Tree Hunting

My dear husband went to bed a bit early so that he could get up and help Eliza and I pick out a Christmas tree before he went to work. After waling around a big field, we all decided that this tree was the one!

I was telling Michael while we were at the tree farm that I have never been as excited for the holidays as I am this year. Having Eliza makes everything more exciting! I can't wait until I can get this home and decorated to see what she thinks of it :)

 

After a little work on Michael's part, we got our tree cut and paid for. The farm that we bought it from take the tree to shake it to get all of the critters out and then nets the tree for you. 

 

They even help you tie to the top of your car. With a short stop at the hardware store to get a stand, we got the tree home! After Eliza went to sleep, I turned on some Christmas music and got to work. 

The finished product is below. The bottom 3 presents that are huge aren't actually gifts. The middle one (green) is the empty box that Eliza's ball center came in. The ones to the left and right are the storage totes that I keep all of the decorations in. I wrapped them and duct taped them together so that Eliza can't get to the tree. We'll see if that actually works :)

Quite the Feast

 While Thanksgiving has never been one of my favorite holidays, I am so excited for it this year! I am so thankful that my house is coming together, I have a great husband, I have sweet little Eliza and family came to visit!

 Right after we got through eating breakfast burritos for breakfast, Angie and I started preparing the feast! These two scrumptious beauties are my first ever pumpkin pies. I wish I could give Eliza a taste, but I am scared to because of her little tummy. Maybe at Christmas, she can taste the awesome that is pumpkin.

  

While we were cooking, Michael was sleeping, Todd was playing Portal, Alexis and Bryce were taking turns on the DS and Eliza was trying to help them push buttons. Poor Bryce had to keep shuffling around the room because Eliza would scoot over and mess with him. It was super cute. 

 

At around 3, the feast was ready and we got to eat. We had  turkey, candied yams, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, dressing...

Green beans with slivered almonds, deviled eggs, gravy, rolls, apple cobbler, and pie. While none of us needed the food coma that was induced, it was nice to have all of our Thanksgiving comfort foods here in Nebraska.

After dinner, Todd and Angie ventured out to Target. Looking through the sales ads, I decided that I had to go to Toys R Us to get a toy for Eliza. When I got there, Todd and Angie had the exact same toy because they were afraid that I wouldn't get there in time to get it. They bought it for Eliza and I got another awesome toy for her. This is so exciting!

The next morning, Todd put the toy together, which was quite a job. The finished result was bigger than we all though, but super neat. Once we got batteries in it and it started making noise, Eliza was a big fan! She looks so small next to it! She loves to crawl around it and to bang the balls on the floor. Although she doesn't get how to put the balls on the track herself yet, she loves watching them when others do it. Thank you for the gift!

 

Later in the day when Michael woke up, we went to Morrill Hall, which is a museum on campus. We all had a great time getting out of the house. We came home, ate left overs, then cuddled up on the couch and watched The Croods. What a great end to a great time.

8 Months

 I should have taken her 8 month pictures yesterday, but with the excitement of family coming in, I didn't get to take them until today.

 This sweet girl is just a pure joy! Her favorite things to do right now is to wave, explore under tables (which mom tells her not to do), and chase the cat. She laughs at her toys now, which I think is super adorable.

She is starting to stand while assisted and I have a feeling that she is going to start scooting around the ottoman. We are so very lucky to have this beautiful baby.

The Rickmans Come to Visit

Todd, Angie and the kids showed up just before noon. Since Nebraska gets pretty lonely, I was ecstatic to see them pull up. They brought Eliza a soft little chair that looks like a giraffe. Since it is rounded she falls right off of it while sitting, so we laid her on it. She stayed there for quite a long time rubbing its head and trying to eat the tag on the ear.

For the rest of the day, we caught up and just chatted. When Michael got up, we made personal pizzas for dinner, then watched Pitch Perfect. I had never seen it, but was super glad they brought it because the BFFs have been getting on to me for not watching it.

 

After the movie we got silly! While not the best picture of me, I had a photo op with the Goddaughter. 

 And my Godson. He looks pretty good with his mustache!

My Helper

 While the men were downstairs putting in the window, Eliza and I started deep cleaning upstairs since my family will be here on Wednesday. As I went from room to room, Eliza-bug would follow me. In our bedroom, she found the mirror, so I turned it on its side. She knows she's cute!

 Eventually, the mirror got boring and she decided to resume training for the baby obstacle Olympics. Anything she can crawl over or under is the greatest thing since sliced bread for her. 

Eliza is letting the heater blow her hair, she giggles occasionally

 Wednesday morning, I cleaned the kitchen and let Eliza crawl in there the first time. Because the dogs track in dirt from outside and there are dangerous things in the kitchen, I usually keep it gated off. My little helper thought that the kitchen was great!

