After

Disclaimer: No curls were hurt while taking these pictures

During

Before

Half Marathon? Complete.

Yep, I ran 13.1 miles. And look who was there to meet me at the finish line. 

And we have a walker ...finally.

It took Darren 16 months - to the day - to take his first step. Now he's walking all over, with the exception of the occasional fall. 

What's cuter than cute?

My nephew Rory - who is going home from the hospital TODAY!

Updates!

They took Rory off oxygen yesterday! Danny and Cari were able to hold the little guy for the first time since he was born - and really get a good look at him. I think he's a mini-Danny with blue eyes....cute, cute, cute!

In Darren news, we're really working on the walking. Last night he took 4 steps on his own! Of course he was going to grandpa - his favorite person in the entire world. 

It's hard to know what to say.

After doing everything they could, Cari and Danny lost one of their babies, Drew Aaron, on Wednesday, October 8. They have been so strong through the past months. Rory James is one lucky little guy to have them as parents. Since it's hard to know what to say, I'm just going to copy the announcement from their blog.

We are proud to introduce...

Rory James Lichtman was born at 1:51 pm on Wednesday, October 8th. He was 4 lbs 8 oz and 17 in long. He is in the NICU, so we haven't had an opportunity to get any good pictures yet, but will put some out once we have some. We think he is a beautiful baby, but we are also completely biased!

We are sad to announce...

The passing of Drew Aaron Lichtman. Drew was still born at 1:57 pm. He was 1 lb 10 oz and 12.5 inches long.

Grandpa Jeff Got a New Camera...

So we had a photo shoot!

Dinner Date

Darren proves he still a lady's man. Hailey Owens was quiet smitten with him last Saturday night – which is understandable since he was wearing his muscle shirt. The ladies always love a man who works out.

Going Acoustic

Gary's been playing guitar for Darren since he was in belly. Recently, Darren has started playing himself - with a pick! 

Of course we got nervous that he ate the pick when we couldn't find it one day...fortunately, he had simply hid it from us (not in his belly).

Sesame Street Live!

Out of all of Darren's days, seeing Sesame Street Live was by far his best. We weren't sure what to expect, but he was singing and dancing the entire time. 

We went with Ross and Gavin Brown...Gavin was unsure at first but after his dad bribed him with a hotdog, he was all smiles.

The Birth of a Tomato

I planted a vegetable garden when we moved in the house. This tomato is my first success - besides the basil plant in the background.

Not quite as exciting as the birth of Darren, but a pretty proud moment nonetheless.

First ER Visit.

Picture it...Saturday at 5:00am. Darren is crying and can hardly breathe. We rush him to the hospital. Two breathing treatments, one round of steroids and 13 hours later, they let us go home with a diagnosis of REALLY bad Croup. Fortunately he's doing great now and just needs to take it easy for a couple of days. 

By the way, they didn't make Darren wear the miniature hospital robe - I just thought it was great for blackmail pictures later on in life.

Mommy and Darren acting sick.

The Aquarium with The Spanos

We had a blast this weekend with the entire Spano clan in town. The best part was taking a break from 24-7 eating and heading the The Aquarium. I think we officially scared Darren enough to stay out of the ocean forever.

Asheville was beautiful.

When mom is away, the boys will play...

I go to Asheville for the weekend and this happens....

Walking Update!

Darren can walk with his push toys! Hopefully this means true walking isn't too far away...

An "Ava Comes to Town" Party

Traci, Jeff and Ava made their way to Atlanta for the weekend - a great excuse to get everyone together! We had a blast - Ava can come back and visit any time.