Baby showers are soo fun!

Well I was going to wait until tomorrow to make another post, but once I started looking at all the good pics steph got from the baby shower this weekend I just couldnt help myself! So this past weekend Seth was out of town and elem and I had to baby showers to attend. One for my friend Shawn who is having a little girl names Tatum! And another for my friend Erin who is having a little boy names Brady! I havent been to a baby shower since mine I dont think, and let me tell you i had been shopping for each of the girls for like 3 weeks. Have you ever noticed how buying baby items are so addictive! its like once you start you just cant stop. Literally! I would go to get elem something that he really needed, and just HAVE to get something for one of the girls or my sis. So fun but I need to learn to stop!

Anyways, so Steph got some awesome pics from Shawns shower. Ill give you a play by play of how the day went! Over all Elem was great. he was a little worn out because we had gone to Target early that mornign and then to Grammys to visit with the fam for a while. So technically he didnt get a nap until we were there so he wasnt AS pleasing as I would have hoped. But I think he did well. Not too mention that he was bombarded with female love from the minute we walked in the door! He is a ladies man what can I say?

Here we are arriving, baby boy in hand! Big baby boy that is! And we are greeted at the door by lots of lovely girl faces!



Grabbed us a seat just in time for a few close up snapshots and a rice crispy treat! Look at that face. Now you can see why i am in love! Looks just like me right? I think not!



Only a few minutes later, back up again for some old roomie loving on Elem. Kristi making Elem laugh and chew on his entire fist. Which has become a favorite past time these days.



And then right back to our seat. He is so heavy, you just cant hold him too long! Look how big he is sitting on me!



And then time for a little showin' off! Doin his standing up thing that he cant get enough of! I think he might just walk right off my lap one of these days! ...notice the back of the knee roles. I love em!


Then on to downstairs for some presents! Erin who is due mid september on the left, while I show her what she is about to get herself into. She is the one having a little boy!



Then Domi and Dawn decided to steal Eem away and become his new BFFs. I didnt even know they were doing this! He is such a little flirt already!



Somebody must be doing something really funny! Dawn, wait, I didnt even think you liked babies that much! Guess you changed your mind huh?


Elem being good for Erin, lettin her get some good practice. He barely fit on her lap with that little Brady belly she has goin on there. Cant wait to meet her little man!



Elem with Shawny! The guest of honor. Making sure she sees what it is really like with a little one. haha. he was gettin ready to go!



Finally gettin some love from his God Mother-Steph! He looks a little confused for some reason here! Steph what were you doing to him. ?? hahaha. No he loves you, you know he does. he is waiting for you to tell him he has a little "cousin" to play with on the way!




Me and bubbas talkin it over and deciding it is time to go on home! We be tired after all that and need some alone time! True love I guess you could say!



man what a day! It was so much fun and Shawn got so much stuff! But seriously going and running around all day with Elem can really wear you out! He is so much fun, but literally carrying another human around, is quite the task! Not to mention trying to make sure he is in a good mood every where you go, so people sont think you have one of those cranky aweful babies! Anyways, I gots to get some sleep! Thanks for all the awesome pics steph! You are the best. I have lots more of Steph and Elem that I will post. Kind of like an ode to elem and Steph if you will. Love you girl! And thanks again. Peas-

naked babies and new toy

For those of you who have seen my house you know that Elem is not deprived by any means in the toy area, but of course its like I go to target or walmart or something and it is almost impossible not to buy stuff for him! I try not too, but the only way I dont buy anything is if I dont go! So anyways, the other day I got him this exersaucer that I have been wanting to get him for a while. I actually spent the last of our gift cards from the baby showers on it! makes it a lot easier to spend money when its not yours right? haha.

So yes the exersaucer is like the perfect little "station" as I like to call it for a baby who is Elems age and even older. Its this little circular toy that has gadgets all around the top and there is a seat that you put them in so that they are eye level with the toys on it. They can spin themselves around or just sit tight, cause their feet are barely touching the bottom. Its really good for them to learn how to play by themsleves and gives them lots of options. So these days we have like 5 or 6 stations laid out in the living room!

We have the exersaucer, which has become an immediate favorite, the swing, the bumbo, the aquarium bouncer, the papsan, and of course good ole tummy time on the floor!. So at any given time you could place him in some of those stations to keep him busy! Dont you know I like to keep our baby stimulated all the time and keep that mind working!

Here is Elem enjoying his new toy. ANd yes we are red neckin' it no shirt style!

Focusing here very hard on the one that spins and makes the noise. He really is intrigued by that one.


Love the drool coming down the side of the mouth. Like I said, very focused on what he is doing. No time to wie the mouth.


