ahem.....attention! attention!

Today, the "residency ticker" gets its own very special post! Afterall, why wouldn't it?!? Take a LOOK at the ticker...12 months...exactly one year...365 days until Andy's residency is f-i-n-i-s-h-e-d! After 24 total years of school, 12 of those after high school, and just one final year remaining, for a grand total of 25 years of school and/or residency, we are so excited that the end is in sight!

Time is quickly approaching where we will get to choose where we want to live. Will we stay in Louisville? Will we venture closer to West Virginia? Or...will we surprise ourselves and select somewhere that we haven't even thought of yet?!? We are thrilled that Andy is beginning his final year and are so excited for what God has in store for us in the next year!

gap? levi's? no...huggies!

What a wild goose chase! In a town sprawling with many, many, many Target and Walmart superstores you would imagine that it would be quite easy to find a package of diapers! "Yes," you might say, but the answer is a loud and resounding "no" when the particular package of diapers that you are hunting are Huggies "denim" diapers! Apparently, these limited edition diapers are all the craze because they were no where to be found in the size that Eli needed. Finally, after several phone calls and even a few store visits, we finally found the coveted size 3 denim diapers at where else, but Babies 'R' Us! This should have been my very first phone call!

Why would we buy these you might ask?!? Besides the fact that they are ultra cute, complete with seams, back pockets, and belt loops, we had Eli's six month pictures taken this weekend and were going for the "I'm only wearing my diaper" look in lots of the pictures. Because we simply could not put a pair of ruffly bloomers on our sweet boy as a diaper cover, we opted for the swank, rugged, and very boyish denim diapers.

What a cutie our little Eli is sporting his "denim"!

our doctor's appointment.

Eli and I had a very special doctor's appointment today! We visited daddy at work! After seven months of asking, Eli and I finally made an appearance at the James Brown Caner Center in downtown Louisville. What fun we had meeting and chatting with Andy's colleagues! After our special visit, Eli and I went on a lunch date with Andy - again, a very special first! We enjoyed a great lunch at Brownings, a restaurant attached to the Louisville Slugger baseball field and museum. How nice it was to spend some fun time with Andy during the day today! We are truly proud of the wonderful physician that he is, but are even prouder of the husband and daddy that comes home to us each day!

a break in the heat.

Whew! Our Louisville weather has been hot, hot, hot! Sadly, it's been so stifling hot that Eli and I have taken comfort indoors. Stroller walks, zoo days, and park visits have been put on hold as our recent warm weather simply takes your breath away. With the threat of rain all day on Sunday, the sun took refuge behind the clouds in the late afternoon and we were once again able to enjoy some pool time in our backyard! Filled with less water this time, Eli's inflatable pool was just the perfect spot for him to cool off, splash, and play on his belly! Awww...we just love these summer moments!

Our happy swimmer loved kicking his legs and splashing with his arms while laying on his back in the cool water...just practicing his backstroke!

one "ruff, ruff" day.

On Friday, Carmen had, in the world of a dog, a pretty "ruff" day. Bright and early, Eli and I loaded our precious pooch into the car and dropped her off at her salon, Shaggy Paws. Ms. Gerri, the owner, just couldn't be sweeter. Taking extra care, she makes her own slings for small dogs to hang in when getting groomed, rather than putting something tight and uncomfortable around their small necks. Three hours later, Carmen was hand delivered to our car so that I didn't have to get Mr. Eli out of his car seat (remember, I told you Ms. Gerri is too sweet), with her usual seasonal bandanna and matching hair bow. While we love, love Ms. Gerri, these bandannas and bows are quickly removed when we get home as little Carms dislikes them and looks like quite the "sis" with her hair pulled up in a tulle and feather "hair bow". As if the trauma of a bath, trim, blow dry, and other goodies weren't enough for Carmen to endure, ironically her annual veterinarian appointment fell on the same day. That night, because of an annual dental vaccine, Carmen's shoulder was quite sore. While she refused to take her pain medication with cheese and/or peanut butter, she gave in as I mixed a crushed pill into a plate of warm chicken stew Benefuls...but... only if I fed it to her off of a spoon. After Carmen's "ruff, ruff" day, I didn't mind one bit!

i'll sit when i'm ready.

