Names and Meds

I have to make a conscious effort to call Eliza by her real name. I use such an array of nicknames and terms of endearment all the time that if I'm not careful, the poor girl isn't going to know what her name is. Instead, she'll be confused between Love, Sugar, Sugar-Love, Sister, Girlie, Sweet Sister, Honey, Jane Dear, Miss Jane, Miss Liza (that at least is a step in the right direction...), etc.

Oh dear. They sound so much less gagable when I say them out loud to Eliza instead of type them out in succession. Keep in mind that these are mother-to-daughter terms, rather than lover-to-lover. By rights that should make them less nauseating.

Anyway, Miss ELIZA has picked up another cold, the poor thing. She makes valiant efforts to be a happy girl in spite of her raspy voice and her undoubted discomfort. I've got a question for you readers: 

Infant/Children's Tylenol (which, by the way, are the same recipe--they just put the Infant Tylenol in a smaller bottle and charge you more for it) --- In small little babies, should it only be used in cases of fever? Or would you use it to relieve "minor aches and pains associated with the common cold"? You know, just to kind of take the edge off the discomfort and help them feel/sleep a little better? I know that many adults do that, but should it be different for these 2-month-old little bodies? Or if you stick to the dosage instructions should it not be any different? I've already asked the nurses at the doctor's office, but I wanted to get some opinions from some of my fellow moms or children of moms (that's everybody) and see what you guys think.

All right guys, load up the comment board. :) And have a great day!

Eliza - 2 months

Can this little girl really be two months old?? I can hardly believe it! We went and watched the Sunday session of Conference with the Briggs Bunch and we were lucky Aunt Christy brought her fancy-pants camera. Thank you, Christy, for the impromptu photoshoot! Here is a little of what Eliza is up to:

• She's down to one middle-of-the-night feeding. That's a lot easier on me, but I'm looking forward to her sleeping through the night. Keep your fingers crossed!
• She has rolled/flopped over once and we're anxiously watching for a repeat stunt.
• Her neck is so much stronger and she holds up her head with much more control these days. It's nice for her to feel more solid now and not quite so fragile and flimsy.
• She is in the process of discovering her hand. Just this weekend I've seen it in or near her mouth more than ever before. I can't help but hope she also finds her thumb like her Mama did.
• She still sneezes like crazy, just like Dad. Every now and again we get a "four-sneeze special," just like Blake's.
• She wolfs her food down. Whenever we pump we have to have at least 5 ounces to tie her over until she can get back to Mom's unlimited buffet. 
• She is growing like a weed! (A cute, dainty-looking weed that fills a meadow in the mountains in an ever-so-lovely fashion. For example...) She has grown out of several sleepers and is on the brink of busting the seams out of several others. This also means she's growing into new little outfits. Hooray! I don't think Blake ever thought he could love playing dress up so much, but he loves getting her dolled up as much as I do. (Maybe more!)
• Smiles, smiles, smiles! Happy baby, happy mommy.
• She's excellent at focusing on faces and will follow objects back and forth.
• She is a colossal burper. Period.
• She loves her baths. She's always been a kicker and that is made manifest even moreso in the kitchen sink. I have to be careful that she doesn't bonk her head too hard on the wall of the sink when she's power-kicking her legs around.
• She's starting to "save up" her bowel movements. (That statement doesn't qualify this post as being about poop. It's about her 2 month update... So there.) This is kind of unfortunate because it increases the likelihood of massive blowouts and she also gets quite uncomfortable when she's been saving up for too long.
• As mentioned, Eliza loves to kick her legs. I love it too. It's hard to imagine there was a time when those kicks just about killed me. (Or at least my ribs.)
• Daddy finally said our very favorite swaddle blankets had to go--Eliza had just plain outgrown them and they couldn't reliably get the job done. So after a long moment of silence and a few tears, we said goodbye to our soft, pink swaddle blankets, and Eliza is now moving up in the world of swaddles. Say hello to the SleepSack (I call it the Swaddle Bucket): the velcro-powered, safe and snuggy straight jacket that will have your baby begging to be bound and bookied to a wonderland slumberland. (Okay, that sentence got ridiculous, but the more pishposh I wrote the bigger I smiled, so it's staying.) Eliza really likes it, but we've also been trying out no swaddling or minimal swaddling. I can't believe it, but she is actually able to fall asleep without her arms being tied down. I never thought I'd live to see the day.
• Eliza loves reading with Mommy. (I think?) We have book hour together each morning by the fireplace.
• Her favorite song is Joseph Smith's First Prayer. It can best the nastiest case of the hiccups every time.
• Eliza has always been very vocal, but I've found out recently that that is not the case with all babies. She grunts, coos, and will throw out little yells and shouts when she's not bothered by anything that make it appear as though she's just testing out her voice. My favorite are her little squawks.
• All babies will kind of laugh in their sleep from time to time, but we've heard a string of full-belly laughter from Eliza. It was a one-time deal, but we're excited to see more of those soon.
• Eliza has a shocked expression when she has very loud blasts into her pants, as if to say, "Oh my gosh! Was that me??" Proof that I'm not making that up:  (you can verify with Grandma who is holding her and changed the messy diaper)

