Eli Meets Elmo

So I woke up on Tuesday morning and decided that my little pity party was over. I got dressed, put on real clothes, fixed my hair, and even put on make-up. I put Eli in the car and suddenly realized there is no where to go. I could go to the mall except it is just too tempting to spend money unnecessarily so I skipped that plan. We could go to the park but it is so hot and sunny that Eli can't be out in it directly which is a bummer. Somehow I ended up at Borders. Stupid me should know better than to go to Borders because quite honestly I'd much rather buy books than clothes. I probably would have been better off at the mall. None the less I treat myself to a latte and head straight for the children's department. Eli and I look at books at home all the time so I knew he'd enjoy this little outing. Sure enough he loved looking at all the books I was showing him. He is only 4 and a half months and I'm already so excited about sharing books with him! Anyway, sitting on a shelf with a bunch of stuffed animals is Elmo. Eli has only seen Elmo on TV one time and showed two seconds of interest so I figured he wouldn't care about this big red stuffed animal. Boy was I wrong!

This is when I'd love to know what goes on inside a baby's head. I really wonder if he thinks this is a living thing.

The look on his face is priceless. Now that he can focus on the things around him his eyes grow huge. I felt like he was looking at me and wondering what the heck is this thing mom?

Needless to say Eli held on tight to Elmo for the rest of the time we were in Borders. When I called my Mom later that day to tell her about Eli & Elmo she said, "why didn't you buy it for him?" My response, "because Mom he is only 4 months old. I have plenty of time in my near future for Elmo to be laughing through my house on a daily basis!" I have a feeling Eli will be getting an Elmo much sooner than I want him to. Grandmas have a hard time controlling themselves. :)

Tough Love Recap

You might remember a while back that I wrote about Tough Love Day 1. It was my first attempt at trying to get my sweet little man to take a nap alone. You might also recall never seeing a post titled Tough Love Day 2. I will tell you that Tough Love sucks. I am terrible at it and I'm pretty sure that is why it doesn't work. I can't say that I haven't had any success with naptime because I have but nights like tonight are challenging. Milan is out of town and so it's been all Mama all day.

Eli really struggles with sleep. Whether he is on me, in my bed, or in his own bed he struggles with falling asleep and then he struggles to stay asleep. I know it is related to his reflux and the fact that his digestive system is developing slowly which then means trouble in the pooping department of course! I have read books and had plenty of advice from other moms on the subject of sleep but NOTHING works. At least not consistently. Every night is a mystery. Milan calls it a crap shoot. You may have noticed that I post very few pictures of myself on here. That is because I am tired and look it. The bags under my eyes are too depressing to share with the public. The worst part is I can't sleep during the day. Trust me, I try. It doesn't work. Heck, I should be sleeping now. Tried. Can't. Ugh! Anyway, enough complaining about me back to Eli. This poor little guy screams his head off the minute his eyes pop open. Those screams turn into coughing and choking on spit. His hair is soaking wet from the tears. How on earth am I suppose to let him sit there and cry it out? There is just no way. I feel terrible for him.

Here is the good news of the day. After three rounds of falling asleep, crying, falling asleep, crying, he is finally in a deep sleep (I hope!). My fingers are crossed that he'll rest peacefully until he his hungry again. My house is a complete disaster. There are toys that I call contraptions everywhere. There is dog hair everywhere. There is clean laundry crumpled up in the laundry basket. There are clean but wet towels sitting in the washer waiting to be dried. The bathrooms have layers of dirt. The kitchen is about the only semiclean spot in the house because neither of us can stand a cootie kitchen. Just like I said I should be sleeping right now I should also be cleaning right now. Somehow it just doesn't sound appealing. I am entering the I don't care zone. I haven't put on makeup in a number of days, I wear exercise clothes all day and a baseball hat to hide my undone hair. I eat at the kitchen counter during the day and rarely do I taste what I am eating because I am eating it so fast. Did I mention I am hungry all the time? I mean all the time. What is that all about? At least I am walking everyday. I even took 2 walks today for an hour each time. Eli loves to stroll. You really wouldn't believe the grocery bills for us. Milan obviously eats like a guy and I just eat all day long. I eat the exact same things at almost the exact same time everyday. I wonder if this is becoming some strange obsession with me? Milan says I am going to turn into an apple.

