Good Site: 22 Words.

Sometimes the most random assortment of observations is completely entertaining.

http://twentytwowords.com/

You'll want to check often.

Also, another site I stumbled upon (thanks yahoo articles for reeling me in yet again): http://dearphotograph.com/

-Heather

Oh the places we will go!

Our little family is heading back to our home state of North Dakota. Since the high hasn't been below the 90's here in Columbia for the past month or so, I am looking forward to those beautiful ND summer evenings. And letting Eli lay around on some real grass. And eating a ton of really delicious burgers. But weather and food are not the main reasons for our excitement. We get to see some of the people we hold most dear to our hearts. And introduce our miracle baby to some of you wonderful people. We wish we could spend a couple months there so we could see everyone we even remotely know... but alas we have limited time. We'll be spending most all our time in Bismarck and Williston with our dear families and will not be making it to the eastern side of the state, sadly. Some of you would like to know our schedule. So here it is for all you folks that care to know where Greg, Heather and Eli will be... July 9 - fly into Bismarck July 10 - spend the day in Buffalo with the GREAT Kasowski grands and spending time at Maelee's grave (since we have a short time here, we aren't able to add anything to this day) July 11 - July 15 - in Bismarck with Greg's parents, Amy and Andrew, Chris and Lilli (visiting from Utah) and some extended Welle family too! We have a lot going on but if you are in the capital city, let us know and we could try to do lunch or a park date! July 16 - head to Williston to be with my parents and my sister's fam/the Lipperts... this is also Greg's only day in Williston. We haven't been there since 2008 so we are ready to drive around to ooh and ahh at all the changes. July 17 - July 18 - in Crosby, ND for this year's Threshing Bee and time with Tysse extended family (if you are in Crosby, by all means, stop by the Bee!). July 19 - Greg drives back down to Bismarck and flies back to Columbia. And we will say "Oh no Daddy, don't go!" over and over again. July 20 - July 25 - Eli and I will be in Williston with my family, helping my parents pack up the house and saying good-bye to Williston. If you are in Williston and want to hold Eli, we'll make sure to do lunch that involves one of my many cravings of local cuisine. July 26 - Drive to Dickinson to see family. July 27 - Eli and I fly out of Bismarck... back to our friends in Columbia that will be anxious to see how big our boy has grown! I'll try post photos of our trip, especially for all you southerners that need to see the beauty of ND in the summer. Now to figuring out how many diapers to pack... -Heather

Double.

Eli had his 2 month check-up yesterday. And drum roll please...

he weighs a whopping 13lbs 5.5 ozs! That's in the 90% range for weight! And almost DOUBLE of what he weighed at birth. Niiice work bud. He's also in the 75th percentile for height at 23.5 inches. And in the normal 50% range for his head circumference.

Update: Eli also peed all over the doctor. Oh yes he did.

If you are freaking out about childhood obesity in Eli, don't worry. I was a very, very fat baby. And Ali and Ava, his cousins on my side, well, they are not small. And the Kasowski's aren't little petite things either. So he'll be just fine and should even out eventually. The doctor said all breastfed babies should be on the higher end at this age anyway.

But how wonderful, oh completely wonderful, to get to go to a well-baby appointment with this sweet, healthy boy. No worries, no concerns, no medical issues. Complete grace. Greg and I are thankful beyond words.

Eli's not able to keep his head up too long by himself but he can go a few minutes... so we stuck him in his bumbo (borrowed from our sweet friends) for the first time on Saturday. Greg and I were totally giddy with how stickin' cute he was in it!

And yes, we plan to use it frequently while we can still fit his chunky legs in it.

-Heather

2 Months.

I'm attempting to take a photo on the 27th of each month for Eli's first year... so we can all see how big our boy grows each month. And I think we can all agree he is not lacking in growth at his two-month mark! And just in case you forgot...

He's a little breathing miracle! Love him!

-Heather

Overalls

Some friends gave Eli these cute overalls (with an elephant-like guy on them even!) and I had to pull them tight to button. I don't think they are going to fit much longer - our boy is growing big quickly!

The top part of the overalls kept hitting his mouth and like any normal baby, he thought what touched his mouth should try to be eaten. Much crying would follow when he realized the overalls did not produce milk. So the verdict: overalls are completely, utterly adorable on Eli but maybe not the best idea.

-Heather

Wordle.

