jack+alli

shapely shoulders

2011-11-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

See here for a quick-15 minute shoulder workout. I did that last night and am feeling it this morning. Love that!

12 months

2011-10-02T20:50:00.002-07:00

{October 2, 2011}

I did a horrible job at writing down and keeping track of what Eli has been up to during the month of September---his 12th month.

he loves to go outside! we had a few picnics in the backyard that one week it was actually cool. sometimes in the evening we'll let him walk around on the sidewalk and play in the front yard grass. he absolutely loves it!

some new words he learned: light (lie), dog (dah), bird (bur), bat (bah). he first said dog when we went to ashleys house and he saw their dog. Up until that point he must have thought patch was a cat...? ;)

since then he acknowledges patch as a dog. he knows and looks at those things around the house when i ask him where they are. (light, dog, bird, bat <---halloween decor)

he's such a good sleeper. he goes to bed between 7-7:30, sometimes wakes up once crying. we just give him a binky and he goes back to sleep. then nurses around 4 or 5. if he doesn't wake up then i'll nurse him at 5 when i get up to work out. he'll then sleep until 7 or 7:15. i know people say "never wake a sleeping baby" BUT if it's past 7:15 and he's still asleep i will wake him up so he's ready for his 9:00 nap....and in turn making him ready for his pm nap. his first nap he does down around 9. it's typically a 2 hour nap, but he surprised me and slept 2hr 20 minute- 2hr 45 minutes about 10 times that month. he usually goes down for his pm nap 2.5-3 hours after he wakes up from his morning nap. that's nap is typically 1.5 hours long. Quite a few days he nixed that pm nap altogether. I'd put him down like usual and he'd be quiet for a while then start gabbing away! I usually work during nap times so as long as he was playfully talking, I just left him in there so I could get my work done.

I didn't do so great this month with EC. Partly because he has been so discrete when he goes. I haven't been catching him in the act like I used to. Another reason is he has found a new potty time. He'll go in his crib. Either in the morning before he gets up, or after I lay him down for his pm. Which sometimes coincided with those days he didn't have a pm nap....I'd go in to try and lay him back down only to notice he needed a change.

he still loves the same foods as before. he likes quinoa more than last month.

he loves drinking from a straw and doesn't care too much for his sippy.

loves dancing to this song.

is crazy at church! he's all over the place during the sacrament meeting. it took a few times of sitting in the first pew to realize we can't do that. all he wants is to get off the bench and climb up the stairs. sitting in the middle though, he likes to crawl under the pews or slip in between the pew and the wall to visit the families in front or behind us. same goes for sunday school. and relief society? fuhgetaboutit! since eli doesn't need to nurse at church anymore, jackson will take him to ym with him. unless he's teaching. otherwise i roam the halls or let him play in the mother's lounge :) having my mom in the ward helps, too. she likes talking him out to walk the halls.

11 months

2011-09-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

{9-2-11}

August 3, 2011- September 1, 2011:

Eli took a 3 hour and 10 minute nap on his 10 month birthday! That was the longest nap ever...besides maybe when he was a newborn. I happened to go into work that day while Aunt Steph "watched" him. Not much watching though as he slept the whole time I was gone.

Took his first steps on 8/3/11! 10 months and 1 day old. He took them to Aunt Steph! After he did it we tried to see if he'd do it again. He was holding onto the computer chair and full on pivoted and took a step!
He also learned how to make kissy faces after watching jackson and i. (ewww!)

2 days later he took 5 steps to daddy! he doesn't walk to me. not sure how that should make me feel..... ;)

8/5/11 as eli was eating breakfast in his highchair i was talking to him. i said dada. he said dada. i said mama. he said mama. i clapped. he clapped. i did kissy face, he did kissy face. it was so cute to see him watch and copy what i did. This day he walked like 6 steps to daddy!

He took swimming lessons this month 3x a week for 3 weeks. He did okay. He didn't love it. He fussed and whined almost throughout the entire 10 minutes. He did well floating on his back and quickly learned all he was taught. Now to keep it up so next year he likes it better.

8/28/11 learned how to suck from a straw.

8/29/11- took 29 steps in a row without falling!

Sleeps much better at night! He goes down somewhere between 7:15-7:45pm and sleep about 10 hours before he wakes up to eat or i wake him up to eat (to avoid exploding! tmi?) he then sleeps until somewhere in the 7am hour, depending on when he went down the night before. He goes down for his am nap 2 hours after he wakes up and sleeps 1.5-2 hours. He goes down again for an afternoon nap around 1:30-2 and sleeps 1.5-2 hours again. Sometimes he just plays and talks in his crib for 30+ minutes. If it's later in the day I'll just get him out so he doesn't have a super late nap that is going to effect his bedtime. I think he went on only one nap a day 2 or 3 times this month. He does surprisingly well and is a happy guy without that afternoon nap. However, mama still likes that extra time to get stuff done.

he's always been so much fun and each stage is always my favorite, but really right now he is SO much fun! he's playful, he's good about playing by himself- or with patch or carter. unless he's tired he really isn't clingy on me anymore. he's gotten so much better about letting other people hold and play with him. for a while he just wanted me, but it's been nice to not worry about that while my mom or sister watches him.

i suddenly switched up his feedings. he now eats just before he goes to sleep, and also still when he wakes up (if he wants). he gets super distracted so i have to feed him in his room with the lights off. and forget about it at church- if i'm lucky enough to get the mothers room to myself he'll usually eat, but just last week he ate before his morning nap at 9. we were ready to leave for church at 11:15 but he was still asleep, so we woke him up to go. he wasn't interested in eating once we got to church and then we were asked to help in the nursery and he was having too much fun playing to care about eating-well, he did have a few snacks. then nursed once we got home at almost 3. wow, i ramble, huh?! my point is that he's going longer between feedings.

new foods: he still loves oatbran with banana and cinnamon. and black beans. pinto beans are a favorite, too. he'll grab a handful of them and shove them into his mouth. he's had quinoa- but he doesn't love it. the texture is still a little weird for him. he also tried sunflower seed butter on some bread, which he seemed to like. he prefers toast to bread. he loves banana soft serve.

10 months 8.2.11

2011-08-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Every month seems to fly by faster than the one before!

Here's a look at July- Eli's 9th month:

He's crawling more and more on his hands and knees. Although, he still scoots around sometimes.

He ~~likes~~ loves dog food. I can't leave my bedroom door open for too long before he's hauling hiney to get to those salty treats. I chase him but that seems to make him go even faster. Upon reaching the food, he grabs a big handful and immediately stuffs it in his mouth. I think he really only wants it because we always tell him "no". Surely it can't be good!

He is very brave and lets go of the furniture to balance on his own. After a few seconds he slowly makes his way to the ground in a squat position.

He still is styling the front top and bottom 2 teeth. I can see some more getting ready to make their debut on the top.

His longest nap this month was 3 hours. He did wake up a few times but I just gave him his binky and patted his bum and he kept going back to sleep. It was wonderful for me since I was pooped from a long run that morning and taking a nap myself.

He still wakes up at night to nurse. I'm not sure that he really needs it. It's just that I know the fastest way for him to fall back asleep- and me, too- is to feed him. So I do. Some nights are better than others in that he will only wake up once- or I will wake him up (if it's a running day I want to feed him before I go if he hasn't eaten during the night so that he wont wake up while I'm gone) A few times he woke up 4/5 times. I'm blaming it on his teeth.

He eats 'real' food everyday. His favorite is still oat bran mixed with banana and cinnamon. He eats black beans and does really well with picking them up one by one. He also likes pretzels, rice cakes, pita chips, frozen banana, mashed potatoes, watermelon, brown rice puff cereal. Pretty much anything we eat, he gets to try.

He had his 9 month visit this month. He measured 30.5" and weighed in at 17lbs 4 oz. Exactly 9" and 9lbs bigger than his birth height/weight.

I tried bringing back dairy into my diet to see how he handles it after being off for a few months. It's still causing a rash on his back, so I'll stay away from it for now. I don't miss it, but if I do crave something, luckily there are enough vegan substitutes out there to keep me satisfied.

His new favorite thing to do is smack patch. He just whacks him on the head with his palm over and over with the biggest open mouth, dimpled grin I've ever seen. Patch takes it like a champ and just sits there, though after a few minutes he walks away, but Eli just follows him.

I'm not sure to count this, but he took a step to daddy. It was more like he way on his way falling to the ground from standing and took a step before he hit the floor.

We love you sweet boy!
xoxo

Elimination Communication

2011-07-27T05:00:00.002-07:00

Eli might disown me someday when he finds out I put this on the internet. Seriously, gone are the days of embarrassing your child with photo albums. Now we plaster it all over the internet! Sorry babe.

With Eli eating more solid foods, he is becoming more consistent with the disposal of it. Evenings are his time of choice. This was video was taken a few days ago. Don't mind how messy my babe is. He was eating a rice cake and I didn't bother taking it from him before I took him to the potty. I know, food in the bathroom is icky.

It's pretty easy to know when he's working on a little surprise. He goes quiet then begins making soft grunting noises. That's my cue to immediately stop what I am doing, rip his diaper off and sit him on the potty seat to do his thing. We think it's pretty darn cute to see such a lil' guy on a big ol' toilet, and it sure beats having to change a poopy diaper!

dessert

2011-07-25T19:31:00.003-07:00

this little combo has quickly become my favorite dessert. due to eli's dairy "sensitivity" i had to get creative with getting my daily chocolate fix in. this is perfect and so tasty! the natural sweetness from the prunes masks the bitterness of the unsweetened chocolate and they are the perfect pair! all i do i put one of each in my mouth and i'm on my way to chocolate heaven ;)

it's a date

2011-07-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

Jackson's work has recently moved offices and he is now only 4 miles away versus 17! That means lunch dates with daddy!

july 4th

2011-07-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

this year we spent a majority of the 4th at mimi's house. this happened to be eli's first time in the pool! he seemed to be okay with it. didn't love it, didn't hate it.

i stood eli up against the wall and he was cracking me up with this little karate moves. he was so happy to be standing up "on his own"

9 months

2011-07-11T19:20:00.001-07:00

this little tyke turned 9 months old on july 2nd, which was also our 7th anniversary. 9 months seems so much older to me than 8. he's slowly leaving the baby stage and becoming a toddler! time really go so fast.

here's a look at his 9th month:

*once or twice this month he did some "real" crawling on his hands and knees. he really stepped it up by doing a lot on his 9 month birthday. he mostly sticks to walking along the furniture and continues with his "wounded soldier" crawl.
*his top two teeth have made their debut!
*he got his first little bug on june 6th. he threw up multiple times from 5 am until about 6 that night. it was so sad, but he was so snuggly...i kind of loved how he just let me snuggle him. i held him all day while he was awake and went back and forth between internet time and reading. the next day he was much better and was back to himself the day after that.
*he learned how to stand up in his crib!
*he has greatly improved when going down for naps and bed. more so than not he does not cry when i lay him down. every once in a while he will, but it usually doesn't take long before he's out.
*his 2 longest naps this month were about 3 hours long. he woke up a couple times but still acted tired and kept going back to sleep after i gave him his binky and patted his back.
*i've started being more consistent with practicing "elimination communication". i did it a few times starting around the time he was 7 weeks old, but sort of filed it in the back of my brain and didn't pick it back up until recently. it has been going really well! he's gone potty on the toilet multiple times. he talks and makes all kinds of noise all day, so when it gets quiet i know he's working on a little present, so i rush him to the toilet and sit him up there on the potty seat and let him do his thing. it's so funny to watch his face. i feel bad for laughing, but i really can't help it! number #1 is harder to catch, so i usually just sit him up there before his bath while the water is running and that usually encourages him to go.
*he's tried more foods this month. he still does not like applesauce, but he likes apples...? he loves oatbran mixed with cinnamon and banana. loves bread, brown rice puff cereal, carrots (cooked and raw), peaches, crackers, pretzels, is okay with rice, loved boiled red potatoes. although he's been introduced to multiple foods, he still prefers breastfeeding and hasn't eaten any less from me.
*had the "mommy-itis" pretty rough. jackson couldn't even hold him without eli getting all worked up. i felt loved, although i'm sure jackson didn't. i know soon enough he'll want nothing to do with mommy and want to spend his time following his daddy around doing boy things. it really only lasted 2 or so weeks and he's gotten a lot better about not being stuck to me.

we love you little bugga!

lucky #7

2011-07-10T20:30:00.004-07:00

Saturday, July 2nd we celebrated our 7th anniversary! I know I say this every year; but I really can't believe it's been that long! It has gone so fast. In that time we have lived in 3 states, 5 houses, have had 5 vehicles, we each have had 4 different jobs and 7+ church callings. We've traveled to California, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Canada and Utah together. We made a couple additions our family. The first being Patch, in February 2008. We went through nearly 4 years infertility before our sweet Eli made it here on October 2, 2010. We've had good times and hard times, but I wouldn't change a thing. We wouldn't be where we are now if not for our past experiences and I love where we are now in our lives.

