Dr Appt

Hi you little creep!
Yes, that is right. Your mom called you a creep and, in the past, has called you a turd and a big fat pig. Go ahead and call your therapist as soon as you know how to speak and dial a phone :) Let's get the important stuff out of the way. You have a clean bill of health for 3 more weeks. You are just 1 ounce shy of 3 pounds, you are still sewn in there nice and tight and your size is good. Your measurements looked good and your heart was beating like crazy. So, at the most important level - you get an A+.

Now, let's talk about the trivial stuff. This was supposed to be *thee* important appointment for your photography. You are at the stage where you are formed enough to make you look like a cute little baby but not so squished in there that we can't distinguish you. The suspense built, the screen came on, the 3D wand was pulled out... This, my love, is what you did to us....

Yes, that is right, you told us to get that camera off your face. I had to look accusingly at your father and say "See, he is your stinking kid." Then, I had to laugh because it was so darn funny.

Next, she tried moving you around a bit so you would move your arm. She was trying to shake you with the wand. She was being so nice and polite with gentle little shakes and I was thinking to myself that she needed to be less gentle with you and beat you into moving your arm :)




Then, at the last minute, you gave us one really good sneak peek at you. Oh, no, obviously, you couldn't show us your entire face because then you wouldn't be a Brigham. However, we got this good one and I believe, a bit of smirk in there. Kind of like "I got you two again. NaNaNaNaNaNahhh,.."


It is 5 hours after these photos were taken and I am seriously in awe at them. I rotate between cracking up because you are so shy or evil (can't decide which one yet), being angry at your dad for passing on this genetic trait to you and just being so overcome with happiness. My goodness - you are a little tyke growing in there. You have 10 fingers and everything - which you so proudly had to show us. You are still growing healthy and have plenty of amniotic juice and no signs of coming any time soon. I just can't stop looking at them. You are our son and we are going to be parents. Still blows my mind but yet there you are in 3d splendor and, as I type, you are kicking the crap out of me. Too much to take in!!

Other small details - Bonehead doesn't think you are going to come early or when your stitch is out. He thinks you are going to go full term. There is no scientific reasoning behind his answer but that is his gut. If that is true, I don't think you will get to meet your Auntie Val or Unc until the end of January. (That is if your mom's guilt trip on your Unc worked and I convinced him to come see you on 1/29 during the Eli Meet and Greet) But, that means that Gramma Debi D doesn't miss out on you since she will be in Florida that week. No date is going to please everyone but you coming out healthy and full term will please everyone!

Your mom tried oh so hard to get out of work - just a few hours a day. When else I am going to have the opportunity to be such a slacker? Nope, no go. Your mean spirited doctor said that if I wanted to get a doctor to lie for me, I should call my diabetic doctor that I cheated on him with. :) I am not kidding about that but he was joking and back to himself today. Maybe next time, huh?

So, that is all your scoop for today you little creep. I have emailed or texted everyone your photos so they can see how big you are and how well you are doing. I will update your blog this weekend for some Thanksgiving decorations. Your dad is going to paint your room and I hope to keep unshoveling the living room. Nothing too exciting but Bonehead did say to stay away from the Halloween candy and that it wasn't FDA approved to supplement with Insulin to offset it :)

