Mexico here we come!

Thank goodness we didn't confirm our vacation plans we originally decided on. That being Fort Myers, Florida. We were going to go for a week and rent the CUTEST house on the beach, but the oil spill threatening the panhandle canceled our plans.

Oddly enough, we probably ended up saving money by going to Cancun (minus the arm and leg it cost for me and Elijah to get passports -- but those were actually necessities). I am SO excited. We leave June 26th for 6 days of white sandy beaches at an all inclusive resort. Riu Caribe. Look how beautiful!

Riu Caribe, Cancun Mexico

It's kid friendly with baby pools, parks, etc. I think Elijah will have a blast. Their bottle water is imported, so I feel safe making him formula bottles. (YES! I forgot to mention he is finally taking formula - the milk was leaving him a nasty diaper rash).

I am excited to compare it to the resort Brad and I stayed in when we honeymooned in the Dominican.

The only negative I can think of is we will not have a suite (it was $400 extra, per person, per day!!). So we will have to get creative with nap time. It would have been ideal in Florida having our own cottage so we could lay him down in a bedroom and still enjoy the rest of the home. Oh well, maybe next year with the new baby.

Aggh...that's all I can say for now. Someone is throwing a fit at my feet because he can't slam on the laptop.  "No-No" is entering my vocabulary too much lately.---I know, I know. It's just the beginning.

I HATE crying. Especially in public.

I have the "miracle lady" - Nurse Nancy to thank for that. Friday was my long awaited appointment and I am there completely prepared with 10 minutes to spare. Well, turns out that they gave me all the wrong paperwork to fill out. ... that's ok, I can handle re-filling out some papers. I can EVEN handle the creepy old guy staring at me like I just killed his dog.

What I couldn't handle was waiting for 15 minutes, then 25, then 45 minutes before I hear the ladies behind the desk say quitely "Nancy isn't here yet".

Um......what??

after 54 minutes they finally politely tell me that she is on her way and I can wait or reschedule. Well, by this time my dad (who is babysitting) is probably expecting me back in 30 minutes so he can go to work. I am SO irate. I can't even begin to explain my rage.  I told her I'd wait a few more minutes. I couldn't reschedule. I need sleep!

A few more minutes pass by and the lady tells me that I can have half the session with Nancy and the rest will be over the phone. ....that's when I lost it.

Like HELL I will only have 1/2 of the time with this miracle worker I have been waiting to see for more than a month. I couldn't stop the tears. They just came streaming down my face, and my mouth opened and a few things came flying out that I tried really hard to keep polite. How DARE they tell me that I will pay full price but receive less than what I will pay for.

The doctor came to see what was going on, he took me to the back and assured me this never has happened and she was moments away. I felt so betrayed for some reason. Anyway, I hate crying in general, but it's so easy for me to cry these days. It drives me nuts. I blame you baby pea!!!

As an end to this story, I saw Nancy. I stayed the WHOLE time with her (my dad kindly waited). And she told me that Elijah is just used to his mom and nursing so he needs that comfort to go back to sleep. The solution  :::drum roll::: for one week have Brad go in there and lay him down every time he gets up. ----RIGHhhhhhhhtttt. We kind of already knew this, but haven't followed through with it because Brad works. A lot. So needless to say Brad isn't super thrilled, but we're going to start the process this Friday.

I am so disgusted. She may work miracles for some people, but she still leaves me disgusted.

On a happier note we took Elijah to the Science Center on Saturday and he had tons of fun.

Of all the fun things to see, he HAD to play with this electrical cap on the floor.

Elijah wasn't too impressed with the dinosaurs. However, look below.

He LOOooved playing on a computer (without having to hear "no-no")  :)

yea, I know. His socks are orange. Mommy's fault.

It was a fun family day again. We can't wait to take him to the Zoo whenever this rain will end!!

I am off to Dr. Chen today for my just-shy-of-12-week check up. :::2nd trimester, have I ever told you how much I love you, how much I have waited for you??:::  Just a few more weeks to go!

11 weeks pregnant!

Where is time going? Everything is zooming by! I am trying to appreciate as much as I can, but I don't think I can keep up at the speed of time. Things are going well so far. I am not as queasy at night, so I can eat a nice dinner and I've gotten better managing snacks during the day. --mmm, especially apples.

This past weekend was so great.-- Friday was SUPER great. Brad and I got to go on a date! The first one since Elijah has been born! (that's almost 10 months people---that is some long overdue quality time). We just had dinner and a movie, but it was perfect. His parents we so kind to watch Elijah for us. I also got my first mother's day gifts too! Brad got me a gift card to Panera, since it's my favorite, and Starbucks. And Elijah got me a gift certificate to get a massage. Those presents were awesome, I am especially excited to use the massage when I get more pregnant.

But this was the best part

Can you see it? His little signature? --- Yes, that little scribble made me cry in the middle of dinner.  (I must be pregnant)   :)

The rest of the weekend was pretty good too. Saturday I spent the day with my mom. It was really nice, since we were the only ones that couldn't make it to see my grandma. Sunday was great too. Brad and I celebrated with our moms, and we also got to take a Sunday afternoon nap with Elijah.

He is growing up so fast.We took him to the park yesterday and he had so much fun! There is no greater joy than your kids. That's for sure.

his first time on a swing!

Oh yea! He loves to be walked - he just started that Sunday.

He is a little too fearless! He wants to be too big too fast!

His favorite toy...the one that spits the balls under the couch.  :|

     

He is so funny. He'll stand up on anything!

Have I ever told you

how much I hate fishing for bouncy balls from underneath the couch?

