Belly Pics - 21.5 weeks preggers

Hi everyone! I promised pics of my belly a few weeks ago when I noticed I was starting to get really big so here they are!

I am to the point where I have one coat that fits so yesterday I had to go to Motherhood and buy a winter coat. I found one that was on sale, perfect for work & is also casual looking as well. I love it and guess what...I only spent $5 on it! Big thanks to Tommy (Adam's brother) for my the birthday gift card it came in very handy!!

So without further ado....here are the pics I took last night with the auto timer on my camera. Adam was out doing some side work and was not home so this was the best I could get.

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First Haircut, Date Night & Gorgeous Fall Run !

This weekend although low key turned into a really nice weekend! On Friday night Adam and I made homemade pizza on the grill it was yummy and a really cheap way of having a nice dinner with using up all your veggies/left overs in the fridge. Our pizza was topped with onions, red peppers, mushrooms, left over grilled chicken diced, Canadian bacon diced, and some pepperoni. I called the it "Krissy's Meat Lover's Pizza" since I picked our toppings. I have lots of yummy ideas for the next pie we make, artichokes & eggplant....yum!!


Saturday we took Eli for his first real haircut and I have to say for a child who refused to nap in the morning he did fantastic. This kid always pull through when I expect a meltdown which is clutch! You just never know since he is not a napper, so we kind of roll the dice lots of times! It turns out Eli loved sitting in the chair & looking at himself in the mirror. Maybe because it was all so new to him things went well but whatever the reason I was grateful for his behavior. He also loved the fish aquarium they had there filled with really cool fish. I hope he never asks for a fish to be honest. I hate cleaning fish tanks and find fish to be the worst pet (sorry fish owners!) they just don't give back with cuddles and you can't pet them. 2 main requirements in my book for a desirable pet!




Randomly yesterday Adam and I thought to go on a date night so Meme' watched Eli and took him overnight for us! How nice was that? Adam's dad is on a week bike riding trip to Death Valley (I know sounds nutty right?... Adam's dad is a die hard road biker, for example, he regularly leaves the house on his bike on a Saturday morning rides into Massachusetts and returns while we are all still drinking our morning coffee!). The company for Meme' was nice to have and Eli had a great time spending some one on one time with his Meme' I am sure :) We went to see a movie called "The Town" which was really good & we had dinner out at one of our favorite tavern's called J.Timothy's. Also, today is daylight savings so the extra sleep was lovely :)

Maybe that is why my morning run today was so pleasant? I ran a 5K loop that I run regularly but for some reason today was just gorgeous. I felt great and there is something about having to put an extra layer on that I love. I am a big fan of running with long sleeves to begin with so today I layered on top of my spandex tank a long sleeve dry weave shirt and I had my dry weave Nike jacket I always wear. I felt perfectly comfortable for today's weather and there were lots of fellow joggers out today enjoying this sunny crisp fall morning which also made for a nice run!

Here is a picture I thought was cute from this weekend, Adam was picking up leaves with the tractor and Eli was crying out the slider for "Dadda" so we decided to put him on the tracker with Adam. Once he was on the tractor he was fine! I was a bit worried but he seemed to really like it. Adam has his "lumber jack" look going on here as you can see. Every fall when hunting season starts he has to grow a full beard to really get into it.... he just can't help it! hahahah...

It's a Boy!

Today was a very fun day for Adam and I, we had my 20 week ultrasound and everything looks healthy with the baby and we got to find out the gender! The baby cooperated and it's a boy!! We started the day by dropping Eli off at daycare earlier than usual so that we could go get breakfast at a cafe nearby. What a great start to the day, it was super yummy & the baby officially likes raspberry crepe's :)


All along I had a mother's intuition that I was pregnant with another boy. For starters, I am carrying the same exact way. I just started to wear maternity clothes a few days ago. I seriously look like I swallowed a basketball and it all happened overnight just as it did with Eli and the same exact week! How odd? This pregnancy has been smooth sailing and I can't complain one bit. I think I can say I even feel better than when I was pregnant with Elias!


Our little guy clearly doesn't realize he will have a little brother soon but I know he will be a great big brother. He is such a joy to have in our lives and I can't wait to have another one soon! I feel like once I found out the sex of the baby when pregnant with Eli it was a whirlwind from there. I know the last 2 weeks I may have not thought it was going by fast (I think I get a break on this one... I was overdue!) at the time but it sure did looking back. I am going to cherish the time we have with Eli where we can give him our undivided attention in the meantime :)

Some other updates on Eli, he is quite vocal and has a few words he says pretty regularly now! We are finding it so much fun to hear him talk with real words and even use them in the right context at times! Outside of Dadda & Mamma Eli can now say the following words:

Doggie, Uh Oh!, Stop, Hot (this is because he is always by the oven!!), Hi, Up, and Hey (although I haven't heard this one first hand yet).

Here are some recent pictures of Eli, he LOVES being in the garage with Daddy. It is just too cute.


Eli's other favorite thing to do is to put our shoes on and walk around. Here he is today with Adam's Adidas sandals on.

Hope everyone is getting excited for the holiday season approaching us. I can tell you I am thrilled to be pregnant at Thanksgiving time! hahhaha...

Slowing up but feeling good still

Yesterday was an unseasonably warm day for the end of October in CT. It was 75 degrees! The weather was awesome for an outdoor run and I was able to get out of work early to get one in. I have been having trouble lately getting out door runs in these past 2 weeks, it gets dark pretty early now and by the time I get home from work I just want to spend time with my little guy before he goes to bed.

I was out on the road running by 4:30pm and even got to grocery shop after the run.
I am running on more flat roads these days, there are 2 schools in my general area that are perfect for parking at and going on a 5 K loop. My direct neighborhood is very hilly, I like the challenge but these days I am passing on it. Also, on the days with Eli in tow I am noticing I need to be on flat ground. I still feel great getting out there and look forward to my last road race of this pregnancy on Thanksgiving day.

There are a few things that have changed even since my last road race in early October.

1. I look like a "porker" now in my running tops! They are spandex as usual and I am filling them out generously but the basket ball baby bump isn't quite there so I just look chunky.
2. I am slowing my pace. I know I could push it more sometimes but then I think what is the point? I wouldn't want to do anything to disrupt my healthy pregnancy thus far and just getting out there is feeling great for me.

Other than my update on my running, we have an exciting weekend ahead of us. It is not only Halloween on Sunday but we are going to my sister's for my niece & nephew's joint Halloween themed birthday party. I can't wait to see all the kiddies in their costumes and Eli running around in his Rooster get up!

Happy Halloween everyone!

All Things Fall!

Hi Everyone! This past weekend we spent some time at March Farm in Bethlehem,CT. We picked apples, picked out a perfect carving pumpkin, bought some yummy baked pies and snacked on fresh apples. It was such a perfect fall day, Eli spent some time with his cousin Abby & Meme' and enjoyed every minute of it. He also enjoyed trying to eat a whole apple just like us as you can see in the above picture!

Eli relaxing while we pick our pumpkin out. This very wagon many moons ago had Adam and Uncle Tommy sitting in it!

Abby & Eli

Eli loves to smell flowers, it is too cute. But we must watch him because then the hands come out and try to rip the tops right off!

Farmer Eli in his plaid flannel


And here is my baby bump just before the race I did on the 9th. Ok, well not much of a bump right now... but this is exactly how I carried with Eli, I had nothing for such a long time then the beach ball surfaced out of no where! I went for my quad screen appointment yesterday where they draw blood, I officially just started to gain weight at this last appointment, I put on 4 pounds! So in no time I will be seeing a bump that others will start to notice too and finally stop asking me if I am "really" pregnant. I can't stand that comment. Only a few more weeks until we find out the sex of the baby. Can't wait until November 4th comes around for that appointment! But my bet is on a boy, I just can't help but feel that way.

Oh yeah....and our little guy is going to be a rooster for Halloween! Thanks to my sister for the perfect fitting costume :) . I had another really fun idea that was going to be a homemade costume, but the more I think about it using it next year would be better. So here he is , we tried it on this past weekend and he ran around holding his puppy giggling the whole time. I love this boy so much wish I could hug him all the time.

Race Report-Bristol Mumathon 5 miles, 44 mins 31 secs

So this weekend was busy as we expected but fun! Saturday we had a wedding and Eli stayed at home with Adam's cousin Chelsea who babysat for him. The little guy had a great time with Chelsea, he ate well & went to bed no problem! We were thrilled this was a positive experience!