Anyways! On to our day! Lately I've been getting up and exercising after Eli's feeding. He was real generous and slept from 8-4 with no interruptions which means I slept from 9-4. After I fed him and he went back to sleep I headed to the track. I ended up running for 10 miles! It was my first double-digit run since I had Eli. It felt great to know that I can still do that...and that I actually want to.

Once I got home I got ready and we woke Eli up to go to our wards annual 4th of july pancake breakfast at the park.

After Eli went down for his morning nap, my mom came over so we could go to the temple. We always enjoy doing sealings on our anniversary. It's a good reminder of the promises we made on our wedding day. Another young couple that was in there with us later asked if we were newlyweds. I'll take that as a compliment that we both look young and in love :)

Again, per tradition, we went to Mango's on Main Street for lunch. We went there for lunch after we got married and have been almost every year on our anniversary. Each time we go they ask how many years it's been. The last few years they have given us a free dessert, well this year they topped that and gave us free lunch AND dessert! It was so thoughtful and kind of them.

our usual photographer was off on vacation, so this is the gem we ended up with this year:

We chilled at home as a family for the afternoon then hit up some shopping that evening. Eli is now the proud owner of an umbrella stroller, and therefore the rest of the night I had this song stuck in my head:

***

water{melon} boy

2011-07-10T09:29:00.001-07:00

this boy had his first tastes of watermelon and LOVES it!

toofs

2011-07-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Look who's got the top teefs!

fathers day

2011-07-10T08:10:00.001-07:00

Fathers Day this year was bittersweet. It was rough not having Jackson's dad and best friend here. But having Eli here brightens up any dark spots in life.

#26 {June 17}

2011-07-10T07:46:00.001-07:00

I remember being 17 like it was just a few years ago. Back then I used to think 26 was so old. Hello! 26 is practically 30 and 30 is OLD! I've since changed my mind. 26 is the new 17.

This birthday was a fun one. It was on a Friday-which is one of my running days, so I got up and did that and returned home to find baby boy awake and presents ready to be opened. After 7 years of use, our cheap wedding pots and pans were ready to join the dust of the earth! So glad I got a new set!

Jackson then went to work but arranged a massage for me in the morning. His mama was nice enough to sit at our house while Eli slept so I could leave. It's been too long since I had a massage and it was wonderful. However one hour is not long enough!

Jackson worked a half day and we met up at Joes BBQ for a free lunch.
Next up my mom came over while Eli napped so we could run a few errands and go shopping.
After that we met up with some family at Joes Farm Grill for yet again, another freebie meal.
We all headed to a nearby frozen yogurt shop afterwards then some more shopping after that.

I usually don't look forward to my birthday. I tend to put too much pressure on the whole day. However, I must say this years' was a fabulous one!

oompa loompa

2011-06-26T07:34:00.002-07:00

jackson says i need to stop eating carrots.....

am i looking orange?

that didn't last long.....

2011-06-25T18:27:00.004-07:00

turns out a little break from the pressure of making myself run long-ish distances is just what i needed to make me realize how much i miss and crave it. early this morning i headed out for a run, with plans of a 10k minimum. i wrapped it up at 9 miles. the last 2 were especially fun since i did those with my old running buddies. 9 felt good....it's been about 5 months since i've gone that far. it felt more mentally good than physically. physically, i was tiiiired! luckily eli took an almost 3 hour morning nap & i was able to rest as well.

diy circle-flower scoop-neck shirt refashion

2011-06-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

this was a shirt i've had forever and was looking for a new way to wear it. here's what i did:

cut the neckline a little lower

bought 2 inches of matching silk fabric from joanns

cut a bunch of circles

burned the perimeter to prevent fraying...and because i like the way it looks

pinned the circles on the shirt (i ended up layering 2 circles on one another)

sew!

8 months

2011-06-02T10:08:00.002-07:00

highlights of this month include:

*pulling himself up onto everything! he even walks along the couch! if i was a betting woman, i'd say he'll be walking before he's 1. but what do i know?
*he's gained speed in his "wounded soldier" crawl as we call it. he grips the floor with his leftt forearm and pushes off with his right foot. specifically his big toe. his right arm and left foot just go along for the ride. it's pretty funny to watch. and amazing how fast he can go!
*his longest nap this month was 2 hours 15 minutes. usually he his naps are 1.5 hours. up to 3 times a day. but that's not typical.
*bedtime is between 7 & 8. lately he's been getting up for the day 11 hours from the time he goes down.
*he wakes up usually twice in the night to eat. last night he only woke up once, at 3.
*this last week we've been putting him down in his crib for naps/bedtime when he's tired. so far he fusses only a minute before falling asleep. if he keeps it up, we do the whole "binky- pat his bum- and shoosh" him then walk out. a couple of times he hasn't made a peep at all. i'm not completely sure why it's been easier on all of us this time vs. last month. something different we've done is that jackson puts eli down for bed- if he's home. so far it has worked well. we must be catching him when he really is tired and maybe he's just at an age where's he's ready to fall asleep on his own? i'm not sure.
*he's done this for quite a while, but i still thinks it's cute and worth mentioning: he says "ma ma ma ma ma ma" a lot, mostly when he's tired :)
*within a few days of eliminating dairy from my diet, the rash on his back was A LOT better, almost all gone.
*he's learned how to go from laying down on his belly to sitting up. i think he sometimes forgets he can do that, though, because he'll occasionally kick his arms and legs when he's on his belly and fuss until he gets moved into a different position.
*he slaps our hand when we ask for "five"
*he's had his firsts tastes of food:
-he chews on carrots
   -he's had a few bites of avocado
-chewed on raw zucchini
-few bites from my bowl of oat bran
   -baked sweet potato fries
   -baked parsnip fries
overall he's not in love with anything, yet.

mama's day

2011-05-31T20:03:00.001-07:00

mother's day was extra sweet this year. although, it was just like any other day. because everyday is extra sweet. really, it is. yes, sometimes it's hard. i wonder if i am a good enough mom. sometimes i get frustrated that i can't do it all and then some. but all that matters is that i love my eli and try my best. and oh! oh, how i love him! he brings so much joy into our lives. i feel bad for being such a downer those years we were trying. if i had only known what was coming i don't think i would have been able to wipe that stupid smile off of my face. i have never in my life seen a cuter face than his. love you baby!

later, we enjoyed mother's day festivities at mel and erik's new place:

20 minute aerobic solution

2011-05-31T19:50:00.002-07:00

i think i've decided to forgo the long runs this summer and focus on speed and getting in a quick, high intensity run. when i usually go out for a run i pretty much set myself on cruise control and just take off. but lately i've been feeling burnt out with thinking i "have" to get in a certain mileage each week and haven't been enjoying it as much as i used to. i can't seem to find that girl who used to run at least 10 miles every saturday, not to mention the one who did an 18 mile run.....13 weeks pregnant. fuhgetabout it. i miss wanting to do all that. it will come back, but for now i need a little change. my body has been stuck and i feel like shaking it up. so i'm putting this 20 minute aerobic solution from the body for life program to the test.

i took eli with me on my first 20 minute run on monday. this is how it went:

0-2 minutes at level 5 intensity which was about 10 minute mile

2-3 minutes at level 6 intensity which was about 9:20 minute mile

3-4 minutes at level 7 intensity which was about 9 minute mile

4-5 minutes at level 8 intensity which was about 8:30 minute mile

5-6 minutes at level 9 intensity which was about 8 minute mile

6-7 minutes at level 6 intensity which was about 9:20 minute mile

7-8 minutes at level 7 intensity which was about 9 minute mile

8-9 minutes at level 8 intensity which was about 8:30 minute mile

9-10 minutes at level 9 intensity which was about 8 minute mile

10-11 minutes at level 6 intensity which was about 9:20 minute mile

11-12 minutes at level 7 intensity which was about 9 minute mile

12-13 minutes at level 8 intensity which was about 8:30 minute mile

13-14 minutes at level 9 intensity which was about 8 minute mile

14-15 minutes at level 6 intensity which was about 9:20 minute mile

15-16 minutes at level 7 intensity which was about 9 minute mile

16-17 minutes at level 8 intensity which was about 8:30 minute mile

17-18 minutes at level 9 intensity which was about 8 minute mile

18-19 minutes at level 10 intensity which was about 7:30 minute mile

19-20 minutes at level 5 intensity which was about 10 minute mile

i kept going at level 5 pace another minute or two until i completed 2.5 miles

my overall pace ended up being 8:53 minute mile. when i was finished my chest was actually burning and i felt like i got in a good workout, despite how little mileage i put in. we'll see how the rest of the summer goes!

family pictures

2011-05-23T15:31:00.003-07:00

we had our family pictures taken a few weeks ago. i would recommend amy to anyone! she was fun, creative with the shots and didn't charge an arm and a leg to do them. also, we were finished in less than an hour. as an added bonus, it was an extra fun shoot since i have know her for over 15 years. within 2 weeks i had a cd of about 150 images and almost 30 edited ones. we loved how they turned out and can't wait for our fall shoot with her :)

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

2011-05-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

i've wanted a garden for quite sometime but have been too afraid. perhaps it's because i planted basil a couple of years ago and it was dead within a few weeks. or maybe it's because of the squash that i planted last year and it withered away to nothing. or maybe it's because of that one tomato plant that i got 3 tomatoes from before it, too, bit the dust. it's probably a combination of the 3. yep.
well, this year i was determined to get it right! the last week of march i spent nearly everyday during one or two of eli's nap times (and while the other little boy that i watch was napping) clearing out the front planter. on the first of april, eli and i braved the local nursery and bought a variety of vegetable and fruit plants. i didn't think of how many i needed for the space, or bother to ask anyone, i sort of just walked in winging it- i don't really recommend that, though because since we have planted we have been told we got too many plants for the space-oops! i did look online for what would be the best to plant this time of year and just went with it. the next day jackson and i threw them down in between conference sessions. i was very skeptical, and prayed that i didn't waste $40 on this little experiment.

it's been almost 7 weeks and i *think* we're having some luck in the gardening dept!

these were taken the day we planted:

the top picture was the day we planted and the bottom was taken on may 10th

tomatoes! yellow crookneck squash! zucchini! carrots! oh my!

with this "success" comes some failures as well. so far we've lost the cilantro and 4 of the 6 strawberry plants, and the watermelon is hanging on for dear life. but other than that, so far so good.

