Rain Boots, Wife Beaters, and Fishing poles.

Eli in front of our hydrangea bush at our house last week. I love this picture that Meme' took of him

Overall the transition from the crib to the bed turned out great this past week. Eli has not gotten out of the bed yet during the night so he understands when it is "night night" time that he has to stay in the bed and go to sleep. Quite honestly, I am shocked he hasn't come into our room even once in the night yet! And he has been super cute in the evening after we read him books and put him to bed he moves over and tells me "C'mon Momma....go sleepies" and he pats his pillow for me to get into bed with him. It takes ALL my strength not to crawl into his bed he is so dam cute. I just really don't want to start a bad habit like that. If it is the weekend and we are cuddlying in the morning that is one thing but bedtime has to be a working system!
But....and there is always a but....

Nap time has not been so easy. Now granted Eli has not been a great napper anyways but this past Saturday's nap time went like this -

Adam read him a story put him in bed and went downstairs to do some work in the basement. I hadn't quite realized what was going on at first but I heard a bunch of nonsense upstairs so I start walking upstairs and there goes Eli in a rush to close his bedroom door on me! I open the door and find him in his rain boots(which he loves and is obsessed with)on backwards, his fisherman hat, a diaper, a white wife beater and holding onto his play fishing pole. Totally redneck & hysterical looking! I ask Eli if that is what he should be doing right now and he doesn't say anything but smile and then I tell him it is time for a nap and he needs to stay in bed and I get "Noooooooooo Momma Play". Throughout all this I notice the room is a WRECK. All the toys are everywhere and I realized at that moment that I will no longer have a cute little boys room organized!

I got Eli back in bed without him crying too much and then another 10 minutes goes by and I hear something fall, I go back upstairs and it was one of the 20 books that he had up on his bed with him that fell off. He was lying on his back pointing at the book in his hand naming things in the picture and pretending to read to himself, I didn't say anything and figured this was the best I was going to get out of him for "naptime" that day.

So overall the transition has been quite funny in some ways but it has worked out a-ok! Eli even pointed to the crib and told me it was "That Bo Bo's now" so he doesn't want anything to do with the crib which is nice.

Soon Bo will be moving out of the bassinet in our bedroom & into the crib. The room will not longer be Eli's alone but I don't think Eli will mind, he truly shows nothing but love and affection to Bo and it melts our heart!

The first week back & the big boy bed!

Eli loving his big boy bed!

Well the first week back to work came and went. I survived. Thankfully.

Each day will get better once I get my routine down in the AM. Right now it is a bit tricky with nursing a baby and all, I am trying to keep up my commitment to getting Bo breast fed until he is 6 months old as I did with Eli but I have to admit the 2nd time is harder. The actual nursing thing isn't hard, it's the pumping nonsense I can deal with without! The cleaning of all the bottles/pumping gear and interruption to my work day 3 times a day is just out of control. I am just really trying to focus on one week at a time. Nursing a baby has it's benefits (obviously the health benefits) but when the baby is with you it is so much easier - no bottles to clean or pumping gear! I love that part of it.

Tonight was Eli's first night in a "big boy" bed! He has been up in his room for over a 1/2 hr and I haven't heard much going on in there. I am crossing my fingers he is fine but I don't dare open up that door to actually check on him until another 1/2 hr goes by. This is when I so wish our monitor had an LCD screen or we owned a nanny cam! haha

Eli was so excited when he came out from bath time with Adam and I had his bed all set up and made it was adorable. He was so happy to see his pillow pet on the bed and his teddy, he instantly got up and on the bed. We have been working on getting him excited for it for about a week or so and I guess it worked! He actually pointed to the crib and said "that's Bo Bo's". I will report back on how he makes it through his first night!
Here is a pic of Adam reading Eli's favorite book when Adam does night time with Eli - "Just Me and My Dad"



On another note, I have poison ivy which I have had for over a week with no signs of significant relief or improving. I went to the doctors a few nights a go for it but they recommended I stay away from steroid creams because I am nursing. They told me to try to tough it out with just calamine lotion for as long as I could. Well I have reached that level as of yesterday. Another cramp to this is that I have been unable to workout because both of my inner thighs are COVERED with it. I have felt so lazy lately, I have to walk around my house in my damn underwear to be comfortable it is so bad! This first week back at work I have had to wear dresses everyday because I can't put on capri's or pants, the pain of having anything touching it makes me cringe.

