Firsts....

I feel like a lot of firsts go unnoticed for the little ones sometimes.

Of course the first time E tried solids, sat up, crawled, got a haircut, stood alone and walked are all recorded. But something happened for the first time the other night.

It was like any other night and we were in the bathroom, E was in the tub, playing like normal. He got a funny look on his face. I laughed and said, "What's that about stinky butt." Yes, that is his nick name a good bit of the time. I really should come up with something a little nicer. But, stinky butt was extremely appropriate for the occasion.

Eli pooped in the tub.

As I still had not realized what had happened, Eli arose to examine what had just happen.

This was his first time, remember.

And he knew something wasn't right going on down there.

Once the child stood up, the Kraken was released. (Clash of the Titans reference for yah)

I won't go into much detail, but what grown up stuff and baby stuff do in water are two completely different things. I grabbed Eli out as soon as I realized what had happened and washed him off in the shower. After Eli was cleaned off, I just stood over the tub, wandering how I was going to take care of this. I considered leaving it there over the next week for Daniel to take care of... No, not really. But I didn't want to deal with it.

I will save you the details of my fishing expedition. But if you find yourself in this predicament, let me know. I have some tips for you...

Oh the "firsts" of precious little ones... that will not make the baby book. :)

Holy cow...

This post isn't really about a holy cow. It's just how I feel. Being a SAHM, I pretty much have the luxury of doing what I want, when I want. Daniel takes care of a lot, well ok, all of the "stuff." Stuff like contacting landlords, rental agency, anything remotely related to military life. I take care of everything else. I just can't handle all the military lingo, I refuse to deal with it. And he doesn't mind. I'd probably screw something up anyway.

WELL, yesterday morning I woke up and knew that all I had planned was to take Eli to the Dr. I got a wild hair somewhere and decided that I would save myself a few bucks and cut Eli's hair myself. We always have to wait forever anyway. I got out the clippers and a candy cane left over from Christmas and went to town. OMG, what did I do... his hair is cute short, just a little jaggedy.

He was such a good little boy though! He sat there the whole time and just licked his candy cane like a big boy. It was so funny though because whenever I put the LOUD clippers near his ear he would start making a humming noise. Side note- he has really started mocking everyone and everything. If you cough, he coughs. Burp, he makes a burp-ish sounding noise. It is too funny.

I put him in the tub to wash him off and someone is at the door. I normally don't answer it because people in England are BIG on going to doors selling crap. I peek out and see a uniform. I open the door, invite the young-ish girl in and run out to grab Eli out of the tub. He is looking at me with judgmental eyes knowing that mommy never leaves him in the tub alone. Sorry boo.

The girl tells us that there is a house on base available for us on base. YEAH!!!

I call the housing office and since Daniel isn't here they don't want to give us the house. I call my friend whose husband is the Wing Exec. He calls Daniel's boss's secretary. After hours of stress and phone calls, Daniel's boss calls me and they are saving the house for us! Hallelujah!

I have to call the realtor to see about getting out of our lease and e-mail the guy who owns the house. They want a 2 month notice. I have never heard such a thing. I've always heard about 30 days!

I am literally stressing about this and Daniel only calls at night. I feel like I am going crazy worrying about this and trying to figure out what to do. I really wish Daniel was back...

I also probably won't be coming home until early to mid June. You aren't supposed to leave your house unattended for very long. That means I'm going to be selling out TS3 on ice tickets. Let me know if you are interested!

Oh yeah, and somewhere in all of that Eli had his 1 year check up and 4 shots and blood drawn.

He is 31 inches long- 95th percentile!

25 lbs- 90th percentile.

And his head was off the charts, haha. He gets that from my dad.

That must be why no one ever believes his age when we tell them. He's the size of a 2 year old.

