down on the farm

we went to greenville, al last weekend- andrew enjoyed the opening weekend of deer hunting season and elisha enjoyed pushing a wheelbarrow with nana and riding the tractor with papa john.


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blowing kisses

i wish i had a picture or video to post of elisha blowing kisses... he has been going crazy w/ it today! it was a bit odd for him to be blowing kisses spontaneously to the salesman we just met at haverty's (who wasn't even paying him any attention)... but what is even funnier is that this morning as we were flushing some poo poo down the potty (you can only imagine my delight at having poo poo in the potty ;-) we were saying 'bye bye poo poo' and he started emphatically blowing kisses to the drowning poop!!!! how hilarious! i'm very sorry that i have written about poop, but i guess you realize that this blog documents a young family, and that is just life as we know it...

our unborn

beware: slightly political content...
i am feeling such a burden right now the most vulnerable unspoken for subset of our population... the genocide of our unborn is such an atrocity! a friend just shared with me that 90% of babies with downs syndrome are aborted!!! support groups are closing down b/c there just aren't many being born. we are like russia -they sent their mentally retarded off to live elsewhere, yet we are so much worse b/c we are just killing them off! while they are completely unable to fend for themselves. there are 4,000 human aborted (killed) a day! in the US... this is a blood bath
this issue is so huge, i can't even scratch the surface... especially not spur of the moment during nap time, but i am just feeling so burdened... i know when speaking of the upcoming election and political issues people say there are other important issues that lead them to vote against their conscience on the abortion issue... all i can say is: how are we judging importance? because in my book life or death pretty much makes the cut for extremely important!

but i guess it doesn't affect how much money you have left after taxes to spend on stuff... and if you are claiming the lives of soldiers in iraq(who signed on for the risky job they do) are more important- just look up the stats... the lives of soldiers lost throughout the entire war compared to one year of abortion, you will be blown away. it is time we spoke up for these lives

torture...?

this is how our day started... yes, at one time my recipes were organized into categories-- not anymore!

then we went to a cute kids salon... i realized when i approached elisha with scissors in hand the other night that paying a few extra dollars to go to the children's salon( where they have movies, toys, fun seats, and most importantly stylists that are used to hostile clientele) was going to be worth it... here he is having fun in the car and holding the car but slightly perturbed that the lady keeps bothering him...
here he is holding a comb b/c he kept trying to take hers, but is just using it to swat her away...
notice the arms up while giving her a look...
this is when he started to really take after his cousin and father(who have many childhood pictures w/ giant amounts of hair b/c of their desperate fear of hair cuts). he is calling mama and reaching for me-- this dissolved into crying and climbing out... the haircut was completed w/ me holding him screaming and kicking. sweet liza was unruffled...
this is the rough draft... he was still unsure about being out of my arms. he eventually he calmed down as we colored in the corner. i noticed a few strays and decided to go a bit shorter in the back since we weren't going to be attempting another haircut for quite a while... so after he was totally back to himself we took one last go at it... me holding him screaming- lisa calmly snipping here and there. i can understand how scary it must be to have scissors or noisy clippers right around your face and ears... but come on - it doesn't hurt... it doesn't have to be torture. but unfortunately it was... for both of us!

make someone happy

i think this is sure to make at least one someone happy! i found this at old navy for $15 and as soon as we saw it e starting saying "ee ee oo uuee"... plus he loves bananas... today he got one out of the fruit bowl on his own and peeled it from the bottom like monkeys in the wild do... he really is my little monkey. sorry i couldn't pick just one pic, they are so cute... but you have to pretend that he is making his little monkey sounds while you look at them!

our little family...

...is growing! you may have been wondering what our sudden motivation to move into a bigger home was... well, we are expecting an addition to our family! i am pregnant... almost eleven weeks along. so sometime in early May elisha will get an early birthday present (and andrew will too). our children will be almost two years apart and we are so excited. we are certain to have a wild time at first, but it will be such a joy to have another little person in our midst... keep us in your prayers!

