Public Service Announcement...Mosquitos are Bad!

Okay, yesterday started my first day off of 3. I woke Elijah up and notice he's got a couple mosquito bites on his head and his eye lid is red. No big deal...Beau had a bite too (my boys get bit if there is one mosquito in a 3 mile radius). I put him down a few hours later for his morning nap, when I wake him up at lunch his eye is more red and a little puffy...a few hours later I give him some benadryl and put him down for his afternoon nap and when I wake him up he's even worse. Before we go to the gym at 5p I take these pics...

He doesn't seem to care about his eye at all, but it looks bad to me. I give him more benadryl at bedtime and put him to bed. He is up most of the night coughing and whining (he's had a cough/cold for about 2 days now - stated Monday night). I get up at 4:45 to give him a bottle since he's still whining and this is what I see.

(these pics were taken when he woke up at 9a.)

Yes, his eye is swollen shut! It looks awful. I immediately call the Dr's office and get an appointment for 10a. Elijah still doesn't care, though. His balance is a little off - try walking around with one eye shut, but other than that he's fine, just a little cough and sneezy. If any of you know me at all you know I don't do eyes. Anything else I can do, but not eyes, so we went to the dr.
Let me tell you the Dr's office was horrible. I was incredibly humbled. We walked in and all the parents try really hard not to stare as they pull their children close to them - stay away from the boy that just walked in - I sign us in and put Elijah down to play. A boy leans over to his mom and whispers "Mom, what's wrong with that boy?" I turn to the whole room and say, "he got bit by a mosquito, its not contagious" Elijah goes on playing, non of the kids even notice (children are so sweet and innocent) but the parents all stare as they walk in and I have to tell them its not contagious before they will let their kids play with Elijah. Now, I am used to hearing "oh what a beautiful boy" "wow, he is so cute". Non of that today. It was really humbling.

The doctor walks in (btw Elijah gained about 1/2 a lb so we're at 22.6 pounds!) and said, "wow, I'd hate to see the other guy". I tell the Dr he has to fix Elijah because I can't handle eyes. I say he looks like that Hunchback of Notre Dame! check out the uncanny resemblance...
So, we've been calling him Quasi all day! The dr looked in his ears and he has an ear infection! He said its unrelated, but a good thing we came in for the eye because the ear is bad. We had to get some antibiotics which will hopefully make sure nothing happens with the eye as well, but I'm just supposed to give benadryl around the clock and wait for it to go away. Poor baby. I just want to cry every time I see my little Quasimodo. Beau says he's now on a mission to eradicate all mosquitos since they did this to his boy! Better go...I hear Quasi waking up.

Not to embarrass anyone, but....

I really don't want to embarrass my dad, but the funniest thing happened this weekend. My parents came down for a visit and Saturday morning my dad asks...
Dad: "what is that shower stuff in the bathroom?"
Erica: "what shower stuff?"
Dad: "In the spray bottle that says 'cleaner' on it."
Erica: "its shower cleaner, why"

Side note: For Christmas Janice gave me this specialty shower cleaner in a pretty squirt bottle and I put it in the guest shower to clean the shower with.

Dad: "I don't think its any good, it didn't lather up and when I used it to wash my hair it burned my eyes."
Erica: Dumbstruck I just sit there trying to figure out if he's kidding
Dad: "what?"
Erica: "Dad, that is shower cleaner, not body wash! You really washed your body with that?"
Dad: "Yeah, and my hair"
Erica: "Dad, in all your 47 years have you ever seen anything you wash your body with in a spray bottle?"
Dad: "well no, but the writing was in French or something so I thought it was European"

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time - I'm still laughing now. Dad, I love you!!! I already miss you, can't wait to see you again. I will make sure there is no abrasive cleaning items in the guest bathroom, though!

I'll try to take some pics or video today or in the next couple days. I'm off til Saturday!!

This is how we spend our mornings...

