My BIG 1 YEAR OLD!

That's right. Eli is officially one! (well he has been for about a week and a day) We had a big puppy dog themed birthday party in celebration of his big day. We had quite the crowd, lots of presents, and most importantly a fabulous cupcake. He seriously loved it! First he sucked off all of the icing to insure he wouldn't miss a drop and then dove into the cake part. The cupcake was apple spice with buttercream icing! With a puppy face on it of course!

He has just grown like a weed. On his one year appointment he weighted 27 1/2 pounds, 48cm head, and 32 inches tall. He is 95% in his weight and head diameter and off the charts in his height. I think we always knew he was going to be a big boy, but it just still always surprises me even though he is fitting into 24 months clothes! He is walking like a mad man, and chattering lots, but nothing too comprehendible.

It was so fun to take some time and look back on the day i had him. It will forever be one of the most amazing days of my life. I was induced on his actual due date, despite the fact i went into early labor at 34 weeks. Surely this was a sign of his extreme stubbornness to do things his way. I was in labor for 7 hours, and pushed for an 1 1/2 hours. Never knew having a baby was a cardio work out too, someone should have warned me! :) He weighed 9 lbs 5 oz and was 21 inches long.


Brandt and I were so shocked to find out we were pregnant. There was lots of processing time to get use to the idea of how drastic life would change. Once he was here though, and we held him for the first time, we both knew there was no going back. He is wonderful in every way, i can't ever imagine life with out!

Oh Chi Town....

So, Brandt and i did it.... well i did it. I left Eli with Brandt's parents for two whole nights. WOW i know, i am impressive. Some people probably look at me like i am crazy for it taking me this long to do an over night away, but it was soo hard. I just love being a mom and taking care of Eli everyday. But Brandt and I needed some R and R, that's for sure. So we headed to chicago for a weekend! It was a great time. We went watched some of the air and water show, then that night we had a picnic in millennium park for the millennium park orchestra and choir. Cheese and wine, it was wonderful. The next day we had a great brunch, went shopping (of course) and got to have a fabulous dinner at a Brazilian restaurant. All you can eat meat... brandt was all about it!

The next day we were both pretty ready to see our little boogie, so we headed home. He was funny when we saw us for the first time though, very confused. But then he didn't want to be away from our side.

Things have felt like a whirl wind since that weekend. Life is going so fast. Eli is walking like crazy (not a full 100% walker yet). His 1st birthday is coming up soon. OH man babies grow up so quickly huh? I look at him can't believe he will be 1!!!! He is just a wonderful blessing.

Newest things:
1- WALKING
2- He can respond to "what does a cow say".... "Moooo", "what does a duck say"....."qwak, qwak"
3- recent words; "bye, bye", "love you", "night, night", "all done" (very rarely), and a few others
4- he has an official blanket that he will NOT sleep with out.
(i caught him in a serious deep sleep!)

I'll keep everyone posted with some pictures/ video of his first birthday party!

2 Years and counting!

Today is Brandt and my 2 year anniversary. I can't believe it's been only two years. While we are still only a "baby" married couple, i feel we have experienced quite a ride already. It is amazing how much the Lord can do in two years. Since getting married in August 2008, Brandt has gone on staff with Greek IV, got out first dog in October, found out i was pregnant in January 2009, moved in July, had Eli in September, moved again this May, and then Eli is turning one in a month and a half. Life is wild, but so fun. As cliche as it sounds, i really have fallen more in love with Brandt. While i knew a lot about him already going into marriage, it has been so cool to just really get to know every detail about him even down to how he prefers to brush his teeth or style his hair. : )


I could have never imagined it being any different. Today has already been so wonderful by getting to wake up to breakfast and flowers in bed... oh and coffee OH COURSE. I have loved sending the day with both of my boys. We are taking out first trip away from Eli in a couple weeks to chicago to really celebrate. It will be hard to leave him, but it will be a much needed time for us.

Thought i would post some great moments in our life two year ago today from saying our vows to celebrating with our amazing family and friends. Thanks everyone for your continued love and support through the years. It means the world. I can't wait for the next 50 years and more!

