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!