Surprise Baby Shower

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my sister, sister-in-law Brittney, and mom surprised me with a shower for our newest little guy. Being pregnant for the 2nd time and with the same gender as our 1st, I really wasn't expecting to be "showered" this time around. We already had most everything we needed from when Eli was a little guy, but I guess they had other plans!

We had chocolate and cheese fondue, cupcakes, and cocoa-flavored rice-krispie-treats. Everything was delicious! (I may or may not have had a somewhat minor obsession with cocoa-krispies this pregnancy)

Our newest little guy was completely spoiled by my family and friends. I had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and felt so blessed by such a fun surprise!

(Sadly, I didn't realize until the next day that I never got a picture with my 3 hostesses. Sorry Mom, Erin, and Britt!)

Oh and Eli and Mark stopped by afterwards for a quick hello and to sample some of the party food. My boys do love them some baked goods!

Finishing-Up November

The month of November was definitely a whirlwind for us. Between birthday parties, school events, Thanksgiving travels, and preparations for baby #2, there was no lack of things to do. Here are some of the highlights of the rest of our November:

We moved Eli to his new "Big-Boy Room" (our old guest room) the weekend before Thanksgiving. These pictures were taken after his last nap in his old crib. He had no idea that his bed was about to be turned back into a crib for baby brother. That realization happened later that evening and some tears were shed. However, all was well after Dada built him a sweet mini-train-track on the floor next to his bed and he slept in his new room that evening like a champ.

The Monday evening before we were to travel to Virginia for Thanksgiving, Eli caught a pretty nasty stomach bug. That was no fun.

Thankfully, he was feeling well enough to travel by Wednesday, so we headed to Virginia that afternoon. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family this year and got to do lots of fun stuff while we were there. Eli loved watching the Macy's Day Parade but wasn't all that into the Thanksgiving meal, except for the Turkey cupcake he ate for dessert. There is always room for a cupcake! I think his tummy was still a little sensitive from being sick earlier that week. No worries, Mark and I enjoyed all of the yummy food and then some!

The weather was gorgeous while we were in VA, so we spent quite a bit of time outside. Eli loved it when Mark would toss him into the leaf piles outside of my parent's house.

The guys visited the Air and Space Museum one morning too!

We met-up for a quick visit with Gram and Grandpa the Sunday before heading back home. I did not get any pictures while we were together but all I can say is that Eli was worn-out that evening. He fell asleep on the car ride back to my parent's house and didn't wake-up the rest of the night. Not even to eat some dinner! That NEVER happens!

We had a wonderful visit with family and enjoyed our last real trip as a family of 3. So crazy to say that!

During the final week of November, things were thankfully a bit slower as we got back into our normal swing-of-things.

Eli loved showing-off his sweet new Batman hoodie from Grandma. This was a big-brother gift from a surprise baby shower that was held for me while we were in Virginia. More on that later.

I worked my last volunteer day at his school (before baby arrives) on Thursday. Spending 4 hours wrangling 10 2/3-year-olds is exhausting but I must admit they are pretty funny! Eli always enjoys visiting his parking-lot "friends" when we get a chance.

My boys hung our outside Christmas lights. Well, technically Mark and I hung them while Eli napped, but he did get to climb our ladder a couple times. He is all about helping these days because he's a "big boy," but sometimes certain tasks are just easier (and more safe) to do on our own. Maybe next year he'll be able to help a bit more. We shall see!

So that was our November. On to my favorite month of the year...December!

1st Pre-School Thanksgiving

Yesterday, Eli and I got to experience his very 1st pre-school Thanksgiving celebration. (Daddy had to work. Boo!) His class dressed-up as Native Americans/Indians/First Americans (whatever they are being called these days) and joined the other classes in performing a few quick songs in the gym. My son was one of the only ones to refuse to wear his feather headdress (not too much of a surprise there) and I think he was turned towards the back of the risers they were on, to watch the bigger kids, for most of the time they performed. It was still fun to watch, though.

After the short performance, we "feasted" on various Thanksgiving dishes together. In true Eli fashion, he was most excited about the dessert table and kept trying to convince me he needed just one more cookie or sliver of pumpkin pie. He's such a mess!

We were sent home with a couple special pieces of artwork they had been working on in class that totally melted my heart. I mean, how long will he tell his teachers that he is thankful for his mommy. So sweet! It still feels surreal to be in this new season of school and holiday performances, but I'm loving every minute of it!


"What? There are cookies on yonder table?"

Car Wash

My car has been in pretty desperate need of a good wash-down for quite some time. These days Eli absolutely LOVES to "help" his daddy do anything and everything, so this was so much fun for him. A few soaked outfits, sponges, and rags later, my car was clean and sparkling again. Very thankful for my boys who take care of me so well!

Pictures and Such

The reality that we probably have a little under 2 months before baby boy's arrival is quickly setting in. So, over the past week Mark and I kicked ourselves into high-gear to get things moving on Eli's new "big-boy room." After 5 years in our current home, my husband had to say good-bye to his dorm-room/office. He is mourning the loss of his massive desk space but has been so wonderful in helping re-organize and set-up Eli's new space. I've promised him that someday he will have an office again, it just may be some time down the road. Probably when all our kids are out of the house!

Despite all the hard-work going on around here, we made sure to have some fun this week. Gotta keep things balanced!

First, Eli helped me change-out our Halloween decor to Thanksgiving. The highlight for him being the placement of the window-clings on our back-door. Please note the careful sorting job with the apples and pumpkins. He was very proud of this.

Eli felt like accessorizing a bit this evening. These sunglasses didn't last much longer after the picture was taken. So sad.

Aunt Erin graced us with a very quick visit while she was in the area for a seminary class. Always a good time to be had when she is here!

We made a "T" Turkey to make our kitchen a bit more festive

Checked-out a sweet firetruck during our trip to Lowes (I seriously think we saw about 5 firetrucks while we were out and about that morning!)

Eli finally got a replacement Grem (the orange lemon car from Cars 2). We're not quite sure what happened to his first one but are pretty confident he will come out of hiding now that he's been replaced. All I know is that we have one happy boy now that Grem and Acer are back together. It's the simple things in life!

Halloween 2012

Eli spent most of the month of October eagerly anticipating the arrival of Halloween. We don't do too much around here to celebrate, just decorate with some pumpkins and go trick-or-treating, but he loved it none-the-less. It's amazing how much more excited he was about everything this year! It made everything that more fun!

On Tuesday evening, we carved our pumpkins. Eli pretty much supervised us while we carved, but he did enjoy looking inside to see all of the guts and seeds when I opened our pumpkins up. I offered for him to help me clean-out the seeds but he adamantly refused, saying it was too gross and slimy. I must admit, I was the exact same way growing up. Maybe next year he'll be more willing to help-out.

Last night we waited for Daddy to get home to go trick-or-treating. Eli was so excited to go this year, I didn't even have to bribe him to put on his monkey costume! It was so much easier than last year! Our friend Ashley and her sweet dog Maddie joined us too. We went to houses for about an hour and then our little guy was DONE. Boy got quite the haul, though. I think his Daddy was most excited about that! We ate a few pieces of candy when we got back home and Eli went right to bed. Trick-or-treating is hard work but he's already looking forward to next year. Guess he'll have to show little brother how it's done!

Oh, and don't worry, Mark came up with this last-minute costume for baby brother. He didn't want him to feel left out. It was quite the hit!

Pumpkin Patch

Eli and I had the opportunity to join my parents on a visit to a pumpkin patch recently. The weather was absolutely perfect and our little guy took his job to find Mommy and Daddy the perfect pumpkins very seriously!