Numbers

Good morning Elijah!
I thought I would talk to you in terms of math today. No better time to get you started on being a genius than now. Start counting your fingers and toes in there - should equal out to 20 :) Your mom and dad both profess to being pretty good at math but something about the hormone juice you kick out has turned my math-brain to mush. I hope it turns back to normal when you are here :) So, just some random numbers for you....
1) Number of nights in a row we have not gotten to sleep until 3 am: 6
2) Number of hours your dad worked on your room yesterday: 1
3) Number of times your dad complained that it was a day of rest and he should not have to work on your room: 3
4) Number of days per week your dad thinks are days of rest or "Sabbath": 7 - or any that end in Y. In other math terms, 100%.
5) Number of pregnancy related side affects that your mom discovered yesterday and made her want to cry: 1 - too personal to detail...
6) Number of pounds your mom has packed on with you so far: 27 as of this morning
7) Number of days until your shower: 16
8) Number of days until your due date: 80
9) Number of shower gifts you have received already: 5 - Aunt Lee's blankie and a box with 4 goodies in it yesterday from your dad's cousin Jane
10) Number of days your dad and I have gone without eating in a restaurant: 11 - it has to be a record!
11) Number of buckets your mom shoveled out of the living room last night: 4
12) Number of thank you notes your mom made last night: 32
13) Number of shower favors your mom cut out last night: 50
14) Number of hours until we see you again: 27
15) Number of times your mom has hoped, prayed and spoken out loud that she wants Dr. Bonehead to reduce my hours at work: Too many to count
16) Number of days before your Auntie Kim comes to visit for an "Eli Meet and Greet": 92 (1/29)
17) Number of days before your Auntie Val comes to visit for an "Eli Meet and Greet": Well, this is a bit trickier... She will meet and greet my belly and love you up in 16 days. Then, she will be back in 55 days for Christmas and would love to meet you then. Or, 92 days until the official Auntie Meet & Greet
18) Number of heart-wrenching emails your mom received from your Uncle yesterday: 1 - details are personal between me and my brother but I want to tell you that he is already deciding on how he can be a great uncle and love you up. Might just take him a bit to figure out the best way to navigate!
19) Number of bottles of water I drink per day: 3-4. You are sucking the hydration out of me you little leech :)
20) Number of times per day I use your name in vain to get my way with your dad: At least 3. Elijah is hungry, Eli is thirsty, E can't handle all that cleaning. haha

Finally...
21) Number of times I say your name, type your name, think about you, smile about you when you move, tell you how much I love you already or how many prayers go up for you daily: Countless!

God Parents

Good morning sunshine!
For the 5th night in a row, we did not get to sleep until 3 am. Darn it - I wish your mom's brain would shut down and we could get to bed at 10. I think it is going to come to a head and we are going to crash for like the whole weekend :) I am so excited - only 2 days until we get to see you again. I can't wait to go to the doctor. I read that dr. appointments often go to every 2 weeks now in the third trimester and then shortly after to weekly. I don't think I will argue with him on that one. I am anxious to see you. Your dad and I had a funny conversation 2 nights ago. It finally hit him that you are coming in a few short weeks. Not only are we on the single digit count down, we are on the 2.5 week countdown until your room has to be ready. To say it took him by surprise would be an understatement :)

So, a couple of weeks ago (probably about 1 am when I do my best thinking), I realized your dad and I hadn't talked about your baptism. I had always assumed that we would baptize you Catholic and raise you in the Catholic church but your dad and I hadn't confirmed that. I knew that your arrival would indicate our cut off from slacking and require us to go to church more frequently. We can't expect you to be faithful and learn about religion unless we are. So, I smacked myself upside the head and said "Oh no, something new for Mark and I to disagree on."

As with all of your major life decisions, I emailed your dad at work. haha. He agreed that he wanted to baptize you Catholic and we bantered back and forth on who your Godparents should be. I had definite requirements for this role model in your life. I wanted it to be someone who is related to us and I wanted it to be someone who was spiritual. Not necessarily Catholic but someone with a strong faith - remember those posts about religion? I want you to believe in God but may not really a Catholic God. We do have spiritual friends and we did toss them around but I was really stuck on it being relation rather than friends. My Godmother was my mom's best friend at the time and I don't think I have seen her in over 7 years - and, that was a freak run in at the mall. With family, you are stuck with them no matter what. I have seen my Godfather - it is your uncle Jeff. But, to keep it real with you, your Unc is not the most religious man. If he is, he keeps it all in heart and mind so he has never passed that on to me unless it was through osmosis in a thump to the head.

