someday

I have been trying to add to Elias' library of books and came across this one.....love love love it.




Someday
by Alison Meghee and Peter h. Reynolds


One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one.
One day the first snowflakes fell, and I held you and watched them melt on your baby skin.
One day we crossed the street and you held my hand tight.
Then, you were my baby,
and now you are my child.
Sometimes, when you sleep, I watch you dream,
and I dream too....
That someday you will dive into the cool, clear water of a lake.
Someday you will walk into a deep wood.
Someday your eyes will be filled with a joy so deep they shine.
Someday you will run so fast and so far your heart will feel like fire.
Someday you will swing high-so high, higher than you ever dared to swing.
Someday you will hear something so sad that you will fold up with sorrow.
Someday you will call a song to the wind, and the wind will carry your song away.
Someday I will stand on this porch and watch your arms waving to me until I no longer see you.
Someday you will look at this house and wonder how something that feels so big can look so small.
Someday you will feel a small weight against your strong back.
Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair.
Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow silver in the sun.
And when that day comes, love, you will remember me.

WHAT TO EXPECT with new friends.

When I first found out I was pregnant I was obsessed with reading either books about babies and parenting or reading websites about babies and parenting. There were A LOT to choose from and I must admit that it was a little overwhelming. After a long search I definitely found a place that felt like "home", and that was the WHAT TO EXPECT (WTE) series. It started with buying the book WTE while Expecting, and after reading THE ENTIRE THING in one sitting, (all 600+ pages) I noticed that the book had a free website that you could reference to. I checked out the website and I'll admit that at first I wasn't really that impressed. It seemed like all the other million and seven websites about babies that I had checked out and I kind of just forgot about it for a week or so. Well after we announced our pregnancy to the world, a friend of mine asked me if I had been to the WTE website and I told her that I had browsed and clicked on it but hadn't spent a great deal of amount checking it out. She then goes on to tell me that it was the BEST thing that she found through out her WHOLE pregnancy and suggested/recommended that I check it out again but that I should get on the message forum/community part of the site. I checked it out again and WOW. I must say that finding that website is what kept me sane during my entire pregnancy and even what keeps me sane now, 8 months after having baby E. WTE is a community of women of all ages, all races, all backgrounds, all over the world (not just the USA) that come together to talk about ONE thing: OUR CUTE BABIES! It was nice to know that what we were going through, we weren't doing alone and that we weren't crazy or the only one who had to pee eighty seven billion times, or that that TMI symptom was normal.
Even though I haven't met a lot of these ladies in person I do consider them a friend and someone that I can count on for advice. I have even had the honor of actually meeting a few! When we went on vacation this summer, we met Courtney and her adorable ham of a baby boy H and Stephanie and her cutie pie baby girl C. (and her husband J). Recently we had the pleasure of meeting Alison and her sweet baby boy W. They live right here in the area and we are SUPER excited for future playdates and get togethers.
Although its exciting to just 'wing it' or do it without a net, parenting is challenging. So its really nice knowing someone who is going through the exact same thing, close to the same time, who can give you advice or you can give advice to. Here is a pic of C, H, and Elias when we had our Dec WTE meetup last month!

I didn't get any pics of Elias and W but sooon I hope!

Wordless Wednesday...with words. :)

I am sure everyone can relate to more than one...HILARIOUS

A woman posted this on one of my parenting message boards....HILARIOUS. I am sure that you will get a good laugh out of it too. Enjoy.

* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

* More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

* Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

* I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

* The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

* Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

* There is a great need for sarcasm font.

* Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f*** was going on when I first saw it.

* I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

* How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

* I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

* The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

* A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

* Was learning cursive really necessary?

* Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

* I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger. * Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

* My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.

* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

* How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

* I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a d!ck from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

* While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

* Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

* Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

* I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

* Bad decisions make good stories

* Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

* Is it just me or do high school girls get $luttier & $luttier every year?

* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

* Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a problem....

* You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

* Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

* I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

* "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

* I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

* While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

* I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

* I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

* When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking. * I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

* Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles... * As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

* Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

* It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

* I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

* I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

* Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it. * Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my a$$ everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

* My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

* It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

* I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit. * I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

* I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

* The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to thinkabout it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat b@st@rd before dinner.

8 months old

Is it really possible that we are the parents of an 8 month old? When people say don't blink, they ain't lying. I can't believe we have had this sweet little boy in our life for 8 whole months. It seems like yesterday I was stepping in dog poop cussing the dogs, only moments later to have my water break. Our rambuctious 8 month old is doing all kinds of new tricks these days. He is military crawling (which has become an awesome dust mop. ha) all over the place getting into EVERYTHING. (His favorite things to seek and destroy are his fathers electronical things...

and his toy box, in which he likes to take EVERYTHING out of it...)

He can get in the sitting postion from lying down and vice versa. He can pull himself up which has also led to letting go of things either to stand on his own for a few or come crashing down...I think he is trying to give his Momma a heart attack. He can wave bye-bye but it isn't very consistant...he doesnt really do it on command and I am pretty sure he has no idea what it means. HaHa. He has mastered drinking from a straw which has been awesome when it comes to the sippy cup department. I want him to have juice and water but I do not want to have to put it in a bottle (tough habit to break later) and he refused to drink from a sippy cup unless we held it up for him. So we found an awesome no leak sippy cup called the Nuby Flip and Sip that has a straw and he guzzles his water and juice until he gets a brain freeze. :)
I can finally say with confidence (without feeling that I was going to jinx it) that Elias is FINALLY sleeping through the night. This is a HUGE step and also was the deciding factor if he were to have a sibling some day. Hahahaha. Now that we are back in Alabama we have a bedtime schedule that starts at about 6:45 or 7 that has him in bed between 7:30 and 8. He sleeps until 7 or 8 the next morning, has a bottle and then sleeps for another two hours. When he realized that sleep is the COOL thing to do, he REALLY thinks its the cool thing to do. Let me tell you, Momma is LOVING his new sleep schedule. Its nice to be able to have a few hours to ourselves after he goes to bed and still be able to get in a good sleep. (oh and ps he is FINALLY sleeping in his crib. If you remember from his 7 month post he would only sleep in his pack and play.)
Still no teeth, just lots of drool and lots of chewing. And if he did have any its not like he would let us see them. If you get anywhere near his mouth he clamps it shut and spits at you. Such a little attitude. He has always been a paci sleeper but has never really shown any interest for a paci outside of his paci until now. We think that the paci has been soothing to his gums so we aren't fighting him with it. He does a lot babbling but no words in the vocabulary yet. He and I started signing for babies a few days ago, so we will give you a report in a month or so. :)

A little random monkey tibit. His beloved seahorse Sebastian has become a new friend again. We stopped using him for awhile because we worried it was becoming a sleep association. He was still in the bed with him but we no longer turned him on. Well now Elias wakes up and turns him on himself. Ha. Welcome back Sebastian, we missed you. :)

I attempted an 8 month photo shoot much like the one I did at 3 months but as you can see below, 8 month olds are a lot less cooperative. :)

Happy 8 months to our little monkey! We love you!!!

Not Me Monday

How bout another Not Me Monday. Click on the little header above or the one on my side bar for all the details of how you can partcipate.

Here goes...

As I am blogging Elias is not sitting on his playmat with a paci in his mouth. duh. I would never give him his paci outside of his crib.

This past week I most certainly did not give E an oreo for a cute photo opportunity. And I most certainly would not let him eat half of it.

I am making a tutu for our good friends little girls first birthday next month, and I did not use E as a model for this said tutu. Nope sure didn't. B would never allow that!

Yesterday after my shower I would never put the same clothes back on (with the exception of under garments) because I didnt do anything the day before and I am sick of all the laundry. I would also never even think of letting E run around in a diaper all day for the same reasons. :)

And that last thing that definitely did not happen to me this past week...I did not go in Elias' room one morning to get him only not to be overwhelmed by the smell of poop and I didn't find him diaperless with poop all over his crib and him. Because my 7 1/2 month old most certainly can not take off his own diaper and he would never play in his own poop.

And I did NOT take a picture. Nope Not Me.

Hope everyone has a great Monday and an awesome week!

mobile and not in alabama

Elias has been "trying" to crawl for about a month now. He had all the movements he just hadnt figured out that he needed to put them all together...until today. One minute he is sitting in the floor playing with his toys and watching Yo Gabba Gabba, the next minute he is moving across the floor trying to get to something he is not suppose to have. Its mostly just a little army crawl and its hilarious, but very productive and he gets where he wants to be. This is very bitter sweet. I am not ready for my baby to be doing big boy things and I am also very sad that B missed it...BY ONE FREAKIN DAY! I guess baby proofing will be going on in the Jewell household when I get back to 'bama, especially considering I found Elias nawling on a penny yesterday. Sorry baby boy but your tummy is not a wishing well. (I promise to get a video up soon so that you too can get a good laugh)

JEWELL family vacation.

We went on vacation with Brendons family and we had an AMAZING time. I will post about it soon.:)

7 months old

7 months old? ALREADY?! Time is flying! (yes yes i know im behind. he is actually now 7 months and 2 weeks) We are watching our baby transform from newborn to infant to what I like to call pretoddler. He is rolling like a mad man all over the place, no matter where you put him he is all the way across the room when you come back. He is sitting up with no assistance at all and even catches himself when he gets a little off balance. He is even sitting really well in the bathtub and will try to lift himself up by hanging off of his duck faucet cover. He is eating 3 solid meals a day with fruits, veggies (some meat/veggie combos) and cereal. He is drinking 3 or 4 six ounce bottles a day and drinks juice or water out of a BIG BOY cup. He can drink out of a sippy cup but would much rather drink out of the big boy cup. He is getting such a little personality with what he likes and dislikes...
****loves***
**hawaiian delight baby food (and i have a hard time finding it all the time)
** graduate puffs and crunchies
**OBSESSED with teething cookies (I swear those things are baby crack. When he finishes one he turns in to the hulk, and is really angry if you don't have something to distract him with when he is finished)
**fresh or frozen fruit in his mesher (gets uber excited when he sees you get his mesher out)
**ANYTHING we are eating and drinking (I swear he thinks he is 7 years old not 7 months old. If its something he can eat I always let him try whatever we have)
**any toy that makes noise or has lights
**his Lightning McQueen Ride on car that his Gap bought him.
**Yo Gabba Gabba
**his favorite person right now is his Gap (grandpa) when he is home, Elias wants nothing to do with anyone else unless he is tired, then he is a mommas boy all the way
**his Momma. I love that he has become a Mommas boy, although I really cant get too ahead of myself cause he has been away from his Dada for a month!
**Dre Buddy and Pebbles. He gets sooo excited to see them.
**Kitty Kitty...Pantera the cat. He loves to talk to her.
**the mailbox??? haha no idea why but he loves going to mailbox
**windchimes
**WATER! the pool, the bathtub, the sink, the ocean. you name it he loves it. He is most definitely a water baby.
**His Push Around Buggy.
**other babies and kids. i really need to put him in a mothers day out program so he can have the interaction

***things that make him go WAAAAAAAH***
**getting his diaper changed
**sitting still
**peaches. he spits them out and then the rest of the day spits up. yuck.
**his carseat for a long period of time
**not being able to crawl. he has all the movements for it, he just hasnt figured out how to put them together.
**hats. this is a pain when we are outside cause i have to lather his head (and hair) with sunscreen.
**being alone. he wants someone to play with him at all times.
**naps. we have never had to put him to sleep. you just lay him down and he plays til he falls asleep on his own. BUT naps are another story. he usually cries himself to sleep.
**his crib. he sleeps in his pack and play. (in alabama he was actually sleeping in his pack and play in his room.) we hope to get him in his crib when we are back in bama.