Once more, the noise thing is going. Whats a naked baby to do?


In regards to work, it is going pretty good! Still workin liike a dog but finally makin a little progress as far as cleaning and getting rid of all the junk. I also got the kids names on the table and we have been working on circle time and their names and colors and their potty chart!I can already tell a big difference in the kids only after like 2 weeks of them actually having a schedule. Its amazing how much a little schedule and consistency will do for a toddler!

Next weekend we are going to my parents for labor day weekend, for like sunday and monday! So that should be fun. It will be Elems first road trip! haha. So memphis seems like a decent distance to give it a try. Hopefully he will be able to sleep at least a little bt of the way and we wont have to stop too much. Wish you could hold your baby in the back seat sometimes, like if you promised to be really careful! It would make traveling so much easier! :):)

So Ill let ya know how that goes. And another good thing about the trip is that we get to see my sis. She is about 10 weeks pregnant and I think she gets to hear the heartbeat this week actually, so it will be awesome to get to see her! I havent seen her since she found out so I am excited! Well Elem is asleep but should be getting up in a few so I am gonna try and catch a thirty minute power nap before he gets up. Or maybe just actually go pee without him in my lap or on my boob! hahaha. He has turned into like this, I want to breastfeed when I want it and if you dont give it to me I will not sleep the whole night. Or I will scream until you do what I say mommy! Its crazy. Thats why I am taking advantage of this little night time nap that he is taking. Love you all and Ill try and get some more pics up soon.

Stephy, I am going to post some of the ones from the baby shower soon! They were so cute thanks!

working 7am-5pm

yup, this past week I took on a new shift at work, because I gave the lady tha works the early shift off. So I hsve been getting up every morning at 5am just to make it to the daycare by 7am. To say the least, it has been a tiresome week with some long days of caring for some kiddos and then off to the hizzy to take care of my little one. Oh and did I mention that Seth is out of town this week for work? So me and Elem have been doing everything solo style on top of my crazy schedule. Which is why I have not been able to blog all week. I have been so tired and then the times I have triedto maybe get on the computer, of course Elem started crying or he was in a good modd and I wanted to play with him of course!

So this week was Elems first week at daycare! Kind of. We. well more so I got up at 5 to feed him and then put him back down, so that I would have time to take a shower and then get ready without him actually being awake. And then off we went to school together. it was really fun! For the most part. I think he did really well. But he didnt actually stay all day ever, we would get there at 7, and then he would hang out till 10 or so and then Paul, Seths dad would come and get him. So he kind f just got a taste of what daycare would be like. :) Which I think is perfect, cause I needed like a little dose of what it was going to be like for me too cause it sure is hard to take care of other peoples kids while your baby is in the room with you! haha! All I wanted to do deep down was hold him and just love n him the whole time cause I was so thankful that he was with me. i have missed him toooooo much since I went back to work and I am going to be so happy to have him there with me. Where I can see him and hold him and feed him any time I want!

On another note, I am still breastfeeding! Can you believe it. It has actually pretty much become a part of my routine now. Feeding him in the morning, pumping at work, and then feeding him at night. I still have plenty of milk frozen too! So I should be good to go at least for a while. I really want to make it to 6 months, but my first real goal was 3 months, and I have already passed that! So yay for me! And this morning on the news they were doing some peice on breastfeedng vs. bottle. Which is forever going to be a topic. But anyways, they said if you can breastfeed for at least 6 months your child wuill be smarter. Id like to think that is true. :)

Oh so here are some pics of Elem from last week. We have had this little half way high chair for a while but Elem has never sat in it. Its one of those ones that you put in a regular seat at your table so the baby is the same level as you. And its actually FOR infants cause it can recline but you can also sit them upright too. So there are a few pics from Elems first time at the table for dinner.

At first glance he appears to like the chair! yay!




Got the turtle and we even got a little smile!



Im a big boy.




Daddy? What you eatin over there?



Oh hey mommy, I am still diggin the chair, but not too much longer please.




Now see you have gone and done it, I said not too much longer. I have had enough!



Overall I think he did very well. Of course I am the one who has to get the camera out and take 9 gazillion pictures of his first everything. haha. But hey he is my first baby, why wouldnt I? And pluc I want to document everything. i think he will look back and appreciate it, right?

Play time with sage

Well kinda play time with sage! haha. So I was putting Elem on his pillow to have some more tummy time and before I knew it, you know who popped up! Sage! And she was all up on his grill trying to put the toy in his face, on top of him, on his head, anywhere she could get it basically! Just wanting Elem to play with her. And then while I was all in his face trying to get him to lift up his head and all, she kept bringing her little toy squirrel over and putting it like right in my hand.