2011-05-19T20:00:00.001-07:00

love this boy!

7

2011-05-06T21:46:00.001-07:00

dear time, please slow down. thanks.

throughout the month I add little notes of what eli has been up to during his 7th month; here they are:

-his 2nd tooth came out!

-sunday the 10th daddy put him to bed while i attended a meeting. he cried himself to sleep :( he ended up sleeping 5 hours straight for the first stretch. which is the longest stretch in a while!

-throughout the following week i tried helping him fall asleep in his crib on his own. he would cry a couple minutes each nap/bedtime that week. i ended up "shooshing" him and patting his bum and/or rocking him for a minute. it didn't take long before i was dreading nap/bedtime time. so jackson and i talked it over and decided this baby time goes too fast. i want to rock him, so i will. at least for now.

-had 6 mo. appt on thursday the 14th. weighed in at 15lbs 12 oz and 28.5". Long and lean! have i mentioned how much i love his pediatrician?! she has come to me for every appointment since he was born. she always does house visits for the first newborn appointments, but since she lives close to me she said she would come to our house (her office in in queen creek). she comes by after picking up her daughter from school. i love it :)

-eli was in the bumbo one night. i went in kitchen and came back and he was out on his belly!

-saturday the 16th at night put him on tummy and next time i looked he was pulling himself with his arms to get his binky- a few feet away from where he started!

-did it a lot of scooting on sunday, april 17th and has been scooting full force since!

-earliest bedtime this month was 6pm and got up 7am, but woke up a few times at night.

-got a rash so went back to disposables for a week. loosened the diaper cover at nighttime and the rash hasn't come back.

-started pulling himself up! he was sitting in front of his dresser and grabbed a hold of the bottom drawer (which was open) and stood right up.

-slept 10 hours straight sat. night before easter. it was an easter miracle i tell you! i could not believe it! he went to sleep at 730 and didnt wake until 530! he ate and then slept until 7. i'm still shocked. i have no idea what caused him to sleep that long at once. the longest he's ever slept was 7 hours- which was the end of january. so this was very out of the blue.

-most nights that week (last week) he slept 8 hours straight for his first stretch and ate once during the night. (usually 730pm-330am) he's getting the swing of this sleep business! but then he got messed up after spending friday in casa grande and he's woken up 2 or 3 times a night since. i can't complain.

-we're in a great bedtime routine! bath time around 6. singing time. nurse off and on. rock, and he's asleep between 7-730. once he's asleep i try to get him to nurse a little longer in hopes of a longer sleep stretch.

-naps 3 times a day. longest nap was 2 hours 25 minutes

-i noticed a dry rash on eli's back a couple of weeks ago and talked to the pediatrician last night- i'm suspecting eczema (my friends little boy had it and she thought it was that, too). so the pediatrician said it's most likely something in my diet that's causing the reaction. so i'm off dairy for a few weeks.

-he sat in the cart for the first time a few weeks ago. he is a total ham. he loves it and kicks his legs, grips the handle and gives the cheesiest grin- with the cutest snort/breathing noises. i get so many comments on how cute and happy he is! he loves being out and about and people watching. love him!

NIAW

2011-04-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

this week was national infertility awareness week. tonight i was reading a blog i used to frequently visit, but haven't done so in a while. a phrase hit me so strongly and i wanted to share it with my friends who are still awaiting their miracle:

"... infertility isn't being denied a blessing but is actually being promised a miracle."

isn't that beautiful?

as much as i wish i could take away the trial of infertility, i know without a doubt that it can make us a stronger person- if we choose to let it. i am sure that our heavenly father does not like to see us suffer, but he knows the person we will become once we pass through the fire.

hang on. don't give up. your miracle is waiting for you just as you are waiting, too.

nana nana boo boo!

2011-04-17T15:01:00.003-07:00

and this is what i call "stickin' it to the man"!

still blogging and uploading pictures without having to pay. i know, $5 isn't a big deal, but it's the PRINCIPLE!

emilee told me that by adding another author and signing in with that email address i could keep bloggin- it worked! thanks emilee!

HELP!

2011-04-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

I can't upload any more pictures because I have used up the free 1GB of space they offer. I'm told I need to purchase more space?!

Anyone else have this problem? I'm not about to pay $ just to blog!

easy diy flowers

2011-04-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

made and sewed a few flowers onto this shirt to change it up a bit.
followed this tutorial.

MORE diy ruffle tops!

2011-04-07T10:17:00.002-07:00

i did these for melanie a couple months ago but forgot to post them!

the first shirt i rullfled up some strips of lace and sewed them to the front of the shirt following the curve of the neckline.

the second shirt i ruffled up a strip of some material she brought to me (i used fray check on the ends). i think i did a loose stitch about a 1/2" to 3/4" in from one side then gathered it and folded it over at the stitch line so when i went to sew it on the shirt so there would be a double ruffle. i'm not sure if that makes sense or not.
anyways! lots of fun! i need to make my own like this now :)

diy ruffle v-neck

2011-04-06T07:07:00.003-07:00

i went to old navy on monday, meaning to only look for a pair of jeans. unfortunately (or fortunately) i left with much more than that. their sale items were an additional 30% off! among my purchases i bought these two striped long sleeved shirts. they each cost $0.68. sixty-eight cents! when i asked jackson if he could believe that he said; "yes. those are the gayest looking shirts i've ever seen" or something to that effect. "just you wait!" i told him!

first, i cut off the sleeves. i'm loving the tank & cardigan combo these days.

i turned the sleeve into itself and sewed along the edge and then cut a majority of the sleeve off from there.

next, i opened up the sleeve by cutting down the seem

then i cut two rectangular pieces from this

from there, i gathered each piece

then pinned each piece to the shirt

which i cut into a v-neck

sewed the pieces to the v-neck- along the "v"

see how the pieces are seperated:

match up the outside corners- with the right sides of the material facing eachother- stitch on the dotted lines:

after it's stitched, cut off the extra material

(it would be the section to the right of the purple stitch marks)

i tacked the material down with a few stitches along the seem line

and voila!

pardon the workout clothes ;)

homemade granola

2011-04-05T15:08:00.001-07:00

since we're talking about food, here's a tasty granola recipe i made up last week.

ingredients:

(disregard the box of bakers chocolate, i didn't end up putting any in)

my mom unloaded some of her food storage. the 12 year old oat proved to be good!

like my handwriting from the 9th grade?

all together now:

all mixed up:

and after it baked:

3/4 cup oats
1/8 cup raw, uncooked millet
1/2 cup puffed millet cereal
1T flax meal
1/2 T chia seeds
1T pumpkin seeds
10 almonds, chopped
1T vegetable protein powder (optional)
dash of cinnamon

i didn't measure the wet ingredients but here's my guess:
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup brown rice syrup
(all honey, agave, or pure maple syrup would work. anything that's sweet and sticky)

mix everything together
spread on baking sheet. i cooked mine on parchment paper
bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, stirring once after 5 minutes.

i made this a second time and added more oats and millet cereal.the beauty of granola is that measuring isn't necessary and you can throw practically anything in it. i used what i had on hand. all of which was from sprouts in the bulk section. one of the things i love about sprouts is their bulk section. i can just get as little or as much as i need, and it saves on unnecessary packaging. it's also nice for the "weird" ingredients i want to try wouldn't normally buy a big bag of.

Homemade Chocolate Chips

2011-04-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

a while ago I went to make these delicious maple nut oaties but had no chocolate chips. I did, however, have a square of bakers chocolate.
I melted the square, stirred in some agave, spread the mixture on freezer paper. it sets fast, so you've got to be quick. before i could stick it in the freezer it had set well enough that i could cut them into squares first. then they went in the freezer for 10 minutes. once they were done, they were easily broken apart to add to the cookie mix.

6 months!

2011-04-02T23:30:00.002-07:00

how is it that 6 months have already gone by? this baby stuff goes by way too fast for my liking!

here's what went down in march:

not really a milestone or accomplishment for eli, but i started watching a cute little boy 4 days a week. he is about 8 weeks younger than eli. eli enjoys watching him and holding his hand when we go on walks :) it's pretty darn cute watching them interact.

he loves stroller rides now! he just lays there and looks around. a few times he's fallen asleep, which he hasn't done since he was a month or two old.

eli sprouted a toof! not sure when it happened exactly, but i noticed it on the 19th when he was chewing on my finger. i could barely feel something sharp and sure enough...it's a chomper! perhaps this is why he's been waking up more frequently?

he wakes a couple of times during the night. it usually just takes a minute of rocking or 10 or so minutes of eating if he's hungry. either way he's back to sleep pretty quickly. the past couple of weeks he's been sleeping mostly in his crib at night, and in our bed only a few hours.

napping seems the same as last month. he typically has 4 naps a day and will stay awake for a maximum of 2 hours from the time he wakes up until he's tired again. except for his last nap of the day, he is usually awake a little longer than 2 hours until it's bedtime. i think he may have set a new record; his longest nap this month was 2 hours 20 minutes! they're usually less than an hour and a half.

jibber jabber-er. his talking makes us laugh. he is so funny! he recently started talking sometimes when he wakes up vs. whining.

hi favorite word has been "Daaaaaaaah" repeated over and over.

this has happened for a while now, but he loves patch! he tries to get his attention by making a "bark" type noise. "ahhck"

he can sit up by himself for a few minutes. and then falls over.

he loves to be standing. if we are standing up with him (standing as well) he takes steps, like he knows how to walk.

ever since this day, he has grabbed his stuff everyday in the bath!

this boys loves his daddy! i don't blame him, jackson is a fun one. eli smiles from ear to ear and gets so excited when he sees his daddy!

he's been to the library twice. he enjoyed trying to eat the books :)

Here's a look back at the last 6 months:

10.2.10

Birthday

11.2.10

1 month

12.2.10

2 months

1.2.11

3 months

2.2.11

4 months

3.2.11

5 months

4.2.11

6 months

flower knot t-shirt

2011-03-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

This shirt was sort of an accident. I had something else in mind, but before I could get there, I came up with this little number:

Here's the before

During

After

I made this shirt into a crooked, off centered v-neck; cutting from each side of the neck and leaving a few inches uncut where the cuts would have met. With the extra shirt material there I knotted it up and tucked the ends behind the "flower" and then did a few stitches by hand to secure it. I'm really not sure how I did it, so just play around with it :)

Runnin' Runnin'

2011-03-30T23:22:00.001-07:00

Eli's First Run with the BOB! Up until now I have only done walk/jog intervals with him in tow...mostly the walk part. I prefer to get my runs in solo- in the early am, late pm or on the treadmill during nap time. Is it obvious that I really dislike running in the sun? I also read or heard that babies shouldn't be taken on runs until they're 6 months old. Anyways, Monday morning we hit the road, covering 5 miles together. I think running bores him, as he spent more time sleeping. Sometimes I wish I could sleep through my run, too, buddy!