Sorry for all the randomness and craziness in this post. It's just been on my mind and I needed for the world to know it. :)

And lastly, What are your thoughts on the chicken pox vaccine? Did your kids/grandkids get it?I chose not to do it. I'm not against vaccines but I just really wasn't completely comfortable with it. I've read that a lot of kids still get it anyways. The Dr. tried to talk me into it telling me a story about a 9 month old who got CP and their leg muscle was damaged from them? I felt like that was odd and kind of one of those 1 in a million stories. I had never heard of anything like that. And didn't we all get chicken pox as kids? I'm just curious on everyone's thoughts!

*16* weeks... seriously!?!

At 16 weeks pregnant I am amazed that I am already 16 weeks. Does that make sense? Literally, time is flying by with this pregnancy. With Eli, I found out the very day I hit 16 weeks that he was a boy. I have an appointment Friday and I'm really hoping that my awesome Dr will want to do an ultrasound. If not, we are scheduled on March 6th at a place in Cambridge for a gender scan. Ah, I can't wait! I really would have loved to have done it sooner but since Daniel doesn't get back until the 3rd I haaad to wait for him. But it is great because with Eli he was already deployed when I found out. I had to wait alllll day for him to finally call me so that I could tell him the amazing news.

Anyway, here are the official pregnancy updates:

total weight gain: 0, I lost about 8 during the first couple months so now I'm about an lb. away from where I started. But my stomach definitely has developed a little bump.

size of baby: About the size of an avocado. It's about 4 1/2 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 3 1/2 ounces. It's possible he (or she) has even started growing toenails. TOENAILS. On something SO tiny. And people say there isn't a God? yah....

gender: ???Keep voting!!!

maternity clothes: Nope! And hopefully it will stay that way until I'm in a warmer climate! But I'm sure I will wake up one morning soon and there will a belly that wasn't there the night before.

stretch marks: I am really hoping I don't get any more this time around. Yah, great genes :/

sleep: For some reason I'm getting up a lot during the nights to potty already. Also, CRAZY, CrAzY dreams/nightmares.

movement: I've definitely felt those little flutters. Didn't feel them with E until he actually "kicked."

cravings: Tomatoes and carrots with Thousand Island dressing.

what I miss: Nothing. And I'm not a drinker, but for some reason whenever I'm in a restaurant and I can smell beer my mouth waters uncontrollably. Yuck, right?!?

looking forward to: Finding out what we're growing in here!!!!!!

Braggers of Beautiful Weather...

I'm starting to get realllllly sick of reading all the happy sunshine statuses that take up my Facebook page every time I log on. I'm actually thinking about deactivating my account just so I'm not consumed with a jealous rage every time I see that someone is at the beach, by the pool, on the lake, or just sitting on their porch enjoying the beautiful and WARM weather God has graced you all with. Here in England, and I'm saying it with a bitter and disgusted tone,

it... is... freezing.

It's so cold that it might at well just snow and get it over with. I'm not sure if it has gotten colder in the past few days or if it's just because I'm thinking about how warm it is in Alabama, but I can't take it any more! I literally feel like I am going to go insane if I can't get just ONE little sunny 55* day. I would be absolutely ecstatic. And I am sure Daniel would be too. He is still in Germany getting ready for his deployment and he woke up yesterday to snow. I can only imagine how thrilled he is, especially since they are living in tents this week. But I'm not really sure how this is going to help with his deployment? Right now they are in this cold and icy weather out in the woods and this summer he is going to be in the desert?

So please, say a little prayer for me... that I can endure just 5 more weeks and 6 days of this cold British winter and that Alabama stays nice and sunny and warm. If it doesn't, I may just have to head to FL. ;)

waa waa, right?

*it can always be worse*

Toy Story 3... ON ICE!