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here are some pictures from our neighborhood pumpkin patch...

if you double click in the middle of the box you can see a larger version of the slide show (i recommend doing that)

silly boys

don't really know what i can add to these silly pictures... they speak for themselves ;-)


but i can give a bit of an update: we are still waiting for the bathroom construction to be finished... it will be so nice to no longer have a toilet sitting in our bedroom-- not to mention the smell of drywall dust! as soon as the work is finished we will be listing our house on the market... hopefully in a week! o my! we scrubbed our deck and planted pansies and mulched, edged... we have been busy this weekend getting ready. e tried to help... but i'm afraid he really did more harm than good with the pansies.
we also have plans to close on a new home at the end of october!!! not the ideal order of operations- but i have to say this house will definitely show better when i get the dog and the toddler out of it ;-) andrew and i have felt like junior high kids in love... staying up late talking in the dark about our infatuation with this house we are buying... it is just outside of the perimeter... so not tooo far out, but it sits on close to 2 acres of land!!! and not only that, our land connects to a great park... it really is a dream come true for my husband, who never intended to live in a big city. to be able to get to the woods from our back door is going to be such a blessing! that's what this really is-- just such a blessing. we feel like God has picked out the perfect gift and is lavishing it on us!
that's i can keep my eyes open to tell you tonight...

say what?

i have been asked to document the words elisha says these days... it is true, i can't remember when he started saying so many of them... now they are just part of his repertoire. of course he has his own sweet version of each of these, but if you are paying attention to him and realize his ability-- it is obvious what he is talking about.

-- so here is the list of e's words at almost 16 months... roughly in order of acquisition:

mama

dada

duck

otis

bwee bwee(thats 'paci')

milk (mee mee)

thank you

no

ball

block

papa

nana

nana (banana)

hey

bye bye

shoes

mouth

nose

eye

ear

ice

more

boo boo

poo poo

outside

all done (sounds a bit like "alyon")

in

bath

splash

eat

uh oh

amen

i think that's about it... however, if noises count... moo moo meow chugga chugga..... the list could go on and on... ;-)

boo boo

ever since we had our doc. visit when elisha got shots and blood drawn he has been very attuned to boo boos... the band aid on his leg and arm was so interesting! well he skinned his knee a bit this weekend and still has a little scratch to show for it. he came up to me this morning talking about it-- at first i thought he was saying 'poo poo', but then he pointed to his knee. as we were talking about that boo boo i told him he had one on his chin too and pointed to it(he bumped it pretty hard on a wooden basket). funny fella-- he proceeds to point to the blemish on my face and tell me i have a boo boo. you can always count on children for their honesty and observation powers... i guess i am only at the beginning of suffering for my child's honesty ;-)

patty cake

we had friends to dinner the other night and so i made a special dessert... i finished this just before they arrived so i put it in the fridge w/ out any saran wrap over it.... well- i opened the fridge later and elisha snuck right past me and put his hand right into the cake! luckily our friends both have daughters about e's age, so they weren't grossed out-- they thought it was as cute as i did ;-)

it's a super yummy summery dessert that is very easy --so i'll share w/ y'all. you can make it while it still feels like summer...
-make a yellow (our white) cake box cake in a big rectangular dish. after it is cooked pinch out little holes all across the top
-thaw and squish a bag of frozen strawberries, then spread it on top o the cake so that it seeps into the holes in the cake.
-make vanilla instant pudding and mix it with a container of cool whip. spread on top of cake as icing... put in fridge and wait... it gets better after sitting overnight.
enjoy!

hard @ work

these are some pictures from last weekend at our house... things are really turned upside-down! but e is enjoying the process... he was enthralled by his daddy's hammering and after watching for a minute he ran to get his own hammer and went to town -pounding away...
andrew was working on framing a closet around our washer and dryer in the garage -- one of the many projects we have going to get our house 'market ready'... we have a PODS unit sitting in our driveway that we are filling with most of our belongings not absolutely neccesary for everyday life. we have a darling house that we want to showcase to it fullest potential, so we are trying to get the closets half empty and the toys out of sight... not an easy job!

our goal is to list our home on the market by oct. 1st... we'll see how that goes. we are hoping to stay in the same area, just find a larger home that will last us a good ten years or so...we may have to move out a bit to make that happen though...

in the meantime wish me luck!

ps. oxyclean spray left on grout for a few hours then scrubbed can work wonders on your kitchen floors--- but beware, it takes a multitude of rinses to get all the suds up!

still tall

not that everyone in the world cares about e's pediatrician visit today... but if you do, here are the stats. he is still in the 90-95% for height... but the 10% for weight. the fact that elisha hadn't stopped moving the entire time we were there seemed to ease my dr.'s mind that he is not malnourished, he just burns up all of his energy instead of keeping it around for fat production!

