First Birthday Fiesta is Over!

It has come and gone.  All the planning, all the buying, all the preparations, and bam, it's all over.  I can't give enough credit to Glenn and his mom for all the cooking they did for this shindig!  Enchiladas, carnitas, tacquitos, beans, guacamole, salsa...a whole 2 days worth of cooking!  It was all sooooo delicious! 

So the craziness began on Friday morning.  I had to work so for me it was listening to the hubbub in the kitchen.  Glenn had a list of things to tackle including mowing the lawn, picking up dog doodoo, piecing the deck back together...and cleaning the garage.  We decided since we live in a state where weather is unpredictable, we would have tables set up in the garage.  Our house is a little too "cozy" for the amount of people that we were anticipating to arrive.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't really cooperate with us.  It wasn't terrible, drizzling and sprinkling for the first few hours, but just enough to put a damper on the whole thing (yes, pun intended).  The bounce house people called us and said that all orders were on hold.  So, I knew the kids were going to be bouncing off our walls instead of the bounce house walls....but oh well.  Glenn's mom cooked pretty much all day Friday, he caught a few hours of sleep while I was working.  My sister and her kiddos made it in on Friday evening and my mom had prepared dinner for everyone so we didn't have to ruin our flow in the kitchen.  The kids were happy to help us put together the party favor bags, everyone had their part.  Finally the house was fiesta-ready.  Come Saturday, we had a lot of running around to do, picking up balloons, cakes, kegs, tables and chairs.  Thanks to our family and friends helping us, all the decorations, tables and chairs were ready for our guests.

The first 30 minutes or so of parties are always the most stressful.  People just start showing up and the traffic flow is all bottlenecked as everyone starts to congregate.  It's so hard to get to talk with everyone when you're hosting and making sure everyone has a beverage, everyone is greeted and happy.  But, once the food was served, the inside of the house became easier to walk around in as people started finding the seating in the garage.  We of course had enough food to feed a small army, and it was freaking GOOD.  After everyone was fed, it was time for Eliseo to start opening his gifts....only one small problem.  5 minutes before, he had decided it was naptime!  So, he totally slept through the opening of all of his presents.  It kinda sucks, because I wanted to see him opening his gifts, but I guess it's just as well because there were a lot of presents to go through and it would have taken him a long time.  So...shower style...I opened everything for him while Glenn held him closeby.  While he finished up his nap, the other kiddos went to town on the pinata.  That in itself was entertaining because it was a pretty tough pinata!  Glenn wound up having to break the thing open and even then, it was pretty clogged in there!  But, we got the kids good and sugared up.   Eliseo woke up a little later so we did the cake (since he could not do that while sleeping!).  He didn't go too crazy with the cake.  We got chocolate so it would be messy for him, I didn't want him staining his face with some crazy icing color (I know, I'm boring).  He wasn't very messy though, really not into putting his hands in his food apparently. Possibly the funniest part of the party was when we gave out the party favors.  I bought moustaches for everybody and they were a huge hit.  Imagine kids from 2-10 walking around wearing moustaches.  Freaking hilarious.  Especially the little ones.  Today throughout the day, I found moustaches randomly around my house.  We ended things up a little earlier than I thought we would, but everyone was so exhausted.  Still a pretty long party, I think the last of the guests left around 10pm (we started at 1).  So, a good time had by all, and my little man had so much fun playing with all of his gifts, discovering all the new toys he had to play with.  Most light up and make lots of noise, so earplugs may be an investment for my future. 

We had so much fun, and today was a day of recovery.  Wednesday is his real birthday, and it is going to be pretty low key.  That's when he'll open his own presents and maybe he'll get a little messier with the cake.  I still cant get over that he's almost 1 year old.  Craziness!

Oh Nuts!

OK, well, I'm blaming on peanut butter.  It may not have been peanut butter.  But I think it was the peanut butter.  It must have been the peanut butter. 

