Advice

Ha..I just read Katie's blog and it makes me laugh that this is what I am blogging about tonight. (Side note to Katie... As a parent I know I am judged but one thing I have learned since working with parents and children and giving parenting advice before I was ever one. FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT! If you believe that what your are doing is right for you and your current situation then show it to everyone. And when others give you their different opinion, SMILE AND NOD! and complain about it later.)

Anyway, a co-worker came up to me today and asked me what things I would recommend as a new mother to a soon to be mother. I thought for some reason that I have already written some of these down but I guess that is one of those things that I have thought about then come blog time it has left my brain. So here are some things that I think I couldn't do without and other I think I could have.

-Boppy- you either love it or hate it. I personally LOVE IT! From the moment Elijah was born to now. Elijah spent most of his newborn days in or on it. Now that he is mobile, he enjoys to to climb over it.
-Dr. Browns bottles- Love them! I have dealt with lots of bottles at work and I love these the best.
-Bath chair-Prefer over little bathtubs or bath cushion. I used the same one from newborn to self sitter. Plus it folds down so little.
-Bouncy chair- Love it. This was the only way I was ever able to shower for the first 3 or 5 months. I kept it in the bathroom and Elijah would sleep/sit there and I would never have to worry about him.
-Space saver High chair- Love It! another great place to put Elijah when he was an infant and I needed to take care of the dog, and now, He is eating at it and it will restrain him when I don't want him in the dog's water bowl.
-Swing- Love it, I just wish we would have had one that went back and forth, as well as side to side.
-Bassinet- Loved it for about 3 months. I borrowed one from my neighbor and it rocked and that was a life saver on nights that Elijah was up and fussy but I wanted to sleep, I just laid in bed and rocked him.
-Bottle warmer- NEVER USED IT- Possibly because Elijah was fed booby milk until 6 months and then the microwave has been our bottle warmer.
-Wipe warmer- Used it maybe 3 times. Then I found it was more work to keep them warm and moist and what not that we stopped using it.

I'm sure there is more but I just got real sleepy and need to stop thinking.

Bath time!

A while back I did a post on bath time at our house. Well bath time has changed a bit since then. So here is a look. Now Elijah does not sit in his bath chair anymore. Now he will sit, crawl, and try to climb out of the tub. Way back when, Elijah used to eat bath water and soap, now he eats his toys, and the bath water. However, he has to have one in each hand and half the time one in his mouth. Real cute.

Here is the soap we have been using with Elijah since June. The ring I put on there so you can see the overall size of the thing. When BJ gives Elijah a bath he also tries out some new hair styles. Then when the bath is done Elijah gets all wrapped up in his over sized beach towel. I have to say that I love his bathroom. It is completely beach/turtle themed. The walls look like sand, we have a framed a sand castle, the tub has waves on it. The stuff around the sink all have turtles on them as well as the shower curtain. I love it! It is so kid friendly.

Where did Elijah Go???

Here he is!! Gosh I think He is cute!

Palm Sunday: by Elijah

I thought today was a normal Sunday. Guess not. Guess today was Palm Sunday. Let me just say that if church always gave out things to play with, I would never go to the nursery. So we showed up to church and they hand us these long green things that mommy said were palm branches. I had one in each hand and just waved them all service long. I think I successfully got every ones eyes at least once. (Sorry no pictures. It was church after all).

Then we headed down to Grandma and Grandpa's. And guess what! They had a rabbit in the house! And it brought fun stuff for us.

I got puffs, food, a cool sox shirt and a bunny!! Daddy got a kite?
Then we all went outside and found eggs. I would have found more but mommy and daddy kept putting me in the grass. I was sleepy and it was to new for me. Plus it was a little cold. Then mommy and daddy helped me find some of my eggs. Daddy then showed me how to fly his kite. I was real good at it.

Then with all the excitement I needed a nap.

Mommy says next weekend we get to do the Easter thing. Can't wait to see what that means.

As always love Elijah!