Its so sad because she wants attention sooo bad! But she is handeling it well I think. I might add that little dog went from being the queen bee around here, too not getting hardly any attention at all. I try my best to pay her as much attention as I can, but its like when I get home or walk in the door all I want to do is play with Elem. And then there she is always pouting and laying in the middle of the floor so we will notice her. or else she is bringing toys and plopping them right in our face or else right in front of the little guy!

This is how the series of events went:

Hey mom! There you are.. I misses you today. I love being on my tummy! I feel like such a big boy!




What..uhhh..wow...what the heck??? Oh-hey sage nice to see you too!




Could you please get that squirrel out of my face and off my pillow? I am trying to have tummy time with mommy!



oh no.. I dont think is going anywhere anytime soon is she mommy? Please give that dog some attention, and then get back to me when you can.



Sadly, I need to learn to spread my time out more. Although I know some people will say-oh she is just a dog. She will understand. But to me she really is not. That dog was my freaking life for a while. haha. I love her so much!


Ill be so much happier when he is a little bigger and actually understands what she is. By then i think they will be much better friends. Only thing is she is not big on kids. For those of you who know her, she is not big on anybody or anything she doesnt know. She pretty much is a snob and gets what she wants and only converses with people she knows and loves. But when she loves you she really loves you! So I just hope that she and Elem will learn to love each other! Until then, Sage will assume her regular postion on the back of the couch chillin and oh so peaceful!

Tummy time on Tuesday!

Yay i am actually blogging two days in a row I think! Its been a while since that has happened. But for those of you who dont know, today is the release day for Madden 08. Which is the like best NFL playstation game that comes out every year. So yes, Seth of course ran to best buy at like 10am this morning and got it and is currently playing it! haha. And Elem just went to bed like a good little man so i am taking this time to post some super cute pics! I mean I think they are all cute, But anyways.

Tonight was just a regular ole night, but Elem and I did run a few errands. We made it to Walmart to get the groceries, and then I gave him a bath like I do every night or so at 8:30pm. It really helps to calm him down and get ready for bed. Then we got into pajamas, actually tonight it is a nightgown, which you will see. But its a boys nightgown. hehe. And had some tummy time. I have been trying really hard to make sure he at least plays on his tummy a couple times a day and then on his back too, cause he really needs time on their so he can start rolling over and what not!

Its so easy to hold them all the time, but if you dont let them play then you will have a baby who cant do anything on their own! And we so do not want that. So here you can see him all nice and clean and chillin on the floor!





He also did some major playing before he went to bed. I I wanted to post a video for ya, but it is taking soooo long to upload to google video that it is just not worth it tongiht. Ill try another time when I actually have some time to waste.

They were just a couple of one or two minute ones where elem is playing!
In one he is just doin some dancin that he has recently been doing every single time we put him on his back. You know he sleeps on his stomach so he really doesnt spend much time on his back at all. I mean not really.

And then hthe otherwas showing how he has recently started actually purposly trying to grab things that are dangling. Like his toys and my hair and our faces and his fists and everything that he sees. Its really cool to watch him try so hard and then get frustrated cause he wants to grab it so so so freaking bad. But for now, the best he can do is grab with his last three fingers! It seems like those are the only ones opening and closing for him so far.

As far as a family update these days, me and Seth are fabulous! We still ove our house and are just kinda getting used to it staying a mess these days! I am kinda a neat freak, but since Eem has been born and I went back to work, it just seems almost impossible to keep things clean. I think I have gotten over that everything needs to be put up and smelling clean at all times, and am just happy for the time that I actually get to spend at home. And when I am home, cleaning is the very last thing that I want to be doing, cause I always want to spend time with Elem and Seth instead!

Mine and Seth's jobs are both going pretty good. Seth has been working out of town a lot lately cause it seems like this is the busy time for those in the production business. But luckily he got to come home early today and get Elem and tomrrow he is off for the whole day. hes excited to spend some seth/elem time all day! Im excited for him too cause I dont think he has ever spent a day all alone with Elem like that!

Elem's first bumbo!

hello party people. Again I have missed you, but here I am. :) As I type this, you are all missing out on one heck of an Elem fit. He doesnt have them very often but when he does, it is usually at this time of night. He needs to be taking his little 7-8 nap, so seth is rocking him, but for some reason, he never likes to fall asleep at this time. ANyways, it is one sad sight. Ill take pics some time, but for today I have some good ones.

