Amazing

So, My niece is pretty amazing.  She's wonderful and I love her with all my heart.  I was on Facebook the other day and saw a post that Kameron had started a blog.  Check it out - my heart melted when I read it.  Kameron is becoming such a caring, concerned, and righteous young lady.  What sixteen year old do you know who asks for gifts that give back for Christmas?  What sixteen year old do you know that starts an amazing family tradition with her little sisters - a tradition of making birthday cards for Jesus on Christmas Eve.  Kameron wants to make sure that her sisters grow up knowing what Christmas is about.  I am beyond proud of my niece, and I'm pretty sure as soon as Eli can color we'll be making Birthday cards for Jesus.  I'm inspired, how about you?

Speak Now

In case you were wondering, we're up to six baths where E has peed on me.  Steve said that I'll actually be sad when he doesn't do it, and I think he's right.  :-P

In other news, Eli got an awesome hat from Mimi and Papa for Christmas.  Check it out.  (The last one is my favorite for sure.)  Also, as soon as I have access to my scanner you'll get to see the best baby/Santa pic ever.  Props to my Dad for making Santa pose. 

The Count

You know how companies will have counts for how many days they've gone without and on-site accident or some such?  Well, we're counting how many baths in a row Eli can pee on me.  So far - 3.  He likes to mix it up though, it never happens during the same step in the whole bathing process - keep me on my toes.

Also, he's getting better at bath time, he didn't cry yesterday, just a few little squeaks.  He does hate lotioning up afterwards though - it makes him go purple he screams so much.  Two steps forward, one step back.  :-)

Related?

Eli is not so much a fan of bath time, or water in general. He tries his best to get away...which hasn't yet worked out for him. Oddly enough, the only part of bath time he doesn't seem to mind is getting his hair washed - which was always what I hated most. Also, I love all things water. Hopefully he'll get over this particular aversion, otherwise who will go swimming with me?

First...

In the words of his father, this was Eli's first staring match.  Steve said the giraffe won...but that's only because Eli got bored and fell asleep.  :-)

An Eli Fix

This is how we rock at night.  All bundled up and smiling, if you can make it out.  Little guy falls completely asleep being rocked, or eating, or any number of other things.  He snores.  But the second you lay him down - presto - he's awake!  He only does this the first time down, he's pretty easy to put down throughout the night. *Knock on Wood*

One of my kids at work bough Eli this absolutely amazing sweater.  Seriously, isn't it about the best thing ever?  It's got a rolled collar...and elbow patches!  Expect to see him in this a ton in the next few weeks, I'm officially putting him in it once a week until he outgrows it.  I mean, come on!  On the way home from our Community Group this week  (to which he wore said awesome outfit) Steve referenced "the ninety year old in the backseat."  Because he totally looks like  a little old man, and I love every second of it.

This is Eli seconds after he rolled over for the first time yesterday.  Whoa.  I might have almost cried.  Even though I completely understand it was a fluke.  Also because I missed it.  *sad face*  Eli was doing tummy time with Daddy, and he apparently had enough.  Steve said he just kind of pushed up and flung himself over, crying ensued.  I guess that's what happens when your arm gets stuck at just the right angle and you push with all your baby might.  Hopefully I'll catch the next roll.

...

Eli just rolled over...What?!

Have You Seen...

...The Google Turkey?  Cause it just made my day.

Daddy and Eli

Eli pretty much loves to hang out with his Daddy in the evening.  Steve has quickly become a pro at changing diapers (Disposable and Cloth), and he even gave Eli his first bottle yesterday.  I'm pretty sure Eli loved spending some time with his Daddy, eating and being cooed at all the while.

One Week old, and already we've got goals

Eli is One Week Old!

Okay, don't laugh.  I completely realize this might not happen...

In fact, it probably won't. 

But I'm currently ambitious, and so we're going to try.

I'm going to try to do two things in the next twelve months, fifty-two weeks.

One - Take Eli's picture on the 3rd of every month.

Two - Take Eli's picture every Thursday.  

Go ahead, say it, "Whoa."

Don't yell at me if I mess it up and don't do it,

but we're going to try.

This it Eli's new blankie!  

Thank you Auntie Mere for the softest, cutest, blankie around.

Steve actually wants an adult size one, seriously, 

it's the softest blanket I've ever held.

And it's got the cutest baby in it, with his adorable name on it.

(More on his name later, just in case you don't yet know where it came from.)

First Visitors

Mimi and Papa meeting Eli mere hours after his birth.

Auntie Sondra came late Thursday morning.

Surprise visitors! Brian and Carla just couldn't wait to meet Eli.  

They drove up from Zanesville Friday evening.

Mimi and Papa came back for another visit Friday.

Our amazing friends Mike and Jen were the last of your hospital visitors, Eli.

