My teenager…wait, what??

Does sifting through hundred upon hundreds of candid photos of your little one EVER get old?? I think not :) I was just going through some photos this morning for the 123,426,245th time and I stumbled upon this gem:

“Mom, really? Another family photo? Come-onnnnn.”

Anybody else get vivid images of him as a teenager with this face when mom asks for him to “smile for the camera!”..?? Ha ha ha. I laughed out loud when I saw this! Ohhhh brother…

How about this one:

“Uh, mom?—Most bea-U-tiful mom in the whole universe?? Can I have the keys to the car and $100?? (Throw in a little eyebrow raise like daddy’s teachin’ him, for good measure)

Aaaaah! Say it isn’t so! Is it wrong for me to wanna pray for his future wife but to throw in there “please don’t take him out of the same town far away from his momma??! Am I going to be one of THOSE moms??!?! 

*Sigh*

oh, and he smells divine today. I’m just sayin’. Wish I could bottle it up and put a little scratch and sniff button in the corner for you all to top off your daily Eli fix.

Ok, that’s all my ramblings for now.

-Linds

Sunday funday with Eli and his friends

Today the fam went over to Auntie Stephie’s and Uncle Pibe’s (not “PIEb” as their hispanic wedding DJ announced over the loud speaker at their reception, but “Pee-bay” or Pee-vay” depending on how spanish you want to sound, ha ha…but I digress) for some Sunday football. There were 4 and 3/4 babies there! I say “3/4” because one is 13wks cookin’ in his momma’s belly and the other is just about done with only 2 weeks to go! ;) The funny thing is that all the ladies that were there were nurses! None of us work together so it wasn’t like a work party or anything, they just happen to be married to all of uncle Pibe’s buddies, who just so happen to find nurses irresistible. Can’t say that I blame them :p If anybody would have choked or went into cardiac arrest, aside from being in an ER, you would have been in the next best place with 8 nurses (one of the guys was a nurse), 1 paramedic, 1 anesthesiologist and 2 state police trained as first responders! Ha ha. Too funny.

Look at all those little ones!

Eli actually sat in Auntie Stephie’s lap like a lamb and watched football for a while. Like, literally sat there and stared at the t.v without squirming or fussing. Crazy. It was fun to watch the babies check each other out, even if it did involving poking each other in the face. At one point, the oldest child who is just 2 month’s shy of 2 years old (who has a baby brother that’s 3 months old) heard one of the babies crying, ran to the coffee table and grabbed the baby’s bottle and brought it to the baby! It was seriously the cutest thing to watch. What a little momma! She was like “I know what a crying baby needs! A babas!” Love it.
Eli chilled with his daddy and Uncle Pibe for a while as momma chatted with the girls and I turn around to see this:

And who is that in the background grinning like an idiot, promoting underage intoxication you ask?? His daddy!

 

You turn your back for 3 seconds, thinking he’s is good hands…. UN-be-LIEV-able.
Maybe that’s why he sat still to watch t.v…he was plastered ;)
He sure loved being with the guys though :)

Playing with his buddy Brion’s hat…Who’s big boy is that? Where’d my baby go??

Whelp, that’s all folks. We sure had a great time! Can’t wait for next play date.
Nighty night
-Linds

Eli’s first Thanksgiving!

Our little family portrait, via iphone:

Sucha  ham!

Thanks mom for cooking and having all of us over! The food was soooooo yummy. Mmm mmm good. You are always such an awesome host.

Hope you all had some good family time. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

-The Sciclunas

My little Turkey :)

Well I couldn’t have my little man showin’ up for a party on his very first Thanksgiving without party attire amirite?! Here he is in his new turkey onesie:

I know, they are essentially the same picture but I loved his face in both ;) This really wasn’t hard to make since a lot of it is made out of felt which is INCREDIBLY easy to work with since they stick to each other (cuts down on pinning) and they don’t fray. I made the turkey, THEN sewed it to the shirt. Waaaay easier than sewing each piece ONTO the shirt. Yikes! That would be a nightmare! Oh how I love me some felt :)

***WARNING*** Next photo may offend some people. If you have a problem with nudity, do NOT read any further if you think that this may apply to you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
And a back shot:

Full moon! It’s a turkey butt ;) Ha ha.  

