Fun times and new food...

So much activity in our house lately. Last night we had a surprise visit from Uncle A. Elliott had a great time with him! They played lots and Elliott smiled lots. I'm telling you this baby loves to smile. He especially smiles while grabbing his mother's lips when she's talking. This is a new thing. Maybe he's trying to tell me something.

Elliott continues to expand his food repertoire although he has decided that green beans are not for him. Mommy and Daddy have also gotten to enjoy some tasty dinners since starting an online subscription to E-Mealz. It is a great service that gives you set recipes and shopping lists for each week. We get 5 meal plans per week that are meant for 2 people. As someone who loves to cook it has satisfied my desire to try new, healthy recipes that aren't too complicated. Also I don't have to go searching the internet to find these great recipes or take the time to make up a shopping list for the meals. It is all there waiting for me on my log in page. I definitely think it has made this working mom's life a little bit easier.

Snowed in...

We've enjoyed the reprieve from everyday life this week with the Snowpocalypse here in north Georgia. Gabe worked from home Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and I've been out all week. It's very strange not to leave the house for 5 days and counting! I definitely have the cabin fever going on but our road is still somewhat icy and honestly it's just too cold to take the baby out.

It has been neat to be home again and to have Gabe here as well. Elliott is continuing to wow us with many new skills. He now shrieks with happiness and his favorite sound to make is "ghee". Yesterday while playing on the floor, Elliott hit another big milestone. He flipped from his back to his belly! When he did it, his face was priceless. He was so proud of himself. A not so good development is the return of night waking for Elliott. It hasn't been so bad this week since I have not had to go to work, but the 2:30 waking to eat is making this Mama very tired! If he had never slept thro

ugh the night it wouldn't be so bad, but I had a beautiful taste of the good life with 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep in the past. Hopefully soon we'll be back there.

Elliott has had a bit of the sniffles this week again so I've gotten to break out the saline spray again and my new favorite baby product. It's called the Baby Comfy Nose and is the supremely superior alternative to the bulb syringe. Gabe calls it the "booger sucker" which technically, well, it is. I always hated the bulb syringes that they gave us at the hospital, so I started doing what I always do and researching online. I found the Baby Comfy Nose on Amazon and although the description of it sounded disgusting, the feedback from other moms sealed the deal for me. We got it and I was amazed! So all you moms out there that have to suction a tiny nose now or in the near future--go online and get one NOW. You won't be sorry.

Baby food success!

Last weekend we got to try out our new Beaba Babycook that we got for Christmas (thanks James and Peggy). This device makes it really easy and convenient to make your own babyfood. In one little appliance you can steam and puree the food that you want to use. We decided to try Butternut Squash first and it was a success! Out of one Butternut Squash, we ended up with about 20 ounces of food for Elliott. After steaming and pureeing, the squash went into ice cubes to freeze and use later. The whole process was very easy and well worth the time considering Elliott took to the Butternut Squash much better than the oatmeal we tried last week. He has eaten it several times and actually would open his mouth for the squash--a definite improvement over the oatmeal!

Christmas, giggles, and milestones

It has been an eventful last two weeks in the Hamby household. It seems like Elliott is getting to an age where each day there is something new to report. In the last two w

eeks we've survived a bout with bronchiolitis, 4 months vaccinations, and beginning on Thursday--teething. Oh yeah, and Christmas! Yes, faithful readers, my initiation into the motherhood club is complete! Despite all of the sickness, etc, Elliott has been such a trooper and mostly happy. We are so blessed! His first Christmas was quite the success and he racked up many exciting gifts. He was the best behaved grandchild in Knoxville on Christmas morning--looking intently at his gifts and even smiling like a good baby should! He wowed the extended family with toothless grins and his winning personality. We had a great time showing him off and enjoying his first Christmas--a white one even.

Elliott's 4 month appointment was on Wednesday and he now weighs a whopping 13 pounds! We got the go ahead to start some solid foods. Saturday morning we attempted some oatmeal and it was pretty much a failed attempt. My child, who has NEVER turned down food, took one bite and spit it all out. What a face! On the next couple attempts to put the spoon in his mouth, he clamped his lips shut and swatted the spoon away. So, maybe we're not ready for solids. We'll keep trying slowly. His mother is super excited to make some baby food in her new Beaba Babycook, thanks to the in laws! Maybe Elliott will appreciate my efforts eventually!

In the last month, Elliott figured out how to laugh. He is extremely ticklish under his arms and chin. The first time he laughed was while I was changing him into his pajamas (or jammers as Gabe and I call them). I pulled a sleeve off and a little giggle slipped out. I pulled the other off and he giggled some more. It is quite possibly the cutest thing ever! He now laughs other times too, mostly when provoked by his father or myself. During our car trip to Knoxville, he thought "This Little Piggy" was pretty entertaining!

