Sleepless in Knoxville.

Man oh man. Babies are tiring exhausting. For the past twelve weeks, I have crashed into bed around midnight after our little night owl decides he's had enough fun for one day and can finally turn in. I read about two lines of a book and I'm out. Before I know it, I hear a little fussing going on and it's morning. "Morning" is a bit of a stretch though, b/c that could mean 4:30, 5:30, or 6:15. I also seem to be honored to share my bed with a man who can sleep through ANYTHING...be it storms, barking dogs, a wife pushing him back over to his side, 2 alarms clocks, or yes, a crying baby.

Granted, he has to get up and go to work, and I can stay in my p.j.s all day if I want...which happens quite frequently lately (don't tell anyone). It's a good thing I have a super adorable child who smiles at me all the time. :)

http://internetcafedevotions.com/

This devotion was addressed to me this morning. Here I am grumbling about no sleep, when in reality, I am probably getting more sleep than many other mommas with other 12 week old babies. I still need to learn to depend on God for EVERYTHING, even energy.

Happy Father's Day.

Successful Career Man.

Avid Hunter.

Enthusiatic Fisherman.

Guitar Player.

Volunteer Fan.

Now? Baby Cuddler.

Food Giver.

Soother of cries.

Giver of Daddy Hugs.

Wow. This Father's Day takes on a whole new meaning, just like Mother's Day did. This man I met 6 years ago has transformed from boyfriend, to fiance, to husband, best friend, and now a daddy to our son. You are already an amazing daddy, and just get better every day.

I love how you change a diaper. Sometimes nothing is hotter than seeing you covered in spit-up, pee, and poo all at the same time. I love how you know how feed our baby, pick out his outfits, and how you get on his play mat with him to shake a toy in his face.

I love how you sing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "I'm in the Lord's Army". I love how you look with a Boppy wrapped around your middle while our son sleeps safely in your arms.

I love how you want to hold Eli in public because you want to show him off. I love the smile you get when someone says he's starting to look like you.

I can't wait for you to teach him how to do all the things your father taught you, and your grandfather taught him. Like how to hunt and fish. But more importantly, how to pray, respect his momma, and be Christ-like.

I love you sweet husband, and am so proud of the daddy you already are. I can't wait to have three more babies with you. I love being your wife and your baby mama.

Praying for my Marriage.

With that post title, one might think my marriage is in trouble...it's not. I'm ridiculously in love with my hot hubby. However, I think one's marriage is always somewhat in trouble. Meaning, I think there are so many distractions and temptations and attacks on marriages that it's important to always fight for my marriage. Right now, my life is FULL of distractions. There's work outside and inside the home, raising an infant, cleaning house, taking care of pets, managing our time well, cooking dinner, grocery shopping, running errands, television, etc. All of these things sometimes take precedence over other things, namely, my relationship with my hubby. I try to do a little devotional each morning while Eli takes his morning nap ( at 8:00 a.m. mind you, b/c yes, we're up at 6:30). My go to place is this website. Today's devotion struck a chord with me. I need to pray more fervently for my marriage and my hubby. I need to pray with a purpose, not just "Bless our marriage". Go check out that link; it's a good one. I even wrote them all down so I can carry these prayer reminders with me.

http://internetcafedevotions.com/2010/06/praying-for-our-marriages/



And because blogs aren't any fun without pictures:

1 year wedding anniversary in our apt.

2 year wedding anniversary in Tybee Island, Ga

1st 4th of July as a married couple.

A hot hubby with a sweet baby.

A sweet baby with a fat belly.

Total Hotty.

Three years ago today, I woke up from a night of sleepless tossing and turning to a beautifully hot summer morning in Franklin, Tennessee. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and a slight breeze was in the air. I headed off to finish decorating the church and the reception site, and every second thought about the commitment and the fun we would be having that same night.

(Bouquets we made ourselves)

Hot Hubby and I met in college through friends, and within 6 months, knew we were going to get married someday. Today was the day.

(Recurling my hair for the 100,000,000th time)

We did most of the wedding ourselves and with the help of very talented family and friends. We created decorations, Made our bouquets and centerpieces, strung lights, printed invites, etc.

(Gosh. I love him.)

We got married at our church and danced the night away in a marketplace...yep, basically a huge wooden pavillion...with no air conditioning. It is found in an old factory turned swanky shopping center in our hometown. We rented giant fans instead and made our guests sweat.

(Staring into the sun our future)

(Nervous look one.)

(Nervous look two.)

(Cutest. Ringbearers. Ever. entertaining themselves with string.)

These little guys are Hot Hubby's cousin's kids, and they perfect. They smiled for all the posed pictures, and stood on the stage for I'm sure what seemed like an eternity to them. They were bored silly, but were perfect.

(Can you see it? That's major love right there.)

My mom made my veil and I l.o.v.e. it. My sister-in-law wore it in her wedding too.

