SEVEN months old

Better late than never, right? Time has gotten away from me. The past month has been a crazy one with all of the sickness, doctor's visits, and hospital stays. I can not believe you are seven months old, Eli. Why is it that it seemed like it took FOREVER for me to reach that point in my pregnancy with you, but you have reached this point in your life so quickly? Each day Daddy and I come to realize more and more how our lives are but a mist here on this Earth. You bring us so much joy each day and we love you with everything we have!

Firsts: St. Patrick's day, eating "solid" foods (soft bread, spaghetti, macaroni, etc.), taste of milkshake

News headlines: Earthquake/tsunami in Japan, Libyan no fly zone enforced as Libyan citizens rebel against Gadhafi

Milestones: You are going to have a baby GIRL cousin-woohoo!, sitting up really well on your own, second tooth, moved up from Babies I to Babies II at school (although you are rarely in there...you are the assistant director's "pet" and go all over with her!)

Measurements: Size 3 diapers and size 6-9 mth closing (still some 6 mth and already some 9 mth clothes), 19lbs 3 oz, 27.5" long

Like Mommy: You love your sleep! We also both love an after-school nap! And we have the same eyes.

Like Daddy: You LOVE to go outside! You and Daddy have the same laid-back personality.

Challenges: Learning to crawl

Our Days: You're going to bed each night around 9:00ish and you get up when we wake you up around 6-ideally. Here lately you get up once during the night. I think it's just a phase though. Although, I would LOVE to sleep more than four hours at a time. Daddy usually takes you to school and Mommy usually picks you up. You eat before school, take two bottles and rice/cereal + half of a fruit or veggie while you're at school, and then eat two or three more times at home again. You usually have cereal and half of a banana (or some other fruit) before bed. When we're home we play, read stories, and you get a bath (which you LOVE)! You LOVE your jumper, playing peek-a-boo with Daddy, and play on the rug in the kitchen.

Funny/Favorite Moments: Mommy's favorite moments are picking you up from school. I love that smile when I walk in the room to pick you up. Daddy's favorite moments are seeing you splash in the duck (your big boy bathtub).

Nicknames: Squirmy or Squirmy Wormy, Squirms, Squirmy Wormy Doodle All Day, or Sir Squirms/Sir Squirms - A - Lot, , Squirmy McDermy, Doodle Bug, Squirmy Bug, Little Man, Dude, and Buddy.

Upcoming Events: Finding out if your friend, Baby J, is a boy or girl, your girlfriend Abigail being born, your first Easter, and your first trip to the beach...Spring Break '11, wooohooo! : )

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

So we've had quite a few terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days around the Taff house lately. It started two weeks ago with my URI/strep throat/stomach bug issues. Then, I had put the wrong solution in my contact case...long story, but ended up getting the peroxide cleaner (sans neutralizer) in my eye. Let's just say I ended up sitting in the shower letting water run over my face for an hour, a blood red eye, eyes that watered like a fountain, and wearing my glasses for three days. I had to leave work early one day and kept the lights off in my classroom for two days.

THEN, the worst of the days started Thursday night. Eli came home from daycare very fussy and clingy. He had napped most of the day and even napped a couple of hours when we got home. Then, the vomiting and fever started. We were up several times throughout the night with him (sometimes for more than an hour at a time).

We decided Wesley would stay home with Eli. I'm still paying days back from my maternity leave and had missed a day and a half due to illness in the past two weeks. When we woke up Friday morning we noticed that Eli's left eye had turned a pink/purple color and begun to swell.

Here is little man at the doctor Friday morning. The doctor said the eye could have been allergies, early stages of pink eye, or the very early stages of cellulitis. She gave us an antibiotic and children's Claritin.

By the time I got home from work Friday afternoon his eye had gotten worse. The pink/purpleness had spread to the inside of his and down to his cheek. I called the doctor back and she sent us to the Medical Center. Seven months to the day, we were back at the Medical Center to be admitted to the children's ward.