Before:

After:

circle flower t-shirt

2011-03-30T08:30:00.001-07:00

I found this old shirt in my closet. I haven't worn it because of a stain on the front of it. After some internet perusing, I found exactly what I wanted to do to it:

Here's the tutorial to see how this:

(I cut the neck a little deeper first)

Became this:

too bad i didn't see the stain on the bottom half of the shirt...right in the middle! oops

awwww

2011-03-29T18:55:00.001-07:00

7 years ago he asked and I answered!

Love you babe!

Tonight we'll celebrate by eating chinese...same as what we ate that night for dinner and almost every year on March 29th since.

word of wisdom living

2011-03-28T19:17:00.002-07:00

I've had this post drafted up and waiting to be published for a few weeks now. I wanted to write more, but this will do for now. Our RS lesson yesterday reminded me I had this post sitting around and I think it needs to be shared as we all can benefit from implementing healthier changes into our lives.

I first started reading the Word of Wisdom Living Blog after That Wife blogged about it a couple months ago here. This year I am focusing on eating more natural and whole foods, so finding this blog was just what I needed. I've always thought I ate pretty well, or at least in the past few years, but there's always room for improvement. It's funny how something that I have been taught all my life can be put on the back burner. For the most part, when I thought about the WoW, what came to mind were the donts...not the dos. Not that I've broken the WoW, but have I kept it as well as I could have? I'm not perfect, but I think as long as I make an effort everyday, over time I will improve. I don't think there will be an end to it, either. Just making one good choice after another every day. Sure there are times where I don't do as well as others, but It's all about finding the right balance.

I'm strong to the finich...

2011-03-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

Cause I ~~eats~~ drinks me spinach....

This is a must try recipe. This smoothie is delicious, thick, healthy and filling! I've been suckin' back one of these almost everyday.

in the mix:
1 cup frozen banana slices
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
handful of spinach (about 1 cup packed)
splash of milk- add until it reaches desired consistency.

Adding spinach to smoothies is a great way to bring spinach into your diet- if it's not already there. (Here's an article about the top ten benefits of spinach.) The sweetness of the banana cancels out the spinach flavor, you won't even know it's there!

15 minute creamy avocado pasta

2011-03-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe here from Angela at Oh She glows. It was super easy and super tasty. We've made it a few times, and love it.

From OhSheGlows:

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 medium sized ripe Avocado, pitted
1/2 lemon, juiced + lemon zest to garnish
2-3 garlic cloves, to taste
1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
~1/4 cup Fresh Basil, (I didn't have any, but it would have been tasty!)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 servings/6 oz of your choice of pasta (I used whole wheat fettuccine)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Bring several cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add in your pasta, reduce heat to medium, and cook until Al Dente, about 8-10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the sauce by placing the garlic cloves, lemon juice, and olive oil into a food processor. Process until smooth. Now add in the pitted avocado, basil, and salt. Process until smooth and creamy.

3. When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse in a strainer and place pasta into a large bowl. Pour on sauce and toss until fully combined. Garnish with lemon zest and black pepper. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.

Please note: This dish does not reheat well due to the avocado in the sauce. Please serve immediately.

news flash

2011-03-22T20:16:00.001-07:00

If he didn't know he was a boy already, he does now!

CHOMPER!

2011-03-20T09:58:00.001-07:00

The day Eli turned 24 weeks old (March 19th) I noticed he sprouted his first toof! He was chewing on my finger, as usual, and I could barely feel something sharp scraping against my finger. Upon further inspection, here's what I found:

diy shirt to tank

2011-03-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

i really can't stop finding old shirts to change up, it's fun and requires no money whatsoever.

here's a shirt i had stuffed in my closet. it'd been a couple years since this shirt had seen the light of day. (why didn't i chuck it? i'm a hoarder!...i never know when i might need something!)

i hated that it was 3/4 length sleeve. there's too much stripe-age going on for someone curvy, at least it used to be.

first order of biness was hack the sleeves. i dont know why i went about this the "pretty" way, when i'll only wear this with a cardigan and no one will ever see the sleeve hem.

but here's how i did it:

with the 3/4 sleeve still intact, i sewed alongside the existing seem line.

then i cut the 3/4 sleeve off, right along the original seem line.

see, now it has a nice, finished edge- with no pinning involved.

much better already!

then i added lace to the neckline: (what else, right?!)

next, i tacked this down in some areas to prevent it from flipping up

here's the new shirt and my babe in his striped jumper- which reminded me i had this top in the first place :)

all doily-ed up

2011-03-17T17:00:00.002-07:00

here's a quick, fun fix:

i had this boring shirt i wanted to spruce up, but wasn't sure how. so it sat in my craft (crap) room for a few days. as i was cleaning it the other day i found a crocheted doily and decided to sew it on the shirt. so now if we're out together and you happen to need a resting spot for your teacup or trinket, i have a doily handy!

diy shirts

2011-03-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

i. can't. stop.

here's another diy-er. there's more, but they'll have to wait.
i did this a month and a half ago or something. i wanted a ruffly shirt but didnt want to "waste" any of my good shirts in case my idea didn't pan out. i had this old pj shirt from who-knows-where that i decided to use as my practice. if it didn't work, no biggie. lucky for me it worked. i've worn it out a handful of times, including once to church. so now i can say yes, you can wear your pj's to church.

so i put it on and pinched the sides and used my finger to measure how far in to take it. a pro might put it on inside out and pin it while on. me? like i said, i guesstimated. next, i cut one side all the way from the bottom hem to the top of the shirt. the part that i cut off, i placed on the opposite side of the shirt to give me a pattern to cut from so that both sides would be the same. follow?

okay then i sewed up the sides. and thats what you don't want to do. you should leave them open so the ends of your ruffles can be sandwiched in the shirt and it looks all nice and clean and such. i had to seam rip mine. i dont always think ahead.

i have more lace than the entire line of victorias secret, which isnt hard to beat seeing as how those little numbers contain hardly any. besides the point. i had a lace tablecloth that i bought from goodwill a year or so ago. the perimeter is scalloped, which was perfect for this project. meaning it made it that much easier because i wouldn't have to hem the lace.

...and apparently i didn't take pictures of the rest of the steps. oops...

okay, so first i cut a bunch of strips. i can't say how long they were. probably the width and a half of the shirt. next i did a loose stitch, then gathered the lace by pulling on the bottom thread until it was a little ruffly.

now sew! i started at the bottom and worked my way up, overlapping each layer. with the top layer i set it on the shirt where i wanted it to go then flipped it up, so i would be sewing the back side of the lace to the shirt. that way, after it was sewn, i could flip it down and it would have a clean, finished look from the front. i hope that makes sense. i'm hardly understand it myself.

anyways, here's the final product:

parsnip fries

2011-03-11T14:55:00.002-07:00

So I didn't take a picture of mine, because I ate them up too fast, that's how yummy they were! So I borrowed this picture from Caitlin at HTP. I've been seeing these "fries" for a while, and finally got around to buying a parsnip today. My only problem is WHY did it take me so long to make these? Well, also, why did I only buy one parsnip?!

To make a batch of your own all you need to do is cut up your parsnip, rub a little EVOO on them and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. I put mine in my toaster oven until they were nice and golden brown, but they can be put in the oven, too. Probably around 400 degrees or so. Maybe even broil them for a minute to get them nice and crunchy. I dipped mine in homemade hummus (loosely followed this recipe) and mustard. So good!

Now I'm wondering what other veggie I can do this to? I've only done this with russet and sweet potatoes. Sweet potato being my favorite of the two. It's funny because I don't like baked sweet potatoes, but pretty much have to pry myself away from them in "fry" form. When I was pregnant some nights that's all I'd eat for dinner. Mmm! Tasty and healthy. What else could you ask for?!

choco-balls

2011-03-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

Thursday's are fun at our house. Mimi comes over after work and we enjoy a lil snack. Last week I almost forgot to make something, so real quick I put a few prunes with some almonds in the food processor and rolled them into balls and put in the freezer for 15 minutes, then I sprinkled a little bit of unsweetened cocoa powder on top. They were okay, but not spectacular.

Yesterday I improved the recipe. I still left out one key ingredient that I know will make them stellar, which is peanut butter! Peanut butter makes the world a better place, I am sure of it. Same with mustard...but there's a time and place for everything and it's not here or now. Anyways, I had just ran out of peanuts- thus no peanut buttah. They were still tasty, though!

I've seen similar bars/balls. Most recently, Kami reminded me of them here.

Not following a recipe, here's how I came up with my choco-balls:

Into the food processor went:

12 prunes
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup oat bran
2 tsp natural, unrefined coconut oil
1T flaxseed meal
1T brown rice syrup
1T unsweetened cocoa powder
1tsp raw sunflower seeds
2tsp raw pumpkin seeds
2tsp chia seeds

I scooped them out with a TBSP measurer, plopped them on a plate and then into the freezer for 10-15 minutes. They were really good! Although, I'm still convinced that a tablespoon or so of peanut butter would make them all the better :)

*Makes 16 TBSP size goodies. Each ball contains 52 calories. Give me some time and i'll get all of the nutritional info on these babies.*

Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch

2011-03-08T19:38:00.003-07:00

don't you love when you find a tasty recipe and reaize you have *all* of the ingredients on hand? i do! heab posted this recipe the other day (sarah's recipe taken from this one by ashley) . and i immediately made it. although, it would have helped to have had parchment paper. oh well, it still worked. and i still ate most (all) of it.

1/2 c. garbanzo/fava bean flour (can be made by grinding whole beans)
1/2 c. millet flour (can be made by grinding whole millet, or sub any other gluten free grain)
2 T. butter, melted
3/4 c. water
1/4 t. salt
2 T. organic sugar, divided (i used 1t stevia, plus a little more to sprinkle on top)
2 t. cinnamon, divided
1 t. vanilla extract

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
*In a large bowl, add flours, butter, salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar (or 1tsp stevia), 1 t. of cinnamon and vanilla. Add water. *Whisk until completely smooth.

*Pour batter onto lined cookie sheet and spread batter evenly to each edge of the sheet.

*Sprinkle with remaining sugar and cinnamon.
*Bake for 22-27 minutes, until edges are starting to brown and center is just starting to crack.

*Remove parchment from sheet and cut the cereal into 1-inch squares
*Spread the squares back onto the unlined sheet and bake for an additional 2-4 minutes, turning at least once. Cereal should be crisp and crunchy.

ps-I ate most out of my hand, but i also tried it with some rice milk. it was tasty, but got soggy faster than the boxed variety.

disclosure: i will not accept responsibility should the entire pan be consumed in less than an hour

diy ruffled boutineer shirt

2011-03-03T20:27:00.004-07:00

i couldn't think of what else to call this. boutineer works, right?
anyways, this project was super easy & super quick.

the how to:
-cut a long strip of fabric. i choose lace because i have a ton.
-sew straight down the center with the stitch length set at 5 or higher
-pull the bottom strand of thread to gather the lace
-twist and swirl the lace in the upper section of one side of your shirt- pinning as you go
-sew!