(Our amazing, beautiful, fun bridal party.)

Almost every single person in our party was either family or a friend we have known since we were in elementary school. They were a lively crew. We're blessed.

We walked around the square in our downtown and took pictures. People honked. People shouted congrats. People were happy for us.

(Gorgeous, delicious home-made cake versing Jesus...thanks Deborah!)

Mmmmm, layered strawberry cake and white cake with home-made frosting...the ring-bearers momma made this one. Not only does she birth cute babies, but she bakes too!

(Dancing and sweating our booties off.)

Can you guess this song?

(Off to Mexico!)

Here we are trying to dodge flames from our sparklers. We survived.

Three years later, we have started careers, moved towns, bought our first house, and started a family--first with a cat, then two dogs, and now our beautiful baby boy I really cannot begin to tell how thankful and blessed I am to have this man in my life. He is patient, kind, generous, thoughtful, and sweet. He never lets me forget that he loves me and he is already an amazing daddy to our sweet boy. He loves God and loves his family. What else? Oh yeah, he's a total hotty.

Family Fun

On a happier note, last weekend we traveled to Nashville to celebrate my cousin's high school graduation. He graduated from the same all boy's school that my hot hubby did, so it was neat to go stroll run through the rain around campus and show Eli point to places from inside the dry, hot building where his daddy went to school and was an all-star basketball player.

( my mom first tried to hide behind that cute boy, but I made her show her face!)

Cousin Neil a.k.a. the big graduate                                        Cousin Kaitlin a.k.a. gorgeous girl

Who Knew?

At 10 weeks old, Eli weighs 12 pounds (50% ) and is 24 inches long (79%). We have a tall boy!

I figured it out. Motherhood means your heart is no longer inside of you; it's outside wherever my little boy is. And my little boy is not feeling too hot. I thought I was prepared for his vaccinations and I put on my big girl pants and held my little boy's arms down while they pricked his precious chubby thighs...three times. The look on his face immediately brought tears to my eyes. and then the screaming. oh goodness, tears were rolling down my face then. I didn't know I would react like that, but I just knew my sweet boy was shocked and hurting, and there went my heart.

The rest of the day was pretty miserable for my little man. He refused to sleep, mainly b/c he was miserable. His eyes were half open and he moaned for hours. The doctor told us to try to not give him any tylenol b/c someone out there thinks it might reduce the effectiveness of the vaccines, but I couldn't stand it any longer. My baby was exhausted and miserable, and I felt so bad for him. We gave him some tylenol around 9, and tried to convince him to eat a little something, and then he conked out at 10. He slept all night until 7, and woke up happy. I thought he was fine, and took him for a morning walk. Around 11, he became miserable again...and hot. My poor baby had a low fever. The moaning began again.

So, I started looking up alternative vaccination schedules. I'm thinking of following the Dr. Sears' schedule where he will still get all of the vaccines, but will only get the most pertinent ones for him right now. Does he really need Polio and Hepatitus B right now? Nope. I know they are all probably very important, but I also know my baby was miserable. And my heart broke. And he's still not feeling very well. Anyone else look into alternative vaccination schedules?

Our 2 Month Schedule

Well, I awhile back I did our newborn schedule, and our daily routine has changed a bit since then. Eli usually wakes up between 5-6, and after a quick feeding, sleeps for about an hour. Then he wakes up around 7, and I bring him to bed with me. I feed him again, and he will fall back asleep until 9 or so. Sometimes I go back to sleep with him. When he wakes up again, you guessed it, I feed him again, and then we play for awhile. This usually means he flails around on his play mat, and then we try a little tummy time, which he loathes. He usually tries once or twice to lift his head, and then he will just lay there for the remainder of the time, or start to cry.

( bad quality- taken with phone)
Around 10-11, Eli gets a bath, which he loves now. He will just hang out in the warm water and relax while we sing songs. He tries to squirm his way down into the water so his whole body is covered, but I won't let him b/c then his mouth gets in the water.

Sometime around noon, we either go run an errand or two, or we go on a walk. I need the sunshine and the workout!

Most days, he will take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon, sometimes earlier or later, just depending. He is then awake most of the night, where Daddy and I take turns hanging out with him while the other one tries to get some stuff done ( I shower!, get dinner ready, let husband grill dinner, do laundry with two hands!, etc.).

He may take a 20-30 minute snooze around 6 or so, but then he's up and ready to party until about 10. I give his his last feeding around then, and we can usually put him to bed around 11 or so. Then Hot Hubby and I get about 6 glorious hours of sleep!

Sometimes he will have an off-night, and I will get up around 3 or so, but for the most part, I can't complain! I'm going to enjoy these nights, b/c I hear it gets worse again when they start teething! We go to the doctor again on June 7th for the dreaded shots and 2 month check-up, and I can't wait to see what he weighs and how long he is...he's got his momma's long legs for sure!