Surprisingly, this was an easy decision when I told your dad my choices. He agreed to them. I offered him the choice to choose someone on his side of the family but he did not have anyone that he wanted to use so they are both on my side of the family. We haven't talked to your prospective Godfather yet - I will leave that to your dad to do in a few weeks. However, I would like to introduce you to your Godmother. *drum roll please* Your Grampa Larry's sister, your Aunt Becky, has agreed to be your Godmother. Not only is this an excellent way for us to honor your Grampa Larry and his family, your Aunt Becky is one of the most spiritual people I know. I have no doubt that she will take this role very seriously and do her best to make sure that we are raising you with a strong sense of faith and spirituality. Outside of faith, your Aunt Becky is kind and has a strong sense of family - both of which are important to your dad and me. Yes, it does mean that you are stuck with your goofy Uncle Steve being around but once you get used to him, it is easy to ignore him :) Even though he won't officially be your Godfather, I know he will support your Aunt Becky in her role and also be a spiritual role model. Despite his crude, rude and funny behavior (it took your dad a lot of years to come to love that about him!), he is also a very spiritual man.

So, I hope we did you proud in our decision making, Little Elijah. I will post back to you in a few weeks when we have the official acceptance from your Godfather. Since he doesn't know we are asking him, it sure doesn't seem fair to introduce you to him now - maybe he secretly worships the devil and will turn the role down :)

On a related note, have I ever told you what your name means or how it came to me? Remember how I told you that I had a few experiences in my life where I felt like I heard the voice of God? I feel like Elijah was that way too. I was sitting there and out of the blue, this voice appeared in my head and told me Elijah. Some could argue that it was the *other* voices in my head but I choose to believe that it was divine. When I looked up what it means, I was even more convinced. Elijah officially means "My God is the Lord." I hope you will find that to be true, my little bambino and I hope Aunt Becky will help shine the light on that for you.

Quick note for you

Hi little Elijah!
Not much to share with you but just a couple quick little things!

We did a ton of cooking and cleaning this weekend. Good job for us! We tried 4 new recipes on Saturday. So far, 3 out of 4 are keepers. We haven't tried the 4th one yet.

Your Gramma Debbie bought us some goodies today. It is kind of scary because she keeps telling us about all this stuff she is stockpiling. Heck, we may just need to move your nursery over to her house where all the goods are :)

Finally, I got an email from your Auntie Val today & it just made me smile. I have to share it with you & we will hope that she doesn't see that I am sharing her secrets with you :)

"I am just working away. But Eli just popped into my head. I can't tell you how excited I am that we are going to have this little guy. He brings a smile to my face everytime I think of you and Eli. Mark, too. At least a couple more months. Yahoo!!!!
PS I am the only one who voted for the date that has the one vote. I can't remember the exact dates but I know it was when I was there in town for xmas that I voted you would have him... He is very excited to meet his Auntie Val and that is why faith will have him coming during that week.
Love ya
Aunt Val"

Holy SCHMOLY - 28 weeks

Hey there little Elijah -
We were on our own this weekend. Your dad & cousin Andrew were in KC at Worlds of Fun & the Chiefs game. It is nice to have the house to myself but it is hard because (if possible) it makes me more lazy. I cleaned the bathroom and we had to take a several hour rest. Apparently, you didn't like me leaning over in the position I was in and it caused us some havoc. You were so low and making such weird sensations that I almost started to panic. But, even before that, you were a WILD MAN Saturday. You were so active I could hardly believe it. It wasn't due to sugar or to music - you were just boogeying in there. Maybe you were celebrating our biggest milestone to date -
28 weeks my little man....
28 weeks...
The week where Bonehead said anxiety can lesson. The week where you have an 80% survival rate and a drop to 35% medical complication rate. The week where your dad and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Like I tell you every week, I don't want you to come yet. You would have to spend too much time in the NICU but this truly is the week where we have been counting down to. I read somewhere on the internet that for each day you stay in their cooking, it reduces your NICU time by 3 days. I am sure that is not scientific but I want you to cook in there long enough that you have NO NICU time. I want you to come home and torture me with no sleep immediately. I will have to get you a new photo because your mom's tummy sure is sticking out now.