I sure am thankful for a LOT this year :) I don’t even know where to begin. First off, I’m obviously thankful for being blessed with having Eli. He is the highlight of my day and my pride and joy. I had NO idea how much I could possibly love a little boy ;) For those of you who knew me pregnant, I was convinced he was a girl for the first 21 wks of my pregnancy. Doh! All you mothers of boys were absolutely right when you told me how great it would be.
Secondly, my hubby. What an amazing father he has proven to be. I told you all before that I never have to ask for him to do anything for Eli because he happily jumps to tend to his needs. He’s been so hands on and has kept me level headed on so many occasions with all the new learning experiences that accompany being a new parent. Thank you honey! I LOVE you soooo much!!
Thirdly, my mom and sister. I truly wish every new mom had these two gals in their lives too (no wait, I take that back. Someone like them because honestly I don’t wanna share…sue me) They jump at the chance to see/play/hold him. They practically fight over who is going to change his diaper next! They help babysit any time I need them which has allowed me to not have to put him in day care. My mom is SUCH a nurturer that she just naturally jumps in without thinking twice about it to do anything to make my life easier. She’ll clean, do dishes, water my neglected plants, take out my garbage, organize my cleaning supplies under my sink, help me with Eli at swim class etc. Gosh I love that lady! Yes I am spoiled. Yes I DO know it but I’m incredibly grateful as well. I have so many people in my life that would do anything  for this kid. I truly am blessed. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
And lastly, my facebook family :) You have all been so generous in sharing your knowledge and experience in regards to child rearing as questions have come up. All I have to do is post a questions/concern and I get you all jumping in with solutions/suggestions. I’ve had people offer me their baby stuff, and give me baby stuff. You’re good people :)
Hope you all enjoy some good food and family time this week! Take care.
-Linds

Eli’s new hat…

And don’t ask me what kind of dog it is because I don’t know my dogs, I just started learning my cars-- one thing at a time now. Lets just say this doggie is a mutt. It was whatever my mind conjured up. I think Eli likes him :)

SUP-er doggyyy!

I just LOVE making things for this kid. I made it following this tutorial my cousin  and I came up with a couple years ago for her Craft blog. See my hands at step 9? I’m famous! ;) Oh and how adorable are my little cousins?! So munchie I tell ya.

It’s made out of fleece so its super soft and comfy. Eli’s getting very good at using his hands so I’m just waiting for him to locate the ears and yank! Ha ha.

Daddy originally gave me a hard time about this hat but I think he’s coming around ;)
So what shall we name him??
-Linds

RIP Blue Schumann 3/18/98-11/18/11

** We love you, we miss you, we will never forget you.**

Today was a very sad day for us as we mourn the passing of Eli’s doggie cousin, Blue. He was 13 1/2 years old but always resembled a mischievous young pup and gosh, was he ever handsome! Look at that face! Believe me, mommy and daddy had a hard time saying “no” to that face.

I’ve cried plenty today and my plan is not to sadden you all as well but to ask your help in remembering this awesome doggie if you were blessed to know him. I’ll start with my fond memories first :)

So the doggie you see before you, although not the cuddle type, was very thoughtful and generous with his time in the following ways:

-He always willingly and selflessly sampled Eli’s hangy toys and teether rings to make sure they were safe for babies. (Phew!)…

-He acted as supervisor during numerous diaper changes, so that Eli never had the chance to roll off the couch while mommy/auntie changed him. (Thanks!)…

-He would greet us at the door and poke his head under Eli’s carseat tent to check that his auntie didn’t forget his little cousin at home and then proceed to smother him with as many kisses as he could…

-He would escort Eli in his stroller on nice long walks around the block, pointing out the best pee spots…

-And, he made sure  his mommy used only the softest, cuddliest, flannel for baby blankets she made for presents by walking on them, testing them out, and finally giving his approval by laying on them as she sewed.