The Mystirious Flashing Light

Way long ago (about 9 months ago up till about 4 months ago) I would be awake chilling and I would see this car. But not every night. Just every once in a while. Unfortunately, with my lack of sleep and being up at 3:00 am I could never really remember it to much the next morning to look into it further. The reason this car would catch my attention is the flashing light on top of the car. When I was up with Elijah in my room, I would see the car come down our street, turn into our driveway, then in less a minute it would come out of the drive way go back up the street in the same direction it came from and turn up a near by street. Once I moved my 3:00 feedings into Elijah's room I would see the car more often. But I was still too sleep deprived to draw any similarities between the days and times. All I was able to do was know it was the same car. Finally right around 5 or 6 months into this whole thing, I finally remember to tell BJ about it. In less than 6 seconds he goes, "It's probably the newspaper delivery person." I just look at him in aww. How could I not have thought of that, the car only was coming on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday morning at 3:00 am. The only days we get the paper. DUHHH. Oh well I guess that's why I love my hubby, because he is so smart!

Elijah's getting old

Happy 9 month birthday dear Elijah! Yup today we are 75% of the way to a full year. CRAZY!! Sorry no more new pictures of Elijah today but there were a bunch of pictures the other day of the Little man. Let's see what has Elijah done these last few weeks.

-He claps. He loves to clap. In fact, he claps when ever you go yeah!! It is real cute.

- He doesn't get stuck in stand as much anymore. He has started to figure out how to sit down.

- He is eating more and more real food. Other than fish, nuts, some fruits, and meat, there really isn't a lot that I won't have Elijah eat. Lately he has been eating avocado, mommy likes that because then I get to snack a bit while he eats.

-He enjoys playing with Rescue. In fact, he will crawl up to her toy and wave it around until Rescue will come over and take it from him. It's really cute. I like to see Rescue and Elijah hanging out with each other.

- Loves to play peek-a-boo and other predictable games.

Kind of a slow developmental month. He is figuring out how to master many of the skills that emerged the last few months. No worries he is still doing great. He is now at 21 pounds 10 ounces and 28.8 inches long. He has started a work out plan and really hasn't gained that much weight over the last few months.

Road Closed

On my way to work everyday I drive the same way! On Friday there was a sign up that said Road Closed Starting Tuesday 3-23-10 use Alt. Route. Okay got that. However, it never says when it will be reopened. I will have to go out of my way to go to work and come home from work. Neither of those trips will be driving by the street that will be closed. So I am a bit annoyed that every couple of days I will have drive out of the way to check on the street. Obnoxious!!!

China: A short report By Elijah

Mommy tells me that Grandpa Sarlina is in China again. Since I am a baby I do not know much about China so I did some research and here is what I learned.

First I learned that China is a very, very, very old country. I think that is why Grandpa went to China. Maybe my other grandpas need to go there too. I tried to tell this Grandpa but he just thought I was being cute.

I then learned that there are wild animals that live in China. They are black and white.

No Rescue not those wild animals. They are bears. Mom says they are called Panda bears. I caught one. I named him China Bear.

But don't think they are real nice. They can get mean. They say ROARRR like this.

Panda Bears eat plants that are called Bamboo.

China also has really cool boxes. I think they are used to carry around their bears.

But how in the world do they get the bears to go in the actual box? What ever, I give up.

I also learned that farmers in China wear these cool hats.

No not those hats!! I was just kidding.

The hats are made of straw. Like this mom??

She said no but that was the closest I could get.

I learned that in China they make a lot of things. I think they made a really big big wall. But they also make our fire pit. So here I am climbing the fire pit pretending it is the big wall.

Pretty creative isn't it??

Mom said that the people in China eat lots of rice and noodles. So for dinner tonight I had some noodles. To bad mom didn't have her camera for that major mess. But I though they were yummy.

This report was completed by Elijah and I hope Grandpa likes it. P.S. Mom did a post tonight too. Don't forget to check it out.

