The bad news and the good news

The bad news: Our camera is broken. No new pictures for you.
The good news: We survived the first 2 nights of Matt's back-to-workness. He's on again tonight, then off for 4 nights - yahoo!
Lucky for me, Eliana has been pretty good about going to bed, not getting up much in the night, and generally being the cutest baby ever. It works pretty well for me.
Matt can't wait for his 4 days off. He's afraid the baby won't remember him, because he's hardly seen her the last 2 days. He's crazy. She loves him.
I start back to work next week. I'm not super worried about it, but certainly not excited about it, either. We'll see how it goes.
I'll post a few pics from a couple of weeks ago to get you through the next few days til the camera situation is resolved.




This is a knight's helmet Eliana is modeling. Katie made it for our little friend, Chuck. I hesitate to tell you that it is for a dog....what kind of parent lets their baby wear dog hats? This kind, I guess.

Ok, Here are a few more pictures from the baptism.

This is Matt, Eliana and I with her godparents: Pat (my brother) and Katie (our dear friend).
The dress Eliana is wearing was my grandmother's. My brother and I wore it for our baptisms, also.


Our friend, MaryAnn, made the bonnet to match the dress.



Matt starts back to work tomorrow.
Yuk.
We have had such a great month together. I am so thankful that he was able to take this time off work with us. He does just as much as I do in caring for the baby. And he takes good care of me! Last night I slept for 10 hours; he got up with the baby through the night and let me get a much needed long night of sleep.
I have all of next week off, yet. I go back part time the next week, then full time on March 12th. I am more sad about Matt going back to work, I think. I'm nervous that we won't see each other as much as we used to once I get back on the job, too. See, I used to work my schedule around his so we could have the most days off together possible. Now, I am doing the opposite: working on his off days so we won't need a sitter very much. Too bad we like each other so much - this might be a little tough.
Queen Eliana is doing well. She's a champ at running around with us. We go to church, shopping, out to eat and to other people's homes with little trouble (as long as we plan around her sleeping times!).

We had some company this week that I wanted to post pictures from, but I can't seem to locate them in this computer.....

Picture pages, pictures pages

Mama's girl!


What's wrong with dressing your kids in Halloween outfits in February?
Is this the cutest cow you've ever seen?
Oh yeah, and Tia, too.


Check out the Mardi Gras hat that Eliana's godmother, Katie, made.

Busy weekend!

Sorry for so long between posts: we've been busy, busy, busy.
Recap:
THURSDAY we took Eliana to the pediatric cardiologist. He is obviously a brilliant man as he told us several times how beautiful she is. He also says he thinks she looks like she's doing very well. He plans to do the surgery to correct her PDA through a catheterization (hurrah for no open-heart surgery!) but not until she's a little older. Since she's in no distress now, so doesn't need the correction ASAP, he wants to wait until she's 12-18 months old so she'll be a little bigger. We see him again in May.


FRIDAY we went to the pediatrician. He was really impressed with how well she's doing. She gained a pound and an ounce in her first 2 weeks home, weighing her in at 11.14! The doc could see the improvements she's making in motor control, verbally and social skills. He doesn't need to see her for another month.


SATURDAY we were just busy: errands to run, projects to do around the house, visitors from out of town, visiting Matt's Dad in the hospital, etc.


SUNDAY was a big day. First we had Eliana's baptism. It was a beautiful mass with lots of our friends and family there with us. Our priest is great and it was a lovely service. Then we went to our baby shower/meet Eliana party. It was great! There were about 100 friends and family there to help us welcome our girl home. We received way too many presents, shared lots of hugs and just had a really nice time. THANK YOU to everyone who came to share in this wonderful time with us. It was a long day for Eliana, but she did great! She only took a short nap all day and was pleasant throughout everything. She fell asleep as soon as we got home, a full 2 hours earlier than usual, and slept all night. We're still a little tired today.




I will post more pics of the baptism... Eliana looked so sweet in her gown and bonnet! Waiting for Uncle Pat to share his pics.

My Snowy Valentine

Yesterday it looked like this outside and today it's even worse:


So we've been doing a little of this:


And a little bit of this:


We tried a few stunts:


Played with the new toy that Nin brought:


And Eliana read the card from Grandma over and over:


Look at this smiley face!:


Does it get any better than this?!

We have bedhead!

That's right - Eliana has really been working on growing out her hair. That's what she does at night while we are sleeping. She has enough that for the first time she had a little bit of behead when she woke up this morning. Hooray! I can't believe how quickly it's growing! It still doesn't show up well on film... you'll just have to take my word for it.
She has a new trick the past couple of days.... to make this noise, press your lips together kind of tightly then try to slowly push the air out of your mouth so it makes a spitty/farty kind of noise. It is so funny. She works really hard at it with a really serious look on her face. Sometimes she gets so excited at herself that she has to stop and catch her breath for a moment. Next week we may progress to full on raspberries.
Who cares - all you want are pictures:

Just about to take a snooze in the wrap....


2 of our nephews, Jacob and Joshua, playing with the baby. They were really excited to meet their new cousin!


Eliana and Uncle Pat


Tummy time!!

How's it going?