I had to take Eli by myself back Wesley was coaching soccer. He had missed a lot of games/practices due to my illness, so he felt like he needed to be there. As soon as his game ended, he booked it to the hospital. I got Eli checked in, and Aunt Jan came to sit with us so I wouldn't be there alone. I went back with Eli and two nurses to get his iv started. They had a hard time finding good veins because he's so well nourished (their words not mine...although I do appreciate that they didn't call my baby fat like 85% of the rest of the world). Those twenty or so minutes that they worked on Eli were probably the worst thing I've experienced. Eli was SCREAMING (and he's VERY loud when he's mad) and crying, and so was I. They stuck my baby three or four times trying to get a good iv. At one point blood was squirting all over the table. I had to hold his head down while one of the nurses laid on top of his chest so that the second nurse could work on the veins. The nurses kept telling me to sing to him to calm him down, but I had lost it myself. I did NOT like seeing my baby hurt. I know it was for his good and to make him better, but he was scared and in pain and it was terrible to watch. All I could manage between my own tears was to kiss his head, tell him it would be ok, and that I loved him. After the longest twenty minutes ever, they finally got a good IV in. As soon as they were done working on my baby, I scooped him up, and he was immediately fine. The crying stopped and he just snuggled up to my chest. It was the best feeling.

Here's my little trooper sitting in the hospital crib. They had to tape and gauze his hand so that he wouldn't knock or pull it out (but that didn't stop him from chewing on his iv!).

Eli's blood work showed that his white blood cell count was nearly 29,000 (and this was after he'd had a day's worth of antibiotics). Dr. Y said that it should have been in the 6,000 count range. His little body sure was fighting hard. We also found out that in addition to the cellulitis, he had a pretty nasty double ear infection. Dr. Y also told us that we were lucky to catch the cellulitis so early. Had we waited even one more day, the whole left side of his face could have been swollen.

We are so thankful for the power of prayer, sweet and caring friends, and of course our family. Eli had so many people praying for him! He also had several visitors stop by to check on him. David and Mallory/Abigail came to see us and brought us supper to. It was so nice to have their company for awhile. It really kept our minds at peace and free from wandering. Aunt Jan, Grandmama (from PC), and Haleigh came by too. Also, my work friend, Sarah, came to check on Eli, and Nana & Puddin' drove up from Dothan. We also had multiple phone calls and texts.

Here's the hospital "crib". It's a little smaller than a twin size bed. Yes, I slept in that bed with Eli Friday night (tried to anyway)..complete with all the sides raised.

Puddin' brought Eli a cowboy hat back from Dallas.

We are home now, continuing the antibiotic, and will be following up with Dr, Y again this week. We've had rough nights (still up often throughout the night), but little man has started smiling again!

Six Month Check-Up

Well, Eli, since tomorrow you will be SEVEN months old (oh my goodness, we're getting closer and closer to a year) I figure I need to blog about your six month check up. Sorry to everyone else, not the most interesting or stimulating post, but it is one of those things we want to remember as a family! Sadly, my camera died at the doctor's office; so no picture!

At this check up you got three shots and an oral vaccination. You didn't do too bad, you stopped crying as soon as mommy picked you up! No more shots/vaccinations until your 12 month appointment.

Your new stats:

weight: 18 lbs 9 oz (honestly, not as much as I expected)

height: 27 1/2"

head circumference: 18"

At the doctor mommy got kudos from Dr. Y for still BF you. You now have fluoride drops you have to take everyday. It's the only thing that's not in breast milk that you now need.

Dr. Y also told us that you can begin to eat soft tablefoods., but it's not entirely necessary yet. You have tried spaghetti noodles (no sauce)-you weren't impressed, and macaroni & cheese-went over better. But you are still not expressing tons of interest in table foods yet. We did get you some cereal puffs, yogurt melts, and teething biscuits and you are a big fan of all of these, especially the yogurt melts!

Mommy cried a little at this appointment too. She told us that humans change and develop more from 6-9 months than they do at any other period in their entire lives. My little baby is not so babyish anymore. Sometimes I can't believe how quickly life happens. I never realized it as much as I do now. We are so, SO thankful to have a healthy, happy, active little boy.

I also learned at this visit a few interesting tidbits. Crawling is not a developmental milestone (some babies won't ever do it, they'll go straight to walking), although you are very close to doing it. After rolling over, the next thing we are looking for is for you to begin pulling yourself up. The other important thing I learned is that you, Eli, are terrified of men with facial hair. You scream if they even look at you. You do this with some of mommy and daddy's friends, but you also did it with the med student who was shadowing Dr. Y at your doctor's appointment. I think you hurt his feelings, haha.