I am pretty sure Mr. Adam over here gave me this lovely poison ivy. He got it while transplanting a tree on our property and if the oils were anywhere on his clothing or anything he touched that is how I got it. I have never had it before in my life and the way I am reacting to it now seems like it would be consistent with how sensitve my skin has been post baby. I have read up on this a bit and since your hormones are all out of whack it isn't unheard of to have skin reactions easily. I am going to the pharmacy to fill the steroid cream perscription they wrote me as my last line of defense. I feel like I have no other option. I have toughed it out on the calamine lotion route and I am not improving it seems. I have no idea if this will mess with my milk supply and other side effects to the baby so I am reading up on that now. I really hope I don't have to pump and dump!

Our weekend is pretty laid back over here, we hope to get in some pool time at Adam's parents and go to the Farmington River on Sunday for a bit since the weekend is going to be really nice it seems. We also have a get together for Adam's grandmother's birthday so we are staying local basically. I really like not having to drive anywhere and just relaxing nearby :)

My flower window box!

So here it is....my pride & joy of the gardening world! I am still in awe that this window box has lasted over a month now and is still thriving. I have always wanted a window flowing box on the way into our house through the mudroom and this year I finally got around to doing it.


This is the view from our breakfast nook onto the deck, this picture was taken 2 weeks ago, now the flowers are doing so well they are really in full bloom! I am so happy I stepped out of my comfort zone (or shall I say "lazy zone") and did a few flower pots this year that I planted myself. I usually just buy a few flower pots because it is easier and then they die on me. I noticed this go around when you do the planting yourself you take more pride in it & you want to maintain it nicely because you put the time in to do it yourself. I also noticed we spend so much more time outside eating dinners enjoying the deck & yard more!

My last couple days of maternity leave...

My little nugget. I still can't beleive it has been 3 months since this picture was taken.

Well it has happened, my maternity leave is almost up and I can't even express how sad I feel about it. I enjoyed every moment at home with Boden and the extra time I had with Eli. I just hate having to go back to reality. This July 4th weekend is the first time I ever dreaded this holiday. On Tuesday I will have to get my big girl pants on and figure out how I am going to get out of the house in the morning with 2 kiddies in tow and dropped off to daycare by 8am. This is a complete shift in my schedule because I used to go into work much later but now I can't. I need to be in the door ready to nurse Bo at a decent hour after work. So all things are shifting, my morning routine will be completely new, in fact I am doing a dry run tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow morning will be very different in many ways. My mornings as I have known it consisted of me getting up and taking care of Bo and Eli but with extra hands around. Adam's dad has been so helpful and coming over in the morning to bring Eli to daycare. This enabled me not to have to juggle nursing Bo and getting him all packed up in the car for a 5 min ride to daycare.

John - Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I can't say it enough :) Also, Eli loved the routine of seeing his Poppi every morning, he got so excited to see him walk in the door every morning, it was so cute! Poppi often helped Eli eat breakfast, brushed his teeth, and put on his shoes many mornings too which was fabulous!

So tomorrow will be a shock to my system mainly to see how the hell I am going to get myself showered and presentable for "work standards". Not to mention the circus act of getting Eli fed, dressed, teeth brushed, diaper changed, etc...and then Bo changed, nursed, and changed again then everyone and everything that is needed packed up in the van to go. My game plan is to get myself physically ready while I have Adam home, he has to leave early by 7:00-7:15am so I need to get myself in that shower by 6:00 the latest and get myself ready first, that is how I am going to try this out. I am crossing my fingers Bo continues to sleep as well as he has for the past week and a half (not getting up at all all night long- he nurses at 11:30pm and then sleeps up until 6:30am!) and things will all work itself out.