Just for the record, I love being home with Eli. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. But it is only natural for me to complain, right? It is not easy being home with a baby. It is a lot of work and it is tiring. I hate saying that aloud because it makes me feel guilty but I am tired. I am homesick too. I need a Grandma to come over and babysit. I need a friend to hang out with. I need a housekeeper to get this place back in order. I am so lucky I have the type of husband I have. He never ever complains about the house and he never ever asks the question that gets a lot of husbands killed, ya know, this question... "what did you do all day?"

Whew... I feel better now that I have vented. Maybe now I can get some sleep. I am trying very hard not to fall into the role of the housewife who pretends life is perfect and wonderful all day everyday and I am also trying not to fall into the role of the housewife who complains constantly and is totally miserable.

Balance is good.

Maybe it is time to "pump and dump" as Christy would say. I think it's time this Mama finally has a drink! A Southern Comfort and 7 Up has been calling my name for a while now.

After

Before I go on I have to say how proud I am of Milan's hard work. Our yard looks gorgeous and it's all because of Milan. I have always loved sitting on the porch but I love it even more now. Eli and I rock out there every afternoon before he goes down for his nap. I know that we are going to have so many wonderful memories of this porch and our life in Georgia. Who knew a porch could bring so much joy to a person?

Here is my welcoming front door. I can't wait for those flowers to grow and fill the pots. Don't you just want to knock and come in the house? :)

Here is my favorite spot in the whole house- my front porch with my rocking chairs. I used to day dream about rocking my baby out here and now he's here! He loves to be rocked in the hot afternoon when there is shade and a breeze. Oh and look at my little plants aren't they cute! I can't wait for them to start growing and filling in. I forgot to mention earlier that we also put in 12 solar lights throughout the mulch. You can kind of see one right between the bushes. It looks nice at night.

Here is a far away picture of the whole house. I don't think this picture really captures how nice it all looks in person. You get the idea though, right? :) I'll have to update you when the flowers start blooming more and the ferns get bigger. Our next project is figuring out what to do about this very brown dead grass!

Milan's Green Thumb

Milan has found his green thumb! I don't think he even knew he had a green thumb but now that he's found it he just can't stop himself!

Last summer when I was pregnant we would sit and rock on the porch after dinner. There were two things we would always talk about. Eli of course and also how we could get our yard looking better. Being from "up north" we weren't used to seeing pine straw used as ground cover so neither of us could get used to looking at it. So one day about 3 weeks ago Milan announces he is going to tear out the pine straw and lay down mulch. I don't know if you ever watch HGTV but there is a show on there where people start home projects and eventually call in an "expert" to help them finish because they got in over their heads. I suddenly found myself imaging that we would be going on that show because neither of us have a clue about doing yard work!

So off we go to Home Depot in search of the items we will need to accomplish this project. Being the planner that I am we first discussed the budget and what exactly we were going to buy. First of all we have no yard tools, second of all we have no truck to haul stuff home in and third of all I get super overwhelmed in those big stores. So anyway, we head out to the store. We buy some tools, 10 bags of mulch, and some weed blocker paper stuff for under the mulch. 10 bags of mulch looks like a ton so I am assuming it will cover at least one side of the garage. We get home and Milan starts his project. In less than an hour we are loading Eli back into the car so we could go back and buy more mulch and weed blocker. Clearly 10 bags of mulch is not a lot. Long story short... we ended up using 106, yes 106!, bags of mulch by the time we were done. It took Milan a total of 8 full days to complete this entire project. Which by the way started out as only replacing the pine straw with the mulch. In the end we tore out ugly bushes and replaced them with new ones, we planted annuals and perennials, we hung ferns, we put ferns in pots, I bought decorations for the front door, we put cushions on the rockers, we bought a new hose and reel, we laid pavers in the backyard, we put down edging, and we put down a ton of fertilizer and weed killer. The people working at Home Depot and Lowes knew our faces and just laughed when we returned for more mulch, weed blocker, and spikes to hold the weed stuff down. This is why we needed a truck! As for the budget, like any home project we went way over!