*sigh*

One of my favorite Stories Steph told me about Blue was when they lived in their condo and Aldo and Steph were playing around and pretend wrestling on their bed one night (staaaay with me now, don’t go wandering the gutters people this is a “G” rated blog) and Aldo pinned her and apparently had some menacing body language and tone because Blue hopped up on the bed and nudged Aldo away and gently did the Blue “talk”/low growl (he never barked) as if to say “back off man, this is MY momma and you better not be hurting her!” He had never done anything like that before. He was protective of her even if it meant telling one of his favorite people, daddy, to back off. I know Aldo didn’t think he could possibly love his dog any more than he already did, until that moment. He was so proud of him :)

So what’s your greatest memory of Blue??

Hugs and snuggles,

Auntie Lindsay and family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue with his Daddy and mommy.

Man boogies…

   And I’m sure every one of you thought I was exaggerating when I described my son’s boogie as the size of a small planet. Here, I have proof of my son’s “man boogie”:

Exhibit A

 

Exhibit B

    Guh-ross. I heard him fussin’ and I look over to see what’s going on and I see this! Good LORD how does a nose so small make such ginormous boogies???!?!?!? Sorry to gross you out, but I’m pretty sure most of my readers are my fellow nurses..or family and they’re used to my nursing stories so I figured you all can handle it. Ha ha. All  my other readers, I’m so sorry to subject you to this if you don’t fall into one of the above mentioned categories.

    On to less disgusting news. My sister and Don came over to visit today and when they went to leave I found my thieving sister like this:

    She was gonna take him home with her by smuggling him out in her coat! If it wasn’t for my incredible “mother instinct” knowing when my baby cub was in danger I would have never picked up on it. Ok maybe the large bald head sticking out of her coat (not having previously been there), tipped me off. Either way, I was on the ball! Yay me :) I’m happy to report no kidnapping occurred and  my son is safe and sound at home.

That’s all for now..oh, Eli says “hi”
-Linds

A new swim tote…

So as you all know, Eli and I are really digging his swim lessons. He’s so stinkin’ cute, all serious as he learns his new tricks. We just started a new session this past week so there are now 3 new babies that joined us. Talk about cutie patooties! I just love being surrounded by so many babies in itty bitty swim suits :D
Well it sure is a chore to get both me and a cold wiggly baby changed quickly after swim lessons so my mom has been coming with to get Eli out of his wet suit and into dry clothes while I work on me. I did it by myself the first week, and although do-able, NOT enjoyable. Plus we enjoy having grandma around watching through the viewing window cheering us on. So far, every week I shove all of our wet belongings into a small overnight type tote and then my bag gets all soggy and I’ve been meaning to make a large wet bag in a tote-style. Finally, after finishing all my projects I’ve had going for other people, I got around to making one tonight after Eli went to bed. (Gosh I LOVE that he goes to bed so early so I can have “me” time **sigh**).
I have quite a stash of fabric, although very limited in “boy” styles and I still had some of the waterproof fabric from Eli’s homemade cloth diapers so I just used what I had on hand. I think the outside is pretty cute but the inside is camo and clashes with the outside colors. oh well. I went with it because I didn’t have to make a special trip to Joanne’s and spend money—my favorite kind of projects :) It has a zipper closure so in the end I don’t think it matters. What do you think?

Its about 20in across and 16in high so it should be big enough to fit both our swim suits, and towels.

-Linds

Mmm mmm, can’t get enough of…

…these munchy thighs!

Oh, and just for the record, I don’t usually dress my kid in just a onesie and socks & shoes. He did have pants on 5 minutes prior to this pic. I swear.