sadly, though, he had to get blood drawn from his arm to test for lead and it was heartbreaking. just heartbreaking. i think the fact that i am terrified of shots and blood draws makes it so much harder for me to see my baby have to go through it. he just looked up at me with a horrified expression... i don't blame him. i would be very upset if my mama didn't make people stop doing horrible things to me. oh! a mother's heartache... so many little things to ache over.

east coast and live oaks

my favorite place... the ga golden isles.
here are some of our beach trip pictures... the ones that didn't go swimming in the ocean with our new digital camera :-(((



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shopping advice

ok -- i need y'alls advice. but you better hurry, b/c i intend to purchase at least one of these items in the morning(monday).
--- first up- what size crock pot do you recommend? i have a big one, but it is too big and so i never fill it more than half and the edges burn. ---also : what brand? since i'm not thrilled w/ mine i don't feel like i have to have a rival brand 'crock pot' ... i'm thinking about hamilton beach. i don't want to spend a fortune.
--- next, e broke my glasses. i bought them a year and a half ago at america's best(i think)... they were the absolute cheapest i could find n the city. this time however i think i'm going the other route. i think i'm willing to pay more to get some that are more resilient... maybe they can be twisted around w/ out breaking... who knows i may even splurge and get anti scratch or the glare free lenses. there is a lensecrafters near and i'm thinking about going there. i know that a lot of my friends are well researched in making the most of sales/ coupons... and shopping at the right places. help me out here! please! unfortunately, i am needing new glasses somewhat soon...
thanks!

mothering at home

while i am not at home( i am at the beach vacationing with my family) i have been blog wandering into essays on homemaking. this quote by G.K. Chesterton is so great i had to copy and paste it for y'all to read! i know it is long... but i really think you will enjoy it.

"[Woman is surrounded] with very young children, who require to be taught not so much anything as everything. Babies need not to be taught a trade, but to be introduced to a world. To put the matter shortly, woman is generally shut up in a house with a human being at the time when he asks all the questions that there are, and some that there aren't...."

"[W]hen people begin to talk about this domestic duty as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance, is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge [at his work]. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean…. I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people's children [arithmetic], and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness."

now that i reminded of the hugely important role i get to play-- i am off to dig in the sand with my baby and watch his eyes widen as he sees sailboats go by!

laguna song

with all the weddings i have been around the past 6 months- i have been thinking about these verses... i love them:

i add my breath to your breath
that we may be one person.
may our days on earth be long
may we finish our road together.

simple. but lovely.
speaking of simple.... a friend (julie) recommended a great blog www.simplemom.net . i have subscribed(just learned how to do that! on this blog no less) and am really enjoying it!

wedding flowers photos

here are some picture from the wedding--- after all the work i put in on it, i am a bit sad that i don't have many pictures... but these will give you an idea.
this first picture is of one of the centerpieces ... this one was in front of the bride and groom seats. thankfully none of the hydrangea at the reception wilted... i'm telling you-- don't use hydrangea in arrangements if you can help it! but it does look beautiful. the place cards used names from Charleston - where the couple is honeymooning...

my friend ashley put this one together while looking at the gigantic kissing ball i had done for the front entrance-- unfortunately, i don't have a picture of that one... maybe i can get some form the photographer... they were both great backgrounds for pictures...
i LOVE seeded eucalyptus- that is the almost blueish greenery
these are the bridesmaid's arrangements(that were the hasty replacements my friends made while i was putting the reception flowers out;-) they were used as centerpieces on the bridal party table.

i like this picture of one of the tables. when i did wedding flowers for a friend last year -4 days before my due date! it was at night and there was enough time to get picture before everything started, but w/ a 10:30 wedding-- and all the last minute disaster --we just couldn't even care about documenting anything.

coming soon

i have spent the past week or so working like a mad woman on flowers for my friend's wedding yesterday. our community group is so happy that becca and burton are now joining us all on the married side of things.
andrew and i are so happy to have reclaimed our home(even the bathrooms were full of flowers... andrew had to get them out of the tub so he could shower on friday!).
there was, of course a bit of drama at the last minute as just about all the flowers at the church (ie. bridal bouquet, bridesmaids, groomsmen boutineres etc) were all wilted and frosty from the fridge at the church--- that was on the warmest setting!!
all that to say, i will be posting a few picture soon to show for all my 2am work days and thorn splintered hands ;-) ... at least what survived for pics!

