In my Cubs onsie

"Mom, why do you dress me up like this?"

Sweet sleeping baby

We've been a busy pair.  Eliana and I have gone for a walk the past three days in a row.  The weather has been so beautiful!  Who would guess that we would be out and about in February?  What a great year to be born. 

Yay sleep!

Eliana slept through the night again!  This time for nine hours!  What a blessing. :)

It was such a nice day that Eliana and I decided to go out!  She is all dressed up in her pink bear coat.

I love this picture.

I put Eliana in the Baby Bjorn for our walk.

Today was also bath day!

For the first time ever Eliana did not cry through her entire bath.

"I'm a happy girl!"

All worn out after our big day.

Today is the day that David has to submit his final rank list of residencies.  It is crazy to think that this list will help determine the next three years of our lives.  We have been talking and praying about this list for so long.  And now it is done- the list is in and it is just up to the great and mighty computer matching system.  Alabama still came out number one.  I wonder if that is where we will be?  March 16th we find out.

Eliana and I had a busy day today.  The temperature was in the fifties with sun, so I decided to go on a walk.  After calling a friend to join us with her baby, I dressed Eliana up in her pink coat.  I think she looks so cute in it!  This is only the second time she has worn it.  However, it is still a little big on her, so I think we will get plenty of use out of it this spring.  She looks like my little pink teddy bear.  Lots of people on our walk were admiring her.  I just must have the cutest baby in town.  We walked for a long time - two hours and fifteen minutes.  This is the official start of my Mini Marathon training!

After our walk it was bath time.  Usually I hate giving Eliana a bath because she hates it and screams the whole time.  I feel terrible because she has no idea why I am torturing her like that.  So there Eliana sits in her bouncy seat, cooing and smiling, having a good time, totally unsuspecting of the awfulness that is about to occur.  I pick her up, get her naked, and throw her in this tub of water.  Usually that results in cries that tear at your heart.  But this time she sat there quietly.  I wouldn't go so far as to say she enjoyed it.  But she definitely tolerated it.  I was shocked!  What a gift she gave to mommy today.  I hope this means that soon bath time will be fun.  Maybe she will even want to start playing with her rubber duckies!

Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday that we went to the breastfeeding support group.  Eliana weighs 12lb 10oz and ate 3 ounces in just twenty minutes!

Poor sick baby :(

Daddy rocking a fussy sick baby.

Tummy time

My nose is running.

Poor Eliana has been sick for the past couple of days.  I think she caught something at her baptism.  That's what I get for throwing her a party.  She has been congested and coughing, and has been having trouble sleeping at night.  Sunday night she was waking up every 1.5 hours.  I forgot how tiring that is.  I guess I have been taking my 5 hours for granted.  It just hurts me to see her upset and fussing from being sick because there is nothing I can do about it.  I hope she feels better soon!

Another set of "Faces of Eliana"

Eliana went to visit G.G. last Thursday.  They had a blast together!

Now here is a series of pictures where I am trying to catch Eliana smiling.  This is the best one of her smile.

Waving "Hi" to mom

Now she is scared.

Another good smile

What a sweetie!

"oohhh!"

Eliana's a Christian!

Happy Baptism Day Eliana Noelle!  She was baptized at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.  David's brother Ray is the Godfather and my sister Rebecca is the Godmother.  These are the only pictures that I have from the baptism, so I will post more once I gather them from the other cameras that were there. 

Fr. Rick performed the baptism.  He was the priest at our wedding, and he said we are the first couple that he has married and then performed a baptism on our first baby.  We are so blessed to know him!

Love to sleep!

David's girls -- pretty in pink!

Smirking in her sleep?

Eliana slept through the night last night!!  She went to bed around 11:30pm.  I woke up at 3am and she was still asleep.  I woke up at 5am and she was silent, so I of course checked to make sure she was still breathing.  She was.  David's alarm went off at 6am, and she slept through it.  I laid in bed awake until 6:45am at which point I gave up on sleep and got up.  It wasn't until 7:30am that Eliana woke up.  Eight hours of sleep - that's a full night!  What a wonderful girl!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Grandmama Gloria babysat Eliana today and dressed her up in this outfit - how appropriate for Feb. 14th! 

Precious moments

The past few nights Eliana has been having some fussy periods in the middle of the night.  She has still been sleeping for 4 or 5 hours straight the first time I lay her down, but then when she wakes up at 3am, she stays awake for 90 mins to 2 hours.  She sleeps so well, then wakes up, eats, and stays awake.  I will rock her to sleep, lay her back down in her bassinet, and then go to bed myself.  After just a couple of minutes, Eliana is awake and crying, wanting to be held again.  It has been frustrating for me because I've met all her needs - clean diaper, full belly, wiped the puke off her head - what more does she want?  Doesn't she know that it is the middle of the night and she should be sleeping?  I find this harder to deal with than waking up several times through the night.  At least then I knew that after she ate, she would fall asleep and I could go back to bed.  With this new middle of the night awake and fussy period, I just never know how long it is going to last.  I rock and rock and rock her, but still her stubborn little eyes are wide open.  When she does finally close them, I try to lay her down.  I say a prayer "Lord, please just let her stay asleep.  Please don't let her puke and wake herself up.  Please Lord, I just want to sleep!"  But it doesn't work.  I lay her down, she cries, and I have to pick her back up.  So I ask the Lord, "Why aren't you answering my prayer?"  And that's when I heard God say there will be plenty of time in the future when Eliana will sleep through the night.  But not now.  Right now, this is what she needs.  She needs you to be there for her when she cries.  She needs you to rock her back to sleep.  She needs you to just hold her for a while longer.  Cherish these moments.  She will grow up all too quick.  This is your chance to give unconditional love to my precious child, my gift to you. 
And so I have stopped praying that Eliana goes right back to sleep after she eats.  Instead, I am now praying that the Lord give me patience and strength to rock my baby as long as it takes.  And I thank Him for giving me the gift of these precious moments I get to spend with my daughter in the middle of the night.  It's our time to be together, my time to show my child just how much I love her.  There will be time for sleeping later.  But for now, I'm just going to enjoy our middle of the night bonding time. 

Pediatrician Visit

This video is not exciting at all.  It just shows Eliana playing (as much as a one month old plays) in her bouncy seat.  I like it because it shows how active she is now.  Probably a video only a mother would enjoy.  Don't say I didn't warn you.
We went to the pediatrician today for Eliana's one month visit.  In case we didn't know already, we have a big girl on our hands!  Eliana weighs 11lbs 13oz and is 23in long!  That's the 95th percentile for both.  So she is a symmetrically big girl.  The pediatrician also checked out the rash on her face.  You probably wouldn't notice it unless you looked closely at her ears.  David and I had diagnosed it as neonatal acne.  Despite our medical background, we should leave the pediatric diagnoses to Dr. Greenfield.  Turns out she has seborrhea, which is commonly called cradle cap in infants.  Usually it shows up on the scalp of infants, but in Eliana's case, it is mostly around her ears and on her cheeks, not on the top of her head.  Luckily it usually clears up on its own by six months to one year.  So our trip to the ped confirmed that we just have a big, beautiful, healthy baby girl!
In one final note, Eliana is still a big puker.  She has been awake for two hours and has already thrown up on herself three times, on me twice, and on her car seat once.  Doesn't seem to bother her though.  It obviously hasn't affected her growth!

Big sleeper

Hanging out with Grandma.  Eliana looks like she is boxing.

Eliana slept for 6 hours in a row last night!  This is probably the best sleep I have gotten since I was about 7 months pregnant.  What a good sleeper we have on our hands!  Although just because she slept for 6 hours does not mean that I slept for six.  Here is what our night looked like:

11:30pm - Eliana falls asleep and is put to bed.
12:00am - I get to go to bed.
4am - Eliana sighs in her sleep.  I wake up.  Are you ready to eat?? No... I go back to sleep.
4:17am - Eliana grunts.  I wake up.  Are you ready to eat??  No... I go back to sleep.
4:42am - Eliana snorts.  I wake up.  Are you ready to eat?? No... I go back to sleep.
5am - I wake up.  I get out of bed and check on Eliana.  She is sound asleep.  I go back to bed.
5:12am - I'm still awake.  What is Eliana doing? 
5:16am - I fall asleep.
5:19am - Eliana coos in her sleep.  I wake up.  Now are you ready to eat? No. 
5:20am - Eliana continues to make noise.  I lay awake in bed listening to her.  Is she ever going to want to eat again?
5:32am - I fall asleep.
5:44am - Eliana cries.  I jump out of bed.  Time to eat!

Fun with Dad

The bobby is perfect for baby holding while playing the Xbox.

Both smiling!

It has been so warm this week!  I took Eliana out for a ride in the stroller on Monday.  We went downtown to check out the Super Bowl festivities with my friend Deanna and her baby Leo.  Today David and I took Eliana out for a walk down the cultural trail after he got home from school.  David is even wearing shorts!  Can you believe it is February?  We're loving the outdoor time!

By the way, we finally have the date of Eliana's baptism confirmed.  Her baptism is going to be Sunday, February 19th after the 11am mass at St. John's.  After the sacrament, everyone is welcome to join us for a party in the basement of the rectory.  Eliana is soon going to be the newest member of the Catholic Church!

One month old!

My shirt says "I love Grandma this much!"

Don't want your picture taken with mommy?

One month pictures!

Happy February!

Is that a smile?

Our little pelican's favorite position - with her head completely to the side.

Her other favorite position - resting on my arm with her neck extended.

Eliana spit up a ton all over herself so we gave up on clothes.  Naked cloth diaper time!

Looking really cute after her bath!

Yesterday we went to the breastfeeding support group again.  Eliana weighs a whopping 11 lbs 3.4oz!  She was bigger than the little girl we were sitting next to who was 11 weeks old.  The other moms were very impressed.  :)

David went back to school today.  He started his ICU rotation at Methodist Hospital.  It has been so nice this past month having him home all the time.  He is so good with her.  For example, this morning, David held Eliana out in extended arms and took her on a "flying exploration" of the apartment.  He showed her the laundry room, the kitchen, the windows, and even his treasure chest.  How sweet is that?  Eliana and I both missed him during the day, and David came home saying he had been thinking about Eliana all day.  It sure is different at home when the only person you can make conversation with only responds with grunts and pterodactyl sounds. 

I can definitely tell that Eliana is getting older.  She is alert much more of the time.  She has also gotten better at entertaining herself.  I can place her in her bouncy seat and she will sit there looking around for 15 minutes or more before she cries.  She stares at our faces a lot like she is trying to memorize them.  And the best part is she is sleeping more at night!  For the past four nights in a row, she has slept for about 5 hours straight when we first lay her down.  I'm loving the sleep; I hope she keeps it up!