Majorly Cute, Majorly You...

Dear Elijah,
There are some thing that you do that make me laugh, smile and just know how special and smart you are. You are so loving. The way you love on your daddy and me is just so mind blowing. You know we love you, and you know how to express your love for us. You gently grab our faces, and rub your cheeks to our cheeks while closing your eyes, and humming! It's the best thing ever for your dad and I. You also, kiss us. You reach out and grab our heads to pull them towards your face and lay a huge slobbery kiss on us! Oh that's just the best thing ever.
Every time I change your diaper, I pick you up and head straight to the bathroom to wash my hands. You have come to expect this and love looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror, and joining me in washing your little hands too! You get so excited to put your little hands in the water like mommy does, and you even dry them off on the towel with me! It truly is the funniest little thing ever to watch. You already have your little hands stretched out as we walk towards the bathroom door!
Recently you also have discovered how to take off your own diaper. I was changing your diaper the other day, and when I was looking away for a moment, you unlatched your diaper. I went to put your pants on and realized your diaper was undone! So I put it back on, and you went right for it again, and I got to watch you take it off! Hahahahahaha... So now I always have to have you in a piece of clothing! Your so funny baby boy ;) It's been SUPER HOT these past two days, so I have had you in cool baths, and also we lay on my bed with fans blowing on us, and watch Pete's Dragon! Your first time watching mommy's favorite childhood movie ;)

Shirtless baby! It's hot tonight.

No Place Like Home

Dear Elijah,
I have had just the best time with you lately. I always have fun with you, but little man, I tell you, you have been so EXTREMELY cute that at times I think I can't take it. I love laying in mommy and daddy's cozy, comfy, soft bed with you and just laughing at each other. You lay next to me giggling, touching my face, paying with your feet, and giving me looks that seriously melt my heart! Today I believe I said, "Aaaaah, Elijah James! You own me!" It's because I just love everything about you. I love being HOME with you so much, and would never dream of trading this time we are blessed to have for anything! I love sitting on our couch with blankets piled high and pillows everywhere doing super baby with you! I hold you up in the air and then plunge you down to my face and kiss you. We have fun putting blankets and pillows on the floor and letting you sit up by yourself :) I love watching you jump in your jumpy, smiling, laughing and looking at me to see if I'm watching you. Hahaha. So cute! When you are preoccupied with your toys and jumping, mommy gets to read a book with hot chocolate and a bowl of cereal. I love making you your food! Since you are eating solids now everyday, I've been getting creative. Today you has Zucchini, Spinach, Pumpkin and you actually ate it all! You are a great eater, and not very picky. Oh and by the way, today was your first time swinging on a swing at the park! Crazy! What a big boy. You are growing so fast. :)
At this moment it's about 9pm, and you are asleep in the other room. I'm enjoying vanilla scented candles, music, and cuddle time with your daddy. He just got back from worship practice, so I'm going to go. Love you baby boy!

So literal...

Dear Elijah,
So lately I've been remembering thing about my childhood that make me laugh now. I was a very literal child, as I believe we all are at some point or another. I remember thinking the craziest things ever. I'll give you some examples. One time when my friend Melissa was over playing, she said that I hurt her feelings... But you see, while she was saying that, she was rubbing her arm, so I remember looking very closely at her arm thinking that feeling must be things that are on her arm, and they are falling off now that I hurt them. So I said sorry and kept a watchful eye on her arm! I literally thought "feelings" were little bugs that lived on your arm for a while there... How embarrassing, but true. Also, when I was little, I was praying and when I closed my eyes I saw a red imprint of a shape that resembled a toothbrush. It was probably just the shape of some sort of light that had been shining, and when I closed my eyes it appeared red.  From that point on I figured Jesus looked like a red toothbrush shape. So when I prayed I would picture that in my head. So weird!!! I could go on and on and on, but I won't. I just think it's so precious how our minds work and evolve over the years. I will try to remember this when talking to you. I never really asked questions, I would just stand there and reason it out in my head. However I could make sense out of something in my head, that's what I would stick with and believe whole heatedly. I can't wait to hear about some of the silly things you tell us. I love you pumpkin boy. Oh, and we went out and got your costume for your first Halloween yesterday! You are going to be so cute! Well, you are so cute, but this is going to be fun :) You are totally kicking back on your daddy right now watching football! Pretty much the cutest thing I've seen today :)

This was us about a month and a half ago. Daddy took these. I was in deep thought. haha

Gosh!