Andy and I are quite aware that babies meet developmental milestones when they are ready. While sitting up is a six month old milestone, Eli has been, let's just say, quite lackidasical and uninterested in sitting up or practicing sitting up for that matter. He simply would rather sit in his exersaucer and jumperoo with ease, roll from wall to wall, or play with his dangling toys on his playmat. However, to our delight, we have seen a big improvement in his sitting capabilities this week! Focusing on flashing lights in front of him, playing with colorful blocks, and watching Carmen chase her toys back and forth, back and forth have given him just the incentive he needs. Fingers crossed for a sitting baby soon!

feeling hot, hot, hot.

Not much fun nor good can come when the outside temperature is in the 90's, the heat index is over 100 degrees, and sadly, your cooling salvation, your beloved air conditioner, is on the fritz! This predicament becomes even worse when you add a six month old baby into the equation whose bedroom temperature reads in the low to mid 80's and your entire family lives 6 1/2 hours away...ugg! To make a long story short, our home has been swallowd by heat on and off since last Thursday afternoon. After two visits from an air conditioner technician and two repaired leaks later, cool air is once again, for now, flowing through our home. We can not even begin to thank Jim and Jessica enough for their enormous friendship and generosity as they allowed us to borrow their cool home while they were out of town visiting family. Thanks again, Jim and Jess, you were definitely life savers!

So, how did we beat the heat, while Andy was already home from work early due to this mess and patiently waiting for our home to begin to cool yet again?!? We cooled off with Grater's sorbet of course!

I always order a "kid size" portion of sorbet and because of my request, they even add the cute kiddy faces for me...so fun!

Eli just loves touching Daddy's face. What fun they are having blowing raspberries at each other, while Andy and I enjoyed our cool treat!

just ducky...quack, quack.

How many times have I browsed through the baby bath section at Target or Babies 'R' Us, studied "the" duck bathtub, and continued walking because it just didn't seem right for us?!? After hearing the cheers from some of my super mom friends, countless times have I looked and countless times have I just scooted our cart by...that is, until now. Recently, Eli seems to be outgrowing his baby/infant tub. While he is still giddy over bath time, splashes with the best of them, and continues to submerge his whole body in the warm water (notice above that the duck did not stop this), he could use a little more room to soak, but is just not quite ready or stable enough to be the king of the huge tub. Knowing this, I have scoured local stores to try to find a "baby bath ring" that suctions to the bottom of the tub, with zero success. While I was able to find one online to order, needless to say, I went another route for my own reasons. Thanks to my mother, the other route, you guessed it, was the giant, inflatable, quacking duck. How could my mom resist purchasing this inflatable tub when each time the duck "quacked," little Eli smiled one of his huge smiles and gave a little giggle?!? To my complete surprise, the duck is the perfect transitional tub for Eli! Big enough for him to play in the water directly in front of him, while giving him extra space, but yet small enough for him to feel secure while sitting up in a smaller area (remember, he's still a bit wobbly), the duck is just great! For all of you who praised this tub - you were right! The Freeman Family now gives the once passed over duck tub, two "feathers" up...quack, quack!


Rub-a-dub-dub...there's a quacking duck in my tub!

six incredible years.

On Saturday, June 19th, Andy and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary! While it seems like just last year that we were dancing the night away at our reception and honeymooning at the beautiful Royal Hideaway, we just can't believe that after two final years of medical school, 4 years of residency (the end is in sight), a move to Louisville, Kentucky all on our own, a beautiful baby boy, and my new job as a stay-at-home mother, six years have passed so, so quickly! We love the life that we are building together and are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for our many blessings.

To celebrate our six wonderful years, Andy and I enjoyed a special day, spent as a family of three, and later, a "date night" at Lilly's . From start to finish, our day was perfect! I truly have such a thoughtful, thoughtful husband, as he was full of loving surprises all day!