So since the last time, we of course ended up getting sick! And yes that is the second time poor little Elem has been sick! And honestly this time it is my fault. I freaking got a stomach virus from the daycare the weekend before last, and Seth had me quarentined-however you spell that, and he and Elem left for the day and would not have anything to do with me. They only came back to sleep and still I was not allowed in the same bed. haha. So I was very proud when Elem didnt get that. Unfortunatley Seth ended up with it , but that is another long story! Well then this week I picked up some cold from the daycare, and Elem is just so susceptible to that kind of thing, that now he has a runny runny nose. he cant breath at all through it and it sounds so congested, Yuck. Poor little guy. I went to the doc on Friday and picked up some meds but ended up not even really needing to use them. But Elem cant have any, they just say to wait it out for 7-10 days! That is such a long time for such a little person. Hopefull this one will run its course in the matter of a couple of days, and not longer too long!

Other than bringing home all these illnesses to my family everything has been pretty norm. Elem and I did make a trip to Target this weekend cause i wanted to get my sis some more stuff for her little "yay your pregnant" carepackage! And I ended up getting him his first bumbo! For those of you who dont know what they are. here you go!

This is his first time in it:



Yes he looks thrilled I know! And notice the tummy role if you will.



He wasnt too excited about it at first, but then he kinda got used to it. the funny thing is, well the sad thing actually, is that the poor little guys thighs are so big, you have to spread the thing apart to get his legs in it when you sit him down. haha. He is just getting so big it is insane yall! I must say, breast milk is doin him right.

And I know since he is three months, I should have had his three month pics up, but when I wanted to do them, it was the day that he got bit by a mosquito right in the middle of his forhead! The thing is so big, I can not take those right now. It is cleared up a little more today so hop[efully by tomorrow or so it will be gone and I can set him by it. He is so gigantic already, , I think I might need to move on to a bigger animal.

Since we dont have those three month mommy and baby and daddy pics yet, here are a couple of the fam that we got the day he got the bumbo. :) They are sweet.

Elem and Daddy chillin on the couch.


Up close on daddy! Doesnt like the flash too much, as you can see by the disgusted face.



And me and bubbas smilin for the camera!


Me getting some luvin. His open mouth kisses MIGHT be my most favorite thing in the world.



Elem standin up, He is getting so good. We cant hardly keep him from doing it!



And here are those famous chubby baby legs! Guess there is some muscle in there somewhere, cause he sure can stand, But more than anything they are just the sweetest roles you have ever seend! ha!



And then last but most certainly not least, look at those freakin eyes. And this is the natural shot I swear. So precious!

3 months old today

I cant believe it but Elem is 3 months old today!! Wow. Where have these three months gone and how is my baby so old already?? I will take some pics this weekend. I took some this morning of him waking up and playing in the bed with me and seth so I ll try and do more of a photo blog on satureday or sunday. But I just wanted to say how lucky we are. To have such a healthy and happy 3 month old baby boy. Like I said, I am shocked at how it is all going so fast. But I am loving every minute of it. Even if the breast feeding is overtaking my life. I guess I could look at it as 3 months of having our little boy, or three months of being a milk factory...hmm./ They seem to run together. Anyways, Ill post the pics soon, but since we had to get rid of the work laptop, its hard to get pics on this computer, cause there isnt a lot of memory, bl;ah blah blah. Anyways, Elem is the best thing to ever happen to me and Seth and we love him so much. Right now he and seth are cuddling on the couch and Elem is drifting in and out. I love my family! :)

Thankful...

Needless to say my new job has been very time consuming. But I have to say it has made me think. A-lot. And I just cant help but think of how thankful I am each and every day. For things that I just seem to take for granted. For example, I have been dealing with these kids, who come from crazy backgrounds. You know to see some of these parents with their kids, it is so so sad. And then to find out the age of a parent is even crazier! I thought I wasnt ready to have Elem when I found out I was pregnant and I am 27 . But I have a lady who has 5 kids in the daycare right now and another one on the way. And guess what... she is 23. That is right 23!!! And her kids are 7. 6. 4. 3, and 1. And her next is due in November. And she has no job, and no money. Not even a dollar to her name. So what is she going to do??? I mean I almost wish for her kids sake that someone would call DHS because they can not be taken care of the way they should. And today the 7 year old told me that when she grows up she is going to take the baby sister to live with her. Not her momma. And that the momma can visit her sister. How about that from a little kid. Already planning her little ole life and she is not even in the third grade. How amazing. I just pray each and ever day for all these kids and hope that i can be a huge impact in each and every one of their lives. I hope more than anything that I can teach them everything possible in the short time they are at the shelter, at least enough to get them ahead and hopefully get through school, but more than anything I hope that I can make them feel loved. You know, giving kisses out at a daycare isnt always the most germ free approach and really not too safe , but looking at these kids I am with, it was all I could do today to not give them a hug and kiss every time I looked at their little faces. They need so much love and just someone contstant to tell them they love them. I am so happy to be that person. Its amazing how fast they move through the shelter too. Since I have been there, which is almost a month, I have already seen like 10 kids come and go through the daycare. And that is only 1-6. I am not even including the school kids.