Night night all,

-Linds

A fun Sunday and my bad-mommy confession…

Well I’m certain Eli had a very fun day today with all the attention he got from the ladies and getting to watch some TV even if it was football (gaaaag). Our college Buddy Greg and his wife Renee came over, along with my sis and her hubby to watch the games. I decided to try and make something other than chili and went with crockpot chicken fajitas. Pretty yummy if I do say so myself! The best part of the day (besides us ladies crafting of course) was my little guy was so good! He seriously adores undivided attention. Now give him 3 girls who are loving up on him and this kid was in heaven. I’m pretty sure he convinced Greg and Renee to start “trying” right away. Good job Punkin! Momma is so proud :D Thanks for a great Sunday guys, we enjoyed having you over.
So I gotta tell you about what I did to my son the other day and I felt terrible…for laughing. Well I’m certain my son likes his bodily fluids to shoot out of his body as fast as possible, (hence the grunting poop face) so it was no surprise that he actually seems to like the little bulb suctioner thinga-ma-jiggy that sucks his boogies out (the thing is amazing by the way). Well yesterday daddy was playing with Eli, doing some belly time and he reports to me that Eli has a “whopper” in his nose. Sure enough, it’s right there and about the size of a small planet, so I grab the suctioner thingy and proceed to suck it out. I get a little to come to the edge of his nose, grab a kleenex to try and wipe it out and but figured I still had more to get. So you know how these things work, you squeeze/compress it and then stick it up the nose and let go and the suction draws out the goods, well I squeeze it to go for round 2 and end up firing the previously apprehended boogie right back onto my sons face! Poor thing. You should have seen the stunned look on his face. And let me tell you, that sucker WAS a whopper indeed. Thank GOD I didn’t shoot him in the eye (although my hubby pointed out it would then be an “eye boogie” ;) That my friends is why I love him, ba dum bum!) I’m ashamed to say my first instinct was not to wipe it away but to get a camera…I hesitated people!—and laughed! :/ What kind of mother am I?? In an attempt to redeem myself I did not know where my camera was to take a picture, but chose to tend to my rattled son instead. Anywho, I confessed, now I’m forgiven, right?…cricket…cricket…
Oh, here’s my cutie patootie this morning after daddy changed a horrendous diaper and put a fresh one on before giving him to me, he obviously has forgiven me:

I love me a naked baby! Hi grandma!

Alrighty folks, hope you enjoyed your Sunday as much as we enjoyed ours!

-Linds

My hubby was working so I had 3 guys over…

…and I kissed on each one :) Uh HOOO! Yep. They were all incredibly handsome and I couldn’t help myself. No worries though, these guys were of the little variety and all were under 2 feet tall and still living with their parents.
These little guys belonged to My friends Jac and Laura. They came over for a play/craft date. All 3 boys were subjected to my purple craft room and I’m sure craving man time with the daddies by the time they left! Ha ha. They were good sports. I showed the mommies how to make the baby robes my friend Leslie showed me how to make a few weeks ago for Eli. Jac was the designated babysitter since her kid is the most mobile and needed constant supervision in my very UN-baby friendly craft room so just Laura ended up making a robe for her son. Stupid me didn’t think it through before telling her to cut out the pattern (I know, shame on me) so we didn’t have enough towel for another full sleeve! Doh! Well undeterred, we just decided to go the short sleeve route which I will definitely do next time because it’s super cute. And guess what? Her little guys arms JUST popped out through the hole! Needless to say, the sleeve is super long that doing the short sleeve version was better for an infant’s stubby little arms anyways. See? Everything happens for a reason :)
Here the model/muse is wearing his robe with momma:

How cute is he??? Can you blame me for munchin’ on this kid?? Look at those munchie cheeks!

Well overall it was a fun/successful day. For being a beginner sewer  (yes, beginner!) She did an amaaaazing job! I’m so glad we were able to finish it! Thanks ladies for visiting :)

-Linds

“So how many kids do you have?”..”Twenty!”