So after tomorrow's dry run and a good cry I am going to try to enjoy this holiday weekend as much as possible. We are celebrating Adam's brother's birthday on Sunday poolside at Adam's parents house which will be nice and picnicing on Monday the 4th. I am going to need allot of tissues this weekend and some wine to get over my sadness :(

Here is my little guy from yesterday he is getting so strong. He rolls to his sides now! Just when I was perfecting Bo's mohawk he had to start balding! hahahah...I hope it comes back soon, he was looking so cool with his mohawk! Now I am off to finish up some things I was hoping to get done by the end of this weekend. I have been painting our mudroom which has been a huge task, I also need to make progress on the baby books (yes I said books...I am slacking on Eli's too...), and I hope to get some meals put in the freezer again. It's a long list for sure but some of this will get completed by the end of this weekend!

What we have been up to....

Well when I look back on the past week and a half I noticed we were quite busy!
We had a 30th party for our friend, my cousins baby shower in Long Island,NY and this past Sunday was Father's Day! On top of all that I have been trying to stock pile the freezer with meals for when I return to work, plant some flowers in pots for a splash of color around here, keep up with working out, organizing the boys closets, painting our mudroom etc...Oh yeah and did I mention Adam is SUPER busy so lots of nights I am doing the whole circus ring at our house solo? LOL....

Here is a picture from Father's day of Adam, his Dad , and Eli together, Bo was in the car ready to go home and a bit cranky so he didn't make the cut for the picture!


Eli & Bo are very lucky to have both Adam and Poppi to look up to, both these men are wonderful father's :)

I hope Adam enjoyed his Father's Day this year. I think he did :) he got an extra hour of sleeping in, I made him a special breakfast that we ate on the back deck enjoying the flowers & weather (what a nice start to the day!) and we spent time poolside at his parent's house. Adam's mom made an awesome surf & turf dinner and we enjoyed each other's company. At some point when Adam was holding Bo at his parent's house he found Bo giving him the middle finger! HA!! this picture is a classic.

Here is our little Eli being such a good big brother. He trys to help me out if Bo is getting cranky. He will put the music on for him and dances or places (more like shoves) the pacifier in Bo's mouth to keep him happy! I often find Eli putting the blanket on Bo or trying to console him when I am in a pinch. It is the sweetest thing :)

Below is Eli enjoying my Aunt Lydia's ducks from her garden. He loved them so much she let him keep a little one, he held it the whole time home in the car ride! So cute....

My flower pots! I don't have much of a green thumb so this is very exciting to me that they have taken off and are alive still. I also did a flower window box for the front of our house. I haven't gotten a good pic of it yet it is rainy and gloomy here. I will post it next time.

Other than all that going on I am keeping up on the running front and actually making it to the gym a few times a week. Now that I am getting in the swing of things of course in a few weeks my life will be turned upside down! I will just have to manage it one step at a time....

Take that Doc !

Next time you tell me to get to work you better think twice Doc....I'm working on 1 arm push-ups now!

hahahah....

Bo's 2 month appointment

Eli showing his brotherly love! He is so good around Bo we are very impressed so far with how things all worked out with them being so close in age.

So....I got so tied up writing my last post about vacation that I forgot to mention Bo's 2 month appt. at the pediatrician when we got back!

Bo is growing very nicely, tall and skinny like his brother! 90th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight (which remained consistent from the 1 month visit). Bo weighs 10 pounds 15 ounces as of a week ago, that means he has almost packed on 4 pounds since birth! He is also growing very long, at his 1 month visit he had grown 2 inches in length and this past visit another 1 3/4 inches! If he keeps up growing so tall he will be out of his infant carrier much sooner than Eli was and that is not cool with me right now! I am trying to keep him in that as long as possible, Eli grew out of it right around 5 - 5 1/2 month mark due to being so tall, not the weight. It looks like Bo could be even sooner than that.

