Phase 1 Move - Complete

Goodbye Lancaster County, PA.

Rob and I pulled out of 218 E. Orange Street on Monday around 4pm. Just in time to hit rush hour traffic in Harrisburg. We left a POD in the driveway to be picked up later, drove to UHaul and loaded a packed out Saturn with a bike rack onto an autotransport towed by a packed out Tahoe. And, we were off. Eli and I sat in the back among baby play mats, a boucy and a wire baker's rack. How have we accumulated so much stuff since we returned from Africa? I guess a baby will do it. Eli is an experienced mover - this being his second big move. His first, of course, was out-of-utero where his only possessions were a placenta and umbilical cord. Since then, he has accumulated much: pack n play, crib, toys, exersaucer, bath, clothes, I could go on and on.

However, with the horrors of packing, cleaning, and moving out sufficiently behind us, I broke out the Chocolate Wilbur buds and Turkey Hill tea (gifts from our friend Kelly) in the UHaul parking lot. Is it dogs or babies that you can't give chocolate too? I always forget. Let the road trip begin. We made our way down the highway to Roanoke, VA to spend the night on our way to GA by way of Knoxville, TN.

Earlier in the day, I left Rob to finish up the packing while I headed to a Day Spa courtesy of one special friend Heather Quiggle. I anticipated using this wonderful gift on my birthday during those last few trying weeks of pregnancy; however, the little man wanted to come out to play a little earlier than expected and I ended up sticking the gift card to the fridge dreaming about the day I'd be able to get away from husband and baby long enough to be sufficiently pampered. Well, that day never arrived, but I loaded up a sleeping puppy into the car and headed out anyway. He slept the entire time, and my feet have never felt so loved.

Tuesday, Rob and I left the Roanoke hotel a little more sore from moving and significantly more road-weary. We kept it together until about an hour outside of Knoxville, where traveling with an infant after a week's worth of moving caught up with us. An epic argument ensued concerning such important issues as where Rob's toothbrush was, why the propane tank was left in our apartment basement, why Garmin sent us on a detour and who was upsetting the baby more. Never fear, we too are now able to laugh at the absurdities of the afternoon and the Hartley's are staying together. We're really enjoying our time visiting Crossings in downtown Knoxville, TN. We'll be here for the rest of the week until we head down to Alamo, GA for the big Hartley family reunion where Eli will meet his 4 new cousins for the first time!

And, not to rehash any previously mentioned arguments but there are no pictures with this entry because my camera is currently MIA since our move from Lancaster.

I guess this move means a new blog name should be forthcoming.

PA to GA

There are no pictures to go with this post...just imagine utter chaos.

We are moving all earthly possessions from Lancaster, PA to GA.

Trying to pack up and move with a 4 month old does not top my list of "Fun Summer Activities". When exactly am I supposed to pack? Between nursings and changings? While he plays? That only lasts so long. And our hard core napper can sleep through a lot, but banging pots and dropping boxes are too much to ask.

It is HOT in Lancaster and we have no central air. Nightly thunderstorms have been our saving grace.

Yesterday, I filled bags and bags full of clothes to go to GoodWill. Why do I have so many clothes that no longer fit? Oh post-pregnancy body, I thought we were on the same team.

I'm still somewhat in denial we are moving. I am ecstatic to be with family, but the monumental task of packing it all up keeps me from facing the reality.... 9 days and counting until our move- out date of the 14th.

Recent Pictures

This is Elijah's new favorite nursing position. He's so relaxed!

I know we may be months away from a tooth, but teething has begun making me all too aware that my days of toothless grins are numbered.

The big talker in action

The boys chillin' out in the knoxville hotel room. Who's closer to the remote?

He's a charmer, just like his daddy

Bradley Get together

Our Bradley Birth Class had a cook-out/reunion a few weeks ago now that everybody's babies are here. The babies' ages range from about 5 months to 6 weeks. Some people had their babies at home, others in hospitals or birth centers. For most of us this was our first baby, but it was all of our first attempts at a natural child birth.

We learned so much together in our Thursday night classes. Much more than any of us expected, I'm sure. But so much more than learning how to work with our bodies to birth our babies, we learned a way of parenting that has helped shape the parents we're learning to become. I feel like our group has gotten hit a little hard as pretty much all of us have had some sort of scare or trauma surrounding our new babies. But equipped with the knowledge from our Bradley classes, we learned how to work with the medical community to achieve the best outcome possible for our young families. I can't recommend the Bradley method enough!

It was such a sunny day and so great to get together. We shared birth stories, ate hamburgers, talked about hitting and missing milestones, ate hot dogs, and introduced future best friends and spouses.

From Left to Right: Kelly (one of the most influential people in my new mothering endeavors), Eli (looking for lunch), Danielle (a few more gray hairs than last summer, but all in all looking pretty good after 4 months of motherhood)

Look at all those babies! In no particular order these are the fruits of our birth class. Evenly divided- 3 boys, 3 girls

Husband and baby. Looking good guys.

Eli's 4 months

This is our growing boy on his 4th month-abirthday.

Eli loves being with his people. He likes watching Rob and me and making sure we're watching him! Elijah smiles on cue, enjoys silly songs and will rotate his body if he's playing on the floor so that he can watch TV, too. He likes being outside and looks for birds if they're singing because they sound like his mobile. He's got awesome head control and enjoys "telling stories". Rob and I have noticed a funny thing lately. Elijah is scare-able now. You'll know when you've scared him because he will throw his arms back and his bottom lip will pout out and quiver. It's the saddest thing you've ever seen.

Rob discovered this by accident and I've never seen him feel so guilty before.

My First Mother's Day

Rob and I were lucky enough to get to share my first mother's day with family. My mom and aunt met us in Knoxville, TN and we spent an awesome weekend together. They spoiled all 3 of us and we enjoyed being with them immensely.

Eli gave me a card for mother's day which he amazingly signed. Rob's original plan was to put the card in the car seat so that I'd find it when I picked Eli up. Good thing he didn't. Elijah did unmentionable ugliness like never before. Seriously, the diaper must have malfunctioned. I'm glad Rob went with option 2 so that I don't have to keep my 1st mother's day card in a ziploc baggie.

Proper Motivation

Elijah has ALWAYS hated tummy time. I know it's good for him and helps him develop muscles, but he hated it and after a few pathetic waa's I'd roll him over on his back and promise to try again another day.
We recently visited our new pediatrician. He gave Eli a mini baby physical and noted that his upper body strength was still developing. "That's okay," he said, "I wouldn't expect to see more until 4 months and besides he may be a little bottom heavy."

Bottom heavy? Oh no, doc. Wait till you see us next month, we'll have upper body strength out the wazoo. I decided then and there, we were going to stick to tummy time. No pathetic waa's were going to deter me.

The next day we began. About a minute in, Elijah cried and quickly face planted into the mat. No more tummy time. His upper body would just have to develop another way.

I told my mom about this while we were visiting in Knoxville. She suggested letting him watch cartoons on a boppy.

Ahhhh! The little stinker just needed the right motivation. He's been a happy tummy-timer ever since.