Dear Elijah,
One day I'm helping to hold you up so you don't fall over, and the next day you are sitting up for minutes at a time! I mean, the progress that you make in a matter of a DAY is insane! I was going to show people yesterday how you are "learning" to sit up, but told them you would only be able to for like 5 seconds before you fall into soft pillows ;) but you totally proved me wrong. I think I was beside myself more an anyone. Only because I think it's crazy that you can pick something up so fast. You still need me to be right next to you when you sit up by yourself, but you seriously do so great! You will be 6 months old in about a week or so, and I am just so impressed by you. You amaze me! Hahahahaha, I'm so seriously proud of you. Your first tooth has come all the way through, and it's pretty much the cutest tooth I've ever seen! ;) Your auntie Tiff brought by a cool blue seat for you to help you with sitting up by yourself. With this seat, mommy can walk around and not have to be right next to you. You like it, especially when the tray is on it, so you can whack your toys against it and make loud sounds. You are into loud sounds if you are the one making them.
Yesterday you were so entertained by yourself, so I took that as a sign to do stuff around the house. Yay! You allowed me to do 4 loads of laundry (your clothes, our clothes, sheets, and towels), clean the kitchen (scrub counters, sweep and mob the floor, and organize cupboards), clean the living room (dust, vacuum, and rearrange fall decorations), and clean mommy and daddy's bedroom (organize our closet, vacuum, dust, and make the bed with clean new sheets!). Of course in-between cleaning I was playing peek-a-boo, feeding you, changing you, cuddling you and putting you down for naps, but all together you had a wonderful tear free day. Today on the other hand has been a pretty clingy day. I don't mind at all though. It rained all morning, we snuggled on the couch playing with your favorite toys, and mommy sipped on hot cocoa while you enjoyed the spinach/banana baby food I made for you when daddy stopped by in between jobs. You tried crawling today, but then gave up and rolled over onto your back. Hahahahahaha. You now don't have to stay on your tummy when mommy puts you down for tummy time, you can roll over now by yourself. When you roll over onto your back you give me a huge smile as to say, "heeeeeheeeee, I don;t have to do tummy time now!" hahaha. It's very cute. You are showing signs of being very mellow, YET, very strong willed. You are usually very good, and sweet, but if you don't want to do something, you won't! I see some stubbornness coming out in you, accompanied with a sweet spirit. Crazy how parents can kind of tell these things, and kind of get a glimpse at a very young age of who their babies may be in the future. You are very much your own person already, and have likes and dislikes. You show love, anger, frustration, attitude, humor, and so much more. I'm loving getting to know you, and nurture you at this time. We pray for you constantly. I pray that you will be touched by the Holy Spirit, and learn Godly values from us, your relationship with Jesus, your family, and from your extended family; the church. You are such a gift Elijah, and we will always and forever be so grateful for you. Love you.

Work Shmerk,...

