Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Life after crawling

Eli has definitely found his stride in the crawling world, and it has changed quite a few things. First of all, I feel like Wes and I are clean people and that we take care of keeping our house picked up and things like that most of the time. Now I feel like our house is always dirty! I've never paid as much attention to the floor as I do now! I'll find a little piece of string here, a little piece of dog food there and I'm like, "oh my gosh! Eli could put that in his mouth!"

Secondly, Eli loves exploring our house, which I love too, because hello, it's also his house. But I have never noticed so many hazards in our house before! I mean, there are sharp corners on things I haven't even thought of until he crawls up to it and I see it. Thankfully he hasn't been injured on anything, and it's not like they are spikes sticking off of things, but you know, something that doesn't feel that sharp to me leg is still sharp to his forehead!

Also, I do everything much faster or stick him in his bouncy thing if I need to leave the room for more than a minute. The other day I went from the living room where Eli was to the kitchen (which are CONNECTED and I can clearly see into the living room from the kitchen) to wash my hands. As I'm washing them, I hear this weird noise, so I turn around and look and Eli has pulled DVDs out of the DRAWER by the TV! What?!

He's also started to do this squinty thing coupled with a big huge smile! haha... I have to get a picture of it because it is one of the cutest things I've ever seen!

And, Eli's always been a big talker but now he's learned to scream! I'm sure this isn't something that I will think is super cute and funny if we are in a restaurant, but every once in awhile he'll let out this really high pitched scream! as shown below.
Well... I do have a new thing I've faced several times with people that baffles me. Wes and I want more than one child and we'd actually like three or four and figure, since we've already started this process, why not just keep going? My brother and I are 8 months apart and my sister and I are 6 years apart, so I don't know what it's like to have someone just a couple of years younger than me but that's what we want for Eli. We're going to start trying to have another baby sometime this Spring. We've thought a lot about it, looked at a lot of different pros and cons, but ultimately we decided that this is what we are doing. When I tell people this, reviews are mixed. Most people are like, "that's great! every family is different, so doing what works for you is great" but some people are like "ooooo.... I don't know about that. Having them so close together {Eli will be 2 when the baby is born if all goes as planned} is not that great." and yadda yadda yadda they proceed to list their reasons why they didn't want to do that for their family. Once again, these have been learning moments for me of how I need to really stop and think about whether or not someone just asked my advice for something, OR if they were telling me what they are doing just to let me know. My standard answer, whether it's to family members, friends, or strangers has just been a polite, "That's the decision we have made and we're the ones who will live with it."

Who knew this whole having a child thing would teach me so many lessons that have nothing to do with the actual child...

10 comments:

The Mellberg Family said...

My babies are close together and I wouldn't change it at all. I is hard especially when Dusty is working out of town but that is how we wanted it. So you have to do what is best for you and your family and stand your ground.

Jennifer said...

You are absolutely right, you have to do what is right for your family. If I was a stay at home mom I would have definately had kids one right after another and would have like 5 of them! I loved being pregnant and can't wait to do it all over again. We just started "trying" again for another one, so hopefully you will get to see an announcement on my blog in the next couple of months!

C said...

Laughing at the whole baby-into-crap thing. Just wait til he finds a cricket and starts chowing down on it before you notice. One of my not-so-favorite memories in Levelland.

Speaking of Levelland ... when I announced that I was preggo with Andrew (and Mackenzie was only 7 months old), I had one woman start to berate me about getting Michael fixed ... why weren't we doing that already ... "What if you get pregnant - AGAIN?!?!"

I just smiled and said, "Well, then I guess we would have three kids." Der. The thought tormented this poor gal. I - well, I had a feeling that I'd have a houseful.

Mackenzie & Andrew are just 15 months apart. Wouldn't change it for anything. Presh is dragging up the tail right now, with a 4-year gap between she and Andrew. That's fine too.

The oldest four are 12, 10, 9 and 9. It's super. It's also chaotic and a mess and crazy.

And it's super.

Ashley McWhorter said...

Go for it! The girls are 21 months apart, and it is perfect! Especially if you had another boy, they would be best buds forever. My girls have their moments, but they are sooooo close!

Unknown said...

I'm so glad you don't have spikes sticking out of your floor. I actually called Lowe's to ask about installing them, but they don't specialize in torture devices. I'd sure like to slow Hannah down somehow. It's crazy... we all get home from school and in literally, seconds, the house is a disaster. You have to do what's best for you and Wes... and if that's the family you want, go for it! We've talked about having a third and the timing is all complicated. I don't know what to do. Maybe we'll wait one more year. That would put ours at 9.4. and newborn. Yes, it's a lot of time apart, but it works for us. And that's my story. How's school?

The Kalivoda's said...

oh my goodness...how precious is sweet little Eli!! those pics are great (maddox has that same jumper thing...gosh it comes in handy when i need to leave the room for a minute....oh and the scream...that is a common sound in our house these days as well!!! Maddox just started the scrunchy nose and smile...i just LOVE it....one of the sweetest faces)

I know i dont "know" you but I am so proud of you and your decisions you make for your family!! You are absolutely right..it is YOUR family and only you and Wes know what is best for your family (along with the guidance of our Lord and Savior) I will be praying for you guys and that everything will go according to HIS plan for y'all!!!

Missie said...

Hahaha.. If I left it up to Mark, we'd have 2 more babies by now! :)

But, really, little Eli is precious and the screaming picture is cute. Lauren's new favorite thing is screaming after she hears others, and then she laughs really loud.

Love you!

sarahdodson said...

It's funny how much "dirtier" and more dangerous a house can seem when you have a baby crawling around.

When I was pregnant with our Joseph (and had our daughter with me), we went to my granny's nursing home and a worker there asked about my pregnancy and then asked, "so after this one, that's it, right?" I was slightly shocked. It's unreal what people will say.

I'm happy for you and your husband wanting more children. Lord willing, it will work out accordingly to plan. Sounds like you have a good answer for those who ask:)

Susanlee said...

Sweetie, don't let people harass you! You know what feels like the best thing for your family, and it's not like having children 2 years apart is unheard of. It's practically the American standard. I'm so proud of you every day! And I love that 'Rebel' bib!!

Kate, Drew, and Em said...

I've said it before, but Eli eally is too cute for words! And yay for you wanting to have another one. My sister-in-law and mother-in-law swear that 2 years apart is awesome (hectic in the beginning, but fantastic as they get older). I'm still trying to come to grips with whether or not I actually want to have another baby. I think that actually gets even more divided responses!