Busy weekend

We had a very fun and busy (and rather crowded) weekend with family. Patrick's parents, my parents and my brother Cameron were all here for the weekend, and my cousin Jackie and her family spent the day with us on Saturday. It was a big crowd for our little apartment, but we had a great time together.

Elijah and the boats
On Saturday morning, Cameron and my parents took Elijah to the Newport naval base to see the boats. They saw an aircraft carrier and sail boats - Elijah was thrilled. He's been telling us about the "huge ship" ever since ("aircraft carrier" is hard to say and no one understands him when he says it, so "huge ship" works better).

the aircraft carrier

with Uncle Cameron and the sailboats

Elijah's Birthday (the delayed party)
On Saturday afternoon, we all got out of our little apartment and went to a local park to celebrate Elijah's birthday. It was great to have everyone there! I was afraid it might be too hot to stay long, but it was comfortable at our picnic table in the shade. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground even though it was warmer out in the sun. You can see Jackie's pictures from our day on her blog. After the park, we all headed to the Coddington Brewery for dinner - yum! The food was great and the guys had fun trying the beer sampler. It was a wonderful day and I loved having a big group of family here - who would've thought we could have them all here together in Rhode Island?!

Elijah loves flags, so we had a red, white & blue party

Elijah's own little cake (yes, that is real frosting!)

He liked it, but was more interested in the blueberries

Yummy!

Molly with her grandmothers

Nana

Bobbi

Molly with her grandfathers

Talking to Papa

Relaxing with Grandpa

Elijah playing at the park

Elijah and Nana have been going to the park almost every day (twice a day when they can!) and Elijah has been loving it! Here are a few pictures.

Eighteen days

Molly is 2 1/2 weeks old now. I guess the newborn phase where I only get a couple of hours of sleep at a time makes me a little loopy, but it feels like she's been here forever. I feel a little silly when people ask me how old she is and I can't remember! I just lose track sometimes lately. Anyway, I think we are all doing well and adjusting to being a bigger family. I am feeling pretty well - a lot better than when Elijah was two + weeks old. Molly is sleeping very well during the day (of course), but she is fussy in the evening some days and she is often a restless sleeper during the night. I am thankful that my mom is here so I can take naps.

Last Monday Molly visited the doctor for her one week check up and weight check. She weighed 8 lbs 7 oz - the doctor was quite pleased that she had gained her birth weight back and more already. It's good to know that she's getting enough to eat and that she's growing well.

the feet!

Elijah seems to be adjusting very well. He's started to pay a little more attention to Molly in the last two days, but he's been very gentle with her so far. Mostly, he just gives her hugs and kisses (i.e. he leans over and rests his head on her), but yesterday he decided he wanted to sit with her in her Boppy pillow. It's OK - he didn't sit on her!




We are very thankful for Nana's help over the last couple of weeks. Elijah has had so much fun and been to his playgrounds (almost) as often as he ever wanted. He does have moments when he cries over little things that normally wouldn't bother him, but I think he's doing so much better than I expected. We'll see how it goes after all his grandparents go home and he really has to share Mama's attention - I guess we'll just have to keep praying!

July 4th

On Friday, Patrick took Elijah to his very first parade - the Bristol 4th of July parade, which is the longest running annual 4th of July parade in the country. They really go all out, and hundreds of thousands of people go every year. Elijah enjoyed seeing all the flags, bands, fire trucks, horses, and Elmo! What a fun day.

The boys

Some horses

Elmo!

BIG horses!

Elijah's Birthday

We had a fun little birthday celebration for Elijah on Wednesday night (we're going to celebrate again next week when all his grandparents are here). He wasn't sure what to think about this birthday thing we were talking about until he came home from the park and saw the balloons and presents. He also had his first "real" dessert (he hasn't really had much sugar yet) - strawberry shortcake! We had fun teaching him to blow out his candle and watching him enjoy the whipped cream. Happy 2nd Birthday, Elijah!

Mmmmm ...

Cake!

Fun presents!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Elijah!

Just some pictures