This summer I'm hoping that Eli will get to do lots of fun stuff for a couple of reasons. Number one being that I know he is going to be missing his daddy something fierce. He has been gone for 5 days now and Eli still thinks every little noise he hears outside is his Dah. The number two reason is the new baby. Eli is going to have to share one parent for a couple of months and I can only imagine how that might make a little guy feel, even though I know I will have lots of help from grandparents and aunts... I'm not saying uncles because Uncle Luke only lasts for about 10 minutes. And Uncle Dustin will have a brand new baby too! For all Eli knows, mommy is just getting a fat belly making it hard for him to nap on her.

SO, yesterday I was online looking for stuff to keep us occupied. Something to do every couple of weeks so that Eli and I don't go crazy. I can handle sitting at home with all of OUR stuff, but it's different when your at "home home" where all that's left of your stuff is a couple of high school memory books and awkward prom pictures. Actually, I think when Daniel and I started dating the prom pictures came down. Anyway, I found the perfect activity for us to do mid-May. We're going to Disney on Ice's Tory Story 3! I had to call my mom and make sure the date was good for her and my dad and if she thought Eli might be to young. We both agreed he would enjoy it, especially since our seats are so close to the skaters. And I went to my first DoI when I was about his age. I don't remember that actual one but we went every year and we always had such a fun time. I'm also glad that my dad is going because I'm sure my mom and I would be dead after holding that little chunk the whole time!

I'm pretty sure E will enjoy himself, especially since whenever he sees anything Buzz Lightyear he gets absolutely beside himself. He has a couple of Buzz action figures/dolls and they are the staple of most play times, along with a dump truck or two. We have watched all of the Toy Story movies and they hold his attention REALLY well. Oh, and in Montgomery the Disney Princesses on Ice starts really soon. I would loooove to go to that, but I doubt Eli would appreciate all the girly-ness... Oh well. Maybe the new baby will? 2 weeks until we find out!

Doesn't this look so cute?

Growing, growing...

...and pretty soon he'll be grown...

Every day my heart breaks a little when I see how much MY BABY, my little bitty, teeny, tiny baby has grown. But it also makes me happy knowing that he is here and able to grow. It makes me happy that he is healthy and capable of doing new things every day. It makes me happy that he is just who he is.

This pregnancy has made me suuuuper hormonal. Extremely emotional and extremely prone to crying every single day. Today, is no different. Today Eli and I joined some friends and their kids to an indoor play center called Jumppin Jacks. It was so cool. It was made out of that soft vinyl covered stuff, like really plush gymnastic mats. There was an area for smaller kids like Eli and the a huge jungle gym for the bigger ones and parents to join the smaller ones. There was also a huge slide, Eli and I went down a few times but as you know, being knocked up you get out of breath pretty easily. Eli was not ready to quit the fun so thankfully Danielle took him back several times! I'm sure she will sleep great tonight!

Watching him play and interact with all the other kids just broke my heart. He was having so much fun... without me. But then, he came over to where I was sitting and he hugged and kissed me, like he does when we are playing at home. But being in public just made it all the better. He remembered his mommy with all the other stuff going on. And then I teared up some more. Until you have kids, you will never know what that does to your soul. I have no problems what so ever. I am loved by the sweetest "little" guy in the world. As well as the Big guy upstairs! And Daniel. And that is all that matters.

My Baby Is Walking!

That's right folks! Eli is WALKING! He started toddling around the night before his first birthday but today he has been determined to get this down pat! During his morning Skype with GG and Papa, he showed off his new skill and it only got better at the day went on! He was walking around the kitchen while I was trying to get his dinner ready tonight and has been showing the living room who's boss!!!

Since Daniel is away he was really bummed, but still excited that our big boy has decided to master the vertical form of transport. He asked had I videoed any of it and I had not. It's hard trying to encourage a kid to walk AND hold a video camera still enough to make viewers not want to puke. I tried setting it up on the table but my big butt kept getting in the way, and let's face it... I've not showered or anything today so I am looking super good. Here is just a little snippet of how we've spent our day. And this is literally what we have done ALL DAY, of course with a break or two for Mickey Mouse and diaper changes. He is so proud of himself and so am I. Afterwards, he always comes over and gives me a hug and kiss. Hopefully he'll always be like that, right?

