Sick Spring Break

Andrew has been on spring break the last two weeks. On his last day of school before spring break he was sent home with this...

I was a little worried because we aren't traveling anywhere but when I looked at the calendar I noticed we DID have a few fun things on the calendar!  I went into spring break thinking about our fun activities we had planned and maybe a few other things we could do.

We started spring break with a trip to the treehouse at church.  We met a few friends there and the boys ran off a little energy because the weather was no good!!

Their faces crack me up!!
It's almost like they are thinking, "that Mom better not have just brought her sick kid to the treehouse!!"

After that we went to the local cupcake store for a little tour and some cupcake decorating.  The kids had a lot of fun.  We went with our friends that are from our original playgroup.  The older ones were so excited to see each other.

Reflecting on the experience...

Attempt to get a picture

Lucas is a lover!!
This may be his first official kiss because both parties went for the kiss.

The next day our exciting spring break came to an end!!  Andrew started with a high fever, was achy, and looked awful.  I knew something was wrong and it was more than just a virus or cold.  On Friday he tested positive for the flu.  He got his first hospital bracelet because he had to go to the hospital lab to be tested.  It kind of made me laugh because they still had him in the system as "Boy" Creason.  He hasn't been to the hospital for anything since he was born.  Lucas on the other hand has a frequent flyer card between a trip to the ER and swallow studies/chest xrays.  When I got home from the Dr with Andrew, Lucas had a fever!!  The flu claimed 2 victims!!  The boys have been miserable and I have been guarding Eli like I'm a Navy Seal.

After one whole week Andrew seems back to normal with a cough here and there.  We were able to get tamiflu for Lucas.  Not sure it did much, but he is getting better.  He still has a cough and runny nose.

My Mom did come to town this weekend.  Just in time for the flu!  So far Andrew and Lucas are the only unfortunate ones.  Hopefully she didn't catch it while she was here.  I guess our spring break resumes tomorrow.  We do have Easter still and a couple other fun things we can do before it is over.  Hopefully we are past all the sickness!!

Eli was his happy self through it all :) 

Eli 2 Months

Two months has come and gone just like that!!  Little Eli is growing like crazy.  I think I am getting adjusted to life with three. We are starting to get out more and getting back to our normal routine.  The Dr warned me to stay away from public places until Eli was 8 weeks.  We made it to 8 weeks with no sickness and hopefully it continues!!

He wasn't really into having his monthly picture taken this time.

At his 2 month appointment he was 12 lbs 9 oz 60th percentile and 24.75 inches 98th percentile!  We all know my boys top the charts in the head department.  As of right now Eli is hanging out in the 50th percentile for his head so we will see if it stays like that.  He is in size 1 diapers and 3 month clothes.  He did get 2 shots and ended up getting a fever from the shots that night.  The Dr said that some kids just have that reaction.  The fever was about 100.9 and it didn't seem to bother him.

Eli decided to show his adorable smile when he was 6 weeks!!  He first started smiling in the middle of the night during feedings.  Now he smiles all the time.  He usually smiles a lot when he has a full belly.  He also rolled over this month!!  He rolled from his belly to his back 3 times when he was 7 weeks!  He is a little overachiever.  He hasn't done it again but I can't say I am good about giving him tummy time everyday.  He does love his activity mat but isn't a huge fan of the bouncy seat.  He likes to nap during the day in his swing.

Working on his smile!

Breastfeeding is still going well.  We had a little run in with thrush...I think.  I had a lactation consultant that thought we had it so we were both treated.  When I went in to see the Dr he said we didn't have it, so who knows.  Either the medicine took care of it or we never had it.  He said his tongue was white from milk residue.  I was going crazy trying to figure out why it wasn't going away with the meds.  I feel like the breastfeeding may be here to stay.  I am getting much more comfortable feeding him on the go and he still seems to be gaining weight just fine.  He is eating every three hours during the day and he has two long stretches at night!!  He usually goes about 6 hours at night.  He is doing such a great job sleeping and I only have to get up once with him.  He is sleeping in his crib and he seems to love it.  I have been putting him down awake and he is doing great falling asleep.  We are swaddling him in a sleep sack for now.  I heard that babies don't sleep as well at night when they are breastfed, but that is obviously a myth!  He still naps a lot during the day too.

So peaceful!!!