• Her feedings have gotten much less ridiculous now that I found out they're only supposed to take 10-20 minutes. Apparently you don't have to feed them until they won't eat. Once they stop on their own, they should be good for another three hours.
• Her peach fuzz and eyelashes are growing. (Eyelashes faster than her fuzz.)
• Even when she's hungry or tired or not feeling well, she puts her best foot forward when she has visitors. She'll smile and put on a show for them even if she's starving. But the second they're out the door, she lets me know that it is time to eat!
• Eliza loves her little vibrating bouncer chair.
• Would totally be a binky addict if I let her.
• She was quite the tough muffin for her 2-month shots. I was surprised how little she cried and how easily we were able to calm her. And she got some cut polka-dotted bandaids out of the mix so everybody wins.
• On the not bright side, Eliza was one of the babies that got a fever in response to the vaccinations. We became acquainted with cries and screams that we'd never heard before. She became acquainted with Children's Grape Tylenol. We're still working on being able to swallow drops from a dropper. Eliza seems to just play with the medicine in her mouth with an odd expression on her face until it kind of seeps out her mouth and dribbles all over her chin.
• We've decided she looks like Daddy, at least for now. Maybe as she gets older she'll start to look more like me.
• If she hears music while she's eating, she'll stop what she's doing just to listen.
• She will usually abide booger-suctioning patiently.
• I love her yawns and the little lip smacks that follow.
• Gorgeous blue eyes. Those are going to drive boys wild someday.
• She LOVES to arch her back and has from day one. It used to really kind of freak me out because of how arched her spine would be, but not so much anymore. Maybe she'll be a gymnast?
• Her toes are so little that she constantly has little bits of lint and fuzz jammed between them. She also gets thumb jam on her hands.
• She's got an impressive death grip. She loves to put her fingers into a fist and spread them out over and over.
• She discovered my hair. {Dang it?}

Wow... that list got much longer than I anticipated! But being a mother and wife is my life right now, and it's good for me to see that I'm up to my neck in "life" and enjoying all of the little moments and quirks that make life so grand.

And now some photos for you picture-deprived readers. Prepare to fall in love.

"Daddy, who's that pretty lady over there with the camera?"

We're becoming quite the good friends, she and I.

This can sometimes be crazy and tough and exhausting and overwhelming, but my goodness--it's a wonderful life.

Just Because

I'm almost done with Eliza's 2-month update. I just need to upload some pictures so you can see her in all of her two-month-old glory. And believe me, it's quite glorious.

In the meantime, here are a few random things I love:

The smell of Crayons

 Checking out library books

Falling asleep in the bathtub

Brand new black or white camisoles

The BYU Testing Center

Invictus, by William Ernest Henley

The Swan, by Camille Saint-Saens

Perusing through the card aisle at grocery stores

Chicago, Billy Joel, Taylor Swift, Phil Collins...

Analogies

That's all. Expect the 2-month post soon. Have a great night.

Sleep -- For her and for me

Guys. She slept well last night. She zonked after her late-night feeding until her middle of the night feeding (back to only one instead of the two she'd been doing for the past three days), and afterward until morning when I had to go in and wake her up for breakfast.

TENDER MERCY.

This morning I prayed that I'd be able to get a lot of good accomplished with all the energy I have from a fairly full night's sleep. I'm hoping to get a lot of the house cleaned so I can have less of that to do during conference tomorrow and I can pay better attention.

Off we go!

Suffer the Children

I'm in a very difficult moment of motherhood. Generally speaking, yes, this time of life is quite the challenge--but also specifically: right here, right now. I've been sending up sincere and pleading one-liners to an ever-listening God as I've been trying to know what's best for Eliza. "Heavenly Father, please comfort me. Heavenly Father, please guide my mind to know what to do. Heavenly Father, please help me feel some peace." I know He's listening. I know I'm not alone. I also know that what is happening right now is fairly normal. But I can't help but wish there were an easier way.

Heavenly Father, are you really there? Do you hear and answer every child's prayer?

Heavenly Father, I remember now--something that Jesus told disciples long ago: 

"Suffer the children to come to me and forbid them not.

For of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Impressed and Entertained

Very well done, my friends. Way to put Pocatello on the map.

Conference is Coming!

Can it please be Saturday already? I am craving General Conference. I posted this last October, but it is worth revisiting:

"If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you."  -Elder Jeffery R. Holland

I am banking on that promise. I'm in need of a personal prophetic epistle that poignantly touches on my own unique circumstance. We all have things in our heart that go unvoiced and unseen. It is a comfort to me that those thoughts and feelings are known and understood by God. And this weekend, I'll be listening for His voice giving me guidance, encouragement, and instruction. Truly, "He answers privately" and "reaches my reaching."

Just two and a half days left to the best semi-annual holiday of the year. Let's prepare ourselves to be fed!

Mom Goals

Sometimes I get this (irrational?) fear that I'm a bad or boring mom, or that I will be. Maybe it's because I'm so tired in this stage of life and I can't imagine ever having the get-up-and-go to be a fun mom. But, to make myself feel better, I've been drafting out a list of the Fun-Engaged-Mom things I want to do sometime in the next twenty or thirty years. Here are just a few:

• Sit down on the ground and draw with sidewalk chalk.
• Have a picnic somewhere near a temple.
• Walk to the library and let her pick out library books.
• Walk to the store and pick out a treat together or try a new fruit we've never had before.
• Go fly kites.
• Take her to Antelope Island, play in the sand and water, and hike to the top of Buffalo Point.
• Go swing at a park.
• Blow bubbles.
• Make cookies and let her pour in some of the ingredients on a stool next to the counter.
• Scrimmage with Blake and the kids--whether that be basketball, soccer, volleyball, or kickball.

I hereby commit to do these things sometime in my time as a mother.

Even though she's little and some/most of these things will have to wait for a few months or years, I feel better already. And in the meantime, I think I'll go have some tummy time with Eliza.