Christmas with the Ottens

With the birth of Eva we all decided to have Christmas in ABQ so that we didn't have to travel with a three month old. We had a wonderful time being together, enjoying the fellowship and having time for them to meet Eva.

Tent Rocks with the Ottens

While the Ottens were here we decided to go hiking at Tent Rocks. It was cold, but a wonderful hike.

Like Father Like Daughter

Ankles crossed!

Christmas in Old Town ABQ

Christmas in Old Town, Albuquerque

Sledding on Sandia

A couple weekends ago ABQ was hit by its first "big" snow storm, and although the city only got a few inches the Sandia Mountain range enjoyed a few feet. On Saturday we went looking for a good spot to go sledding so drove around to the back of the mountain and started heading up the road that takes you to the top. The drive was beautiful and we enjoyed the passing through the winter wonder land! 

Near the top of the mountain we found a nice gentle hill that ended in a big empty parking lot (no sliding down the whole mountain for the little man). Elijah loved playing in the snow and was a bit hesitant to go down the sled at first, but as soon as daddy and mommy showed him how much fun it was he didn't want to stop.

While we were sledding more snow clouds moved in and we enjoyed being in a cloud while sledding at our 11,000 ft location. Eva was a champ and slept in the car (which was parked right next to the hill) for the entire experience. We would all climb back in the car and warm up by the heaters and then go back out for some more fun. 

We enjoyed the beautiful drive back down the mountain. 

Getting our Christmas Tree 2011

Another picturesque "getting of the tree"... this time framed by the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico.

Choosing just the right one...

This one's perfect!

Watching the man using a chain saw to cut the base of our tree

carefully decorating

Elijah excitedly announces, "I go get MY Christmas tree!" (from his train set.)

Looking at the ornaments, and telling Elijah the stories behind them... One new each year to mark a significant memory of the year...

Eva will hang ornaments next year... for now she is content to look at the lights.

mesmerized by the lights...

the glow of Christmas

Lunar Eclipse

This morning we got up for the lunar eclipse. I was not prepared for how long the eclipse took as I expected it to only be 5 to 10 minutes, it turns out the eclipse started somewhere around 5:45am and ended around 7:00am. After watching the shadow creep across the surface of the moon I went and woke up Jamie and Eli was waking up on his own. After explaining what an eclipse was to little man, I bundled him up and brought him outside to see if for himself. He loved it, and proceeded to tell me a story about when he was littler how he was in his rocket pajamas and a rocket took him to the moon, and he saw a shadow on the moon (but it wasn't a monster he was sure to point out).

I attempted to take some pictures of the eclipse, but my tripod isn't very stable so they all turned out a bit blurry. We finally saw the last sliver of a moon disappear just as the sky was turning blue with the morning.

Eva smiles!

It's blurry, but here's a smile from our Eva!
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Sent from my mobile phone

Swabbing, Swaddling and Swing

After reading (and more reading) on excessively fussy babies I came across thrush as a possible reason for Eva's discomfort and crying. The symptoms matched: screaming, seemingly in pain, gassy, white coated tongue, mother having been on antibiotics from mastitis, discomfort when nursing or pacifier. I brought Eva to the doctor and sure enough, she has Thrush, which means I do too, as mother and baby pass the infection back and forth when nursing.

I was so frustrated by the doctor we saw (our normal pediatrician was on vacation.) We waited for an hour and a half to see the doctor for maybe 2 minutes. She peered in Eva's mouth, said "Yup, that's thrush," threw a prescription and a fact sheet at me and was backing out the door with me still asking questions. Unsatisfied, I came home and researched some more. We ended up coupling the prescription with an hourly grapefruit seed extract solution swabbing of her mouth. I also take treatment hourly. Giving anything hourly to a baby is crazy, let me tell you, and keeping track of that plus my treatment and supplements (acidophilis and tablets of grapefruit seed extract) and watching my diet (no sugar or dairy is recommended) was making me a little crazy.