All dressed up for church

Daddy got to give Eli a bottle

Hanging out with my brothers!!

Love my cuddles with Eli!!!!

Eli got to join us on our date night for our 9th anniversary!!  He was so good and pretty much slept the entire time.

This little guy is such a blessing to our family!!  Mark and I were talking the other day about how weird it is to think that I was just pregnant a couple months ago.  It's hard to remember life without him.

Eli's Nursery

I finally finished Eli's nursery!!!  As you all know we left the sex of Eli a surprise.  I had to come up with ideas for a boy nursery and a girl nursery.  I wouldn't recommend waiting to do the nursery because it is hard to find time to finish the nursery after the baby arrives.  We painted the walls grey so it could go either way.  The only other thing I finished before Eli was born was the crib skirt.  I knew I wanted an airplane theme if we had a boy.  I found the perfect sheets at pottery barn kids right before Eli was born and I kind of built the rest of the nursery around that.  After having Andrew I realized that you really don't need a bumper or fancy quilt.  I stopped using Andrew's bumper as soon as he started moving around and I never used the quilt.  I have used Pottery Barn crib sheets for all three boys now.  They are super cute and great quality!!

We did have to buy a new crib and mattress for Eli because Lucas is still sleeping in a crib.

I used this tutorial for the crib skirt.  It was pretty easy and I love that it is adjustable.  I decided to make one because crib skirts are so expensive!!  

For this name sign I wrapped a canvas in the same fabric as the crib skirt.  I used this tutorial to paint the letters and it worked out pretty well. 

My boys love their mobiles!!  I didn't want to spend $50-100 on a matching mobile and I ended up finding this awesome tutorial on etsy.  I used Lucas's old mobile and cut off the elephants.  This cost me about $7 to make!!!  I bought the felt and tutorial.  

His nursery is simple, but I love it!!!

Eli One Month

This first month has flown by and I have tried to enjoy every minute snuggling this adorable little guy!  He is growing so fast and having two other boys just makes the days go by faster.  Eli spent the majority of his first month sleeping.  I feel like he has been the sleepiest baby of mine.  He definitely has more awake time now.  He sleeps between every feeding.  He does pretty well at night.  He usually goes every three hours but we usually get one longer stretch of about 4 hours.  He sleeps in the rock and play in our room for now.  His nursery is still not 100% finished because I waited to do the nursery until we knew if it was a boy or girl.  The crib and sheets are ready so technically he could sleep in there.

Eli is still breastfeeding!!  He is officially my longest breastfed baby, but that is not saying much.  He usually eats every 3 hours but sometimes he will eat every 2 hours.  I have had a lot of guidance from the lactation ladies at the hospital because breastfeeding does not come naturally for me.  I did find that Eli had a tongue tie, which I had never heard of.  Basically his tongue was too connected.  We ended up taking him to a dentist that specializes in this to have it repaired.  Not the most fun thing I have witnessed!!!  The tongue tie was causing some problems with nursing and could cause more problems in the future.  Things are going better but it will take time for him to learn to use his tongue correctly.  I take breastfeeding one day at a time and have not put any kind of timeline on it.  I think Mark misses being able to feed him everyday.  Mark has fed Eli a few bottles but we kind of stopped that after the tongue procedure.  

Eli's one month appointment went well.  He was 9lbs 5.5oz 30% and 22.5in 85%.  He is definitely my first baby to see the 30th % in anything.  He is just about out of newborn and in size 0-3 months.  His length is the problem.  Size newborn is too short but the 3 month is too wide.  He is just changing over to size one diapers.  I will not be buying anymore newborn.  He got one shot and he wasn't a fan!  He bled more than normal just like Lucas!!  At least I am not worried this time because Lucas did the same thing.  

Going home from the hospital!!

Grandma snuggles

Awake for a minute

First Bath

Not sure if he is a big fan!

All Clean!

Sleeping in the swing

Little Colts fan!!

Meeting Mema!

My first play date!!

We spent a lot of time snuggling on the couch!

Caught a sleepy smile

This is where Eli sleeps

Always has his hands by his face

A little tummy time

Still sleeping!

Eli is such a sweet little baby!!  I wish I could bottle up this baby time with him!  I love cuddling with him.  Since this is probably our last baby I try to cherish every moment!!  We all love him so much.