"Peez"

Okay, Elijah is doing the cutest thing. When he wants something he says "Peez, peez". So cute!! I cannot deny him anything when he says it! I will try to get it on video and post it. I will also try to get some more pics up soon. Hope everyone is well.

Baby its Cold Outside

I took Elijah for his 15 month check up on Thursday. He had to get one shot - pneumonia vaccine. They did his measurements and, again, I was shocked. He is 31 inches tall ( 49%), he is 21 lbs ( 12%) and his head circumference is 19 inches (78%). He sounds like some average height, skinny baby with a huge head. Now maybe its because he's my toothpick with a giant head, but he looks normal to me. He looks very proportioned. He also feels a lot heavier than just 21 lbs. I asked the Dr if I should be trying to put weight on him and he said no, he'll probably just always be skinny (that makes one of us). I told the Dr Elijah eats more in a day than I do and so I don't understand how his weight is so low. He said it doesn't matter and not to worry. DON'T WORRY??!! What will I do with all the free time! :)
Anyway, he is a very healthy boy according to the Dr. He did mention that 15 month old babies are usually getting their molars by now, but Elijah isn't. He said its no big deal unless he goes a few more months without any signs of them coming in.
After church today I let Elijah play outside. Its really cold - for here - and its been so rainy and gloomy for the past few days so since we had some sunshine today I took him out there. I sat with my sweats on cuddled in a blanket, but the cold doesn't seem to bother Elijah - as long as he can be "side" he doesn't care.

What a Big Boy!

Elijah was eating his lunch at the table and I thought he looked so big, so I'll share.


He tends to put the food on his spoon then take the food off his spoon and put it in his mouth.

But sometimes he gets it right!! You may be wondering why I've given him such a big spoon and not his baby spoons. Well that would be because my son eats so much he needs to put much more in his mouth at a time or he gets frustrated.

Aimee came over to hang out last night. Beau and Gary both started school so we got to have some girl time. We bathed Elijah, he's giving Aimee his "this is so fun, wanna join me?" look.

He looks slightly impaired in this one, a little like Ducky from Land Before Time, but I still think he's supie cute (as Brooklyn would say).

So sleepy....

Well I know its been a long time since I posted...again. I really do apologize. When I left you last Tuesday...I worked Wednesday, can't remember much of Thursday - I think I "cleaned", worked Friday, Saturday was a whirlwind. Beau and I cleaned all day. It wouldn't have been so bad if our house had been in its normal state we could have just cleaned and it would have been fine, but it was just cluttered from the holidays. Putting up decorations, every time I turned around there was something I forgot to put up from the holidays. Anyway, we really cleaned and then had all the youth group parents come over for dinner and a meeting. We always have a great time with them - they really cut loose without the kids.

Anyway, for a funny story...
You know I had to work all those days in a row and so Beau was on Ligy Duty for all that time. I tried explaining to him that that is how it is when he's gone to camp for weeks on end, but whatever. Since we were gone so long it took Elijah a little while to "get back into the groove" so he was waking up almost every night. I felt bad for Beau because our "deal" is whenever I have to work the next morning Beau gets up with Elijah during the night and I do it the other nights so he had been getting up a lot. I had Tuesday off, but Elijah didn't wake up Mon night, and I had Thursday off but he didn't wake up Wed night. So things were going well for me, he he he! However on Thursday night I was exhausted from my hard week and went to bed embarrassingly early and Beau stayed up a while. During the middle of the night (about 3am) I woke up and heard Elijah whining in bed. I thought "oh, I'll get up so Beau doesn't have to". I bolted out of bed because sometimes if you catch Elijah while he's just whining you can change his diaper and calm him down and he'll go back to bed. If you wait too long and he actually starts crying you have to give him a little bottle. So, like I said, I bolted out of bed and was walking really fast toward the door/hall. Just about the time I thought "I wonder why its so dark, the nightlight in the hall must be out" BAM!! Whole body slammed into the bedroom door.

