The Beautiful Facts...

The line down the middle of my tummy first appeared when I was pregnant of you Eli, and then it actually faded...
Then it came back when I was pregnant of you Emma! That was a change ;) a mark of my pregnancies :) heehee.

This is the verse that our pastor read to us after you guys were born.
Never forget it ;) You guys are wonderfully made!

Hahaha! This picture made me laugh. It's blurry, but perfect!



I love you both so very much! I'm so excited about what I have learned, how God has changed me, and how this family has been a blessing to me from God. Both of you babies have given me so much, helped me recognize strengths and weaknesses, and helped me to see that the world does not revolve around ME! hahaha! Love you.

Sick Day...

Dear Elijah,
I feel so bad for you! You have been pretty darn sick yesterday and today. It started the night before last, when you woke up after we put you to bed. You never cry or wake up during the night, and you always sleep very good, so we went in to see what was the matter, and saw that you had thrown up :( It was so sad! You were wanting mommy to hold you right away, and were kind of shaking a bit. So I held you, throw up and all. I waited to clean and change you until you were calmed. Daddy made you a fresh new bed, and put new, clean friends in your crib for you. I cleaned you, changed you, and then held you till you wanted to go back into your crib. You slept for a while, and them we heard you cry again! I walked in there and you were half awake, sitting up, crying a bit. I picked you up and noticed you had thrown up just a tiny bit on one of your stuffed animals. It wasn't very much, but enough to make you uncomfortable. We decided to put you in bed with us. Daddy laid you next to me in bed, and you turned towards me, put your arm around me, and fell right to sleep. You slept through the night with us, and even slept through me moving you off of me to feed Emma twice! I usually can't sleep when you join us. You kick and move so much, and I get crowded, but that night, I was so tired, and also felt super peaceful having you in bed with us so I didn't have to worry, that I slept so great! It was wonderful waking up next to my precious baby.
Yesterday you seemed fine! you were running, playing, and acting like you were just great! Your dad and I just figured you had a sour tummy that night, and that was it. It all started up again later that evening. Last night was TERRIBLE!!! We noticed that you were a bit cranky and tired in the later afternoon. You went to bed just wonderful, but then woke up around 11pm and you were so miserable! You were throwing up mucus, had a stuffy, runny nose, were coughing, and your eyes were weepy. You just wanted to be held. I cuddled you with me on the couch for a while, and then your daddy held you for a while in your room. Even when you fell asleep in our arms, you didn't want to be put back into your crib. Again, we decided to put you in bed with us. I was happy :) If we hadn't, I would have been up ALL night checking on you. This time you gravitated towards your daddy, and I was able to move around more, and get up to get Emma when she cried. Emma refused to go back into her bed, and ended up joining the party with all of us. She slept with mommy, while you slept closer to daddy. Before I was woken by Emma and before she came into bed with all of us, something crazy happened. You move a lot in your sleep. On a regular night, every time I check on you, you are in another position facing the complete opposite way! Last night I woke up to me holding onto your leg very tight. IN MY SLEEP I grabbed your leg because you dove over me and and you were hanging off the edge of the bed by one leg! The leg that I was holding!!! Your daddy also sprung up and grabbed hold of your shirt when he realized what was going on. I was confused, but when I woke up to that, I gasped and pulled you back into bed with us! You were asleep the entire time! So scary, but also quite funny! Although we have pillows surrounding our bed for an occasion such as this, it's still not ideal...
We all woke up this morning at 6am! You were our wake up call. You wanted to get out of bed and play, and not only did you want to play, you wanted to go outside and play. I fell back asleep with Emma for another hour since your daddy got up with you. When I woke up, I walked into the living room, looked out the window, and saw you and daddy all bundled up playing outside! Hahahaha! I couldn't believe you were the same sick little guy from last night. You are are still throwing up, and not as energetic as you usually are, but you are playing and singing. You took a great nap, snuggled with me for a while on the couch while you drank two bottles of water, and are now playing with your toys. I'm hoping for a better night for you although your nose is running like a faucet! :( I know how annoying that can be...
Oh my goodness, yesterday you were walking around the house playing, and then I heard you yell out for us. I ran into your room and you were standing in your crib!!!!! Your daddy was right behind me, and I looked at him confused and said, "did you put him in there?" and he said no! We both started laughing because you had figured out how to climb into your crib from the couch! At least we know you can't get out on your own yet, but I'm waiting for that morning you come walking into our room! Hahahahahaha... I think you will soon figure out how to climb out of there.