Happy Birthday BJ!

Today BJ turned 28! Goodness we are getting old! Anyway, BJ celebrated his birthday yesterday with two of his friends and his father by going golfing at a computer simulated indoor golf course, then we went down to his parents house for dinner, then to the neighbors house for dessert. Today, we did the church thing and grocery shopping, then back to the neighbors for dinner. Now he is off to church again while I hang with the house work and get things done.

Happy birthday B! You know I love you!

I saw an Epiglottis

Elijah's Epiglottis to be exact. It was so weird. At first I almost freaked out because it looks crazy weird in the back of the throat, but then all the years/hours I spent hunched over an anatomy book did I realize what it was. However, in all the pictures in the books this is what it looked like:

This is sorta what I saw not as big though:

Now you can kinda see why I freaked out. I mean it looks like there is something sitting on the back of the tongue and he was making gagging sounds like he was choking. That's why I freaked out.

Near Death Experiance

Rescue gave us a bit of a scare today. I thought St. Patties day might have been the last day we had our dog. But I think luck was on her side today. Let me tell you what happened.

As we came downstairs today I noticed a spider in the dinning room. So being the wimp that I am, I called the dog and had her try to eat it. Well the spider high tailed it under her basket of toys and Rescue looked at me for help. I moved the basket and she went at the spider again. Typical spider hunting today, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I saw she had got the spider. Then she jumped back and spit the spider out. It was odd, the spider was in the middle of the floor and Rescue was just looking at it, she would never typically do that. She then got up, walked to the door and gave me a look that said, "I'm going to throw up." I put her outside and sure enough that she did. She then came back in and laid down under the table. She didn't lay down like a sphinx, but like a dead animal. She wouldn't respond to her name, even when I got down on the floor and poked at her she didn't move. That's when I started to get worried, I when to the last resort, I pulled out her all time favorite treat. Nothing. I even waived it in front of her noise. Nothing. That's when I was officially worried. I then grabbed her front paws and back paws and dragged her out from under the table. Nothing. Didn't even phase her. Since BJ had just left I called him to come back. Upon closer examination it looked like her lip was starting to swell. I then called the Animal Hospital and after I told them what had happened, they told me to get her in ASAP. (never a good sign) So BJ took her in and I headed to work, with no breakfast because I spent all my time seeing if the dog was dead or not.

Apparently once Rescue got to the hospital she started to feel better and was walking around a bit more. By the time the Doc came in she was back to normal. So BJ brought her back home and left her in the crate. I kept wanting to call her to check on her, however, I didn't think she would answer the phone. My biggest fear was that I was going to get home from work today and she would be dead in her crate. No worries she was up and running around.

Rescue Lives another day. And BJ has banned me from having the dog eat spiders.

As I hit publish post the first time Rescue jumps off the couch and goes for another house spider. Damn!

Time to Eat

As a mother, I am want my little boy to eat the right amount at the right time. As a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) I know when kids SHOULD stop and start doing things especially with eating. For example, I know kids shouldn't be on a bottle after about 8 months of age, they should be starting soft foods around 7 or 8 months of age, they should be eating just about everything by about a year. However, in actuality, I haven't had time to teach my child how to drink out of a sippy cup or open cup for that matter yet, at least not consistently, and his night time bottle helps him get to sleep at night. I just recently realized that I should be giving my child more "real" food than I actually am. But it is hard, that darn baby food is soooooo easy for a working mother. It's just there, not mess. Easy. Making Elijah vegetables and getting them to the right temperature, cutting them up, mashing them to a chewed consistency takes lots of time.

Now I feel for all those parents that come in for speech, and they just don't know. Before, I just thought, DUH come on, how could you not know? Now I feel for those people. It helps being a parent, it doesn't make me a better therapist but it does help me relate to the parents MUCH more.

The coming of spring

As I go about the day I think about a million different idea's that I can blog about. Then I sit down to actually blog and Wooosh, All gone. Now I am just drawing a blank. UHHHHHH (can you hear the crickets??)

