Shut Up and Drive.

What's that Mommy and Daddy?

We're getting a new car?
A minivan?!
A red one? That's ok, I guess.

What? I can't drive?! You have GOT to be kidding me.

Mommy and Daddy Rock.

Dave is doing an outstanding job of taking care of Elliott, me and our household. He does not hesitate to get up in the morning with me, make me coffee, take me to work if he needs the car, have lunch ready when I come home to feed Elliott, do our laundry, keep the house picked up, etc. And I know how much Elliott loves his Daddy and playing with him all day long. The two of them are so bonded, it is amazing to watch and be a part of.

I remember my only pregnancy dream was of following Dave and a little boy down the sidewalk in front of our house and seeing Dave take the little boy's hand and call him his little buddy. It looks like dreams do come true.

I don't think I tell Dave often enough how much I appreciate him, but I really do.

This thought was brought on because I had my annual evaluation at work today. It made me realize that stay at home parents don't get "evaluations," but they also don't get consistent feedback and praise either. In my opinion, Dave would pass his Daddy evaluation with flying colors.

My evaluation went extraordinarily well. The plant peeps are excited to get me full time, the animal peeps are sad to lose me, and they both think I did a great job this year. No complaints. Really no negative feedback or even constructive criticism, just enthusiasm for seeing more of my work in action this year.

The head of the plant side of things made the comment that if you didn't know I was gone for three months this year, you could never tell from the amount of work I completed and my performance throughout the year. That meant a lot to me.

And while it is nice to feel like a rockstar, I can't help but think of a few important things:
--Being a non-traditional family is a good thing. It works for us and that's what's important.
--I would not be where I am today without the love and support of my soulmate, David.
--I would not be where I am today without the love and support of my family.
--I would not be looking at the raise and promotion coming down the pike without the help of my sister Meredith and my Dad, the ever-cheerleader.
--It is increasingly important that I bust ass at work so I can leave on time and go home to my baby and my husband. Elliott won't be a baby for long, but I will always work.

--I crave new challenges and like to take on big projects. I need to work hard to embrace the challenges once they are thrown my way and follow through on projects.

--It is very important that I keep up my momentum and continue to blaze new trails here. A few weeks ago I would have said I needed to do less of that, but my evaluation proved that the people that matter appreciate my frank honesty and ability to shake things up.

My Grandma Ebig is in the hospital. Please pray for her. I am anxiously waiting for news on her latest procedure, a defibrilator placement. I can't talk about it more because it makes me too emotional. She is 80 years old this year and about to be a great grandma again. My cousin Jason and his lovely wife Lindsay are expecting the first official EBIG grandbaby (meaning he/she will have the last name of Ebig).

Today, Dave was kind enough to bring Elliott to me for his lunch and go and get lunch for the two of us. What a guy! Anyway, the funny part of that story is that Elliott selected the 45 minutes he was at my office to FINALLY poop after about 3 days of poop-free diapers (Lots of farts, no poops). Thankfully he did not blow out of his diaper (and they were even the cheaper, baby store brand), but we did have to change him on my desk before Dave left. Three days worth was pretty overwhelming. And Elliott drooled all over my clothes. Like he knew I had my evaluation today and didn't need baby drool marks on my shoulders!

We've been kicking around whether or not to buy a new (to us) car now or later. It's looking more and more like now. My car continues to run, but is more and more quirky. And frankly, I love the early spring days of rolling down the car windows and breathing in the fresh, dewy air. We've been without a functioning driver side window for a LONG time now. I've about had it.

Ok, I'm done for now. Here are some Elliott videos. He is growing up so fast.

Getting the Bears in His Pack and Play

A Crowd Favorite... Jumperoo Time!

In the Swing of Things

My Favorite Things... Toys and Dropping Them

My Favorite Things Part Deuce

Milestone.

Today is the first day I haven't been able to concentrate on anything at work other than Elliott. It's not a "good" milestone per se, but I felt like it was important enough to note for the future.

Perhaps it is the sheer enormity of work sitting before me, but I am counting down the minutes until I get to see and hold and feed and cuddle my little guy again. I can barely stand being away from him today.

What Happens at Grandma's, Stays at Grandma's

Elliott did great this weekend. Dave and I missed him terribly, but it was refreshing and fun to be "just the two of us" again for a short time. I always say the best part about leaving Elliott is seeing his face light up when we return. He did not disappoint us! Even while he was sleeping on the way home, he would break into a smile just hearing our voices (I know this because I sat next to him in the backseat of the car because I needed to get my fill of looking at his face and holding his hand.)

Wine tasting was delicious and fun. We ate wonderful food and bought several bottles of Michigan wine and enjoyed uninterrupted quality time together. I got sick on Sunday morning around 5am and wanted to curl up into a little ball of misery until about 9am, when I felt amazingly better. Go figure. I have a cold and sore throat now, but I'm not puking anymore, a huge plus.

Dave and I spent a good portion of the drive home talking about how lucky we are and how content and satisfied we are with life in general.

Carolyn and Dave were kind enough to take lots of photos of Elliott while we were gone so we didn't miss anything. We were definitely ready to see Elliott again, but I think Dave and Carolyn would have liked to keep him for another day or more!

Overachiever.

Elliott had his four-month checkup yesterday. He is 16 pounds, 6 ounces and 26.5 inches long. That's the 92nd percentile for height and weight and his head circumfrence is in the 75th percentile.