4th of july... and a few at home insights

these are some pictures of our lovely trip to andrew's parent's mountain house at lake junaluska assembly. elisha had the opportunity to spend a good bit of time with his cousin micah. andrew's sister and her family live much farther away than we would like, so it was a treat for the boys to spend so much time together!
we went to the parade by the lake... it reminded me of the parade that would go by my house when i was little. elisha was a little terrified of the firetruck... i was too. it was quite loud! we were hot in the sun at the parade, but that might have been the only time i really was the whole trip... it was so nice to sleep with the windows open at night and wake up chilly. there was a sleeping porch upstairs and i kept finding that andrew would sneak off with a book to that ideal spot... it will hopefully be just the first of many 4th of july holiday weekends spent up there.

the porch was a fun (enclosed!) place to play...
this is a picture of elisha at our house in front of the tv. i hate to watch tv-- and i hate for elisha to as well... i know i'm being a stick in the mud, and that i'll make up for lost time if/when we have more children and i'm desperate for the couple of minutes of free babysitting that the tv offers... but for now it is a rarity. i would hope that that would mean that elisha isn't that interested in it, but no! he will point to it and rub his chest( signing 'please'). he just love 'thomas' videos... well we only have one. this is a shot of him dancing in front of the tv to the opening music!

i hope that we don't look like to big of rednecks! i left andrew at home one morning and when i came back, elsiha was wearing his camo pjs(that he has outgrown) and using andrew's deer call! it has become his new favorite toys. just a new way to make animal sounds(his favorite past time). andrew relishes a chance to watch hunting videos when i am not at home(see above not as to my dislike of tv... and hunting videos are certainly not an exception!)... now it seems he is training elisha to join him ;-)

pretend

this is a cute little video of elisha playing with his little friends... he was in there happy by himself for quite a while; i got curious and this is what i found him doing. there are so many thing she can do at one that i just didn't think he would be capable of-- having imaginary conversations between his stuffed animals certainly falls into that category!

10 minute pants/shorts

this is sooo easy ... you've got to try!
this pic doesn't do them justice-- they are extremly cute! a light weight denim w/ a little scrap of quilting fabric for a pocket.

i found this post { http://madebypetchy.blogspot.com/2008/06/tutorial-10-minute-trousers.html } on a crafty blog i like to read. i took the 10 minutes (plus a little extra b/c i put a cute pocket on them) to make darling pair of shorts. she has a whole tutorial including how to pictures. check it out and make a pair.

i don't know if y'all have seen the pledge to 'buy handmade'... these were so easy, i'm tempted to take the handmade vow and make elisha's clothes next season... maybe i'll vow to make half, and buy the other 40% at consignment sales... we'll see...

celestial seasonings - 'on napping'

granted, it's not all that late for some of you night owls... but for me it is past bedtime and i am wide awake. so i have brewed a cup of celestial seasoning's 'sleepytime extra' to hopefully send me on my way to dreaming. it has valerian in it, so it's a little 'extra' helpful.
on the side of the box it has a quote from david jacoby. i like it:
"when we were young, the 'tall' ones told us when to slow down. when the demands of the world became too great, their powers of reasoning proved maddeningly accurate. 'i think someone's tired,' they observed. and off for a nap we went. ten minutes later, our dreaming faces had put us back in good favor with our exasperated parents. when we woke, the world somehow made sense again. what kind of truth might a napping child impart to us? now we are the tall ones, living in a complicated world with no one to tell us when to slow down. the slumbering little one knows the value of not having the last word, of accepting a minor defeat. it's so simple. miss out on something. put yourself back in your own good humor. the world will wait."
good night!