I Brandt David Booram make this vow to you Laura Suzanne Umbaugh. No matter what trials befall us. No matter where God leads us. No matter how hard our marriage becomes. I will strive with all the strength in my body and soul, to love you the way God loves you. I will never forget that you are perfect and wonderfully made, and that delighting in you is delighting in my God. I will adore you for being the captivating woman that God has made you, is making you, and will make you. To you I give my heart for all time.

I Laura Suzanne Umbaugh make this vow to you Brandt David Booram. No matter what trials befall us. No matter where God leads us. No matter how hard our marriage becomes. I promise to strive to love you passionately, encourage you continually and support you unceasingly. I will work to always remember that you are uniquely and specifically made in God’s image. I will continue to take shelter in the strength and passion that God has given you. To you I give my heart for all time.

oh my time flies!

Eli is is almost 10 1/2 months old now. Growing like a weed and so smiley! He is just the biggest blessing. He took his first steps the other day. Thankfully Brandt and I were both there to see it. He has taken about 15 more since then, not in a row but 1-2 at a time. Not much surprise in his quick development since he literally can not hold still. He is always on the go and always getting into something (in true boy fashion). I am sure that once he really figures out this walking thing, it will be nothing but trouble!

He pretty much likes most foods, depending on the day of course. His most recent discovery is grapes and blueberries, he could probably eat them all day. He is working on getting his two front teeth in, and already has his bottom two in. LOVES bathes and pools. Splashing is just wonderful to him. He has mastered going up the stairs, but still very unsure how to go down them. He has learned to shake his head NO. We are working on YES, but ironically that seems to be much harder for kids. Suprise suprise. He almost has the sign for "all done" down. But half the time he is just cheering for himself!

He will talk up a storm with you, saying things like mama, dada, baba.... He also LOVES to be chased. Mostly with the vacuum. Brandt discovered this fun game one day when he was trying to get some chores done and all Eli wanted to do was play. Eli tried so hard to get Amos to chase him, but Amos wants nothing to do with it unless it involves Eli's leftovers. :)

Semi-Recent news for the Booram's life: we moved at the end of May. Loving our new house! Amos is very much enjoying a yard and more space to stretch his legs. Broadripple has been so fun. So many great activities that are just a walk away. Brandt and I are really into the farmers market and walking/ride bikes where ever we can! We will be so sad when the nice weather is over, but luckily we have lots more still to come!

Summer has been a blast so far. Brandt, Eli and I went to Baltimore and visited my sister katie and her family! It was os much fun to see their new life! Their house is beautiful and Baltimore is such a cool city to live in. Loved getting to be so close to the bay and who doesn't love crab?!?! I miss them dearly, but glad to know we can always drive and visit!

Up coming events: Eli's 1st birthday is approaching fast and we are very excited! I can't believe he is going to be 1 soon! I can't believe how fast time goes! What isn't fun about planning a 1st birthday party? I will totally post some pictures afterwards! Here is an old one for you: This literally feels like yesterday!

Hopefully the posts will be a little more consistent from here on out!

Life is crazy

WOW. I think i am not as consistent at this as i thought i would be. Sorry! Where do i start. Eli is 8 months, a little under 23 pounds and so busy. I LOVE that he says MAMA and wants me when he says it. We are still working on DADA though (poor Brandt). This past week has been a little tough. He has had his first ear infection and it's been a doozy. Not to mention Brandt was out of town, and i got a sinus infection too. It was just one of those weeks where you felt like you were barely surviving. Not to mention we got a house (PRAISE), but we move on June 1st. Brandt being gone for the 2nd and 3rd week in may has made this feel so crazy. I did manage to pack 1 box before i left to meet him in Michigan.

Once we got to Michigan, Eli woke up the next morning with a 101.4 fever and has had it for 2 days. We took him to med check, and everything is fine (says the small town, urgent care doctor... i have my doubts). So hopefully it will go down in the next day so my happy baby can be happy again!!!

Beside that we are excited about the move coming and the new space it will give us. Hopefully i have a healthier family to report next time!!!

Here Comes Boat Season... HURRAY!!

