Nice Weekend After a Stressful Week

This past week went by pretty quickly. I had to work late Tuesday and Thursday, I did not get done until after 7pm. It kind of sucked! Our team knew we would have to work late, but we were trying to work late to avoid working over the weekend, which we did accomplish. Thank goodness! I was so glad to have Mama Rourke here to help Aaron out since I was late those days.

Friday night I was pretty exhausted. Brian and John are both in town. John just got done with KU Basketball Camp. The campers all posed for an individual shot with Coach Self and the NCAA trophy. Pretty cool. Of course John was all decked out in his KU Gear for the photo op. He was also able to get a few autographs from some players. He had a great time. Brian worked in KC this past week, and is also working here this week. He has sold his house, so he is now really looking for a house in KC. We all had dinner here, then Aaron took Eli to the park. I ran to Target and by the time I got home, the boys were all sleeping.

Saturday morning, I met Rhonda for a run. We were both dragging, but we did it. It was pretty hot. My goal for Saturday was to run all my errands so Sunday I can just relax. So Aaron and I went to Sam's to get groceries and baby stuff while Nana Rourke watched the boys. Of course we spent a couple of hundreds of dollars, buying formula, diapers, and food. It's crazy!

Aaron and I went on a date since this is our last weekend with Mama Rourke here. We had a nice Italian dinner at Il Centro, then dessert at Classic Cup. We went to see "Iron Man", we both really enjoyed the movie. I've always had a crush on Robert Downey Jr. We got home around 1245. Keenan woke up around 4AM, I got up and Mama Rourke came up with a bottle. I told her I could feed him, and she said, "No, you can, go ahead and go back to bed," I did not hesitate, and said, "ok!". Then Eli woke up at 6AM, realy crying. I layed down with him and we tried to go back to sleep. He got up at 7AM, and Mama Rourke took him and Keenan downstairs so Aaron and I could sleep in. We took advantage of it and slept in until 1030! I feel soooo rested! I cannot remember the last time I slept in that late!

This is the last week Mama Rourke will be staying with us. We have really enjoyed having her here and have really appreciated the extra help. We're all really going to miss her!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the great Dads out there! We had a pretty quiet, and relaxing weekend. Eli's school had a Father's Day picnic Friday afternoon, it was fun to see Eli playing with his classmates. Nana Bernie brought Keenan, so everyone was able to see him and Nana was able to see Eli at school.

Saturday I went to my running group and ran four miles and felt pretty good. We went to the Farmer's Market. Aaron and I spent most of the time in the coffee shop because Eli was having a great time going up and down the stairs. Bernie bought a bunch of fresh veggies and fruit to make us dinner. Bernie treated us for a Father's Day lunch. Eli and Keenan were great. While everyone took naps, I did a little shopping to buy Father's Day gifts.

Sunday, Bernie let Aaron and I sleep in until around 8AM. I dressed the boys up in matching outfits. You can't really see what the shirts say, but they say "My Dad Rocks" and he does. Aaron is a wonderful dad, always excited to see his family and ready to play! Aaron is such a great help and very thoughtful. Thank you Aaron for everything you do for us!We love you! Aaron got a kick out of the t-shirts. Eli helped his Dad open his gifts. We had a quiet day at home, it was rainy. Papa Rourke came in the evening and played with the boys while I prepared dinner. Brian also joined us for dinner. We had a nice steak dinner, with frozen custard for dessert.

He's a Genius!

The other morning, Aaron and I were awoken by the sound of Eli singing songs in his bed. It was super cute. He really loves to sing and on our way to school he sings his ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and some of his other favorites. He knows the Barney, "I Love you..." song, it's a really annoying song, but when we sing it, Eli stands up and gives me a hug and a kiss when it comes to singing those words. Sometimes I sing it just so I CAN get a hug and a kiss from him!

Eli is also obsessed with "Big Trucks" he points them out to me when we're driving. We recently changed to pull-up diapers because he no longer fits in size 6 diapers. The pull-ups have the characters from "The Cars" movie and we have to try to convince him to wear the Lightning McQueen diapers because he always requests the "Dump Truck" one, and sometimes he throws a fit if he has to wear the race car one. BTW-- sometimes he leaks in the morning, I'm not too impressed with these diapers, but we're hoping to potty train next month for sure!

Eli is learning all about shapes too. When we were driving the other day Eli said, "There's an octagon Mommy!", referring to the Stop sign, I was pretty impressed. Also, Eli has letters that are bath toys, I was quizzing him the other day and he could recognize more letters than I thought he would be able to. Every time he would get one right I would say, "Good job Eli", then he turned around and started quizzing me and would say, "Good job Mommy!". So funny.

Keenan is 2 Months

Keenan's stats as of 5/23/2008

Weight: 15 lbs & 8oz.(>97%)
Height: 24.5 inches (95%)
Head Circumference: 15 and 7/8 (50%)

Keenan is now 2 and a half months and is sleeping so much better, he usually can go about 5-6 hour stretches thru the night. Mama Rourke has been enabling our sleep because she has been getting up with Keenan to feed him, it's been wonderful! He is very responsive now, really smiling. He is already feeling heavy to carry! We'll probably have to put him in a bigger car seat before he turns one, just like Eli!