Always ready to lend a hand, LeeAnn, our dear friend and "Louisville Mom" kept a watchful eye on our little Eli! Thanks again, Ms. LeeAnn for your help! We certainly enjoyed our few hours of "together time", and sought peace in knowing that Eli was in such loving hands!

****
13 years ago, I knew he was a keeper.
13 years ago, I knew I found my best friend.
7 years ago, I knew we would be together for the rest of our lives.

What I didn't realize 13, 7, or even 6 years ago was just how much we'd help each other, fix each other, grow with each other, pray for each other, mend each other, comfort each other, and celebrate each other.

Six years ago, I married my match, my friend, my love, my husband.

After 13 special years together, I look forward to the next 50!

a day for dad.

Eli and I are very, very excited to celebrate Andy's first Father's Day on this sunny and hot June day! We just can't imagine our home without this special Dad and are forever blessed to love him each morning, noon, and night. For the way that he makes Eli giggle, for the way in which he helps refill humidifiers, diaper baskets, and wipe containers, for the way he lays out jammies, lotions, combs, and sleep sacks each day, for the way in which he still continues to help in the middle of the night without being asked, for the way he makes up silly songs, and for the way that he loves his little boy with his whole heart, Eli is forever, forever blessed to call Andy his"daddy".

Happy, happy Father's Day, Andy! We hope your very first Father's Day was as special as you are to us! We love you!

****

To celebrate Father's Day, Eli, with my hand-over-hand help, made our favorite Dad a very special, heartfelt, and homemade card to be framed. What fun we had using finger paint to create Eli's first "masterpiece". We think it turned out pretty cute... if we do say so ourselves!

...the very proud (and oh-so-cute) artist...


****
Happy Father's Day to Andy's father and my wonderful father-in-law, Jim! We love you and can't wait to see you very soon!

****
We send lots of love and hugs to Papaw Joe Beymer, for whom our Eli Beymer is named! We love you so very much, Papaw and are counting down the days until our next West Virginia visit! Happy Father's Day! We love you!

****
...and finally...

Yellow roses grow in heaven; Lord, pick a bunch for me. Place them in my father's arms and tell him they're from me. Tell him that I love and miss him, and when he turns to smile - Lord, place a kiss upon his cheek and hold him for a while. Remembering him is easy, I do it everyday - there's a big ache in my heart that will never go away...

...as we lose, we gain a deep knowing that with a relationship with Christ and in the presence of faith and grace, love is eternal...

look who came to swim today.

Take a peek at Eli, the swimmer, in action!

diaper dip.

For the past two weeks on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, Eli and I, along with my friend, Kelly, and her beautiful little gal, Ava (7 months), enjoyed a "Diaper Dip" swim class at one of Louisville's YMCA branches. What fun we had with these little swimmers! While Eli and Ava were the youngest of the 6-17 month swimmers, they both thoroughly loved the water, while splashing, "swimming" on their bellies, floating on their backs, and chasing turtle floaties around the shallow end. Eli and I were so thrilled that Andy was able to come during our last class to watch his little swimmer and to of course be the proud photographer. What a special, special time with my little guy!

Before each class, these little swimmers
would "stretch out" on their towels.

Suprisingly, while the indoor thermostat in the pool area read 100 degrees, the water was always colder than we expected. Eli always smiled wide when the water would touch his cute belly!

...Kicking his legs (mermaid style with lots and lots of "bum" action)
and reaching, reaching, reaching with his arms
to get the floating turtle...

Ava was quite the pro at going under the water.

What fun we had! We can't wait until our beach vacation!

Fun on his belly, while sitting up, and laying on his back ...Eli loved these floating fish...

backyard fun.

While we are quite sad that our housing development does not have a fun pool to visit, we decided to "decorate" our backyard with a small, inflatable pool especially for our little swimmer. While Eli is used to a much larger pool at our "Mommy and Me Diaper Dip" swim class, Andy and I were excited to watch his reaction to a pool that was just his size! Eli simply loved the cool water and splashed for days as he explored his new turtle pool, rubber ducky, squirters, and watering can. We can't wait to splish and splash the summer away in our backyard with our little minnow!

cookie monster caleb.