Dear Elijah,
 Well, your daddy is of to work again on this fine Monday morning. I have been really missing him a lot lately. I mean, I always, everyday, miss him when he has to work, but in the last two weeks I have gone as far as to ask him to take days off! Eeeeeeeks! I can't be doing that, because it really is important for him to work, plus I'm super thankful that he has a job he loves. He gets to do what he is passionate about every day... :) So do I ;) I get the best thing ever, I get to take care of you! This morning I just didn't want him to leave at all! I was singing songs (ones I made up on the spot) about him not leaving. Can you believe he didn't believe my story about his work calling my phone saying that he didn't have to work today because there was a break in last night and the police had to investigate and take finger prints, so he shouldn't come in today..? I mean, that's totally believable! I sometimes miss the fact that your daddy doesn't walk to work anymore, like he did when we lived in Seattle. Right when he left for work, he would call me and we would talk until he got there :) Now he drives, and can't use his phone in the car. BUT, he does have better hours now, and I'm so thankful that we get so much time together. We always have our weekends together, and that truly is a blessing! You love when your daddy comes home. You smile SO BIG, and then act shy and turn your face into mommy's shoulder, then you look at daddy again with a big smile, and then quickly turn into mommy's shoulder again! It's such a cute little thing you have been doing lately. Then you reach for him, and he holds you while you touch his face with your little hands. Then that soft face touching quickly turns into face grabbing and slapping. Hahahahahaha.
Yesterday you were playing with my phone, and you hit your forehead with the phone and grunted/growled at it! It was so funny. You got very upset with the phone for hurting your head. You have this little funny grunting sound that you do now. It's when you find something amusing, or funny. You grunt... Then you grunt again, then you slowly turn your grunts into laughter. It's so funny! I love when you do that. Another fun (cute) thing you do is when I'm putting you down for a nap, you grab the top of your head over and over and over again, letting your baby hair slip through your tiny fingers. I think you like the feel of your own hair. :) You laugh so much now, although you don;t do that in public as much. You laugh and talk so much when you are at home with mommy and daddy, but when you are with a lot of people, you are quiet and clingy. So funny... Oh, and you sing now. At least I think you are singing... You make a very interested face expression, while opening your mouth wide, and belt out a tune. You do this for long periods of time, and it's not like when you are just making sounds. It's a long, and very focused melodic sound. VERY CUTE! Oh, and we decided what you are going to be for Halloween with the help of your Nino. He gave us the idea, and we love it ;) Ok, love you Elijah.

So fast :)

Dear Elijah,
Well, your cousin Gavin turned 1 years old, and we got to go and celebrate with him today! It was such a sweet birthday party, and it's always nice to get to see family. The colors were very cute, green, orange, brown, and some yellow. It looked super Autumn ;) I love that! There were giraffes, and other cute animal decorations, and Gavin was wearing a hat with his name on it and a #1!!! Too cute! I couldn't help but think of you turning one years old here in the nearer future. I was watching Gavin thinking, Oh my gosh!!! He can't be one year old already! I feel like we just got the text message with his sweet little picture announcing he was born. We were in Seattle when he was born, and you were in mommy's tummy! It's crazy how fast you little ones grow. You got to take home some really cool balloons to play with, and had a great time. You were a bit fussy at times though since there were a lot of people, and you had just woken up from a nap, but all together I think you did great!

Lets see, you have sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much personality these days. You kind of shy up around lots of people, but when it's just you, daddy and mommy, you are a little crazy guy! You grab everything, test your different voices, pull hair, fake cry, laugh super hard, scream laugh when I really amuse you, and when you find a sound you like making, you will just keep on and on and on doing it. It's so funny! You love trying to talk right now, and it's always followed by a proud smile on your face. You do the cutest proud of yourself smile, and you raise your little eyebrow up when you do it. This seriously makes my heart melt! I told your daddy the other day it's almost to much cuteness to take in... Hahaha... I love you so much! You are so fun to play with, and I am enjoying every new and old thing you do ;)

Time For Change...