****Off the subject: right now I'm typing one-handed and feeding Eli a bottle with the other, I raised my arm to scratch my forehead with my shoulder and Eli left a wad of snot on my shirt that is now in my hair... Enjoy that...****

So, without further ado, here is Eli walking!!!!!

*please excuse my annoying voice and I normally roll up his pants so that he isn't walking on them like so*

And lastly, something I've not addressed in my blog yet...our GREEN carpet. Surely you've noticed it. Jealous, aren't you? I've seen it in several British houses... I don't understand the attraction but it's really easy to clean.

Hope you're enjoying your VD...

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I saw that on a friend's FB status and it cracked me up... And that is all I'm saying about the day of looooove.

Today has just been me and my little love since his daddy had to leave last night for his training in Germany. We were going to actually get out early today and go have lunch with Uncle Ocho and go with him to the Apple store and play with the iPads while he got the screen on his iPod fixed. Eli had other plans. He cried all night last night and even when he was asleep he was whining and whimpering. His lower back teeth have been trying to push through for a while now but we haven't been as lucky as we were with the other ten filling up his little mouth. I was exhausted when we finally got up this morning and he has just been so whiny alllllll day.

But, I had to go to the post office and return a dress that I bought before Christmas, hopefully they will take it back! While we were there we checked the mail and we got in the spring clothes I ordered from Old Navy, they were having a sale a couple weeks ago and I got Eli several polos for $5 each and shorts for $10...actually less bc I had a 30% off of my total coupon. I was already planning on taking Eli to the BXtra for a Valentine's surprise but all I really wanted to do was get him home and have him model the new duds for me. I decided to be a good mommy and stick with me plan.

We only go to the BXtra for the fun stuff since all they sell are clothes, bikes, outdoor gear and most importantly TOYS!!! Eli gets so excited whenever we walk in and knows why we are there... We walked down the baby toy isle and were kind of disappointed since Eli has most of them. I took him to the big boy isle and he spotted the Hot Wheels and started jumping up and down in his seat with such excitement. We picked up some monster truck Hot Wheels and Eli just kept waving them in the air making car noises. He is SUCH a boy and I love it!!! OH, AND they came with tattoos!!!! We also got a bag of little foam footballs, soccer balls and basketballs. I've already had to hide them because he has bit a chunk out of one. What was I thinking?

So finally we are home playing with our new trucks. Here is a sneak preview of Eli's spring/summer look for the year. I ordered size 2T shorts because his 18-24 mo stuff is getting kind of tight in the waste, but the 2T's are a little long. He still looks adorable and ready for some warm weather! Here are a couple pics from our day!

XoXo

Not sure about the flip flops!

My little love and me

tatted up!!!

for Dah!

Reality...

Sometimes I wish that growing up I had a better idea of reality. I lived in la-la land for way too long. In college I had several store credit cards like Express and American Eagle and had no idea you had to make payments every month. I thought it was just an option and as long as you still had credit available you were good... You just needed to make a payment when you needed to charge more stuff. Wrong. So wrong. So very wrong that my credit score is just now to a number that isn't completely embarrassing. You live, you learn.

I also wish that my Barbies had come in different stages as a kid. Like, the Barbie that we all had was your college and pre-pregnancy Barbie. Then, once Barbie had a baby there was a little attachment for her waist and chin (those are the two places I've had the hardest time accepting ever since Eli was born). Barbie would throw away those hot pink stilettos and start rocking flip flops and Reebok Easy Tones. She would have to get rid of the Corvette and start driving the Jeep. Ken would trade in his ascot and Speedo for a pair of khaki cargo shorts and an old college tee to remind him of his glory days. The dream house would need a new roof and the toilet wouldn't stop running.