What fun we had this weekend celebrating Caleb's second birthday with his "Cookie Monster" themed party! While Andy and I now know that "life with baby" moves quickly, we can hardly believe that sweet Caleb is TWO! It seems like "just last week" that Andy and I were waiting patiently in the hospital hallway to meet Creed and Whitney's new bundle!

Hot and humid Louisville weather definitely did not deter this birthday boy from enjoying his family and friends, Little Tikes bouncy, tunnels, sprinkler, and especially the abundance of "Cookie Monster blue" sweet goodies!

Eli enjoyed the heat while hanging out with his new buddy Hayden!
Hayden, born at the beginning of November, is such a sweet boy with a face full of smiles!

...a big smile, sweet icing mouth and fingers, wet from douses of a water bottle...
successful party with one happy birthday boy!

...seven hours later...

Seven hours later...Noni arrived at Black Powder Court! Andy, Eli, and I were so excited to welcome my mom to Louisville and our sweet Carmen pup home during the weekend! We are always so thrilled to have visitors and simply cherish the time we have with our family! Eli loved spending time with his Noni and rekindling his friendship (with a little tug of her ear...ouch) with Ms. Carmen. Thanks so much mom for the fun weekend spent with our little guy, eating your favorite Grater's ice cream, fun trips to Target, a sushi dinner, shrimp and pizza lunch, shoe shopping galore, and yummy butterflies! We can't wait to see you soon and are counting down the days until our family vacation!

jump, jump, jump, eli beymer

After days and what seems like weeks of exploration, at last Eli's chubby feet can touch the ground and he can finally begin to use the jumperoo as it was intended...for jumping! The brightly colored jumperoo and all of its gadgets is fast becoming one of our favorite play activities! With each passing day, Eli's jumping becomes more animated and wild. We just love to watch those chunka, chunka legs push off the ground! Thanks so, so much Sandy and Ralphene! Eli is jumping for joy over your sweet shower gift!

six month statistics

This past week, Eli and I ventured to the pediatrician for his 6 month (where did the time go?) well baby check-up. Eli just loves the brightly colored rooms of his pediatrician's office and is simply a wiggly worm from the time he is laid on the table until the time he is redressed. Happy, smiling, and even laughing with and at our doctor, Eli weighed 16 pounds, 10 ounces, and measured 27 1/2 inches long. Our little boy currently has two teeth and is surely working on more...ugg. We feel so blessed to have our healthy, sweet boy!

...six fun facts about Eli at six months...

Eli loves his exersaucer and jumperoo more and more each day. He especially loves to "munch" on the apple in his exersaucer and spin the ball on his jumperoo.

While Eli is not quite sitting up on his own, we have been practicing! Frankly, he shows little to no interest in doing this, unless you catch his attention with flashing lights, music, and other toys to help him forget that he is actually sitting. While he is able to sit tri-pod style, our pediatrician remarked that a baby "this happy and wiggly" simply doesn't have time to just sit still. In our home, Eli would just rather roll and roll and roll.

Our little boy is a fantastic eater and has finally started to even enjoy his morning cereal. He loves all baby food, but especially veggies. Fruits, while he will eat them, make his little lips pucker.

Eli continues to love all things "bath"! We can't get enough of watching our happy baby smile, splash, and submerge himself in the warm water.

No matter if he wakes from a nap happy or not-so-happy, he always has the biggest smile on his sweet face when he sees mama or daddy come to his rescue.

Eli loves his early bedtime! Each night, he is ready for bed at 7:00 pm or at times, even earlier. He generally sleeps from 7:00 pm to 5:20 am (on the dot), wakes to eat and then returns to sleep most usually until 7:00 am. While taking a hiatus from sleeping through the night (perhaps due to those two cute teeth), we are SO HAPPY to report that Eli is back on track with his sleeping, in turn helping us to return to ours.

*****
perhaps I should erase this last comment as to not jinx our little sleeper
...knock on wood...