5 months

2011-03-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

really, who's pushing the fast-forward button? i cannot believe i'm writing a post about my 5 month old baby!
here are a few things about eli from the month of February:

*rolls more, once he woke himself up one night from rolling over! march 1st, the night before his 5 month birthday, he put two rolls together and went from belly to back to belly to back!
*enjoys sticking his tounge out
*loves grabbing anything and stuffing it in his mouth (like my cheek) if im holding him while drinking a smoothie, he grabs at my cup and sucks on the side of the cold glass
*had his first (and 2nd) ice cube. the teething seems to be bothering him more lately.
*we had our first night of not much sleep when he struggled from 3:30-7:30am (sleeping a half an hour two different times during that 4 hr block) we think it must have been those gums.
*hes our little bed bug. he sleeps comfy n cozy right between us. at some point during the night when he wakes up to eat i bring him in the bed with us. depending on who knows what- but sometimes he just seems fidgety so i put him back in his crib if i think he will sleep better in there. we do what works- which isn't always the same everyday.
*he seems to be waking up more at night, not sure why. it usually just takes a few minutes in the rocking chair to get him back to sleep.
*naps 4 times a day. between 30 minutes and 1.5 hr. If it's a 30 min nap i try to get him back to sleep depending on the length of the nap before. sometimes it works, most times-not so much.
*he talks so much! he says: mama, dada, nana and patch. okay, not patch, but i swear he says the other words!
*eats every 3 hours or so during the day. he's become much more efficient and is usually finished within 5 minutes. also, he enjoys tugging on my face while eating.
*loves his patch dog. he seems to like looking at him. we try to keep patch out of reach since eli has quite a grip and would love to get his hands on some patch hair. ick!
*gets fussy after 15-20 minutes in his stroller. he likes to see things from a higher point of view, so im sure once he can sit up he'll enjoy it more

no butts {about it}

2011-03-01T19:22:00.001-07:00

Here's a short (12 minute) routine that'll have you shakin' in your sneakers! I found this as I was perusing the internet in search of a killer booty buster. Needless to say, I think I found it. Those jump lunges will get ya!

Each exercise is to be performed for 50 seconds. The catch is you have to do as many as you can in those 50 seconds. Take 10 seconds to rest in between each workout to write your numbers down.

I dare you to try this:

1. Jump Lunge – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

2. Leg Raises – 50 sec. effort (alternate)

10 sec. rest

3. Jump Lunge – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

4. Santana Push Up & Leg Lift – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

5. Jump Lunge – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

6. Chin Ups – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

7. Jump Lunge – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

8. Seated Bicycle - 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

9. Jump Lunge – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

10. One Leg Dead Lift (left leg) – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

11. Jump Lunge – 50 sec. effort

10 sec. rest

12. One Leg Dead Lift (right leg) – 50 sec. effort

So, How'd you do?!

PS: I found this workout and other short killer routines at bodyrock.tv. Just beware if you head to that site-super duper fit lady who isn't afraid to show what she's got!

DIY: Food! Corn tortillas

2011-02-23T21:44:00.005-07:00

when i sit down to write my grocery list...okay i hardly ever do that. it's more like "dang! we need milk!" and i'm at the store trying to think of what else to get since i'm already there. anyways, at some point i try to remember to ask myself if i can make it? like chips, for instance. rather than buying a bag, i'd rather go the healthier and more fun (fun? yep, its official- i'm lame) route by making them myself.

well i went a step further this time, and actually made the tortillas. and it was fun. but now i'm thinking i need a tortilla press (although rolling out each one was a good workout!) these made excellent veggie tacos and then...chips!

i rolled each one out by placing the dough ball in between thick plastic (to prevent it from sticking to the counter and to quickly move them to the burner). i did a bunch at a time on the griddle. leftovers were stored in the fridge. i like how "authentic" they look and how fresh they tasted!
i guess the next thing for me to do would be to make the corn flour. ooh, then i could take it up a notch and grow the corn!

yeah, no thanks.

strength training & treadmill circuit

2011-02-19T08:10:00.001-07:00

Here's a great butt busting workout. I found something similar on another blog, but changed some things to my liking. I did this last Tuesday and was still sore come Thursday, which is a little bit of a surprise because I wasn't writhing in pain during the workout. It was actually pretty...easy. I'm reminded that a few more lunges, squats & push ups wouldn't be such a bad thing every once in a while!

This doesn't have to be done on a treadmill, just walk out your front door for the jogging & sprinting parts. Some neighbors might think you can't make up your mind as to whether or not you want to go for a run, but it sure beats you looking out your window judging your neighbors for whatever odd thing you find them doing!

If running outside isn't an option and you don't have a treadmill, I would think that any high-intensity something-or-other would suffice; Jumping Jacks, Plank Jacks, Mountain Climbers, Jumping Rope, etc. Just speed it up during the parts that require sprinting.

5 Minute Warm-Up: I chose to walk at a 4 mph pace

Walking Lunges: 1 minute
Sprint: 1 minute
Push-ups: 1 minute
Jog: 3 minutes
Sprint: 30 seconds
Squats: 1 minute
Mountain Climbers: 1 minute
Tricep Dips: 1 minute
Reverse Plank: 30 seconds
Jog: 2 minutes
Squat & Press: 1 minute
Dumbbell Upright Row: 1 minute
Jog: 2 minutes
Sprint: 45 seconds
Bicep Curl: 1 minute
Calf Raises(holding dumbbells at your side in each hand): 1 minute
Jog: 1 minute
Sprint: 30 seconds
Jog: 1 minute
Sprint: 30 seconds
Jog: 1 minute

Cool Down Walk: 5 minutes
Stretch!

Happy Birthday

2011-02-18T08:00:00.001-07:00

Today is Lane's birthday. He would have been 62. How we all wish he was here to celebrate with!
Here are some pictures from his birthdays over the years:

If you can't tell from the pictures, he loved to laugh and to make others laugh! We all had so many good times with him.

Happy Birthday, Lane!

waffleizer

2011-02-17T09:39:00.003-07:00

have you seen this blog? it's amazing.
i had my own waffleize it day last week. it was mighty fun!

breakfast:

french toast waffles

in the mix: 1 egg, splash of rice milk, unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, ground flaxseed

ive been getting my bread from here for a few years. i buy 15 or so at a time and keep the loaves in the freezer. it's ony 50 cents a loaf and organic!

just dip and waffle:

the "scrambled" egg was so fluffy, i never want a pan cooked waffle again.

the mix made enough to coat 3 slices of bread, i topped mine with homemade almond and peanut butter

lunch:

waffled black bean burger

in the mix: 1/2c black beans, 2T oats, 1/2t taco seasoning (recipe link from kami), 1-2T salsa
mash it up and you get this:

waffleize it and throw it on a spinach, brown rice, salsa, apple, carrot, hummus & goat cheese salad:

dinner

oatmeal waffle

for dinner i wanted oatmeal, but how in the heck do you waffleize oatmeal?

in the mix: oat bran, oatmeal, sliced banana, ground flaxseed, chia seeds, pumpkin pie spice & cinnamon

i poured boiling hot water on top of my bowled oats then covered it for a few minutes until all the water was absorbed. it was really thick.
i greased the iron with coconut oil and the sprinkled the bottom with dry oats, plopped the oatmeal on top and then sprinkled the top of the oatmeal with more dry oats so it wouldn't become a sticky mess (trial&error folks!).

voila:

basically i want to waffle everything, and i almost do. i've been waffling a slice of bread vs putting it in the toaster. try it! it does taste better!

4 months old

2011-02-13T07:54:00.003-07:00

as of february 2 i have a 4 month old? say whaaat?

here's a little run down of our favorite little man for the month of January:

*no teeth yet, but still chomping!

*loves bath! he likes to stretch his legs out and try to touch the end of the tub.

*~~watches me eat.~~ watches anyone eat!

*watches patch all of the time! he smiles at him sometimes, it is the cutest! he has been know to grab a fistful of patch hair. luckily he hasn't hurt patch yet, but it only a matter of time.

* after a diaper change, i stand him up and face him towards the mirror above the changing table. he loves to see himself and smile. it's the cutest, but i think everything he does is cute :)

*no more 9:30 wake ups. he's up earlier, usually around 7 or 8. he still gets tired after an 1-1.5 hours of being awake. still taking 4 naps a day before bedtime.

*his morning nap is almost always an hour and a half long. usually from 9:30-11. the other 3 naps can be as short as 30 minutes or over 2 hours.

*can roll over from back to belly!

*talks constantly! it is so cute to hear him babble.

*figured out how to blow raspberries and does it all the time! we woke up at 2am once to him blowing raspberries. not hungry or poopy. just wanted to practice his newly learned trick. we couldn't help but laugh!

*he reaches for his toys above him on his play mat. if he can grab it, his mouth immediately pops open.

*actually, anything he can grab goes straight to his mouth.

*i love it when i have him swaddled and sing him lulabies, he looks up at me with his almond eyes and gives me a sweet grin, i cant help but smooch those juicy lips!

*he used to fuss a little when he would be in his car seat, but now he mostly enjoy it and likes to look out window.

* he has the cutest cry, and is very easily consoled when he does cry.

*one day he wore red socks and he kept trying to put them off....and that there was the beginning of him finding his feet. and his mouth finding his feet.

We went to Vegas the very end of January, so just before he turned 4 months old. He must have been worn out from the trip because that night he only woke up once. He went to bed at 10, woke up once to eat at 5 and then slept until 7:45. Every once in a while he throws me a bone and sleeps 7 straight hours.

Upper Body Living Room Workout

2011-02-10T11:44:00.002-07:00

I put together this little upper body workout this morning during eli's nap. I need to improve my upper body strength and I was getting a little bored with p90x and wanted to switch things up. I 'm trying to make it my new rule that if I want to watch something on tv I have to be exercising. This workout is perfect for doing just that.

I've taken some moves from P90X and others from stuff I've seen before. I followed the P90X outline for Shoulders & Arms. Working Shoulders, Biceps then Triceps. Repeat.

Equipment needed: hand weights or something heavy
There is a total of 3 sets with 10-12 reps per set (last few reps. should be difficult to do; although they should still be done with good form)

This workout can be done one of 3 ways:

-One set of each workout then repeat the entire thing 2 more times. (1-9, 1-9, 1-9)

-One set of each workout within the same S, B, T category then repeat 2 more times. (1-3, 1-3, 1-3; 4-6, 4-6, 4-6: 7-9, 7-9, 7-9)

-All 3 sets within the same S, B, T category before moving on to the next. (1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, etc)

*****

*5 minute warm up: ballistic stretching- jog in place, jumping jacks, swinging your arms open & closed like you're hugging yourself, rotating your arms like you're swimming.

*Shoulders: Twisting Dumbbell Presses
*Biceps: Dumbbell Hammer Curls (both arms at the same time)
*Triceps: Dumbbell Triceps Extension

*Shoulders: Pushups
*Biceps: Static Arm Curls (this one has 16 reps)
*Triceps: Dumbbell Triceps Kickback (both arms at the same time)

*Shoulders: Dumbbell Upright Rows
*Biceps: Dumbbell Concentration Curls
*Triceps: Chair Tricep Dips

5 minute Cool Down/Static Stretch: Stretch the muscles that were just engaged.

*****

Feel the Burn, Baby!

chi-chi-chi-chia waffle

2011-02-06T16:54:00.001-07:00

HEAB is one of my favorite foodie bloggers. And although I don't share always share the same tastes, she does share my love of almond butter- thus Heather Eats Almond Butter :)- and frequently posts delicious recipes.

