Strike

So, Elleanor has not nursed since yesterday afternoon. And, during those nursings, she began biting. She'd bite, look up at me, smile, and then bite again. I told her no. And then, last night, she wouldn't nurse. Would scream when I tried to nurse, it was horrible She nursed last night, in her sleep, but then this morning, wouldn't have any of it. All day she had pumped milk at daycare and then, when I got home and all night long, she screamed when I try to nurse. From everything I've read, she's on a nursing strike. Why? I think she has some back teeth coming in? Because we traveled this weekend? Because I didn't nurse her as much this weekend as I normally do? Because I'm a bad mom? One thing I know for sure, from everything I read, babies don't normally wean before 18 - 24 months. So, I'm fairly confident that it is a strike and that hopefully, in a few days, she'll return to my happy nursing baby. If not, I'll just have to pump?

This is totally sad and I am not ok with it. It's bad enough that Elle's walking, motoring around the house, and way too busy to be baby, but she needs to nurse. That was my last hold on her being a baby. Ok, I'm off to cry.

Sometimes I upload too many pictures.

In an effort to please Grandpa Con, here's a bunch of Elleanor pictures.

Don't mind the same outfit/different picture issue I have. I just love all her pictures. I want to show them all to you. Even if it's the exact same outfit, exact same day, exact same time, but DIFFERENT FACE! IT'S A DIFFERENT FACE, BRYAN! YES, I KNOW I JUST TOOK 12 PICTURES OF HER BUT HER FACES ARE ALL DIFFERENT AND ALL CUTE IN ALL 12 PICTURES!

Ok, sorry about that.

Haley had a sleep over, here's Elle eating breakfast with the big girls. Totally cute.

The Weight of a Mother's Love

Today I officially have gained the understanding of what it is to be a mom. While out shopping this afternoon Elle choked on one of her crackers. I have to tell the whole story, just to get it out, so that I can process and move on. It was probably the scariest moment of my life.

Bryan, Elle, and I were in the dressing room. We had been giving Elle her puffs and some small crackers to munch on while we got dressed. I walked out to look in the mirror and she began to cry, wanting to walk out with me. Bryan held her in the room, I came back, she began to walk towards me and then started to cough. I patted her back and let her cough but she kept coughing. The cough began to get worse, turning into more of a gagging, and that's when I panicked. I picked her up, when to Bryan and said, she's choking. He took her and knew exactly what to do. Mouth sweeps, put her on her belly at a downward angle, etc. I, on the other hand, began to have a meltdown. I started to shake, cry, I was telling him we needed to call 911 (she was still crying/coughing) and, on top of dealing with the baby, Bryan kept assuring me that she was ok because she was making noise. He then did another sweep, really stuck his finger down her throat, felt the cracker, and was able to push it down. She made a gagging sound, and then, once he was sure it was through, he sat her up. I was still not ok. I began to cry even harder. The sense of not being able to help her was too much. The feeling of complete and utter helplessness was too heavy. How do mothers who have lost children do it? How do mothers who have sick babies do it? The strength they have is amazing.

After it was over with, I became very disappointed in myself. What would have happened if Bryan wasn't there? Would I have known what to do? I knew to do mouth sweeps, but that was it. I pretty much grazed over the rest of the information we learned regarding infant CPR.

I looked up infant choking procedure on WebMDs website. It's not as thorough as I'd like, but I now have a better understanding and handle on how to deal with this situation if I am ever faced with it again.

Phew. I am exhausted.

Hug your babies.

Terrible Twos?

All I have to say is HOLY CRAP for the past week or so I could of sworn that I had a 2 year old and not a 10 month old! Elleanor is amazing AMAZING at throwing temper tantrums! And, since she's my first, I asked Bryan if maybe she has some sort of an anger issue?

Example: She's trying to stand up from a crawl position and is standing on her dress, making it hard for her to stand up, she screams, SCREAMS! and grunts in frustration until she figures out why the H she can't stand up.

Example 2: Changing her diaper. Nope. No can do. In her head she hears: the most horrible thing EVER. And lets you know she doesn't want to cooperate. Multiple other examples. But it was becoming a little annoying/exhausting. She also wasn't eating. Still nursing, but not eating. And then, yesterday, it all stopped. She regained her title as "The Happiest Baby in the World". Thank goodness! I honestly had a sit down conversation with Bryan the night before she returned to the normal Elleanor about only having one baby. "It's too much" I said. "I cannot deal with this behavior, what happens when she turns two, I heard it's the two's that are bad!" But, now that she's back to her old self, eating, and smiling, and laughing, and hugging and kissing mommy the option of more babies is back on the table. Just not for a looong looong looong time. :-)

Con? No...

So, Elle looks like my dad.

Sigh......................

The song from The Little Mermaid is playing in my head "...you poor unfortunate soul..."

The resemblance is uncanny in these pictures. This is exactly how Con looks when he wakes up in the morning. Pink onsie and all. The only difference is the highchair.

10 Months

Elle turned 10 months old on Tuesday!

What happened to my baby?!?

Nursery Update and a Cry for Help!

Very little, ok, no progress has been made on the nursery. Not for lack of trying, but more due to the fact that I have a mobile 10 month old who dislikes sleeping. That's my life in a nutshell, the end. Thanks for coming by.

Kidding.

So, I need your help. Remember when I talked about the complete lack of taste that the previous inhabitants of this house had? Tacky paint colors. Tacky wall paper. Well, my friends, behold, this magnificent, wonderful, beautiful piece of ceiling fan decor.

Yup. Someone spent actual money on this thing. And, it does not come off. And, as I stated, I have a very small budget. One that cannot accommodate a new ceiling fan. Here's where you come in... what suggestions/tips/advice to you have on how to cover this? I'm thinking of some form of a fabric billowy/hippy-ish thing. I don't know. Obviously I am not a decorator. But I do know one thing. This ceiling fan is NOT OK.




Here are a few other items I have for the nursery:


Cute basket matching the colors of bedding and painting. I love me some baskets.

I picked this painting up at a home decor store. What do you think of it? Is it suitable for a nursery? Too 'old person'-ish? (Sorry Con).

I thought the flowers worked with the bedding. No? Yes?



I'll post pictures of my frames later.



And just to make you smile. Here's a cute picture. A fashion statement that only Elleanor can pull off.