We got home from the wedding at 10:45 which was nice considering I had the Bristol Mumathon race the next morning. I got a pretty good amount of sleep before Eli woke up at 3am crying in a soaking wet crib. He has been peeing through his overnight diaper lately and it is driving us nuts. I am moving him up to size 4 overnight diaper, I don't even care if he looks all silly with a huge diaper on him. I just can't change his sheets and deal with a po'd 13 month old in the middle of the night anymore!!

I got back to sleep by 4am and woke up normal time - 6:30 but felt rested enough for the day's run. Sunday was the coldest morning we have had yet in this crisp fall season we just started. It was actually kind of nice because I love running with my long sleeve jacket on, it has the cut outs for my thumbs so when I am just starting out and still chilly it is almost like having gloves on.

The race took place minutes from my house which is even better. It started at 10:15 so I left at 9:45 and had time to park, jog around a bit and stretch, and hit the bathroom up for that last drop of pee. The race took off a bit later than 10:15 but the weather was gorgeous and the leaves are all changing now so the scenery was great. There was girl who was near me at the start with her jogging stroller and 19 1/2 month old in tow! I commended her before the race even started, the course is 60% hills and it is 5 miles, no easy task by far. I know because when I run with Eli in the stroller I keep those runs to about 3.5 miles max in our neighborhood where you can't avoid a climb anyway you look at it.

The girl with her son was so running so well, I actually didn't pass her until the 2 mile mark. I run negative splits when I race so my 1st mile is always my slowest. It is my mental prep time I guess you could say. I tell myself while I am running that I am running for my personal best and it doesn't matter who is passing me, just that I enjoy the run and feel great while doing it. So that is how I tackle any race I have done-5K, marathon, or triathlon.

Right about mile 2 was when I got in my groove and clicked it up a notch. I have to be careful because I am just about 4 1/2 months pregnant now so I had to run with a bottled water. I drink a sip of water every 5 mins or so, basically so that I am never actually thirsty. After mile 3 we had relief from our climb and the decent started. Right about 3.75 miles the course leveled out and it was two long straight aways. I used the lamp post as my way of keeping focused and my pace on track. This seemed to really help me into the home stretch. I finished the race in 44 mins. 31 seconds and learned today I came in second in my age group. And get this, the girl with the baby in tow finished just behind me in 3rd place for our age group. One day I will tackle a road race with Eli I think, but not while preggers that is for sure!

After the race we had a birthday party which was outdoors and Eli LOVED it. He was in the bouncy house, on the swing set, in the little tykes cars/wagon pull, basically everything. He was so happy to be outside at a party with all little kids! Then we had a family party where he enjoyed as well. He spent about 20 mins. jumping all over his Poppi (Adam's dad), poor John he was a human trampoline for Eli!

When we got home needless to say I crashed. I was in bed at 8pm! Woke up today feeling great so all that sleep recharged my batteries, and thankfully Eli didn't wet his bed until 6:30 this morning. That's an improvement from 3am...I'll take it! Tonight is the first night we are trying size 4 overnight diapers, lets hope this works for our little problem we have!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend :)

Priceless!

I had to post this picture, my sister took it at the Boston Commons this past weekend. I just love everything about it!

Two Fun Filled Weekends!

The past two weekends have been busy for us, but really fun! This weekend coming up is going to be the same but that is ok with us :) We have a wedding on Saturday, then Sunday I am running in the Bristol Mumathon - a 5 mile race. After that we have a birthday party for our friend's daughter who just turned 1 & after that a family party. Crazy busy, that is for sure!

2 weekends ago we went to the Big E after our last day at the beach for the year. The Big E if you are not familiar with is a huge fair that takes place in the fall every year in MA. The Big E runs for 3 weeks or so and draws in some pretty good live entertainment. It is only about an hour ride for us. The fair has everything from your typical animal rides and carnival games to infomercial displays. What makes this fair unique is that each state in New England has their own building so you get to sample and see what every state has to offer. Here is Uncle Tommy & Eli together at the fair.
The weather was perfect and Eli loved being at the fair. He also enjoyed sharing my giant Maine baked potato with all the fixin's. While Adam, Tommy and Tommy's girlfriend Danielle enjoyed some delicious beers as we walked around, I consumed some yummy fresh squeezed over priced lemonade, a deep fried snickers, and I also had some periogies. You could say I took full advantage of this pregnancy that day! hahahha...Surprisingly the snickers was good! Don't even want to know my calorie consumption for that day....

