I’ve decided to start blogging again! I made it through the first 15 months of Eli’s life, and now things have settled down a bit and I feel like this will be a good way to record all of the funny/cute/adorable things Eli does on a daily basis. Can’t promise posts on a daily basis, but I will try to post more than once a year!
I feel like we live in Mayberry August 25, 2008
I have never lived in a neighborhood. You know, the kind that has sidewalks and where you have to be careful what you wear around the house for fear of the neighbor seeing you through his window while you’re in your birthday suit. But, now we do. I didn’t think I’d like it at first, but I am now realizing how wonderful it can be. As anyone that reads this blog knows, Javier and I had our wonderful baby boy on August 7th. Since then, our neighbors have showered us with love and gifts to welcome our new little addition. Mary-Jane from the corner brought onesies and sleepers and is giving me her phone number in case I need anything. Our next-door neighbors Roger and Janine brought two outfits and baby socks. Kathy from next door (a sweet older lady from Romania or Hungary or somewhere like that) brought different colors of yarn so we could choose what colors we wanted for the blanket she is crocheting. Margo from down the street (who we also bought our shed off of) brought us cake and sent us a card. Byron, a sweet 90-something year-old-man brought us tomatoes from his garden and offered to bring our trashcans in from the curb. Our new-found friends Jess and Brian (who we have a standing Project Runway date with on Wednesday nights) bought Eli “Bathketball,” a little basketball hoop that suctions to the bathtub wall. Charlene from the other corner brought over baby clothes as well. Even as I write this I am blown away by everyone’s generosity. I never expected such a pouring out of love and kindness from our neighbors. The sense of community we have in our neighborhood makes me feel like we live in Mayberry … although I think it’s God allowing us to experience a little bit of Heaven. We have truly experienced “love your neighbor as yourself” through the actions of these kind people.
Nice Afternoon July 20, 2008
What a nice Sunday morning/afternoon! I woke up after getting 9 hours of sleep, watched a show with my hubby on the couch, fell asleep for an hour, got up and made some lunch, ate lunch, slept for another hour and a half then went down to Canal Fulton for a hike and some raspberry sorbet! It seems like pretty much all I can do any more is eat, sleep and maybe get in a little exercise when we have time. I feel so much better having gotten out of the house though and enjoyed the sunshine. Just about everyone we passed on the hiking trail asked how much longer I have … proving that I must look ready … and making me think they must think I’m crazy for being out exercising on such a hot day. Oh well. My fingers swelled like sausages and I had this huge area of sweat where my boobs (sorry, no other term fit) sit on top of my belly, but I needed it and I feel so much better now. One lady that saw me said, “You’re having a boy and you are almost due, right?” When we said yes, and that we have less than 3 weeks left, so she “Oh, I don’t think you’re going to make it that long.” I hope she’s right. 
I am dilated 2 cm so I’m hoping the doctor will tell me I’m progressing even further when I go in this Wednesday. I’ll keep you posted!
Ants in our Pants June 24, 2008
We have less than 7 weeks left (hopefully) and Javier and I are both getting ants in our pants … especially Javier. I am really enjoying the time we have with just the two of us because I know it is going to change forever after this baby comes, but Javier just can’t wait. He thinks I’m going to be early, but I tell him it’s just wishful thinking, and I remind him how wrong he was about the sex of the baby. We started child birth classes on Sunday and it was fun. We learned a lot, but mostly laughed a lot. The best part was when the instructor showed us the disposable underwear they give you, and what was more funny is all the stuff they put in them (2 extra large pads, tucs pads and an ice pack). She held the underwear up with everything in them and the crotch hung down like 3 feet. Hilarious! I’m sure it won’t be so hilarious in 6.5 weeks though.
We had an ultrasound on Wednesday and the doctor is saying that Eli is in the 70th percentile for his size. He’s already around 5 lbs. 1 oz. and they say they gain a half a pound a week, which could add up to over 9 pounds by the time he’s born! Oh well, if my mom can do it without an epidural, I can do it with one. I’m just glad that he looks healthy. He looks like he has chubby cheeks and the ultrasound tech said he doesn’t have any hair to speak of. I like babies without hair cuz it makes them look more like babies and less like old men.
I’ve been really happy lately. It just seems like everything is coming together. We feel so blessed by everything we received at our showers – people were so generous it was incredible! Javier and I have been listening to sermons on the computer a lot in the mornings and although I still get stressed out by how much I have to do at work, I have been able to maintain the attitude that “all I can do is what I can do in 8 hours” which has helped my sanity.
Gotta go to bed. G’Night.
So Tired May 9, 2008
I’m in my third trimester now and am SOOOO tired. It doesn’t help that it’s so difficult to sleep. If it’s not getting up to go to the bathroom, it’s sore hips, leg cramps or just plain discomfort. I know I shouldn’t complain now, as I still have about 13 weeks to go, but I had an especially hard time last night. I woke up at 3 and didn’t fall back asleep till about 6 which is when I wanted to get up for work. I ended up getting up at 7:15, felt rushed, and also felt completely worthless and unfocused all day. I ended up leaving work at 3:30 so I could come home and take a nap. I need to write two articles for work tonight, but it was so worth taking the nap from 4 – 6. I have to work 12 hours for Commencement tomorrow, so I’m going to try to get to bed pretty early tonight.