This is what I think was responsible for Eliseo waking up this morning all swelled up and red and blotchy.  I didn't notice it at first, he woke up as usual...before me.  I didn't bring coffee with me, just trudged up the stairs, half asleep.  Three quarters asleep.  OK, 15/16ths asleep.  I was sleepwalking.  Anywho, I sat down with my little hungry man in my lap, propped up the footrest of the recliner and started nursing him.  At some point, I woke up and looked down at him, and noticed the spots on his face.  Then on his neck.  Then I saw the swelling on his eyelids, and the blotches around his eyes...like a little red panda bear.  This was definitely not normal.  Then we switched sides and I noticed his left ear was swollen.  That's when the panic started to hit me.  Something was wrong.  I thought back to what could have caused this: it must have been the peanut butter. 

I didn't mean to give him peanut butter, FYI.  We've been praticing eating cake.  I know, tough to practice, but we have to practice eating cake so that next weekend he will be a cake eating pro.  We were at a Pampered Chef party and there were cupcakes.  Chocolate ones.  We ordered him a chocolate cake, so I thought it was a perfect chocolate cake eating practice opportunity.  What I didn't notice was the peanut butter mixed in with the icing.  He was going to town on the cake.  Loving it.  In fact, when it was gone, he was pissed.  I was feeding him the cupcake by stuffing pieces in his mouth, bottom up.  And at the top was the .....dun dun dun....peanut butter.  I think I had some on my finger, and so, it went in his mouth.  Right after that, he started getting pretty fussy, but I attributed that to being close to bedtime, so I put him in his carseat and we headed home.  He cried a lot in the car, but that's not a first.  By the time we got home, he was fast asleep.  I took him out of his seat, brought him upstairs, but him in his jammies in the dark and put him right to sleep.  And for the first time this week, he didn't get back up and stand, he slept all night. 

Looking back at it, it kind of scares me.  Maybe his reaction was a lot worse than what I saw this morning.  After all, it was 12 hours after said peanut butter injestion.  People have pretty extreme reactions to nuts if they are allergic, what if all his fussing was telling me that he was hurting?  Bad mommy moment.  Luckily, it wasn't worse and the pediatrician recommended Benadryl, which got rid of the blotches first and then brought the swelling down this morning.  We didn't practice cake eating at our birthday party we went to this afternoon, so we are going to practice once during the week.  It may not have been the peanut butter, I have noticed blotchiness when I've given him eggs before, or maybe it was the chocolate (oh please, no!).  But I'm pretty sure....anyone keeping a tally on how many times I've said "peanut butter"?

So otherwise, today was great.  The Benadryl made him sleepy so it made for extra cuddle time this morning.  Then he was in a super great mood.  We went to his friend Jacob's first birthday party where Daddy fed him a hot dog.  I held Jacob when we first got there and he fell asleep in my arms for an hour or so.  I felt kinda bad, putting the birthday boy to sleep but hopefully it made for a happier boy the rest of the party.  I felt like a Supermommy with the magic touch.  I sang him E's favorite lullaby:  "I Will" by the Beatles.  We had to leave a little early cuz G had to go to work, so E and I spent the evening together and I felt extra thankful for him today. 

I love him so much.  My little E. 

Running Before and After E

I used to be quite the runner.  I've always loved running, I ran cross country in school and have always done 5Ks since my 20's, I ran my first 1/2 marathon in 2004.  When Glenn was serving in his 2nd deployment, I ran 2 full marathons and have ran numerous 1/2 marathons since.  The last 1/2 marathon I ran (other than in a relay) was a little more than 2 weeks before I found out I was pregnant with E.  I had planned to walk in the St. Louis Go! 1/2 marathon in April last year (keep in mind, E was born on 5/1) but they put a time limit on it and I couldn't walk that fast at 8 months pregnant!  But, I did walk up until 35 weeks, when my blood pressure went all crazy.  I wanted to get right back into running after Eliseo was born, I had the jogging stroller, the nursing sports bras, I was ready to go.  The first run I went on after I was medically cleared, I ran for a total of a 1/2 mile before E was having a major meltdown crying in the stroller.  He didn't really care for it.  In fact, you could say he hated it.  He really hated it.  Not to mention, at that time he was nursing like every hour and a half....and I'm not exaggerating!  So, we had to put the plan on hold.  I tried again a few times in the winter and they didn't go as well as I had hoped.  But now that the weather is warming up and he can sit in the stroller without the car seat, he's actually been enjoying coming along for the ride.  He finds it really funny when dogs or bikes go by us.  So, it's looking promising for me to get back on the pavement this summer.   My next goal will be to run a 5K with E.  I took him with me this past Sunday and the stinker slept through the whole thing!  He had fallen asleep in the car, so as not to disturb him I put the car seat in the stroller; makes it a little heavier and awkward, but it's not too bad.  The park I went to was pretty hilly, so I wound up walking more than I wanted.  And bladder control is not what it used to be...sorry for the TMI.  But, we will be running together more.