All I can say is that I am so thankful for my family. I love seth and Elem more than anything and I would do anything for both of them. Each day I am going to make sure that Eem knows who is family is andhow much we love him. I cant wait to start bringing him to the daycare so I can just go to his room and give him all the hugs and kisses that I want any time of day. I am so lucky to have that option. And I am so thankful for my extended family and friends. If any of you out there would like to come by and check out the daycare any time please let me know. We can always use donations and volunteers. Even if you only have a few minutes to spare. Like I said, I am so thankful for all of you and I hope each one of you know how much you mean to me. I cant wait for Elem to meet all of the people who mean the most to me and grow up in such a loving environment. We are so lucky to live with so much and have such a great place to call home. be sure to give those you love a hug tonight, its a lot more than a lot of those kids will get tonight I am sure. Take advantage of what you have! :) Okay enough of the soap box for now! Peas-

Oh and you know what, hen I was leaving-that same little girl, showed me her coloring book, and she wrote out that the top of the page, I love my new teacher, Miss Mindy. And she has only been in my class for a week. But you know that sad thing is, she probably wont be around till the end of the week. So say a special prayer for Kedra tonight, and hopefully, she will know just how much she means to someone!

another week!

Gosh, I know I said this before, but now that I am back at work I just cant seem to find the time to blog. Its like I get home and all I want to do is play with Elem and hang out with Seth so I dont even think about blogging! So lets see...what has been going on this past week?

Well for one, my job is getting better and better. I am so so happy that the school age summer program is over and here in the next couple of weeks, Ill be able to get into the daycare and start working with the little ones. And getting things together like the curriculum! And working on the room and cleaning and what not. Its gonna be great. On the downside, I had to fire another worker. Not fun, but it just wouldnt have worked out. Also the sooner I can get the ole nursery fixed up the sooner I can get Elem in there. Although Seth and I have been considering looking for a good daycare for him to go to for like a month or so. We'll have to see what pans out, but Ill keep ya posted.

Second..my sis and brother in law are pregnant! yay Becky and Vincent. She told us last weekend and today I talked to her and she is about 6 and 1/2 weeks along. So awesome. I am so freaking excited for her and I KNOW she is so excited too. Whenever she came to visit and see Elem she of course was in love and I could tell she was getting baby fever!! :) So I guess it all worked out the way it was supposed to. So send those happy thoughts her way and keep her in your prayers! I am going to have anoter little niece or nephew! And needless to say he is going to be so adorable!

Oh yeah ...and I am still breastfeeding! Thats right peeps, almost 3 months and still going strong! Can you believe it? I had no idea how hard it was. I know I say that all the time but seriously it is. It is so hard to find time during the day to pump, but I try my best. I am still hoping that I can make it another month or 2 just to keep him nice and heathly!

What else? Well as you can tell Elem is about to be 3 months old!! Can you believe it??? I most certainly can not. It seems like I just had him! And now he is already half way to 6 months!! So since I missed out on the two month milestones, I thought I would go ahead and document where he is these days, for those of you who havent hung out with him in a while!

3 month Milestones:
-Can stay focused on your face for as long as you have it in front of him
-is drawn to the TV and lights
-Loves the computer screen
-Still loves the fans on the ceiling
-interested in hanging objects and wants to grab them
-tries to grab, and can open and close the last two fingers on his hands when trying to grip
-developing somewhat of a schedule-goes to sleep every night at 9:30, up at 1:30, asleep till 4 or 5 and then back up at 8:30. So not too bad. Pretty good I would say!
-loves music
-favorite toy is the baby einstein turtle that plays music.
-loves his baths, and is no longer crying at lotion time. :)
-still likes to sleep in bed with mom and dad after about 3am.
-smiles when he sees our faces
-recognizes familiar faces-like mine, seths, my moms, grammy, pap. ali, dustin, etc.
-laughs when he is happy or likes something
-coos and caaas all the time.
-can turn head from side to side with no struggle when stomach
-still hasnt rolled over again-not sure whats up with that
-can lift head and chest up when on stomach

Hmm...there are a few things. i am sure there are more, but thats all I got for now! Ill try and take some more pics tonight and get them uploaded. Cause I know I have been slacking!