I will not eat ice cream for the next 2 weeks.

The donkey family had a sick week. Kevin was sick early in the week. Eli didn't seem to feel well after his shots on Tuesday. I caught something yesterday and feel like poo today. But we're all hanging in there.

Eli had 2 appointments this week. At his 4 month appointment at the pediatrician, we found out he weighs 14 lbs, 10oz and is 24 3/4 inches. It's hard to believe that teeny tiny little baby gained almost 9 pounds since birth. I looked at one of his preemie diapers yesterday and couldn't remember him being that little. He also had a liver sonogram on Thursday at Children's Hospital. We didn't get the formal test results, but the AVM appears to be even smaller! Praise God! Poor little guy also had to have blood work again. They will test for liver function, and we should get those results when we get the sonogram results.

Eli also is quite a gassy baby. He seems to be bothered by it at night especially. He'll wake up out of a sound sleep with what appears to be gas pains. I talked to the Nurse Line and they recommended cutting dairy from my diet for 2 weeks to see if that would make a difference. I also read online that I should try cutting peanut products. For anyone that knows me, dairy and peanut products make up about 50% of my diet and on some days, more than that. But for 2 weeks, I am going to cut them out to see if it makes a difference.

Today I woke up and went to get a bowl of cereal- oops, got to put that back. No milk for me. I decided to go the english muffin route...and like normal, pulled out the jar of peanutbutter- oops, got to put that back too. No glass of milk with the english muffin either. Midmorning I was hungry for a snack and opened the pantry- hmmm, peanutbutter granola bars (nope), dry roasted peanuts (nope), club crackers with...peanutbutter or maybe cheese...(man, this is hard).

On tomorrow's to-do list, get some non-dairy, non-peanutbutter products in this house!!!

pretending Dad's arm is corn on the cob

4 months old and what a big boy!

I am one handsome 4 month old!

I love eating my hands.

Our little boy is 4 months old today. My parents are down visiting this weekend, and my mom and I were cleaning out all of the 3 month clothes to make more room for his big boy clothes. I packed away all of his cute little baby outfits. His 6 months clothes are cute, too, but they make him look so grown up! The picture below is his first little preemie outift next to what he wears now. I can hardly remember him being that little!

Eli has learned so many things this past month. He smiles all the time now and giggles, too. When we "oooooh" and "aaaaah" at him, he does it back now! We're working on "eeeeee" so he can start to learn his name. He loves his activity mat and grabs all the hanging toys. He even spends time in his exersaucer and really seems to concentrate (even though his feet barely touch the bottom!) He looks at the pages as we read books instead of staring at anything other than the book! He has a lovey bear that he holds onto and drools all over. When you lean in to give him a kiss, he'll give you one back now (ok, he pretty much just licks you). His favorite game is sitting up. We grab his hands and he pulls in his legs, lifts his chin, and puckers his lips. We say "weeeeee" as we pull him up. He wants to play it over and over again. We call the game "Six Pack" since he's doing situps, but so far, we don't see any ab definition. :)

Physically he has changed a lot, too. His eyebrows are more pronounced and his lashes have grown. He's losing a lot of his hair too. His eyes are still blue right now. His little chicken legs are gone and have been replaced with thunder thighs! His 4 month pediatrician appointment and liver check are both this week. I can't wait to find out how much he weighs and how tall he is.

With Pop holding my bear


Looking silly wearing Pop's hat

Check out the drool

Daddy dressed Eli like a lumberjack

Just back from chopping wood

It's a Girl!

Welcome to the world Julia Marie Walsh!

7 lbs. 15 ozs.

20.5 inches

My dear friend Christine gave birth to little Julia Marie yesterday. I visited the new mommy, daddy, and baby today. She is the cutest thing- looks just like her daddy but has her mommy's nose. I can't wait for Eli to meet his newest friend!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Another birthday to celebrate! Last night we celebrated the birthday of Kevin's mom. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bill, Aunt Julie, and Mina all came over to our place for dinner.

Mina sang Happy Birthday to Grandma

Here I am just looking cute

3 seconds later a puddle of drool appeared on the cushion

Go Terps!

Daddy,

I just pooped on my outfit so Mommy said I could put on my Terps gear. She said you probably wouldn't mind if I pooped on this outfit either, since the team isn't doing all that great.

I promise I will still root for the Terps with you. I am even wearing Terps socks! Hurry home from work! I can't wait to see you.

Let's Go Maryland!!

Love, Eli

donkey

Mommy and Daddy got me a donkey. Go figure.

I love the donkey and am giving him a kiss.

Mom sounds silly when she says "Hee Haw"

Happy Birthday Pop!

My dad and brother were skiing in Utah on January 27th when my dad turned the big 6-0. Nathan and my dad met at our house Sunday and left early Monday morning. They came back last Saturday night and planned to spend the night. We would all be together to celebrate his birthday except my mom. So on Friday, Eli and I drove up to Milton (love that phase back schedule) and visited with Nan all afternoon. We spent the night up there and drove back to Maryland together on Saturday. We couldn't wait to surprise my dad.

Saturday night my dad and brother arrived. Boy was my dad surprised when he walked up the steps into my kitchen and the whole family was there waiting for him with the candles already lit on his cake. It was such a fun evening.

My mom had a great idea for one of his gifts- we purchased a wooden box with "Happy 60th Birthday", his initials, and "Thoughts and Memories" engraved on it. There was a place on the lid for a picture, and my mom found one of him when he was 8 or so wearing a cowboy hat. Hilarious. Wef illed the box with 60 memories we have of my dad and 60 things that we love or admire about him. (We contributed 20 of each.) He read each and every one, and we had some great laughs!

So, happy birthday Dad/Pop! We're so glad that we could all be together this weekend to celebrate.

Turning 60 in Park City, Utah