"Isses!"

This afternoon I was sitting on the floor going through my recipe books. (This is part of an unrealistic goal of deep cleaning my entire home before Little Pepper arrives.) Elijah comes right up to my face and says "Isses! Isses!"

"Elijah! Do you want Kisses?"

"Esss!"

[Elijah receives abundant kisses from Momma.]

"Moh! Moh!"

[More kisses follow.]

I'm so glad my little boy needs lots of lovin'!

Before Bella Liked Bathtime

Adjusting to life outside the womb is bound to be traumatic. You have to learn to eat, adjust to temperature changes, learn to poop and undergo numerous diaper changes, as well as having your belly button soaked in alcohol and swabbed like crazy. People are constantly putting their faces next to yours and staring at you. The only comfort is that you finally have enough room to fully extend your limbs.

Due to her still-attached umbilical cord, Baby Bella's first bath at home was a sponge bath. Even though it was super quick, Ab and I concurred that the poor little girl probably got way too cold. (This did, however, prod us to bump up the thermostat on their water heater. I highly recommend it.) Bella now LOVES her bath! She is not really able to move yet, but she will scoot herself as far down in the tub as possible - as if trying to submerge her little body. Bathtime is now fun for Bella, as well as for our Teenie!
Bella's little smile...
...and my big smile. I love having a little baby sleep on me!

Birthday #27

My boys were very much missed on my birthday. This little guy was helping decorate the tree and having a great time with Grammie & Grampa. He called to give me birthday greetings~:-)

Any difficulties in being away from my family were eased by this new little addition:
We all had a little hospital celebration complete with presents, a cheesecake, candles (with special permission granted to David), and good singing. That's just the kind of sister I have - the kind that would make my birthday very special despite having a brand-new baby!

Baby Bella's Birthday

[MawMaw has two pictures of me - hours after giving birth - framed in her living room. (I feel like several words in the above sentence should be italicized to emphasize the absurdity of doing such a thing.) It is really nice that she was so excited about Elijah's birth, however, NO ONE needs a framed pictures of themselves within less than 24 hours post-labor. No One. Thus, I have included no pictures of Bella's Momma in the following post. This is not to imply that she didn't look great (unlike my post-labor pictures), but simply to give respect to the new mother.]
[Also of note: No one needs to have a picture of themselves at 41 1/2 weeks pregnant hanging on their in-laws refrigerator for months and months.]
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Baby Bella weighed in at 1/16th of an ounce over Elijah's birth weight.

Joe was amazing during labor and delivery - no passing out, no annoying comments. I have never seen a Dad so excited about his baby.
Ab had a great nurse-midwife and two fabulous nurses helping her.
I pretty much wanted to steal this baby after I saw her. Really. Not wanting to be inappropriately greedy, I kept trying to wait to ask if I could hold her. Then I got her and didn't want to give her back to Joe. (*Several people want to steal this baby...Connie....)
All four grandparents drove up to meet the first female grandchild. Everyone did a good job sharing Baby Bella, which was obviously difficult.



Bella received her first dozen roses from Aunt Lizzie.
We praise the Lord for an uncomplicated pregnancy & delivery and for a healthy little girl. Abigail was absolutely amazing (an unplanned, unmedicated birth - what?!?!?!) and Joe was a fabulous helper to her.

If you would like to see a picture of the placenta, just let me know.

Breakfast

This is where it almost always takes place:

Usually, we have oatmeal with "ice!ice!ice!" and "osss. osss." (read: applesauce). This day it was pumpkin bread - mmmm!

I wish everyone could experience the joys of a huge kitchen counter.

Our Family Christmas

My favorite Christmas event this year was our little, cozy family Christmas. Eric and I have never done Christmas alone, but we wanted to do something fun - with just the three of us - for Elijah this year. Elijah and I cooked and cleaned and wrapped and baked all day to prepare for our Christmas. It started just as soon as Daddy got home from work that Friday night.
Taking stock of the old toy collection: Helping Momma cook:

When Eric arrived, he got right to work building a big fort for Elijah.
We were all able to enjoy the maze Daddy created. Elijah kept saying "Ort! Ort!"

While our food finished cooking, we moved upstairs to start opening presents. Elijah was able to open presents at his own pace, which made for a much happier Tooskie. He really enjoyed bringing the presents to us, one at a time, and then helping everyone open their gift.
MawMaw & PawPaw gave Elijah this great animal train. It's a Melissa & Doug toy; I love all their stuff!
Sausage balls were a big hit with the boys. We ate the whole bowl!
We gave Elijah this little vacuum which goes Pop!Pop!Pop! He likes to push it around the house with his lawnmower (which also goes Pop!Pop!Pop!).
Sticky buns! These took all day to make, but were delicious!
Our downstairs post-Christmas feast & fort-building:
More fort adventures:

Elijah got to stay up late for our family Christmas so we could take him to Opryland Hotel. The lights and decorations were, as always, amazing. We let Elijah walk and lead the way - he loved being around all the people, seeing the lights, and watching the waterfalls.





Now I know why Moms get so excited about Christmas. It was SO MUCH FUN to make special foods, give each other little gifts, and have time for just the three of us to hang out. And I'm glad to have savored this Christmas with three...for, Lord willing, Christmas 2009 will be a Christmas with four!

New Toy

Elijah has spent a few hours trying to figure out how to use the key to open the door on this toy. (Thank you Aunt Donna!) He is just fascinated with trying to do it himself. Maybe he is determined to teach himself a new skill or maybe he just has a certain fascination with keys...
He'll take our key rings, walk over to the door, and try to insert a key into the lock or the doorknob. It is fun to watch him and to think that he learned all that simply by observation.

Not quite sure why Elijah is wearing only a diaper and shoes...I do remember thinking it was cute.