Eli is 3

Eli turned the big 3.0 months yesterday and here's his big boy picture.

To celebrate, we went to Wendy Jo's Homemade...Eli wanted a mint chocolate chip milkshake.


Things that are new for us

-Lots and lots of smiles! It took us awhile to get here, but all these toothless grins are enough to send my mommy heart over the edge.

-conversations. Elijah has a lot to say. He coos-long multi-sound coos, responds to my questions, and dare I say sings and tells jokes that crack him and me up. At his one month check-up, the Dr. asked us if he regarded us. After Rob said, "yes, highly," I began to think, "no, not much eye contact yet." But at a full 3 months, "yes, highly indeed." Eli wants to be in the conversation now.

-Where's mom? With the Grands in town last weekend, we all noticed that Elijah was turning toward my voice and looking for me. Oh, the joys of motherhood.


Up next for us... I think Elijah will be rolling over in no time.

Veggie of the Week

I often blog about Market. Like most people in Lancaster City, my life pretty much revolves around Market days. It's an excellent place to get local seasonal veggies, a cup of coffee, fresh baked goods and breads, even plants, flowers, and teas. At about a mile round trip from our house, it was a great distance for a pregger to walk. And now, it works too with Eli externally in tow

Having Market close by has lead to my institution of our "Veggie of the Week" program. Every week, I choose a new and exotic vegetable, like beets, and cook it a couple of different ways to see if we like it at all. For example, parsnips are fantastic roasted, but disgusting in a crock pot. Google has been a great friend in giving me recipes to try, as well as old ladies at Market.

Some recent favs- fennel (in eggs), cauliflower (mashed like potatoes) and swiss chard (sauteed like spinach). It makes for great fanfare at the dinner table and I'm hoping to sneakily make our family healthier by adding to my vegetable recipe repertoire.


Below is a completely unrelated picture taken a few weeks ago of a Bluegrass band outside Central Market one Saturday.

My Little Man

The little guy's growing up.

I was a couple weeks late taking this photo. But in the grand scheme of things I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter.

3 month photo coming in 2 weeks! How time is flying.

The Making of a Hartley Family Photo

Sans help and with baby.

2 days prior to Easter
"Rob, I'm really excited about our first family Easter picture"


1 day prior to Easter
"Husband, I can't wait to take our picture tomorrow, Aren't you excited?"
-Blank stare from husband

Easter Morning
"Now, you know, I'm going to want a family picture today."

Easter After Lunch and guests have gone home
Me:"We didn't take our picture. Should we go ask the neighbors to take it, find somebody in the park or just set the timer and do it in the dining room?

Rob: "What?, a picture? Now? But look at me and my boy, we're so comfy on the couch"
-Blank stare from me

Rob: "Let's just take it in the dining room."

I'm okay with this because PA has some crazy plant that's blooming right now and sending my nose into a great allergic spasm.

I set a small table on top of the dining room table, not tall enough. Coffee maker on top of the small table, ugh, still not tall enough. Hmm, recipe box on top of the coffee maker on top of the small table. Okay we're in business- a little wobbly but okay.

Test shot of me pretend-holding baby.

Time Out - Baby spit up all over Easter Outfit and cries. Baby cries hard.
Rob reconfigures my set up and test shot while I clean up baby and my shirt.


The next attempt not shown due to how close I am to dropping Eli (No babies were harmed in the making of this photo). At this point, Rob is still in his T-shirt and jeans.


Me: And now, You're going to have to pretend like you like us.

Rob: Where did my head go?

Me: I think the baby should at least be facing the camera


Amazingly enough, for the next 5 auto-timed pictures Eli faces the camera until the last 2 seconds, despite my best efforts to keep his head turned outward.

Me: Take 17? Good Enough. We're done.

Mama's got a Brand New Trick

White Noise...

I thought this trick only worked for older babies or kids. We discovered this by accident. I was doing some pre-Easter cleaning and Eli was not cooperating with my cleaning endeavors. Fed, changed, and sufficiently cuddled, I decided he would not suffer any long-term effects if I laid him in the pack n play while I vacuumed the adjoining room. If I could just get that one room vacuumed, I'd lay my cleaning endeavor aside and love on my baby.

My mom tells this story: Once when I was three or so she was trying to mop the kitchen, and I walked in and wanted her to pick me up and hug me. She was in the middle of the kitchen floor with a sopping wet mop, half the floor clean - half waiting to be done. She asked me to hold on just a second, she'd soon be finished. But as soon as she'd said those words, she felt like God reminded her of how often she'd prayed for babies and how we'd soon outgrow walking with dirty feet across her freshly mopped floor asking to be held. She said she put her mop right down and squeezed me.

I remind myself of this story when Eli's need for mothering comes in direct conflict with my endless to-do list. And this was on my mind when I was trying to get my house in shape for company. I plugged up the vacuum and tried to get just that one room at least vacuumed, then we'd call it a day. After a quick scan across the room, I clicked the vacuum off and glanced at my baby. He was out.

Awesome. Sleeping baby, happy mom. Let's vacuum the next room...and the next... and the next. He slept for 2 hours, which for him, was amazing!

Since this, I have discovered not only the vacuum works, but water running in the kitchen sink, the dishwasher, the box fan (on setting 3), and water running in the shower. This boy is now actually taking naps. I'm starting to realize what a fussy sleepy baby looks like and I take him right in to his crib or pack n play, turn on the box fan and watch him go out like a light. He's a better rested, happier baby since we learned the white noise trick. I highly recommend it.