Here is another picture from the fair, Eli is as close to a farm animal as I think he has ever been and he wasn't scared. The donkey was very gentle, it was pretty cute to see him observe the animals.


This past weekend Eli and I went up to my sister's to visit and spend a day in Boston. Eli really enjoyed playing with cousins and keeping up with them! He loved my sisters house because they have so many toys there. Melina & Ben have cousin's from my sister's husbands side so they have double the toys, it is insane, but totally fun to watch. We spent Saturday at the Boston Commons enjoying the perfect fall weather and watching the kids feed the ducks and geese Kix cereal. We even cought the kids enjoying some cereal in between feeding the ducks, they couldn't help themselves!

After we visited the duckling statues at the park to take pictures we went to a great Italian restaurant called Maggianno's. This was Eli's first situation where he had to sit for an extended period of time at a restaurant. The first 45 minutes went pretty well after that it got a little hairy! He doesn't quite have the attention span or ability just yet to color at the table, all he wanted to do was get out of the high chair and run!

Here are some pictures from our day, the first picture is before we even left my sister's house! Melina was trying to keep the order as you can see....



Ben and Eli having fun in their pj's before bedtime! They were so cute together, and totally boys. You can tell they play rough already!!

Working from home today

Since I had some spare time I thought to blog a bit about today. Eli's teeth on the top finally came through the gums all the way and he is loving all his new food options. This morning Eli enjoyed my breakfast burrito I made for us. It had turkey sausage, cheddar cheese & eggs. He really just enjoys anything with meat in it. Hahha....surprise surprise, he is Adam's offspring!

Another one of his favorite new foods he tried this week is pizza. We ordered in the other night a pizza topped with meatballs, onions, peppers, and mushrooms on it. He loved every minute of it so today he had some left over pizza for lunch and was very excited about it.

Today is Adam's dad's last day of work! He is retiring and at a pretty young age. Congrats to Poppi, tonight we will have dinner with Adam's parents to celebrate his accomplishment, not to mention they need an "Eli fix".

Here is a picture of Eli and his Poppi from this summer at a family picnic.


Eli finally went down for a much needed nap so I will get back to doing some work. We plan on heading out in this very yucky wet weather to do some grocery shopping later on. I was able to get allot of work done earlier today even though Eli didn't nap. I pulled the coffee table away from the couch and put pillows all over the place where the ends of the couch are. Then I put in his first Baby Einstein video that he actually watched for a bit. After a few minutes of the video having his attention, he ran around our L-shaped sectional couch & jumped all over the place! That consumed about a full hour and it was somewhat safe being that our computer is in an armoire in the living room so I kept an eye on his craziness!

Eli enjoyed every minute of it, the living room still looks like a mess but I figure I might need this little jungle gym set up I got going here again today!

Happenings and Announcements!

I have some big big blog news to announce! And without further ado..... We are expecting again! This little guy is going to be a big brother late March 2011. That makes me officially at the start of my 2nd trimester. I have been feeling great, absolutely no different than when I was pregnant with Eli and I am still running which makes me happy of course. I aim for 3 days week and have been keeping my pace at a respectable level. One thing to note with this pregnancy is that I am not nearly as tired as I was with Eli that first trimester. I am a bit tired at night after we put Eli down to bed but I am able to eat dinner without falling asleep that is a huge plus compared to the first go around! My "mothers intuition" makes me believe we are having another boy, plus I have always felt I was going to have all boys. The first week of November we will know for sure what we are having. Lots of people have said why are going to find out? What if this is your last child and you never get to feel that element of surprise? For a quick minute I began to think maybe I could wait it out....well here is why we decided against trying to wait:

1. I am impatient. Period.


2. If we are having a girl then I need to make some adjustments to Eli's bedroom since they will be sharing a room for the first 3 years. I would like to make one side a bit girly and Eli's side would probably remain the farm/barn theme. I would really put some work & creativity into making the bedroom as fun as possible for both kiddos.


3. I will have to start getting fun baby girl clothes! I can't lie, I am always quite jealous of the huge section the girls have in the stores and all the ruffles/bows that come along with that!

