Not Very Exciting

That's what this week has been. But I am HAPPY about that! After the eventful week we had last week with the hospital and pneumonia, etc., I will gladly take a boring week at home. The weather has made it so fun, too. Eli and I have been taking lots of walks together and enjoying the rain, the wind, and, finally today, the sun. Fall is in the air, and that makes me so excited! Pumpkin bread, mums, gourds, crotons (the plant, not the salad topping)... I'm a fall girl, for sure.

Eli went to the pediatrician this week for a post-hospital check up. He weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces and is doing really well. The perk to this particular visit was that the nurse practicioner (Rocky- we love her) gave us $180 worth of free formula and medicine! This was such a blessing- just one of the many ways that God takes care of us. Eli's formula (specialty, hypo-allergenic stuff) costs $25 a can, and we go through at least 2 a week. And his medicine is $40 a month. I know that doesn't sound like much, but we're not exactly rolling in the dough around here!

Which brings me to my next topic... I have to go back to work next week. :( Only for one day a week, but still. It's not that I don't like work. I happen to LOVE my job. It's fun and interesting and I get to wear jeans and a big lab coat and do science-y stuff that feeds my nerdy inner self. And I LOVE that I have solid Christian bosses who have been so flexible with me during this entire pregnancy and first few months of Eli's life. I haven't worked since March, yet I am still their employee! I'm so grateful. And I think it will be good to get out of the house one day a week and use my brain for more than determining how many scoops of formula go into 4 ounces of water. And when my bosses told me way before Eli was born that they want me back after the baby is born, even if it's for just a day a week, I was overjoyed, thinking that I would want to work way more than just a measely day a week.

*Sappy mom alert*
That was before I met Eli. :) Now I can't stand the thought of leaving him! He will be with my sister all day, which is about the closest thing that you can get to me. Eli knows and loves her, and we're together all the time anyway. But still. To drop him off and drive away? I need to fill the cab of the truck with tissues that day, for sure.

I know I need to work one day a week, and I will probably get used to it really quickly. But it will be hard for me at first. Boo hoo.

On a happier note... Eli slept for almost 12 hours last night! In a row! Without waking up! We put him to bed at 7pm, and he finally woke up around 6:30am. It's crazy how much we sleepless moms long for a night of uninterrupted sleep, but then when it's offered to us, all we can do is worry! Maybe I just speak for myself. :) I bet I woke up a hundred times last night worrying about him- "Why isn't he awake?" "Doesn't he want to eat?" "Is he breathing?" I checked on him at least 10 times. Literally. Finally, at 4:30am, I couldn't stand it any more and I picked him up. You know, to check for diseases and sky-high fevers and spider bites. All the potential night-time dangers that might befall my infant as he sleeps in his crib at night. I tried to wake him up to eat, but I could barely get an ounce down him, and I gave up and let us both sleep. At 6:30am he woke up his normal, happy self, and a smile slowly crept over my tired face... could it be that Eli is now beginning to sleep through the night? Dare I say it aloud? Tonight will be the test. I think I will take some Tylenol PM. Maybe that way I'll only wake up 27 times to check on him.

P.S. What do you call it when you bang fists with someone? Bumps? My street lingo is a little rusty. Anyway, I love the picture above because it looks like Eli is trying to give "bumps" (or whatever you call it) to the camera. He's cool like that.