Ok, well I love you, I'm taking good care of you, and I hope you get better my love!

enjoying your first cookie all your own!

You loved it :)

You had to eat your spinach and blueberries first ;) but you LOVED your cookie :)

You have been very interested in stacking things. Anything! You are very good at stacking blocks! :)

Funny Little Eli :)

Dear Elijah,
YOU MAKE ME MELT!!! I love you so much, and your sweet disposition, and your sense of humor ;) You are so fun to watch! Here are some fun things you do that make me and your dad laugh, or just look at each other and say "awwwwww." haha...

Whenever we say, would you like to take your nap now, you immediately go around collecting your "friends," (stuffed animals) and once you have them all in your arms, you stand in front of us so that we can pick you up and put you in your crib! It's so cute! When you wake up in the morning, or from your naps, you gather all your "friends" into your arms, or hand them off to me or daddy, and then are ready to come out. But all your stuffed animals go in and out of the crib with you! It's so funny! This is stuff we never taught you, you just started doing. Another thing you do is when you hear the phrase, "I love you," You usually blow a kiss! It's so funny! The other day I was straightening my hair in the bathroom, and you usually like to be in there when I am, so you were standing behind me, talking to me. I started singing, "boogy, boogy, boogy, shake it, shake it, shake it," and you grabbed the bath tub and started shaking your butt and twisting your hips back and forth! It was hilarious! I called out to your daddy, and when he came it, you turned around and started shaking your shoulders! You LOVE to dance; especially when mommy sings silly songs. Hahaha
Your daddy and you wrestle and rough house ALL THE TIME! I usually don't watch because you guys get so crazy, and I find myself constantly saying, "be careful... Yikes! watch his head!" etc. Haha, so I just glance over here and there and trust that your daddy will take good care of you! Haha But last night your daddy said, "watch babe, look what we can do!" so I looked over to see you running at your daddy from across the room, and you dove into a pillow he was holding up in the air, and then he would fly backwards and lift you up over his head!!!!! All I said was... "No!" Hahahahaha... But you guys were both laughing hysterically... Oh gosh... I have seen you run and dive on your daddy's stomach while he is lying on the floor! You two are seriously funny.
The other day I was sitting in the back seat between you and Emma, and she needed to eat while daddy was in the store. So I got her out of her seat and started to nurse her... You looked at us, then you got a very serious expression on your face, and said, "Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh." Then you pointed at Emma eating, and shook your head no. You get very protective over me if you think someone is hurting me, and so I think you thought Emma was hurting me. I had to try and explain to you that this was how Emma drinks her milk, and it doesn't hurt mommy. Hahaha. You were finally ok with it, and smiled. But I thought it was so funny!
We were all playing in the sprinklers yesterday, and your daddy started splashing me with water and getting me super soaked! I was screaming and we were playing, but I told your daddy to stop in a playful way, but you didn't like it to much. You got mad at daddy, and started crying because you thought he was being mean to mommy. Hahahahahaha! I picked you up, and again, had to explain to you that I was fine, and that daddy was just playing. Then we all three had a blast running through the sprinklers, and cooling off. You are such a caring little guy. I love it! I was the same way with my mom. I remember one time when people were trying to throw her in the church pool, I grabbed her leg and started crying! I was protective of my mommy that's for sure! I think all kids are to an extent. You also got upset the other day at auntie Jessica and uncle C.J.'s house because Nic and your nina were rough housing. You didn't care at all until it appeared to you that nina was getting hurt, then you walked up to them, put your hands over your face saying, "Ooooooooooh," and then started to cry a little. You thought Nic was beating up your nina, but when you realized it was not the case, you were fine, and wanted in on the playing. Hahaha. You got protective over Nic once too when someone was pretending to hurt him while wrestling. Sometimes you can't tell if it's play or for real, but once you figure it out and see that they are laughing, you calm down and usually want to jump in yourself ;)
Gosh you do so many things that make us smile or laugh or melt from the cuteness, but I can never write about ALL of them. There are to many! I am so blessed to be your mommy. I love you Eli. Hope you are having a great nap.

