Photo Shoot

Eli had his first real photo shoot a couple weeks ago with our friend Kelly. She took tonnes of great shots - picking one for an announcement card wasn't easy. Picking five for this blog post was more fun. I can't wait to get a couple 5 X 7's or 8 X 10's for the house/Jed's office. Thanks Kelly!

What did we do all day before we had Eli??

It's strange thinking back to what I did with my time before Eli was born... I remember complaining a lot about being really pregnant...and doing lots of stuff with James - trips to richmond center, going for coffee, grocery shopping, cleaning, etc, etc. But it is sortof hard to think back to our days of just the two of us (me and James). With Eli here there is a lot more to fill our time with (when he's not sleeping) such as:
sitting in his chair and drinking tea


looking at Eli on the floor

wearing matching hats that make them both look ridiculous (thanks again auntie Maris)

snuggling up

this picture is just to show off James' new pj's - aren't they sweet!

and Eli keeps getting sweeter and sweeter too - we wouldn't go back to those days for anything!

4 weeks!

Eli was 4 weeks old yesterday. Flyin by! We went in for his check up and he's doing great. He's 11 pounds, 6 ounces and 22.25 inches long. (James was 13 pounds, 8 ounces and 23.75 inches long - but he had quite a head start, so I'm not going to say James will be a bigger, older brother... yet). The last couple of nights Eli has decided to be quite alert and awake between 3 and 5:30am. He's also quite lonely during that time and complains if we leave him alone. Not the best time to be wide awake (from our perspective) but at least we don't have a miserable baby all the time, or one who's not gaining weight, etc. Things could be a lot more stressful.
Nate and Tam made their way to Mexico last friday and spent a night near the airport. They brought Zephyr over for a visit friday night and saturday morning. It was fun hanging with the Whitehorse Binghams.
Here are some pics of our little man/men and one with cousin Zephyr:


Thanks Auntie Maris for this hat. James has just stoped being scared of it and now lets me put it on him. He's a goof.


Cousin Z and James had a great time playing. It's crazy that there is the same age difference between James and Zephyr and Zephyr and Eli.

A Few More Firsts

Today Eli is 20 days old, and James is exactly 20 months. Eli took his first bottle (possible future freedom for mama??) and met more family for the first time. Thanks Uncle Carey and Auntie Nini for the nursing pillow (James LOVES it) and the clothes for Eli.

Fitting In

Eli has been here now 2 and a half weeks and he's fitting in quite well... for the most part. He usually gets along quite well with his brother, and he met his baba and grandpa today and had no problem getting aquainted with them. He's gained 1 pound 1 ounce in the last week - he's almost 10 pounds (9lbs,15.4oz)! He'll be out of his 0 - 3 month clothes in no time!

Slowing Things Down

It feels like my pace has come to a grinding halt. Our big family outing today was to the grocery store and starbucks. I know this will change, and it doesn't even really bother me because I'm pretty tired and going anywhere else is most likely more trouble than it's worth. James loves getting outside to pick up sticks at least once a day - I think that's all he really needs. He's happy most of the time to be inside, playing with Dad, or his blocks, or reading books.
I cooked dinner tonight and it felt good to do something normal and eat something we're used to. Not saying that I'm sick of people bringing us food! Au contraire! The more prepared food the better!
Man, have I become a faithful poster! Here are some pictures of days 11 and 12 as a foursome - almost 2 whole weeks!

Getting better aquainted.

Nice hat bud. That's mama's tired eyes cover-up - I wear it everytime we go out.

Typical.

Ahh bath time. Is there any better part of the day?

The Boys

We're still working hard to get into a routine and rhythm with the two boys - especially around and after dinner. My mom leaves tomorrow and then we'll really get into the true family life - no more safety net nanny. We'll be sorry to see her go, taking her laundry and cooking skills with her, but we're looking forward to it being just the four of us. My emotions and feelings are still swinging from extreme thankfulness and love for my boys to wondering why did I have a second baby anyways? Who wants to start all over at the beginning again? I guess this is normal for moms...well maybe it is. Overall I do love my boys (all three) but now is not the time to ask me when we're planning on having our third.
Eli continues to be a really good baby (overall) and James is getting more interested. He kept trying to hold Eli while I was nursing him today. My mom wrapped a stuffed animal up in a recieving blanket and called it James' baby and James carried it around, sat down with it, was hugging it, then decided to roll on it. It was pretty sweet. Jed is really comfortable with Eli and has taken on a lot more 'baby-chores', like bathing Eli, getting up with him after his 5am feed to settle him/hold him so that I can go back to sleep sooner, and seems to just love having Eli sleep on his chest while he reads. I guess Jed knows how short lived this'll be. I do feel very blessed.
God is very good.