Hold on, Pause, I have to put the laundry in the dryer...

OO...I know what I want to blog about. It came to me while I was doing the laundry. Here it goes... THE COMING OF SPRING

Yes I know that it is only the 13th of March and there is still the possibility of one last snow storm. But still...It is feeling more like spring everyday. In fact, I wore my flip flops last weekend and I have spotted the first bugs of the season. It was fantastic! Let me tell you about what I have accomplished this spring.

1. Spring cleaning, I have cleaned the house top to bottom. I got rid of old clothes, washed the bedding and the winter coats.

2. Exposed my toes to the world. I wore my flip flops as a test day, then I decided it went good so I went to Spa Okel and did my toes last night. Now my toes are ready for the warm weather.

3. Took the dog out. Rescue got her come of the season walk.

4. New clothes for the boy! I love that we have friends that hare a little boy to send us their hand me downs for Elijah. (By the way Carissa, Thanks for the clothes).

5. Rescue caught her first spring house spider. I came around the corner today and Rescue was crouched on the stairs and my first thought was she was doing something naughty, then I saw the darn bug. She ate it, it was all good.

6. The birds are out. The first bird I saw was the ducks in the back yard swimming/walking around the construction area. And yes from a very far distance and with my bad eyes the female duck looks like a quail, hence my expedition to go photograph the quail. Then I saw a robin today, and a dove scared the crap out of me that tried to live in our window above our door.

7. Daylight savings time. I spent the day trying to start Elijah on the new schedule by cutting his afternoon nap short and skipping a bottle today. Let's see how tomorrow goes for us.

I love spring because it means summer is just around the corner!!! Come on summer push your way through to me.

Clean

Do you ever feel that things are never done?? I do. For example, on Tuesday, I spent over 8 hours cleaning my house. I did about 6 loads of laundry, folded it all, and put it all away. I cleaned just about every room, all the counters and did all the floors. I did parts of the bathrooms, but not all of them. The house looks great, but then not even about 2 hours later I want to dust, clean the bathrooms that I didn't do, organize Elijah's clothing that are to small. Then after a day flat surfaces have become magnets for junk/paper. That and after I put in 8 hours of cleaning, I feel all the little stuff could be resolved if only someone did a little help around the house too. 30 min, is all I ask, this house would look amazing!

Stay at home mom

You would think that being a stay at home mom I would have more time to post than when I am a full time employee and a mom. Ha..Wrong! Let me just tell you what I did on my 5 day weekend.

Friday: I woke up, normal time, fed the baby and my self, packed up the kid and headed to Rainbow, stopped by the bank and the gas station, then shopped for just about forever at Babies 'r Us. Made it home by 11:30 for Elijah's lunch. Cleaned the kitchen sink (it really needed it), Elijah woke up from his nap. Found out Elijah can pull himself up to stand and he ate a bunch of chunks out of his wood crib (Side note: All of a sudden a convertible bed that goes from crib to adult bed is not looking like such a good idea anymore.) Head to the store to buy things for a salad and look for a cover for the crib, head to target for the crib cover, no luck. Make it home bathe the baby, pack him up, head to an old friends house for dinner. Go home, check engine light comes on (yup! More car issues). Get home at 10:30. Bed.

Saturday: Wake up, head back to Babies 'r Us for the crib cover, buy a swim suit for the boy, wrap presents, feed baby boy lunch, head to baby shower #1. Have a great day with an old friend celebrating her future baby girl, head to baby shower #2, meet up with pals from Rainbow, celebrate future baby boy, head home. Have a splitting headache, feel like death on the couch, pain meds kick in, and head to the neighbors for movie night. Get home, go to bed.

Sunday: Wake up, go to church, neighbor takes my car to to computer at NAPA to check it out, get home feed baby, pack up baby, head to target, meet with a friend from high school, get home, get Elijah down for a nap, change the kid, pack up the kid again, meet with the neighbors, head back to church, dream about Disney, buy some fun stuffed animals for Elijah and games for us, head home, go to bed.