The only comment the doctors gave me was that Bo needs better neck strength. I have to be more diligent with tummy time. Since we left the docs last week I have been very good about it, even though Bo screams and hates it! This is just how Eli was, he couldn't stand tummy time! I just think it is more obvious with Bo because he sleeps allot more than Eli ever slept so I need to make sure when he is alert and awake I take advantage of that time and get him on his tummy more.

Overall, Eli's growth curve was exactly the same as Bo's is currently for so long, it should be interesting to see how Bo grows over time. I often wonder if he and Eli will look exactly the same over time, Bo has so many pictures and moments where he looks just like Eli did at that age. The only difference is that Bo's complexion is naturally darker (daycare called him the "resort baby" when they met him... hahaha!) and he had allot more hair than Eli did when born. Bo is loosing his hair now as many babies do at this age, I keep finding it all rubbed off in his bassinet and baby chair. I am getting sad about it, I loved his natural mohawk!

Here are some pics of just Boden. We realized that we never got pics from bath time with Bo for the first 2 months of his life (I know how terrible are we! We must have had at least 50 pics of Eli in the tub by now...I feel so bad). I made a concerned effort to get the pictures of bath time this week, I also have to get on top of his baby book. I haven't had a chance to get to it yet, I just need more time. Don't we all? I am committing the next rainy day to "Baby Boden's Baby Book Day".

Uncle Tommy and Bo

Bath time!

Looking all cozy :)

I am also realizing how fast my maternity leave has slipped through my hands. I keep getting sad thinking in less than a month I will be going back to work. It is just so hard to leave this little guy, he lets me snuggle with him and he has just been a dream baby! I know it is bittersweet this time around as well because this is more than likely my last maternity leave I will ever have. I say more than likely because you truly never know what will happen in the future but 2 kids is just about all Adam and I can really afford to put through daycare and survive! hahahha....

I cherish every moment I have with Bo at home and being able to bond with him during this time had been wonderful. I was concerned at first with keeping Eli in daycare but I am happy Adam and I decided to do that. Eli loves his daycare and I enjoy having the same bonding time I have with Bo that I had with Eli. Plus, it would be really hard to continue breast feeding if I had to entertain Eli during the day and take care of Bo at the same time since they are so close in age. I know it can be done but I enjoy the time I have with Bo one on one :)

Don't you just want to kiss this face?! I know I am biased but I can't help but love this little guy!

East Coast Tour 2011

Well hello there everyone!

We are back from our family vacation to the Outer Banks North Carolina! I have decided to name our family vacation to the "East Coast Tour of 2011". Overall it was a great trip, perfect weather and we had lots of fun, there was the good, the bad and the ugly as all road trips usually come with. Here is a quick run down:

1. Eli threw up in the car and we were not even out of CT yet. He tried to tell us his stomach hurt but I thought he meant the belt was too tight in his car seat so I adjusted it. We felt so terrible for him.
2. We arrived to our hotel at our 1/2 point for our trip in Annapolis, MD. We planned a stop there to visit with Adam's friend Jeff and his wife Sherri who live close by. Eli spiked a fever shortly after arriving at our hotel but thankfully he responded very well to Motrin and we still were able to go out for dinner.

3. We arrived pretty late to our house in OBX (Outer Banks) on Saturday since Friday was so shaken up by Eli getting sick in the car and when we arrived to the hotel. We made the decision to sleep in and leave as rested as possible for Eli's sake. We also decided to take in the city for a bit before getting on the road to OBX and it was great. Annapolis is just beautiful! I am so happy we took in the city I would go back in a heartbeat.




