Catch us if you can!

Hi Everyone,

Finally! We know some of you have been waiting quite some time for fresh photos of Jack, so here they are, in smaller installments so you can catch up with us at your own pace. Jack, Matt, Koda and I have had a blast the past two and a half months, and we hope you have as much fun checking out the moments as we had making them.

Lots of love,
Liz (& Jack & Matt & Koda Bear too)

Trick or Treat

To celebrate Halloween this year, we traded the candy bars and scary masks for some s'mores and hiking. Jack loved his first overnight in the great outdoors, and we all had a great weekend of hiking and camping at Little Bennett Regional Park. We didn't abandon tradition completely... check out our little bear. Roar!

Jack on the go

September and October have been delightfully busy months, and along the way we managed to snap a few photos. Here is Jack, on the go!


Hanging out with Dad and Gigi


Enjoying Nana's tasty finger and a foot rub from Grampy


Checking out Sydney, visiting from Boulder


Watching the mobile while unwinding in the crib


Dining with Grampy and getting smacked with a big kiss


Hitching a ride in the ErgoBaby while helping Mom give tours at the Farm


and looking darn cute and cozy in the pumpkin hat!

First Smiles

Somewhere in September, we went from catching fleeting glimpses of the smiles that tugged on the corners of Jack's precious mouth when he was drifting off to sleep or napping contentedly in our arms to being rewarded with giant gummy grins for our actions. Needless to say, the beginning of the social smiles had us falling over ourselves to amuse him. His favorite place in the world happens to be his changing station (which we still don't completely understand), but this remains the go-to spot for eliciting some animated Jack action.

This video is a little long at just under a minute, but who could resist posting some of those earliest smiles, and his attempts at mirroring Mommy, who is sticking her tongue out on the other side of the camera? Not me!

The Nats Newest Fan

Since we really don't like to waste time getting to the important things in life, the first week in September had Jack heading to Nationals Park to take in a Monday afternoon match up between the Phelan boys beloved Nats and the New York Mets.


Three generations of Phelan men enjoying a beautiful afternoon.


Our seats gave us a great view of the whole field, and the Potomac too.


Jack seemed to appreciate the pace of the game,


and was utterly delighted by the Nationals decisive 13 to 3 tally in the win column.
GO NATS!

Jack's August

The first two weeks of August were a bit of a blur for Jack...


But on 12th, he finally had some faces to go with the voices he heard so often over the summer months.
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A handsome and charming little guy right from the beginning, he had lots of family and friends eager to meet him all before he was a week old!
Nana, Grampy, Uncle Brian, Cousin Dylan, Cousin Kyle and Aunt Katie all welcomed him home, and then came our visitors.

He posed for pictures with Ed,


Liza and Riley,


and Steph.

Once he mastered the art of sleeping anywhere, we all headed East. First we visited Nana and Grampy, where Jack spend his first night away from home,


then it was on to the ocean, where we enjoyed a few days getting to know each other as a family.


Our first few weeks with Jack were wonderful beyond words. We navigated the diapers, and the feeding and the sleeping, and took Jack in for his two week check up to find that he had grown from 8 lb 15 oz to a healthy 10 lbs 1 oz. Now that he is almost 13 lbs and 24 inches, it is hard to even remember how little that bundle of Jack was those first weeks!

John Henry Phelan

John Henry Phelan is here!

Affectionately known as Baby Jack, our little guy arrived on Thursday, August 12th at 4:24 pm weighing in at 8 lbs 15 oz and measuring 21 3/4 inches long. He got labor rolling in the early morning, right along with the thunderstorms, and kindly made his appearance in time for dinner and the tornado watch. Mom and baby had a safe, happy and natural delivery and are both doing very well. We all came home Friday night, and have had a quiet weekend getting to know each other.

Here are a few pictures, and there are surely more to follow! We are so grateful for all the well wishes, and we are happy to have visitors anytime- just give Matt or Liz a call.

Jack relaxing post bath

Napping with Dad

Jack with Nana

A Weekend of Running!

Matt and I went our separate ways this past weekend and while we both had our own great adventures, it sure is nice to be back under the same roof.

Matt held down the fort here in Germantown. After a busy Saturday of running around at work, he was up bright and early Sunday morning for some more running as he tackled the Pikes Peek 10K race in Rockville. Apparently he has been holding back when we run together... turns out he is pretty speedy when left to his own devices! After a recovery nap, he whipped up family dinner for the local contingent of the Phelan family- and the leftovers are delicious!

Meanwhile, I packed up and headed off to Boston for a weekend of girl time with some of my favorite people. My brilliant friend Alli picked me up from the airport and whisked us off to the spa for some much appreciated mani-pedi pampering. The roommates from BC all came together on Saturday night to catch each other up on the happenings of our lives so that we could focus our attention on properly showering Michelle at her Bridal celebration on Sunday afternoon. Though the thunderstorms in the Baltimore area made travel home a little challenging, the weekend was totally worth it.

Koda visited the Giganti household, and did his best to make Kyle feel better about spitting up by leaving a little doggie vomit of his own on the rug- sorry guys! Needless to say we have all spent the beginning of the week recharging our batteries, but more adventures are sure to follow.

Liz, Alli, Christina, Tal and Michelle at Finale in Boston... that might be flourless chocolate cake on my scarf (yum!)

Baby Party Details

At the request of our lovely Baby Party hostess (thanks Mom!) Matt and I are sharing our registries here on the blog.

Great Beginnings
Buy Buy Baby
Target

We are hoping to keep things low stress and low waste, so please think simple and green! We have an adorable little condo, so we appreciate the gift of your warm wishes as much as anything. Thanks everyone!

Welcome to Our Phamily!

Hi Friends!

As many of you know, there will be a new addition to our little Phelan Phamily of 3 (Liz, Matt, and our pup, Koda) coming along later this summer! In anticipation of having lots of amusing photos, anecdotes, and maybe even videos to share, we welcome you to keep up with us on Our Phelan Phamily blog.

All is well in our house at the moment! The baby is healthy and happy, and we are just approaching week 24 of our 40 week journey. The expected due date is August 12th, though if baby is anything like us, it will have a few more things to cross off the 'to do list' in utero before making the big debut and will arrive fashionably late. We are waiting to find out if Baby Phelan is a girl or a boy until the birthday, so for now we are having a surprise!

Koda is starting to get suspicious... boxes are moving, and there has been an unusual amount of activity in 'his room' lately. The futon that he has claimed for his own happens to live in what is becoming the baby's room. He is pretty good at sharing with other dogs, but we'll have to see how he feels about sharing his space with a teeny tiny person who is capable of incredible sounds. Lucky for us, he has spent lots of time lately with Baby Phelan's cousins, two year old Dylan and two month old Kyle, and he has enjoyed every second of it! We are open to suggestions if anyone has ideas as to how we can help him get ready for the transition.

That's all for now!
Liz