GREAT!
Well, I think it's going great. What do I have to compare it to? We're all having a great time together, if that's the measuring stick.
Here's how it's going:
Feeding: 4-5 ounces every 3 hours or so. No food yet. The doc wants her on high calorie formula for a couple of months. I'm hoping he'll say we can start her on cereal this week. She spits up a little, but the doc says it's because of her trouble breathing.
Breathing treatments: Every 4 hours or so unless she sounds wheezy, then Dad goes into work mode and ups the treatments to every 2 hours. She has Reactive Airway Disease (which I call Baby Asthma). Doc is hoping she'll grow out of this. I am not so optimistic, living in the Ohio Valley. She's also taking Sin gul air.
Diaper changing: Lots. Not unusually so, babies just pee a lot. She does not like to be wet, and will let us know when it's time to change it.
Sleeping: Goes to bed around 6:30. I'm trying to push this back to 7:30-8, just started last night. She sleeps 5-6 hours that first shot, gets up to eat, sleeps 3 hours, eats, sleeps 3 hours, up at about 6 am! Breathing treatments in there, too.
Bathtime: LOVES IT! She kicks and wiggles all over the place! It is so funny! I can't wait until we get a sitting bathseat so she can sit up and play better. We're doing her bath as part of the bestime routine. I think it works great - she tires herself out just in time to sleep!



Chillin'
She has been practicing sitting up and is doing great. Her back and abdominal muscles are definitely getting stronger. She won't sit without support for a little while, yet, but she's working on it.


Eliana fell asleep watching something on television. She LOVES the TV. Mom does not love her watching a lot of TV. Matt and I are finding some new shows that we like: 'It's a Big Big World,' 'Backyardigans,' and what's that show about pigs that seems to take place in Ireland?


This is me with our sweet dog, Alias. She has been SO GOOD with the baby. We thought she would be jealous and act out but she hasn't at all. She sleeps in Eliana's room at night and tries to give her kisses. We are sure to give her lots of lovin', too, so she knows we still love her!

Happy girl

This picture is from our embassy day!
The past couple of days here have been great. Eliana is more physically active and is vocalizing a lot more. I don't know if this is because she's getting more comfortable with us, or if it's all of the attention she's getting. Either way, we like it!
Note: It's 4:12 a.m. I am wide awake. Baby's have no sympathy for mama's sleepless nights. Tomorrow could be tough.

Pajama day!

Dancing with Daddy!



Just swingin'
Our house is freezing! It's so cold outside that even with the new furnace cranked we are still all bundled. Poor Eliana has worn a hat all day to keep her used-to-Guatemala-temperatures-head warm.


There's a lot of slobber and fussiness going on today I think we're beginning to get some teeth! No visible evidence yet, I just have suspicions....


We're getting the hang of this!
The first few days we did well, but were really exhausted. The last 2 days I have had more energy after Eliana goes to bed to do fun stuff like laundry. Hooray for clean clothes!

Today was a pajamas day! It's so cold out - there's no way we're taking Eliana anywhere. So, we all hung around in our PJ's all day and snuggled around. Family snuggle is great!

Pajama day!

Dancing with Daddy!


Just swingin'
Our house is freezing! It's so cold outside that even with the new furnace cranked we are still all bundled. Poor Eliana has worn a hat all day to keep her used-to-Guatemala-temperatures-head warm.


There's a lot of slobber and fussiness going on today I think we're beginning to get some teeth! No visible evidence yet, I just have suspicions....


We're getting the hang of this!
The first few days we did well, but were really exhausted. The last 2 days I have had more energy after Eliana goes to bed to do fun stuff like laundry. Hooray for clean clothes!

Today was a pajamas day! It's so cold out - there's no way we're taking Eliana anywhere. So, we all hung around in our PJ's all day and snuggled around. Family snuggle is great!

Want to see the nursery?

The first few days....

Well, really all of these pictures are from Thursday, our first day home. But really, it's been pretty much the same. Look at the baby, snuggle with the baby, play with the baby.... you know.






Eliana is doing great! She is eating well, sleeping well. She is so pleasant and happy! She definitely knows her Mama y Papa. She been great about letting friends and family hold her, but when she gets fussy she wants me or Matt. We love it!
We are exhausted, and having a great time.
Yesterday we went to her pediatrician for the first time. It was a tough morning. She had to get 5 shots and have blood drawn. This was not easy for ME! The doctor was really pleased to see how well she looks and is developing. We see the cardiologist in about 2 weeks to see what he says about surgery.
We have had lots of company and phone calls the past few days. Thank you! to everyone. Our friends and family have all been so supportive and helpful. We appreciate it so very much and love you all.
Next round of folks due in 10 minutes: better go!

Home again, home again - jiggity jig

This was our reception at the airport! You can't see it in the picture well, but their t-shirts spell out E L I A N A and say 'Welcome home.' It was so great!


This is Jenny's mom holding Eliana for the first time. This is her first grandchild.


These are Matt's parents with the baby. She is their first granddaughter.


This is Eliana's Tia, my best friend, Beth. She and her husband (my cousin), Ron, drove over 4 hours to meet us at the airport!


Me and my brother Pat. He's just a little bit excited to be an uncle.



Happy family! Poor E L I A N A was zonked. She was late (3 hours) getting to sleep because of traveling. When she did fall asleep she was OUT. She slept through her meet-n-greet with the family, all the way home, and until 8 o'clock this morning!


In the car, headed home!