This little face looking up at you makes doing dishes so much better!

 She scooted over to the dog water, and I stood back just to see what she would do. She, of course, stuck her hand in it. She pulled it back quickly and but after it registered, she started splashing in it! After an outfit change, she was taken back to the safe living room.

Progress Report #6

 Monday, the company that put our windows in finally came back to put the correct window in. While I am excited to have the window fiasco done with, this is what the room looks like and I have guests coming in on Wednesday afternoon... AHHH! The solution: 

Get on your hands and knees to mop the floor with clorox wipes (because mopping just smears the dust/mud around), hang up some curtains and worry about fixing the drywall later.

 

I also had to 'mop' the hallway with wipes because so much dust had been tracked out of the room. I managed to get the stairs stained and the first coast of white paint on them. It needs another coat of paint, and I need to paint the walls going up the stairs. This shouldn't take long. 

 Since Michael put another coat of floor paint in the craft room, this room looks like it is finally done. We are building a daybed and a Murphy Bed in this room so that we have plenty of room for when guests come to visit.

 While certainly not perfect, the bathroom is in working order! We need another coat of paint on the floor and to touch up paint around the tile. So glad to almost be done with this room :)

Meanwhile, we still have half of the dirt pile that we need to finish moving. Anyone love to shovel and wheel dirt? :)

Hello World!

Let's just get it out there in the open: Eliza is a HAM! Everytime someone is talking to her, telling her how cute she is, she turns on the charm. When I say hi to her, I always wave at her, too. She has been trying to wave back for 2-3 days, but she finally got it today! While we were at church, she was waving to people that would come up, which of course got her more oogling. She's just too darn cute for her own good :)

Enjoying Time with Becca

After we picked Becca up from the airport on Wednesday, we mostly just did a crash course of catching up and she met the cuteness that is Eliza. We made some tortilla soup and enjoyed each other's company. On Thursday, I had to sub for a friend of mine, so Becca got some time with just Michael and Eliza. They went to lunch and hung out until I got home. Becca willingly went to my Zumba class with me and of course thought I was ridiculous!

Eliza looking at Puffins 

Since I had to work on Thursday, I figured we should get out of the house on Friday. I started listing fun things to do and Becca perked up at the option of going to the Omaha Zoo. After Eliza's first nap, we loaded up in the car and drove to Omaha. I was really excited to go to the zoo because we had not taken Eliza yet. When we first got there, we only had a few options that we were willing to do: The Jungle, The Dessert or the Aquarium (because they are all indoor exhibits and would keep us out of the cold and snow). The aquarium came first. She was very interested in the fish, but didn't seem to really understand what was going on. I took her out of her stroller and held her and she started talking and giggling. I think she was just unsure in her stroller.

While we went through the rest of the zoo, she was very focused on anything that moved. Since she doesn't know the concept of animals yet, she didn't even notice the animals that didn't move. Her favorite seemed to be Mr. Beaver. She watched him on the land and perked up when he jumped into the water. A little later, we found him in his lodge, which is built against glass so you can see inside. Becca lowered her down and she was kicking and talking. She tried to put her mouth on the glass to get to him! Super cute. After a little while, Eliza hit her limit, so we headed back to Lincoln.

Since we are trying to get Eliza's weight up, we have been giving her just a little bit of extra milk after feedings. Becca was eager to feed her, but Eliza took over. Since we give her a bottle so infrequently, she just learned to hold it on her own today, which I thought was the cutest things ever!

One of Becca's requests for coming back to the states was to play a game of Killer Bunnies. This was one of our favorite things to do in College Station with our great friends Sean and Rachelle. What Becca wants, I deliver on. So, we invited some friends over and had a great evening.

"Mom! She's trying to take me!"

Saturday came too soon! After a Target trip and get a Raisin' Canes fix, we took her to the airport. But, not before she tried to smuggle Eliza out in her carry on (as suggested by Little Simmons). Eliza's face here is priceless! Thank you so much for coming to Nebraska and having adult conversation with me Becca! It was great to see you and to have a friend around :)

Waiting on Becca

I have been excited all morning waiting for Becca to get here. For those of you who don't know Becca, she is my little sister in ZTA and was mine and Michael's roommate in College Station. Since she lived with is, she had seen us at our best and worst and for some reason still likes us ;) She is currently living on Australia, but on her trip home made time for us. So that Eliza would be in a good mood, I wanted to make sure she got a good nap in. She went down and fussed a little, but was quiet for a few minutes so I thought she went to sleep. I went in to check on her and she wasn't sleeping at all! She knows she cute, so she was looking at her self in the mirror. 

Peeking through the door to check on Eliza

After a few more minutes, I re-positioned her and she took a good nap. Becca's flight was slightly delayed, so while waiting at the airport, I got in the back seat with her and we chatted. Finally, Becca landed and now let the fun begin!!

