The Great Escape

I think that Eloise is starting to manifest her latent ninja skills as part of the Nelson clan. She has the ability to escape from her mommy's swaddles. Keep in mind that Aslinn is a professional swaddler, so it is no small task to escape from her swaddles, unlike daddy's swaddles which are pretty weak.

Eloise is also able to avoid capture. Eloise is almost always perfectly quiet and still, until daddy tries to trap her within a diaper, or her clothes. At which point she unleashes a rapid series of punches, kicks, and twists which frustrate and prevent all attempts to restrain her. Keep in mind that at the time this post was written Eloise is 5 days old. Soon she will be unstoppable.

She is also quite the master of distraction. As mentioned above, Eloise is almost always perfectly quiet and still. Which she uses to lull the surrounding crowd of admirers into a pacified state. Then without warning she is un-swaddled, her socks are gone, and her cap is off. Is she a nudist, or an escape artist? I don't know. Only time will tell.

Who are you?

I have spent much time looking at my little sweet-heart Eloise, and enjoy her little personality. She is such a quiet and observant baby. I think she knows and understands more than I give her credit for. (More on that in a later post) Lately I have been wondering who she will become as she grows up, what she will enjoy doing, and where life will take her.

I hope it doesn't take her to Wal-Mart, no offense. I was shopping earlier today (yesterday now I guess) for a few odds and ends, and started people watching while I was shopping. It can be a pretty fun activity to see what people do, say, and act. Anyways, I started noticing how these girls and women were dressed throughout the store (It was a smoldering 76 degrees outside as opposed to 20 degrees in their defense) and their attitudes, choice of language, and topics of conversation. Which got me to thinking about who Eloise is going to be.

She is so sweet and innocent, and I hope she will always be my little sweet-heart.
So I wonder if she is going to be great at math like her mom and dad, or is she going to be an artist? Will she be interested in sports, or will she be a musician? Whatever her choices I will love and support her in developing her interests and talents however I can.

As far as career options go, I can already see a few positions for her including: Boxer (she always has her hands up, she's got the natural instinct like the eye of the tiger...), football referee (she has the touchdown signal down), professional model (she has a few looks down like Ferrari, la tigra, and blue steel), or a professional hot dog eater. (she eats really fast!)

Thank goodness it takes time to grow up!

Daddy's first post

Eloise is my little snuggler! She loves to spend time with daddy, and I will oblige her anytime she wants :)

Sunday night was our first football game together. She really seemed to enjoy it, but she has a bit to learn. She had signaled a touchdown, but I had to correct her that it was only a first down. I did appreciate the enthusiasm though.

Eloise also seems to enjoy watching movies just like her mommy does. We started out watching mommies favorite, Beauty & the Beast, and Eloise snuggled on me the whole movie.

The New Nelson is Here

Eloise Dorothy has made her appearance. She came a little earlier than expected, but we are so happy to finally meet her. She is a wonderful early Christmas present. She was born on Friday, December 18th at 6:16pm and weighed 5lbs 11oz and was 18.5 inches long.



Aslinn's water broke at 9am on the 18th while she was at home, so Brian came home from work and we packed up the car and made it to the hospital by about 10:45am. We checked into the labor and delivery room and after a little while of walking around contractions started at about 2pm. By 4pm the contractions were getting pretty bad and Aslinn was shaking between contractions. The nurse checked and she was at 4cm. About 45 minutes later, Aslinn requested some pain medication and the doctor suggested that it was time for the epidural. The doctor checked Aslinn's progress and found she was at 7cm almost 8cm and by then Aslinn was really needing that epidural. The nurse anesthetist barely put the epidural in on time, and when he was done Aslinn was almost to 10cm. Eloise dropped her heart for a little while and Aslinn had to put on oxygen, but it came back up while Aslinn pushed. Within 15 minutes Eloise was here and healthy. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, healthy girl.
Brian was able to stay by Aslinn's side and help her the whole time. He realized that he is stronger than he thought cause he didn't get sick at all and he even got to cut the umbilical cord. Angela arrived to the hospital for a visit about an hour after Eloise was born. She was quite the life saver and she went to Wendy's to get all of us food. I was grateful that Brian didn't have to leave me and I was starving.
On Saturday, Eloise got to meet her cousin Jack when Jon & Erin came to visit. Uncle Arthur & Uncle Alex got to meet Eloise also when they came later that evening.
We came home from the hospital Sunday afternoon and Eloise got to meet her cousin Kate when Mark and Daciana stopped by for a visit. Our first night at home went very well. Eloise is eating and pooping well and she slept good in her bassinet between feeds last night. Grandma is here to visit and we are getting ready for Christmas.

For all those other mothers out there, you may understand, but I had my first postpartum cry today. I just got a little (or a lot) overwhelmed and the little things just kept building up, one of which, I've been trying to post this blog all weekend, and it has just kept messing up. I think I finally got it all figured out though. Thanks to all those celebrating with us for Eloise's arrival.

Baby Shower Fun

In November my coworkers threw me a baby shower at work. The cake and decorations were wonderful and I was blessed with some really nice much needed gifts. My friends were all disappointed that I still will not reveal baby's name until she is born.


My sisters also spoiled me and threw me a splendidly entertaining baby shower. Angela made some delicious food including a carrot cake, cheese ball, fruit platter, and some really cute pregnant mamma cookies seen below.

Marina organized the games. First we had to guess different prices of baby items. That was more difficult than I thought, and some things were way more expensive than expected. Next we had to demonstrate our ability as mothers to multitask. While holding the baby we had to talk on the phone, write down a message, hang up laundry (although cell phones in use no dryer was available) ;) and change a diaper. The fastest player wins but extra points are allotted for creativity. Lauren S. so graciously stuffed the baby down her shirt, and Angela carried the baby between her legs awarding her the prize.



Lastly we played a matching game with different baby related words and candy prizes to go with them. (i.e. premie=Runts, twins=Double Mint Gum, contractions=Whoppers, umbilical cord=twizzlers, night of conception=Skore, etc.) Overall the day was FUN and I had a lot of laughs. Thanks to all who are celebrating with Brian and I.

The days are counting down to my due date. I went to the doctor earlier today and for those of you interested in my cervix I am currently between 2 and 3 cm and softening nicely. My last day of work is this Friday and time is running out. I wonder how soon she will be here? Merry Christmas

Pregnancy and Spirituality

I have really enjoyed being pregnant. Since the first trimester was over and done with, I have felt great. I'm not quite ready to end this stage in my life, but life must move forward. I am looking forward to meeting my girl face to face and getting to know her personality, but there is always that cloud hovering in my thoughts 'Will I be a good mom?'. I admit I am frightened about the new responsibility I now have to raise one of Heavenly Father's precious spirits. I am blessed with this new calling, but I find myself asking why I have neglected to ask Heavenly Father for more help and guidance. I have let my job supersede many of life's more important things and find myself lacking that spiritual connection with my Father in heaven. This Christmas season, I have been pondering on what Mary, the mother of Jesus our Savior, went through during her pregnancy. Mary had feelings of doubt and inadequacy with such a great responsibility, and I do too and am grateful that although my calling is a great responsibility, it is not one that measures to hers. I know that I will be able to be a good parent with Heavenly Father's help, and he would not expect me to do something I couldn't handle.