We are very excited about spring and warm weather! My parent bought a boat last fall but it was in the midst of me having Eli so we never got a chance to see it. Last night we went out for a little ride. Eli of course loved it! He got to "help" my dad drive and he just kept staring at the water. I brought the right size of a life jacket on the boat but didn't make him wear it thinking "ok i am not being to paranoid he won't fall out, i'll holding on very tight" I know most lakes have that rule but the gas guy didn't say anything. Seeing as i am super OCD about everything with him, i thought i was making a good step in loosening up. Only later to have talked to brandt for a minute about Elias' first boat experience. He quickly reminded me that if Eli were to fall out how he would sink to the bottom of the lake. This immediately made my mind picture this kind of moment and i think i almost threw up. Needless to say, he will always be wearing a life jacket from now on until he can swim. YICKS!

He is growing like a weed. Starting to he puffs, bananas and pears cut up. Today he actually grab one by himself and ate it. Very exciting! It's the little things in life right? We had to switch him to a "big boy" car seat! Today he weighed 20 pounds 11 ounces so it was time to make the change. I tell you what... car seat shopping is almost worse than car shopping. So many options and sooo many opinions. After trying a few in the car we went with the Evenflo Symphony65™ . It got good reviews, felt and looked the safest, fits the best and will hopefully last the longest since the weight limit goes to 65 pounds! The only downside is when he cashes out, he looks like he will need to see a chiropractor for his neck... so we will have to figure something out before any long car rides! :)

As an update to his test. Everything looked good. He does not have any reflux in his bladder (basically urine refluxing into his kidneys which could cause infections). Bear with me because i don't know the technical terms, but there is a little tube that connects to your bladder and at the connection point he is a little swollen there. The doctor really thinks he will just grow out of this and it will be no big deal. We will just get an ultrasound done every month to keep an eye on it, until it goes away! Thank the Lord!!! It was such a relief. Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts! We are constantly reminded what a blessing it is to have a healthy baby!

It's been too long!

Sorry everyone. It has been forever since I have updated you on Eli and the Booram Family. We are still alive... don't fear!

Arizona was a blast! He LOVED the water and the sun. He was an amazing baby and took lots of naps in his stroller so i could get some R&R by the pool! The next weekend we got back, we headed up to chicago to visit with Katie, Tyson and TJ (and we got to sneak in some visits with some other friends who live downtown chicago as well)!! It was such a good time to be with them, see their life, church and house. Ironic timing since they are moving soon, so we were very glad to get up there and get some good time in with them!

Well geesh, Eli will be 7 months on the 13th of April. At his 6 month appointment he weighed 19 pounds and 3 ounces and was 23.5 inches long! He is getting so big. This weekend we will be buying him a new car seat already. I will greatly miss just carting him around in his infant car seat as apposed to strapping him in and unstrapping him every time we run errands.

He is crawling for the most part now! He gets up on all fours and and lunges forward (every once and a while he will take a little "step" forward). I am secretly hoping he doesn't get too good at it until we move in june so i don't have to baby proof our whole place and then move. Yuck! Chances are though, knowing our baby, he will be crawling like mad in a couple weeks!

He still eats just about anything like a champ! We are now slowly introducing him into real solid foods like bananas. Those are all we have tried. I cut them up VERY little and he is greatly monitored while consuming them. :) He has also tried puffs which is is favorite snack (with his sippy cup of course)!!! He is so close to picking them up and putting them in his mouth by himself!

ELI'S FAVORITE THINGS TO DO:
- Making raspberries with his mouth (spit goes everywhere)
- Playing with Amos and Layla, mainly him pulling their hair
- Rolling everywhere on the floor
- Eating of Course!!!
- Bouncing in his Exersaucer (sometimes i am little nervous he is going to break it)

Eli has recently been diagnosed with hydronephrosis (enlarged kidneys). We found out his kidneys were a little swollen when he was born, and we recently did a follow up ultra sound and they had seemed to have gotten a little worse. So we have been referred to a pediatric urologist at Riley. Eli will have 2 more test done on wednesday and then we will meet with the doctor. While the first ultra sound showed the severity to still be very low, we need to keep an eye on them as he gets older. I am greatly dreading his test on wednesday. One of them he has to have a catheter and the nurse told me that normally the kiddos just cry themselves to sleep. Luckily he will have no long term emotional scaring, however i can not guarantee i will not! : /If you think about it, keep us in your prayers!

