Just a little something

to brighten your day! And thank you for the supportive comments from yesterday! Glad (and sad) to know that I'm not alone in this ridiculous endeavor!

Vents

I just need to get a vent off my chest. This vent is called: College Loan Payments

I will start by saying that I know I am living my choices and I fully believe in paying off debt as fast as you can. No one needs that weight on them.

I chose to go to Hardin-Simmons University, which is a private college, which ultimately means more money. But that doesn't really matter because college is expensive pretty much every where you go. Because HSU doesn't give out that many good scholarships, because my parents are in that middle income level where they can't afford it but make to much for me to get financial aid of any kind, and because I didn't work every free moment out of class while I was in college, I went to college on loans. Loans that need to be paid off.

When I met Wes I told him he would not want to marry me because of all the debt I had in college loans. He kind of laughed and didn't think I was that serious...haha...but I most definitely was. I have thousands of dollars of college loans to pay off. Have we been paying them? Yes. Are we currently paying them? No. Why? Because I am now in a graduate program that offers no financial aid, so we have to pay off my courses as I take them...which is good in the sense that at least I'm not accruing more crazy debt.

So my vent is this. Why in the world does it cost so much to get a degree? I've been out of college now for almost 4 years. I'm a teacher (by choice...I know) so I don't make enough money to be shoveling wads of cash at these loans, which we desperately want to pay off.

I know it will just take time. I know we will eventually pay them off. With the amount that I owe, it would just be life changing if they were already paid off.

Sorry that wasn't the most happy post ever...haha... I just was dealing with those thoughts in my mind and needed to get them out there.

The latest...

Eli has started smiling! And it's the kind of smile that just stops you dead in your tracks, fills your eyes with tears, and your mind captures that moment like a picture that you never ever want to forget! I can't wait for him to start smiling even more! And I can't wait to actually capture it in a picture to show you because it is the most precious thing I have ever seen!

Eli has had his first real bath! He hated those sponge baths so I was kind of worried about giving him a real bath thinking that he would just scream the whole way through...but he did great! Hopefully he did great because he will tolerate it and not just because it was something new.

Eli slept at least 4 1/2 hours straight last night! Now, I don't know if that means he will start sleeping that long consistently (of course I will let you know). But he was up a lot yesterday evening so maybe he was just really tired... BUT if it is that he will actually start sleeping that long, that would be fantastic!! :)

I'm going to try to be better about updating! I've started back to graduate school now and so my time is even more divided... I can't wait to be done!

1 month old!

I seriously cannot believe that it has been one whole month already since Eli was born! Time goes much too fast and even though we don't get much sleep, my house is never clean, and laundry is piling up, we're just trying to savor every small moment with him because we will never have this chance again! Here are some cute pics of him for his 1 month old day today! (thanks Mere for the super cute outfit!)

Free at last!

Today I had my 4 week check up with my doctor, Dr. Vines. Who I absolutely adore by the way... Look at this precious burp pad they sent us with his cute little name on it!

Very sweet :)

The appointment went great! The small amount of bleeding I'm having is normal he says, as well as my soreness. The soreness isn't really noticeable until pressure is put on it, like trying to wear jeans...even maternity jeans... so, I'm still in my sweats! yay for that! :) I have also been released to start exercising again with the recommendation of brisk walking to begin with. So all is well!

Eli is doing great! So far he's had his second PKU done, which I'm assuming turned out normal since I haven't had a phone call about it. His next appointment is his 2 month, which will be on Feb. 28. At his 2 week visit he was at 8 pounds and grown to 21 inches (started out at 7.1 pounds, 19 3/4 inches), so since today he is 4 weeks, he might even be 10 pounds! Yikes! :)

He is growing so much...he's still really skinny, but getting so long! I guess he'll be long and lean like his daddy! He is still fitting into his newborn clothes and Wes brought him in to me yesterday in a 0 to 3 month sleeper and it fit him! I almost cried! It's still really baggy, but he's long enough to be in it now! geez...he's growing so fast! Here are some adorable pics we took of him today!

Postpartum

Hello out there in blogger land! Sorry it's been a couple of weeks! Let me fill you in on the reasons why and then we'll be up and running for a more up to date blog!

1. depression- yes, I said it... DEPRESSION! geez... of course I would get that! haha... It took almost 3 weeks for my depression to go away. I didn't really know that is what I had until I had a good long talk with my dearest friends Rachel and Meredith and my wise mother. I wasn't really feeling sad, more just like extreme fatigue and I was very weepy all the time. Finally when I was able to call it what it was (on a Sunday), I decided I would call my doctor the next day when his practice opened. I woke up on Monday morning and felt 100% better! I am sure that was due to a bunch of factors put together: prayer, being honest, 3 weeks almost passing by, and lots of loving on from friends and family. But I am happy to report that I am SO much better! I don't feel near as tired and nothing gloomy at all! Yay! And for the record... I didn't have any ill thoughts about Eli or anything else. It seems like when you hear about postpartum depression everyone freaks and thinks you're going to hurt your baby. Not all people are like that ok! :)

2. friends- I have had so many sweet friends come to visit! Meredith, Rachel, Adrienne, Jourdan, and most recently Kelli who flew all the way from Amarillo! Thank you guys SO MUCH for coming over! I love having good friends over that I don't have to entertain or feel like I can't be totally me. So I've been surrounded by friends and family and haven't had the time to blog!

3. I don't really have another reason... but it seems people always list in threes. :)

I'm back! Yay! --- These pictures of him in the swing are from today! SO cute!

Eli in his swing!

More play time in the swing!

Here is Eli sleeping... like you didn't know... but isn't he so angelic?