3 months going on 1 year!

As I write this, Eli is napping in his crib, by himself for the first time ever. Maybe I'm behind the times, maybe I'm ahead.. I'm not really sure. But I felt like it was time to transition him to his crib and also start him on a daily napping schedule. To date Eli falls asleep when Eli wants to through out the day. In my arms, on the couch, in his beanbag, in the carseat, basically where ever is convenient and comfortable. There really isn't a problem with this other than that I get nothing done because I'm too busy staring at his precious little self <3 Seriously.. I can't get over how much I LOVE this baby! I also can't get over how quickly this little man of mine is growing up. Time has flown by and crawled at a snails pace all at the same time.

love these boys

New in the world of Mr. Eli this month:
>> Enjoys sitting in his bumbo
>> LOVES sucking his hands
>> Loves to blow bubbles
>> Has realized that his tongue is fun to play with
>> Has moved on into 6-9 month clothes (I'm pretty sure he never even wore half of his 3-6 month outfits)
>> Roles tummy to back all the time, and has done back to tummy once
>> He wants to chew on EVERYTHING... hands, clothes, toys, towels, pacifiers, etc
>> Attended is first college class/potluck
>> Loves to try to stand up when we are helping him
>> Is "talking" a ton, and on the verge of belly laughs!
>> Weighs 14 lbs 9.5 oz

It is amazing to see how quickly he changes and grows over night! I feel like every morning I wake up to a new baby. This whole being a Mom job, is by far my  favorite one, but it doesn't come without it's stressful moments, and overwhelming times. It is amazing how much stress our society puts on mothers these days. I was talking with friends about how you can't even leave your child in the car for 1 minute while you run to put a movie in Redbox otherwise child services or the police will be informed of your failure to "parent" properly.. We are constantly told that we are not doing something right whether it is the age we chose to move our babies from the bassinet to the crib or letting the baby sleep in the swing. I receive so much encouragement from other Mamas that are going through the same thing, and older people who I'm sure completely parented us wrong according to current standards (our parents made us sleep on our tummy or side? What were they thinking??). It is so important to not base how you are doing on society's standards. You don't have to eat organic vegetarian all the time to be healthy. You can actually go against the flow, and maybe your children will turn out fine just like all of us did. I think we focus on things that in the grand scheme are so minor, but forget to focus on what may have a huge affect in the future. How do we love our spouse, family or friends? How do we treat people when we disagree with them? Do we encourage or tear down people who are doing something "wrong"?

Sometimes I feel like I am SO different from everybody I go to school with, and it can feel exciting and strange at the same time.. I am one of 2 people married in a group of about 100 students I sit in class with. I am the ONLY one with a child,  and I have had people say "I would drop out of I was married and had a kid." However I am encouraged that Jesus didn't give up and quite because he was "different". He was the strange one because of what he said and did, how he loved people unconditionally, and trusted even when times were confusing and tough. Going to class and being a mom is HARD WORK! But trusting that God holds me, my future, and my family in his hands gives me strength and encouragement to keep pressing on.

Lemonade from lemons

The last 2 weeks have been one hit after another with our cars! We had the oil changed on our cars and an inspection done. Turns out Jason's car needs all sorts of things done with his brakes. We kind of had an idea, but I guess were trying to not think about it. We luckily were blessed by my parents with their car to drive while they are in Hawaii. We had no idea just how grateful we would be for that car! We parked Jason's car and were planning on driving the Expedition and Subaru for a while (untill we sell Jason's car). Wednesday night Jason was driving back from Greeley where he works and the subaru started smoking from the hood! After having to get it towed and getting it checked out, we found out that the radiator had cracked. $475 was the quote given to us by the repair shop to replace the radiator and hoses... WHAT?!?! I did a little research and found out a new radiator only cost $130... Really car repair shop?? $345 for an hour worth of labor? Crazy right? So we bought a tow strap, hooked the car up to the Expedition and hauled it across town in 15 degree temps on icy roads to a friends house. Luckily it was dark so we didn't see any of the nasty looks people were giving us as they passed our little rig going 15 mph :/ We made it safely and left the car to be dealt with the next day. On our drive back we passed a bunch of guys trying to push their truck out of the snow that had gotten plowed up around it. Considering that we had a big vehicle and a tow strap we decided to turn around and pull them out. 5 minutes later we were all on our way in our warm unstuck cars! The next day Jason and our friend opened up my car and did surgery on the radiator. Now we have 2 functioning cars again!
Feeling a little stressed with the big expense of having to fix my car, and driving across town on icy roads with a car in tow was immediately washed away after pulling the truck out of the snow. And a repair that was going to be $475 ended up costing way less thanks to the help of some great friends! Making lemonade out of lemons is very important to remember. We are constantly presented with situations that can put us in a funk, but looking for the positive side of it really helps big things seem quite a bit smaller. And it sure was fun playing Super Man/ Super Woman with my husband for a few minutes:)