4. Sunday we enjoyed OBX!! It was PERFECT weather, the beach was gorgeous and having coffee in the morning on the deck watching the sun come up over the ocean was just what we needed. We also saw dolphins jumping! This happened lots of mornings, it was so cool to see. By Sunday evening we decided Eli's fever we were managing with Motrin was really starting to worry us so we called the Pediatrician back at home and they recommended we take him in to get looked at. We had to visit the OBX hospital because it was Sunday evening and the walk in clinics were closed. Luckily we were in & out, the hospital was great and they put Eli on a different antibiotic for his ear infection and pink eye he got prior to leaving CT. He started to respond much better to this antibiotic and in another day his fever left him and we were vacationing with a peace of mind.
You can tell below Eli's eyes look like he is sick but he was a trooper and trucked along and still had fun until his new antibiotic kicked in.




Here is Eli with his cousin Cole on the boat, these two crack me up!




5. Some other quick highlights to the week while in OBX - we took Eli & Bo to the Aquarium, Eli really liked the animals and the exhibits! He is really into fish and sharks so the large tanks where just perfect for him. Adam took Eli crabbing with his family, I watched and took pictures but it was fun! Eli had his first official ice cream cone which fell on the ground and caused a crying festival...don't they all? LOL....We went on a Pontoon boat for a few hours it was fun to be out on the water on a boat. We left Bo back at the house with family and I am glad we did that, Eli needed a little hand holding while on the boat but he really liked it! We got out for a few drinks with his cousin Matt & his wife Val which was nice. And pretty much everything else we did was beach, pool and be entertained by all the cousins playing together. I have to admit going on vacation with small kids is allot of work but it was worth it in every way, I could watch all the cousins playing together all day long. They were just too cute together!

Aunt Eva & Cousin Abbey showing Eli how to kick in the pool, Aunt Eva was so good with Eli in the pool, he was so relaxed around her!

6. Baby Bo is just a dream baby to travel with and he was just cool as a cucumber! He would nap where ever you put him and played on his gym mat. Other than being fed & changed you would never know he was there sometimes. Everyone commented how lucky we were to have such an easy baby, we are very thankful for that! Love you Bo!
Here's the little cutie on the beach-



7. We left the house on Sat. the 27th by 10am and made our way to Chesapeake, VA for just before 12 noon to visit Adam's Uncle Bill. Chesapeake is just outside Virgina Beach, it was so nice to see his Uncle and his wife Janet and visit their new home they moved into last Fall. While visiting them for the day Adam took a nap to gear up for the ride back home, and I went to "Homearama" in Virginia Beach. Homearama is an event where beautiful new homes are on display and you walk through them, they are just so perfectly appointed and grand, boy it is fun to dream! It is also a contest to vote on best features such as design, landscaping and things of that nature. After going to "Homearama" we got back on the road by 7:30pm.

8. We stopped around 1 am and slept in a hotel off exit 1 on the NJ turnpike. It was nice & clean. In the morning we only had a 3 1/2 hour drive left. On our way through NYC crossing over the GW Bridge I mentioned how I would love to see my Grandparents with the kids since we were right near their home. Adam offered to stop over their house for a quick visit and I was thrilled :). I don't get to see my grandparents that often and they hadn't even met Bo yet! I called them up and of course they were home, we were at their house within 20 minutes after we got over the GW Bridge, there was no traffic which was perfect! They were so happy to see us all it was worth the slight detour for sure!



9. We got home by 6pm on Sunday evening and we are back to normal life. Our house looked so clean walking into it but within minutes of unpacking the minivan it was trashed!

We are still unpacking, I truly hate unpacking. It takes me forever. Not to mention the laundry that comes along with it! UGH.

Memorial Day was quite on our end, we were unwinding from vacation and we had to get groceries to fill up our fridge. No picnics or parades this year for us but that's ok we had a full week of family fun :)

Pampering, Sushi, Family Pics, and Vacation Planning!