picture this

i haven't become totally comfortable w/ our new camera and the whole download process, so i'm behind on my picture posting. here are the highlights... and in a few days i'll cover our most recent trip.
first off-- this is elisha on the morning of his birthday. he was obviously excited about his present! if you are low on storage space for toys, i highly recommend the collapsible tunnels and tents -- big fun that doesn't take up much room when put away... plus they are so fun, everyone wants to play. this is a picture of elisha playing on the tunnel w/ 'big mama' (my mother-- and yes, she chose her own grandmother name! she had a big mama that she loved-- who was actually not quite 5 ft tall!) he thought it was hilarious when she crawled all the way through! we were all amazed!
isn't he a ham! leave it to his aunties to have giant sunglasses for him to try on...this picture isn't great-- i took it myself. it is a wrap stlye carrier that i made for my sister-in-law. i used one like this A LOT when elisha was tiny... i loved it. the moby wrap is the biggest brand that makes ones like this... but they are easy to make for yourself. i embellished this one, but if you make a basic one, it is a no-sew project. you just cut 5 yards of stretchy jersey knit fabric(preferably a mostly cotton) to be about 2 feet wide. so you can usually get 2 or three out of 5 yards of fabric, depending on the width of the bolt.
i appliqued a funky fabric in the 'tree of life' shape onto a lightweight denim square and sewed that onto the center... it is beautiful and gives it a little more structure-- great as her tiny girl gets to be elisha's size!
you can find directions for use on the moby wrap website... if you take a bit of time to practice it will be simple to use... and worth it, because wrap-style carriers are super comfortable! they spread the weight out over your back and shoulders- no pressure points-- and you are totally hands free. you can use them from birth until 35lbs... elisha loves to play the 'give me a BIG hug' game... his daddy thought it would be hilarious for elisha lion to give him an extended big hug... he was actually pretty happy to have a lion tied to him for quite a while!

get comfy...

i have been putting off my big 'lessons learned from the past year' post b/c i have been intimidated. but i am going to jump into it by giving my recommended reading list...... this is VERY abbreviated. there are a lot of books out there and i truly believe you can learn something from everything you read. but these are the ones to start with ;-) ... if you ask me
p.s. --- sorry to those of you who have no babies and aren't interested in this stuff, and those of you who do have babies/children and are happy with your own way of parenting- don't feel like i'm trying to tell you the best way.... i just know a lot of people who are pregnant and interested... you learn a lot when you have on the job training 24/7... i just thought it was only fair to share what i have learned, in case some small part may make the job easier/ more fufilling for even one mama.


this is a great place to start.... andrew got this for me to be funny when we thought i might be pregnant, but it was too soon to know for sure. i thought it would be sitting on the shelf for another year or so, but as it turned out i took it to the beach with me the weekend we saw the two pink lines. pretty cool how God led andrew to buy a random book at the airport b/c of the title and it has become one i recommend first to couples headed toward parenthood.

i think this book is just a great overview. it doesn't give you a system; it is full of good advice to keep things in perspective, to bond with your baby, to keep your marriage healthy, to avoid books that say 'this is the exact way to do it for everyone', to know the tendencies of first-time parents that lead to 'first child syndrome'... all in all - a super easy read... a great basic place to start!

it is probably pretty well known by now that i am 'birthy'... i guess that word is like earthy about birth. i realize that not everyone is... i'm trying to not think that everyone should be ;-) but honestly, if you are pregnant, you are, in some way or another going to give birth. and it is ridiculous to spend more time thinking about and researching what bedding or stroller to get than how you feel about birth! you will gradually forget the other things, but i promise, the way your child(1st child especially) comes into this world--- the way you become a mother will stay with you.

this is not just a book for the crazy nuts (like myself) that think having natural childbirth is hands down the way to go... this book may be a little to touchy feely at first, but it is so important for helping you face your fears and dreams about birth. no matter how you give birth it guides you to see birth as a rite of passage to becoming a mother.

a friend was reminding me of how this book tells about a culture that treated women who had given birth as warriors returning from battle. they would dress women in the warrior robes and sing the songs of a victorious battle as she came back into the town after giving birth. most cultures besides our own congratulate a woman on becoming a mother instead of just congratulating her on her baby.... we have just side stepped this whole birth thing.

the things you learn in birth are important for the difficult job of being a mother!

whether natural childbirth is for you or not, this book has some great pain management tips that are useful for braxton-hicks contractions (those are pre-labor.... or some call them false labor contractions) early labor-- you can't get an epidural the second you go into labor, you will be glad to have some tips on how to relax... and really just how to look at pain a different way. i was glad i read it when i spent a night on the floor w/ a stomach bug. there are times when you spent hours thinking about how much pain you feel and the things i read in this book have really been helpful!

get the book, don't feel obligated to do all the birth art exercises... but allow yourself to get earthy-birthy.... at least for a couple of hours

in general, a system of exact rules for every mama/baby rubs me the wrong way.... but the 5 s's in this book are magical! at least you will think so if you have a fussing newborn and you do these thing just right. i promise! it is magic! i remember after spending what felt like hours trying calm him down, learning this technique and all of a sudden he stopped crying and looking like he was listening in a trance! ahhhh.

