Happy Anniversary!

So yesterday was our 5 year anniversary. We enjoyed a late morning wake-up (9:00am - late for us), some time at the dog park, and then a nice dinner together where we both ate too much.

I neglected to mention earlier that last Sunday I made my virgin voyage to Ikea. My neighbor, Julie, and I went up after church. Our mission was bedding (me) and curtains (Julie). Both missions we accomplished, along with a few bonus items, of course. Once we finally get our new bed delivered, and I get our new beautiful Ikea bedding on it, I'll post some pictures. But it was very exciting. I love Ikea. If anyone else would like to make the trip, let me know, I would love an excuse to go again! I am having visions of being able to finally organize parts of our house very inexpensively. I can't wait!

Already?

Today Eli is 8 months - already. It seems hard to believe that 8 months have already gone by. So I thought I would give an update on everything he is doing.

He is really rolling all over the floor now. He used to not be real fond of his stomach, but doesn't seem to mind as much now. And he'll go from sitting up to down on his belly. He will also end up on his belly and kind of wiggle all of his limbs. Supposedly, these are things that lead to crawling.

Eli has gotten really vocal (ie: loud) in the last couple weeks. He especially likes to shout. He's happy, he just likes to be heard. But there's a lot of indistinguishable noises, plus "da," "ta," "ba," and every once in a while a "ma." And, of course, lots of shrieking. And now he's into telling us some things very emphatically; he gets very intense, makes both hands into fists, shakes them, and makes funny sounds with a stiff face. It's pretty funny. He also loves blowing bubbles - sometimes from the minute he wakes up, he's blowing bubbles.

But he's doing really well, he's really happy most of the time. And he really seems to be developing a funny personality. He's started clapping his hands, usually accompanied by some shouting. And he plays some funny games. For instance, he'll lay his head all cuddly on your shoulder, and then all of the sudden pop up really quickly and smile. Repeat as many times as he thinks is entertaining. One night he was playing peek-a-boo with his cuddly blanket thing. He would cover his face, and we would call his name, and then he would pull down the blanket with a big smile. This game went on for several minutes, and Thom and I thought it was hilarious he was doing it all on his own.

We also had to get him a bigger car seat over the weekend. His feet are really starting to hang over the edge of his current car seat, so we knew it was time to upgrade. So, hopefully, he'll be in this one for a while. We're going to try it out for a while before we leave for the beach next week.

So, anyhow, that's a brief update on Eli. We'd love to hear from everyone, so leave us a message telling us how you're doing!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

We did it! We successfully made our first airplane trip with Eli. It was a lot of work, but not as stressful as I thought it would be. We left early Thursday morning for Denver. Eli was asleep for about the first 20 minutes of the flight, and then awake the rest of the flight. But he was content, and played. He shouted a lot, but it was happy shouting. The flight attendants loved him - which was a big positive.

Here's a picture of Eli on the plane on the way to Denver.

When we got to Denver we went to the aquarium. Eli enjoyed that, and most of the exhibits had low windows, so he could see right from the stroller, which was nice.

My friend from Queens, Lisa, met us after the aquarium. There's a picture below of her and Eli. We had a great dinner together, and Lisa and I were able to catch up back at Thom's cousin's house while Thom and Eli snoozed.

Friday afternoon we headed up to Vail for Thom's cousin, Matt's wedding on Saturday. Saturday morning we woke up to several inches of snow. Totally unprepared for that. Oh well. It did warm up through the day, and by the wedding, snow was melting and falling in sheets off rooftops and trees. The last picture is the three of us at the wedding.




We had to leave Vail pretty early on Sunday morning, but got to the airport fine. Eli pretty much slept the whole flight (Thom did, too). So my first Mother's Day, I spent two hours in the car, two hours navigating the car return and airport, and three hours on a plane. But at least I didn't have to cook dinner. We went to my parent's house and ordered Chinese. Eli gave me a spa package that included a steam treatment, a manicure and pedicure, and a one hour massage. Nice - I really look forward to using that! Anyhow, hope the rest of you mom's had a great Mother's Day, too! And thanks to Josh and Jenny for watching Lucy while we were gone!

My Name Is. . .