Well this past week seemed to fly right by! This weekend was absolutely lovely, Saturday my mom came up and we celebrated Mother's day early together. It was a great start to the day with Mani's & Pedi's together and then a fabulous sushi lunch! After our sushi lunch we all got ready for our family pictures. My friend Chrissy who photographed Bo just a few weeks ago came back to do family photo's for us this past Saturday. The pictures captured so much and many of them are so precious to me. It was the most perfect mother's day treat when I woke up to a quite house and got to enjoy my HOT cup of coffee while logging into my email to find these lovely sneak peak pictures she sent over to me.

We have done family photo's last summer when Eli was 10 1/2 months with Adam's family but I never got some with my mom done professionally. This year I thought this would be a great present to my mother and I am so happy it all came together! Eli had a meltdown in the beginning because he refused to nap like usual....As a result we never got the portrait I really set out to get in my mind but we were able to work around his cranky behavior with the help of the red radio flyer wagon. Once we got the wagon out he turned the corner, thankfully! It's funny how sometimes you have your mind set on something and what you get in return is even better. At least that's my opinion of the pictures I have seen so far that Chrissy sent over to us. I am so excited to see the whole CD when she has it done!


Speaking of Mother's day morning...I woke up to Bo at his usual time to nurse (6am) did that was done by 6:30 put him back in the bassinet and slipped out of bed and tip toed downstairs directly to the Keurig coffee maker. I figured it would be awesome to get to enjoy a hot cup of coffee with the house all quite. Well my plan worked! Eli who usually is WIDE awake by 6:30 stayed in his room quite and sleeping until 7:30am. Adam slept in until Eli woke up and shortly after Bo woke up. Now I know in many households children sleep regularly until at least 7am but this was a real present from Eli to me! It's the little things in life! It was so nice to enjoy sometime to myself in the morning without everyone around me being so needy as usual!! What's funny is Eli made up for it this morning, he was up at 5:25am....this little guy is something else!

For Mother's Day, Adam surprised me with a lovely gold necklace that has a gold mother & child pendant on it, it is such a beautiful gift, I adore it so much :). We also went to an awesome brunch in the late afternoon at Elizabeth Park's Pond House Cafe in West Hartford. Elizabeth Park has gorgeous flowers blooming all over and is home to a beautiful rose garden. Adam's mom truley enjoyed the brunch and spending time with her grandchildren as well. It was perfect!

Our vacation is coming up so soon and we are all getting excited over here! I can't wait to be on a beach and enjoy some sun as a family. We will be going to the Outer Banks, North Carolina, it will be quite the road trip for us. Here is a picture of the house we will be staying at.


I have just 2 weeks to get our things all squared away that we will need for the vacation, so I have been done some shopping recently, mostly all online. It is tough to get out with Bo right now due to nursing demands. My options daily are to get my exercise or go shopping. I really can't get both done in a day so I choose to online shop if I need to so that I don't have to give up my afternoon walk with him. I live for those walks!

We have needed a GPS for our cars for a long time now and after researching online I finally ordered one. I also ordered portable DVD players for the minivan, they are really cool, they strap right on the headrest the picture quality looks great and you can watch the same DVD on both sets or different DVD's. Of course Bo won't be needing to watch a DVD this soon so I get to benefit from the extra DVD screen right now! The other thing I bought is a KidCo PeePod portable crib for Bo. We really didn't want to take 2 pack n' plays with us on vacation so this solved the problem. We set it up this morning and it seems like it will work out perfectly for Bo to sleep in. It pops up and folds down so fast, so lightweight too!

Today's task for me is to research some hotels for our route back home. On our way down to N.C. we are going to stay with a friend who lives just outside of Baltimore, MD which is a great half way mark for the trip. We can't wait to get to N.C. the house is right on the beach and has quite the view.
There is also an inground pool, kiddie pool, hot tub, pool table in the rec room and lots of other amenities! The house even has an elevator in it. We will be with Adam's family and Eli should have a blast playing with his cousins too!

