Weekending

Here's what we did this weekend:

Friday:
The weekend started off with a bang...literally.  Elijah was strapped in his highchair that hangs off the table.  It's a rather shaking table but we've never had problems.  I guess Mr. Eli now officially just weighs a fraction of an ounce too much, because when I was getting his dinner from the fridge, the entire table fell over in his direction and landed on top of him!!!  He only let out one scream, but I felt so horrible that I cried!  He wound up with only a black and blue knee, thank God!

When everyone calmed down, we left Elijah at our next door neighbor's who offered to babysit for us for free.  Jeyson and I went out with some friends for dinner for a friend's birthday.  It was an all you can eat Italian place and they bring dishes your table and you can accept as many slices of pizza, scoops of pasta, french fries and fried chicken as you want.  It even included ice cream pizza!  It was yummy but we got STUFFED!  We picked up Elijah when we were done and found out he had stayed up until almost 10pm with the neighbors!!!  I guess he wanted a fun Friday night too :)

Saturday:
We both had things we wanted to do for fun, so we took turns with Elijah at home while the other did it.  In the morning I used a groupon type deal that I had gotten as a gift to get a facial.  It was 1 1/2 hours of treatments and so realizing!  However, my face now actually looks a bit worse then before, as getting out all of the blemishes made me swollen and some of the stuff come to the surface!  But I think it will be better in the long run. 

Then, Jeyson got his turn out.  He went bike riding on trials for a few hours with 7 friends.  They had a great time, as always. 

In the evening, we had a couple over the house.  They are from southern Brazil like Jeyson's family and had a bunch of southern treats that you can't get around here.  So we watched a movie and drank southern tea (mate) and ate pine nuts (a much bigger kind they have in Brazil). 

Also, I know this sounds crazy, but I was alone in the house for the very first time since Elijah's been born.  When Jeyson went out to get a movie before our friends came, he wanted to take Elijah along.  This way I could chill a bit and get ready for our guests.  It sounds so weird, but by chance it's just never happened before.  Usually during the week Jeyson doesn't go out at night unless we're going somewhere together.  Then, on the weekend we usually run errands together or take turns so one is home with Elijah napping while the other shops.  It's just easier on everyone to leave Eli instead of taking him unnecessarily.  So, other than in the past when Jeyson's taken Elijah for some walks in the neighborhood, this was my first time all alone with at home with Elijah and Jeyson out.  Jeyson loved it and so did I!  I'm sure this will be happening more and more as Elijah gets old enough to actually ENJOY going out and doing fun things like playing in the park.  So fun!

Sunday:
Church and Sunday School in the morning and then we met two couples for a picnic in the park.  It's a nice, shady park and it was super relaxing and fun.  In the afternoon we took turns taking naps while the other played with Elijah.  Then we all headed out to the mall to go to the store that we have our phone and internet through.  We needed to change our plan and wound up getting a great deal thanks to knowing a guy that works there.

This weekend Elijah has also tried some new foods.  Yes, I know you're supposed to wait three days between new foods, etc. but I threw caution to the wind and went for it.  :)  Elijah started food kind of late and I'm feeling so limited in what he has been introduced to so far.  So now he has a lot more foods on his menu after this weekend.  He now has tried and liked:  kale (cooked with a bit of garlic), broccoli, plain yogurt (I was surprised how much he liked it considering it's kind of sour), olive oil (on the green veggies), egg yolk, and cheese. 

Now Sunday night depression is setting in....goodbye fun weekend hello Monday morning :)

Down the Hatch

As of a week or so ago, Elijah has a little eating routine down.  Here's what we do. 

In the morning he gets fruit.  The ones we've done so far are banana, avocado, pear, apple, and papaya. 

In the afternoon he gets veggies.  So far he's had green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, and pumpkin.  Sweet potato seems to be his favorite.

While we're eating dinner I put a piece of banana in one of those net things with a handle so Elijah can eat along with us without anyone having to feed him.  He does pretty well now, but at first he kept wanting to suck on the handle instead of the fruit end! 