On Tuesday I was near tears. My ears were ringing with screams even when she wasn't crying (basically when she was awake she was nursing or crying. I felt utterly helpless to soothe my poor baby girl). My nerves were so fragile, and I could see it was wearing on Elijah, too. At a MOPS playdate, I put Eva into baby James' swing as I swabbed her mouth and was astonished when she not only stopped crying but cooed at me and snuggled into the swing! The motion of this swing was side-to-side, not head-to-toe like our one at home she can't stand. Who knew direction of motion would make such a difference?! Amazed we all watched her drift off to sleep without a peep. I immediately start drilling Wendy about where she got this swing! Eva slept the entire playdate, and when we went to put her in the carseat, she smiled for the first time at Elijah and me.  "Eva SMILE at me!" Elijah chortled. I had tears.  Wendy let us borrow the swing to see if it was a fluke.  That afternoon and evening we had NO TEARS. She sweetly fell asleep in the swing, and David and I just kept thanking God.

I'm pleased to say that almost a week of persistence later, Eva's tongue is almost clear of thrush and she is showing no symptoms! We'll continue treatment for at least a week more to make certain, as I have heard thrush is pretty nasty about returning. She is crying so much less. She still cries, just no longer the "in pain screams" of before.

And the swing... We currently have 4 swings in our house, trying to find the "Just Right" swing. Our little girl is so particular, we've taken to calling her the Princess-and-the-Pea (we would call her "Goldilocks," but her hair continues to be dark, though I think I'm picking up reddish notes...) Not only is the side-to-side motion so essential, it appears the angle of recline is, too. She also prefers to lay swaddled in a hammock-like seat to a cushion... Wendy and Jeremy were so happy to be a part of helping Eva settle, they offered to sell us James' swing, the only one that is "Just Right" for Eva, and we agreed in a heartbeat!

Now with the Thrush clearing, the swing soothing, sleeping swaddled and my continuing to "wear" her often, Eva is a much happier little girl. And that is happy news!

Here are some pictures of our little baby at peace... In her new swing, in my Moby Wrap, and rocked by her ever-"helping" big brother!
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Sent from my mobile phone

Do you know the way to Santa Fe?

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we decided to take a little trip to Santa Fe to visit the Farmer's Market, one of the top 10 in the country. Let me tell you, Santa Fe is a city of characters. We forgot our camera, so will have to rely on word pictures and phone-camera snaps.  We saw many at the Market. Women in turbans, fur coats, ponchos or leather fringed skirts... Men with big silver and turquoise belt buckles and cowboy boots... the preppy retired New England set in collared shirts and khakis... the artists wearing hand knit ponchos and Indian jewelry inquiring into exactly what kind of diet the goats had whose hair was being sold as yarn... a few wandering musicians, and people like us pushing double-strollers through the crowd!

People sold all sorts of wares, mostly proudly organic. We saw chile pepper Christmas wreaths, yarn from said goats leading a free and organic lifestyle, knit sweaters, hats and ponchos, the biggest parsnips we ever have seen, breads, soups, salsas, vegetables, soaps, herbs...

We stopped to listen to a fiddler and banjo player for a while before heading outside to check out the famous Santa Fe trains Elijah was quick to spot. Eva was well bundled and slept soundly through this adventure.

We lunched at one of our favorite New Mexican spots, Maria's, also full of character with its uneven, well trodden wood floors, fire place and Southwestern art on the walls. We feasted on enchiladas, chile rellenos, and Elijah's favorite sopapillas. Elijah loved watching the lady make tortillas, and kept waving at her. Eva attracted attention with her general cuteness, ALL BUT SMILING at Elijah and me. I can't wait til she smiles...

Both little ones napped in the car on the way home, and David and I enjoyed uninterrupted conversation. There is so much to explore in Santa Fe. We'll be back. Just taking it in bite-sized pieces!