Monday, June 30, 2008

Shmuffin babies


Elijah, July 2006


Molly, June 2008

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Boys of summer


Yesterday, Patrick and I got to take Elijah to the beach for a couple of hours of fun. (Thank you Nana, for watching Molly!) It was nice to spend a little time with my boys - we had a lot of fun. The boys went out into the waves and had a great time playing in the sand with Elijah's new beach toys. Afterward, we finally tried a famous Rhode Island treat - Del's soft frozen lemonade. Yummy!







Can you see Elijah's huge smile?


Thursday, June 26, 2008

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Our first few days

Well, as I'm waiting up anyway to feed Miss Molly, here's a little update. She and I are both doing well and we're all very glad to be home. (Especially Patrick, who was sleeping on a small and uncomfortable fold-out chair in the hospital. Yuk!) Molly took her first two trips to the doctor's office yesterday and today to be weighed and have blood drawn to check her jaundice levels. She is doing fine and doesn't need to have light therapy - hooray! She is eating pretty well (although she would prefer to sleep) and sleeping quite well - I am very thankful for both.

Elijah has been great so far. He was more interested in the hospital room than either his mama or his sister when he came to visit, but he is glad to have us home. Mostly he leaves Molly alone (probably not a bad thing!) but he likes to watch her get her diaper changed and gives her very gentle hugs at bedtime. I think it is very cute when he comes running out after his nap - first he comes looking for me - "Mama, Mama!", then, "baby Molly." My mom is here and she's taking great care of him. He's having fun going to the park and taking walks with his Nana and I'm getting some naps in. It's been so helpful to have her here!

I'm pretty sure that E had a mammoth growth spurt while we were in the hospital. I know, in comparison to a newborn, he would look huge anyway. But seriously, Patrick thinks so too, and I think his clothes are smaller. He's eating and sleeping a lot, too. I've been kinda waiting for him to shoot up taller one of these days because his feet have grown a ton this spring, but he seems to also have gained a bunch of weight. (Great fun - I'm not supposed to be lifting him anyway - yeah, right - and now he's even bigger!) He'll have his 2 year check-up in a few weeks, and we'll see where he's at. He's getting to be such a big boy!

More pictures of Molly


Miss Molly with Nana (Beth)


This is what she does all day - she sure is sleepy!


Hi, pretty girl!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Introducing Molly Beth!

Molly Beth was born on Friday at 6:55 pm. She was 8 lbs 2oz and 20 1/2 inches long. All went well and we brought her home from the hospital today. Praise God for a healthy baby girl!

Here are a couple of pictures - we'll be adding more to the Picasa album as well.


Brand new.


Meeting Elijah


Daddy's girl


She has dark hair!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Last week

So, we had random internet issues last week - very frustrating. Anyway, I'll try to sum up ...


Just a happy boy!

It was a terribly hot, humid week in New England. Before we moved here, everyone said that it never gets that hot this close to the water. Well, it did. We already had the air conditioners up in the bedrooms and last Sunday Patrick got out portable going out in the kitchen to help out in the living area. It was still pretty brutal and I was just generally feeling not well. (Not so unusual at 38 weeks anyway, I guess.) Elijah and I mostly just bunkered down in the apartment for the week, except for doctors appointments and our last gymnastics class.

I also finally decided it was about time to be brave and find someone here to cut my hair. I really needed a haircut, and I figured it's better to do it now than wait until after the baby comes. So ... yeah, it actually was a pretty horrible haircut - it looked like a guy's feathered style from 1982, even after I washed it and let it curl. So I had to go find a new place this Saturday and have them try to fix it. My hair is shorter now than it's ever been, I think, and I still don't really like it, but it's a lot better than it was. I've decided that having it really short will probably be nice for the hot weather, and it'll be nice & easy when I have a newborn and I'm really not taking care of it. So, I'll try to be positive and it'll grow out eventually, right?

Well, we're only 10 days from baby's due date now. I was 1 cm dilated all week last week, but nothing too exciting is happening yet. We go back to the doctor tomorrow. Hopefully we're all ready for this little girl!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Cowboy boots

Last weekend, Elijah was hanging out with Daddy:




Even when it's really, really hot, sometimes you still need your cowboy boots.

Elephant picture


Here's the photo of Elijah & Patrick at the Animal Expo last week. Elijah thinks it is so cool!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Hey!

