A Discovery Has Been Made...

Eli has found his thumb! Ever since he was a couple weeks old, Elijah has been sucking on his fists, but as of this past weekend, he is regularly finding and sucking on his thumb. He tends to prefer his left one at the moment. Very cute!


This is how I found him during his nap yesterday...





He likes to find it when he's awake too!





Bonus Pic:
This is how I found Eli & his Daddy on Sunday afternoon. There is no doubt they are related!

Busy Weekend!

Our weekend of fun kicked-off with a visit from Aunt Erin from Thursday to Friday. She hadn't really seen Eli since our big apple picking trip, so it was fun seeing her enjoy all of the fun things that he can do now. It was so much fun hanging-out and just catching-up. Neither one of us ever really have a lack of things to talk about! ;-) We can't wait to have her visit again...especially Elijah, who "flirted" with her the entire time she was here! Enjoy some of the pics Erin took while she was here!


So serious...not quite sure what about though!












"Playing with Aunt Erin is fun!"







"I don't want her to go back home to Richmond!"





Oh, I almost forgot! Eli attended his first birthday parties this past weekend. Happy 1st birthday to Preston and Cannon! We had a great time celebrating with you!

2 Months Old!

Ok, so I didn't do such a great job posting about his 1 month stats, but from here on out I am going to try my hardest to document the changes each month brings. So, first, here are Eli's stats:

1-Month-Old:
Weight: 9lbs 7 oz.
Height: 21.5 inches (I really don't think this measure was very accurate, as this was his length when he was born...)



2-Month-Old:
Weight: 10lb 15oz (Mark & I were both guessing he'd be somewhere around 11 pounds...just one ounce shy!)
Height: 22.75 inches

So, according to the percentiles of growth, our little guy continues to be perfectly symmetrical.

What is Eli up to these days?

* He's smiling a LOT and has started to "talk" more, especially when he's laying on the changing table or right after he's eaten.

* As of a few weeks ago, Eli's sleeping pretty well at night. Mark and I joke that after his final feeding aroun 10-11pm, his "switch" just turns off and he's out for the night, typically not waking up until sometime around 6-7am. Now, I just need to be better about going to sleep soon after Eli does, so I can get some sleep too! It's just so hard to not want to stay up and get things done that weren't accomplished during the day!

* He's nursing really well, although it has been determined that his little tummy does NOT like onions very much. Can we say major gas attack!

* He's getting stronger and stronger each day! Just recently, he began supporting himself on his legs when we hold him in our lap or there's some firm surface below him. Eli also continues to hold his head and shoulders up for long periods of time during "tummy time."

* He is also tracking objects a lot more! He especially likes to follow daddy and mommy with his eyes. He still hasn't really noticed Candy yet...and quite honestly, the reverse is also true!

* Eli and mommy made their first solo roadtrip back to Virginia to surprise Great-Grandma. While there, he experienced his very first Noreaster!

* He has survived his first round of vaccinations at his 2-month appointment today. Poor little guy had fallen sound asleep while we were waiting for the nurse to come and give him the shots. She gave him an oral medication (which he sucked right down...our child will eat anything!)and then he received all of his injections. I had prepared myself for the tears, but it still got to me when he let our the longest cry (in one breath) I think I've ever heard from him. Thankfully, he calmed right down after I was able to pick him up to cuddle. He did get some pretty sweet band-aids though!

So, that's about it for month two. We can't believe how quickly time is just flying by since Elijah's arrival, but we're enjoying and loving him so much more with each passing day! It's so crazy how a little baby can completely turn your world upside down in such a beautiful way! We are VERY blessed!

A Weekend of Firsts

So, in my attempt to catch-up on recent happenings, I have to write about last weekend's events. Eli experienced a couple of "firsts" with his mommy and daddy. Mark's folks were here Friday to Saturday evening and treated us to Elijah's 1st meal out at a restaurant. Much to my mother's dismay (there is a story behind her distaste for this place), we decided to go to Ted's Montana Grill. Eli was so exhausted from the day's events that he actually slept through the entire meal! He was such a good dinner guest, and for those of you wondering, no, I did NOT eat bison so that Eli could say he had eaten it...his daddy did though!




On Sunday, after an almost two month hiatus since Eli's arrival, Mark and I attended church. We kept Eli with us in the sanctuary and for the most part he slept through the entire service. It's so funny to me how much planning goes into every outing now. We made sure to have a back-up bottle (even though I had fed him before we left), our seats were in the back of the sanctuary with easy access to an escape route, and there were constant glances (on both our parts) to make sure he was still sleeping through all of the parts of the service. I must say, though, Mark and I have never been so conscious of clapping during the service than we were last week. Why, you may ask? Well, every time the congregation broke into applause, Eli's little eyes would pop open and I would begin to pray that he would fall back to sleep. Mark did a great job of rocking him back to sleep each time, so it ended up not being that big of a deal. And, as Mark observed, "at least we know our son can hear!" Very true! So, that was Elijah's weekend of 1st's. Until next time...


Yes, I was a total nerd and took a picture of Eli with the bulletin at the end of the service...gotta capture these moments, right? ;-)

Halloween...a little late...

This year, our family had a very busy Halloween weekend. First of all, my (Kristin's) parents brought my grandmother down here to meet Eli for the very 1st time. It was a very sweet time of hanging-out with my family. Grandma and Great-Grandma tried to take Eli back home with them to Virginia, but we told them that he'd miss his mommy and daddy too much! ;-)


Here are some pics from their visit...my dad was here too but for some reason I didn't get any pictures with him...sorry Dad! I'll make it up to you next time!















We also attended a couple Halloween parties with friends from our monthly Couples Fellowship and Small Group. My long-awaited dream of dressing my first child as a pea-in-the-pod for Halloween finally came true! (For those of you who do not know, I've been wanting to do this since I was in highschool...always thought that costume was too cute!) Well, Eli didn't disappoint. He was the sweetest little "pea" I've ever seen! Now what will he be next year???

Visitors

The past couple months have consisted of lots of visits from family and friends. Eli has many people who love him so much already and he sure doesn't mind all of the extra attention! We're looking forward to many more fun visits/hang-outs to come...our guest room is always open! :-)


P.S.-->These are pics of only some of our visitors...I wish I was better about taking pictures of everything...but I'm working on it!

Apple Picking 2K9

This year's At Lee Family Apple Picking Trip was held the weekend of October 9th-11th. Per usual, there were many fun memories made, but most importantly, it was Elijah's very 1st apple picking trip! My parents have been going apple picking at Grave's Mountain in Syria, Virginia since before my older brother was born, so this was a pretty big deal! Even though the apple crop wasn't the best this year, Eli was able to find some small apples to "pick". He also met his Uncle Matt and Aunt Brittney for the first time! It was an awesome weekend and we can't wait to take him back next year!