Back to the grindstone..

What a busy and exciting few weeks it has been! Eli is almost 12 weeks old! Where has the time gone? I feel like yesterday my water broke! A few exciting things have been happening with our happy little baby though. First of all, I finally cleaned out his drawers that had 0-3 month outfits in them and we are officially in to 3-6 month clothes.. HE IS NOT EVEN 3 MONTHS OLD YET! I think it is mainly due to his length though.. This munchkin is going to be as tall as his daddy before we know it. Speaking of being tall, he is almost too tall for his bassinet.. Most people move their babies into the crib because it is that time.. Time to get their room back and teach their baby about living in their own room and own bed, however that will not be our excuse. We will be moving Eli to his crib in the next few weeks because his feet are kicking one end and his head is squashed up against the other end of his cozy little bassinet. (not sure how I feel about all of that quite yet:[)

Eli loves stories at bedtime. His favorite part is looking at the pictures. 

Saturday morning walks with some Mama friends:)

<3 tummy time <3

Last week Jason and I had our first date night without baby. He spent a few hours with some of his favorite people, Tom, Jess, and baby Skyler. Sounds like he was a very happy baby, and Jason and I enjoyed a meal that we didn't have to inhale because Eli needed to be fed the moment it was served:) But, after 2 1/2 hours away, I was ready to cuddle my little man again.

such a strong little guy!

E officially rolled tummy to back by himself 2 times the other night! I could not be more proud! He seemed to enjoy it too:) I started classes on Tuesday so Eli is getting to know some babysitters and seems to be doing well. He is constantly flashing smiles at them! I think this is one of those things that is harder on me than him. I count the seconds till the end of class so I can rush home and see my handsome little man. 112 days tilll graduation and I could not be more excited.

I LOVE this baby so much!

He loves frog legs apparently..

Got Mama's baby blues:)

Jason has started a new job as a Credit Analyst and he is really enjoying it! Unfortunately that means driving to Greeley every day and not getting to see him during lunch break, but we are so incredibly grateful for the ways God provides.

Sitting up like a big man! Where has my baby gone?

Our church has been doing 21 days of prayer and fasting, but since I figured I should continue to feed myself so I can feed Eli, I fasted social media for 21 days. We are coming to the end of that on Sunday. It is interesting to see how consumed and addicted I have become to Facebook and Instagram. It's like a normal part of my day, so to completely cut myself off from that for 3 weeks was hard. But it made me realize the importance of living in the moment and focusing on my life and my family. While I don't think either of those are necessarily bad, it is good to look at the amount of time you spend on them. I have felt like I had so much more time to be present with Jason and Eli and to spend with God. Filling empty moments with devotions or prayer rather than pictures and drama. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing what is going on in people's lives now, and I can't wait to see everybody else's babies again! But also planning on minimizing the time I spend on social media.

2013... Lessons in Loss, Life and Love

 Our year in pictures

I'm PREGNANT!!! 6 weeks!

This pooch is going to be a big brother!

Spent Easter with this kid and my Frink family:)

9 weeks! 

First time seeing our baby BOY!!

Jason got baptized:)

Family reunion in May with our YWAM family!

Then off to GA for a week with my sister and brother-in-law

37 weeks.. and I continue to grow..

40 weeks... and keep growing...

Finally 1 week and 5 days late he decided to arrive:)

5 days old headed to church

The love of our life!