March of Dimes Walk

Eli, Cammy, & Jack before the walk, these kiddies crack me up with their serious faces! hahaha... These 3 really have no choice in being friends or not, all of their mommies are besties from college! Eli is 20 months, Cammy is 18 months, and Jack is 2 yrs old here.


This past Sunday we participated in the March of Dimes walk and the weather was just perfect! The March of Dimes is an organization that helps moms have full-term pregnancies and researches the problems that threaten the health of babies. They are an organization I have supported in the past and I am happy to say I have. I never thought I would know truly just how much they help families until the day one of my best friends from college delivered her very pre-mature son. Sylvia and I were pregnant together when I was pregnant with Eli & we were due 1 day apart with our boys. It was so nice to be pregnant together and go through things at the same time. Right around 24 weeks Sylvia gave birth to her son Jackson which was so unexpected and I am happy to report he is a very healthy and happy 2 year old today! It was a long road for them but Jack is the toughest little guy around, he survived so much and today you would never know he was born well under 2 pounds. It is just amazing how much of a miracle he was for Sylvia & her husband. Sylvia coordinated a team in honor of Jack for the walk this weekend, we were all on "Team Jackson" & how fitting is it that the walk was on Jackson's actual 2nd birthday!

After the walk Sylvia had us all over her house for a cookout & birthday party in honor of Jack. Eli and Jack had a fun time playing together outdoors and it was just a perfect day and a perfect cause to support!
Eli & Jack having a great time playing outside!

1 month old & the bird feeder

April 26th marked my 1 month milestone! Check out how long I am!

At Bo's 1 month appointment this week we learned he now weighs 8 pounds 10 oz. and he is 22 3/4inches long! That is significant growth in just 2 weeks since our last visit. The doctor says Bo looks great, he is in the 75th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. I knew Bo was growing quite a bit when the newborn size clothes all of a sudden looked a bit smaller on him the past few days.

Here's a funny picture of Bo below, he looks so tan here!



Adam came home from work the other day with a bird feeder for him and Eli to set up in the backyard. Any time Eli can be outdoors with Daddy he is thrilled and the bird feeder was very exciting for Eli.

Also, Eli got to play on the tractor and go for a ride with Daddy on it. It is always so much fun to watch Eli outdoors, he truly LOVES trucks and tractors. I should mention - there were lots of tears when we had to get him inside the house. He never wants to come in!

The made in the USA sticker came off the bird feeder but Eli was made in the USA too so why not!? haha

"Ultimate Mom Status"

We took the plunge! Here is our "new to us" 06' Honda Odyssey minivan. I had to quote my dear friend Sylvia with the title of this post. When I sent her a picture of our minivan she texted back "you have reached ultimate mom status" which cracked me up! But I still think there is one more step to the reaching ultimate mom status credentials - president of the PTO!


She's a real beaut Clark!!

After a very long time of me twisting Adam's arm and the help from a friend who has a minivan and loves it we finally took the plunge Saturday. I am happy to report I LOVE IT and I am beginning to think Adam does too! The van drives so nicely but the best thing about it is the storage and being able to walk about the vehicle if need be. The third row is so comfy, we have used it to change diapers & I even nursed Bo a few times back there (of course not while the car is moving because that would just be unsafe). We picked up our mini yesterday and had our first long trip in it the same day. We went to my mom's and visited my best friend Sarah from home while she was in CT. I don't get to see Sarah much she lives in Burlington VT now but it was so great to see her and her husband John and they met Bo for the first time!

Ok back to the van - it is going to be a lifesaver for our vacation we are going on in a month from now and future family vacations. We have a 14 hour road trip planned to the Outer Banks, North Carolina in a month. We are going to take plenty of stops and sleep at a friends house just outside of Baltimore to break up the ride too. The mini is just so convenient and spacious and appropriate for our lives with 2 little ones right now. I know it isn't the coolest vehicle out on the road but our cool days are over right now!
We still have my car which is a great sedan (only 3 years old-a Sonata) and that will go to Adam, so even Adam gets an upgrade here!

