Well, kinda, not really…

Tomorrow I am getting my feet wet again in my college trained field of physical therapy.  My previous job has some PRN work for me this week, earlier than I had wanted to start, but they are in need of help, and I have a servants heart, so I agreed to do just a few hours, 2 days this week.  That said, its 12:30am and I am still not asleep.  I have cried a few times, laid in bed with Elijah and cuddled, looked through his photo albums, made a brag book, filled my wallet album incase people want to see him, I’m a physical therapist by the way for those out there in internet land who do not know me.  So yes, I feel incredibly anxious about leaving him, even though it is only 4 hours, and he will be sleeping half the time.  I know that my passion is really serving my family.  Motherhood is my ultimate job.  I love my son, and yeah, this is tough…cheers…

Jessica the Mom

Eco-friendly, here I come!

 

Okay, so many of my pregnant girlfriends are very eco friendly gals.  They do things like recycling, not using paper towels or paper plates, only drive one car, and so on.  Many of them are starting to have their babies and use cloth diapers.  With much discussion with my hubs,we decided that we are not all about cloth diapers, yet I still felt convicted with how much baby trash we throw out almost weekly.  I began my research and first found gdiapers.  A great disposable/flushable diaper that biodegrades in just about 50 days when composted and flushes down the toilet if your system can handle it.  Looking more into that, it sounded like these diapers are more trouble than they are worth since you do not save money to get them, and they are just very similar to using cloth, so you might as well use cloth.   While looking into gdiapers I found Nature Babycare diapers, www.naty.se.  These diapers are made in Sweden…I think, and they are made of materials that are 60% biodegradable!  Not only that, they are chlorine free and better for my baby’s bum!  I just ordered them and they will be here tomorrow.  I’ll give the full report once we have used them a few times!  So go eco!  

Jessica the Mom

I’m not dead!  Just busy!

Okay kids, I’m back!  I had a little bit of a hiatus, needed a break from the blog world, even though it has not been a long time blogging, I have just felt overwhelmed the last month or so.  Elijah is getting bigger and bigger!  He will be six months old in less than a week, which is amazing.  Right now he is learning to sit up on his own.  One day we kind of propped him up and he sat but kept falling back, now he can sit on his own for the most part, that is unless he suddenly throws his body back then he falls and often clunks his head before we can stop him.  Hes been eating cereal pretty well now, about 2 tsp just once a day with some apple juice to add some sweet.  I have to be careful now because Eli grabs anything he can get his hands onto including hair, skin, earrings (I’ve stopped wearing them), cell phones, strawnanna smoothies!  Just the other day I was drinking a smoothie and my little chub pulled my hands down, wrapped his mouth around the straw and started to drink!  All is going well!  

Kyle has been working double time because we are going on vacation for 2 weeks!  He is also forming a partnership with a good friend called Tomorrowpants.  They have many great ideas so we are excited to see what the future holds in that area!  I will be doing just a few hours of PRN work at my old job to help out, though I’m definitely not ready to make any solid commitments to go back to work.  I enjoy being home with my little man way too much.  I should be posting much more now!  Check back and see how we are doing!

K

Jessica the Mom

Another day of some firsts!

For the first time today, I decided to give Eli cereal!  He has lately been grabbing at everything and pulling things towards his mouth.  I got my video camera and regular camera ready, the cereal mixed and the high chair booster seat firmly secured to the table chair.  I dipped the spoon into the bowl, Eli opened wide, got some food in his mouth, then spit it right out!  We tried several times and he had some I think that got to his belly, but mostly he spit it out and made a face, haha.  It was a good time.  Plus, I got it all on video and on camera. 

This evening I gave him his bath and afterwards put him on his belly.  He still has not rolled over, but he was pushing himself up.  He kept kicking his legs so I put some toys in front of him and he tried his hardest to push himself forward.  So maybe soon my baby is gonna start scooting himself all around!  My boy is getting big!

Jessica the Mom

 Elijah is now 5 months old, I can hardly believe it.  

Life as a SAHM (for those of you who don’t know that lingo, thats “stay at home mom”) has been wonderful.  Each day I get to spend my days with the two best guys in the world, my loving husband and my growing baby!  I get to wake up to my son crying at 6:30am to eat, but then get to go back to sleep until he wakes me up by having conversations with himself in bed.  I feed him again, change his diaper and put on his outfit, then we go up and visit his daddy who works upstairs on our third floor.  We then head downstairs get some breakfast, then I put Eli in his bouncer and we sit outside on the deck and enjoy the weather.  Most of our day I try to fit in housework and laundry, run errands, make lunch and dinner, and watching Elijah learn new things.

At this point Eli has begun to really start vocalizing.  He puts his thumb in the side of his mouth, we really aren’t sure why, and starts babbling.  Its great.  He knows how to roll over from his stomach to his back, however, he has not rolled over on his own for about a month.  I think I just likes being on his stomach now and looking around, he really pushes himself up well.  When he lays on his back, he really likes pulling his legs up to his chest and rolling onto his side, but he has yet to completely roll over that way.  In the next few days I plan to start him on some rice cereal.  I’m nervous because that means my boy is growing up!  He really likes to pull things to his mouth at all times, be it my cell phone, my hand, my arm, his burp cloth, any of the toys on his exersaucer, but not his feet yet!  Speaking of the exersaucer, he really has begun to figure how to to maneuver around and enjoys spinning the spinny thing.  

Another new thing for Eli is all the pool time hes been getting!  We try each weekend to get him to either of his grandparents’ pools.  Some friends are housesitting and we have frequented that pool as well.  He has been dunked twice, both times not making him very happy.  They say you should blow in the baby’s face so they breathe in, then dunk them.  Well, this little guy does not really breath in.  He is not swallowing the water but he is definitely surprised, shocked and a little upset.  He opens his eyes really wide, sticks his tongue out and kicks his legs, haha.  I have not been able to dunk him myself.  I usually just take him afterwards, which is when he launches a snot rocket after me.  

Overall, life is good.  I love my life, my husband, and my son.  Motherhood is the best.

Jessica the Mom

This week Elijah learned how to make a new sound.  I think it is time to dub it “the most annoying sound in the world.”  It pretty much parallels Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber.  However, I am so proud of him for figuring out that he can make the sound.  He too is proud, you can tell when he looks at you after he makes it.  This kid amazes me more and more each day.  He has also begun to reach and grab for things which is amazing.  Such a cool little guy.  I can’t wait for the next one…haha.

Jessica the Mom

I went out to the store yesterday and finally got my pedometer.  So, the stroller is on the way, and I figured that well I may as well do the whole pedometer thing.  I’m feeling pretty encouraged to get on the move.  The goal is to get 10,000 steps a day.  Now, with the rain thats tough.  I went to the mall today and walked around for 40 minutes, did about 5,300 steps.  I did not realize how tough it is to get 10,000.  Well, I know that if it was nice out and not rainy, then I could stroll through the city and what not and get my 10,000 steps.  I’m going to ease into it.  So yes, I am now a pedometer girl.

On a different note, Elijah has I guess what is called cradle cap…he has a dry scalp.  So one thing they recommend for this is to put baby oil on your baby’s head and then brush it through their hair/scalp.  A lot of babies have not as much hair as my little boy, so the baby oil really stays in that hair.  I have put the baby oil in his hair 2 times and you can still spike his hair like nobody’s business.  He still has some dryness in his scalp.  Oh well, its good times.  He’s still the coolest guy in the world, with the best hair.

Jessica herself, Jessica the Mom

Jessica the Mom

So when he smiles at me, I love him even more.  Its all about his little nose crinkle that he does when he flashes that smile my way.  Then he starts to coo and my heart melts.  I love this little guy. 

Jessica the Mom

As a mom, there is nothing more glorious than when the baby is napping.  You can finally blow dry your hair, take a shower, get your breakfast/make lunch, do the laundry, or really just have a moment to yourself to sit and watch the Gilmore Girls.  Also, there is nothing so beautiful as your sleeping child.  You forget about how much the labor hurt, the back pain from carrying the baby around, the ear piercing screaming and remember that God gave you this little amazing life.  Everything becomes okay when you watch that little one nap.

Jessica the Mom