We are so blessed for all the loving people in our lives.  

Thank you for coming to love on our little one.

11.3.11

  

Welcome to the world Eli Fitzwilliam Richard Abel

Born on 11.3.11 at 4:41am

8lbs. 3oz.  and 20in. long

So glad he's here, and instantly in love.  

We'll post pictures of his first visitors later. 

Amazing.

Basket Weaver

Thursday evening I ventured to Brecksville for some old fashioned fun.  Seriously.  I went basket weaving.  My friend Amy and her family have taken a few basket weaving classes at the Brecksville Center for the Arts, and I got to tag along.  Amy's family is lovely, and they were fun to chat with.  The Basket lady, Karen, was super nice.  I think it was a combination of my self-deprecating attitude and the fact that I'm about to pop, but she looked after me a ton.  She kept doing all the hard parts for me, it was funny.  

I got to make a wine basket, and if you want it then you should head over to Mere's Blog soon.  She's having an online auction to help raise funds for her Ethiopian adoption!  The auction hasn't started yet, but keep an eye out - it's coming soon.

Whoa Baby

I was hoping this was going to be the last belly pic (especially since there's just no looking cute at this point), but it looks like our little guy wants to stay put for a bit longer. 

Also, my kiddos at work have been asking to see the baby.  They said he can come out soon, but when he does they're all calling dibs on getting to hold him.  My friends (the ones my age) have all been calling this babe "Moses" for a few months now.  Since it fits with the hints we've given out - Old Testament, Two Syllables.  It kind of stuck and so that's been his nickname.  It's even trickled down to my kids.  One of them told me on Wednesday that she wanted to meet baby Moses.  Too sweet.

I never knew....

I went twenty-six years without knowing that I have a freckle on the inside of my belly button.

I left my house at 6:30am Thursday morning, as per usual.  Went to my doctor's appointment at 4:30 to check on the little guy.  And an hour later I was in an ambulance speeding down Mayfield (With two hilarious EMTs).  

While in the office, the doctor thought our little guys heart rate decelerated a ton, and she thought I'd been in labor all day without knowing it.  (Side Note: if that's labor - I've got nothing to worry about).  She held the Doppler on my belly while completely freaking out and yelling for every single person left in the office.  Talk about panic inducing.  A very not calm doctor lends itself to having a very not calm Mama.  Luckily, when she went to attend quickly to another patient, one of my favorite doctors in the group took over for a  minute.  Night and Day.  He was so reassuring and calm, Dr. R definitely has a way with making you feel better and calmly explaining what might be going on.  (Sondra and I saw him once early on in the pregnancy, after one of my massive bleeding episodes, and he had the same demeanor.  So kind.)  

Luckily we only live two minutes away from the office and Steve was home for the day.  I made someone give me my cell phone and called him and told him to get up there right now.  He arrived about the same time as the EMTs.  Keep in mind that the lady doctor has been continuously freaking out these ten or so minutes.  Ack.  I definitely didn't want to take any chances with our baby's well-being, and had no objections to being carted off in an Ambulance, but if it had been just me and her in the office I would have thought our baby was dying.  Luckily there were lots of other people around to express (wordlessly) that she was, perhaps, being a bit over the top.  That helped. 

The nice burly EMTs (In bright pink breast cancer awareness shirts) loaded me up and off we went.  They were excited to hear I was from Zanesville (You know, all that wild animal stuff.) and we sat (Well, they sat) and we all chatted merrily down Mayfield and through Little Italy.  They even took me all the way up to the Labor and Delivery room, instead of just throwing me in a wheelchair down in the ER.  They were awesome.

As soon as we got up to the Labor and Delivery floor they hooked me up to a fetal monitor and tried to figure out why I was there.  Since I wasn't on a monitor at the office, and it was just the doctor speculating about what happened they weren't sure what to do.  The doctor on call said he wanted to monitor me overnight, get an ultrasound in the morning, and probably send me home after that.  So that's what we did.  Baby's heart rate never once dropped again, and every single test they ran came back perfect.  They checked his brain functions, blood flow and circulation, movements, and his heart rate had lots of nice accelerations in it.  Dr R. was on call in the morning and he was so wonderful again. (Seriously, I'm enamored with him and my actual Doctor.  Both are amazing.)  Dr. R said he had stopped in over night and checked on me, and was certain I'd have had the baby by Friday morning.  I was having contractions every two minutes for quite awhile, but they never turned into anything big. (Again, if that's labor, then I'm all about it - unfortunately I think it gets worse.)  

