3 Years and Counting

On Wednesday Blaine and I celebrated our three year anniversary.  Oh how much has changed in just three years...and how fast it seems to have gone by.  I remember our wedding day like it was yesterday, that day was perfect.
Blaine suprised me with a beautiful ring from none other than Krugers Jewelers:)  on Wednesday morning. I must admit, it took me a second to figure out why he was placing a little box in front of me, in that split second I completely forgot it was our anniversary.  Which isnt all that suprising considering how my brain is, or is not, working these days with all these pregnancy hormones floating around my brain. 
I have walked out of the house barefoot to go out to dinner and knew nothing was wrong until Blaine exclaimed "Are you going to put shoes on to go out?" I have pulled out of the driveway and didnt realize the front door was left wide open until I was pulling away, I  have walked up to my car and pulled the handle to open the door only to realize it wasnt my car-twice, I ask the same questions multiple times with no recolection of asking them before, and the list goes on. I think as long as I dont forget Eli anywhere, Im OK.

I digress...going back to our anniversary...
We decided to stay pretty low key this year, considering my night time routine usually consists of putting Eli to bed, getting myself ready for bed, and heading to the couch to watch a little trash TV before hitting the bed by 9am.  I dont seem to have energy for much more than that at the end of the day.  But Rachel came over in the afternoon and stayed to babysit so we could go to dinner, just the two of us, to one of our all time favorite restaurants. It was so nice to go out alone, even though all we talked about was our little man at home, and the little guy that we can't wait to meet come August!
It was a welcome night out just the two of us.

These last few days have been R-O-U-G-H!!!!  To begin with, Eli must be going though a really bad patch of teething, snotty nose, no appetite, waking in the middle of the night, taking terrible naps in the afternoon, and just not himself.  I *think* this patch is coming to a close.  However, the eating issue isnt getting much better.  We have had trouble with Eli and eating ever since he was, well, born.  It started off with latching issues, then gagging issues, then chocking issues, and it just goes from there.  At this point, most children should  be able to eat just about any kind of table food, cut up to the appropriate size.  But not Eli.  He can only handle certain consistencies, and when we go off what we know is safe, even when the pieces are crumb size, it almost always ends with a gag and/or a choke.  It makes meal times veerrrrry long, and most of the time frustrating.  I am finding ways to become very creative for meals and snacks, and they dont always fair well with Eli's tastebuds.  The sad thing is that he likes everything he cant have, points at everything he can see on the table and all we hear is "ehhhhhhh, ehhhhhh, ehhhhhhh!" I have found myself playing games with his food, acting like its an airplane, acting like Im eating it and its "SO delicious, Mmmmmm," mixing things together to get him to eat more vegetables, and reasoning with him, like he knows what Im talking about.  Please just eat one more bite, this is your only lunch, you are going to be hungry if you dont eat, please just eat one more bite and then you can have some crackers....oh, it goes on and on. 

This is actually a real problem and we have spoken with his doctor about it multiple times.  It isnt that he is a picky eater, or only likes certain foods, its more that he can only tolerate certain things at this point, and he wants to try everything that we eat. When we go off what is safe, it often times becomes scary for us...when you find yourself hitting your baby on the back to try and get him to stop choking, its not fun. 
We have gotten a referral to see a speech therapist to see if we can figure this out, so Ill keep you posted!

The weather in Austin is all over the place.  Last weekend was beautiful, we spent the better part of the weekend taking walks in Eli's new wagon, and hanging out outside.

And then Tuesday rolls around and low and behold we have snow! Im talking real snow, not just a flurry here and there like we had in December. Eli was in awe of the snow, he stood at the window for so long, pointing out to the snow, and making this little noise he makes when he discovers something exciting.

Our Little Family

Maw finally made it home!  On Sunday, our little family went to welcome her home. It was no suprise with our  huge family that we werent the only ones with that idea.  My mom, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Jimmy, counsins Jared, Kim, and Zach and Kinky Friendman (yes, he is family too) were there as well.  I dont know if it was the meds or the excitment of finally returning home that made Maw so chipper, but she even sang a little opera for us, it was wonderful!