Just for the record I shouldn't say WE. I need to give 95% of the credit to Milan because with little Eli around I couldn't be of much help to him. Eli and I did lots of observing from the stroller and porch though. :)

Here is our front porch before. Cute but quite honestly... blah!

Eli and his Tata doing yard work.

Who knew pine straw was so heavy and cumbersome to remove? I can't even remember how many bags it took to remove it all.

Check back soon for the after pictures! I have a crying baby who doesn't think I need to be blogging!

Me & My Grandpa Steve

I am a very lucky baby because my Grandpa came for a visit last week! We had so much fun while he was here. Last time he was here to see me I was only 3 weeks old and not very much fun to play with. But this time I am 4 months old and tons of fun.

Here we are at my first trip to the Waffle House for breakfast. Tata and Grandpa were trying to show me how to eat like the big boys do. Mama just shakes her head. She says the place stinks and you smell like grease the rest of the day. I thought it smelled delicious and had my eyes on the bacon.

This was the best day of all. We went to Toys R Us! What Grandpa doesn't know is that I played a little trick on him. Every time Mama put me down on my back to play on my ocean mat I would act like I didn't like it at all. That made Grandpa feel sorry for me so he took me to Toys R Us to find a toy that I could sit up in since he thinks I don't like laying on my back. Little does he know I do like my ocean mat but now I have a new toy too! Woo Hoo Thanks Grandpa you are great!

Here we are back at home trying out my new toy. Mama calls it the Flintstone car. I don't know what that means but she laughs at me every time I move my feet to make the car go. I am not a very good driver just yet but I will get better when my legs grow a little more. Grandpa was right though. It is fun being upright. Now I watch Mama when she makes dinner and Jack when he runs around acting crazy.


Out for lunch with Grandpa. It was a nice sunny day.

Thanks for visiting me Grandpa. I wish you didn't live so far away. I hope you come back again really soon so we can make some more memories. I can't wait for you to take me fishing and to a baseball game. I love you! Love, Baby Eli

A Bazillion Pictures

I take a bazillion pictures! Here are a few that I just had to share...

A day in the life at

The Hayden's.

When Eli is concentrating hard on something he forms these round little lips and makes funny noises to let me know he is surprised! This was the first time that he showed liking being on his tummy for tummy time. I think it took him by surprise since he usually falls flat on his face and didn't this time.

He looks so tiny when the tray is on his highchair.

Eli loves his backseat mirror and so does Mama. I always catch him smiling and laughing at himself. It is so funny. He is sleepy in this picture but he's usually making faces!

When Eli was teeny he and Milan would snuggle up on the couch in the evenings. He still likes to do it from time to time. I worry he is going to roll right onto the floor! You can't see it here but I have pillows along the bottom of the couch just in case! There really isn't anything sweeter than seeing Eli and his Tata all snuggled up together. PS- in case you are wondering where I am when this is happening... you'd find me doing sprints up and down the stairs cleaning up and trying to get dinner together. Ya know, doing all the things I can't get done during the day.

Check out these sideburns!