Operation Get Hot for Jamaica is still in full swing, for the first time today I fell under 140 on the scale.  I just finished up my first month of shakes and just started today on the 2nd month.  I've been going to Body Pump and running once a week, Jillian Michaels has made her way into my evening once or twice a week but I really need to step it up.  I haven't seen that much of a difference in my measurements, but I certainly am beginning to see changes.  I just wish I had more muscle tone....guess I'm the only one that can fix that, right?

Alright peeps, getting late, it's my bedtime.  Until next time...

I Like Me Some Cake

Yesterday we went to our neighbors birthday party for their 4 year old. We've been to some birthday parties this year, but I kind of feel like this is the first one that Eliseo was a little more able to take part in.  At first all the kiddos were outside in the yard running around. I put E in the grass, at first he was like...uh...what is this stuff....then he caught on and took off crawling. I didn't want to be too overprotective but it was giving me heart palpitations every time I would see the older kids running his way. I mean, there were some near misses of him being trampled. But he survived. And...he had his first taste of birthday cake. He liked it...but man talk about a sugar high! It was pretty funny. He was moving faster than I've ever even. And the laughing...nonstop and hilarious! I figured it was good practice for the fiesta! We have another party next weekend so bring it on! He's gonna be a cake eating pro by the time his party rolls around.

He pretty much passed out when we got home, but those darn teeth stated bothering him at around 3am.  His gums are swollen so he is definitely about to cut one our two. So he woke up screaming and I let the standard 10 minutes go by...and no let up. So I let Glenn go pick him up. Glenn can stand letting him cry for any amount of time. An hour later he was still crying and stuffing his hands in his mouth so Glenn put him in the car seat and took him for a ride. That finally did the trick but today we are all exhausted. I just pray tonight isn't a repeat. Teeth really suck.

2 Weeks to Fiesta!!

 

Hmmm what to write about.  I feel like this week has flown by.  It's just been busy, busy busy!  I've been so exhausted at the end of every day that I've been passing out on the couch, then waking up at like 2 or 3 am and going into bed.  I'm talking, like, every night.  I don't know what that's about. 

 

Only 2 weeks until Eliseo's First Birthday Fiesta!!  It's going to be so fun!  Maybe I should be stressing about this.  So far I'm pretty sure we're going to have like 40 people.  We just keep inviting people.  I really hope it's a nice day outside because I'm pretty sure our capacity in the house is somewhere around 25.  Glenn's mom is coming in a few days before the party and she and Glenn are going to spend 4 days in the kitchen cooking for this shindig.  Me?  I'm letting him take the lead on this thing.  He wants a bounce house, decorations on every surface, Mexican food to feed 500 people, and I'm not putting a limit on any of it.  His mom sent us a box of party favors, balloons, party hats, plates, forks, knives, anything you would need for a party of this caliber.  So I'm not going to stress.  Nope, not gonna do it.  I call it the "Tacky Mexican" theme...it's going to look like Cheech Marron is having a yard sale in our house.  We have a lot to do in 2 weeks though.  No stress, no stress, no stress.  Oh man, I'm gonna stress big time, aren't I?