We have always wanted to have our kiddies close in age and this is definitely going to achieve that goal! Eli will be 18 months older - yes I typed that correctly. They will be a year apart in school too. When I was growing up I always wished my sister and I were closer in age, we are 5 years apart but growing up it was extremely difficult to get along. Not until I was graduated and in college did we find we had lots in common. Of course today my sister is my best friend and I could tell her anything but growing up was rough! She was a second mother to me and did her job quite well I might add!

So onto some Eli news...here are some pictures and videos of what he has been up to lately. Eli acquired a fun table for the beginnings of his "play room" and he loves sitting like a big boy at the table. He is starting to hold crayons and scribble quite a bit, it is so much fun to watch him.

Here is Eli really enjoying a spaghetti dinner, he continues to love to feed himself which is not so great when he refuses food coming from us in a spoon! Lately Eli insists he feeds himself cereal, or soup, etc...this makes for a challenging situation! He is getting pretty good at holding a spoon though so we have to keep him interested in feeding himself!

This is a new toy from Auntie Tammy & Co. for his birthday, when Eli is not hitting the ball he is running around the house with the bat and reminds us of "Bam, Bam" from the Flinstones!

And lastly,today my friend Sylvia invited us up to her parents beach house in Rhode Island to enjoy this Indian Summer we are having here. Eli really enjoyed riding on the boogie board with Sylv's little guy Jack on the beach! It was such a nice way to take in this beautiful weather we having up here this time of year.


Tommorow we are going to the Big E :) Can't wait to eat some fair food and watch Eli enjoy the animals and maybe some rides!

Hey There!!

Here is Eli at his first birthday party we held in our backyard at our home Labor Day weekend. I have been really behind on blogging lately, we are just back from a destination wedding this past weekend and I said to myself I have to get back to my blog!

Eli really enjoyed his birthday party and I had a blast planning a barnyard bash for him this year. I would have went all out and had a pony if he was only bigger but I put the brakes on all my fun ideas to make this party appropriate for a 1 year old. It seemed like Christmas for Eli with all the great toys he received, I was excited to open up a bunch of them! I love how having a child makes you a kid all over again :)

Some of Eli's favorites from the party included a lighting Mcqueen car from his Auntie Tammy and company. He loves how the car has a cell phone on it and all the buttons, and of course the trunk where he shoves every other toy that can fit in there! He also received a school house desk with chair attached from his Uncle Tommy, I have to say he looks so grown up sitting in this picture with his book on the desk! I love this seat, it will be so much fun to see Eli use this more and more as time goes on.

There were so many great gifts Eli received, he is truly blessed and we really wanted to thank everyone for coming out for his birthday party.


I wanted to venture into making his farm themed cake but I quickly realized that I wouldn't have enough time and we had a heat wave that week. A house without central air + a heat wave + baking= one very cranky momma. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted but with the suggestion from my crafty sister, I had the store go a little lighter on the frosting and their normal decorations they had for their tractor theme cake. I then added all the farm animals and I really like how it came out after all! Not to mention it was yummy :) Eli looks like he is enjoying right? The picture below is so funny to me, our nephew Bennett is waiting so patiently for his slice of cake! He looks like he can't take it anymore!! hahaha....




Some of the kids at the party enjoying playing in the mud! Literally they had our shovels and Adam's hard hats on as you can see and they are loving every minute of it. Our sad lawn looks even worse but they were having a blast so who cares!

And here is a funny picture from last week I thought I would throw in this post. I went for a run before Adam left for work & then decided to do my weights in the living room like I do occasionally. I was really into getting a segment done on my DVD and feeling the burn but I thought I heard gulping behind me....Well there was little Eli drinking right out of my water bottle! This little guy cracks me up, he then took the water bottle and ran around the house playing keep away from mommy!

Happy Birthday Eli !!

Happy Birthday Eli!!! We love you!

