The Festivities!

This year, I wanted to add a little element of mystery and surprise (ha!) to Mark's birthday celebration. So, with the help of some sweet friends, we were able to enjoy a baby-free evening together. I think we had been out (together, just the two of us) maybe twice since Elijah was born last September! When Mark got home for work, I informed him that we would be heading out to celebrate his special day. Mind you, he had no clue of anything that was going to transpire, which made me that much more excited!

After dropping off the little guy, we were off to enjoy a yummy meal of Mexican food (he had been craving this for months), followed by Mark's choice of a movie or some mini-golf. Since the weather turned out to be beautiful by the evening hours, he choose to go for the golf outing. Being that it was a Monday evening, the place was pretty dead, which was perfect for us! It was so much fun goofing around and just simply enjoying each others company. After a round of mini-golf and a few other arcade games, we picked up Eli and headed back home for dessert. Instead of the usual birthday cake, I decided to surprise Mark with a birthday banana pudding. I think it was a hit! So, that was our day...nothing too exciting...but perfect for us!



This is a typical self-portrait of the two of us. It's hard to get both of us in the pic when there's a foot difference in height!








Eli made his Daddy a card...on the Mac, of course!

Another Year Gone By!

Happy 28th Birthday to my sweet husband and incredible daddy to our little Eli!










Just had to throw this one in too...heehee...

Catchin' Up!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. The past week was a complete blur, as Mark was gone for a men's retreat and Eli, Candy, and I traveled up to my parents' house in Virginia for some last minute car repairs. It was so great being able to visit family and friends, and dad and I were even able to catch an off-broadway showing of the "Wizard of Oz!" Here are a couple pics of our little cutie!

Eli celebrated St. Patty's Day by wearing his green!

































He loves hanging-out with Great-Grandma and "talking" to her dolls!

6-Months-Old!

Elijah is now officially half a year old and I can't believe it's only half a year until he's ONE! Yikes! Here are some things he's up to these days...

*Weight:14 lbs 6oz.
Length: 24 3/4 in
(As of his 6-month appointment on 3/17, he's still measuring on the smaller side, so we are going back for a weight-check in about a month. In the meantime, we're loading him up with solids, in hopes that that will help.)

*He's wearing size 2 diapers and 6-month clothes, although in some brands he's starting to wear some 9-month things. He's also starting to wriggle a lot more on the changing table, which doesn't make his daddy very happy!

* He's still napping/sleeping really well, so that has been great for all of us!

* Nursing continues to go well, he's just a lot more easily distracted these days.

* Eli is rolling all over the place! You put him down on a blanket with toys and he's off of it in record speed! He's tried to pull his knees up under him a few times, but I think we're still a ways off from any real crawling, which is perfectly fine with me!

* His smile isn't quite as gummy anymore because his first teeth broke through exactly on his 6-month birthday. He has two VERY SHARP little teeth working their way upwards in the middle of his lower jaw. The teething hasn't seemed to affect him too much, just a little irritability now and then...and a LOT of extra drooling and mouthing of his hands and other objects.

* Eli continues to enjoy "talking" to himself and others. Usually this consists of high-pitched shrieks, babbling noises, and the occasional elephant sound when he purses his lips together.

* He will randomly arch his back when we are holding him in our arms, sometimes just to do it and other times to actually see someone better.

* He's currently obsessed with faces. He'll just stare at you while he touches your face with his little hands. It's so cute!

* Eli is still going to the Infant Nursery on Sundays, while we go to service. I think we've figured-out that if I leave him a bottle, that will usually keep him happy until our return. We've gone the last 2 Sundays without me being called out of the service...yippee!

* He absolute LOVES his daddy! Every time Mark is around, Elijah is always smiling at him in hopes that he'll play...which pretty much works every time!

*He's loving his rice cereal, so now we're trying to introduce some other new foods to his diet. I gave him some sweet potatoes yesterday and he made the most horrible face before spitting a lot of it back out. I'm not too worried about him though, he's definitely his father's child when it comes to eating. He LOVES his food!

* Eli is very interested in playing with his toys these days. He'll reach out to grab things that he wants to play with or roll to them. One of his favorite toys would still have to be his Jump-A-Roo. He has a blast jumping and playing with all of the fun things around him.

* He also enjoys riding in his Ergo carrier when we go on errands or walk the dog. I absolutely love it when he falls asleep cuddled-up to me when we are walking around the neighborhood.

Overall, it's been so much fun seeing Eli become increasingly observant of the world around him over the past month. His personality is really starting to come out and we are loving every minute of it!



Howdy partner!



Riding in the stroller facing forward now!



Eli got to hang-out with his cousins, but his mommy only got pictures of Isaac and Bekah holding him...I promise to do better next time!



Just a few of the outtakes from Elijah's 6-month "photo shoot"--we may need to re-evaluate the sign, as he likes to eat/destroy it these days!

Yummy!

Eli LOVES his rice cereal! We just have to work on keeping his thumbs out of his mouth between spoonfuls. Current solution...keep his hands pinned under the tray...so far he doesn't seem to mind!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Eli wanted to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday by reading one of his favorites, "The Foot Book," before he went to bed tonight. As we all know, Eli loves his feet!







This post is for you, Mom! ;-)

Father-Son Portrait

I got this e-mail yesterday from Mark titled:

"I found this picture of Elijah and Me"




Makes me laugh-out-loud every time I see it!