8 weeks old already!

Emmanuel is 8 weeks old this week!  His week consisted of getting his first round of shots (harder for me than for him), going to a Baby Shower where he was the guest of honor, wearing an outfit to match his daddy, and helping his mom get in some much-needed strength training! 

Thanks to Lilia for this great red outfit and to Aunt Peggy for the socks that match.  

The women at my work (there is only one man on staff...no wait, two) threw us a fabulous post-baby Baby Shower!  There was great food and conversation and LOTS of love given to Emmanuel.  I think he was only in his seat for a total of 10 minutes because he was being passed around by all of the women.  It was so nice to have our HopeWell Cancer Support family shower Emmanuel with so much love.  Below (from left to right) is my boss, Carole--she is wonderful to me...a true gift from God.  She has been a social worker for several years and loves me like I'm family.  She teaches me so much about our profession and we have endless conversations about life.  I am so thankful to work with and for her.  In Carole I have found a friend for life.  Carleen is the Assistant Executive Director and she is the most organized person that I know.  We go to her with all of our problems and she fixes them almost instantaneously. Patti is our Program Assistant and she is FABULOUS!  She dresses like she's getting paid by Vogue.  We have a lot of fun at HopeWell.  Emmanuel is sleeping...and I'm pretty sure that Carleen has some special touch because he was knocked out and holding on for dear life.

Eli and Emmanuel dressed like twins the day of the shower.  One of my favorite past times is to coordinate our outfits on Sunday for church.  Now that Emmanuel is here...it's all about the boy and his daddy!  Lil' E was pretty exhausted in this picture...but we managed to get the squinty eye look instead of having his eyes completely closed.  
Ok--this is one of my FAVORITE outfits.  Thanks to my mom for her great sense of cuteness.  There are even teddy bear booties to match.  He's worn this one plenty of times, but I needed to get a picture of it before he outgrows it! 
Emmanuel weighed in a 5 pounds 9 ounces when he was born.  At his 8 week visit, he weighed a whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces!  In the evenings before he goes to sleep, he has a fussy period.  I have figured out that if I hold him while I do squats, lunges, and inner thigh work that he will drift right to sleep in my arms.  So, it works out for both of us.  He goes to sleep, and I get to exercise with (almost) 10 pounds of weight.  Below is a picture of him after one of our workouts.  

And...on the sleep note...Emmanuel slept for 4 hours straight last night!  Hooray--that is definitely a victory!  Until next week...

Daddy, Parties, and Friends

Lil' E has had a busy week with more visitors and parties!  He is definitely a social baby.  When he's not entertaining a crowd, he likes to spend time with his daddy.  (I tried to get up close so that you could see the curls in his hair--but I wasn't too successful.)  

When I was in college, my friend, Alicia and I would meet together once a week and cook for one another.  We alternated weeks, and it was so much fun.  My roomate, Erin-Ashley, and I did the same thing on a different night.  It was a great way to connect with my closest friends and to swap recipes, too.  So, this week I wanted to re-create that with some close friends here in Baltimore.  So, I had a dinner party of sorts with 3 girlfriends.  Has anyone ever seen that show "Girlfriends" on TV?  Well, I sort of thought that our time together was like that.  We broke bread together and talked about everything from babies to food to Hollywood to what we look for in a church home.  It was fun to spend time together.  We hope to have these Girlfriends' gatherings more often.  From left to right, the girls are Jamie (and her baby, Bella), me and Emmanuel (sleeping again), Brooke, and Shana.  Eli was a huge help grilling the meat for us so that we could talk and talk and talk!
Our dear friend, Cricket, came over to spend some time with Emmanuel.  And, it just so happened that she brought over Eli's favorite (lamb chops), my favorite vegetable (asparagus), fresh fruit, and a tomato and mozzarella salad.  Cricket's husband owns a bakery in DC (that serves desserts at the White House!) and she also brought over a cake (Eli's favorite) and a non-chocolate dessert just for me (Key Lime Pie).  It looks like all that pregnancy weight will come right back on!