God is so good and we are so thankful for how you are developing. While we are praying for your continued physical development, we also pray for your spiritual development. We love you, Eli!

New Recipes and a Book

I'm slowly getting caught up on blog posts. This past weekend was a really good one for us - we had no plans and it was so nice to sleep in, get caught up on housework (although you can't tell it now...how does that happen so quickly?), and just laze around the house. Sunday afternoon I made a batch of chicken salad to eat on for lunch all week. I'm incredibly picky about my chicken salad. I've never found one that I like to make.

Chicken Salad in the Food Processor:

1 lb cooked chicken (chop in food processor)

3 stalks chopped celery (chop in food processor)

1/2 c. roasted pecans or almonds (chop in food processor)-i used pecans

1/4 c. honey

3/4 c. mayo

1 tsp. salt (I left this out altogether)

1/4 c. cranberries, or chopped grapes (didn't have any so I left it out)

This was sooo good. It was even better after it had sat overnight!

I also made red beans & rice with spicy sausage. This was so easy and made a yummy dinner. I just cooked some white rice. In a separate skillet I browned some pecan crusted, jalepeno sausage. Once that looked good, I partially drained a can of red beans and added those to the skillet, along with some cajun seasoning. Once that's done, just mix it all together! Wesley really enjoyed this. The sausage wasn't too spicy at all, not like I expected and intended it to be, but it made for good flavor.

This weekend I also got some reading done!

I had intended to save this book for Spring Break reading, but I picked it up and then couldn't put it down. Heaven is for Real was a very good book! Whether it is completely true, I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think it's for me to judge. I will tell you this though. There has been a lot of sadness lately. Not in my immediate, personal life, but just in general it seems like. This post by a friend pretty much sums up all that's been in my head lately. After reading this book, I just long for heaven even more. I highly recommend it for you to read also!

Safe & Sound

I came across this sweet, sweet song earlier this week. It's an older song, so you may have heard it before, but it reminds me of Eli (and all of the friends we have who are having/adopting babies right now). I'm just amazed, awed, and humbled that God chose me to be his mommy - my greatest honor.

Still Here, and BIG NEWS!

Long time, no blog. It's been a long two weeks around the Taff house. Two weeks ago I started feeling blah. I attributed it to my sinuses. By the end of last week I even felt like I was hearing everything underwater. I made it through the week. Friday night I had Bunco and was really looking forward to it. I got a babysitter for Eli (Wesley had soccer) and went on. By the time I went to bed on Friday I was feeling a lot better. Saturday morning I got up and my eye was swollen and matted together. I washed my face, but could still only open my eye halfway. I just put my glasses on and went on to the baby shower that I'd been planning to go to. By the time I got home at noon I was feeling terrible and my stomach was starting to hurt. I took a 'nap' (ahem, slept for five hours), woke up and that's when the vomiting started. It continued for the next three days. Sometimes as many as eleven times a day. I was miserable to say the least. I could keep nothing down, not even liquids. I was terribly dehydrated (which is even a bigger problem than it would be by itself considering I'm still feeding Eli). Wesley took me to the doctor and it turned out to be strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. Apparently a certain strain of strep can have bad stomach problems associated with it. I don't wish that on anyone. It was terrible. I stayed home from work on Monday, and probably should have on Tuesday too, but we have testing coming up and I needed to be there. Even back at work, there were days that I was so weak and could only stomach applesauce. I lost four pounds thanks to strep throat.

Good news is I'm finally feeling better. I think a weekend of rest and sticking around the house will really do me good! Hopefully I can update this blog this weekend, because I have lots of stuff to share.

But, are you ready for the BIG NEWS?

I'm going to be an aunt to a BABY GIRL!!!! Woo hoo!!! My sister and brother-in-law are expecting in July. I can't wait to be an aunt and spoil this little girl! I already love her so much! Caitlin and Clark live in TX, and we don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like to, but we're headed West in June, and then again in July for baby girl's birth!

Adios, and happy weekend!

Six Months Old

Can it really have already been half a year? I can't believe you are six months old already. You have brought SO MUCH JOY into our lives in such a short time! We are crazy about you, Eli Taff!

Firsts: tooth, rolling over back to tummy, soccer game, Valentine's Day, school pictures, first time for Mommy & Daddy claiming a dependent on their taxes-haha!