Monday: Wake up, decide it is time for Elijah to learn how to eat with a spoon, roll up his sleeves and give him a spoon, give the baby a bath to get all of the food out of his hair, dress baby, realize baby is sleepy, put him down for a nap, make 4 phone calls, print up bank statements for the past year, get baby up, feed baby, get ready to go, head to my aunt's to pick up a hand me down car seat, head to my dad's, pick up my sister, head to the doctor, meet with the doctor (Elijah got an all clear on his rump), get back in the car, drop my sister back off at home, stop and talk a bit, head home, see what I thought was a quail in my back yard, get the camera and the baby, head out back to get closer to get the picture of the quail, turns out to be a duck, go back inside, give Elijah his bottle, try to put Elijah down for a nap (HAHA), fight with the baby for over an hour to get him to sleep. Finally give up, and bring him downstairs and let him crawl around for a bit, finally get him sleepy enough, sleeps, BJ gets home, Elijah gets dinner, make a quick dinner, start categorizing things on the bank statement, go upstairs, go back downstairs because I hear the dog running around, get downstairs just in time to watch Rescue do the poop spin, yell at the dog, watch as she runs toward the door, spin and poop in my shoe, then head to bed!

Tuesday: Wake up, deliver baby back at daycare, come home, CLEAN THE HOUSE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, put a whole bunch of stuff in the space saver bags for the upstairs closet, get the baby from daycare, make home made lasagna, eat, blog, bed.

Busy Busy Busy. On the up side the house looks AWESOME!

Car update!!

I bet you are all on the edge of your seats to know what is going on with my car. No?? To bad gonna tell you any way.

I finally got around to calling Mazda. And guess what happened! Yup you guessed it. Nothing! They said exactly what I thought they were going to say. "My car didn't have any recalls on it."

I then called the National Highway something something something to file a claim. They were really nice there. Especially since I don't have a Toyota that I am complaining about. The guy actually said he was happy it was not a Toyota! I made his day! I filed a claim, and am waiting for paper work to be sent to me to add all my receipts to that the mechanic gave me.

This all got me thinking... I really like my mechanic. He went out of his way to find out about recalls on my car and tell me about them. If I had brought my car to Mazda, that would have been the end of the story.

On another note: I have decided my next car is going to be a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. So if any one has a 2008 that they want to sell. Call me!!! But that's what I want. They are awesome cars. Thanks Dad for getting me hooked. It's a Jeep Wrangler with 4 doors and storage space. THE DOORS AND ROOF COME OFF. COME ON ITS THE BEST CAR ON EARTH!!!!

Short Stories By Elijah

In the Wild

Once upon a time there was a little boy wondering around learning how the world works when all of a sudden.... he is apporached by a Giraffe!

AHHH!! A giraffe. The little boy does not know if it is a nice giraffe or not. He tires to make contact.

Few, it's a nice wild animal. Maybe if the little boy looks real cute the girraff will let him ride it.

Success!! Let's go for a ride! Giddy up! THE END! ~~ Thanks Chapman Family

Baby on the Move!!

Once upon a time there was a little family. The family had a crazy dog and a cute baby. Every now and then the baby needs to be put down to attend to the crazy dog.

In the begining this was good. The cute baby would always be where he was left. Now the baby moves. He moves to the toys and the good stuff.

Cute baby with fun toys makes for one big pile of fun.

THE END!!!!

Music to My Ears

In the begining there was music! Dance! Dance!

I will play for you and you will dance. I may even sing if you get lucky.

LaLaLa...MaMaMa, It's music to your ears!

About the Author

I am a cute and growing boy. In my free time (which I have a lot of) I like to climb, and put things in my mouth. I am getting real good at pulling up, tall kneel is getting to be my specialty. What can I say, I am cute and love able! Sorry, the spell check was not working.