We are extraordinarily lucky. Elliott hasn't been sick at all to date other than a couple of boogery noses that passed in a day or two. Maybe I should worry more about germs and the flu bug going around, but I just don't.

We can start him on cereal whenever we want to, but I'm not in any hurry. When I asked Dr. Hoop if there are any benefits to starting solids sooner rather than later, his reply was that they help babies sleep through the night. Well, our little man is consisently doing that (Wow, huh?), so it's really just a matter of teaching him how to eat from a spoon and starting him on the road to eating something other than Mommy Milk. I think we'll know when the time is right, and honestly, I love feeding Elliott. I'm not ready, but I know we will be soon.

Elliott's disposition continues to be a lot like mine... when he's happy, he's thrilled about life. When he's uncomfortable, annoyed, frustrated or the like, he doesn't hesitate to complain up a storm. I was nursing Elliott to sleep last night and daydreaming about his future little brother or sister. Will they be more laid back like Dave? We're definitely not in a rush for #2, but it was one of the first times I thought about starting this adventure all over again and thought I would mention it.

A new phenomenon that I wanted to mention/document is what I call "mamaclinging." There have been times lately where Elliott will just cry until I am there. At first I thought it was just because I am the milk lady, but there have been several instances where he doesn't want to eat, just wants me. It's flattering, really, but also slightly disconcerting.

We will be putting mamaclinging to the test this weekend. For my birthday, Dave bought me tickets to a wine tasting on the Leelanau Peninsula. So we are heading to Frankenmuth tonight, I have a conference there tomorrow and then we are heading to Grandma Carolyn and Grandpa Dave's house. Saturday morning after Elliott's mid-morning meal we are leaving and not planning to return until Sunday afternoon.... We have reservations to stay the night in Traverse City. It's very difficult for both Dave and me. We don't truly WANT to leave Elliott overnight, but we are becoming more and more aware that some time away for the two of us will be good for our marriage. And having a happy marriage will benefit Elliott in the longrun, so we're going to try it. Plus, we know Elliott will be spending many-a-night in Central Lake with Grandma and Grandpa, so it's a matter of when, not if he will have sleepovers there. It was also GrandmaCarolyn's birthday this week, so having Elliott all to herself for the better part of 36 hours is like a birthday gift in and of itself.

No pics today, sorry! Back to work for me!

Elliott Milton LIVE!

I had so much great feedback about Elliott's video debut that I thought I would add a few more.

In the beginning, we thought we liked the jumperoo. His little feet didn't quite touch the ground, but he sure did smile a lot when he was in it.

Apparently the little guy grew his legs long enough to really get himself going AND his little brain grew to learn how to really play in it. It's a ton of fun to watch.

This one is simply titled: "This Is How I Roll, Guys."

I also love to watch Elliott play, so I thought I would share. He is learning so much from day to day, and starting to show favoritism for certain toys.

Finally, I will title this one "The Complainer."

Dave and I are both notorious in our families for overusing the phrase "It's not fair." I think Elliott may be warming up his complainer skills... This was right before bedtime and he was telling me "Enough playing Mom, put me in the tub, rub me down with that pink smelly stuff and give me some mommy milk!"

This is a different night, but I do put him in the tub, massage his growing baby muscles with Johnson's lotion and feed him before bedtime. Here are a few snapshots of that....

I didn't realize that Elliott's thighs had grown to be so Michelin Man-esque...

More random pictures of the cutest baby in the entire world.... Did you spot the little red mark in the corner of his right eye? Elliott decided to knock the pump bottle of Johnson's head to toe babywash off the corner of his bathtub. It fell right into his eye. Thankfully, his quick reflexes made him shut his eye and it just scratched the skin in the corner. However, it took me getting drenched by taking him out of the bathtub mid-bath and Elliott screaming bloody murder and me crying and Dave rushing up the stairs to help before we determined everything was ok and we didn't need to rush to the emergency room or buy a pirate patch for our one-eyed baby.

I am the king of Mount Daddy!
And the King of Drool!

A few of the pictures we've taken lately have reminded me of how quickly Elliott is growing. Here is an updated version of the "milk coma" that I blogged about when Elliott was just a week old.

Remember?And I don't know how much Elliott weighs, but I think he'll be out of this carseat sooner rather than later. *sigh* This was taken on Sunday. I just love those gosh darn Osh Kosh warm up pants!

Here is a photo from 6 weeks old...

In non-Elliott news, my friends Laura and Matt had their little girl, Lila Jean on January 19. She was 7 lbs, 5 oz's and 18.5 inches long. And the last preggo employee at the baby store had her baby yesterday. Parker Nathaniel, ironically also 7 lbs, 5oz's, but he was born 3 weeks early!

Here is baby Lila. I am really excited to meet her and for Lila and Elliott to play together in the future.My Mom a.k.a. GRAM is visiting for a conference in Lansing. I am very excited to spend the evening with her and Elliott and Dave. Grandma Carolyn is coming to visit this weekend on Sunday. Hooray! And next weekend we are heading to Traverse City for our Leelanau Peninsula wine tasting trip for my birthday. Grandma Carolyn and Grandpa Dave are going to watch Elliott for us. I think all five of us are excited for next weekend!

Finally, if ya'll wouldn't mind, please comment now and again so that I know you are reading... I realize I wasn't the best at posting when Elliott was really little, so I wonder how many of you are still out there...

First Attempt at Video

Well, if you can stand to hear me coaxing him on, here is a little video of the little man chatting with me and sticking his tongue out. I promise not to take up a career in film production.