You can make free wordle art online here. Type in a bunch of words and it automatically creates an image of those words. You can change the design and text. If you want certain words to be bigger, just type them twice.

Example:

I copied and pasted these few words into wordle...

Grether Grether Grether Grether Greg Greg Heather Heather Maelee Maelee Eli Eli love love family family family peace joy joy April happy happy fun home together forever heaven sweet baby dad mom grandparents bath play nap-time friends thankfulness thankfulness thankfulness

And I got this (I hit randomize a few times and edited the color palette):


Example 2:

You can also put in a blog site and it will wordle your blog! Hilarious to see what words it finds most. I just did our blog and got this:

You have to be able to print to a PDF in order to save your wordle. I can give you details if you are wanting to do this. I did one as a gift for my friend Heather with her daughter's names and other sweet words... it's a good gift idea for a baby loss mom.

And that's my I Think You Should Know post for this week.

Word.

-Heather

Babysitters.

Since Saturday was my birthday, my dear husband planned a night out for just us. Greg and I had a fun time with our matching umbrellas, watching a rainy baseball game, eating unhealthy game food and observing the various baseball enthusiasts of Columbia.

Our friends Ben and Sarah were gracious enough to come and be Eli's first babysitters. They did great. He did great. And we did great. (As in, we didn't talk solely about Eli or freak out being away from him or call to check in or install one of those hidden video cameras to spy on them).


Thanks Orners!

-Heather

The Elephant & His Dad.

As a wife, it brought me much joy to watch Greg get to be a father to a baby on earth this Father's Day. Here's my two favorite men:

Don't mind the fact his onesie was only on with one button and he's sportin' a very full diaper.

And here's our little Elephant earlier today, wearing this sweet outfit I found at a consignment sale while I was pregnant (shortly after we decided on "Eli" as our boy's name):

Eli the Elephant loves to play & munch on peanuts every day! Eli!

Needless to say, elephants are fast becoming a favorite in our house. Love it.

-Heather

A Smile For You.

Took this little 10 second video for you today. It will make you smile. Ignore the crazy mom voice in the background.

-Heather

Growing Large.

Photos from the last week:
The Boy looks sort of mischevious here.

Not sure why blogger rotated this photo incorrectly... daddy and son enjoying a nap on the couch (Greg stole Eli's Lindvig blanket for a pillow).

Love this guy!

Eli enjoying some good guitar playing by his dad.

And even though the music was good, he had enough.

Our boy loves to sit on his changing pad and stare around.

And then he usually spits up.

I'm hoping Eli doesn't lose all of his sweet hair (the books say red heads will around 6 weeks). It dries into a sweet mohawk after every bath. Speaking of baths, he gets them more frequently now that he spits up oh-so-often. Dad is not a fan of the puke smell. And it is fun to cuddle up to towel-wrapped sweet smelling baby (seriously, it's fun, come try it sometime).

-Heather

Birthday Suit.

Daddy was helping Eli get his birthday suit ready to wish some dear family members a most Happy Birthday!

Eli wants to say:
June 10 - Auntie Amber... I know you are not-so-secretly trying to get me to move to MN because you want to see me all the time. I miss you too.
June 11 - Cousin John... my favorite 2 year old in the world! I know you'll teach me great things someday.
June 13 - Grandma Mary... I'm loved! There's never a dull moment with you, thanks for spoiling me silly! Wish you could read to me right now.
June 15 - Uncle Andrew... I'm biased towards red-headed guys so I already think you're cool even though we haven't met yet.
June 17 - Auntie Jill... I am already excited to meet you, even though we have to wait too long for that, because I already love you so!

Happy Birthday dearest family!

Back Rolls.

I'll post an updated photo of Eli in the next day or so. He's getting large! But first, I thought I'd post this one from our photographer because it shows his cute back rolls. There are just not many times in life when your back rolls are cute. -Heather

Six Weeks and Counting.

My six-week follow-up appointment was yesterday afternoon. I am definitely noticing that it is harder getting from point A to point B with a child. Picture me carrying: Eli in his car seat, diaper bag, water bottle, juice container full of used syringes, and a lovely basket full of snacks (for the office). I'm sure I looked hilarious heading into the office.

It was fun to share Eli with the doctor's office and say thank you for the great care we received. Eli spit up all over himself, the floor, and one of the nurses that was holding him. Nice way to say thanks bud. Thankfully the nurse didn't think it was a big deal (and it was nearing closing so she didn't have to smell Eli spit up throughout the day).