Let me explain:
our bedroom door stays open at night. It has a hinge on it, though that always lets it swing closed so we keep a door stop on it to keep it open. When I went to bed I closed it so Beau wouldn't keep me up. I guess when Beau came to bed he didn't replace the door stop and it closed behind him. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I was so sleepy and not thinking clearly and I was wanting to make sure I got up instead of Beau so he could sleep so I was going fast.

So...BAM! Beau jumps out of bed, because of the noise being so loud and hears me whining in the corner.
Beau: "Erica! Are you okay, what happened?!"

Erica: lots of whining..."why is the door shut"

Beau: "You hit the door? Oh, baby, come here, come back to bed"

Erica: more whining..."but Elijah's awake"

Beau: "It's okay, just come lay down"

Erica: even more whining...(my face really hurt, not to mention my knee and shoulder - I hit
hard people)

I go lay down and Beau starts hugging me and I'm still whining from the pain and what does he do? He starts laughing! He says "sorry I'm laughing, but I just imagined what that looked like"
I imagine it and I start laughing too. Elijah did go back to sleep, but the next morning when I woke up I walk into the kitchen as Beau is explaining to Elijah that they have to be extra nice to Mommy today because she had a hard night.

So that's my story. Sorry I don't have any new pics. I'll work on that today...promise.

A Long Time Coming

I really try not to go this long without a post, so to all Elijah's fans, I'm sorry. We left Stephenville on Wednesday the 2nd and 6 hours later pulled into our driveway. We got home just in enough time for Beau to change clothes and go to church. We stayed home, I fed Elijah, unpacked our suitcases and went to bed. I worked Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. By Monday I was barely able to stand and form complete sentences. I actually fell asleep at the drive thru window Monday morning at 6:30 am waiting for my double tall skinny mocha latte. I have the day off today and my two must do's are to take down the Christmas tree and go to the grocery store. So anyway, here are some pics of our trip. We had so much fun we forgot to take any family pics with anyone, but here we go:

Elijah started us off opening presents in Rosebud on Wednesday the 26th.

He wasn't quite sure what to think about the Tickle Me Cookie Monster.

He got golf clubs from Grandpa and Meme and wouldn't put them down. Meme is trying to read him a book but has to maneuver around the golf club.

I can't remember how, but at some point Elijah lost his pants. He got this Bass Pro Shop cap and I was thinking, "oh that's cute, but he won't leave that on" To my suprise he wouldn't take it off. He looked so cute and big in it.

Great a drum....just what we needed!! :)

I think Elijah likes things that are really soft, who doesn't. He got this really soft blanket and just rolled around on it laughing.

"I'm done with my bath, who's going to put me to bed?"

"I love you Aunt Amy, I can't wait to have a cousin to play with"

Elijah loves older boys. He is always so facinated with whatever they're doing.
We left on Friday to go to Stephenville. Mom and Dad's yard was covered in leaves so of course we had to play in them.

Friday night we got cleaned up and went to Jannie's and Papa Larry's for dinner. Elijah and Brooklynn got some more presents.

Beau and Elijah watching everyone play Wii. Elijah just loves that cap.

With everything going on the first time we could all be together to do our Christmas was Sunday night the 3oth. Oh well, at least we were all there together. To Zac and Lya: sorry you had to wait so long and didn't get to open presents on Christmas morning, thanks for being so great.


Apparently I need to get Elijah a food processor. He really loved mom's.

Brooklynn got lots of pretty princess clothes.

We got her Candyland. Apparently it was a wonderful thought; Jon and Katy had bought it for her too in Hawaii and she loves it. Oh well, it will just stay at Pawpaw and Juju's for Brooklynn and Elijah to play next year.

Brooklynn and Elijah taking a bath.



We had a great vacation, but we're so glad to be home! Can't wait to see you all again! Now, I'm off to take down the tree....