Can you imagine saying that in response to that very common question? Saying I have twenty kidlets???? Me neither. However, with that being said, I do have my own opinion about the Duggar’s announcement on being pregnant with another baby. My opinion doesn’t matter one iota I realize, but since this IS my blog and I’ve seen many people talk about it on facebook, I’m gonna share it.
Twenty. That’s a big number in reference to kids. Crazy, even. Odd, unorthodox, insane, freaks…I can go on and on about the words I’ve heard people use to describe the Duggars. Me, I’ll say inspirational. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan to have 20 kids, and I do find the Duggars pretty  unorthodox myself in that respect, but you know me, I freakin LOVE babies! I’ve always wanted to be a parent and I struggled with infertility so to be a fertile myrtle would be a blessing in my eyes.  I’m also a Christian so I feel everything happens for a reason and agree with them when they say “a child is a gift from God.” I don’t try to “shove” my beliefs down anyone’s throat but I DO try to be a reflection of God in how I live my life, spend my money, treat people etc. Now I understand I’m not perfect in my attempt to do this, but lets not get off point here. My point is I feel America could learn a LOT from them. Are they really “freaks” for living debt free?? They even enlisted the help of the entire family to build by hand  their own, fully-paid-for house! How awesome is that?! They aren’t relying on our tax dollars to feed, clothe, and shelter THEIR children. We as Americans spend more than we have just to keep up with the Joneses. Everything is on credit cards. Are they really freaks to teach their kids humility, generosity and treating people kindly?? I can’t say that I’ve heard of any of the Duggars posing for playboy, getting arrested for being public nuisances, or having any paternity allegations, have you? Lindsay Lohan has, the Kardashians have dabbled in some of these, and don’t even get me started on the countless professional athletes that top the list and yet people seem to looooove and idolize them. I don’t get it. The Duggars are highly proficient and organized to implement a “buddy” system to help care for the littler ones. Pure genius if you ask me. I just feel we shouldn’t immediately jump to the conclusion that they are weirdos just because they don’t live a lifestyle we do or would choose for ourselves. I’m just sayin’.
Now I gotta try and jump down off my soap box without breaking a leg….
You’re still entitled to your opinion :)
-Linds
p.s I feel like my friend Michelle who writes reviews on life/books/movies/celebs etc. She’s hilarious and crazy, check out her blog  here . From now on, I’ll try to stick with Eli stories.

Baby shower for Sara…

Today I took Eli with me to my friend Sara’s baby shower since kids and babies where welcome (Which worked out great because the hubby had a huge paper to write for school and my mom/sitter wasn’t feeling well). We had a good time and Eli behaved for the first 2hrs, (he’s a people person and loves attention), but then hit his wall at his usual nap time and was too over stimulated by all the excitement to fall asleep and ended up  freaking out :/ My poor kiddo. Thank God there was a baby whisperer there (Sara’s mother-in-law’s sister) that finally got him to fall asleep. This time change thing certainly isn’t helping matters either because he thought it was time to start getting ready for bed at 5:30 tonight. We definitely need to get back on schedule tomorrow.
Steph and I had a blast making all of Sara’s baby gifts. We made her a car seat tent, a wet bag, some pee pee tee pees, a hooded towel, hooter hider, paci holder and paci clip, a diaper motorcycle (also with homemade recieving blankets for the handle bars), sugar scrub for momma, and a travel bib! Phew. We were very busy :)
Here are a few pics of the ones I remembered to take pictures of:

Diaper motorcycle (2 receiving blankets, about 40 diapers, 3 pairs baby socks, bottle, washcloth, and 2 bibs) Tutorial found here.

 

Hooded bath towel.

Travel bib. You stick in a spoon and fork on the side pockets and some wet wipes in the center, fold it and snap shut. Tutorial found here.

Carseat tent, no explanation needed I’m sure.

I’m bummed I forgot to take a pic of the wet bag. Oh well. It was just a bag to stick wet/soiled baby stuff in that had a waterproof lining and zipped shut.

Here we are with the momma to be. Poor Eli looks put out. I think he needs more time hanging with the men:

People often think the 3 of us are sisters when we are out and about.

We played a game involving guessing the different chocolate candies melted in diapers. They smelled scrumdiddlioumpscious but looked DI-Scust-ing. I snapped a pic of Steph smelling one as she tried to guess what it was, ha ha:

I think she feared that at any given time she’d open up a “real” diaper, hence the nervous face. ha ha ha.

All in all it was a good time. Sara was spoiled as she should be :) Congrats girlie! Soooooo excited for you to start this awesome journey as well.
-Linds

My Sweet Pea…

The best 18 weeks of my life. Love you Punkin’.

-Linds

My baby is FOUR months old today!