News headlines: "Al from Dadeville" (Harvery Updyke) poisons Toomers Oaks, Egypt, Libya, Algeria - political/civil unrest, the Greenbay Packers win Superbowl XLV, gas is currently $3.19/gallon - the highest it's been in your lifetime

Milestones: you finally broke a tooth, you are rolling all over the place, we discovered you do NOT like sweet potatoes, you have tried and like squash, you are bouncing like crazy in your exercsaucer jumper, you now pull glasses off of faces, giving the kitty the boot.

Measurements: We go to the doctor in a few weeks, but we're guessing just over 18 pounds. You are in size 6 months clothes, and still a few 3-6 mth clothes. You can wear some size 2 diapers; sometimes you wear size 3 diapers, but they're still a little big.

Like Mommy: You love your sleep! We also both love an after-school nap!

Like Daddy: You LOVE to go outside! You and Daddy have the same laid-back personality.

Challenges: Teething, boogers, and trying to crawl

Our Days: You're going to bed each night between 8:30-9:00ish and you get up when we wake you up around 6. You eat before school, take two-three bottles and rice/cereal + half of a fruit or veggie while you're at school, and then eat two or three more times at home again. You usually have cereal and half of a banana before bed. When we're home we play, read stories, and you get a bath (which you LOVE)! You LOVE to jump and play on the rug in the kitchen.

Funny/Favorite Moments: Mommy's favorite moments are every day. I love how you've grown our family. You are so much fun. I love holding you, watching you explore, playing with you, watching you interact with family and friends...everything!

Daddy's favorite moment was seeing you at his soccer game!

Nicknames: Squirmy or Squirmy Wormy, Squirms, Squirmy Wormy Doodle All Day, or Sir Squirms/Sir Squirms - A - Lot, , Squirmy McDermy, Doodle Bug,Little Man, Dude, and Buddy.

Upcoming Events: Finding out if you will have a baby boy cousin or baby girl cousin!

We love you SO MUCH, Eli! I say it all the time, but I can't believe how big you are! These six months have been the best ever (but are going by just a bit too fast)!

Tree Hugger

One of Auburn's many traditions is Toomer's Corner. This is where the edge of campus meets downtown Auburn. There are two beAUtiful oak trees that stand here, circa late 1800s.

(This was taken just after the tree had been rolled...and then cleaned again...after winning the National Championship. The last time we saw the tree before 'the incident.')

After any Auburn win, it is tradition to roll Toomer's corner. We have been here MANY times to celebrate victories

.

My entire family has so many pictures here. It's a bit of a family tradition too, I suppose.

Wesley and Rebecca, post Iron Bowl-2005

Wesley and Rebecca, graduation-2007

Wesley and Rebecca, post Iron Bowl victory-2007

Caitlin and Clark, 2011

(I even have pictures at Toomer's Corner in my wedding dress...mom, could you email me those pictures, please?!)

If you're from anywhere around here, you've heard about the poisioning of the Toomer's oaks. Even if you're not, you may have seen it on Headline News or SportsCenter. "Al from Dadeville" aka Harvey Updyke got himself into some big trouble. Yes, it is sad and disheartening that a fan from the other school would do this (no, not hating on all Bama fans, there are some good ones out there), and it is sad that these trees have been here for 130+ years and potentially may no more be, but the truly sad thing is there is not more to life than a college rivalry for this man.

Sunday we decided to take a road trip to Auburn to see the trees for ourselves and get Eli's picture made one more time in front of the trees. I hope that one day he too gets to experience the thrill of rolling Toomer's Corner.

Toomer's Corner, Nov. 2010

Toomer's Corner, Feb. 2011

Lately

So I am behind on my blogging. My sister pointed it out to me. Don't worry, Caitle. Eli's 6 month blog post will be coming soon!

This past weekend FLEW by! We had such a good time. Aunt KT came into town late Wednesday night and stayed through the weekend. All four grandparents also came to visit. Eli was thoroughly and sufficiently spoiled! : )

Here are the Taff's before Laura & Jim's wedding (which was SOO pretty, by the way). Someone got a picture at the reception. I'm not sure if it was Aunt KT or Pops, but I'll have to get it.

We officially have spring fever here. Just five weeks (after this week) until Spring Break! We're headed to Daytona Beach and can't wait! Little man is READY! Nana got him some shades and Ginny got him a swimsuit, shirt, and hat!