One Year Down... 50 more to go...

Today is Jimbo and my 1 year anniversary. We have received oodles of cards from relatives and friends. So nice! We were pretty exhausted from the bbq on Saturday night so we didn't do a whole lot today.

I got to cuddle on the couch with Joshua and Hilo while Jim drove Catherine back down to Milwaukee. That afternoon we vegged on the couch and then decided we really ought to do something on our anniversary. So we got motivated and went to church then dinner. Josh did very well at church... and for the most part dinner. You can't blame him - the timing wasn't the greatest. He was definitely hungry during dinner. But we were able to get in a quick feeding that held him over until we got home. I might have to start carrying a bottle around when we go out, just so we can feed him at the times he wants to eat... We'll get it figured out... right??

But Jim and I agreed... the past year was quite eventful with lots of weddings including ours, my sisters, 3 of my cousins, and a few friends. Then of course having our first puppy along with having the biggest life changing event - Joshua. All good things... our first year of marriage has been full of them! So blessed!

Finally - the pictures attached are from the BBQ. First is the picture of Shannon and Steve with their Godson. Then the picture of Josh and Catherine. And finally - Shannon's idea of babysitting Joshua while mom and dad are sitting outside at the bonfire.

New Friends

At the BBQ, our friends Brian and Jamie brought over their new baby girl, Ella. She is 3 weeks older than Joshua. She is so tiny still and very cute. We swapped stories on the baby experiences we had so far and it seems like we are all doing just fine. We got some cute pictures of the 2 of them. Joshua was completely zonked out and had no idea what was going on. Miss Ella was attempting to wake him up I think... The two of them will be at the same daycare when Jamie and I go back to work. So they will become good friends we think... or we'll be getting phone calls saying our kid bit the other one... ha ha! Only time will tell!

Also - notice the Erkel pants on Joshua. The newborn pants are so ridiculously high waisted. It must be for the bulky diaper - but definitely makes them look goofy. He is getting so big!!!!

It's A Girl!

Isabelle Marie Elowsky
7lbs 11 oz
20 inches Long

Abby (Jim's sister) and Aaron have finally had a baby girl at 1:55pm today (Eastern Time). She was almost 2 whole weeks late so they were very very eager for her to finally get here. Everyone is doing well!

Jim and I have Catherine (his younger sister) in town this weekend along with my sister and brother in law Shannon and Steve. Yesterday we drove to Milwaukee (Jim, Josh, and I) to go pick up Catherine who took the ferry over from MI. On the way back we stopped at Chipotle for dinner. YUM! After dinner we decided it would be best to change Joshua's diaper before heading back home. Jim was changing him in the back of the car... when we realized this was the biggest poop he has had yet... and it was everywhere. So I helped by holding his legs so dad could really get the wipe around him... Joshua screamed and screamed... and then got quiet... and I wasn't fast enough to react to the quietness and he peed over himself and onto the stroller that was propped up in the trunk. Once this stopped the screaming continued. Dad was still trying to wipe the poop off of him when he decided to let it go once again - but this time it was a full bladder and he covered himself and the blanket he was on along with the clean diaper. So 2 diapers later, a full wet wipe bath, a soaking wet outfit and blanket, we were finally back on the road! So so funny!

Joshua had a good night last night - sleeping for 4 hours between feedings. Thank goodness! And then his aunts Shannon and Catherine took over picking up the house and watching him while I got some more sleep! I officially got 8 hours of sleep last night! Not continuous - but 8 hours! So nice!

Today we took Joshua and Hilo for a walk and gave Joshua a much needed bath. At 4 pm this afternoon we have friends coming over for a cookout. We hope the weather cooperates tonight so we can have a bonfire and be outside. That is all for now!

Diaper Rash...

So while my mom was here we tried to let Joshua air out a bit each day... She would place him on his back on the couch and then try to cover for any waterfountains by holding a diaper above him. At one point I took over diaper holding responsibility and of course that is when he decided to let it go... and of course I didn't have the diaper over him to catch it all. So this week I came up with a new plan. I took one of the cloth diapers I had as a burp cloth - folded it up as much as I could and placed him on his belly - with the cloth diaper positioned appropriately underneath him. It worked! He loves to lay there on his tummy with the sun coming in and him airing out!

And if he is "extremely" tired... the best way to get him to sleep is by putting something over his eyes. It happened on accident... but he immediately stopped crying and went to sleep. So I didn't touch the blanket! I have done this now on several occasions and it never seems to fail...