the results are in..

eleanor update:

unfortunately eleanor continued to have a fever over the weekend off and on so monday morning i made her an appointment to see the pedi.
they checked her ears, eyes, throat, chest and all seemed normal.
since none of us were sure of what was going on (a fever was her only symptom), they decided to test her urine. they wanted to check to see if she possibly had a bladder infection or if she had strep. yes you can get strep down there.
they had to use a catheter.
on a 6 month old.
eleanor was not a happy camper.
i had to hold her head and hands and when it was all over with, blake held her & comforted her while i talked with the doctor.
then when she saw me across the room, she started crying again.
it truly broke my heart.

the doctors sent us home with antibiotics to get rid of the infection & said they would call us today with the results.
i just got off the phone with the doctor.
it is in fact a bladder infection.
not exactly the news we wanted to hear but i had a feeling.
we are supposed to continue giving her the meds for 10 days.
they will then retest her urine to see if things are better.
at that point, i am not sure what will happen.
there is potential for a lot more testing to see what caused the infection.
we are praying we do not have to take that road for eleanor's sake.
the good news is that if she didn't have a fever, you would never know she was sick.
therefore i don't think she is in any pain or discomfort.
she is her normal, happy self.
her last fever was this morning at 99.4 so we are hoping that was the last of them.

please keep eleanor in your prayers over the next ten days and pray that the infection clears and no more testing will be needed.

3 years

happy 3 years to the love of my life!

takin it easy

it's been 5 days now.
5 days of straight fever off and on ranging between 99-102 degrees.
eleanor is acting normal for the most part other than the fact that her head is HOT HOT.
i guess it's back to the doctor tomorrow.

prayers please!

sick baby

SO...

eleanor may have not been teething but i definitely knew something was different.
she ended up having a fever a couple nights ago at 102.6.
the doctor thinks she was on her way to getting sick before her appt & her 6 month shots put her over the edge.
poor thing. let's just say the last few nights have not been fun...for anyone.
but last night was back to normal and no fever since 7 this morning.
she has been all smiles today. ;o)

yummy!

eleanor trying rice cereal for the first time.
GIVE ME MORE mommy!

6 months

happy 6 months to my baby girl!

what a true blessing she has been these last 6 months to me, blake and our families.

eleanor stats:

two days ago she had her 6 month check up.

she weighed 14 lbs 2 ounces (25%) and measured 26 1/4 inches long (75%).

she pretty much stayed right on track for what she has been measuring thus far.

she was a very brave girl during her shots- only cried for 10 seconds & then was fine.

...always so hard to watch!

OH and the doctor didn't see any evidence of teething although she said that doesn't necessarily mean one could not pop up tomorrow.

so much for all my theories that she was teething!

eleanor's new friend

eleanor's favorite new toy- sophie the giraffe.

we are pretty sure she is teething these days...if not, something must be wrong!

everything goes in the mouth and everything gets sucked/gnawed on.

EVERYTHING. including her entire fist.

drool is everwhere.

poor baby. going down at night has been rough lately.

she even cried last night while i was feeding her. she has NEVER done that. it was like sucking hurt too much so it was better to just be hungry than finish eating.

considering she is overall a very content, calm, happy baby, these have got to be signs of teething. right?!

i guess we will confirm that today with her 6 month appointment.

winter park

a couple weeks ago, me, blake, eleanor and buddy loaded up in the yukon (turtle top and all) and drove to winter park, colorado.
both eleanor and buddy did so great on the road trip!
we couldn't have asked for better weather during our visit.
we hiked, relaxed, picnicked, relaxed, ate, swam, relaxed...
such a fabulous time.
below are just a few pics from the trip.


eleanor and blake getting ready for the hike down to the lake. brrrr....




ADORABLE! oh how i love her!

this was buddy literally flying by blake and i as we were hiking down. it could have been bad...but he managed to stop after a few rolls down the steep hill.

the blue lake we were hiking down to. still snow from the winter.

momma and eleanor resting at the bottom.

and again at lunch.

tasting some belgium brews at the base of the mountain. blake was sampling.

yummy monte cristo and roast beef sandwich.

momma showing eleanor how to play pretty music...

daddy's turn.

buddy enjoying the park.

she loves her hands.

leaving winter park to go visit friends and family in denver.

uncle rick and nicole- so fun to finally visit them at their home!

visiting the youngs in denver. these four boys were the ushers in our wedding three years ago.

see you soon winter park!

balmorhea at the granada

here are a few pics taken from my iphone from the balmorhea concert last week.

we had such a great time as always.

blake's mom came over to watch eleanor while we were out.

i was a bit on edge the entire night waiting for susu to call and say eleanor won't take the bottle but she ended up not waking up the entire time we were out.

i gave her the bottle the next day (the first bottle in over 3 months) and she took it all! then again this weekend.

yay eleanor!

bottle strike is over.

happy monday!

eleanor and lyla playing together at the lake this past weekend.

balmorhea

balmorhea is playing tonight at the granada theater.
they always put on a great show- if you aren't already busy tonight, you should totally come check them out!
they go on at 10pm but a couple bands will be playing before.
one of blake's besties (mike muller on the far left) is in the band & is AMAZING & is oh so talented.

we will be leaving eleanor with her grandma susu tonight.
this should be interesting considering she is JUST coming out of her bottle strike.
i am going to put her down and even do a dreamfeed before we head out but will leave a bottle just in case.

hope to see you at the granada!

bottle strike

so my precious eleanor has been on a bottle strike for over three months now.
that's right.
no bottles.
only nursing. every three hours. nights too.
she took a dr. brown's bottle perfectly as a newborn and up to three months.
then for some reason, i stopped given them to her as often.
i guess since i always had her with me, it seemed easier to just nurse.
i really love nursing so it was never a bother.
i mean why go through pumping and then feeding her a bottle if you don't have to.
so months go by and plans get made.
plans that include no baby.
a trip to vegas in october with some friends was also on the table as well.
so the bottle strike begins.
this entire week i feel like i have tried it all.
cold milk, hot milk, hungry, not hungry, me trying, blake trying, other family trying all with my milk in a dr. brown's bottle.
she would either cry, play or chew on the nipple.
let's just say i was throwing away a lot of milk.
so a couple days ago i decide to go to babies r us & buy every type of bottle different than the one we are using.
i even read that i should try sippy cups without a straw and with a straw, so i bought those too.
at this point we had tried dr. browns and born free.
yesterday we tried a brand called breastflow- a bottle more shaped like the breast and flows more like the breast, hence the name. a bottle basically for babies that have a harder time transitioning from breast to bottle.
i only put an ounce in the bottle because i figured she wouldn't take it.
then blake laid her on the couch and handed her the bottle.
just when i was ready to give up- she brought it to her mouth and drank the entire bottle.
all by herself!
and then wanted more!
i couldn't believe it.
we even recorded it we were so excited.
of course it was only an ounce but there is some hope now.
we actually might be able to go out to dinner while the grandparents watch her or maybe even go to vegas!
i still have 4 other bottle types to try if she decides she wants to change it up on me again.
i will be sure to keep you posted on how she takes the bottle the next couple of days.

i have obviously learned a lesson the hard way- even if you want to exclusively nurse, give your baby a bottle a few times a week so this doesn't happen!

YAY eleanor!

sam & ben turn 1

i recently took photos for a family whose twin boys were turning one.
here are some of my favorite pics from the birthday party.
it was a curious george theme & was absolutely adorable!

thanks Lisa for letting be a part of your special day!

5 months

better late than never!