I guess that is what makes childhood so magical. The idea that you would always have everything go your way and every morning you wake up next to Ken and looking like our girl Barb. Bills magically get paid and you only work for the fun things you want to buy. Lingerie doesn't itch and babies always sleep in their own bed. You can stay up until 3 am and sleep until noon. There is always milk in the fridge and mom still cooks you supper...

1 whole year.

I sit here and literally cannot believe that it has been 1 whole year since Eli has entered the world! He was born on Travis AFB, CA at 1:50 a.m. but his birth certificate says 00:50. I'm not sure if it was the drugs making me think it was 1:50 or if that is a typo...oh well. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and looking into his eyes for the first time was the happiest I had ever been. He came out with lungs a blaring and as soon as they handed him to me, he just looked at me and quit screaming. Absolutely crazy. He knew I was his mommy. I got to hold him for a while before they took him to weigh, measure and clean up and they did it all in the room with us. I was so relieved because I had such anxiety about him leaving the room without us. I had told Daniel before Eli came that if anything happened, never leave Eli! Ha, I was so worried about him getting mixed up or something, but he had a very distinct look, no way he was getting mixed up with anyone. He came out with this THICK, FULL head of jet black hair and a skin color that probably made most people think that Daniel was not the father.

He was about a week old here

He was perfect.... well, other than the alien-ish cone shaped head, but the hat covered it up nicely and just a day later it was a normal, round baby head! He had such looong fingers and looong toes. Black holes for eyes and my nose. Fuzz covered his little forehead and shoulders and lower back. He was a little wolf man. For the first week or so he had the raspiest little cry, although he rarely used it.

Eli was originally due on January 28th. My sister came out on January 26th and left February 1, I believe. She had me doing everything to go into labor. She had me bouncing on an exercise ball, walking constantly and probably more things I have blocked from my memory. She left nephew-less and unhappy. My parents had bought their tickets months in advance. Since my due date was the 28th, they decided February 9th would give us enough time to come home and get settled into a routine of our own. On February 5th I went to my final doctor's appointment and they scheduled my induction on February 8th at 5:00 a.m. My parents were leaving B'ham on the 9th at noon. They were able to get on that plane knowing that they were going to meet their grandson.It amazes me still that they got there the day he was born! I have never seen such happiness on their faces. They were so proud of him and completely in love as we were. Daniel took them to our apartment that night and came back to spend the night with us. I can't remember much about that first night other than nurses coming in to check on both of us. Surely I fed him?

We went home the following day with our little, orange jaundice baby and our world has never been the same. All I have ever wanted was a family of my own, to love like my parents loved me. This little man has truly, with the help of his dad, made all of my dreams come true. And in Eli's short life, he has already seen and done so many things that I never would have dreamed of doing myself. At just 2 months old he flew across the United States from CA to AL before making the big move to England. He got to experience his first weeklong layover due to volcanic ash in Chicago. He has been to Germany, France and Italy. He has just as many stamps in his passport than I do. He is learning to pray before his meals. He still just thinks it's funny or that we are singing when we "God is great..." He has two living great-great grandmothers, three great grandmothers, two great grandfathers, and all four of his grandparents. And he is loved and worshipped my them all.

At 1 year old, Eli loves to play with trucks. He pushes them all over the house and "brrooooms" and they go.

It is nearly impossible to get him to look at a camera. It's very rare when he does.

He still gets into EVERYTHING... drawers, closets, cabinets, washing machine (if the door is open), trash can, freezer (it's on the bottom), the bookshelf, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.

He loves bath time. Although, now he is tall enough to put his leg over the edge and he tries to climb out. He is going to bust it one of these days.

His favorite foods are green beans and pizza. I never have in trouble trying to get him to eat these two things.

He squeals and get beyond excited every time his daddy comes home. He is Eli's hero.

And last night, Eli was walking around the room! He took lots and lots of steps all alone but wouldn't if the video camera was out...perfect. I guess he just had to get it in before he turned 1!