Speaking of our little family, its about to get a little bit bigger.  We are having another baby! And its a boy!  It came as a little bit of a suprise to us, but we couldnt be more thrilled to welcome a little brother for Eli. 
We have a lot to figure out before he arrives....bedroom situations, do we get another crib, names, and how to deal with two kids in diapers.  Of course all that matters is a healthy baby, but if I could be just a little bit picky, I just hope for a baby that is a better sleeper than Eli is!  Can you imagine two terrible sleepers in a row? SIGH.

Poor kid has had to deal with a mom who is nauseaus 90% of the time. As much as I want to live in my pj's, and lay on the couch watching re-runs of Friends and The Office, I still have this little person who needs to run around, play and never seems to run out of energy.
I have been saving a certain toy for a rainy day, when we are stuck inside and I cant muster enough energy to entertain my little man....and thank goodness I did, because it came in handy today!  Even the box it came in was a hit!

You cant tell from the picture, but its filled with balls.  And because Rachel knows how much he loves balls, she bought him an extra 100 balls for this new fire truck!

Come August, our little family will grow to FOUR! It should be interesting around our house with two little ones under the age of 2!

Uncle Effie

Ethan made an impromptu trip home this weekend to visit Maw. Usually, he comes home when its a holiday or there is some event going on, which doesnt leave a lot of time to just hang out together at home. But this time was different and it was so fun!

Although Eli hadnt seen him in a couple of months, it was like they didnt skip a beat! The second Eli saw Ethan, he smiled, reached out to touch his face and then lunged into his arms. He obviously made quite an impression!

Ethan taught him the art of the Slinky...

and how fun a game a peek-a-boo can be from the landing upstairs....

Did you noticed his new favorite toy...his toothbrush. I have been trying to make brushing his teeth fun so that he doesnt dread it, purse his lips shut as tight as he can and shake his head everytime I come at him with the toothbrush.  He thinks its hilarious when we brush our teeth, so I have to pretend like I am brushing my teeth before he will let me brush his.  And he likes to carry it around for a while after each brush.  If he thinks a toothbrush is a fun toy, I say, have at it!
The other new and exciting activity Eli loves is climbing stairs.  Since Ethan isnt climbing the stairs with Eli every 10 minutes every time we are at my parents house, it wasnt as annoying of an activity for Ethan, it was actually kinda fun for him. I just sat downstairs and listened to both of them laughing.

It was such a treat to all be together this weekend. On Saturday night we went to Chinatown for dinner, the whole family--my mom and dad, Ethan, Rachel and Hobo (her boyfriend, no, its not his real name, its his nickname. His real name is Patrick), Blaine, Eli and me.  Chinatown is like Cheers to us....my dad is back behind the bar making us all drinks, he took Eli back to the kitchen to show him around, and before we even get menus our table is filled with various appetizers.  Our glasses are never empty and we never go without knowing half of the people in there. 

Last week we took Eli to his 12 month well-check appointment.  The poor kid is in the 5% for his height!  Who knew we would have such a short kid.  But he faired well in the other areas, 25% for weight, and 50% for his head circumfrance.  For any moms out there reading this, I want to just ask you to please keep track of your childs shot record and be aware of the shots your child gets at every appointment.  That afternoon, we got a call from the doctor calling to inform us that they had given a shot to Eli unnecessarily, and one that he had already recieved, giving him a double dose.  I doubt that this happens often, and thankfully, it wasnt a shot that would have huge reprecusions from having the double dose, but it could have been a very huge and detrimental mistake.  I always trust, maybe too much, that the doctors know what they are doing, but this made me realize that I really need to be on top of my game and be more aware and educated, and to ask questions.
Apparently, they changed the shot schedule to clump together some of the shots that are given at the 6 month appointment and in that clump they included the polio vaccine, that used to be given at the 12 month appointment.  Now that it is given in the combo shot at 6 months, it should no longer be given at the 12 month appointment.  But somehow it got overlooked. So please be careful, and ask questions!

And just since there arent many pictures in this post, I thought I would share my most recent favorite picture!