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but these are Eli's adorable pj's with his name on the butt. They were a Christmas gift from his Uncle Josh and Aunt Jenny. Anyhow, Eli has become even more vocal lately. He's found some new sounds and wants to make sure everyone hears them. He has also discovered shouting and loves to do this high pitched shrieking sound. And he's saying "da" all the time. Which, by the way, why is "da" easier to say than "ma?" Does it just make it that much more special to here "ma" for the first time or what? Thom thinks it's great, because Eli also makes this "ta" sound - so Thom says his saying "Dada" and almost saying "Thom." Okay, whatever.

So we're getting ready to go to Denver this weekend. Thom's cousin is getting married in Vail on Saturday. We're flying into Denver Thursday, and driving to Vail on Friday afternoon. My friend, Lisa, from college is now living in Denver, and I am really excited to see her on Thursday. Eli will get his first plane ride, and we will get our first plane trip with a baby. If you've never seen me pack for a trip, I agonize over what to pack for myself. I drive myself nuts and it takes me forever. So now imagine this times two, because I am also packing for Eli. There's a giant list of "things" and small piles of stuff to take in various locations of the house. I am sure by Thursday morning, I will have driven Thom nuts and I will be ready for a big glass of wine or something. So pray for our sanity as we get ready. . .

So Long, Farewell. . .

That's right, it's time to say good-bye. To my pump. Anyone who has been around me for any length of time in the last seven and a half months, knows that I have been pumping religiously. At home, at other's homes, at a conference, in hotel rooms, in the car - anywhere. And last night, for the last time.
A part of me feels sad, because it means that Eli is now seven and a half months! But I have enough frozen milk in our freezer in the basement to feed the three of us in a time of famine. So it was definitely time to quit. On the other hand, I feel like I have all this wonderful time on my hands. Pumping was a huge time commitment. And there's a sense of freedom now when I leave the house. No more planning errands and events around my pumping schedule.
So anyhow, the pump still sits ceremoniously on the chair in the family room. I guess it's time to pack it up and put it away. So long, farewell. . .

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday! This weekend we went up to my Grandma's to celebrate her 80th birthday. It was Eli's longest car ride so far (about 4 hours) and first hotel stay. We had a good time visiting with Grandma and everyone else - especially since we are rarely all together. But here's Grandma blowing out the birthday cake she shared with my cousins Courtney and Erica, who both have birthdays this week and my cousin's son, Drew, who shared his first birthday with Grandma.

We also visited the playground in our neighborhood for the first time this weekend. Eli liked the swings and went down the slide with Daddy, too. He started antibiotics again for another ear infection this week. He seems to be feeling fine, luckily. Hopefully, it will be all cleared up soon so it won't be a problem when we leave for Denver in a week and a half.

A Busy Weekend!

Yeah! Just another way to keep him occupied while cooking dinner

Here's Eli's new trick of flipping over his floor gym

Insert foot in mouth

We've had a busy weekend. Thie big news is that we finally bought a new bed! That's right, we're now real adults with a Queen size bed - well, when it gets delivered to us, anyhow. We actually bought the mattress and box spring yesterday. Luckily, we know someone who works in the furniture department at Macy's and he let us know that the bed we want goes on sale even cheaper the first weekend in May. So we will put in the order for the bed as soon as it goes on sale, and it will all be delivered together. I'll post some pictures when we do finally get it. But I am very excited about it. We are just going to get the bed for now, and then add other new pieces, like new dressers and bedside tables, later.

Today, Scott and Courtney's baby, Caitlyn was baptized at church. It was very nice - Caitlyn was very curious, and, just like Eli, did not cry! I know I was so relieved after Eli slept through his baptism. But anyhow, Eli and Caitlyn just have something else to talk about now.

Speaking of Eli, he now has some new tricks. He has finally gotten his feet into his mouth - he loves his feet so much, it was only a matter of time until they also became victims of the slobbery black hole. And he can now flip his floor gym over on himself. He doesn't seem to mind, but now I guess I need to really be able to see him if I'm doing stuff in the kitchen and he's under there!

The weather has been rainy and cold here this weekend, so hopefully the next time we post we'll have a good, sunny outdoor picture!