Dear Elijah,
It was a Time for Change Fitness weekend and much much more... Your daddy finished his recipe/exercise booklet, and it came out really great! I am so so so proud of him, and how he put so much into this product. You were super patient with daddy for the past week while he pressed into his work full force to tie it all up! You, daddy and mommy went out this past Saturday to "Light at the Light House" which is a Christian festival with bands and lots of fun stuff :) Your daddy had a fitness booth, and you and I went out to support him. He is so passionate about what he does, and I really hope you inherit that from him :) It's a great way to be. Plus, he lets us be super involved in everything he does. It's so fun to go out and do stuff like that as a family. You pretty much go everywhere we go... This past week I thought of am AWESOME tradition we are going to be starting to do as a family! Gosh it gets me so excited when I come up with things like that since I know family time is so important, and will mean so much when your older. It's a Christmas tradition having to do with Christmas morning ;) You'll find out what it is eventually. Also, we are starting worship time with you before bed. This just started because daddy finally got some small drums to play at home, and mommy tuned her dusty guitar :) W are really excited about it though, and pray that it will be a tradition we will keep and share forever.
Your uncle C.J. came over to visit the other day and we got to talking about all the games we made up as kids, and how much fun they were! He reminded me of "the VO vo lady!!!" When your mommy (me) was little I used to just be sitting in a room with my brother and sister and all of a sudden start saying very softly at first... "Vo vo, Vo vo, Vo vo..." and they would just take off running as I yelled louder, "VO VO, VO VO, VO VO, VO VO!!!" Hence, I was the Vovo Lady ;) One of our silly games. But only I could ever be the Vo Vo Lady... True story... Anyway, then we had other games we made up called, Bull Dog, Slap Feet, Say Hello to the Spider and so on and so forth...  I am really hoping you too make up your own funny games, and have as much fun as we did, and MORE! :)

By the way you were sang to this past weekend by a lady who said that she wrote children songs... The lyrics went something like this, and I'm being very serious here... The title is : Autumn Leaves... "(in no particular tune) the reluctant cook was in the kitchen, and her husband said make me some meat and potatoes, so she went into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator, and the cupboards. And she found all the ingredients, and so on and so forth. and of course she makes the food, and they eat the food and say how much they like it. and then they say maybe they want some dessert too, and so on and so forth. And she goes outside and theres Autumn Leaves falling. and it's a little bit cold, and she's glad she has a jacket." The end... and yes, the so on and so forth was an actual part of the song.

Today you got to hang out with some fun little girls. We all had so much fun together! I babysat an old friends kids today, and they were so nice with you, always hugging and kissing you. You were loving this time with them because they made you laugh and talk more than usual. I think you were really trying to communicate with them. It was hilarious! You were so into them. They sang to you too! We went to the duck park (Avril Park) and there were geese out from that chased us down! I was like, aaaaaaaaaaah, turn around girls, and run for it! Hahahahahaha. I was pushing you in your stroller, carrying the 2 1/2 year old, and helping the 4 year old run! It was so funny. I was talking so sure of myself, like, "oh, don't worry girls, they won't get to close..." Little did I know... THEY SURE WOULD! The didn;t want us to enter the park that way, so we chose another way ;) Then we all fed the ducks, and walked through the beautiful park singing songs and watching the ducks swim. All of a sudden I pointed out a cute little squirrel. I said, "hey girls, look at that cute little squirrel, isn't he so cute and little." Yeah, not very cute when he comes right up to you seeming as if he was going to crawl up your leg! He literally crawled right up to our feet and the girls immediately crawled up me! They were both in my arms, and I was trying to push the stroller away from the creepy squirrel who was trying to seriously jump into your stroller. That's when me and Stephanie (the 4 year old) concluded, we better go to another park with less animals... So we did, and ended up at Friendship park. That was way better and you liked putting your little feet in the sand and watching the girls play on the toys. Then we went to Yogurt Land for a little bit of Yogurt. Yum! Then off to grandma's house for some fun play time with all the toys she has in the spare room ;) For lunch I packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples, grapes and water. You had milk ;) Oh man Eli, it really was fun, and kind of cool to get a glimps of what having 3 kids might be like. Love you baby boy! By the way... you are into EVERYTHING right now. ou grab anything that's in front of you, and you are so focust on touching everything you can. I have to say, it's a super super super cute stage! I am loving it. I'm getting a little beat up, but it's ok. You pul my hair, slap me in the face, and scratch me, but at least you are motivated right? Heehee ;)