Nicaragua and Climbing

Marc was gone for a VERY long time last week. He went to Boston for a medical conference for four days and then went to Nicaragua with some other residents for another six days. I think that was probably the longest we have been apart since he did his away rotations in medical school several years ago. He had a great time but was really anxious to be home again by the end and we were ready to see him!

Marc, a few other residents, and one faculty physician went on this trip to visit a hospital in Matagalpa, Nicaragua in hopes of establishing a relationship for future residents to come and do some training. This hospital delivers around 30 babies a day so there would be lots of experience for someone who could stay a month or so.

The city was much bigger than Marc was expecting. Many of his pictures reminded me of the streets in Guatemala when we went a few years back.

Eli's latest milestone to reach has been climbing. He learned how to climb on the fireplace at my parents' house over the weekend and can now climb up on our furniture if we take the cushions out. He jumps up and down on the springs in this big chair in our living room and just giggles. :) He is so funny to watch. He is also talking all the time now. Marc couldn't believe how much more vocal he is now compared to before he left. You can't understand a lick of it but he sure talks to you like you can. I think moving up into the bigger class is probably encouraging his speech development.

Marc and I have planned a much needed date night tomorrow night! Last time we planned a date night Eli came down with fever and we had to cancel our babysitter last minute. We are looking forward to dinner at a new restaurant and seeing the new Robin Hood movie. It should be lots of fun!!! I plan on going to buy our favorite movie candy tomorrow to sneak in with us. :)

Graduation and Mother's Day

Marc has been out of town/out of the country for the past week so Eli and I went to Arkansas this past weekend for Stacey's graduation. He did really well on the way there but was pretty fussy on the way home. :( I think he is ready for his Daddy to be home again. We loved getting to see lots of our family this weekend and were so proud of Stacey for graduating with a Bachelor degree in Interior Design. Yay!!! Even though I didn't go to college at the U of A, it was a big part of our life growing up as little girls (wooo pigs!) and I know Stacey had a wonderful college experience.

This is Old Main that has two clock towers, one facing north and one south. The northern tower is taller which (as legend has it) is a reminder of the Union victory in the Civil War.

Every senior that has graduated since 1876 has their name on the "Senior Walk" and my sister's name will soon join them!

Marc took my camera on his trips but I hope to add some pictures of the weekend festivities up later this week when I snag some from my mom and sister.

It was a little sad celebrating Mother's day without Marc but he was sweet enough to think ahead and get a card for me and a certificate for a pedicure! He also got a card for me from Eli that was really cute. On Sunday morning Eli woke up around 7:30 so I pulled him up in bed with me from his pack n play and let him open the box Marc had wrapped. It was a sweet time I enjoyed with him that I will cherish forever. :) This is what my punkin looked like this time last year. My how fast the year has gone.

It is hard to believe that our second baby is steadily growing inside my belly! I feel flutters more often these days which makes the pregnancy more real. I am really anxious to find out what the sex is and after reading about the Intelligender test on this blog I decided to give it a try (especially since my mom offered to buy the $30 test at Walgreens!).

So after I opened my Mother's Day gift and cards I took the test. After reading many reviews I am HIGHLY skeptical about the accuracy of a test like this but decided it would be fun to see. My test results read "girl" based on the color so we will find out in a few weeks if it was right. It was fun to take and gave me something to think about for the next few weeks until our 20 week ultrasound! We are really excited for the next member of our family whether it is a girl or boy. :)

First Haircut

I had noticed in the past few weeks of pictures we had taken that Eli's hair was getting much longer, especially over his ears and in the back. So, this past weekend Marc and I decided it was time to give him a trim. We debated on going somewhere and having it trimmed vs. attempting it on our own at home. I have never cut anyone's hair before but I thought Eli would let me cut it better than someone he didn't know (I was wrong about that one!) so we decided to give it a go.

We moved his high chair into the bathroom and took some before pictures.

And then Eli made sure to tell me exactly how he wanted it cut... "not too much off the sides, mom."

"Are you SURE you have done this before mom?"

"Yes son, hundreds of times." :)

And here is the result! Not terrible considering it was my first time to ever cut hair, and I had a moving target the entire time (See my last post if you are wondering about the big red spot on his forehead :)).

It was a lot of work getting Eli to stay still so I am hoping this cut will last us several months. Ha!

Mr. Personality

We have had lots of fun the past two days enjoying the great weather and our time out as a family. Eli had a little too much fun today playing outside with one of his new toys. His hands slipped out from under him when he was trying to get up and he scratched his forehead on our sidewalk. Ouch! We just got his last head bruise to go away and now we have a new one to enjoy for the next week. :)

One of things Marc and I really enjoy doing is going out to eat and we usually will go out somewhere each weekend. Up to this point, Eli has done really well with our outings, even if they were a little past his bed time. Lately, we have been getting Eli food off the kids menu, but it has been hit or miss as to what he likes. Last night he really liked the warm rolls they served before dinner (our favorite part too!)

And he really liked the waitresses that would line dance to country songs.

But he did NOT like much else and certainly let us (and everyone around us) know. He hated the rest of his food and started throwing it on the ground along with his cup of milk. He literally had a meltdown in his chair. Thankfully, the restaurant was very loud so it was less embarrassing. :) Marc laughed and said Eli is becoming "Mr. Personality." He is learning what he likes and doesn't like and is having less patience with us when we don't understand him and get it wrong or if we don't allow what he wants. I think everything up to this point has been more about taking care of Eli but now we are getting to the tougher stuff... parenting Eli. :) I probably need to start reading a little faster through some of the parenting books we have. Ha!  We did at least make it through our dinner. We'll see how next time goes!