When we first got Jack I fell crazy in love with him and he's just a dog! I would treat him like my baby and enjoyed his company since Milan was away so often. Now here's my little buddy Eli growing so quickly and it is the most enjoyable thing that could ever happen in a person's life. I have to admit that my poor puppa Jack is sadly neglected. I'm trying to convince my Mom that she needs to take him to her house for doggy summer camp. Jack needs some serious attention and playtime. Although now that life is getting easier he has been getting more attention. Just for the record, Jack has had a haircut since this picture was taken! Another way he has been sadly neglected. He really needed that trip to the doggy spa.

Eli loves standing more than anything else. My book about babies says they can usually stand for a few seconds before their knees buckle. Oh not my boy! He stands for minutes! You should see the muscles in this kid's thighs. He has Milan's legs that is for sure.

I am obsessed with keeping Eli's hair under control and Milan finds joy in making it look crazy! Every night after bathtime Milan tries to see how fluffy he can get Eli's hair. Too cute!

Milan and Eli on an office day. We love that Tata is in the house with us on Mondays. Although we do tend to be a distraction for him!

Ok, this hat is hysterical. We had to borrow it from our friend Ander's and it's just a tad too big, ya think!?

Wow, month 3 and 4 have been so exciting. I basically carry my camera with me everywhere because you just never know when Eli might do something new. It is absolutely amazing how quickly babies learn and grow. I hate the feeling of it happening so quickly yet I anxiously anticipate the next major event. It is such an odd feeling. I swear if we won the lottery I would be like the Duggar's (you know, those people on TV with like 18 kids or something) because you'd always have a baby in the house. Although that would mean being pregnant and giving birth 18 times. Ok, maybe that's not exactly what I would do if we won the lottery but you know what I am trying to say. :)

Look what I can do!

Hello, it's Eli again! Being 4 months old is a lot of fun! I didn't know just being cuddled and sleeping all the time was so boring until I started doing all of these great things. My Mama is so excited when I do stuff. You should see her face and hear all the silly things she says to me. I think my Mama is funny. She makes me laugh when she acts goofy. We have so much fun during the day.

Here I am rolling from my tummy to my back. I used to hate tummy time but now that I know how to roll it is much more fun!

Since I don't eat real food yet Mama never took out my highchair. But I can be a real Stinker Bear at dinnertime so Mama got this brillant idea that I need to be in a chair now instead of on her lap! I didn't like it at first but as you can see I am happy about it now. My chair is really neat. It attaches to the kitchen chair so I can sit at the big people table with Mama and Tata. I have a green frog that I play with while everyone eats.

This is me in my Bumbo chair. I don't know why I don't like to try new things at first because I always end up happy afterwards. When Mama first stuck me in this silly thing I squirmed and screamed and wanted OUT! But then I realized if I sat in it then I wouldn't mess up my hair anymore. This chair lets me sit up and watch Mama do laundry and stuff. What a cool invention.

Now I have to tell you that discovering that I have toes has to be the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life. I was laying on the changing table one day and Mama had these crazy looking things up in the air above me so I decided to grab them and find out what they are. You should have seen her face. She started smiling at me and yelling for Tata to come quick. I wish I would have paid attention sooner because these things are the best toys ever! They are with me everywhere I go and I can play with them anytime I want. After about a day of discovery I even learned how to stuff my toes into my mouth.

Life is good!

Love, Baby Eli

Look at me! I'm 4 months old!

Hello! It's Eli here. I am so excited to tell you all about the things I have learned to do while I was 3 months old. Who knew how much fun it would be leaving my "newbornness" behind!? First of all, check out these pictures. I grew like a crazy man from month 1 to month 2. Thank goodness I haven't kept on that growth pattern! My changes are much more subtle now. I do wish my hair was as tame as it used to be though. You can't really tell in these pictures cause Mama does my hair for the photo shoot but most of the time I look like a peacock. I have big feathers across the crown of my head. I can't wait until I can sit up by myself because I am hoping my hair in the back will stop thinning so much. All this laying around on my back is not good for the "do."

January 1 month old

February 2 months old

March 3 months old

April 4 months old

Left handed pitcher

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