I know... i am so late on posting! There will be one soon, i promise!

Watch out Arizona here I come!!!!

Yesterday i decided to see if Eli's swim shirt and bathing suit fits. We are going to AZ soon for Brandt's work. I thought he wouldn't be a fan of the fashion show, but clearly he had a great time!! I am hoping this is a preview of how much he will like playing in the pool.

Eli has certainly been all smiles lately. It has been a blast. He has learned to follow me when he is sitting in his high chair and he just smiles and laughs the whole time. Finally we have found a food he does not enjoy... green beans. He actually gags, coughs and shakes when i give them to him. Brandt is extremely proud that Eli shares in his hatred for them. I make all of his food, so maybe they just taste a little too healthy. He continues to find his voice, very loudly! It has become my favorite sound! We are working on mama but he just thinks its very silly whenever i say it. Getting closer and closer to sitting up all on his own though! Last week i took him to go get weighed and he was 16 pounds 4 ounces.

This weekend is Greek Intervarsity's Student Conference. Crazy to look back to last year this time I was about 7 weeks pregnant with Eli. So technically this will be his second time at conference! I am deeply looking forward to not being pregnant, constantly looking for food/ looking for the bathroom!!!!

5 Months and growing

This Sunday marked Elias being 20weeks old... 5 months already! Every day i am amazed how much i see him change and grow. He now has found his feet and is OBSESSED!! He is getting close to taking his own socks off so he can chew on his tootsies. He has also become extremely vocal, loves to talk to you and make sure everyone in the room knows that he is there! He is still sleeping about 12-13 hours a night (recently been waking up around 5 am because of teething, but we're working on it), and taking about 3 naps a day. Eli has continued to love his food...pears, sweet potatoes, peas, applesauce, prunes, carrots, rice cereal, butternut squash, and coming soon to his diet... green beans. He is working on sitting up on his own, getting very close, but not quite there yet. For a while he could only roll over from back to stomach, but now he finally figured out how to roll over from his stomach to his back. Amos (our dog) has become a very exciting companion for Eli lately!! Lucky for Amos, Eli can't get to him with out my help, but once Eli learns to move around and grab Amos the way he has learned to grab my hair... i will feel so bad for him. He has no idea what's coming.

Brandt and I are starting to try to get better about date nights. Since i do work a little it's still hard to me to leave Eli for non-work related events, but the time alone with just my hubby is wonderful. The other night when we were out we both looked at each other and said "i can't even remember life with out Eli". Funny how quickly life can change!

Almost 5 months!

I can't believe Eli will be 5 months this Sunday! It blows my mind at how fast time goes by! He had his delayed 4 month appointment last Tuesday. He weighed 14 lbs 13 ounces and was 26 inches long. He use to be in the 90% in weight but because he can't stop moving and loves to stand with some help he is burning more calories these days. He is still 90% in his height though! He is now eating lots of food... peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and prunes! Since his newest development is rolling over (which he LOVES) and he has started doing this whenever we lay him down for naps and bed. Since we have also discovered his fire like temper he get SOOO angry when he is on his stomach and we get to enjoy going in about times to roll him over before he falls asleep. I'm desperately hoping he quickly learn how to roll himself back over!

Up to Date

Well, since we are little behind on starting this I will give you all a quick overview. Eli was born September 13th, 2009 at 11:35pm. After about 8 hours of labor he came weighing 9lbs and 5 oz and 21 inches long. He is now 18 weeks (4 1/2 months) old. We have recently added solid food to his diet and he is LOVING it (no surprise there). The kid just loves food. He has had cereal, sweet potatoes and prunes so far. He is now rolling over all the time and has a great passion for tv. He totally gets that from Brandt. He has his 4 month doctor appointment tomorrow, so I will update you all on his newest weight and height. If anyone is interested in watching, here is the second time he rolled over (I of course was putting laundry away the first time and missed it).