Eliana is 8 Months Old!

Oh the many faces of Eliana!

Teething and More...

Eliana is a funny girl. She prefers her bananas squished, not pureed. She had been fighting eating a lot lately. Her lips would close tight and eating went from a ten minute activity to double or triple that with a hope that half of the normal amount of food went in. On Sunday morning I was feeding her bananas when I felt a tooth coming in. I was so excited that I woke up Kyle so that he could feel them too. I realized later that day that she wasn't getting one tooth but both of her middle bottom teeth! It is very hard to see her teeth for two reasons. One, they are barely there. Two, when you push her bottom lip down, she automatically sticks her tongue out. :)

We went to Bakersfield on Feb. 12th for Pop Pop's Surprise 80th birthday party. That night Eliana was up every hour at least once because of congestion. She hasn't figured out how to breath out of her mouth yet, so a plugged nose meant she couldn't get air. Thus, neither of us got much sleep. It was hardly better the following night. On Monday, we went to the doctor and found out that, on top of the congestion, she has an ear infection. She had her first real fever that afternoon. There is nothing quite as scary for me being a new mom as my baby being sick. The meds helped and the fever broke some time in the middle of the night. It took a little bit, but she is good to go now!

Things Eliana is good at:

1. Smiling

2. Singing

3. Being giddy with glee when her daddy comes home

4. Pinching. Ouch!

5. Waking up once a night between 2-5 to feed (at least it is down to once a night!)

6. Going to bed between 7 and 8:30

7. Napping without having to be rocked!!! This is new over the past 2 weeks! I still swaddle her and lay her in her swing, but she is awake when I set her down and then falls asleep on her own. I'll be trying the crib again soon!

8. Standing while holding onto my fingers

9. Sitting unassisted

10. Scooting backwards on her tummy

11. Entertaining herself for longer periods of time

12. Making people (including strangers) smile

13. Greeting the day with joy

Eliana is getting BIG!!!

7.5 months old

First Car Trip, 2 days old

7.5 Month Old

3 days old

7.5 Months Old

5 days old

6 days old

7.5 Months Old

Grass

The weather has been nice, so a few days ago Eliana and I went on an adventure outside. I thought, "Hey, the grass would be a really nice backdrop!" Below are some of my thoughts during the photo session.

Sun. Huh. Too bright. Relocate.

Now only if I could get Eliana to look this way.

Oh boy. She have found the biggest toy in her eyes ever. Grass.

Awe, yes! One looking at me! Maybe I'll move her onto the blanket and see if I can get her to look at me and smile at the same time.

Well, she sure is smart. Just like she gets the toys she wants my pulling the blanket at home. Now she pulls the blanket to get to the grass.

Even trying to lay her down, she maneuvered to get to the grass.

Overall thoughts: Photo day: not so good. Exploration day: AMAZING!!!

Discouraged

Today I left Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) discouraged. BSF is from 9-11. It is during Eliana's morning nap time. Normally I can make it through discussion time and part of the lecture before I'm called to the nursery to help Eliana relax. Today I only made it through half of the discussion time. Eliana doesn't sleep well in public anymore. She doesn't tend to sooth for anyone other than me most of the time. Three weeks ago, I was able to rock her in the foyer and get her to sleep. This worked well since I the lecture is put on the speakers in the hallway. Last week she stayed up and wouldn't sleep. This week I almost got her to sleep, but it during the transition from the discussion groups to the lecture part. Eliana is a curious little one. She wanted to see where all of the ladies were going. Several of them stopped to talk to her and say sweet things like, "She is precious.", "Oh, what a joy you have there.", "Look at those big brown eyes.", "Look, she smiled at me." I was trying to take those words of encouragement, but inside I was wishing she was in the nursery and I was heading to hear the lecture without the distraction of my wee 7 1/2 month old. I realized that I wasn't really getting to hear the lecture with Eliana fussing here and there and wanting to explore. So, I decided we needed to leave early. Sigh. While back in the nursery, one of the helpers was singing, "Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not fear, for I am with you. Isaiah 41:10"

After a tearful and loud ride home, I fed Eliana and she is now sleeping in her crib! Yes, I did say crib! I don't know if it will be a long nap or not, but at least it is a continued effort to get her to sleep there rather than in her swing. I went in search for food for lunch. I was discouraged enough to consider skipping lunch and taking a nap. Eliana didn't sleep great last night, and I'm a bit wiped out from the night wakings. I then realized that napping first would create a bigger problem later if I didn't have a good milk supply for Eliana. I considered calling a friend or family matter to relay my day, but the helper's song came back to mind. I didn't need encouragement

from a friend or relative. I needed help from the Lord. I got out my journal and wrote all of Isaiah 41:10.

Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. NKJ version

Isaiah wrote this after he has told the Israelites that they will be captured by the Babylonians for decades. God had warned the people to come back to Him, and they had ignored Him. Now they were going to face devastating consequences. But, God would not leave them during their captivity. He would be with them and bring them back to Israel.

I meditated on God's word and prayed for Him to be with my discouraged heart. I lifted up family members who are going through a hard time. I thanked God for Kyle. When I was done, my level of distress was lifted.

Eliana woke up while I was typing. On to the next challenge/opportunity for growth I go.

A Nice Monday

It was unseasonably warm on Monday. A sign we passed on the way to the park said it was 69 degrees!!! It was perfect walking weather.

Don't you just love bright blue skies? I know I do!!!

Here is Eliana enjoying the ride. I love that our stroller has an adjustable shade. Depending upon the light, I am able to move it and protect her peach fuzz.

I love finding treasures along the way that many people will miss because they are too busy to look around.

If you look really carefully, you'll see a bird flying high. You may have an easier time spotting said bird if you click on the picture:)

For Uncle Michael and Aunt Marcie

Aunt Marcie sent us curtains for Eliana's room. They aren't all the way up, but we did find the curtain rod yesterday.

Uncle Michael is a major fan of the Steelers, thus Kyle accessorized Eliana's bow just for him.

Project Progress

My art project is coming along. I worked on it for only one day two weeks ago. Then I got discouraged staring at it for days. While Eliana is taking an unusually long nap, I got some courage and added to my pastel piece. See the first photo of this project here.

I realized while comparing the piece I did in high school to the one I am working on that I had more color options in the high school art set. Thus, a trip to Michaels was in order. Now with a bit more variety, I am back in business.

Eliana's Thoughts

With Kyle gone in the evenings, I decided to have an evening shoot of Eliana this past Monday. Sometimes I wonder what she is thinking. Here are some possible thoughts.

Woah there mom, you surprised me with that blinding bright light.

See, I don't look quite so surprised when I look slightly sideways.

Um mom, you put the toy out of my range. Was that on purpose? What am I supposed to do? What do you mean "crawl"? I don't know what that word means.

Maybe if I s-t-r-e-t-c-h my fingers I can still get it.

I'm determined to solve this dilemma.

Awe, did you see that mom? I used the ol' pull the blanket trick. It worked again!

Yum. Tastes like plastic!

Lemons

A friend of mine has several orange and lemon trees. Every winter since we moved here, she has graciously shared oranges and a few lemons with us. I look forward to it every December! This year the crop came in January. Her daughter gave me a bag full of oranges. They were grabbed among other bags on the way to Bible study. Upon viewing we realized we had a bad of lemons instead of oranges. Lemons are nice, but I had no idea what to do with a whole bag of them. So, I gave a bunch to Rachel and endeavored to make lemon bars from scratch.

We don't have a pastry blender. To be honest, I didn't even know what a pastry blender was until Kyle found a picture of it in the index of our Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. The recipe said, "Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs." I didn't know what it meant to "cut in butter" either. SO, I melted the butter just a wee bit so that it wouldn't take five years to "cut it" in. I then figured a pizza cutter would do the trick. When I was done, it looked like "course crumbs" to me.

Isn't sugar cool? It reminds me of snowflakes.

I was going for an in motion shot of me mixing the lemon mixture. Have you ever tried to take a picture with your not dominate hand? Well, since that wasn't working for me, I then had to mix with my not dominate hand (also hard to do). The picture isn't quite as cool as I hoped, but you can see traces of movement if you look carefully.

Kyle and I bought a sifter just for this recipe:) Powdered sugar heaven. You see, I had glanced at the ingredients and it said "sifted powdered sugar", not just plain ol' powdered sugar. Oh no, "sifted". I guess it would have been a good idea to look at the recipe too, then I would have realized I needed a pastry blender. Oh well, I think my pizza cutter did just fine.

Did you know that if you leave powdered sugar on a gooey surface, it will dissolve into gooey surface within a day? No one told me that! AH! They still taste good though. I'm not a huge fan of lemon bars, but Kyle loved them!!!