We've decided to hold off on cereals/grains for now and focus more on produce after some reading we've done.  Though, I think some crackers will be great for our upcoming travels by plane so we'll do that then.  I just brought Elijah to the doctor.  She's really great - a very natural type doctor, yet very down to earth too.  She suggested I add some leafy type greens (spinach, kale, broccoli, etc) to the mix every day as well as some meat or fish.  I'm a little hesitant with the meat because who wants to puree that???  She also says to feel free to add herbs/flavor his to food as well as a little olive oil and sea salt.  After reading a great book called "Real Food for Mother and Baby" I have to say I agree...I've just been lazy!  But I'll work on it. 

Here's what I've been doing to make the whole thing easier.  Whenever I have a veggie or fruit on hand for me and Jeyson to eat, I buy a little extra for Elijah.  I cook it up and throw it in the food processor with a little water.  Then, I divide it up into these little disposable espresso cups that are all over the place here in Brazil.  They're the perfect size!

 Rather than pouring into ice cube trays which you then have to wash, I just flash freeze the cups and store in these ziplock bags.  One is for fruits and the other veggies.  Then I just defrost a cup and serve right out of the cup and throw it out!  It doesn't get any easier than that!  Elijah is now eating 1 cup of fruit in the morning and 2 for lunch.  I might just make a half sized meat cups to see if he'll take one with lunch too, but I'm not going to stress if he doesn't like it.  He doesn't really need meat yet.


As far as drinks go, I'm trying to get Elijah to like juice, but so far he's not impressed.  I think it'd be great for him to like it so I could leave a bottle of juice at the nursery, etc instead of having to pump or leave food.  I've only tried carrot juice (just blended/strained carrot with water), but maybe he'll like fruit juice better.  He's still nursing great, though the addition of teeth has not been fun for me!  He now has 6 teeth and isn't sure what to do with them.  :)

I was dragging my feet about feeding Elijah since life was so simple before.  But I have to say, it's been pretty fun now that he's swallowing well and it's really not a big deal with freezing.  I'm excited to get to finger food and the new fun that will bring!

Elijah is 6 months

Today Elijah is 6 months old!  I thought it would be fun to review the past 6 months of pictures to see just how much our little love bug has grown.

1 Month



2 Months

3 Months

4 Months



5 Months



6 Months

It's hard to really notice day to day how much Elijah has grown, but when I look back, it's unmistakable! 

Personality:  Sweet and fun as ever.  He seems to charm everyone he meets and has LOTS of offers of people wanting to babysit him and make arrangements for future marriage with their daughters :)

Loves: Laughing, watching and petting Sam (though the feeling is not mutual!), getting tickled, chewing on his brush while on the changing table, playing with his stuffed animals in bed, seeing his dad (his face always lights right up), stroller rides, his sing-a-ma-jig from G-ma and Popi

News: Rolling both ways, really playing for the first time (rolls all around to get/play with toys), eating fruit and veggies (more on that in another post), 4 teeth total now, sitting up for a few seconds alone or a long time supported with a pillow

Routine: Nurses at 8, 12, 4, and 7/8ish, Eats breakfast around 9 and dinner around 4 (purees)  Naps 10-12 and 2-4 and one tiny catnap around 6 (that we cut short to only 20 minutes or so since he started having a very hard time falling asleep at his bedtime, but can't yet make it till 8 without.)  Sleeps about 8pm-8am and has only woken up once at night in the past 3 months!!!  THANK YOU MR. ELIJAH!!!!  He seems to really thrive on his routine and it helps him to be so happy and a great learner when he's awake.  He does about 50% of the time wake up about 45 minutes into his naps and about half of that goes back to sleep for the rest of the time.  When he doesn't....hmmm....that's a different story!

Struggles: Beginning of discipline/training - we are teaching him to obey when we say "no".  This includes grabbing Jeyson's glasses, touching mugs/cups, and twisting/rolling while on the changing table.  They are all safety issues for him (and the glasses!) so we feel it is important to already begin the training.  It is a lot of work to be consistent, and we have seen that we are slowly getting results.   Teething.  Need I say more?  At 6 months he has 4 teeth solidly in which is great, but has been a struggle as they make their way in.  . 