Dr. R. said they didn't know what to do with me (I got told that a lot).  He thought the baby would have been born already, and he explained all the possible reasons the lady doctor would have heard a deceleration the previous evening (one of which was that she didn't actually hear his heart rate go down).  He said if we really wanted them to they could induce me, but it'd be a really hard induction since my contractions had basically stopped and there were no signs of labor.  Or we could go home and wait.  So that's what we did.  If induction was the right thing to do we certainly would have stayed, but none of the doctors saw any reason to hurry things along.  I have an appointment on Monday afternoon to get monitored at the office again, and so we're just going with the flow now.  

This baby has basically run the show since day one.  We're on the lookout for stronger contractions, and any decrease in movement - otherwise we're waiting.  Basically: who knows.

Baking Day

Yesterday we made:

Thirteen Apple Pies,

Seven Mini-Lasagnas,

Ten containers of Pasta Sauce.

My freezer is getting full.

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.  A day that I'm fairly certain no one thinks they might one day observe.  I certainly didn't.  Until last year, I didn't know such a day existed.  I've typed the phrase "Today we remember..." several times, but it doesn't quite fit.  I remember our first sweet babe on more occasions than this.  Sure, there are dates that stand out, ones that we've passed in the last year.  May 8th, when our little one should have been coming into the world.  The weekend of September 11th, when our babe left us.  And today, when those who have experienced losses collectively remember all that those losses mean.  This time last year a sweet lady invited me to vigil for women honoring their babes, at the time I was too defeated to even consider going.  I was broken and felt destroyed.  And while part of my heart will always break for what I lost, I am not destroyed and I am not defeated.  My first little love has made an indelible impression upon my heart, and I am determined to use that for a greater good.  In that vain, if you know anyone who has experience a loss This Organization helped me beyond measure.  Peace Bears.  A lovely friend sent one to me, and simply knowing that she cared, was trying to understand, and that there were people who had been there and were willing to acknowledge all that my loss meant - well, that meant the world to me.  Our bear sits in our living room, holding onto the word "Hope."  That's what our loss has turned into, what our loss signifies to me, hope for things yet to come.

Recap

I didn't think it would ever happen...but a few people have balked that there's been no legitimate updates on the blog.  So here we go...

Looking back, I haven't put pictures up since before the baby shower.  Here's a pic from that...it was super fun and I love everyone.  Mere and Sondra were amazing, as always.  And Ann avoided stabbing me with a pin while trying to attach my corsage.  I was clearly worried, as evidenced by my face.

Here's my belly semi-recently.  It seems so long ago that it was little.  It's giant now.  Again, my face clearly says "Argh! Huge!"  Also, I got a flu shot.  Yay!  Only it kinda stunk.  I completely, totally, and honestly love the nurse at work.  But out of the twenty-five flu shots she administered, mine was the only one that got jacked up.  I had to, in essence, get two.  That wasn't fun, but it's okay, I got a rockin' band-aid.

Daytona Beach! Steve and I are terrible at taking pictures.  I mostly mooch them off of other people and steal them from Facebook.  We need to get better at that, like right now.  We only took a few shots of me and my awesome maternity suit, because I loved the suit and was feeling pretty darn good about my belly.  That changed as soon as I got home and went to the doctor and the lady that weighed me yelled at me.  That part wasn't fun at all.  She was mad because I gained five pounds in three weeks, and I was kinda mad too.  But then I realized those five pounds took me up to a whopping 24lbs total, in eight months.  Not bad, eh?  So forget you, angry OB weigh-er lady.

Lastly, this weekend.

The city of South Euclid said we needed to paint our house.  So we did.  Well, Steve and my Mom did.  Have I mentioned how awesome my husband and mother are?  My mom is amazing, she's been helping out these past months so much, and to come paint my house - I mean come on! How much more amazing can you get.  And Steve, well he picked out the house paint almost entirely by himself, and was solely responsible for painting the front of our house.  It completely sucked and was super hard work, but he did a phenomenal job.  Also, we took a time-out on Sunday morning to go watch a friend run the Towpath Marathon.  It was as close as Steve or I will ever come to a marathon of any sort.  Unfortunately, we could only swing seeing Mike at the first checkpoint, he looked good at mile three (hehe.  But seriously, some people at mile three looked downright exhausted...not a good sign).  I was fun to cheer Mike on with his family, and we were a bit envious of the caravan action that was going to take place to see him and his running buddy Steve at all the other checkpoints.  We're kind of hoping he'll run another marathon in the future so we can tag along for a full morning of spectator fun.

The extent of our participation in a marathon. 

Our House Before...

Our Green House!  It looks amazing, 

way better than my inadequate pictures 

portray.  Stop by and see it for yourself....

So that's pretty much it.  Except I went to the doctor today, and this babe is nice and dropped.  Whoa, did I mention we're going to be parents soon?  Ack.

Autumn

I hate giving up Summer.  But I do love Autumn, mostly.  I abhor that it leads into Winter, if not for that small fact I'd certainly enjoy Autumn tons more.  As it stands, I'm happy to be back to drinking tea, eating oatmeal, and wearing slippers.  Yay! 