i didn't actually read the book, my doula, and then my lactation consultant showed my how to do... i then ordered the video. it's a little repetitive, but so worth the peace you will get from a hysterical newborn. i think the whole idea resonates with me b/c it really isn't anything new... if you watch your grandmother with a newborn you will notice her instinctively doing some of the things he talks about. it's nice to learn the things right off the bats w/ your first baby rather than gradually by the time you have great grand babies!

the whole idea is to recreate, in a sense, the familiar environment of the womb to help calm your newborn because the first three months are a time of adjusting to being outside of it. *you swaddle tightly b/c baby was tight in your womb (you may think your baby is fighting you b/c he hates being swaddled--- wrong! he needs to be swaddled b/c he doesn't have control of his limbs yet and those things are flying around and freaking him out!) *you shush the baby... now this needs to be loud! louder than your baby is crying or he won't hear it. the sound inside your body was as loud as a vacuum cleaner... so get right in their ear and ssshhuuuuuussssssshhhhh continuously. getting a white noise machine might be helpful too. * you hold your baby on their side b/c having his back down triggers a startle reflex... like falling. * you give them something to suck on... paci, your pinky.... newborns have a desperate need to suck (he tells you a trick for helping your newborn take a paci-- you put it in their mouth a certain way, i don't remember b/c e needed no coaxing) *the 5th s is for swing... while holding them you do a little sway/jiggle... it is not a shake(this is where the video really comes in handy) baby was constantly in motion in the womb, so it is calming to them... this little technique gets their head moving in a slight loose way. once he is calm you can put him in a swing on high speed to keep up the calming effect(or wear them in a sling a dance around the kitchen-- a great bonding, stress reliving thing for new mommies... not to mention, a good work out! the swing really was a life saver! i didn't even buy my own b/c i though it might be a useless waste of space.... i would have paid $1000 for it... elisha took all his naps in the swing for the first 3-4 months... and no it really wasn't that hard to break that habit... a couple of days of not wonderful naps and a little extra effort help him fall asleep... same thing for weaning him from his swaddle blanket at 5-6 months(not everyone swaddles for that long-- but it was wonderful for us)

* get a swing that you can put your baby into while swaddled

* get the miracle swaddle blanket... it'll cost you and you may have to order it online, but it was the only thing that could keep my strong baby--- 5/6 month old swaddled ;-) ... at first we used a 'swaddle designs' receiving blanket and loved it, all the other receiving blankets were too small. the 'swaddle me' blanket is great as well-- and also nice b/c you could swaddle securely and have your baby latched into their carseat/ swing but of strategically placed slits.

* we love the 'gumdrop' paci... a lot of people do. i have friends who order handfuls off the internet b/c they can't find them in stores. if you don't use this kind, let me suggest that you use something like a 'soothie'.... the nuk and others have plastic pieces that click and may wake your baby when it falls out of their mouth.

when i first discovered this book online it was out of print and was selling on amazon.com for over $200! people were paying that(and i was thinking about it ;-) b/c it explains those weeks when you have the best baby in the world and those weeks where your baby is constantly fussing and clinging to you and fighting naps and bedtime. some babies are a little more even keeled than mine and their fussy phases may not be as obvious. i called my lactation consultant twice- convinced that i had no more milk and e was starving, or that he must be having a nursing strike b/c he wasn't nursing very much and was so fussy about it when he did(granted some of that was due to reflux).... the researchers of this book have pinpointed certain weeks as developmental 'growth spurt' weeks. they give a calendar showing when they occur--- the weeks preceding these spurts are very difficult as your baby is adjusting to brain changes that make his world totally different. elisha really followed the timetable , and i can't begin to tell you how encouraging it is to know that your baby is being fussy for a very important reason--- and that they won't be that way forever. i really wish i would've had a copy earlier b/c it tells you exactly what happens during each spurt and what activities will interest your baby more and what toys they will like now.

in general, child development books have been far more helpful to me than books that simply offer programs to follow. it gives you a way to manage your expectations appropriately to what your baby is really capable of... in some cases they are capable of more than you realise and you won't notice until you know what to look for!!!

this book is a great tool to help you get to know your child better and be more understanding of them... and to know when to just comfort them and when to push them toward discovery.