I am still getting headaches but I have been checking my blood pressure and it is well within the normal range. I have also tried to see if it is during a time where I would be having a natural "sugar spike" and it isn't happening then either. I guess it just must be another awesome side affect of pregnancy - like all those aches in my hips I was telling you about the other day. But, I think that God has some sort of spell that comes over mom's when they see their new babies that blacks out all of the morning sickness, nausea, vomiting, aches, pains, weight gain and labor. Otherwise, I don't think anyone would ever have more than one baby - EVER :)

We are definitely in the single digit week count down now. I know that you could come at 40 or even 40+ weeks but hearing that we are in single digits makes me happy so we are just going to continue to say that. :) Your baby shower is in 3 weeks - can you believe that? Then, we have Thanksgiving and Christmas then a little bouncing Elijah. I think time is going to fly by so quick that I won't believe it!

Other than that, not much to report. Your dad & I did really good - we didn't eat out once last week. That has to be a record for us. We have plenty of food left over for this week too. I have a few new recipes to try but I am not sure that I will get to them this weekend. Might have to be Monday night again. It requires a trip to the store and a clean kitchen :)

Overwhelmed

Hi little bambino,
Most days, when I write to you, I try to keep it upbeat and fun for you. I want you to think that I am a hip, cool mom :) However, you will learn the truth when you get here - there are days where I will be the coolest mom ever, days I will be the funsucker and days I will be the crabbiest mom ever. So, in an effort to keep it real for you, I am going to tell you that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed lately by all sorts of things. I am not down or depressed and I am still so excited to meet you but it just seems like there is a lot going on and is making me feel a bit buried. Here are some of the things I am finding overwhelming....

1) Finances - we are getting hit with a lot of annual, medical and unexpected expenses right now. I am sure it is to prepare us for when you come. Not only will you suck the energy and sleep away from me, you will suck my money away too. :) (That sounds kind of negative, huh? You are worth it to us but, in keeping it real, you are going to suck the resources out of our house.)

2) My body - I expected it to grow big and be uncomfortable but I think I was unprepared for the hip pain, back pain and side pain. I only expect it to get worse as you get bigger. The big pregnancy belly is all OK with me because that just makes me think of you each time I see it.

3) Work - interestingly enough, work is not overwhelming me, it is UNDERWHELMING. It is kind of slow right now and if I were busier, my mind would be off of all of this other stuff.

4) Hollie - our little fat cat is just miserable. She has some sort of allergies and it is a very hard decision to make on how to proceed. Right now, she is responding to steroid shots but those can't last forever. The testing is very expensive and there is no guarantee that it will show us how to fix her. It is a hard decision to make between what is best for her, what is best for us financially and what is the best thing to do. No worries for you Eli - you will have insurance. We won't have to sell blood to get you medical care. Well, the government is trying to change it so I guess I better not make too many promises.

5) Feeling you - this is a good overwhelming. It is still so overwhelming to me when I feel you move. Most awesome thing ever.

6) My hair - yeah, I know, this isn't as important as world peace but I just can't get it to do what I want. Maybe it is hormones or the weather or what but I am straggly.

7) Labor - I am a tad overwhelmed when I think of how this whole labor thing is going to go down. How painful it will be, how long it will take, etc. I am a tad scared.

8) Being a parent - I can't wait to have you here and love you up. But, you will have to cut me some slack because we have never really thought this whole parenting thing out. It was a far away concept that we discuss - like winning the lottery. With our history, our focus has always been on the pregnancy journey and not the parenting journey because we have never made it that far. Now, you are more real than ever and in a few short hours, you will be at the 28 week mark where most babies survive. You know what that means? We are going to have to raise you, feed you, love you, discipline you, educate you and guide you down life's path. Where is the training dvd or audio book for that? I know we will make mistakes but it is overwhelming to think that we are responsible for someone other than ourselves and our animals. That is somewhat (read: incredibly) overwhelming to me.