Craig’s List is Da Bomb! April 29, 2008
Check out this sweet crib. It’s a Ragazzi, Italian-made solid-wood crib that the previous owners paid over $600 for. How much did we pay? $75. Yep, that’s right … $75 buckaroos. Woo hoo! Javier and I drove to West Cleveland yesterday to eat some Puerto Rican grub, then we headed East to Bainbridge to take a look at this crib I found on Craig’s list. The picture was kind of fuzzy so we weren’t sure what to expect. They were asking for $100 but Javier negotiated them down (good job, honey!). It really wasn’t hard, they just said that they’re done having kids and that they needed to get rid of it. It was the nicest family in the world. When we came in the little 3-year-old boy greeted us with, “Come see my crib!” Then, before we left he got a somber look on his face and waved and said, “Goodbye, crib.” Too cute. Anyways, we feel so blessed. Now we just have to find a dresser/changer and chest of drawers, but that shouldn’t be too hard since it’s a pretty popular color of wood right now. Yeah for deals!
Random Thoughts April 20, 2008
So, Tina and I went to lunch yesterday and to finish registering for the baby shower (I had registered for a lot of things when I was home sick several weeks ago). It was so helpful to have an experienced mom! I kept on asking, “do I need this, what about this, I don’t need this, do I?” She had all the answers. It’s so cool to see how Tina has grown over the years. We’ve been friends since we were in 10th grade (over 12 years!) and she went from being a sweet, but sort of crazy and unpredictable character to a good friend, wife and mother to her two children. One thing that hasn’t changed about Tina, though, is her love of shopping! The plan was to go to lunch and to Babies R Us, which turned into lunch at Panera, Babies R Us, Marshalls, back to Panera for a drink, then to Target. She kept on going, but I needed to save some energy and time to grocery shop which takes some time since I go to Aldi’s for most of my items then to Giant Eagle for produce, etc. I had to stop at mom’s in-between because I had to pee, was hungry and needed to rest my feet (go figure) before I could even think about tackling the grocery store.
Any Jason Castro fans out there? My friend Julie at work is OBSESSED with him (almost to an unhealthy level … I can say that on my blog in case she reads it because I tell her this almost every day). However, she has been burning his songs off of iTunes every week and I have to say, he is an amazing musician. Every song is good … there’s not a bad one! Julie is turning 40 in the summer and I told her I am going to throw her a Jason Castro-themed birthday party and buy her a heating pad, as she was saying she needed one for her aches and pains. Something funny about with being obsessed with a 20-year-old and needing a heating pad at the same time.
Eli is doing good from what I can tell, but he’s the most active little guy in the world and he’s growing like crazy. I feel like my belly has expanded so much in the last week or two. I haven’t developed any yet, but was having nightmares about stretch marks last night. I can’t believe I have less than 16 weeks left! It went so slow at first, but now it’s really speeding up.
Ashlee is going to take belly pictures of us sometime soon. Some people might think this is weird, but I don’t care. I think pregnant bellies are so beautiful and so does Javier and I really want to capture some nice shots for our albums and for Eli’s room while he’s young.
Today Javier and I are working at Kent State Stark’s Annual Earth Day Celebration. Hopefully the weather will hold up but it’s not looking promising. We couldn’t get a Kent State photographer to cover the event, so Javier is going to be the photographer while I’m running all over the place. He agreed to do it as long as he got an Earth Day t-shirt and a name tag so he can “go backstage.” I didn’t tell him there’s no backstage.
We’re going to church this morning before Earth Day and I can’t wait. It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve been for various reasons, but I can’t wait to go get fed – I need it. I love our church and am so excited that we’re really starting to get plugged in. We met a couple at our small group for the first time last week and discovered that they are big Avett Brothers fans, so we are hopefully going to meet up with them at the concert we’re going to in Cleveland in late May. Two of the other girls in our group are pregnant so it’s nice to be able to “talk baby” and get to know them.
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
Used Baby Items and a Night Out April 14, 2008
If anyone has any used baby items they’d like to sell, let me know! Let’s just say starting from scratch and looking at the retail price tags can be a little overwhelming!
Well, Jav and I went to the Diversity Dinner at Kent State last night. It was so awesome! The tickets were normally $150/person but we got to go for free because our dean sponsored a table. There were buffet tables set up with foods from almost every region – Latin, African, Mediterranean, Soul Food, Asian, American Desserts, etc, etc. We sat at a table with some nice people from my work and had a great time. I even got out and boogied with my big belly to the Electric Slide! It was nice to get dressed up and go out for the evening. I’m really trying to appreciate these “alone moments” before Eli comes in August. And, the fact that it was free made it that much more enjoyable!
The Joys of Pregnancy April 5, 2008
Soon I will be able to post about all the funny things little Eli says, but until then, I will share about the joys of pregnancy (some truly joyful, some not so joyful).
- Waking up at 2 a.m. with sore hips from sleeping on my side (I’m a belly sleeper – obviously not anymore).
- Bracing myself when I sit down in the evening because my tale bone hurts so bad from sitting at a computer all-day, every day.
- Having my husband think that I am the most beautiful creature in the whole world and marveling at the fact that I’m carrying his offspring.
- Getting winded just by cleaning the bathtub.
- Feeling our precious little Eli kick and roll within me.
- Going to a smoothie shop knowing that the 4 college-aged guys sipping their “protein packers” were wondering if I was pregnant or if I just like beer a little too much.
- Feeling comfortable in one position just to roll over and feel like my bladder is holding 10 gallons of iced tea.
- Wondering why my body needs to develop love handles in order to carry a baby.
- Knowing that in 4 1/2 months Javier and I will be responsible for a tiny little needy baby and wondering if we are suited for the job.
- Knowing that Eli is going to be an eater by his violent kicks when it’s been 3 or 4 hours since my last meal.