Our final birthing class with all of the babies

Jason graduates!!

Another birthday in the books.. Hello 23!

Lookin cute on Christmas Eve

Christmas with my family

This year was packed with blessings and lessons. We lost a very important family member and gained one. We are looking forward to all that 2014 has for us:) Happy New Year!!

---> 2 months<----

Well friends, I am officially 2 months old. Yes, time is flying! And I am LOVING it! Every day it seems like I learn something new, meet someone new, and make mommy and daddy smile just a little more. In my first 2 months of life outside I have traveled to Westcliffe 2 times for Thanksgiving and Christmas.. Thanksgiving was good and all, but Christmas was AWESOME! Everybody wanted to hold me and talk to me and smile and me, and Mommy even took me sledding! SO FUN! What has month two meant for me?

Happy New Year!!

• I stayed awake till 11:45pm on New Years Eve.. ALMOST rang in the new year with mom and dad but I figured sleep was a better use of my time.
• I have learned to sleep through the night : 10pm-7am every night! Mommy is totally sold, Daddy says it is God's way of convincing them to have more babies and that the rest will probably not sleep through the night.. First child;)
• I am holding my head up like a pro!
• I took my first round of shots like a champ! Cried for about 1 minute and then got over it:) 
• I'm now weighing in at a whopping 14 lbs and 23 inches! Almost sumo wrestler status. 
• I smile ALL the time and Mommy is totally melting because of it! Seriously, going to be a puddle soon if I keep it up. 
• Still sporting the blue eyes and Mom is convinced they are going to stay blue! Looks like I have Moms eyes and Dads charm. 
• LIGHTS LIGHTS and more LIGHTS.. I can't get enough. They are totally mesmerizing. 

That sums up my life right now. It's pretty cool being a baby.. Everybody loves me and wants to hold me! I'm not looking forward to Mom going back to school in 2 weeks because it means I have to hang out with a baby sitter, but atleast it's only for a few hours each day. Until then I'm going to keep making Mom melt and Dad proud. 

Keep it real!

-Thankfulness-

November is one of my favorite months of the year. Unfortunately it is the month where the weather really starts to turn cold, snowy, and gloomy in Colorado, however that does mean warm holiday drinks! mmmm.. It is a favorite month because I spend the whole month thinking of all the things I am thankful and trying to think of how to narrow it down to 3 things to list off at our Thanksgiving dinner. While it is very important to spend the entire year being thankful for all of our blessings, Thanksgiving really seems to bring it to the forefront of everybody's mind. As we drove home from spending 2 -very short- days with family, I decided to get on facebook and I was overwhelmed by all of the posts about people being THANKFUL! Thankful for family, friends, food, football, pie, life, puppies, skype, any many many more things. I am so encouraged that there is so much to be thankful for in a world where there seems to be so much darkness, sadness, and hurt.
This November was a month so packed full of blessings I didn't even know where to begin when it came to our tradition of going around the dinner table on Thanksgiving and saying what we are thankful for. Jason? Elijah? The rest of our family? Life? Food? A roof over our heads? Freedom? Grace? Love? Koa;)? Health? You know you are so incredibly blessed when you don't know where to start, and you can't begin to count your blessings. However, this year I have been reminded that everything we have been blessed with isn't really ours. We are given the opportunity to enjoy our blessings, and it is important to not take them for granted, but ultimately they are God's, not ours. Good will give and take away as he sees fit, and it is so important to enjoy the family, food, and life we have been given while we can.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." -James 1:17

So speaking of things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, it wouldn't have been the same without Elijah. Our little man is 3 weeks and 3 days old right now. Where has the time gone? I feel like the first few weeks are just such a whirlwind with Doctor appointments, newborn screening, dirty diapers, and feeding every 3 hours. Also mixed in with the madness though are alot of baby snuggles, sneezes, and gassy smiles. I feel like every day I wake Eli up in the morning he is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was the day before. This wiggly little guy has even ROLLED TUMMY TO BACK 2 times!!! Where was the newborn stage? I talk to people who have 5 and 6 week olds that are finally fitting into 0-3 month clothes, and here is our big boy who never wore newborn clothes, and is wearing 3 month outfits already! 2 month olds that are finally 9 lbs, and our little munchkin is 3 weeks old and weighs 10 lbs! It is so exciting and fun to see the smiles forming and eyes focusing. Jason is really enjoying that he can start to interact with Eli and he recognizes his voice and face. Such a fun fun time, and we are learning the importance of taking it one day at a time and enjoying the baby steps.