Lovin' on your daddy :)

LOVE

so sweet

Eating your fruit salad I made for you yesterday :)

You love playing outside with the hose and your truck :)

Sprinklers!

You and Emma :)

Adjusting to a New Little Blessing!

Dear Elijah,
You are taking a nap right now, and I am resting with your sister on the couch. You have been such an amazing big brother to Emma! I am so proud of you. You are so sweet giving her hugs and kisses, and being gentle with her. I can't believe how great you are adjusting considering you are still a baby yourself! You are not even 1 1/2 yet! I have noticed a few things that are different in you, but nothing to major. You still get lots of attention and love, so I think you will continue adjusting just fine :)

The other morning we left Emma in our bedroom sleeping, and you, mommy and daddy were out in the living room playing. You all of a sudden looked up at where Emma would usually be if she was in the living room, and went running over pointing, and shouting her name! You looked and she wasn't there, and then looked at daddy with big, wide open eyes! Then you proceeded to pull all the blankets away, and feel around, but you still couldn't find your sister! We were laughing and then we took you into the bedroom to let you see where she was, and you gave her a kiss and ran back into the living room to play. Hahaha... You used to go on with life kind of forgetting that Emma was even here, and then you would see her, look surprised and remember that she was around! Hahaha, it was funny. You are now at the point where you know who she is, and you know she lives with us. You play with her for longer periods of time now, and are always trying to give her her binky, and feed her your bottle! Haha. You steel her binky a lot too ;)

So you have picked up somewhere, I have no idea where, how to pinch! You think it's a fun little game, but we have to tell you it's not! We don't want you to go around pinching other people, but for now you restrict your pinching to mommy and daddy. We are taking it one day at a time trying to teach you that it's not kind to pinch and that it hurts us when you do. This is not an easy task considering the fact that we want to laugh every time it happens. We refrain from laughing, but it is difficult. You don't do it maliciously, you do it with a smile on your face and want to play. I think it's kind of your way of picking a play fight with us so we will wrestle with you.

You have a pretty shy nature about you when you are first around other people. You cling to me or your daddy, until you feel comfortable enough to break away. Once you break away, you are usually running all over the place, flirting with other people, and no longer need us close by. It takes you about a good half hour to warm up to people. You have a very select few that you will immediately go to, and those are people who you see all the time, and who have been pretty intentional in winning you over. haha... Your nina is one of those people. She always makes it a point to call me and ask me to go to coffee, or ask if I need her to come with me to the store. It's nice having someone who can hang out with you even when you are doing daily, boring things like grocery shopping. She is so helpful with you guys, and when we do go to coffee it's not stressful because she just jumps right in there and helps me entertain you, and keep you happy :) Every body needs someone like this in their lives, and I'm pretty blessed to have such a down to earth, helpful older sister :) In fact just two days ago, I called her and asked if she would mind coming over for just 15 minutes to watch you and your sister while I jumped in the shower. She was over here in like 2 seconds, and was so happy I asked. That felt nice... The shower felt nice too! Haha...

Ok, I better go now. I love you little guy!

We had lots of fun celebrating your grandmas 60th birthday!