5.22.2008

Boy's day out... with a girl.

On a day beginning with spilled coffee, drama at work, and other mind numbing things, Elliott, Emma, and I decided to go to the park. Instead of our normal trek to Frick... we decided to meet some friends at Mellon Park. There were a lot of people there.. but they weren't as good as the 'Frick' people (you have to be more dedicated as a dog owner to walk the trail to the dog park at Frick... this park was full of lazy yuppies who drove up the 'authorized vehicles only' road to get within 10 feet of the renegade dog area. It's not legal to have your dog off the leash ANYWHERE in this park without the impending worry of the $300 fine and/or 30 days in jail.)

So ANYWHO... we met Josh, Ashley and their dog Maggie for a play session. Emma misbehaved but at least she got exercise. Turns out... days before there was a flower show complete with food stands and the like. The place was a mess. Straw everywhere because of the foot traffic, and smelly puddles of who knows what.. which the dogs LOVED to drink and roll around in. Emma has rolled around in some really smelly things... and THIS had to be one of the worst.

Anyways... here are some pics. I only got one of El... he was pretty disinterested in the whole ordeal and slept it out.

Big El was not very energetic.


Emma and Maggie. They were hard to catch with the lens. This was the best shot I could get.


She's not behaving.. she just wants the turkey bologna I give to her for her treat. Don't let the cute face fool you.








I forgot to post the picture that the surgeon took. This is the 'other side' of Elliott.. where he could have possibly had another hernia. They put a camera in the incision they made to fix the one side to look at the other. Ew!


Well... not much of an update... but Hil is working from 9am-10pm... so I needed something to do.

5.19.2008

We've been busy...

Well. Today Elliott is 8 weeks old. Time flies.

Hilary and I are both back to work full time.. and it feels good to finally get a jump start to the day and to feel productive. We certainly will miss our time off... but for now we're happy that our lives are getting back to 'normal'.

Big week. First off... Elliott started daycare. :( It's kind of hard to take him and leave him.. but it will be good for him to get used to different people, sounds, and to make some friends. He was pretty fussy for the workers for the first day.. but seems to be coming along. They say he loves music time!

Elliott also had surgery on the 14th. He had a hernia.. which is fairly common and a routine surgery, but it's hard to not be overly worried and protective of a your little one. Everything went fine... he only had one side that needed to be repaired. They kept him overnight, and Hil stayed with him. It was hard for me to be away from both of them for the night.. but being that I had to work at 5am I needed a good nights rest to be on top of things.

Here are some photos from his big day:

Click to enlarge.

About to leave for the hospital and being comforted by his quilt from Nana.


Putting his gown on. He DID NOT want to be changed. He had also not eaten since 9:30 am. It was about 1:00 here. He was cranky. :(




Being comforted by Mama after that ordeal.


Papa's turn.


After FINALLY being fed post-surgery. He was really happy to see his Mama.






It's so hard to see tubes and electrical wires attached to someone you love. Here is his foot with the IV and sensors.





Here you can see his bandage. :(



Happy as a clam in his hospital bed!







He is doing really well, now. We get to take his bandage off today after his bath and then we'll be able to submerge him again. He also seems to be in a better mood now. They say that the hernia doesn't bother them... but it seems like he's glad it's gone. :)

Onto happier things! We ran (err.. walked) the Race for the Cure this year. It was my first time because I usually have to work. Mother's Day = one of the busiest days of the year. But since it was my last day of leave I took part. The rest of the family does it every year. Elliott ended up winning the race out of the family despite Aunt Tracy's best efforts. He tried to pass her numerous times close to the finish but she always shut him down. He waited until 15 feet before the finish line and took an outside path (on the other side of a group of people) so she couldn't see him coming, cutting her off and taking the coveted first place Thorne Family Trophy.

Here are a some photos:

El, Mama, and Papa


Mama posing with the big winner!


The Thorne/Muraca Family (Bria, too!)
Cousin Ed, Cousin Jessica (in back), Cousin Amanda, Cousin Erica, Cousin Wes, Aunt Tracy, Bria, Papa, Mama, and El.


Elliott ran for his Great Aunt Diane who passed away in 2005 and for his Nana, who is currently fighting.



Two nights ago Elliott spent the night in his room for the first time. Usually he sleeps in the cradle next to our bed... and we pick him up to comfort him when he starts to fuss. We have changed our approach so he can learn how to self-soothe. It was hard to listen to him fuss over the monitor for about half an hour... but with the help of lullaby versions of Radiohead, he fell asleep and slept about five hours!

Here are some photos from him first night in his own room. Sorry for the quality.. it was dark and I didn't want to use the flash.






Hey Papa!!! I'm over here!


Everything else is going well. I will be interviewing for a higher position in June. I'm feeling pretty confident about the opportunity and my chances are pretty good... so hopefully everything will work out.

That's about it!

Here are some photos of El hanging out on his quilt from his Nana:

Tummy time!!!








Oh... and Elliott says hello!

5.07.2008

Back to the grind...

Well.. we are finally starting to settle into life with a little one. Hil started back to work full-time this week and I start back next week. Elliott will be going to day care at a local Presbyterian church. One of my co-workers takes his son there and he has nothing but good things to say about it. I could do without the religious references that are around the place.. but if they're good and the cheapest we found I can get past that.

Here are some photos taken since the last update:

Click the thumbnails for full size.


Elliott with Pap-pap Thorne


Elliott with Aunt Tracy


Elliott and Papa at Breakfast


Elliott, M ama, and Emma at Frick Park


Elliott laying back at Frick


More sleeping photos:






Elliott and Emma


Bath time.



We planted a maple tree in the yard. We had always intended on planting one.. and we happened to plant this one on his one month birthday. I also made a dog run for Emma. She likes to run along the fence barking at passers-by (much to our dismay).. and tore up all the grass and got covered in mud every time she went outside. This will hopefully help with that. We are planning on adding some more plants towards the back of the yard.

Here are some photos:


TJ planting the tree






Emma testing out the walk-way


The family in front of the tree



We have also found out that Elliott has a hernia in his groin. It's fairly common and an easy fix. He has surgery scheduled for May 14th. Its a simple procedure and he might even be able to go home that day. Hopefully everything will work out.

Everything else is going well. Saturday is Hil's first mother's day.. and on Sunday we will be taking part in Race for the Cure in honor of our friends and family, past and present, who have fought breast cancer. We will post photos from that day.

We hope everyone is doing well!

Oh.. and here is a cute video of Elliott getting a bath: