Cribs, Frogs, and Blagojevich?

Our little girl is getting so big! She has been sleeping in her crib in her own room for the past 5 nights. I wasn't completely ready for this to occur, but she outgrew her bassinet that was in our room. I was actually surprised at how easy the transition was, and she is consistently sleeping about 6 hours before waking to eat. Since she usually goes to bed around 10pm, we typically have a 4am feeding. I look forward to the time when she is able to stretch that 6 hour period out a little longer, and I am able to sleep through the night.


This is my last week at home with her before returning to work, and we still haven't mastered the bottle. I'm not sure what happened a couple of weeks ago after she first took it for us, but she has refused to do it since. On Saturday, I left her for the first time. She stayed home with Matt while I went shopping for some new work clothes. To feed her while I was gone, poor Matt ended up squirting the milk into her mouth while she screamed. I'm really worried about getting this worked out before next Monday. Eventually she has to catch on, right??

Recently, Elaina found her hands. She rubs them together in a very scheming (Mr. Burns-ish) manner. She has also been rubbing her eyes when sleepy and grabbing anything within her reach. I don't know much about a baby's development (I only know what the websites tell me), but I thought, "I bet she'd like to grab a toy." I put her in her swing and set a toy frog in her lap. At first, she just swatted at it. The next thing I knew, she had it in her hands held up to her mouth! This is the first time I've seen her intentionally do something, and I was absolutely amazed. It is so neat to watch her develop!

On a final note, I wanted to mention that the political jab found in the previous post will not be a common occurrence on our blog. Matt was hopped up on the excitement from the inauguration, and he got a little carried away. When we first started this blog, I was very clear that this is a "family" blog, and he was to leave all of his miscellaneous commentaries to his facebook page. Because of this, I occasionally find pictures like the following saved on our computer:

I then have to ask questions like "Matt, why is there a picture of Blagojevich in our 'My Pictures' folder?" He laughs and replies, "Have you looked at my facebook page?" Oh my.

Moral of the story: feel free to visit our blog without fear of being politically offended (very often). If you do find yourself interested in Matt's musings, he'd love to be your friend on facebook.

sNOw Day Like Today

I had my doubts last night when the local weathercasters interrupted broadcast TV to alert us to possible snowfall. I've seen these snow rookies down here in NC freak out over a few flurries in the past 3.5 years, so I wasn't expecting anything more than a frustratingly slow commute to work as everyone tried to remember how to drive in light precipitation.

The weathercasters were right, though, and Victoria, Elaina, and I awoke to a winter wonderland this morning.

It was certainly an historic day. My 3 day weekend became a 4 day weekend. We all got to take in the Presidential Inauguration. Elaina got to see her first snow, but refused to look at the second bottle we've tried to give her. [She's regressed in this area since our previous post. We kept eyedropping milk into her mouth while she was screaming, but she just kept spitting it out, like a country rejecting the tired, bitter rhetoric of a President whose time has passed.]

Whoa... That political commentary came out of nowhere.

Anyway, change came to America today... and to Elaina after she dirtied one outfit and then had to be bundled in a few extra layers before trekking out for her first pictures in the snow.

First, we bundled her up in a few layers (there's even a plastic sack wrapped around her under that outer sack).

She was a good sport. We didn't get any smiles; but we didn't get any dirty looks either.



Mommy was sure to shake all the snow off of Elaina once we were finished. Notice how her arms stick straight out? That's the padding of multiple layers!



We do have one piece of good developmental news to report on the baby front. Elaina slept 7.5 hours last night. We're looking forward to another restful night tonight!

A Blessing in a Bottle

Greetings! Just wanted to say a quick hello and let you know what we've been up to over the past week. On Sunday, we experienced a major accomplishment. Miss Elaina finally decided that a bottle isn't so bad. Matt was able to feed her for the first time, and she cooperated without any resistance. We were thrilled since I will be going back to work in a few weeks, and we weren't sure how Elaina was going to eat while I was away. It's a huge blessing that we don't have to worry about this anymore.

Sunday afternoon, Matt installed our new ceiling fan light that we received as a Christmas present from his parents. When we built our house in 2006, we left the light recptacle in the living room empty with a "temporary" cover. After living for two years with hardly any light in the room we spend the most time in, we decided it was time for a change. As far as we know, Matt did a great job installing it (no sparks or blown fuses). :)


On Monday, I took Elaina to her 8 week doctor's appointment. She is 22 inches long and weighs 11 pounds. The poor thing had to get three shots. She gave the nurse a friendly smile just as the first needle went into her thigh. That smile quickly disappeared and turned into a healthy scream. Yesterday, I took her with me to my doctor's appointment, and she immediately started crying when the nurse bent over to talk to her. It seems that she quickly learned her lesson about being friendly with nurses in any doctor's office.

Before I go, I wanted to share a video of Elaina that Matt took last night. If you listen carefully, you can hear her "talk" to you.

Learning to Read

Elaina was 8 weeks old on Monday, and we celebrated by reading her a story. She didn't express much interest in the book, but we will keep trying! (Notice the lack of hair on the top of her head in the photo. We adore her "male pattern baldness", but rest assured, it is already growing back in!)

Christmas Wrap-Up (ha ha)

Well, we are back in North Carolina after a two week trip to Indiana. It was so good to see everyone, but we were definitely glad to sleep in our own bed once arriving home. I wanted to wrap up the remainder of our trip and Christmas festivities. I have included additional pictures in the "Photo Galleries" section of the website.

We spent Christmas Eve and Day with Matt's family. After church service on Christmas Eve, we headed back to his parents' house for yummy snacks, a game, and a movie. Elaina went to bed after church, and unfortunately, she missed out on all of the fun.

On Christmas morning, Elaina was being extra cute by cooing and smiling at us when we got her out of bed. I even captured a picture of her smile. We had a lot of fun opening presents with her. She received many wonderful gifts!

On the 27th, we headed to my parents' home to celebrate Christmas with them. I really enjoyed watching my nieces open their gifts. Elaina (again) received many wonderful presents. We had a great (non-traditional) meal of white chili.

On the 28th, we celebrated Christmas with my mom's parents. My grandma cooked a delicious meal, and Elaina was able to meet her great-grandparents, great-aunt and uncle, and cousin. My grandma made a cute little purse for Elaina out of scraps of fabric. I absolutely love handmade gifts, and I know Elaina will cherish them when she is older. The following image is Elaina with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Kemp.

After celebrating New Year's Eve and Jordan's birthday, we headed to Indianapolis with my family. We all took Elaina and her cousins to the Children's Museum. I look forward to returning when Elaina is big enough to enjoy the exhibits. Sydney and Addison had a great time.

We said good-bye to my family on the 2nd, and met up with friends from college. We typically only get to see them once a year when we're in town for the holidays, and we enjoyed introducing them to Elaina this year. Unfortunately, we were absolutely exhausted, and I never thought to take pictures!

On the 3rd, we began the drive back to North Carolina. We met up with Matt's parents for lunch and one last kiss and hug for Elaina. We stopped to spend the night half way through the trip, and we arrived at our home late Sunday afternoon. Matt returned to work on Monday, and I spent most of the day napping with Elaina.

We had a great holiday season, and we feel very blessed to have such great family and friends! Now, I just have to get motivated enough to take down the Christmas decorations. :)

A Piece of History

Elaina Elizabeth received a special treat at Gramma and Grampa Rust's when she got to lie in the same crib that once held a number of other Elizabeths when they were babies. The cradle pictured below rocked Elaina's Great-Great-Grandmother Elizabeth Pauline Pfeifer when she was born 121 years ago, it rocked Elaina's Great-Grandmother Mary Elizabeth Lockhart when she was born in 1914, and it even held her Aunt Andrea Elizabeth Rust in 1982. Yes, a generation was skipped in there and Elaina's Gramma Rita Faye is still a little bitter about that. [Elaina's Daddy got to experience the cradle in 1981 even though he has no 'Elizabeth' in his name.]

The Holidays... Whew!

Over the past few days, we have whisked little Elaina all over the place! Last Friday, we made the trip to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate. The house is absolutely beautiful, and we had a great time. Elaina was nice and cozy tucked in the baby carrier on Matt's chest in the 70 degree weather. She slept through the entire visit!

We then continued on to visit family. Our first stop was my sister Krista's house. Krista loved snuggling with her niece, and her girls Sydney and Addison enjoyed meeting their new cousin. We tried to snap a few pictures of the girls together, and Addison decided to put on a show for us instead. She enjoyed rolling around on the floor like a little puppy with a stuffed ornament in her mouth as Krista tried desperately to get her to hold still. It was adorable. (Notice the ornament in her hands below.)We then drove on to stay with Matt's parents Saturday night so we could attend church with them on Sunday morning where Elaina was able to meet everyone in their church family. Mike and Rita have gone on and on about their little grandbaby since she was born, and this made the church family very eager to meet her!

After church, we drove to my grandparents' house for a Christmas celebration with my Dad's side of the family. Elaina received many wonderful gifts, and she was able to meet her great-grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and cousins. The following image is Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Wade with their three great-grandchildren.

After the Christmas celebration, we headed back to Matt's parents where his sister Andrea and her husband Adam were finally able to spend time with their new niece. Andrea and Adam are expecting their first baby in May, and we just found out that they're having a little boy. Elaina will have her first male cousin. Congrats to Andrea and Adam!

I look forward to sharing more of Elaina's first Christmas over the next few days. We wish you a Merry Christmas, and don't forget to set out milk and cookies for Santa tonight!