Overall, Elijah has just gotten to be more and more fun with each new phase and passing month.  I can't wait to see what's around the corner next.  I still can't believe we get to keep this sweetie and I get to be his mom!  What a privilege!

My First Mother's Day

How fun is the idea of mother's day!  I had no idea how much the day means until I became a mom.  A year ago we shared the news publicly that we were expecting our little guy, and yesterday I got to hold him in my arms and take pictures.  I squeezed Elijah into this mom's little man shirt for the occasion, even though it is a 3 month shirt and he's going on 6...was that selfish or what?? :)  Anyway, he looked super cute and at church I got a little card with a picture of him from "him" (his Sunday school teacher) and some lotion and soap.  It was so thoughtful!

We're not huge gift people between me and Jeyson (especially since we're leaving in 5 weeks), but Jeyson took us out to lunch and he washed a towering sink full of dishes for me, which was awesome!

Me:   "I love you so much I'm going to eat you"
I love the little look Elijah is throwing over to Jeyson "Please save me!" 

Fine I'll just smother you with kisses instead

Oops I totally forgot I was wearing lipstick and the rest of the pictures were ruined since Eli was covered in it and we didn't notice until it was too late.

Oh well!!  Elijah, it is clear that you are SO SO loved!

Elijah's top two teeth are coming in and he keeps putting his tongue out and up and sucking on his lip/gums.  I have tried many times to get a video but he always stops when I try.  Here it looks like he's trying to wipe off the lipstick :)

While during the pictures everything was going perfectly smooth yesterday, I'm SO glad we took the pictures then (right before we left to go out for lunch) because by the time we came home we were a mess.  We were going to go out to an Italian restaurant for lunch, but when we got there it was closed.  It took the next 40 minutes to find somewhere nice but not too expensive (and open!) for lunch.  We settled in and ordered a nice family style rice/meat/palm heart/cheese one pot meal.  The food was great but it wound up taking an hour to cook and by the time it arrived we were STARVING and Elijah was totally done and ready for a nap (crying).  We wound up having to shovel the food down and take turns walking around the restaurant with him so the other could take a turn eating.  Oh well! 

The evening was super fun though after everyone got a nap.  We just all hung out in our family room relaxing and watching a show.  Elijah played on the floor and I also skyped with my mom.  I definitely have a much greater appreciation for her now and all of the hard work and dedication she went through to raise us 5 kids!  She really is the best mom I could ever imagine and now that I'm a mom I admire her even more.  I hope I can do nearly as awesome of a job as she did...does!

Homemade Pasta...YUM!

Homemade Pasta.  I. Love. It! 

I love eating it, and recently I've been loving making it!  And guess what?  It's easy!!!  I'm not exaggerating at all...it's really super easy!  I've made it three times now and I'm officially addicted.  It is SO much tastier than box pasta and super impressive for guests.  The other night we had two couples over and I made it and it was a huge hit and last night I made a quick batch to go with meatballs. 

Now if you're one of my sisters, you probably remember making pasta being a huge deal where we had a special machine and had to dry it, etc.  However, after watching this Jamie Oliver clip,  (about 1/2 way through the clip he makes the pasta) I saw just how easy it is!  No drying involved and you can just whip up the dough into a ball in the food processor in seriously 15 seconds.  I don't use a machine like he does, but I can roll it out in about 2 minutes with a rolling pin and slice with up rough with a pizza cutter.
I seriously cannot recommend the fun and tastiness enough! 

Try this recipe from food.com.  Do it.  Seriously.

• 2 cups general purpose white flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 tablespoons water

1. Add all ingredients to a food processor.
2. Process until mixture starts to form a ball.
3. You may want to start with a little less water depending on the size of your eggs and moistness of your f lour.
4. Wrap ball in plastic wrap and let rest for about an hour.
5. Then make your pasta using your pasta machine or rolling out. Enjoy -- .

-If rolling is too hard because it's too elastic, roll out what you can, and then let it rest for a few minutes on the counter, and then roll the rest.
-To cook, put in boiling water until it floats and is done...very fast!!!