I love our new furniture, but now I wish they had a skirt to deflect the 140 balls Elijah plays with throughout the day. I can't stand toys out everywhere, so it's the first thing I do after he is in bed for the night....but I really don't enjoy picking them up. At all.

Luckily, we decided to finish the basement! This, unfortunately puts our patio dreams on hold, but to maintain some sanity around here we need a larger space. I had a few bids, and they were out of control. One guy told me $10,000 (our whole budget practically) for one room. It made me so mad. We'd do it ourselves if we weren't so busy and had the proper tools.

So I called up a contractor my mom used to fix up her house in Webster and he said he could do it for a fraction of the cost. So, this project will be underway in the next 4-5 weeks. I CAN'T wait!

I will be sure to purchase furniture that won't horde toys.

Elijah is in bed...thankfully. I feel terrible for him. Those top teeth are really bugging him. He still manages to smile and have fun though.

 

How funny is he?? He still isn't too fond of macaroni...he is learning way too fast to be sneaky! Tipsy has no complaints though :)

It's been a rollercoaster lately...

Life has thrown every kind of curve ball the last week and half. To start, Brad got really, scary sick with some type of virus that attacked his mouth. Luckily Elijah, my dad and I were not affected, but Brad got it so bad for all of us. He had to go doctors, specialists and even an ER scare. Luckily he found someone that has helped him. He is still trying to completely recover, but luckily he can breathe and eat semi-normally again. He scared me.   

Of course during this time Brad is sick the following is also happening:

• Elijah is waking every two hours, on the hour
• I am trying to wean
• I am so weak from not being able to eat thanks to baby pea
• I am in the midst of FINALS!
• Oh, and we're waiting for Elijah's top teeth to finally pop through.

It has been terrible. If I didn't have family to help support us, I would have been ---- geez, I don't even want to think about it.

Phew. So, weaning is going pretty good. I am still nursing about twice a day but Elijah is on cow's milk mostly. I tried the goat's milk, and I don't know how anyone could ever drink that or give it to their kids. It's like drinking the brine from feta - no matter what you dilute it with! ::sick:: he and I both were gagging. Anyway, Horizon cow's milk with a shot of vitamins is what he's getting now.

he seems to be doing just fine with his new milk :) I love this pic.

I think I am finally seeing an end to the queasiness. I got to the point I didn't even eat crispix anymore. Apples, oranges and bomb pops are the only things I could eat. Today I managed a mini bagel with cream cheese....so I do think the end is near for this little baby's havoc on his mom...until 30 more weeks I suppose :)

 

 

Look at that little trouble maker...

 

Anyway. Things are getting back to normal. I am even getting to go on a charity walk this weekend. A cause I am super excited for. My mom's best friend, Betsy has a 4 year old that has CF. Click on the link to learn more. I am so proud to walk for this little sweet heart on Saturday.

Luke's Hope

What's that toy in the tub?

um...that's not a toy. That's a turd!

---no photo inserted for obvious reasons---

This is the second night in a row that Elijah has crapped in the bath tub!! The only thing that has kept me from puking is the anxiety of getting him out and rebathed ASAP!

When he did it last night I noted the time, incase it was his 'pooping time'...so when I bathed him an hour earlier tonight I was so surprised he did it again. Oh man, it is so gross.

I normally don't use bleach for anything, but I dug it out of the garage and used it the last two nights. I'm terrified of those horrid little poop bacteria that make kids sick.

Anyway, I thought this would be hilarious to read years from now, but for now it's gross and I'm still in disbelief. No one warned me about turds in the tub when I became a mom!

Otherwise life is still crazy. Brad is sick, I have finals and the weather is pretty depressing lately (it rained ALL day during the festival yesterday). Ugh, I hope things get more cheery around here...I'm drained and ready to hibernate in my bed indefinitely.

There is some good news though....my dad is picking up some dairy queen as I type.

Mmmmmm. Thanks dad.

Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo

So, it looks like we're staying with our South Park theme and ultrasounds.

Remember Elijah was compared to Cartman early on?  click here

Brad said that our little pea looks like Mr. Hanky....ugh, and I agree.

Besides the fact my baby looks like poo...he/she is doing great in there! They could point out the arm buds and leg buds already - it's just so amazing to think about. It's happening all so fast! The heartbeat was pretty fast at 173 bpm, but I also blame that on the soda I had prior to the appt. Maybe the sugar made him/her crazy for a moment. Elijah's was only 143 bpm!

I'll be honest, the heartbeat almost made me cry. I have been super emotional lately, and it was a sound of relief because I have been cramping so bad lately.

It's so hard to decide what my gut is telling me as far as boy or girl goes. I go in waves of wanting a boy or wanting a girl. I really don't want to know. I am going to fight with all of my strength to prevent us from finding out the sex. The only problem is, is Brad will fight with all his strength to FIND out the sex. I should win this battle, he got his way the first time when we found out. 

Something else that I think is kind of nuts is that I am already starting to feel a difference in my lower abdomen. I was laying Elijah down in his crib and as my stomach was pressing against the crib rail it hurt in a funky way! Of course I'm not showing or anything like that, but I can feel my round ligaments pulling (either it's that, or I did 1000 crunches --- and lets get real people).

I go back on May 18th and have to get blood work prior to that visit. I am so glad that the first trimester will be over soon. I want to eat normally....and brush my teeth without gagging and throwing up. I am down 6 pounds in 2 weeks, which I'm not really complaining about, but I'm tired of feeling queasy ALL the time.

I'm off to sleep. I am volunteering at the St. Louis Earth Day festival tomorrow, and I have to be there super early. Hopefully the rain will leave us alone, it should be a fun day.

St. Louis Earth Day Festival