Here is our little man yesterday at daycare, I still can't get over he is 1 already. It is definitely bittersweet. I can't help but think about how this time last year I was in the hospital giving birth to the little guy! I was scared, excited and anxious all at once. Adam did well at keeping his cool which was great and I like to think we have done a great job adjusting to parenthood. We even managed to be pretty relaxed first time parents thank god!
One hand, Eli being so interactive is so much fun and we truly enjoy every bit of it. Then on the other hand, the days of me just cuddling with him and holding him are over! Now he totally wants to be put down after he gives you a quick hug and kiss. As you can see from the pictures, Eli enjoyed his first birthday with all his daycare pals and some chocolate frosted cupcake cones. Daycare told me that he loved them singing to him, he soaked it all in! This kid is something else! They laughed at how much he enjoyed everyone singing to him that they did it all over again!

Here Eli is after dinner last night enjoying some birthday ice cream with Poppi. He is more fascinated with his new toys we got him, they are really cute Playskool animals on wheels. Perfect for his size hand & perfect for us not noticing them on the floor and tripping over them!


Eli's new dare devil tactic.......

And a quick video of Eli's new singing balloon from Meme' on his birthday, he is enjoying playing with it so much! Thanks Meme'!

Dam that Daily Mile !

Well if you haven't noticed my "daily mile" ticker icon to the right of the blog hasn't been updated in quite a bit! I have forgotten to put in a bunch of entries but at the same time was a bit sporadic with my workouts. I guess I need to get back into the routine of posting when I am done with the workout. I was doing so well at tracking my progress with the daily mile tool and found it motivating, so I am going to get back at it!

Oh yeah...and our family reunion was great this past weekend! We had what I would like to call the best weather of the summer yet. It was absolutely perfect, and was such a great time to be with family we haven't seen in a long time. Eli had a blast running around the park but we did have our first "real fall". It was scary, Eli had a huge egg on his head for a bit but was very alert and showed no signs of having to go to the emergency room so we got lucky on that front.

Here are a few pictures of Eli on his new foam alphabet blocks that interlock. My sister gave them to him and he loves them. And now that they are set up on the floor he likes how they feel under his feet and loves disassembling them of course! You can see Eli's scar that is front and center on his head here pretty good as well. Hopefully by his birthday party in the scar will fade by then.

Whatcha Doing????

After dinner yesterday during the "Eli Hour" I found our little Elias in the bathroom trying to figure out the toilet bowl. Here are some incriminating pictures when I asked Eli "Watcha Doing?" Up until now Eli has not shown a huge interest into the bathroom other than walking in & walking out. These pictures suggest we have to watch him more closely when it comes to the bathroom I guess!

Some other updates-

1. We are in the process of waiting on RSVP's for Eli's first birthday party that we will be having Labor Day Weekend. I still can't get over Eli officially turns 1 on the 24th! It just seems like this year was a flash, completely caught me by surprise. I wish I could keep Eli little forever but at the same time it is awesome to watch him learn and figure things out.

2. Eli is finally showing signs of more teeth coming in! Poor kid had only two on the bottom this whole time. The only downside to all this - he gets his extra cranky moments and sleep has been disturbed these past few nights. It looks like more than just one will be coming in on the top, I hope for all this snotty mess and lack of sleep that all four teeth on top come through at one time.

3. We have a family reunion this weekend for my mom's side and the weather looks like it will cooperate and be really nice. Eli will get to meet lots of family he hasn't met yet and enjoy playing with his cousins now that he is running around and mobile. He loves walking around with any ball he can find in his hands, reminds me of my sister's son Bennett who is 2 1/2 , he is constantly holding some type of sport ball. I'm sure Ben will show Eli the ropes on all his ball handling skills this weekend.

4. Eli likes feeding paper to our dog. It is becoming a problem. Poor Cubbie thinks he is going to get food and as any garbage gut dog would do he still eats whatever is in Eli's hands! Even if it is a part of the Sunday morning paper of my House Beautiful magazine.

Here are some pictures of Eli from this week, the first one is also from an "Eli Hour" moment where he basically runs around the house crazy playing with every toy possible while our house looks trashed. Eli really focuses on getting every last drop of energy out of him before his bath time during this hour!

Eli found his nose

Well here you have it people. Adam found it completely hysterical to find Eli this Saturday morning with his finger full of syrup up his nose. I do have to say the boy looks pretty happy here! hahaha

On to some more flattering pictures of Eli-
We had some professional pictures taken by our friend Chrissy July 4th weekend that I have been meaning to put up. Here they are finally!





Meme', Poppi & Eli


One of my faves with the little guy :)








This one cracks me up! Looks like Eli is all ready for the runway here :)