Well, the first two weeks of work have not been too bad. I'm trying to get back into my routine. I've started up running again with my good friends, Becky and Rhonda. We are not training for any races like last time. I think we'll end signing up for a few 5Ks and try to improve our time. I was wanting to sign up for a half marathon, but no one else was wanting to commit and I need my girls to get me thru another half! I'm feeling more like myself, but I've got quite the muffin top (the best part of the muffin), hopefully running will get me back into shape!

Memorial Day Weekend

Aaron took Friday off so we could go to the zoo with some friends. We met up with Rhonda and Bill, and their girls, Elise and Claire. Elise is only 6 weeks younger than Eli, and Claire is 2 weeks older than Keenan. It was my first time to the Kansas City Zoo, and I have to say it turned out to be a beautiful day, and the zoo was really nice. Eli and Elise had so much fun pushing around their strollers, riding on the train, and going on the merry-go-round. We were all pretty exhausted at the end of the day.







Monday, Alicia and her daughter Kristen came over to visit, they were town for the week. Kristen and Eli had a great time playing together. We weren't able to capture the best pictures with them, they are both at that age where sitting still is not an option.

Mama Rourke came into town Monday evening. We were all very excited to see her. She is going to be staying with us for the first month I go back to work. It'll be great not to have to worry about Keenan while I stress out about work!

Last Week ;o(

I am so sad! This is my last week of maternity leave, I'm finally at a point that I've been accomplishing so much around the house and really enjoying myself, and now I have to go back to work! Last week I finished making Keenan's baby announcements, they were fun to make. The weather is finally cooperating and it looks like it's going to be warm from now on. I've gotten my friend Rhonda, who is also on maternity leave, hooked on Hi Hat coffee, so we have been walking to Hi Hat in the mornings. This week she is painting her house, so I've been walking on my own.



Over the weekend, Vinnie and Dustin were in town, so they visited our family. They are starting their own little family. Vinnie is 12 weeks prego! I'm so excited for them! Aaron and I also went on a much needed date. The weather was fantastic! Eli's old teacher, Miss Rachel watched the boys, I was not worried at all, Eli remembered her right away. He did sit at Stoli's window when we left and Rachel said he was sad for just a little bit, but got over it pretty fast. Aaron and I went to the Power and Light District. Aaron had not been there yet, so we did a little pub crawl and had snacks as well. I had the best bread pudding at this Irish Pub, it beat out Pot Pie's bread pudding. It was DELICIOUS! We were home by 11:30.

Sunday we were up early thanks to our little alarm clock, Eli. He did not watch the movie we started for very long. We had breakfast and decided to do some yard work. The whole family enjoyed the nice weather. Keenan sat in the shade in his bouncy seat, and Eli was all over the place, following Aaron, me, and Stoli around. I was able to plant some flowers in my front garden. We all went to bed pretty early, Aaron fell asleep reading to Eli. Aaron was passed out and Eli was looking through his books on his own as I fell asleep feeding Keenan.





This week I'm going to be gardening and working on my scrapbooks and the boys' baby books. I'm hoping to at least get started on the scrapbooks. Aaron has been giving me crap because I've been trying to start on our scrapbooks since we got married!

Well, I'm going to savor this time I have at home. It's been painful, challenging, and finally fun! I have 8 more pounds to lose to get to my starting weight. I think I need to start running again to lose the last few pounds. I've started lifting free weights again too. Aaron is taking Friday off so we can have a nice 4 day weekend together. Hopefully we'll be able to do a lot of fun family stuff together.

Mama Rourke will be here on Monday to watch Keenan for the month, then back to work for me! Ugh!

Eli is TWO!

Wow! I am so behind on my blogs, time has flown by! Keenan is now 6 weeks, and my little Eli is TWO! I cannot believe he is two, but he is as big as a four year old! We were preparing him for his big day, we taught him to say when his b-day is..."May 4", and how old he is going to be, sometimes he would say, "One", then "Two". So funny, he really is a little chatter box, with very good manners. He is very good with his "please" and "thank you's" which I am very proud of.

This past weekend was a busy one. Friday I went to work to bring Keenan around, it was nice to see everyone, and everyone was anxious for me to get back to work, now that I'm used to being home it's hard to think of going back to work! I'm just now enjoying my time off! Aaron and I were exhausted Friday night, and Aaron was great to pick up a night feeding. I'm trying to ween from nursing because I really do not want to pump at work, I just hate pumping so much and I cannot immagine, for me, doing it at work.



Saturday, we went to Crown Center for Eli's b-day lunch. We went to "Fritz's Railroad Restaurant", it was a big hit! There is a train that runs around the restaurant and drops off the food at each table. Eli was so excited to see the trains! Our friends Jamie and Jessica, and their newborn, Brody, met us there, as well as Katie with her two boys, Nicholas and Alex. Nicholas and Eli were the two that were able to enjoy themselves the most.







Sunday, we opened presents and we bought Eli a new tricycle. He loves it. We had cake and ice cream too to celebrate.