Thankfulness

4 Generation Picture:


Apparently I talked more than I took pictures, but the few I took this past weekend turned out pretty good.

Baptism

Baby Elizabeth was baptized today. Here's Elizabeth with the baptismal gown borrowed from her Maki Cousins.
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Baptized by Father Gabriel Waweru





Elizabeth's God Parents, Uncle Jr & Aunt Jen.

Lexie the Guard Dog

Lexie has been quite the little protector of Elizabeth since she came along. She is always nearby when the baby cries and sticks close by whenever someone else is holding Elizabeth. Lexie has done very well with all the new changes and is very gentle with Elizabeth. Here's a picture of our girls.

bumGenus Cloth Diapers

I bought bumGenius cloth diapers from http://www.cottonbabies.com. I love them! I bought the 4.0 One-Sized diapers. They fit babies from 7-35#s. I bought half with hook-and-loop closure and the other half with snaps, I recommend the Velcro. They are so easy. I just ordered more so that I don't have to launder them every-other day. I (overly) compared with other brands and they are the best for the lowest price. We went through 12 diapers and not 1 leak. AND after washing, they came out just as white and when I bought them. If you want to save a little $ and the environment, I highly recommend these diapers. The initial cost of buying them can be spendy (with the diapers, diaper pail, sprayer if you get one), but it can save $1,200/yr on disposables and prevent 1 ton of landfill waste. (It takes 500+ years for diapers to decompose in the landfill. And likely, we start and end our lives in diapers -- so that's a lot of ... waste haha.) We will still be using disposables for convenience for daycare and when we're out and about, but cloth is my new 1st choice.

Lullabye Seahorse

Miss Elizabeth is spending more time awake...and that include more crabbing time when she is fighting naps. Luckily we have the swing and the lullabye seahorse. Thank God for the motion and the music to put the little miss back to sleep.

Return Address Labels

www.superiorlabels.com
I order my labels and return address stamps from this company. They are very thorough and timely. If you want cute labels for any occasion, try this website. They always ship the next day and you'll have your merchandise that week.

First Real Bath

Yeah! Baby's first real bath since she lost her umbilical stump. She actually did very well, no crying and no tears.

Oh, Those Kissable Toes!

"They'll be here when you get back, Gramma Koney."

Baby After Bath Video

Baby Elizabeth lost her umbilical cord today and also learned to roll from back to side. She is so strong. I'll be glad to give her a real bath now that her belly button is ready because her rolling really scares me and so we had moved to sponge-bathe on the floor. She actually does very well with her baths as long as we keep her warm.

Dinner with the Sch-Bro-Kon-Bul-Makis

A picture is worth a thousand words. In celebration of the new arrival and one last good bye to Mom and Earl for the winter, we had a beautiful family dinner together. Mom was sweet enough to stay the night and all day with me today to help out with Elizabeth and spend one more day together. Thanks fam for the good times and making memories.

Vikings Won!

Elizabeth "watched" her first Vikings game against the Cardinals last night. Thanks to her, they won. I'm not giving Favre any credit, she's the good luck charm...this week.

Visitors

Baby's First Visitors

Introducing...

Elizabeth Angel Brooks. Due Date: 11/02/2010. Born 11/01/2010 @ 16:24. 7#4oz, 20.5" long (same size as me). Head 14", chest 13.5". Will post pictures when we have our heads on straight and remember our USB cables from home. Mild cramps began at 3 AM. We got up, showered and planned to go to work until @ 6 we realized it wasn't a false alarm. Printed out our birth plan and went to the hospital @ 8:30 with contractions 5 min apart and >1min. Started pushing @ shift change (15:30) She's beautiful and all ours. Happy Birthday Elizabeth.

Lexie's Surgery

Our poor little girl. 4 months ago she had a foot infection. 2 weeks ago we treated it for a 3rd time with antibiotics and steroids. It came back so finally the vet recommended exploratory surgery last Thursday 10/28. Which means he cut her foot open between the toes and took out whatever was continuously infecting her. She has stitches and another antibiotic (while she was out we also had her teeth cleaned & nails clipped). She can't play or run on her foot for 10 days. But she is acting SO much better, back to normal. Last week she was hopping on 3 legs, now she's walking normally -- with her shaved toes and stitches. It's red, but the swelling and infection looks like its gone down significantly. I think we have a harder time with it than she does. We have the hardest time putting on her ugly little cone hat. As you can see, she's enjoying the time off her walks, but she is starting to get a little antsy and wanting to play outside more. Before & after pics.

40 Weeks

I don't really look that big...so why do I feel like it?! :) It's like sleeping with a watermelon under your shirt and trying to bend, twist, and flip without crushing it. After today, Baby, you're welcome to come out anytime.

Another Year Past

I'm not big on birthdays (my own that is), but it was a very blessed one. I had my 39 wk check up, all is good. At work we had pizza, donuts, and presents. I then met up with Mom & Heather for lunch. And then had a romantic tortellini alfredo dinner with my Dearly Beloved at home. I got flowers, lemon poppy seed muffins (my fav!), an electronic picture frame, and a beautiful card with a touching letter from him. Can't forget the most beautiful birthday song and wish on my last "20-something" candle. I received many phone calls, text messages, and well-wishing emails from family & friends. It was a blessed day, more than I deserved and while I dislike my birthday, it's a good time to reflect on just how many blessings I have in my life. Thank you all for making it special.

Busy Bone = Bad, Bissell ProHeat 2x Pet = Good

I bought Lex a busy bone the other day. She loved it. It kept her preoccupied for a whole hour. Unfortunately she was eating in on my tan carpet and it left a gross dark brown stain on my carpet that the Kirby vacuum couldn't get up. Thankfully I have a new toy I finally got to try out. The Bissell Pro Heat has turned out to be awesome with the internal water heater and 3 separate hand held attachments. I highly recommend this carpet shampooer, esp if you have carpets, pet, and/or children. I am very satisfied with my purchase. And I save $50 by buying it @ Sam's Club vs. Walmart.

Nursery is Ready, But Something's Still Missing...Oh, BABY!

Our spare bedroom/nursery is now ready. David did a wonderful job at putting in a closet organizer with many shelves and hangers that helped me restructure. The vanity is fully stocked and labeled (I love my label maker). I did not take a picture of the closet organizer because Dave is taking apart the bear room and we currently have our hunting jackets & snow pants hanging in Baby's closet:).

Baby Can Wave

Actually it's a flopping over of the bottom 1/2 since BB1 is upside down, but you get the point. THe big sweep happens at 17 seconds.

38 Week Baby Bump