On another note - I promised more pics of Bo from his photo shoot, here is the link to my friend's blog who did the pictures of the little guy.

http://lilycamelia.blogspot.com/2011/04/baby-boden.html

I have to say the talented Chrissy Racho does some great work, she captured our little guy so nicely for us! I can't wait to see how our family pics we plan on taking on mother's day weekend turn out now :)

Hope you all had a fabulous Easter weekend and enjoyed your time with your family. I am going to be eating Eli's candy he got for weeks I am sure. I have such a hard time with candy and chocolates! Here are some pics of Eli searching for eggs at Meme' & Poppi's house today!

Eli playing with his new toy from the Easter Bunny! It is a magnetic fishing set, Eli is learning how to get the worm in the fish's mouth with the help from Daddy!

Little bit of this....Little bit of that

Baby Boden - 2 weeks and 4 days old here, Just a little peek at Bo's first professional pictures, more to come!

Bo had visitors! Aunt Sue & Aunt Brenda came out to see the little nugget!

And we did some visiting of our own....a trip to Aunt Lydia's house this past weekend, Eli loved playing with the mini guitar she had at her home, Daddy & Aunt Lydia showed Eli how to play the guitar!

Really is there any other way to color effectively? Apparently shoving a cookie in your mouth while coloring is the only way it should be done! My little man before daycare today. Eli is just shy of 20 months old here, I still can't get over how big he has gotten! Everyday the things that come out of Eli crack us up, it is truly amazing just how much he is learning day to day. Even though Eli doesn't love it when I smoother him with kisses and hugs I can't help it, look at him in this track suit! I couldn't help myself this morning!

Hitting the pavement & Bo's 2 week appt.

Awe...brotherly love :) Eli is growing to be very gentle with Bo thankfully! When Eli is asked "what does Bo say?" Eli responds with "Wa!" hahahah...and here is Bo showing you how it's done!

Well I did it! I got out there on Saturday and went for my first light run post delivery and I was pleasantly surprised how well I felt. At first I went out with the mindset that I would go as far as I felt comfortable and walk when I need to. As soon as I saw just how gorgeous the weather was on Saturday I was jumping out of my skin to hit the pavement! I held a very steady pace (much slower than usual obviously) but I felt fabulous. I ran my whole route which is just over a 5K and I was really impressed I didn't feel the need to stop. A very random but funny thing happened while I was out on this run - I passed my labor & delivery nurse I had with Boden! She was walking with her daughter and husband! She took a double take when I said Hi to her like she was trying to place my face type of thing. Then I passed her again at the tail end of my run and she then realized who I was! LOL....she clearly gave me the look like "you are a nut" because it was only 2 weeks ago where she helped deliver Boden! hahaha...

So overall the first was run was huge success, I stretched quite a bit afterwards and the next day I took off from running. I think because I had to limit my activity so much in the last 3 1/2 months & all my circulation issues I had during this pregnancy, this run felt extra enjoyable. I have to find a way to fit running into my schedule during the week but for right now I am just excited to be able to get out there on the weekends and speed walk with Bo in the stroller during the week. Although my runs won't be very long in duration for a while due to nursing demands I am enjoying that one hour time frame I can squeeze in on Saturdays & Sundays!

On another note - Today was Bo's 2 week appt. and he checked out great. No vaccinations today just a weight check really. Bo weighed in at 7 pounds 4 ounces so he is growing nicely. He came home from the hospital at 6 lbs. 7 oz. so they like to see the baby weigh in at their birth weight by the 2 week appt. Bo weighed in 4 ounces over his birth weight today so all is well! He is nursing very nicely and sleeping really well for a newborn too. During the day he naps quite a bit I end up waking him to eat lots of times but I am not complaining!

So the stat's from today's appt. are as follows:
80% for height
25% for weight
25% for his head circumfrance

Overall very similar to Eli's growth pattern so far!

Here's the little nugget relaxing in his swing