Check out the USNA football homepage - a familiar face is advertising a Navy football autograph session! Yep, that's my handsome "little" brother. (I don't know how long the picture will be up, but fun, huh?)

On a less exciting note: we've been without internet access for a couple of days, so I'll blame that for our long silence. I'll try to put more up after I've had a nap. Whew, it's been hot here!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Some real summer fun!

Yesterday was a fun, busy day for Elijah. In the morning, he and Patrick went to the Animal Planet Expo. The boys had a good time together. Elijah was excited about the snakes and lizards and alligator that he saw, and was thrilled to bring home a stuffed panda that he won playing a game.

It turned out to be very warm yesterday (and even hotter today!), so after Elijah's nap we all went to the beach. The beach is the coolest place to be around here, and there was a nice breeze, so even I was much more comfortable. Elijah finally got to go in the water - hooray!




He had fun wading, and really enjoyed it when Patrick carried him out into the waves. They played in the sand and found more seashells. Elijah loved that there was so much space for running and also made a few friends. It was a fun afternoon!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Summer fun?

Well, our suddenly summer-like weather that came on Sunday also brought a new kind of rash for Elijah. This kid has the most sensitive skin ever! Apparently the heat and diapers are a bad combination for him, so after a quick visit to the doc to make sure nothing major was wrong, we've been letting Elijah run about without a diaper as much as possible during the day, and using disposable diapers at night to let him heal. He's enjoying the freedom of life without pants, but not always so keen at being confined to the waterproofed cage. Hopefully this too will pass quickly.



Yesterday I finally succumbed to the inevitable and went to the DMV for my new Rhode Island driver's license. Yuk. Not only did I have to go and hang out at the DMV (always fun) with my crazy toddler, they took my Colorado license away and then took a perfectly horrible, "Hi! I'm 9 months pregnant and distracted by my toddler" photo for the new license. Great. We are also in the process of registering our vehicles for Rhode Island plates. I don't know, I may cry when my pretty Colorful Colorado plates come off.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

More updates

We've been a little busy lately, and I've been feeling more like napping than blogging or doing chores most days, so things (including updating this blog) have been piling up on me recently. We are all doing fine, though, and are welcoming some summer weather around here. It is fun to have nice, sunny days!

Elijah is growing up so quickly lately. He's learning a lot and continues to surprise me with the things he picks up. We are starting to think more and more about how to help him through the major transition of becoming a big brother - if anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it! He is turning into a big helper (when he wants to be). He is really doing well at putting his own books and toys away at the end of the day (with encouragement) - after dinner he knows it's time to "cwean up," and he loves to put his laundry in the hamper. He's also been helping me pick things up off the floor lately, as I'm having more and more trouble reaching! It took a while for E to learn to say "thank you," but now that he can say it, he's using it very well! He's also quite good with "welcome," but we're still working on using "please."

Last week, Patrick spent a couple of days in Boston doing interviews for his department's open positions for next year. Elijah and I did fine on our own, but I did have to resort to putting E in the pack-n-play with toys and his Bob the Builder video so that I could get a shower one morning. Elijah spent the afternoon loading the pack-n-play with everything he owns plus an oven mitt. He was quite proud of himself! (until he realized that he couldn't get any of his toys back out ...)



Now what do I do?

Elijah is still really enjoying his gymnastics class - he asks almost every day if we're going, and then tells me all the things he loves to do there. He's getting a little calmer now that he's used to being there, and therefore is a little better about not plowing over anyone who may get in his way. He's still having a little trouble with some of the skills they work on at circle time, but he's making progress and mostly enjoys it now, even if they do make you sit in one place for five whole minutes. We only have a couple of classes left now, but it sure has been fun!

Here's a little video of some of Elijah's favorite little books - Car Colors and Trains. The first one is supposed to be teaching colors, but Patrick has also been teaching Elijah the names of the cars in each picture as well. Now we have fun watching for these cars (in addition to white buses and school buses) when we're out driving.


Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Memorial Day

A little catch-up post - it only took me an extra week! =)

On Memorial Day we got to spend the day in CT with Luke & Jackie's family. We had a great time hanging out and grilling and eating. Elijah enjoyed playing with the big kids and a whole house full of exiting new toys, not to mention a big grassy yard to run around in. The guys grilled meat and veggie kabobs for lunch and it was all very good. Jackie and I spent a lot of time doing nothing - her with her broken foot up and me very happy not to have to get up out of a comfy chair too much. Yep, we were pretty boring, but it was so nice!