Beach Vacation #2! (aka A LONG Post w/ TONS of pics!)

During the week of July 10th-17th, we joined my family for our annual vacation at Virginia Beach. As usual, the week was filled with many fun new memories and adventures! Here's how the week played-out...

We arrived to our timeshare Saturday evening and got settled-in for the week. Candy spent the week hanging-out with the other dogs at my parent's house. Eli absolutely LOVED having Candy travel in the seat right next to him on our drive. He would frequently squeal with delight when her tail would swat him or his carseat toys. It was hilarious!

On Sunday, we hung-out with our good family friends, Elizabeth, Rachel (and her sweet 1 1/2-year-old son Carter), and their mom (my "Aunt" Kim). The boys loved playing with each others' sand toys while the grown-ups visited for a while. We had a LOT of catching-up to do! Eli also sat for a little while at the water's edge and had a great time splashing in the little waves that would wash up around him.




Later that evening, the adults in our group went for our traditional seafood dinner at Rockafeller's. We usually go there later in the week, but unfortunately my sister was leaving to go back to work on Monday. So, the kiddos stayed back at the condos with my cousins who had come out to baby-sit. We got a great table overlooking the water on their upper-deck porch right at sunset. It was beautiful and the food and company was excellent! My family loves us some good seafood!












On Monday, Mark, Eli, and I were all greased-up and ready to go out to the beach after lunchtime. Unfortunately, right before we left I noticed Elijah felt a little warm and after a temp-check realized he was running a fever of 102. So, we nixed our plans for the beach and spent most of the rest of the day just hanging-out with family in our condos.

Eli's fever continued through most of Tuesday, so again, we missed-out on the beach. However, by this time, we had decided that his elevated temperature was probably due to some nasty teething since he didn't have any other symptoms of sickness. (Sure enough, we saw later that week that he was indeed working on the teeth on either side of his top front teeth!) We did end up going out to catch a late afternoon showing of Toy Story 3 (which is SO good!) with the whole family. This was actually Eli's first official movie at a theater...and probably his last for a few years! He made it through about the first 20 minutes but then decided that he was too tired and fussy to continue watching. Thankfully, Grandma was there to save the day and she entertained him for the remainder of the movie...causing her to miss most of it. Boo! However, Eli did finally decide to fall asleep in the final 10 minutes! What a turkey!

On Wednesday, Mark spent the morning golfing with my brother, so Eli and I took it easy with the rest of the family. (His fever finally broke the night before.) We had some crazy thunderstorms that afternoon, so our attempt to hit the beach again was out. We did enjoy some more quality family hang-out time though!

My parents graciously offered us the chance to have a date during our vacation week, so we decided to celebrate our belated 5th wedding anniversary from the previous Friday. We ate some awesome Mexican food at one our favorite local places, Plaza Azteca. After that, we played a round of mini-golf at Jungle Golf and actually TIED! Usually Mark slaughters me when we play, but I had to bust out my skills that night. You know I kept that scorecard too! It was a great night!





By the time Thursday rolled around, we were so beyond ready to get some good beach time in! But first, Mark, Eli, our nephew Jacob, and I spent the morning exploring the local aquarium. Jakes was so excited to see the shark exhibit, we had to go twice while we were there! We had a great time with the boys, seeing their reactions to all of the fish and animals.








After a quick stop for some Slurpees (another Eli first), we spent the afternoon soaking up some rays and swimming in the ocean. Eli loved swimming in the ocean with his daddy and playing in the sand with his cousins! Later that evening, we went to see the local Triple A baseball team, the Tides, play a game in Norfolk. (They are actually the farm team for the Orioles, so that is why Eli was all decked out in his black and orange.) This was Eli's first baseball experience and he had a great time...even though he did sleep through part of it! He even got to meet the team's mascot, Rip-Tide! After the game, we decided to hit up Doumar's for some icecream. By the time we got back to the condo, Eli was absolutely wired and didn't fall asleep until 1 A.M.!












