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.