Wooo-eee what fun it has been! This kid is my pride and joy :) We had our 4 month well baby visit today (with some not so great news…I’ll get to that in a little bit) and then we went to a photo shoot with my UH-maz-ing cousin Julie who has her own photo/video business and so generously offered to do a shoot as a baby shower gift to me. Check out her website here or on facebook here. She did my wedding video, a little 10-15min “highlights” kind of thing and I just absolutely LOVE it! I had no idea what to expect and she blew me away with her “vision”. I tell ya, We’re a crafty/creative bunch in this family :)
So to start, we had our doc visit this morning. He’s doing great, developing just where he should be (although he still hasn’t rolled over) and he’s middle of the pack for growth. I hesitated on the vaccinations at the 2 month visit and told her I’d get back to her with my decision. I read “The Vaccine book” by Dr. Sears and took a lot of notes and realized Eli didn’t necessarily need all the vaccines at this point, if at all, being exclusively breast fed and no day care. So I just decided on the Dtap for now. For the shot she told me to nurse him and just leave a thigh exposed and they’d do it while he was in his happy place :/ Two words for you after he got the shot: “Heart breaking”. He was so content, and then BAm! A my-leg-suddenly-hurts-really-bad-and-I’m-in-a-fit-of-hysterics wail ensues :*( Poor kid. He only cried for a minute and was soothed pretty quickly, thank God but still broke my heart nonetheless. Then he passed out in his seater for the ride home, but unfortunately did not really get a good nap in for his photo-shoot later :/ That was a bummer. Although he didn’t cry for the shoot, he was not very smiley and his little eyes get red rimmed when he’s tired. But, my Cuz is a phenomenal photgrapher so I’m optimistic she worked her magic and was able to get some good shots. I busted out all his cute little crocheted/knitted hats he got from my showers and kept swapping them out for his different pics :)
So the not so good news. There have been 2 things I worried about from day one, 1) having a colicky baby and/or 2) having a baby with a flat head from the “back to sleep” requirement. I’m ALWAYS staring and checking out babies head shapes. Whelp, Eli’s head is flat on one side and kind of cone shaped. I’m not sure what I could have done differently. It’s not like it never occurred to me and I wish I would have paid attention and done things differently :/He sleeps with his head to either side but I think he favors the right side more because he tends to suck that thumb at night and turns his head to reach it (he wants NOTHING to do with the nook). So I mentioned my concern to the doc and she said it wasn’t a bad idea to have him see the “head” specialist and have him do a free consultation. She said she doesn’t think it will get any worse but that she doubts it will correct itself at this point. I feel that since baldness runs on the mom’s side and my side is filled with baldies that he will probably be bald by age 20 so the least I could do for the kid was to make sure he had a nice shaped head! I’m sorry punkin, mommy failed you :(
Ok, onto his stats:
Size: Well last month I had hopped on a scale with Eli and subtracted my weight to get his with him being fully clothed so I’m guessing it wasn’t entirely accurate like at the doc’s office where I strip him down to his birthday suit. Today, naked, he weighed 14.5 lbs So I’m guessing he gained about a pound this month. As for length, he was 25 1/4in long. He definitely seems like he’s getting leaner and longer. The doc explained that the weight gain slows down now compared to how rapid it was the first 3 months of his life. 
Likes: He loves to be pulled up to a sitting position or into a standing position. He’s actually interested in toys now and grabbing and tasting them and he still loves his seater and car rides. The latest is swim lessons which he loves as well so needless to say, bath time is a blast too.
Dislikes: He’s not a big fan of belly time if you leave him there too long, and if I take too long to get the boob out when he’s hungry he’s quick to let me know he’s not pleased.
Feeding: I still feed on demand anywhere from 1 1/2-3hrs during the day which I don’t mind because I want to keep my milk supply up since he goes such long stretches at night now that he sleeps 11hr stretches. I plan to wait on introducing solids until 6 months. For now, just enjoying the simplicity of breastfeeding :)
Sleeping: He goes down at 7pm like clock work and gets up between 4-6 to eat, then sleeps in until about 8-9. I wake him up at 9 if he’s still sleeping because I don’t want to mess with his daytime napping schedules. His first nap is at 10am and lasts anywhere from 1-3 hrs, then an afternoon nap that is still is in the works on nailing down a set time, but is a smaller 1hr nap between 2-4pm. He’s a good sleeper :)
Milestones: He pulls and supports his head easily when pulled into an upright position. Uses his hands to grab at things intentionally now and is jabbering away.
And there you have it!
-Linds