It's back to work for me tomorrow. It's always hard going back after Christmas but this year it is going to be hard for a different reason. I've loved being home with the little guy and will miss getting to spend the days with him. Daddy is on duty tomorrow with E all day while I'm at work. He says they're going to have "guy time"--I'm sure there will be some good material for another blog post!!

Christmas Part I

The Christmas season is upon us. We finally got our tree up and decorated about a week ago. Somehow it's been a little more difficult to get it all done this year. Hmm...I wonder why. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Cleveland with my parents and brother to do our Christmas since Gabe, Elliott, and I will be traveling to Knoxville for Christmas. Elliott enjoyed his time in Cleveland. He liked opening presents (well, mostly looking at the picture of Santa on his gift bag). In the near future he is really going to enjoy his bath seat that Melly and Pops got him.

I can't believe that next week my baby boy will be 4 months old. He is just a busy baby and is exploring the world constantly. After many years of studying child development and working with children, it is so cool to see how he is developing. I love to go and pick him up out of bed in the morning and see him smile, so happy to see me. The flip side of this is that now he cries when it's time to go to bed. I'm thinking this is because he doesn't want to be alone without mom and dad. Another perk of his age is that toys are finally fun! Up until about 2 weeks ago he would kind of look at toys but they didn't hold his interest for more than say 3 seconds. He definitely has his favorite toys--a Leap Frog cube that plays music and a purple hippo rattle. I swear that I can hear the little Leap Frog songs in my head when I sleep!

In the mean time, we are fighting cold #2 of the season. Elliott started the sniffling and coughing over the weekend. He has been sleeping like crazy during the day and I'm hoping he will beat this thing before we hit the highway for Christmas. My whole upper body is covered in some sort of bodily baby fluid--mucus, spit up, and/or drool. Yes, I know motherhood is a glamourous job. Somehow it is different when it is your own child but nonetheless I'm praying for relief from this thing soon!

Thanksgiving Fun

More than one week after all the Thanksgiving festivities, I am getting around to blogging about it. We left last Wednesday for our first road trip with baby in tow. It took two days of planning and packing to get us out the door Wednesday morning. Our car was completely slam full. I'm talking nothing else was going in there. We barely had room for the baby! Elliott did fine on the car ride even though he's not much for his car seats and definitely does not love long car rides. The main problem with the car rides is that unlike every other baby in the world he does not necessarily fall asleep in the car. On each way of our trip he had one good nap, so that means lots of time mommy had to entertain. Luckily we had a variety of toys and he especially enjoyed the soft blocks that make the crinkly sound.

Elliott thoroughly enjoyed Thanksgiving (in fact he fell asleep during dinner) and I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did despite being away from home. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving night he developed his first cold and woke up all stuffy in the middle of the night. He was pretty miserable most of the day Friday and definitely not himself. I feared the worst for our trip home on Saturday but he actually did well.

It was great to be back in Blowing Rock, NC again and the weather was surprisingly mild for that area. I loved introducing Elliott to all of the Magees. Thanksgiving has been probably my favorite time of year for most of my life. Though I love Gabe's family dearly, somehow it just doesn't seem like Thanksgiving without gathering with the Magees. It's so interesting now that all the cousins are grown and many have little ones of their own. We had a great time and look forward to more Magee Thanksgivings in the future.

In other Elliott news to report: he had his first laugh last Saturday. It is the sweetest thing I have ever heard! He always giggles a little when we're getting him ready for bed and he's laying on his changing table. It still just makes my night when I hear him. So sweet!

We survived!

So, week 1 of Operation Mommy Back to Work was successful. Elliott had a great time with Ms. Jen, his sitter, and I managed not to cry myself through the work week. Going back to work was in some ways easier than I had expected and in some ways more difficult. Knowing that Elliott was well taken care of and spending pretty much one-on-one time with an incredibly experienced mom (to 5 girls nonetheless) was definitely comforting. I could text or call anytime to check on him and I even got the cutest picture emailed to me at work on Thursday. The little stinker ate like a truck driver all week and took some crazy long naps (which I swear he'll never do for me) at Ms. Jen's house.

I was not prepared for all of the hard work once I returned home from my 7-3 gig-- bottles to be washed, clothes to be washed, lunches to be packed, and clothes to be laid out. It takes Gabe and I both in full speed to get me and Elliott out the door by 6:20 to head to the sitter's house in the morning. The snooze button is definitely a thing of the past and I believe that prep the night before is what it's all about.

Work itself was fine, although most of the week I felt like I was in some sort of fog. I have a lot of new kids and I never even saw most of my kids before I left on leave in August. It's almost as if I haven't worked since May. Crazy! So to all of my coworkers out there, I can only say one thing--bear with me.

So, since I worked so hard last week, I've been rewarded with the week of Thanksgiving off! One of the many perks of my job. We're headed to Blowing Rock, NC to be with my extended family. It will be another interesting week for Elliott--baby's first road trip. I hope his parents survive this one!