play dates

Elaina has finally got to have a few play dates lately! I hate that all of my friends with babies live over an hour away. :(

Anywho...much to her Daddy's chagrin, all of Elaina's play dates have been with little boys! haha. Well, she went to a birthday party which was for another girl, but play dates...2 out of 2 have been boys! Oops. hehe. She loves them though. (down Kevin. i mean the play dates!) She loves seeing other kids and watches every move they make.

Playing with Zane, who just turned 1 in January. He didn't pay much attention to her (until she got a handful of his hair! ha), but she loved watching him!

And here she is with Brooks, who is about 6 weeks younger than Elaina. He loved her shoes...and once again she went for the hair. Lucky for Brooks, he didn't have enough to pull! :)

Looks like I need to find some people with GIRLS for her to play with! The two friends that I have who are pregnant right now are both having boys. Poor Elaina is out numbered. :)

how flat are we talking?

I've gotten this question quite a few times since everyone found out about Elaina's diagnosis of plagiocephaly. Google plagiocephaly and you'll get results that vary from mild to severe. Thank God, Elaina's is mild.
So...here are a few pictures that show you just how flat her head is. Sometimes, I can barely notice it and other times, it's pretty obvious. Some may not think it's severe enough to put her in a helmet, but we choose to take the advice of a trained and licensed physician and specialist.

Crown Ordered.

Monday was Elaina's appointment for her scan that will be used to build her STARBand aka crown. I wasn't sure how the scan would work, but it was easy and painless. I wish now I'd taken my camera so I could've had a picture of Elaina in the cute little cap. Basically, they put a "skull cap" like thing on her that was covered in this little white circles. Then they used a laser gun to scan around Elaina's head and *boom* next thing we knew there was an exact replica of her head AND face on the computer screen. Mom and I were amazed. So, the doctor sent that off and it will be used for the building of her crown and for comparison later on to see how her head shape has changed. We go back March 1st for her fitting.

And in case you're wondering...her crown was ordered in light pink and I'm just waiting on it to come in so I can order her decals from blingyourband.com :)

a shiny new page

I've added a new page tab to the top of the blog. It's a page I'll use to keep you updated on Operation:CrownToGoRound. I'll post pictures and such on the regular blog, but I'll use that page for before/during/after pictures and summaries of her progress.

Enjoy.

i'm exhausted.

Elaina finally got to go to her first birthday party today. Our dear little friend, Alyssa turned 1. The party was great and I got to see some of my absolute favorite people that I met while in college. Seriously, these girls are the best. I feel like I've known all of them since we were little! Alyssa's family is just too precious, so any time we have an excuse to visit them, we're there! Elaina loved watching the other little kids play and she was itchin' to run around with them. I'd love to show some pictures...but none were taken. Kinda hard to take pictures when you're holding/feeding your kid, figuring out where to change her diaper, trying to keep her hands out of your plate, eating the food off said plate, entertaining her AND trying to socialize with friends. Shew, it was exhausting...but SO worth it.

Tomorrow is the day we visit the specialist....our appointment is at 9 so if you have any extra prayers to send up, please say one for us. I'm very nervous and a ball of emotions. Kevin's much more calm than me...maybe the doctor will calm me down. Again, a prayer or two would be great. :)

baby food making 101

I'll say it now. I want my child to be healthy. By no means do I want to make her weight conscious or for her to have some complex about eating unhealthy food, but I do pray that she grows up to be a young lady who will make wise food decisions...unlike her mommy. However, now that I say that, the thought "practice what you preach" runs through my mind.

ANYWHO...long story short. I tried breastfeeding when Elaina was born. It worked for about 5 weeks before I basically gave up and switched to 100% formula. Look down on me all you want, but I do NOT regret that decision. Not one bit. If you think you're a better mommy than me because you breastfeed, then so be it. However...you're not :) So, since I was a "breastfeeding drop-out" as I like to call it, I feel I'm making up a little bit by making my own baby food. Right?! :P

www.wholesomebabyfood.com
Go ^ here. I promise you, you won't regret it.
Seriously, making homemade baby food is SO easy! Steam, blend, freeze. That's it. Not only does it save $, but you actually know WHAT is in your childs food and WHO made it. I love that. Money wise...I pay $1.87 for a bag of ORGANIC baby carrots, and it makes 16-18 oz of carrots for Elaina. Hello pete, you pay $1.87 for two cans (5 oz maybe?) of organic already made baby food. Woohoo bargain!

Wholesome Baby Food has oodles of recipes on their website. Who knew you could feed your kid all this stuff? Oh, and the secret to freezing them? ICE. CUBE. TRAYS. yep. Each cube is about an ounce. So freeze them, pop them out into freezer safe storage containers, and thaw as needed. Simple. :)

Now get me wrong, just like you're not better than me b/c you make your own milk, I'm not better than you b/c I make my childs food. No way. If you buy Gerber, Beechnut, etc you're STILL an awesome mom! Seriously, you are. Breastfeeding isn't for everyone and baby food making isn't for everyone. Simple as that. However, if you have some extra carrots or apples laying around and a baby who loves to eat...give it a try! :)


P.S...turn the blender off before stirring the puree...i learned this the hard way. let's just say i got a "prune facial" yesterday. :) yeah.

6 months = sad mommy

Elaina is 6 months old! :( Where did my little baby go?!

At her checkup she was 19lbs 12oz and 27" long...90%tile for both. Her head is in the 105%tile...the dr told her she has lots of brains. haha. He told us we have a happy, healthy and beautiful baby girl.

There was one concern he had though, that lead to me crying most of the day Tuesday. Elaina has a flat spot on the back of her head. Most babies develop one. However, Elaina's has not rounded out and her pediatrician is afraid that if we don't address it now, we may not be able to correct it. He assured us that it's 0% health related and 100% cosmetic. I know that should make me feel better, but it doesn't.

Anywho, we go Feb 7th to see a specialist who will decide if Elaina needs to be fitted for a corrective helmet. :( I know lots of babies have to wear them, but I just feel so guilty. I feel like I've done something wrong...that I've failed as a mommy. I told my friend Tiffany that I'm afraid one day Elaina will see a picture of herself in the helmet and question me on what I did wrong. Ugh. I know. I'm WAY over-thinking this...but that's what I do. So...please say a prayer that the dr will think Elaina's case is minor and will correct itself. However, I believe God knows whats best for us and if Elaina has to wear the helmet, so be it. God has blessed us with a healthy baby and I am so beyond grateful for that. (And if we can choose a color, Elaina's helmet WILL be pink. duh ;))

So...I leave you with some pictures of our beautiful, happy, healthy, 6 month old princess.