this book is very dry to read, and it may scare people off by seeming to be a set pf programs to follow for sleep. but more than anything it is a sleep scientist writing about what sleep looks like in infants and children. if you can read through all of it- skip to the tables where he shows information like - the average bedtime and wake times for different age groups... if you are like me you just don't know what is normal.

i like how his agenda is for babies to get adequate sleep. he doesn't care how you get you infant to sleep, just so long as you do and they don't get into an 'overtired' state. boy oh boy have we learned the perils of trying to calm to sleep an over-tired baby!

for most of this first year we have had to get elisha to sleep after only being awake for 2 hours to avoid this 'overtiredness'.... wiesbuth's studies dispel myths about sleep-- and we have learned the truth of it from our own experience (through e and our own times of sleeplessness). he talks about how sleep begets sleep... a well rested person sleeps better. we found that if we put e down for a nap before he started getting fussy/tired he went down easily and slept better than if we waited 'until he was good and tired'... then he would be fighting sleep and not sleep for as long.

he really helps you have appropriate expectations for your infant as far as sleeping through the night. and helpful information about when babies usually are waking hungry and when they are between sleep cycles. this book is actually utilizing studies of brain development and statistics to give you a picture of healthy sleep.

reading this book has been SO important for us... it has helped us realize HOW important sleep is for elisha's (and our own) health, brain development, disposition, ability to learn etc.

if it is to dry to read before your baby is born just have it on hand b/c i promise you will be dying for this information at some point during at least the first six months, if not weeks.

he is one of the places that tells how the first twelve weeks(especially for a colicky baby) are the hardest... but they are a bell curve with the 6th week being the hardest. that was information i clung to as i kept feeling like he was getting fussier and fussier... i kept counting down to week 6 b/c things would start turning around... and by week 12 i was wishing time would slow down b/c i was enjoying him so much! 'the womanly art of breastfeeding' is like the breastfeeding bible. you may not want to follow their parenting suggestions, but the breastfeeding information is very helpful. it has basic information about everything you will need to know. if you want even more info and people to chat w/ and even experts and lactation consultants on board who will respond to your posts, go to http://www.kellymom.com/ for absolutely anything breastfeeding related.

i have to say that breastfeeding this baby has been so extremely important... it has been such an indescribable joy, it has been extremely difficult at times, very frustrating at times...

i think you learn a lot in the trenches of nursing a baby that will serve you well as you parent: you can't count the ounces-- you have to wait and see how they are growing/ peeing/ acting satisfied... this teaches you to trust the Lord for what you don't know and can't control and teaches you to be more aware of your child's signals than just looking at the concrete evidence of a dr.'s recommended amount and an empty bottle. there have been so many times when one or both of us have not been 'in the mood' for nursing, but elisha and i have had to work as a team through out this and it has taught me about him (and i imagine him about me) .... i am getting tired and can't make a point... but trust me- it has been an exaggerated learning experience for lessons i will use for the rest of the time i parent him.

and i just have to say in closing about breastfeeding- i had one of the hardest experiences i have heard of with breastfeeding. (maybe God is using that experience to give me understanding/ and help me to not judge people for giving up on nursing) i am not braggng about my determination-- i ean to encourage you in case you have a hard time too(although ssoooo many people do not have trouble, so don't be scared!) i tell you about this to say that despite using my strong pain meds from my c-section to manage breast pain for a month, crying b/c of pain while nursing so many times, seeing my newborn spit up blood from my nipples(i'm so sorry if this is tmi--- you are on my blog though, so i guess i can say what i want), and then having another month of inconvenience using nipple shields b/c of some mouth and jaw developments that elisha had to grow into(let me know if you want specifics-- i would love to share if it will help you figure out what you may be dealing with).... and now having my new obgyn ask me if i had surgery b/c of a scar on my nipple from the whole experience... i took it one feeding at a time. and IT WAS SOOOOO WOrth it!!! so no matter how bad you may have it.. call me and i will cry with you, but don't give up--- get a lactation consultant(its cheaper than formula) and call for support, but fight it out... it will be worth it. it gets sssoooo much easier. i remember people talking about how special and bonding it was and not really getting it... it isn't necessarily like that at first, but it is so sweet as they get older and can smile up at you!

sorry i went on and on.... believe me, i abbreviated.

and that is not all i have to say about my most important things learned... there will be more to follow.... like for instance, get a handful of baby carriers b/c you will use them so much if you learn how... they will be worth millions to you....

good night.