Cricket has been an amazing mentor and sister in Christ to me since I have been in Baltimore.  She loves Jesus so much, and it was so great to have her pour out love to our Lil' E.  
We also worked on planting a garden this week.  It was a family project, but Eli did the majority of the work while I fed Emmanuel.  We have pink and white rose mallows (hibiscus), black-eyes susans (they are super happy flowers that look like miniature sunflowers), and purple asters.  I plan to take some pics of the progress and post a little later.  

Emmanuel looked at me with those huge, brown eyes and I couldn't resist snapping this picture!  He is wearing a onesie that one or some of the women made for him at my baby shower.  This one was created by Shellery Washington, and it says "Jeremiah 29:11."  It is one of my favorite verses.  

Emmanuel is sleeping a tad bit better during the night, but we've got a long way to go!  He's still needing to eat every 2 to 3 hours.  Keep those prayers coming! 

We go to the pediatrician for his 2 month shots on Tuesday--so we'll definitely give you an update.  

Pray for Mr. Eli--he is preaching this Sunday at church.  Emmanuel and I will probably go to both services...if I attend both, then I have a better chance for actually hearing the sermon. Surely Emmanuel won't need to eat during both of the sermons, right?  Who knows!  We'll find out on Sunday. 

Lil E's first playdate

Emmanuel had his first "playdate" yesterday with Isabella at Panera Bread.  Well, the reality is that Isabella's mom, Jamie, and I had lunch and we brought our little ones along...so it is more accurate to say that we had a "playdate"!  We also ran into my friend and neighbor, Emily, while she was on her lunch break.  As you can see from the picture (sorry that it is blurry), Lil' E slept for most of the date...

A sweet, old man came up to us as we were eating and gave Jamie and I each $5 for our babies. He said, "God bless you both--put the money in the baby's account."  His friend came up after and said that the man just loves babies and everytime he sees a baby with its mom, he gives them $5.  It was a real neat blessing.  

I'm going to go watch Michael Phelps swim for his 8th gold medal.  He's from Baltimore--so the people up here are going INSANE!  GO PHELPS--History in the making.  

Good night...

Welcome to our World!

It's been 6 weeks since Emmanuel came into our world.  We chose the name Emmanuel because it means "God with us."  We know that God has given us the responsibility to raise this child in a way that honors Him.  In order to do that, we must constantly remind ourselves that God is ever present and always "with us."  After extensive thought and prayer, his dad chose the nickname "Lil' E" (just joking...he chose that name because he likes it!)  

The past 6 weeks have brought lots and lots of visitors, a ton of meals from our church family, and more dirty diapers than I can count.  (I must also admit that I've been peed on more than I ever thought possible.)  And, the lack of sleep that one gets by pulling an all-nighter in college or grad school does not come close to comparing to the sleep deprivation that we are currently experiencing.

We've had some amazing help from visitors over the past 6 weeks.  

Carmen's mom came for the first 3 weeks after Emmanuel was born...

Then, we packed up our car and headed to DC (not the brightest idea with a 4 week old who eats every two hours) to visit with Carmen's brother who was coaching at the Washington Redskins Training Camp.  

Carmen's friend from high school, Julia, flew in for a weekend visit with Lil' E.  **When Julia and I were together changing Emmanuel in the bathroom, about 3 women asked which one of us was his mom! **  If you haven't noticed...he's a little lighter than me.  

Eli's mom visited Emmanuel when he was 5 weeks old.  

And now...it's Happy 6th Week Birthday to Lil' E!

Each day we are learning something new about him...and just when we think we know something about this little guy...it changes.  What we do know for a fact is that he has his daddy's lips...his mom's feet...and a whole lot of personality.  

Thanks for taking this journey with us and Lil' E.  I will try to update this blog either once or twice a week.  Please pray for sleep for us!