weeks before I decided it was time to get rid of the bedtime nursing. I do the exact same thing for bedtime, except we take a bath after dinner and then stories and singing. We have been doing this for five nights now, and I am officially retired!

I am a little sad that this time of his life (maybe my life?) is over. It seems like just yesterday that weaning was a way too distant future. And now it's here and gone! My baby is growing up. I'm just happy that I have these memories to look back on.


These are pictures from the first time I nursed Eli! Please excuse me because I look like hell, but after all I did just deliver a baby!

Eli's 15 months old...er, okay 15 1/2 months old!

I've been putting off the blog update, waiting for Eli's doctor appointment so that I would have some stats to report. He is currently 23lbs 2oz and a whopping 33inches tall! Big boy, in the 97%tile for his height! But I guess we knew he would be tall since his daddy is too. When we first got into the exam room, he was actually smiling at the nurse, which surprised me. He hasn't been too friendly with strangers lately. He did great with the weight but it took us few tries to get his height measured--he kept twisting and turning to get free. His head is starting to catch up with the rest of his body.

When the doctor walked into the room, he wanted up in my arms right away. We talked for a few minutes and then she started to examine him while he was in my arms. I love that about this doctor. I swear when she was listening to his lungs he wasn't even breathing. He clutches to my arms so tight sometimes he pinches them with his little razor-sharp nails. She pretty much said the 15 month olds usually cry when she examines them. He was lying on the table so still he was like a statue. He did really well. He started to get upset right at the end of the exam, little tears welled up in his eyes but he never really lost it.

I thought that he had a few canker sores in his mouth last week so I told the doctor about them. Turns out he has thrush! It looks so painful but the doctor said it's not. It doesn't seem to bother him, he has been eating and drinking okay. I have to give him an oral solution 4 times a day and he doesn't like it! I also put some on a q-tip and kinda paint it on. She also said it feels like his molars are coming in. That might explain why he has been sleeping miserably at night. I think it's going to be quite a challenge to get rid of the thrush. I have to sterilize all of his pacifiers, cups, toys, spoons, bowls, etc every day. And just be careful not to recontaminate things. Hopefully we can get it cleared up very soon.

He had to get the last dose of his DTap and Hib and he wasn't happy about it. He only cried for a minute until I showed him the bandage on his leg, then he ripped it off! I took it back from him and put it on his leg again and then he started crying. I don't know if he cried from the pain of ripping off the bandage or cause I took it from him. I tried to get him dressed as quick as possible and we checked out. He got a Sesame Street sticker and that made him pretty happy! It was all worth it then...:)

I just took a peek at my posting from his 14 months. It's amazing how much has changed in 6 weeks. He is trying to climb on everything now. We have an island in the kitchen with a shelf on the bottom that he loves to try and get up on. He holds on to the top and then steps up on the shelf, instantly giving me a heart attack every time. Of course it is not allowed! Which makes it extra tempting for him.

He really seems to have a blast doing everything I tell him not to. He throws his food off the tray table in his highchair, and he loves throwing his toys out of the bathtub. In fact, he doesn't have any toys in the bath to play with now. I'm giving him a week to get it out of his system (yeah right). I guess he just loves to throw things. Sometimes he gets really mad and he'll push whatever it is he's mad at. It's amazing how much frustration he can work up sometimes.

He is getting sooo tall. And I am having to make sure I push back everything on the counters now. In fact, the other day he grabbed my car keys off the counter and I couldn't find them. He put them in his train table and I found them a few days later.
I need to reorganize the drawers since he can open them now and reach in to grab whatever he wants.

JR and I have noticed a pattern each night. After dinner, I take him out of the highchair and he runs circles around the table for like 10 minutes! Sometimes as he passes the back door, he'll look at himself and start laughing. JR and I will tickle him as he passes us by. He also loves when we chase him around the living room. He looks over his shoulder to make sure we are still coming after him. Sometimes he will even stop so we can get him. It's too cute! He also loves being pushed around in his red coupe! JR pushes him through the house like a bat out of hell and Eli loves it. I will hide around the corner and then pop out and scare him. He gets me laughing so hard that my stomach hurts!

I am looking forward to the next few months to see how much Eli changes. I can't wait for him to start calling me Mama for crying out loud!

Eli's First Hair Cut

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We took Eli to get his first professional hair cut on Saturday, January 9th. He has been pretty nervous, I guess you could say, around strangers lately, so I was interested to see how this was going to go. Lately every time a stranger says hi to Eli, or sometimes even smiles at him, he gets scared and clutches for me--even pinching my arm really hard. Even when our friends come over, he won't let me leave the room by myself. I'm hoping this is just a phase and will be over with soon.

There was a little wait when we got there, so we headed next door to the Dollar Tree and looked around for awhile. We found some Elmo books, Sesame Street flash cards, and Elmo coloring books. 4 books, 2 coloring books and 2 boxes of flash cards for 6 dollars! What a deal!

We went back to Snip-its and let Eli walk around for awhile before they called his name. As soon as I sat him down in the seat, he lunged for me with both arms, a panic look on his face. He was fine holding on to my arms for a minute and then I was able to just give him my hands to hold. I tried explaining what she was doing the whole time, brushing his hair, spraying him with the water, etc. She was really nice, the lady who cut his hair, and really fast. The whole thing probably took less than 10 minutes. He liked looking in the mirror, watching her. JR was taking pictures while I was occupying Eli. After he was done, they gave him a little bottle of bubbles.
I was so proud that he didn't cry, he really did a lot better than I thought he would. And he looks so handsome with his little boy hair cut!