I'm so thankful for this past year and look forward to the rest of E's birthdays. Here is Eli's year in a couple pictures!

This time last year...

I was sitting in a hospital room at Travis AFB in Fairfield, California. I was getting ready to meet a little man who would change my life forever. Little did I know that I was still going to be waiting through the night until the early, early morning of the 9th. I had been to the hospital a few times before then and I just was in shock/disbelief that soon, I would actually get to see and hold my baby. This past year has been the absolute best year of my entire life. God has given me the most wonderful and beautiful blessing in Eli and I am so thankful to be his mommy. But, I'm just going to leave it here until tomorrows post for my sweet man's 1st birthday.

Public again & prayers needed

OK, so the whole "private" thing didn't work out. Some people could log-on, others couldn't and it was more of a headache than I really want to deal with. I kind of feel like I'm going back on my word, but oh well. Sometimes you just read crazy stuff and it freaks you out, or it does me anyway.

An added bonus to my blog being public is that lots of people can read what I'm about to tell you. This is my little cousin Chloe Gay.

Our dads are brothers, but her dad is only a couple years older than me so I'm more like her aunt. She just turned 4 and for the past several months she's been having really severe seizures. Doctors found a mass on her brain not long after they started and this poor kid has gone from one medication to the next and had her diet drastically altered, but the seizures still return and are just as bad. Since it was just a mass and not cancer, surgery seemed to be a really huge risk. It would/will (if she has to have it eventually) more than likely leave her blind and could cause other complications because its location is in such tough spot.

I got an e-mail from my mom yesterday and soon they will be putting her in the hospital to take her off of her medicine to monitor the seizures and do more brain scans. Since the medicines haven't been doing their job, now they are starting to think tumor. And of course to know for sure, a biopsy would have to be done and that alone is a terrifying thought.

I'm only writing this from things my mom and grandparents have told me so some of the specifics may be a little off. All I know is that Chloe needs all of the prayers and thoughts she can receive... along with her parents John and Holly and her brother Clay. They are such a precious family and obviously no one deserves to go through something like this, but they especially don't. Chloe is one of the sweetest kids I've ever met. She is unbelievably silly and not to mention gorgeous. So please, add her to you prayer lists at church, keep her in your thoughts. And just be so thankful that every time you look into your babies eyes, you know that he or she is healthy and nothing is more important than that. I can't imagine how John and Holly feel and I pray that both you and I will never know. Thankfully we serve a mighty and powerful God and I know that they are all in His hands.

Private in these parts...

I've thought about it, and I'm going private... I've been thinking about how the older Eli gets and if I want to keep posting pics of him for my readers, I at least want to know WHO is reading and looking. I read an article yesterday about child sex trafficking becoming prominent around areas where large sporting events (like the Super Bowl) take place. It's a scary world and I don't want some creeper getting his jollies from anything I might post (sorry if that sounded harsh?). This got me thinking about how scary it is to have little girls, and then I realized it's not JUST little girls this kind of stuff happens to. It is truly my worst fear that not only could Eli get injured on an average day, much less something like that. On that article was a post about NAMBLA and every time I ever hear something about them I literally just cry. I'm just going to drop the subject here because I could go on all day about what useless and disgusting men these are.

I have been so shocked and really flattered at how many people have actually been reading my stupid little posts and have found a lot of joy in how quickly the numbers have grown. All you'll have to do is send me a message (you can email me at brittanyland@rocketmailcom or view my blogger profile or just comment on this post) with your email address and I can give you access to my beautiful words ;). And please don't be shy about sharing your email, I know I have lots of loyal readers who never comment but I still enjoy sharing with you! I am not really sure how this will affect my actual "followers" so we'll see? I am going to leave the blog open for a couple more days for people who don't read this on a daily basis so you will know what is going on! I hope you'll still read about our lives and follow us along on our journey in England and family/military life! Much love to you all!

*Mom, I have your e-mail, don't worry ;)