Friday was our last full day of vacation, so we spent it as a family at the beach. The water was a bit colder, but Eli got to play in his own private little sand-pool dug by his daddy. He just loved playing in there with his twin cousins, Caleb and Rebekah. We finished-up our beach time with lots of fun mini-photo shoots and headed back to the condos to get ready for our traditional dinner at Pizza Planet (aka Planet Pizza). As cheesy as the name sounds and the place looks, we always get some great pizza there. This year did not disappoint!
















On Saturday morning, everyone packed-up and headed back home. I am always sad to see our beach week end. We had such a wonderful week vacationing as a family of 3 this year and look forward to making even more new memories with Eli next year too! We can't wait! (and hopefully Aunt Erin, Aunt Brittney, and Uncle Matt will be able to join us for the whole week next time...it just wasn't the same without them...Eli told me so!)

10-Months-Old!

(We were at Virginia Beach for Elijah's 10-Month Picture and a special thank-you goes out to Eli's Grandaddy for his sweet sand-writing skills!)


Eli is now in the double-digit months for age and we're in disbelief at how quickly the time is just flying by! His 10th month has been full of fun! Here's what he's been up to...

* No new weight/height stats until his 12-month check-up, but we think he's definitely passed the 20 pound mark. He's got quite the Buddha belly and some seriously cute thunder thighs.

* He's still fitting into his 9-month clothes, but we've started transitioning into some 12-month stuff. His 9-month onesies and footie pajamas are getting a little short. It still amazes me how quickly kids grow through their clothes!

* Eli got his 5th tooth at the beginning of his 10th month (while we were back home in VA) and just this past week he decided to start cutting 2 more teeth (the ones on either side of his top two) while we were on vacation at the beach. So, the current tooth total is 7 and boy is he a drool-monster these days!

* The baby-proofing has begun...as well as the bumps and bruises! Elijah is crawling at faster speeds each day and getting into EVERYTHING! He will pause to take breaks and sit on his knees quite often too. Oh, and anything confining (highchair, carseat, etc.) is so not cool anymore. There are just too many things to explore these days!

* On July 5th, he pulled to a standing position for the very first time. He doesn't do it very often yet, so we're thinking walking may take a couple more months. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. No rush! This new development did require us to lower his crib mattress, however.

* With all of Eli's newfound mobility comes the squirmy-ness in other areas. He still absolutely HATES getting dressed (especially after a bath) and does NOT enjoy getting his diaper changed. A few weeks back, he had a week when I dreaded his diaper changes because he was so wiggly and fussy. Thankfully, things have mellowed out once again. We just always make sure he has something to play with/distract him during changes.

* Eli is trying and eating more solids these days. He is obsessed with any type of "big people" food and always wants what everyone else is eating. He'll stare the person down and open his mouth for food if they're eating nearby. It's hilarious! He's tried bananas, grapes, blueberries, green beans, beans, ground turkey, pancakes, ice cream, pizza crust, english muffin, and yogurt. I'm sure there are other things, but those are just some that came to mind. Hopefully, we will be able to transition Eli to more table-food over the next month, as he seems to be more ready and interested in it these days.

* Unfortunately, he did decide at 9 1/2 months that he was done with nursing. He just wasn't interested and was VERY hungry afterwards. So, now he's completely weaned onto four bottles of formula a day. It did break my heart that we weren't able to make it to one-year-old, but I am thankful for the amount of time I was able to provide nutrition for our son. Eli definitely wasn't the easiest nurser, but it was such a special bonding time that I miss greatly.

* Elijah continues to be pretty vocal. He'll have conversations with himself just jabbering away for minutes at a time. He's also occasionally made a barking sound while crawling around. No real words yet.

* I think he knows I am Ma-Ma, because when he is fussy, he'll crawl to me and climb up my leg saying it. It's kind of pitiful but cute too!

* Speaking of barking, the boy LOVES his dog, Candy. No matter how many times she steps on him and knocks him over, she can make him laugh the hardest.

* Eli is extremely ticklish. He gets that from his mommy. Poor guy!

* He still LOVES the pool. His cousins came to swim with us a few weeks ago and he could not stop laughing at and splashing them.

* Peek-A-Boo continues to be a favorite game these days.

* He also enjoys it when Mommy sings random silly songs.

