'Hawk

You know you've thought it when you've seen pictures of Eli or seen him in person...

That baby has a mohawk!

Well, for a short while tonight, he really did.

Now THAT'S a mohawk :)

Weekend

Well we spent the weekend in Kentucky, visiting family and friends and we had so much fun.  But at the same time it was very busy and Eli was completely out of whack the last day from being so far off his routine.  


He has learned to reach for us.  So far he's mostly just reaching for me and really just when he's mad.  And mad he was yesterday.  Anytime I laid him down he would scream and reach out for me.  


I'm also pretty sure he's getting at least one tooth up top, so that probably accounts for some of his fussiness.  


He is rolling over very well now.  In fact, when I woke up at 2 this morning I found him sleeping on his stomach.  He's also starting to be able to sit up a little bit, but it's just a few seconds and then he falls over one way or another.  He's a very nosy little boy and is always watching everything that is going on around him.  


It seems like just yesterday that we brought him home, he pretty much just laid around.  Now he's a wiggle worm and responds to his name and things that we point out to him.  He likes to be read to and likes all of his toys that make noise.  My great-uncle gave Eli a Sing-a-ma-jig this weekend and he loves it.  

His sings "It's Raining It's Pouring" and I will never think of that song the same way again.


He also likes things that are up, especially ceiling fans and lights.

Heart-broken

This morning I found out about a family that lost a baby yesterday.  And as soon as I heard, my mind flooded with images.

The perfect baby they have held and will always remember...

The tiny casket...

The headstone at the cemetary...

The flowers...

The tears...

The physical and emotional ache...

The empty house...

The birthdays/celebrations/events they will experience without this little one...

I dont' know the couple personally, they are friends of a friend, but I will be doing the only thing I can for them, praying.  And I am asking that you pray for them as well. 

Dear Lord, please watch over this couple as they travel this difficult road.  Help them to feel your presence in their lives.  Give them the strength and peace that they need in the coming days, weeks, months and years.  We know that their child is safe in your arms but their arms are hurting.  Comfort them.  Surround them with love and support from the people closest to them.  And allow them to feel Your grace when they need it the most.  In your name we pray, Amen.

Redesigned

I have wanted to get a custom look for my blog for a while now.  I've seen so many great looking blogs out there and they were my inspiration.  

So this weekend I sat down and figured blogger out and with the help of the "Ten Reasons" Digital Scrapbooking kit designed by Tracey Howard  at Scrap Orchard, I did it. 

I'm really happy with how it looks and the best part is that as Eli grows I can update the design.  And if we have more kids, I can add them.

Let me know what you think!

Mile of Dimes

It's March for Babies time again and I can't wait to walk with Doug and Eli in memory of Logan on April 30th! 

And we would love to have any of you join us as well.

This year our team is doing a Mile of Dimes fundraiser and while I'll also be raising money on my own, my efforts are focused on the fundraiser. 

In fact, thanks my Grandma, a wonderful aunt and my mom, I've already got a collection of dimes started.

The idea is to raise enough money to create a literal mile of dimes.  In case you're not good at that kind of math, it's a lot of dimes!  Almost 90,000 of them.

So if you have any spare dimes, or any money really, and you'd like to help out, let me know. 

And if you'd like to walk with us, you can click the button on my sidebar to sign up for our team.

Rough Week

Well, I knew it would happen and it finally did.  Last Tuesday Eli had his first fever.  Since he can't go to daycare with a fever and I had been up and down all night trying to help him feel better, I stayed home with him.  But after one dose of Tylenol the fever vanished and he did well the rest of the day, sleeping for most of it so I decided not to visit the doctor.  Wednesday went fine.  In fact, he rolled over for the very first time on Wednesday night.   But Wednesday night was rough and on Thursday the ladies at daycare mentioned how stuffy he was.  We were already aware and had been using a humidifier and sucking his nose but it seemed to be getting worse, he even started coughing pretty bad.  That night he slept in our room, sitting up in his bouncy seat because it was so bad. 

So on Friday morning I was convinced he needed to go to the doctor.  We got some amoxicilin for a possible ear infection and zyrtec because the doctor thinks he has allergies (which I also suffer with and have since I was a baby).  Saturday was no fun either but finally yesterday morning he woke up feeling much, much better.  He even watched some of the Daytona 500 with Doug, showed Doug how he could roll over, and played in his walker.

I am sooo glad he is feeling better and I hope we stay away from sickness as much as possible.  It is just no fun having a sick baby who is looking to you to make it better, but unable to tell you what is wrong :(

Love

Love is so hard to put into words.  It's one of those things you know when you see, or in this case feel. 

I've felt the most love in "the calm after the storm" moments.

At my wedding, things were crazy hectic.  I remember at one point calling my mom and asking her to bring my dress.  She was busy putting together the wedding cake.  This was just minutes before the photographer was supposed to start taking pictures.  But after the ceremony was over, while we were taking the last few pictures, with just our family and closest friends, the love that filled that room was amazing.  And not just between Doug and I.  Love between our families, our friends.  At that moment, the rest of the world disappeared and love was all there was.

Logan's life was surrounded by love.  But the "love" moment I remember the most happened when he died.  When Doug and I walked into that room the nurses were working on him in a frenzied pace.  There could have been one of them or 10 of them, I can't really say.  But they all loved that little boy and us at that moment and I knew they were doing everything they possibly could.  The next thing I knew they were asking if we wanted to hold him and as they placed him in my arms the world faded away and it was just Logan, Doug and me, loving on each other in every way we knew how.

And then came Eli's birth.  Again, it was a very hectic scene.  The nurse was trying to have me wait until my doctor got there but Eli had a different plan.  When he was born the nurses flew into action.  I couldn't touch him enough.  The nurse was slinging Eli around, giving him shots and a bath, getting his footprints and his stats.  All the while, my doctor and nurse were working to get me cleaned up.  And then...

Then there was a time when they brought Eli to me, my nurse dimmed the lights, and everyone left the room.  It was just our little family and I would swear that the love that was present in that room was a solid, touchable object.  We may have been that way for 5 min. or 5 hours, I can't really say.  But I know that I will never forget that moment and I will never forget that love.

The Bible says that God is love and so I know that God was in that room with us and I'm pretty sure he was holding Logan's hand.