She posted this breakfast last week and as soon as I realized I had all the ingredients, I went to work making my own Chia bread. The first time I made it I followed the recipe she linked to and topped it with spinach and other salad ingerdients. Then the wheels started turning. I decided to switch the onion for mashed banana and then thought how yummy it would be in the form of a waffle:

Topped, of course, with almond butter.

Quick, healthy & delicious meal!

Steam Roller

2011-02-06T16:34:00.001-07:00

This little man rolled over for the first time on 1.26.11 at 16 weeks and 3 days old!!! Unfortunately I didn't catch it on video, but took these right after it happened. He looks a little confused as evidenced by picture #1, but when the cheerleader in me came out he couldn't help but get a little excited himself.

I was beginning to think he would end up with the same problem as Derek Zoolander; "I'm not an ambi-turner" because he would only roll to his left side, not his right! However, since then he's proven me wrong and has started rolling to his right as well :)

pizza flat

2011-02-06T16:24:00.002-07:00

This is my kind of pizza:

Whole Wheat Tortilla

Hummus

Spinach

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Black Beans

Feta

Plop in the toaster oven until the tortilla edges turn a golden brown....or a little burnt like i did : /

Super easy & a whole lot less caloric and fattening than regular pizza. One of these bad boys is comparable to ONE half slice of "regular" :)

the difference a year can make...

2011-02-06T16:17:00.001-07:00

WOWIE!

funeral

2011-02-06T16:15:00.003-07:00

Lane's funeral was on January 15th. Despite the circumstances, it was so nice to see a lot of family members we don't get to see often. Lane was and is loved by so many and it was evident by the amount of people who came to show their love and support. It was a very special service, the spirit was so strong. I always enjoy the life sketch and hearing stories I've never heard before. Although, my favorite part of Lane's funeral was seeing his 5 children standing together behind the pulpit-embracing one another-as each child took their turn to share their favorite memories they had with their father. Such a tender moment.

Father, Grandfather, Husband, Brother, Son, Friend

2011-02-03T14:53:00.001-07:00

This is the post I have been putting off writing....

I still don't know what or how to write about this. Life can change so drastically in a second. That's all it takes. One teeny, tiny second. When it takes that small of an amount of time for life to be completely turned upside down it's really hard to come to grips that there is no changing it. There's no way to go back in time, even a second.

On January 5, 2011, my dear, sweet father-in-law was taken from his journey on this Earth to fulfill the rest of his journey on the other side. It's still hard to believe all of this is real. It happened so quickly. It can be so easy for us to get caught up in the how he died, but we'll never heal that way. We are trying to remember how he lived.

He was such a great example to everyone he came in contact with. He was a faithful servant of our Heavenly Father. He always helped those in need. I can remember a time I was with Melanie and my car died on the freeway. Jackson was unable to come help, so he called his dad. Without hesitation he came and towed us to my house, then took Melanie home.

He was a wonderful father. I don't know many people with the kind of relationship that he had with each of his sons and his daughter. He and Jackson were best friends. While Jackson was in the landscape business, they met for lunch almost every Friday. He came over often to help Jackson if he needed it and vice versa.

He had a sense of humor like no other. He had a million different voices that he could pull out on cue. One year we dressed up as pirates for Halloween. After our party was over we wanted some more fun, so Jackson, Patch and I headed over to Lane's house. He thought it was pretty clever of him to call me "Arrrrrrr-lene" and referred to me as that a few times. He had a Hispanic accent that made you think twice if he really was white. His dark leather skin from years working in the sun helped him take over that persona.

He was so nice to everyone. He always made sure to say, "Hello Allison" every time I saw him and I noticed he did the same for others. Even people he had only met once or twice before. He showed genuine interest in what was going on in everyone's lives.

We had so many good times with him. The only thing we can do now is remember his legacy and remember the kind of man he was and try our best to live up to the example he set for each of us.

While it can be easy to remain in sadness, a part of me feels so happy for him. The last year of his life was so blessed. He was living such a valiant and righteous life, he was in a perfect place-spiritually-to go. His father died 30 years ago and since I've known Lane he has talked many times about his dad, always with a tear in his eye. I am so happy for the reunion he is having with his dad and many others. Lane loved to talk, so I can only imagine he must be doing as lot of that right now!

Amid the grief and shock, we have seen blessings pour out to us and our family.

We are blessed for having known him, as are those who called him their: Father, Grandfather, Husband, Brother, Son, Friend.

We love you, Lane!

3 months old

2011-02-02T22:21:00.002-07:00

only a month behind...

January 2, 2011:
This little man of mine is 3 months old already! A quarter of a year old! Time goes waaaay too fast!
Jackson and I also had our 6.5 year anniversary the same day. We didn't do anything special to celebrate. Just looked back in time in awe of how long we've been together and how much has changed since that hot day in july.

-Little eli still loves bath time. He patiently waits on my lap as I fill his little whale tub with water. On an occasion or two, the running of the bath water has caused him to take a little leak. Oops.

-His little laugh has come out! It's so adorable. It's my mission everyday to hear him laugh as much as possible. His tickle spot is on his ribs near his under arms, also on his jaw line near his chin. Last night was the first time he's really laughed at me just talking to him. Luckily we caught it on jackson's phone.

-His sleeping has changed a little. He still sleeps in our bed with us at night. He starts out in his crib though, but I will bring him to bed with us when he wakes for his first feeding. He usually sleeps right through the eating session, as do I. It's so nice to have figured out the side laying feeding. There isn't a pattern to the frequency of his night meals at all. Mostly i'd say it's about the same as last month; 4-5 hour long stretch at first [although there is the occasional 6 hr stretch] then 2.5-3 hr long stretches until he's up. His mornings have gotten later. For a while he wasn't getting up until 9/9:30, which was nice for me- it gave me a chance to get a workout in first thing. He usually gets tired an hour or hour and a half after he wakes up. Again, for a while this past month, he was taking a 2 hour morning nap. and shorter ones after that. He's up for 1-2 hours from the time he wakes up until the time he's sleepy again. he still likes (or i still like...?) to swaddle him with a soothie. I rock/bounce him for a few minutes until he's asleep then i lay him down. He sleeps best on his tummy. I've never been afraid to lay him on his stomach. He's always had good head control, and I never worried that anything would happen. Anyways, I think we'll keep the swaddling thing going until he learns how to roll over.

-We attempted his first bottle feed on Dec. 11. He wasn't too sure about it, and didn't really get the hang of it. We tried it a few more times after that, but it was on January 1st that he really got it figured out. He gulped up 1.5 ounces in no time. Both he and I prefer the BFing way, but it's nice knowing he will take it from a bottle if need be.

-Eli has been talking so much! We like talking back to him in his own language, too. "Ahhh-guhhhh" is his more frequently used phrase. Can anyone translate? He does it in the back of his throat with some saliva behind it. It sounds like he's gurgling! :)

-He really upped his drooling this month. In fact, we think he might be teething. Sometimes the top of his shirt is completely soaked! He also had been chomping on anything he can get into his mouth....which is usually his fist, or someone's finger. He seems a little bit irritated by something. So either he's sick of us already, or it's those dang toofs that are bothering him.

christmas

2011-02-02T22:01:00.003-07:00

i'm a little/a lot behind on posting. it's been quite an eventful year. almost more has happened in the past month than all of last year.

so, time for a little catch up, eh?

*****

December 13th we went to see the temple lights for the first time as a family of 3. It's so fun to be doing all of these activities we've thought about for so long. We also drove by a few of the decked out houses in our area.

December 19th we had our big Christmas party for Jackson's side of the family. Little Eli starred as baby Jesus for the Nativity.
Santa made an appearance later on. Although five year old Abi most likely ruined it for the 11 yr olds by saying in her littlest voice; "It's Grandpa Hallows!"

Christmas Day was quite an event! We agreed that we wouldn't do Christmas presents this year. Eli was here-we got exactly what we have been wanting for years. So we were just going to enjoy the day. OR so I thought. Someone just couldn't follow the rules, and there's nothing that upsets me more than people who don't follow the rules (unless of course it's me). Needless to say someone was pouty and felt super bad for not breaking the rules so that the other person could enjoy a few surprises, too.

So the night before, Jackson was waiting outside-peeking in the windows, waiting for me to go to bed so he could haul in the giant snowman made by his mother that housed my gifts. I swore I could hear footsteps in the house, but I was half chicken half thought I was just hearing things. So I stayed in bed ~~and hid under the covers.~~

When I woke up the next morning I realized that I HAd heard what I thought I heard the night before, but I could NOT believe what I saw! Jack Frost caught me by surprise!

Later in the afternoon, we carried out our yearly tradition of movie going. This year we saw True Grit. Eli didn't think it was all that great as he slept through most of it.

DIY Ruffle Shirt

2011-01-04T22:23:00.001-07:00

I'm always antsy for something new to wear. However, in an effort to save some money, I opted to make my own version of a ruffle shirt.
I bought a plain black shirt for $5 at Wal-Mart and used lace that I bought from Goodwill a couple of years ago.
I cut 3 long strips of lace and sewed a loose stitch down the middle. Next, I pulled at one thread from the end until it gathered how I wanted it to. Then I pinned the gathered lace strips to the shirt and did a zig-zag stitch down the middle.
After maybe 30 minutes I had this:

And now...all I want to do is add ruffles to everything in my closet.

baby, all i want for christmas is you....

2010-12-24T22:46:00.001-07:00

I don't want a lot for Christmas

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

Oh I just want you for my own

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

Baby all I want for Christmas is you

Baby...

There is just one thing I need

oh christmas tree

2010-12-22T22:29:00.001-07:00

have i told you yet how life in general is sweeter with eli here? cause it is.

before he came, a lot of my thoughts were about how wonderful it would be to have a little munchkin around.

every holiday i thought about how special it would be to share it with a child.

eli came at just the perfect time of year with halloween, thanksgiving and christmas right around the corner!

earlier this month we drove on down to the home depot and got ourselves a lil' tree.

the house is bit more cozy and we are enjoying the smell of fresh pine :)

***

where are the cheeeps?

2010-12-06T14:35:00.002-07:00

...that's what i said when i went to make jackson and i a chicken salad for dinner. luckily we had corn tortillas as well as some whole wheat flour tortillas.
just cut, spray, salt and bake! perfect salad topper!

what i like about these is they are healthier and cheaper than the bagged variety at the grocery store and i can make one serving at a time vs. having an opened bag of tortilla cheeeps in the cupboard just beggin' to be devoured.

*400 degrees for about 5 minutes*
found here

thanksgiving

2010-12-03T11:54:00.001-07:00

we packed up and hit the road on wednesday, november 24th. destination: dammeron valley, ut.
it took us exactly 8 hours to get from our house to my dads. we had a fun time and eli did great for his very first trip! there was a little bit of snow on the ground when we got there, but it didn't snow again until sunday morning...in fact we woke up to 5" of snow!
eli met a lot of new faces while in utah- his aunt stephanie, great grandparents, great aunts, uncles and cousins.

we have so many things we are thankful for. however, eli wins the first spot on the list.