9) Lack of control - this is a big daddy overwhelming issue to me. See, your mom has control issues. I wouldn't necessarily go as far as to say I am a control freak but maybe I am. I learned that this is the root of my problems emotionally - I try to control my emotions instead of just being with them. But, you know what Eli? I can't control anything right now. You are in complete control and that kills me. I can't control when you come, I can't (to many degrees) control if you are healthy, I can't control how I want labor to go and post-labor, I can't control anything about this pregnancy and it is so difficult to leave it up to you & God. If you would like my input, here is how it would go down. From now until 12/26, we would have no issues. You would continue to grow, my sugars would be good (completely in my control), my belly would look like a pregnant belly rather than a fat belly and all is well. On 12/27, we would go in to have my stitch out and within 2 hours of easy labor, you would be born perfectly healthy with no c-section. You would be given to me immediately and you would learn how to breastfeed within minutes. Your dad and I would cry as we hold you & love you up. We would be with you the whole time. After some time with just the 3 of us, we would have your family come visit you and love you up. You would sleep well, feed well and we would bring you home to perfect bliss on Wednesday or Thursday where the good feedings and sleeping would continue. In addition, we would master the cloth diapering thing immediately and all live happily ever after. I am realistic enough to know that probably only 1% of that will come true but didn't figure it would hurt to get a good word in with you early. If you would be so kind as to let me choose the 1%, I would choose it for you to be born perfectly healthy. Anything else, we can overcome!

Your Aunts & Uncle

Baby E,
You were up all night and all morning moving around. I think all that activity wore you out then you were ready to party while your mom was trying to sleep :) Today is your Aunt Val's birthday so it is time to finish up our Lang family introductions. Our final stop on the Lang side is your Aunt Valerie, Aunt Kim and Uncle Jeff. Yes, I know your Aunt Sheila got her own post but she bribed me with ice cream dessert and she was dying to see her post. :)

One thing makes me sad about you coming so late in my life - you don't get to experience life with your Aunts and Uncle like I did. When I was little, Aunt Valerie lived across the street and Aunt Kim lived in Omaha. Uncle Jeff could be found in Omaha with the exception of a couple of Missouri or Vegas trips. Now, Aunt Val is in Denver (although she is planning on coming back to Omaha), Aunt Kim is in Houston and Uncle Jeff is kind of like "Where is the world is Waldo?" - we never know where is he. :)

I can only hope that your Aunt Laura and your Uncles Tyler & Zach are as good to you as my Aunts and Uncle are to me. I honestly feel like I would be lost without my Aunts and Uncle. They have always took me under their wing and made me a part of their families. They took me on trips with them, they taught me things, they let me lean on them when I need to and they are just a constant source of support when I need them. You know how I have told you like 15 times that I was scared of Gramma Lang? How I was scared to disappoint her? Well, even if she went soft on me, I knew my Aunts and Uncle would be next in line to whip me into shape and they scared me too.

Your Uncle Jeff is my only Uncle and he is the only one left in my life that is one of those go-to guys. Him and Larry were always the people I could call to know the answer to anything or know who to contact if we needed something. We always say they were the guys who knew people who knew people :) Now that Larry is gone, Uncle Jeff is the only guy I know that knows people who knows people. haha. I can't see your Uncle beating your dad up if he was mean to me but he would probably be the first person I would go to and cry on his shoulder. I can only hope that maybe he would do something manipulative behind the scenes to get your dad's knees broken. haha - just kidding you Eli. Your dad is too scared of Gramma Debi D to be mean to me but that just illustrates how much confidence I have in your Uncle. Sometimes, I don't know what he is thinking and I don't think I have ever heard him say "I love you", but, I know for certain, that no matter what, he would do anything for me and I bet that will carry over to you. Your Uncle is great with kiddos - especially when he can give them back to their parents after awhile. But, I am going to warn you again - be good or you will get a thump to the head. Unc is infamous for his thumps to the head. While he is a bit older and his body has had more wear and tear on it, I really doubt that his hands have gone soft. Seriously kid - those thumps hurt and I am trying to save you. If you don't believe me, you can ask any of your cousins.