Apparently it was an exhausting ordeal for him, since he fell asleep on the way home.

Happy New Year!

I was the only Oakley who made it til midnight New Year's Eve. Eli woke up around 11:30p.m. and I got him back to sleep within a few minutes. I crawled back into bed at 11:58 and two minutes later the fireworks started blasting off. I was pretty sure I would soon hear Eli crying, but he never woke up (thank goodness). I am always amazed at what wakes him up and what doesn't.

JR was home from work for New Years Day, so we just lounged around the house in the morning. That afternoon we decided to go to PF Chang's for lunch/dinner. I got all of Eli's food ready (he doesn't care for Chinese Bistro) and we headed out. He did really great at the restaurant. He did launch his cup across the room at one point, but thankfully no one was injured :)

Afterward we went to DSW to find a new pair of shoes for myself. Eli loved walking around the store and looking at all the mirrors, especially the ones that were on the bottom of the seats you sit on when you are trying on your shoes. He thought that was hilarious.

I have some resolutions for the New Year:
#1 Return my library books on time...so far I have made good on this one
#2 I know I already made a second one, but i can't seem to remember it
#3 Start laundry with the intent of finishing it, instead of it sitting in the dryer for a week
#4 Start and stick with a fitness program (isn't this everyone's resolution?)
#5 Work hard on sticking to the grocery budget

Ah ha, I remembered a few more resolutions!
#6 Try hard to recycle...we have to take our recycling somewhere as opposed to just sticking it in a can and someone comes to get it
#7 Eat healthier (most of the time, I love my sweets)

We are heading back to Arizona for my brother's graduation in May, so we are saving up for that. There are also some things we would like to get for the house this year, new kitchen table and barstools. Also some furniture for the livingroom.

I am looking forward to this new year!

Christmas Day

Make a Smilebox slideshow

So this post is a little late, but I have been obsessed with spending my free time reading the Twilight Series. And since I am waiting for the last two books to arrive from Amazon.com--I guess I better get caught up. Another thing that has been occupying my time--loads and loads of dishes. Our dishwasher broke down three weeks ago and I have been washing dishes by hand since! No fun. Turns out the pump was busted in it, and it's brand new! The part is now here and they should be coming to install it tomorrow, and my books are supposed to be here tomorrow, so....hopefully a good day!

JR and I woke up on Christmas morning to the sound of Eli playing in his crib. He likes to turn on his fishy aquarium, that he got last Christmas, and listen to the music for a while. Thankfully he had a good night, which means I had a good night. JR and I quickly got ready and went to go get him together. We had put his presents out the night before, so I was really anxious to see his reaction to everything. He went straight to the train table and started playing with that. JR got the video camera ready while I snapped a few pictures. I still wish now looking back I had taken some more, but we do have about 40 minutes on video so I think that is enough. I also made some coffee really quick since I knew it might take awhile for Eli to open his presents.

He started opening up the presents, all he really needed from us was to tear it a little and he did pretty good the rest of the way. Of course he wanted to play with the toys as soon as he saw them. We tried to encourage him to open all the presents first. By the end, he'd gotten bored with opening them, so we did the rest. He got:

Plenty of books
Fisher Price Little People Barnyard with Animals (he loves this one)
Little Tykes Cozy Coupe
Step 2 Train Table
Vtech Bouncin' Turtle
Bath Toys
Crayola Tadoodles Paints
A stuffed piggy
Sit-n-spin
Leap frog fridge magnets
A musical turtle that plays 40 songs
Some CD's
Some gift cards

The following items he also got for Christmas but he is scared of them, so they have been put away for the time being:

Tickle Me Elmo Hands
A little cat that laughs and rolls around on the floor
A soft barnyard with 4 soft farm animals that make sounds
Dancing Santa

After opening up the presents and cleaning up I started making breakfast. JR enjoyed regular pancakes while Eli and I had blueberry pancakes. While I cleaned up, daddy and Eli started playing with toys. Eli got tired pretty quickly with all the excitement. I started getting the turkey prepared while Eli took his nap. We decided to go play in the snow once Eli woke up from his nap. I didn't have a specific snowsuit for him, so I just had to dress him as warmly as I could. It was still so cold outside even though we were bundled up. We probably only stayed outside for 15 minutes. Eli wasn't really sure what to think of the snow. He fell a few times walking around, probably from walking in the snow and from how bundled up he was!

After coming in from the snow, it was getting time to make the sides for dinner. Since I didn't have a dishwasher, I tried to make things a little easier and just bought pre-prepared items like already made mashed potatoes, frozen corn, etc. Really the only thing I had to make was the stuffing and that only took a few minutes. I put some rolls in the oven, but those were easy too. We had quite a feast. Eli only had some rolls, gravy, and mashed potatoes. I filled his plate with everything and I guess that might have been a little overwhelming for him. I also baked a pumpkin pie (frozen and in a box) but it was pretty good.

It was a great Christmas. We missed our family of course, but I guess we are our family now and have to make new traditions. I'm already looking forward to next Christmas!