Elwell Boys: June 2009

6.30.2009

A change is a'comin!

In a few days, I'll be changing the blog address to www.elwellboys.blogspot.com. I'm giving everyone notice now so that if you try to log in and can't, you'll know where to go. If Elwell Boys is taken, I'll change it to www.theelwellboys.blogspot.com. Just so ya know. I may even do a little blog makeover at that time. See you there!

Sleeping Beauty

Isn't he so cute when he sleeps? I'm looking at this photo to remember what that looks like. He's had his days and nights mixed up the last two days and it's been tough. No sleep, lots of gassy cries. I know it will pass (no pun intended... okay, maybe a little), but it's really hard when you're right in the middle of it.

6.29.2009

Velamentous Insertion

Upon Ethan's arrival, it was discovered that I had velamentous inesertion and my placenta had detached, which caused quite a bit of blood loss. Here's an explaination of velamentous insertion:

Velamentous insertion of umbilical cord: An abnormal condition in which the umbilical cord does not insert into the placental mass but, instead, traverses the fetal membranes before it inserts into the umbilical cord. The main danger is vasa previa, a condition in which the blood vessels may be lodged between the fetus and the entrance to the birth canal. The unprotected vessels may rupture at any time during pregnancy, causing fetal hemorrhage and death.

My baby is an absolute miracle and I will thank God every day for him.

Checking in

Ethan is a dream child! He is so super sweet, loves to snuggle and only cries about gas. Which would make me cry too. He's having some major gas/acid problems today, but other than grunting and wiggling, he's not too bad. Aden has been doing well with Ethan too. Each day gets more and more "normal" to him. Even though he doesn't say it, I know this has been quite an adjustment for him and I couldn't be more proud of how mature he's handling it for a three-year-old. I am truly blessed with two of the most wonderful boys ever.

This one is movie night. And no, I don't wear make-up during maternity leave. Sorry about that.

Ethan helps me out by napping here in the kitchen while I do dishes.

My sweet little star.

6.24.2009

Aden sings to Ethan

Aden sang to Ethan a lot while he was in my tummy. While in the hospital, Aden decided to sing the ABC's to him and I was lucky to be holding my camera. He's singing very low, so it's hard to hear, but it was oh so sweet!

He's HERE!!!

Ethan was born Monday, June 22nd at 12:21pm weighing 7 lbs 1.2 ounces and was 20" long. He has a gorgeous head of blonde hair, blue eyes and is a snuggler. We are so proud! Here's a first glimpse of him. Iexpect to have many more photos available to see soon!

This one is of Ethan getting his hearing test done. It's like a little baby ipod!

Welcome to the family Ethan, we love you so much!

6.21.2009

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! We've had quite a week. Adam and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary this week. We've also been busy getting things prepped for Ethan. I went into pre-op Friday and had blood drawn and paperwork done and all that fun stuff. I am wearing my hospital bracelet all weekend in preparation for tomorrow. Saturday, I got my hair cut short. It was just getting long and heavy - too heavy for a Texas summer with two boys.

After that, Lola, Lindsey, mom and I met for a pedicure party. It was so nice and relaxing! I got a heart on each big toe, one for each of my boys. Then it was off to lunch for Father's Day (early)! Here's Aden, paying the bill for his daddy's lunch...

After a quick nap, we went to the store to pick out his daddy's Father's Day present. He even got to pay for that at the register. He was pretty big stuff. Then we swung by the baby resale shop where I found a Bumbo seat, still in the box! It was nearly half the price of a brand new one too. We brought it home and Aden wanted to play with it, so I let him...

Today, Adam is golfing. Aden and I had pizza for lunch at the Movie Tavern while watching the movie "Up." Then after a quick nap, we plan to have ice cream and head over to Toy-R-Us for a bit. We're having a "buddy day" on his very last day to be an only child. Tomorrow, Ethan will be with us. It will be a very big day!

6.15.2009

Aden's Third Birthday

We celebrated Aden's THIRD BIRTHDAY just a little bit early so that he would be sure to get a full day of attention just for him. We had a blast! We played games and watched cartoons in the morning, then had lunch and Aden took a nap while I wrapped his presents. When he woke up, Grandma and Channing were there and the couch was full of gifts! He was a little groggy when he first woke up...

But then he woke up and was all about opening presents.

He really, REALLY wanted these Shake-N-Go cars and was so excited to open them...(he got the blue one and the black one)...

We LOVE shoes!!

His "computer." This thing is awesome to take in the car. It teaches him letter recognition and letter sounds. It also has a couple alphabet games which we haven't played around with yet.

His favorite present - a Shake-N-Go race track. He has worn us out playing with this. Thanks Grandma!

At the Rainforest Cafe...

Aden chose an elephant at Build-A-Bear...

He got to kiss a heart and put it inside the elephant, then hug him tight...

Look at me at 37 weeks!

Then we scrubbed our new friend...

Aden wasn't a big fan of this talking tree. He watched it for a minute, then said, "Walk away mommy."

Certifying his new friend, who he named "Elephant."

Aden's favorite part of the restaurant was this fog pond with a moving alligator. All our spare change is in that pond.

We had some time to kill, so we headed over to the Carter's Outlet. Aden loves to shop. Here he is picking out a few things for Ethan...

All aboard!!

This lady saw Aden's shirt and played "Happy Birthday" and "Twinkle Twinkle" just for him. Aden really loved watching her play the harp. I don't think he's ever seen anything quite like that before.

Walking with Lola over to the giant elephants who moved and made animal noises. They were pretty cool!

PIZZA!

Aden stared this lady down until she came over to him.

He chose a caterpillar in orange and yellow.

Mommy and her birthday boy!

(Sorry, no pictures of Adam because all of my attempts to get a picture of him are useless. He just makes stupid faces. Perhaps the boys will look back on this blog and wonder if daddy ever came to any of these events, ha ha).

The crowning moment... The volcano cake!! He had been anticipating this cake for weeks, asking about it everyday and telling anyone who would listen that he was going to have a volcano cake. AND HERE IT IS!!!

Happiest boy EVER.

Digging in.....

Then daddy swooped in and took a big chunk off the side...

Which completely ruined Aden's moment and broke his little heart.

He did eventually stop crying and went back to eating his cake, but it wasn't with enthusiasm.

All in all though, he had a great time! We went home and played with the track a little and then he slept soundly. Happy third birthday sweet boy! I love you so much!

6.10.2009

Channing playing the violin

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had the opportunity to watch Channing play a little at an art gallery on Sunday. My memory card was able to catch all but about the last three minutes of a song.

6.08.2009

Hot Fun in the Summertime....

Well.... it's HOT. We've been trying to cool off by splashing in the pool. Aden especially loves the part where he gets to fill it up with the hose. Here are some summer photos of my little fish.