2 on the 2nd

2010-12-02T19:44:00.004-07:00

october 2nd

november 2nd

december 2nd

2 months already? where's the pause button?

it really is amazing how much babies grow and develop in such a relatively short time.

in the past month eli has gone from liking bath time to loving it. (atleast that's what i think). one day he was content in the water just sitting there, and the next day he was kicking is legs and moving his arms like crazy, splashing water out of his tub even! it never gets old. we love to watch him, he's so entertaining. he'll stop for a second like he needs a little break, take a big gulp of air and go back at it! once we get him to the changing table he'll fuss and cry for a bit if we're not quick enough at getting him in some warm clothes.

during diaper changes he seems to enjoy being on the changing table. he can just lay there and look up around the room. maybe he knows he's about to get a fresh diaper on so that makes him happy? this last month we've made the switch to cloth diapers. we still have some disposables left, so he wore them while we were out of town for thanksgiving and he wears when we go to church. also, since they do absorb better, we use those during the night. i'm not sure if i was doing something wrong or if he's a heavy wetter, but his clothes would be a little wet at the top of his diaper cover when he wore cloth diapers at night. i've heard of using two pre-folds at night to prevent leaks, so i might try that when his throw-aways are gone.

he is smiling so much more these days! it's funny watching him go from fussy one second to smiling ear-to-ear the next.

along with smiling, he is on the verge of laughing! there's a lot of air behind it now. it's so cute :)

in his first month he spit up a handful of times total. however, in the past month he's upped that to maybe every other day. i'll have to get used to using burp cloths!

also, he started drooling within the past 2 or so weeks, i think it's cute, but i think everything he does is cute...

sleeping. he was around 4 or 5 weeks old or so that i started putting him down at night in his crib. in his room. 10 steps away. some nights we just wanted a slumber party so he'd sleep with us. a few hours after we got home from being in utah for thanksgiving i could tell he was getting sick- coughing a little bit and he sounded like he had a stuffy nose. i wanted him closer so he's been back in our bed since then. the first two nights back i slept with him on my chest the whole night- i love it. we used to wake up more with him in our room last month from all of the little noises he made, but either we've gotten better at sleeping through his little noises or he's gotten quieter. he fusses maybe twice during the night to eat. it's so much easier for me to feed him laying down, i hardly wake up. i'm not sure how long we'll sleep this way, but for now it works and we love it.

his naps during the day are sporadic. anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. he's usually more fussy in the evening. we try to get his bath done in the 6 o'clock hour, feed him and to sleep after that. every night is different but we're trying to establish a routine with the order of events.

when i am rocking (or bouncing...he likes a little bounce on the stability ball....hmmm....did all that running get to him? ;) him to sleep, he digs his face into my chest. vigorously shifting his head from left to right. almost like he has an itchy nose or something. sometimes he'll pull his head back and slam it into me. i try to monitor all the head banging that goes on around here, but sometimes my hand isn't there.

he is typically on a 2.5-3hr routine. eat. awake time. sleep. repeat. the past few days have been whatever, whenever since he isn't feeling 100%.

he enjoys sucking on his fist....when he can figure out how to get it into his mouth :) he also likes putting one of his hands behind his head. sometimes i'll notice he has some of his hair in his tightly clenched fist, but that doesn't seem to bother him.

we are enjoying every single day. he's only going to keep getting bigger, so each day we try to soak up all of his baby-ness.

i think that covers most of it. these past 2 months have been the best. we love our little miracle!

growin'

2010-12-01T19:32:00.001-07:00

i *think* he out grew this onesie:

october 6th:

november 24th

the plunging neckline sorta gave it away.

rub-a-dub-dub

2010-11-22T19:29:00.001-07:00

we love eli & his snazzy bath robe!

thanks melissa :)

smiles

2010-11-21T19:24:00.002-07:00

i love it when i catch eli smiling.

here are a few from the past week:

those dimples kill me! when i was pregnant i told jackson a few times that i hope our little boy gets his daddy's dimples!

i love spending my days with eli. i've looked forward to this time in my life for so long---not just the years we tried for a baby---but ever since i was a little girl i've only wanted to be a wife and mommy.

it feels so good to be living out my dreams.

A dream is a wish your heart makes,
When you're fast asleep,
In dreams you lose your heartaches,
Whatever you wish for, you keep.

Have faith in your dreams and someday,
Your rainbow will come smiling through,
No matter how your heart is grieving,
If you keep on believing,
The dream that you wish will come true.

A dream is a wish your heart makes,
When you're feeling small,
Alone, In the night you whisper,
Thinking no one can hear you at all.

You wake with the morning sunlight,
To find fortune that is smiling on you,
Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow,
For all you know tomorrow,
The dream that you wish will come true.

A dream is a wish your heart makes,
A dream is a wish your heart makes,

You Wake with the morning sunlight,
To find fortune that is smiling on you,
Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow,
For all you know tomorrow,
The dream that you wish will come true.

No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true

i love this sing from cinderella. i can't say it enough-

eli is the dream that we wished would come true.

he's here and we could not be more happy and in love!

it's not what it looks like...

2010-11-16T14:26:00.003-07:00

no, no. this isn't something that patch left behind:

but rather

this:

plus this:

equals about 60 of these delicious cookies:

each one clocking in at 37 calories.

heck yes!

[directions: mix cake mix and 1 can of pumpkin. bake @350 for 10-12 minutes]

twinners

2010-11-14T16:17:00.001-07:00

leg warmers

2010-11-12T14:57:00.005-07:00

eli is ready for his workout;

bring it on jane fonda!

i've been wanting to make this boy some leg warmers for a while.

i bought a long pair of ladies socks

[don't tell eli that!]

and cut just above the heel

[which now gives me a pair of ankle socks!].

the material rolls so i'm not sure that hemming is necessary.

eli has warm legs; i've got warm feet

clearly it's a win-win.

beanie baby

2010-11-10T22:51:00.001-07:00

I used to LOVE beanie babies.

So glad to finally have this beanie baby to love on though, he's much more fun!

Not to mention a whole lot cuter!

blessed baby boy

2010-11-09T08:24:00.004-07:00

Sunday, November 7, 2010 was Eli's special day. I decided last minute that I wanted to make him his own blessing outfit instead of him wearing Jackson's. With the help of my mom with the tricky vest, we pulled it off. I'm so glad! He looked so handsome in all white.

It was amazing to see how many people love this little guy. We had a great turn out between family & friends. Eli was surrounded by his uncles, grandfathers and two of Jackson's closest friends as he was given a name and a blessing. He was so content and didn't make a peep during it. The member of the bishopric who was presiding, said in his testimony that all of the babies were looking up at their fathers (there were 4 blessings that day). I asked Jackson if that was true in our case and he said it was. At least before he began and once he ended since he closed his eyes during it. :)

Jackson and I each bore our testimonies, but there's so much more we both wished we would have said. Eli is such a testimony builder to so many, but most importantly to Jackson and I. Between us, our family, friends and ward members, many prayers were offered to bring him here. We are so blessed. Eli is such a huge blessing in our life. There is no question that he came at the right time. He was held back to be here now, not 4 years ago. I am so thankful to a wise and all knowing Father in Heaven. I would go through it all again to have this perfect little boy.

***

Thanks to everyone who was a part of Eli's special day!

one month old

2010-11-02T21:42:00.001-07:00

where has the month gone?

oh eli, life is so sweet with you here...

all hallows eve

2010-11-01T08:34:00.001-07:00

this year for halloween we went as the rubbles! we had a lot of fun, and i'm sure eli did, too. we were in charge of the fishing game again at our ward party, go fish.

we spent halloween at jackson's mom house where we celebrated uncle steele's birthday!

i love october & halloween, it's sad to see it gone so quickly!

baby got back

2010-10-28T12:29:00.001-07:00

...and front!

and this is what a cloth diaper tooshie looks like!

rather large, but cute nonetheless.

on the plus side, some of his bigger pants fit him better :)

sorry billy....DRY shampoo is BETTER!

2010-10-27T14:41:00.001-07:00

At least for those in between days when 'lather, rinse, repeat'

just isn't going to work out.

I bought this stuff today and it's a keeper!

[" Shampoo is better, I go on first and clean the hair.
Conditioner is better. I leave the hair silky and smooth.
Oh, really, fool? Really..."]

oatmeal

2010-10-26T07:28:00.001-07:00

this cool, fall(ish) weather has brought with it my desire for oatmeal again! Oatmeal doesn't have to be boring, check out this tribute to oatmeal. The possibilities are endless!

smells like fall...

2010-10-25T13:24:00.001-07:00

stove top potpourri:

a few cups of water
a pinch of:
*pumpkin pie spice
*ground cloves
*ground nutmeg
a few dried orange peels

add ingredients to pot and keep on low heat. of course, only when you are home!

photo shoot

2010-10-23T22:39:00.001-07:00

tuesday of this week my cousin spent the day with eli and i taking picture upon picture of this little stud muffin.

here's what she's finished editing so far:

i am in love with this sweet babe!

babies

2010-10-22T08:43:00.002-07:00

jackson:

allison:

eli:

we both agree that eli is way cuter than either one of us ever was!

xoxo

2010-10-18T14:45:00.002-07:00

7 years ago today:

7 years

2010-10-17T14:45:00.002-07:00

7 years ago today jackson and i had our first date where we went and saw school of rock. not sure where the time has gone....but i'm glad it has been spent with him!

smiles

2010-10-16T22:06:00.001-07:00

i catch my sweet babe smiling everyday. he is quick with them and i've only been able to get a few on camera. this one here is my absolute favorite. he had just fallen asleep and from the looks of it, it must have been a good dream. those (3) dimples melt my heart! i am in LOVE!

whoever said that when babies smile "it must be gas" is full of it. he's never smiled before, during or after having gas. and come to think of it, neither have i...

birth story

2010-10-14T08:33:00.003-07:00

friday, october 1, 2010 was like any other day. we went to work and had plans for the evening. our nephew had a birthday party later so we headed there as soon as work was over. while we were there, jackson's brother, sam, asked if he wanted to earn some side money by helping him paint later that night. when we got home i decided to take patch for a 1 mile walk and then went back out by myself to do another mile.
there were some groceries i wanted to have on hand for when i did go into labor, so i went to frys to gather the ingredients to make some salsa with. i planned on getting to bed early so i quickly grabbed what i needed and hurried home to see jackson before he left at 8:15.

he left and what do you know, i got sidetracked blogging and photoshopping a silly pumpkin on my belly and didn't get to bed until 11:30 or so, which is late for me, even on the weekend. jackson got home around 11 and later told me he came to bed around 12:30.

i woke up at 12:56 feeling rather wet. there was nothing on the bed, but i knew that since i had not had a bed wetting accident in 20+ years that alas! my water had broken! hallelujiah! i woke jackson up and said; "i either wet the bed or my water broke." then i told him that we just need to try to get some sleep. i got back into bed but 6 minutes later i felt my first contraction and realized i wouldn't be able to sleep through them. i went to the computer desk and grabbed some paper so that i could keep track of them. i laid in bed for an hour doing that then finally decided to get up and get things done before they were too intense. by now it was 2am. i was using the bathroom a lot during this time and had noticed i lost my you-know-what. (nobody likes those words, ya know)

in between contractions, which were coming anywhere from 4-7 minutes apart and lasting 40-90 seconds each, i was up making some salsa and prepping a beef roast to throw in the crock pot. i figured it'd be an all day event and wanted there to be some good food around for us and our birth team.