And to remind everyone about the importance of watching your words when dealing with loss...

I had an interim tech lady who took my BP and asked me questions to verify info for a new sheet for my file. She said "and you've been pregnant three times" and I say "yes." Then she looks further down the chart, sees the first two pregnancies didn't end up with a live baby, and says "third time's a charm!"

Wow. Really? Please save the idiom for something trite, not for human life.

Minus that hiccup, things went well. I learned I need to start drinking a lot more water. And the very best thing I learned was I get to stop taking my shots!

Enter cheers and applause and a little happy dance!

I've been giving myself a shot in the stomach every day since the day after I found out I was pregnant. Really not fun. I'll spare the details. But completely worth it because I have a baby in my arms. No more syringes for me!

Six-week old Eli is doing great. He's around 11 pounds or so. I think he has his nights/days somewhat figured out. He now usually goes one stretch a night that is four hours from start to start of a feeding and another three hour stretch... much better than every two that he often does during the day.

He has good awake time on his play mat most everyday. He's a bit of a narcissist. Loves the mirror on the play mat. And yesterday I was working on his announcements, put one in front of him and he stared at it for a long time (most likely thinking "man! that guy is one good looking dude!").

But the very best thing that Eli does now is smile at his momma! It's unbelievably adorable. Way better than the sleepy or full belly or gas relief smiles. If only everyone that feels like no one loves them could have a baby... this little being staring at you, thinking you are the best in the world. Nothing boosts morale like a baby smiling at you.

The last six weeks have been the best of our lives, Eli fulfilling so many dreams and desires. It's also been hard having to come face-to-face with how selfish we really are. Yuck. And we still really have no idea what we are doing. But this new reality, of Greg and Heather and Eli living our lives on earth as a family, is downright amazing. And what those lives will entail... ooh the possibilities!

-Heather

Paper Matters.

I love paper. I love great design. I love matching envelopes. I swoon when in the stationary section of a store. I seriously considered working at a card company for a career (when I was in China in 2004, I met a guy that knew a big-wig at a card company and he was going to get me an interview). Top that with my perfectionism tendencies, my desire to please people, my somewhat extreme thriftiness and.... well, sending out cards or announcements can be a darn big deal. I want everything to.be.perfect. Naturally, I wanted Eli's announcements to be awesome. Ah, but I would need a good bit of time for that. Greg and I spent hours and hours on Maelee's card last year because we could. And it was indeed awesome. I wanted the same for Eli, really I did. But we didn't get the newborn photos from our photographer until Eli was a month old already... and I was in a rush to get them out. So hours and hours of Greg and I designing wasn't an option. Then production time. And cost. So I settled. And you know what? I have a living baby! It doesn't really matter that we didn't get to design something unique to Eli. It doesn't matter I had to go with baby blue (gasp!) and only had three short lines to work with and limited fonts for text. It doesn't matter that I wanted high-grade paper instead of regular photo paper. It doesn't matter that I forgot to order the matching return address labels so I ended up using all the random labels I had around the house. What matters is Eli is here. We GET to announce his arrival to the world. And that, my friends, is what matters. And as I'm typing this, it seems fitting to me, to think that we got it right with Maelee's card. Her parents spent time and designed a fitting, sweet card. A card that was sadly, a birth and death announcement, the only one we'll get for our daughter who we only got to hold one night 14 months ago. With Eli it's okay that it didn't happen in my ideal fashion. We were busy taking care of him! The announcement is still quite cute. And may it be (oh yes Lord may it be!) that we have many opportunities for cards and announcements of Eli's life in the future. And then, yes then, I'll remember to order matching return address labels. -Heather PS - if you'd like an announcement and don't get one this week, please let me know your address so I can mail one to you!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

My sister wanted me to make this... so while breastfeeding now I did just that! Featuring: Grandpa Lloyd, Grammy Sherry, Cousins Ali and Ava, and the new Twins recruit Eli Joe!

If the video isn't working (it may cut off part of the screen), you can view it here. Seriously this is mostly funny if you know my parents. -Heather

I Think You Should Know:

If you buy anything at Kohls* for regular price, you are an idiot.

*Also applies to Bed, Bath & Beyond.

--
I'll be posting "I Think You Should Know" posts occasionally. Purely my opinion. Mostly pointless info. But you may just learn something.

-Heather