* Eli's started to show more interest in books (besides just eating them) and his favorites right now are the Touch-and-Feel ones. He'll use his right pointer-finger to feel everything. It's too cute!


Eli continues to fill our days with such excitement and joy, and we feel so beyond blessed to be his parents!








Notable Out-Takes...

A few things I love...

I just wanted to document a few cute little things that Eli's been up to recently. Here they are...

* I absolutely LOVE going in to get him from his crib in the morning or after a nap...even more than I did before. Why? Almost every time, he greets me with a HUGE grin while bouncing up and down on his knees. Makes me laugh every time!

* Whenever I take Candy out to our backyard to "do her business," Eli will crawl up to the glass door and start banging on it while smiling and squealing in delight. I'll usually wave to him while we are out there and he will proceed to give me an even bigger smile. I NEED to get this on video. It's just too precious! (He'll also do this at our glass storm door a the front of the house...usually when we're waiting for Daddy to get home.)



* Eli has developed a love-affair with the pantry. Any time I forget to close its door, he will start pulling-out the plastic grocery bags. I think he really likes the crinkly sound they make. He can make quite the mess of our kitchen! Disclaimer: I am ALWAYS standing right there when this happens!





* A few days ago, Eli ate his first page from a book. Ironically, it was from the end of the Bible we read to him each night. Guess he heard that it was "The Good Book" and he wanted a taste!

* On Monday evening, Eli pulled-up to his feet for the first time. I was sitting on the couch and noticed he was a little higher than usual (when he would sit on his knees). Mark looked over from the kitchen and confirmed the fact that he was indeed on his feet! He hasn't pulled-up to his feet much since and we are okay with that. We're still trying to adjust to life with a crawler!

* Eli has finally discovered Candy's food bowl and water bucket (yes, bucket) in the dining room. A few days ago, the little turkey actually pilfered a piece of dog food from the bowl when Candy was eating. He proceeded to suck on it for a minute and then spit it out on the kitchen floor in a little puddle of drool. Yesterday, he actually tipped the water bucket over. Thankfully, it was not very full, but the noise of the aluminum hitting the wood floor definitely startled him. Hopefully, both instances will not become a normal occurrence!

First 4th!

On Sunday, we celebrated Eli's first 4th of July. We started the day with a great service at church and then rushed home to prepare for the arrival of Mark's parents. Eli was able to stay up to greet them but quickly went down for his afternoon nap. Our little guy slept for 3 hours! Playing in the church nursery (and lack of a morning nap) almost always guarantees a nice long afternoon nap! While he slept, we grilled and ate a late lunch/early dinner. Then, Eli woke up to eat and spent the rest of the evening playing with his Gram and Grandpa. We headed out to Raleigh to catch some fireworks before Mark's parents had to head back home to Virginia. Eli loved watching all of the kids playing with sparklers and enjoyed the fireworks for the most part. We weren't very close, so I think he got a little bored at times during the actual show. It was 10:30 by the time we got home and our little guy was OUT!









Blast from the past...



This was technically Eli's 1st Fourth of July...he just didn't know it!

Oh, and I've decided that for next year's 4th, I might get wild and crazy and wear something different then blue and white stripes...maybe a little red!

Last Week

We had quite a few things going on around here last week. On Wednesday evening, Eli got to play with his friend Kennedy while her parents went out to celebrate their anniversary. This was the first time he'd been around another baby since he started crawling everywhere, so I was interested to see how he would behave. The babies had a great time playing and Eli only tried to take toys from Kennedy a few times. We'll have to work on the whole sharing thing!





Daddy shared some of his cupcake with Eli too...



On Sunday morning, we decided (a little last minute) to drive out to cheer for two of our friends who were competing in their first triathlon. The weather was crazy hot and humid, but it was so worth it to be there for our friends. They both did AWESOME!

Waiting to cheer on our friends at the end of their race.





A view of the final stretch of their run...entirely uphill...ugh!


Caleb and his mommy getting ready to cheer for his daddy! (Check out his sweet onesie...it says "Go DaDa!")



Reuniting after the race...

Ben & Andrea


Michael & Ashley


The babies were pretty spent by the end, but we all had a great time!