Happy & Healthy

 

One of Eliza's new favorite things to do it to crawl over things. If her pillow is on the ground, she goes for it just to crawl over it. Above, she used me as an obstacle course and thinks it's great!

There are 2 teeth in there... she is hiding them

  The last few days in the Cleveland house have been much better because Eliza is in a better mood. I have been working very hard at getting my milk supply back up and we have been feeding her more solids, so her tummy is much happier.

Eliza helping me prep to teach Calculus on Thursday

  Today, we met with Mrs. Jamie again, the lactation consultant, and she was really happy about the weight that Eliza has gained. She told me to keep doing what I'm doing and to check back in two weeks. She also said to start adding in a few small bites of dairy a day to see how Eliza is reacting to it. If after a few days there is no fussing, increase to a few medium bites and so on. She said that by Christmas, if all goes well, I can have my beloved cheesecake for dessert!

Then There Were 2

 Last week, Eliza woke up 3 times during the night, then woke up with her first tooth. Saturday night, she woke up 3 times and Sunday morning had tooth number 2! At least she is consistent :) I have been trying hard to get a picture of them, but she hasn't let me until NOW! Here is a close up:

 They have some growing to do, but her little smile just got a ton cuter with little pearly whites in there. Good thing she likes chewing on her toothbrush because it is time to start using it.

Experimenting

 

One of Eliza's favorite new games is to toss toys down the stairs. She likes to see whatever is in her little hand bounce down the stairs. So, I am trying an experiment. I took one of the bumper pads from her crib and put them on the stair rails. When I first put it on, she went over to and inspected it. Shortly afterword, she tried to put the toy over the pad, but her arm isn't quite long enough... yet.

 

Eliza is experimenting with her body and eyes right now. One day, I had my hand under her on her belly helping her crawl and she looked under (like above) and saw my hand. Occasionally, I see her stop and look under herself to see what under there. Sometimes, she'll get up on her toes and see my upside down and chuckle.

This looks like the world's most uncomfortable position, but I have caught her doing this several times. Usually she's playing with her hands back there, but she'll also play with her blocks behind her back. She's so silly!

She seems to get frustrated scooting about and playing with a few toys, so I did another experiment. I emptied her whole toy basket in the floor, sat her in the middle of it, and watched her. She definitely has some favorite toys right now, mostly the ones that feel good to chew on. Within minutes, the toys were spread everywhere! She laid in the middle and spun around looking at all of them. The ones she ended up focusing the longest on were the ones that went under the entertainment center. Thank goodness I just dusted under there!

Needs to Eat More

 

For the past week or two, Eliza has been very fussy. That combined with noticing that her clothes aren't getting any smaller, I decided that I needed to go to Milk Works to weigh her. My instincts were on cue because she hadn't gained anything since her 6 month appointment! I called the doctor's office and made an appointment for the following day. 

We met with Mrs. Jamie, the lactation consultant and Nurse Practitioner that helped us initially with the MSPI diagnosis. After weighing her, doing a pre- and post-weight when she ate and answering a few questions she determined that my milk supply has dropped substantially and poor Eliza bug isn't getting enough to eat. I feel awful!

After several tips and strategies, we have a game plan to get my supply and her weight up. We check back next Tuesday to see if she is gaining weight. If she isn't, then we will have to start supplementing with formula, which we haven't had to do yet.

1st Tooth

Well that explains a little! For the past couple of days, I have been feeling like a failure as a parent because she has seemed so unhappy and fussy. I am so thankful when Michael wakes up because I can get a small break before goes to work. She went to bed with no teeth and woke up with one rudely working its way through! Poor girl has been drooling like a champ and chewing more than Coral.

It hasn't stopped her from being a happy baby this evening though. Maybe she just needed some daddy time :) She is also getting pretty efficient at the Inch Worm for getting around!

Progress Report #5

 Before going into this, Michael and I knew that it would not be easy, but by George, we were NOT going to pay for someone else to do it. Well... after doing this small amount, we have decided we are not going to quit our day jobs and open up a tiling business, or any other home improvement business for that matter. This stuff is super messy and we are just praying that we are doing the right thing.

Since the tiles at the top are glass tiles on mesh, so we are going to let the thinset dry before we stack tiles on top. After the rest being tiled, the place cleaned up and the shower put together, this is hopefully going to look snazzy!

Michael's bar is also coming along quite nicely. From just the studs that we started out with, we are really proud of how it looks. We are using this as the work room, so right now it is a mess. The only thing we have left to do in here is build the actual bar, possibly add some shelves or cabinets on the wall and clean up. We are getting so close!

If you missed what it looked like when we started, here are the previous posts.

Progress Report #1

Progress Report #2

Progress Report #3

Progress Report #4