I asked your dad what I inherited from your Uncle Jeff and he said I am kind and generous like your Uncle. Hmmm...that one took me off guard but your Uncle is always kind to me. I asked why your dad said he was generous and he said "He would do anything for you - that is being generous." I hope that you can inherit his skills - he is a jack of all trades. His metabolism would be a great thing for you to get too so you don't end up a big fat pig :)

I think your Aunt Val is more excited about you than I am - if that is possible. She is only using me and your dad as our connections to you. Once I pop you out, I will be forgotten as a niece and she will focus all of her energy on you :) She told me recently that I have had 34 years of being spoiled so it is time for me to get pushed to the side and let you get spoiled. She is right - I was spoiled rotten. Whether it was her taking me on vacations or buying me things or just spending time with me. Your aunt helped me with school when I needed a co-signer on a loan - I appreciated her trust in me and the help I so desperately needed. She was a role model for me - I watched her work her way through her degree, go on to get her masters and I watched her be successful in her careers. I also think that she would do anything for me and I know for certain that she will for you too. Watch out when she is back in Omaha to spoil you rotten :)

I inherited a lot of traits that your Aunt Val has. I am outspoken like she is (sometimes that doesn't benefit either of us - haha). I am ambitious and might even go as far as to say as aggressive as she is. I asked your dad what characteristics he thinks I inherited from her. He said I am smart like her, outgoing like her, funny like her, I like to spend money like her and "you will love Elijah like she loves her boys." Crack me up but I think that is a huge compliment to your Aunt Val - she does love her boys to pieces. I hope that you can take after us and speak your mind and pursue what you want in your life. Maybe as we are softening in our old age, we can teach you to do it with a little more tact than I often show.

Then, there is your Aunt Kimberly. She was the closest thing that I had to a big sister growing up. She is 15 years older than me but she has always been more like a buddy to me than an aunt. I wouldn't want to disappoint her any more than I would Uncle Jeff or Aunt Val but her reaction would be different. Where Unc would thump me upside the head and Aunt Val would lecture me, Aunt Kim would take that quiet approach of disappointment and (whether or intentionally or not) make me feel guilty. Aunt Kim would take me shopping, introduced me to music, take me to movies and we would always pig out together. I don't know that the shopping and eating were healthy but I have very fond memories of hanging out with her in both Omaha and Houston. Aunt Kim is one of those people that you just like to be around. I always enjoy my time with her and hope that we will get you down to see her often. We always laugh alot. We always laugh about how crazy our family is. Maybe the family is the sane and your Aunt Kim and I are the crazy ones. I haven't seen Aunt Kim with a lot of babies but I have no doubt that she will be loving you up. She told me recently that she will be coming up to see you - I can't wait for her visit and to see her love you up.

Your dad always says that I have your Aunt's body shape. I always laughed at that because it was always covered in fat :) Once I started losing weight, he always said that I was like your Aunt Kim. Aunt Kim would probably make a joke about that and feel sorry for me since she thinks she is all hips. I know for a fact I inherited her sweet tooth. I wish I would have inherited her laid back personality - she is really easy going where I am strung pretty tight. Your dad says I am stubborn like her but I don't think I ever would have called her stubborn. I would still say that comes from your Gramma Lang. I also inherited her love for animals - she is a foster mom to shelties. I hope that you are laid back like her, caring like her, have a good heart like her and avoid our sweet tooth like the plague!!

I think you are coming along late enough in life that you won't have to be scared of your Aunts & Uncle - you will benefit from just being loved to pieces by them. I will get to be the funsucker and be the one making sure you are good. We will also have to leave it up to Aunt Laura and Uncle Tyler/Zach to scare you into being good because my Aunts and Uncle will be too busy spoiling you and thinking your antics are funny :)