around 3:00am i ate a slice of bread with almond butter. i knew i needed to eat, but the thought wasn't too appetizing at the time. it was around this same time that i grabbed the heating pad to put on my back. i turned on the tv and began watching ray. the heat was helping and felt good when i had a contraction. i also had my exercise ball out. i couldn't decide if it felt better to lay down or sit down when i was having them, so i went back and forth trying different things. they were intensifying, but i stil felt like i could handle them on my own. however, around 4:30am i was at the point where i needed and wanted jackson to be there with me. they were getting stronger and coming 2-4 minutes apart (although there were a few times where 5 or 6 minutes would go by). they were lasting 30-60 seconds. i went and got jackson and let him know i was ready to txt our midwife and that i wanted him to come be with me. at 4:37 i sent a txt to my midwife.
i wrote: "ready for a birthday party?"
she immediately replied: "yes! what's up?
i gave her a call and let her know what was going on. she asked if i wanted she and her students to come over. i told her not yet. i was still doing okay. (in my mind i didn't think we'd be having a baby before noon, so why should they need to rush over? little did i know!) she told me to call her at 6:30 to let her know how things were going.

things really started picking up after that. jackson applied counter pressure to my back when i got a contraction, which was wonderful. it was probably around 5:30 that they were to the point where i began vocalizing through them, which we later referred to as "moo-ing" :)

around 5:45 he started getting the birthing pool ready. he moved it into position and started filling it up. while he was roaming around getting things ready i was watching tv, and as soon as i started moaning, he rushed over to apply counter pressure. laying down didn't feel good now, and when i was standing during a contraction, my legs started to shake, so i ended up swaying back and forth while squatting and leaning on the ball.
at about 6am jackson took over keeping track of my contractions. i think it was about this time that the smell of the roast was not something i wanted lingering in the air, so he moved it to the garage to finish cooking.

at 6:28 alison sent a txt: "how's it going?"
i replied: "definitely stronger. vocalizing through them. about 3 min apart lasting aprox 1 min for last couple hrs"
she said: "are you sure you don't need us there yet? it's sounding like that's pretty serious."
i responded: "yeah im thinking you can all head over now"
to which she said" :) ok, we'll start heading that way shortly."

by this time walk the line had come on tv. i sat next to the pool and continued to rock back and forth through each contraction. i also asked jackson to give me a blessing.

stacey, one of the students, arrived on scene first. she checked his heart rate and we talked in between my moanings. i let her know that my right side was feeling more pressure and cramping that the other side. i still wasn't sure i was close because i was chipper and excited in between the contractions.
within 15 minutes, my midwife and her other student, kat, arrived. they brought in their supplies and just let me do my thing, occasionally coming to rub my back and offer positive verbal support as needed.

at about 8am i was more than ready to get into the pool. i felt immediate relief! however, soon after that relief, i felt the contractions kick it up a notch in intensity. i asked my midwife to check me. i hadn't been checked at all up until that point, and curiosity got the best of me as i really wanted to know how many cm i was dilated. she said i was at 8.5 almost 9. the way that eli was positioned, his head wasn't exactly over my cervix, therefore i was dilated more on one half of my cervix than the other. to help with that, she told me to rotate from one side to the other with each contraction.

i had my eyes closed most of the time i was in the pool. not for any reason other than it was comfortable to me. alison and stacey were at my feet, as well as jackson who was also holding my hand. kat was at my head holding me up when i wasn't doing so myself.

jackson, alison, kat and stacey took turns rubbing my hands because they fell asleep and went numb. we figured it must have happened from pressure pinching off that nerve. we all laughed, in between contractions of course, because i'd hold up my hand and my fingers would be "stuck" and rather stiff. the hand massages felt nice :)

pretty soon i was feeling the urge to push with each contraction. (time went so fast that i dont remember how long i pushed for. it didn't seem too long, but a few days after eli was born, we watched the video of his birth and calculated it to be close to about 45 minutes that i pushed for.) at this point i was most comfortable with my head resting on the outside of the pool with my arms draped over the sides as well. kat continued to hold me up from the back as i needed it. i went back and forth with my arms being in the water and holding jacksons hand.

alison asked if i wanted to feel eli's head. with my stiff fingers, stacey helped me. he was about an inch away.

after pushing for a about half an hour, his head was out far enough to where i could see it. i remember thinking; "that's my baby's head!" the top of his head was out a few inches for the last 10 minutes or so. that ring of fire is no joke, but at the same time i didn't think it was fiery enough to want to not feel it. at some point during the pushing stage i said, "turn on johnny cash" (alison turned the tv off earlier; which was showing walk the line.) it took a second but soon enough everyone was laughing (and it burns, burns, burns that ring of fire) ;)

i wanted to be able to push him out, but i also didn't want to push unless i had a contraction to help me get him out. they checked his heart at the top of his head during this time as well. soon enough i felt a strong contraction and while holding jacksons hand I pushed with everything i had even letting out a scream or two and eli was here and forever changed our lives. it all happened so fast, with that last push the rest of his head and whole body just came right out. jackson wanted to catch him and i wanted him to, as well. once in the moment i instinctively reached for our baby and together we both brought him to my chest. it was the most incredible moment. he let out a few cries and then just the sweetest whimpers. i was in awe/shock and kept saying "oh baby" and "oh my gosh" and taking it all in. jackson was giggly.

kat immediately wrapped towels around him and put a beanie on him. stacey checked his heart rate and asked how i was doing "down there" i said "good". it's amazing how quickly things felt better. he was out and healthy and that's all that mattered. alison asked if i wanted to stay in the water to deliver the placenta. at first i said yes, that i may as well. however within a few minutes i changed my mind and while i held eli, they helped me out of the pool and we made our way to the bedroom where stacey had covered the bed with pads and old sheets. jackson helped me out of my sports bra and we began to nurse. soon after, the placenta just came out. i said " oh, that's it? i could do that again" for some reason i guess i had thought it would have been more of a process than it just sliding out. alison told me that i tore a little bit. it wasn't a tear in the perineum, but a small labia tear. she said it wasn't enough to need stitches unless i wanted them. i declined her offer :) jackson was up on the bed next to me and alison asked if he wanted to cut the cord. he said she could. we just sat there and stared at our sweet baby. we sent out txt messages as well. we hadn't told anyone that i had even gone into labor, so i can imagine it was quite the surprise. the ladies left us to bond as a new family and began cleaning up the birth stuff. they occasionally came in to check on us to see how things were going.

i'm not sure what made me look at my hand, but as soon as i did i noticed it had dark goop on it. we unraveled the towels and saw that eli had passed quite a lot of meconium and it was everywhere. all over the towels, the sheet, and the front side of my nakey self. we all had quite a laugh and decided it was time to get cleaned up. stacey helped me into the shower while jackson, alison and kat cleaned eli up and jackson spent some time holding his newborn son. when i finished, stacey helped me out of the shower and into some clothes. next, they began doing all of the newborn checks. eli was weighed in at 8 lbs. 4.7 ounces. i know i was shocked to hear that number. he packed it on quite nicely. he measured 21.5 inches long and he scored a 10 each time they did the apgar test. it was so nice to be able to sit there on my bed and watch all of this happening. they were so gentle with him, too. not rushing at all, which helped create a calm environment.

after they finished they left us alone again and hung out in the kitchen. alison asked if i wanted anything to eat. i ordered eggs, toast and orange juice. she brought it in to me and jackson fed me while i fed eli. the ladies stayed until about 12:30 then left for good. i felt such gratitude for them helping me achieve the birth experience i wanted. i couldn't thank and hug them enough.

we had many visitors. i know i was supposed to get some rest, but how could i? i stayed in bed while some family and friends came to meet eli. some friends brought us over costa vida for dinner. it was exactly what i wanted and did it ever taste good!

later that night alison called to see how things were going. i felt great, sure i felt a little sore, but i didn't feel how i thought i would after having had a baby.

eli slept in the middle of us that night. it was so sweet to look at the miracle that he is. his longest stretch was 4+ hours, not sure that we slept much, though! we couldn't stop looking at him. sunday morning alison came over around 8:30 to see how we were. everything checked out great.

tuesday, the pediatrician came over from 8:45-9:30 or so. eli was down to 7 lbs. 14 oz and checked out great. a few hours later, stacey came over to see how we both were doing.

then, our last home visit was saturday, when eli was one week old. alison and kat came over for the PKU test and to do his foot prints. it was weird to think that i wont be seeing them until the 6 week visit. it's just us and our sweet little eli. i wouldn't have it any other way.

eli

2010-10-10T23:37:00.001-07:00

until the story is finished....

fourty-one & fourty-two

2010-10-07T17:00:00.001-07:00

May as well wrap up the weekly belly shots!

Eli was born one day shy of 42 weeks.

I'm still having a hard time connecting the pieces;

I know I was pregnant with him, yet, to see and hold him is so surreal! I can't believe that the baby we've been waiting for so long for is finally here! Needless to say, we are in love!

*birth story coming soon :)

Worth the wait

2010-10-04T13:45:00.002-07:00

Eli Julian Hallows

Born October 2, 2010

9:33am

8 lbs 4 oz
21.5"

He is a dream come true

pumpkin smuggling

2010-10-01T23:09:00.005-07:00

a few weeks ago, my 5yr old niece said it looked like i was hiding a pumpkin under my shirt....well, guess what abi?! i am!

it's quite obvious we will be having an october baby, no?

we are so excited to meet our little pumpkin head!

little turkey!

2010-09-25T04:24:00.003-07:00

a few weeks ago i had the urge to bake a turkey. nevermind it was 7am on a sunday morning. i think it was a fast sunday, too...sorry about that jackson :/

i had a turkey in the freezer that had been in there since after last thanksgiving and figured now would be a good time to roast it up and refreeze the meat for quick sandwiches for when we are low on time/energy (aka: after eli comes...he's still coming, right?)

{a few days prior to baking, i pulled it out of the freezer to thaw out; fridge style. the extra plastic bag it was in decided to give way and the 13+lb frozen turkey made it's way crash landing on the top of my vulnerable barefoot. ouchie mama! that was labor day weekend, and yes it still bothers me occassionally!}

i owe this domestic sucess to martha. this was my second time using this method to roast a turkey and i'll tell ya, it's fool proof! (here and here)

thirty-nine & fourty

2010-09-22T19:03:00.001-07:00

As of today I am 40 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Eli is still in utero, snug as a bug! As much as we want this boy in our arms, there's no better place for him right now- so we'll keep waiting until he's ready to come. It took almost 4 years for him to get this far, I don't imagine he'll arrive too soon :)

Just for fun, here are the past 2 pictures from our weekly photo shoots to finish up the 40 week journey:

and who knows, we might even have a 41 week photo to take this Sunday!?!

lovely baby bump

2010-09-10T05:28:00.001-07:00

the growth of a belly:

i can't believe how fast time has gone. here i sit, 9 days away from my "guess" date!

so let's hear it:
when is Eli coming?
how much will he weigh?
what will his length be?

the closest without going over gets to bring us a meal!
winner winner, chicken dinner!
;)

what's cookin'?

2010-09-09T20:12:00.003-07:00

check this out!
free(!) ecookbook full of delicious looking whole food recipes.

2sisters 1heart

2010-08-13T06:37:00.001-07:00

these precious girls died earlier this week. it makes me sad to think about the loss their family is going through right now. the girls weren't expected to live at long, let alone almost 4 years.

my sister and i were able to meet the girls and their sweet family last february at a fundraising event.

i pray that this family and those closely affected by their loss may be comforted.