month 1

I can't believe how fast he is growing. I took him when he was 1 week old to Evi's ballet/gym class. And by the time he was 3 weeks, one of the mothers commented on how big he was already, and I turned to look at him, and I swear, in that instant, he grew! He was so much bigger that I thought. I weighed him later and he was already at 10lbs! His thighs are already getting nice and chunky. I can see the rolls forming as we speak. And he now has a double chin, and his wrists are one big roll with the knuckles getting plump. Obviously, eating is not a problem!
He's got curly hair, but it's only noticeable right after a bath. Once all our oily hands have been on him it's straight. He does have one random bald strip, that he had at birth, it's just more noticeable now. And it's not in a place that would be caused from rubbing his head in his sleep. It's funny.

He also has Flinstone feet. Short & wide. And I'm pretty sure he's going to have blue eyes.
For the first month he only slept about 2 1/2 hours at night. Week 5 has seemed to be the magic, with him giving me a 4 hour stretch! Yipee! He rarely cries. Pretty much only when I try to put him down.
I haven't been able to get what I would consider a really good picture of

him. They never make him look as cute as he does in real life. I've been joking that he's not very photogenic!

I forgot how "explosive" babies are when they shew-wee. Evi finds his gasiness quite entertaining. (As she does mine, or anyone elses. There is no getting away with not acknowledging gas passing if Evi is around, she'll call you out!)

And now, some recent Evi-isms:
So Evi asked the other day why my ninnies were so big now!! (teehee) I explained to her that mommy makes all of Eli's milk there and that's what feeds him..."So, when he empties them they'll be flat like mine?" she asked, I giggled and said yes, then she said "then he'll have to go to Gigi" HAHAHAHA!!!!

She also commented on Eli's weewee. She asked why it was getting smaller!! Teehee! I told her not to tell her daddy that!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! (FYI, in case you don't know, boys privates are a little swollen after birth thanks to all the hormones, and eventually go down)
The first time I put him in his crib in his room and took the monitor outside with us, Evi was very worried about where the baby was. I explained to her that we could hear him through the monitor. I had just bought her a set of walkie talkies, so she began talking into the monitor to Eli. It was really funny. Then she kept telling me she wanted to see him in there. I tried to explain that he was in his own room, but she insisted that I had fit him into the monitor. So she must think everyone is actually in our phone when we talk to them!
So far she has been a great big sister. And is only jealous of him when she wants to pull my hair at night, but I'm busy with him.
Evi has become an avid PBS/OETA watcher this summer. And she's learned all her letters and is getting the hang of the sounds too. Who says tv is bad for kids!?! Thank you Super Why and Sesame Street!! Because we all know I hadn't worked with her on it!

I am doing weekly naked pix of Eli and posting them on our picture site if you want to see how much he's growing. I did the same for Evi and it's amazing to see how fast they grow! You can get there through the link labeled "Our Pictures" on the right hand column. If you are on my list to get this blog update through an email, you'll have to go to the actual blog site to get the link, or go directly to the picture website:
www.thefamilybernauer.blogspot.com
or
www.pix2share.shutterfly.com

Wehadababy Itsaboy...

Well, Lonestar is here, and all that LoneStar Beer that Scott drank while I pregnant paid off because it's a BOY!!!! I was very surprised. Not that I thought it was a girl, because I honestly didn't have feelings one way or the other. And needless to say, I am afraid, very afraid! A boy! What do you do with a penis???? This will definitely be a whole new experience for me! I don't think he looks like Evi at all. Her cheeks were much fuller than his, along with her bottom lip. He is his own little man!
Evi, who was convinced it was a girl, has done very well with learning that she will now have a little bother, I mean brother, instead. She is all about being a big sister. Of course, being showered with gifts helped I'm sure. Everyone has officially left today and she is now in the "reality" of just mommy, daddy, and baby brother. So we'll see what she really thinks here in the next couple of days!
Now to Lonestar...
After much debating (we waited till Friday morning to really discuss names) we have decided on Eli Braxon. Eli and Evi. They have the same initials as well. EBB. And while Evi has a longer first name of Evangeline, Eli is just Eli. I figure Evi will probably have another last name one day, but Eli is stuck with a long last name that no one can pronounce correctly (unless ...well, we won't go there just yet, I'll just let Scott enjoy having a traditional boy... for now...)
He has the very cool birthday of 07-08-09!! Born at 1:41 pm at 7lbs 13oz and 20 1/2 inches in length. (which might be generous thanks to his cone head!!) And now for the gory details...
We checked in at 5:30 am to be induced (just like with Evi). I didn't pass out like last time, but came pretty close! I was dilated to a 5 already, which for all you men out there, it means I was half way there. You have to be at a 10 for the magic to happen. So everyone predicted I'd be done by noon. What do they know!?! All the nurses were very excited that we didn't know what we were having. I ended up having to wear an oxygen mask because the baby's O2 levels were low. Ended up the cord was around his neck, so it slowed the whole process down a little. Plus my doctor said his large head probably didn't help. So we only shaved a little more than 2 hours off delivery from Evi to Eli. Let me just take a moment at this time to give thanks to whoever invented the epidural. My theory is that the epidural is God's gift of forgiveness for the whole apple in the garden of Eden thing. While Evi's birth was absolutely painless from beginning to end, I felt a little more with Eli's, but I'm sure it would have been worse without it! I figure I take pills for headaches, meds to ease colds, why wouldn't I then use meds to ease childbirth. It's brilliant! He had low O2 levels after birth too and I had to hold a little mask near his face for a while. I also had to do the skin to skin right after he was born. Which was quite nice for me because no one else was able to hold him and I didn't have to give him up for quite a while. I loved it.
He's perfect and sweet and already quite the eater. Although today he has treated me like a sip'n go. He's sleeping a lot, of course he's only 4 days old at this point. Plenty of time to make a liar of me!
So now it is just Evi, Eli and me. And today it has been quite nice. My living room is covered in toys, but Evi's staying entertained so it's ok. It's actually nice to have an excuse now to stay in our nightgowns all day...not that I needed an excuse before!!

There are more photos if you follow the our pix link to the right.