Eliza's Blessing Day

Eliza was blessed on Thursday, November 23, 2017. It was Thanksgiving Day. Since Grandma and Papa were on a mission in Texas, we decided to bless her there in the mission home of the Texas Lubbock Mission. She was blessed by Michael and her Papa was in the circle as well. It was a small circle but just perfect.

Here is her blessing:

Heavenly Father, by the authority of the holy Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, we take this child in our arms and give unto her a name and a blessing. The name by which she shall be known throughout this life is Eliza Rachel Byram. Eliza, we bless you at this time - we bless you with the ability as you grow to understand your place and position within the family - to understand your ability and your role to bring light and cheerfulness and joy into the home. We bless you that you may be able to learn from the example of your siblings and that you may be able to prepare to become a wonderful woman and daughter of your Heavenly Father. We bless you that you will have the opportunity to go to the temple and you will one day meet a righteous young man and that he may be able to worthily take you there and that you will be able to be sealed for time and all eternity and that the children that you have will be sealed to you as well. We bless you that you may be able to find joy in family life and that you may find no other place that you would rather be than with the people who matter most to you. We bless your mind that it may be open and that you may be able to learn the things that are important for you to learn, particularly the life lessons that will help you to teach others. We bless you that you will be able to be an example of Gospel living and that you will be someone that has many friendships and associations. We bless you that you may be able to solve problems as they arise, that you may be able to figure out solutions and that you will be able to work with the Spirit in doing that. We bless you that you may be able to live worthy of the Spirit all the days of your life as you strive to follow your Heavenly Father. We bless you that you may be able to follow the wonderful example of your mother, that you may be able to emulate the things that you see her do and apply them into your life. Eliza, we bless you with these things and do so in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

4 months

My baby girl is now 4 months old!

Here are her 4 month stats:

Weight: 14 lbs (44th percentile)
Height: 24 1/2 in (50th percentile)
Head Cir: 16 1/4 (68th percentile)

Eliza is the cutest little thing! She is so quick to give you a smile and is getting chattier and chattier every day. If one of the kids starts yelling or crying, she will stick out her lip in a pout and if you don't immediately console her, she'll start crying as well.

She's in 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. This last month she had a hair tourniquet, on her toe, which scared the heck out of me. She was in the bath when I noticed it and immediately took her out and yelled for Michael. It didn't seem to bother her until we tried to get it off and it got a little worse before we finally got it all the way off. Poor thing. Luckily we caught it early.

Eliza had her first big road trip this month when we went to California on New Years for a few days to go to the beach and to Disneyland with family. She didn't do great in the car since she still hates the car, but we all survived! :-)

Eliza likes toys and is getting good at holding them. They all immediately go into her mouth. She likes the Bumbo for short periods and also likes the playmat. She likes others to be playing with her and doesn't like to be left alone for very long. This isn't usually a problem since she's the fourth kid! All her siblings adore her.

Eliza usually nurses about 7 times in a 24 hour period. Two of those nursing sessions are in the middle of the night. She has never even been close to sleeping through the night, but she is usually still pretty good about eating and then going back to sleep. She still sleeps in the swing, swaddled and with a binky. She loves the swaddle and sleeps so much better that way, so it'll be hard to wean her out of it. She still spits up a ton, but it doesn't seem to bother her very much and she's gaining weight so I haven't worried about it too much. She is definitely the biggest puker of all my kids! She will usually take a bottle if necessary.

She has suddenly started disliking the bath a whole lot more. More often than not, she'll start crying when I put her in. Hopefully this will change when she learns how to sit and she can sit in there and play. Eliza can't sit on her own yet but I can tell that she is starting to get more sturdy.

Eliza prefers to be held facing out so that she can see what's going on. She is sweet and beautiful and we absolutely love her to pieces!