 

 

OK so what's the little man been up to?  He's always so busy!  Going through the toy baskets, playing with his learning tables, chasing after Snickers, empyting our cabinets...He's really developing a little personality, he is just so much fun.  No walking still, but he's standing all the time.  He's the fastest crawler you've ever seen...but I dont think the walking is too far behind.  OMG can you believe he is going to be 1 year old in just a few weeks?  I think he is cutting another tooth, his right top front one.  I just had a thought that one day these teeth will be falling out....*sigh*.  I gave him his first "cookie" today...an animal cracker (see picture below).  I figure I'd better start giving him some sweets to train him for his birthday cake! 

 

OK well, sorry for kind of a lame post.  Glenn and I are watching "This is 40" and it's crackin me up.  I'm gonna go enjoy our quiet time...I promise a better post next time!

 

 

Snickers and Eliseo

You might be thinking that last post ended kinda ramdomly....yeah, it did.  I started the post when I was pretty tired, then E started crying upstairs, and well, I did the Mommy thing and wound up falling asleep for a few minutes in the recliner in his room.  I mean, who ends a post talking about their baby eating poop?  It would be pretty funny if I ended this post now, huh? My topic tonight is about my two babies....Eliseo and Snickers.  Snickers and I, we've been through a whole lot together, she was my lifeline when Glenn was on his deployments and almost lost her to a grand mal seizure a few years ago (I find it amusing that Grand Mal translates to Big Bad).  She trusts me implicitly.  I might have shaken that trust a little bit the day I brought Eliseo home.  When I was in the hospital she stayed at my brother's house.  He brought a receiving blanket home so that she could get a good whiff of E before he came home.  Not that getting a whiff would really make any difference to her, right?  Why do we think that things like this help? So the day I came home, my brother brought her in and I was in the bedroom attempting to take a nap.  I heard her running around, looking for me.  Then she found me.  And she gave me the doggy 3rd degree, sniffing me up and down for a good 5 minutes.  She started putting 2 and 2 together, that I had brought this little intruder home with me.  For the first 3 months (at least), everytime we would bring him in the house in his car sear, she would sniff him as if to say...oh, he's back AGAIN?  Snickers might have a little jealousy streak in her.  It was probably at about 9 months that Eliseo really started to notice Snickers.  I think he was always aware of her, but he didn't really care until a few months ago.  Then she became very intriguing to him.  Without being mobile, she really didn't have too much to worry about.....until he started to crawl.  He was pretty wobbly at first, so she saw him coming and had time to react.  But now, he's fast....and she's stubborn.  She wants him to get the message that she's the Alpha dog and he must do as she commands...and he just thinks she's the funniest thing in the world.  She is not amused.  She will insert herself between me and Eliseo and she doesn't care if he pulls on her, as long as he gets the message that I AM HERS.  He doesn't.  All I have to say is the word "Snickers" and he breaks out in the hugest belly laugh.  His favorite game is to chase her around the coffee table.  And I really wonder if she actually likes to play this game, because she will go round and round with him, Eliseo laughing and Snickers growling.  She has snapped when he's gotten too close, but Snickers has never bitten anyone (and kids have given her a run for her money before).  I'm allowing her to set her boundaries with him, because that's the only way he's going to learn.  Although, I do give her breaks from him every now and then by putting her behind a gate, with access to the kitchen and the master bedroom, but I don't think she sees this as me giving her solace.  So anywho, she's happy as can be now that he's in bed and it's just the two of us....like old times.  She's a good girl, I hope they learn to appreciate each other. Enjoy some completely unrelated pictures, I have to start blogging earlier again.....

 

My little E is quite the busy bee these days.  He is starting to get into everything.  He loves to get in the cabinet with his bottles, bowls and sippy cups.  He especially loves to open the cabinet door and bang it into the door next to it.  It makes a lot of noise so it's good fun.  Today he pulled one of the baby gates over onto himself.  At first I was afraid he was hurt, but then when I realized he was ok, it was pretty funny...the gate was over his body and his little legs were hanging out, kicking away.  He has also found his wee wee.  This makes changing poopy diapers very interesting and challenging.  I have to try intercepting his hands before he gets a handful of poop and then puts them in his mouth...eww.