As Time Goes By

We were doing a super good job taking baby belly pictures every week....until we hit the late twenties.  Ack!  It's still getting bigger though, don't worry.  Andy my lungs are getting smaller, and my stomach too.  I'm pretty sure the little guy has officially wedged himself into the position he'll be occupying for the remainder of our time as one unit.**  If that's the case we'll schedule a birth day for him as soon as I get back from Vacation.  Which is starting this weekend.  *sigh*  I definitely need some beach time.  And little guy is looking forward to his first tan.  

**This whole pregnancy thing is weirdo.  Also, kind of parasitic.  A few weeks ago I was talking to Steve and went to say that the babe and I have a symbiotic relationship since we're attached and all.  But really, He's just taking what he needs, and I keep giving, and he keeps growing and taking.  And I'm okay with that set-up.  I'm just glad it's not the kind of parasitic relationship where the parasite sucks the very life out of the host.  Although I don't think he feels breathing is a necessity for me anymore.  (And all you out there, don't be cheesy and tell me it's symbiotic because he's giving me love and warm fuzzy feelings.  That doesn't count for this analogy.  :-P  )

Things I Love...

1. BBC Pride and Prejudice.  Seriously.  A lot.  Tons and tons.  And I love it more every single time I watch it.
2. My belly.  Even when I whine about it being all big.  It moves of it's own accord.  Which is weird.  And lovely.  
3. The Beach.  I'll be there in a week.  *Sigh*
4. Ice cream.  I want sweets.
5. Baby laundry.  I'm sure it will get old, but right now it's cute.
6. Steve.  He lets me get my Christmas gift from him whenever I find something that I truly want.  Last year it was Uggs in late October.  (Although he kept them hidden until late November.)  This year it was and awesome, handmade diaper bag in late August.  Whoa.  That was early spending. (Although he'll keep it from me until baby comes.)

Not Ready :: Ready

I'm wearing yoga pants and a big long sleeve shirt.  I'm not ready for this weather.  Move?

Also, I go on vacation in eight days!  Woot woot!  I am ready for that.  I plan on having a car seat installed in my car by then, just in case.  And I know that the closest hospital to our beach house is a mere nine miles away.  And I'm going to be sitting on the beach.  And reading.  And sitting.  And eating.  *Sigh*  I told my Dad that I was bummed because my baby bulge prevents me from laying on my belly and reading.  Which is one of my favorite things at the beach.  (Woe is me, I know.  I'll have to sit and read.)  Then I was struck with a perfect solution: dig a belly sized hole in the sand.  Ta da!  He laughed his old man laugh for a full three minutes when I told him that was my plan.  He's begging for photographic evidence.  Which means I might actually have to do it, what a daughter won't do to please her Papa.

Special Features

Update: Sony is totally sending us a new movie (once they get my old one)!  Amazing, yes?!?



I tend to put movies on whilst doing mindless chores.  Laundry, cleaning, etc.  Today I got out Casino Royale.  A never-before opened Casino Royale, in fact.  Two disc special and everything, you know with one disc for the main feature and another for the special features.  Only, mine had two special features discs.  No movie.  Foiled.  Also, what now?  Think if I email Columbia Pictures they'll send me a movie disc?  Yeah, didn't think so.

Do You Ever...

Do you ever look at your face in the mirror and think,

"Is that really what I look like?"

Saturday

Steve is...    

1. Fixing the Driveway
2. Fixing the Chimney
3. Trying to Fix my Dyson
4. Making plans to build a pantry

I Am...

1. Stuffing Diapers
2. Putting together a Bouncer

We are...

1. Waiting to have friends over for dinner

I'm pretty sure Steve's job list for today is far more impressive and more important than mine.  But mine is definitely cuter.  ;-)

Yay!

Not that we get  a lot of blog traffic... but for the three of you reading this...

My lovely Meredith and her family are adopting from Ethiopia!  They're doing a fundraiser right now, and are in contest for some grant money.  Help them out!  They're already in the top five and need to be in the top three by Sunday to receive one of the grants. 

If you shop, pick Meredith's name from the affiliate drop down when checking out to make sure they get credit for your purchase.

Shop here! 

Buy shirts, accessories, and even sheep!

Mere's Blog

Trouble

Is it bad that in my obsessive organizing mode I've moved baby's clothes around in his drawers a few times already?  How do you organize tiny people clothes!?!

I forget what this post was supposed to be about...

My browser crashed when I was writing this a few days ago.  There was funny stuff.  I promise. But now it's gone.  So all you get are our most recent pics of baby.  We had a truly amazing baby shower yesterday, it was wonderful.  Pics from that later.  :-)