Professional Procrastinator

I am finally getting around to typing up a new post! As many of you know or will soon find out, it is HARD to get anything at all done with a newborn in the house. Between eating, sleeping, crying, pooping, and me not being able to take my eyes of this little guy, not much gets done. Words can't describe how grateful I am for people being here to help, and my incredibly patient husband.
Many people have been wondering about Eli's Birth Story/My Labor Story.. So here it is!

Baby Eli was due on October 24th, and I had counted down the days (I even had hopes he would come early!).. Lets just say this whole journey has been a lesson on trying to make plans where only God can make the plans. We had this great plan that he would come on time, we would go home for hunting season and hang out with family, and everything would be perfect. Lesson learned - when it comes to babies being born - there are NO plans.. They will come when they are good and ready. Eli just happened to be on the 12 days late plan.
I woke up on Monday and had kind of lost hope that he would come before the induction we had scheduled for Thursday the 7th. I hadn't had any sort of contractions or signs that the little guy was coming, other than TONS of braxton hicks for the past few weeks. I had tried any and all forms of natural induction, including castor oil (yes I did try it.. nothing..) So monday I went and got some groceries, went to the library, got apple cider, and spent the day baking bread, cookies, enchiladas, chili rellenos, muffins, and turkey burgers for dinner. That night we got ready for bed and at 10:40 as I was about to fall asleep I felt a popping feeling and a bit of a gush of fluid.. To put it mildly I was shocked and not really sure what happened.. I told Jason that I thought my water had broken.. Sure enough not a minute later - SUPER PAINFUL CONTRACTION! We had planned on me laboring at home for a few hours and then going to the hospital when I couldn't handle it any longer. Well again as far as plans are concerned.. Eli and another plan. After an hour of contractions coming full on lasting 30 seconds to a minute and coming every 2 MINUTES, I HAD to go to the hospital. We loaded up and I had about 6 contractions on the 10 minute drive to the hospital, and 5 walking from the parking lot to our room. Safe to say my body and baby were not messing around. When I got there I was 5 cm and 100% effaced. My plan that I did end up being able to go through with was a NATURAL birth -drug free- so I hopped into the tub to help deal with pain. After an hour I couldn't handle it in there anymore so I got out and started trying to convince Jason that an epidural was in my near future. My midwife said she would check again and see how much I had progressed.. I was already at 8 cm!! Still, they were the craziest pain I have ever experienced, so I kept trying to convince Jason. Luckily 2 contractions later I was at 10cm and more than ready to push! I pushed for an hour and Elijah Paul Frink came flying into our arms at 4:15AM on Tuesday, November 5th, 2013.

After the most mind blowing and exhausting 5 1/2 hours of my life our son was born. He weighed 9 lbs exactly and was 21 1/4 inches. Everybody was a little shocked to say the least. Our lives have been completely changed forever. I had heard that when you have a baby, it's like your heart is walking around outside of your body, and I have NEVER heard a more true statement. When I see our little boy and his daddy snuggling on the couch, I can't help but get a little weepy and think about what we have to look forward to as a family. We came home Wednesday and it has been a whirlwind for the past week and a half getting used to all the changes. I've decided it really doesn't matter how much you prepare, or how late you are, there is nothing that can prepare you for when they actually get here and all of a sudden in a matter of seconds you are a parent, and you have to know what each little cry means. But it is encouraging to know that Elijah is learning, just like Jason and I are.
So there is the birth story. I already can't remember what it was like to be pregnant, and I'm quickly forgetting what it was like to just be a family of 2. But I couldn't imagine going through life with any other 2 people than Jason and Eli.
Thank you everybody for your prayers, support, and encouragement. I have never needed those things more.