Rainy Day

It's been a pretty dry summer, but just this week we are finally getting some much needed rain. Many, many days of it. So, Eli has been doing a lot of this...




He loves to watch the rain fall on our back patio.

Sometimes he'll be like this when he realizes he can't go outside...




Nevertheless, Mommy's been getting creative the last few days to keep Eli entertained inside the house.







He's been a good sport.

Walkin' and Talkin'

Last week I guess Eli decided to try-out a few new things now that he is a big 1-year-old. First off, he's begun to take pretty sporadic groups of steps throughout the day. It's almost as though, if he truly wanted to walk he could, but the realization of standing and moving all by himself is not quite appealing enough yet. He'll take a group of steps, kind of pause, and then slowly lower himself to the floor once he's realized there's nothing to hold on to. It's pretty funny.

Last week he also said something other than his normal "mama" and "dada." What did he say? Of all words, he's now saying "yes". Eli's inability to make the "s" sound correctly, makes it sound more like "yesh." Mark and I were pretty surprised by this choice of word, as most kids usually say "no" first, and boy has he been hearing that a lot more recently. Who knows what'll come out of his mouth next...maybe a "ma'am" after the "yes?" Not counting on that one to happen...

First Birthday Palooza!

Last weekend was spent celebrating Eli's first birthday with our family. We had a doggie-themed party, because he is obsessed with all things having to do with dogs. Mark and I wanted to keep things low-key since he's still a little young to really remember anything. Our plan was to cook-out hamburgers and hotdogs, open gifts, and top everything off with some cake and ice cream. Family began to arrive Friday evening and the festivities began Saturday afternoon. We had 17 people in our little townhome (5 kids, 12 adults, and one very large dog), so our place was pretty full. Thankfully, Eli took a great nap before the party began, so he did awesome! He loved being able to hang-out with all of the family that love him so much! Here are some pictures from the party...

The invite (with address covered)



The birthday banner I made...big deal for me, since I am so NOT crafty!



Eli's monthly pictures were on display too!





Our grill-master!



Final touches being made to the food table by Aunt Erin (aka The Party Starter)





Eli's stuffed-dog...the inspiration for the cake.



The cake I made!




We had cupcakes and bone-shaped cookies too!




Eli loves to "help" Aunt Erin!


Mark, cousin Caleb, and Uncle Ben hanging-out. You can also catch a glimpse of the slide-show Mark made of Eli's 1st year, playing on our TV in the background.






Playing with his cousin, Isaac.


Present Time!





Mark and I gave Eli the basketball hoop...guess who's idea that was...Ha!



Quick family picture before cake...


The excitement was building...


Not sure what to think as we sang all of my family's versions of "Happy Birthday"



Eli's 1st cupcake!




He likes it!



Shoveling it in...




The after-math...




He actually didn't even finish the whole cupcake, just the parts with icing. He is just like his mommy!


The grown-ups went home with containers filled with "puppy chow" and the kiddos got treat bags full of goodies. (Unfortunately I missed getting a photo of the treat bags before they were handed-out.)






Eli wrapped-up the party playing with his cousins and some of his new toys. I think his 1st birthday party was a success!

12-Months-Old!

Then....



and now...




Our little Eli is 12-months-old and we are still in a daze at how quickly the past year flew by! It's truly amazing how much changes the first year. I love that we can look back at his development through the monthly photo-shoots and updates. These memories are priceless! Well, without further delay, here's what Elijah is up to these days...

*We had his 12-month check-up on the 15th and to say he has grown would be an understatement! Here are the stats:

Weight: 24lb 7oz
Height: 30.25 in

Gone are the days of us worrying about his weight! He gained a little over 5 pounds in just the last 3 months! The pediatrician showed us his growth-chart since birth and in just the last 6 months he's really taken off! Guess there's still some hope that he'll get his daddy's height and not mine!

* Eli's solidly fitting into 18-month clothes now and size 4 diapers. He can still fit in some of his 12-month clothes, but not for too much longer.

* He is eating more and more finger-foods. I'm trying to wean him off of baby-food and onto the things we eat. So far this is going pretty well. Eli has really yet to meet a finger-food he does not like. Such his father's child!

* I'm also trying to wean him off the bottle onto sippy and straw cups. This is VERY slow going, but I figure one of these days he'll just decide he's done with the bottle and move on to the cup more easily.

* We're also starting to introduce whole milk this week, so we'll have to see how that goes. I'm going to try to do it gradually.

* Sleeping is still going pretty well. He still seems to need that morning nap from 10-12. At 10:00 a.m. he'll literally watch the Sesame Street theme song and then start yawning the biggest yawns. It's pretty funny to watch. The afternoon nap seems to be the one that takes him longer to settle-down for. He tends to talk/play for a little while and then go to sleep for an hour or two. He'll often wake up and play around his crib after a nap as well. I love it when he wakes up happy!

* Lately, Eli LOVES to point at everything...people, dogs, random objects he sees. It is funny but can be kind of embarrassing too, like when you are standing in the check-out line at Trader Joe's and he's totally pointing at random people around us. He seems to love the reactions he gets from everyone...especially the ladies!

* Our son is also quite the "talker". He babbles constantly but has yet to really say anything other than "Ma-Ma" and "Da-Da." Sometimes it really sounds like he's having a conversation with himself, though!

* He's still crawling as his main mode of transportation. He'll cruise around on furniture occasionally but not much more. He did, however, take a few steps for both Mark and I separately last Thursday. We haven't really seen anything since then, so who knows when he'll try to walk again. I'm thinking it will happen in the next month or so.

* Eli has begun to have a few "fits" here and there. Usually they occur when he's getting into something he shouldn't (i.e.: the dog's water bucket, pulling off our door-stoppers, etc.). He'll start crying these big fat tears and whine, but usually gets over it in less than 30 seconds and moves on to bigger and better things.

* He's showing a lot more interest in books, which the teacher in me can't get enough of!


* During his 12th month, Eli went swinging for the first time. He absolutely loves it and we can't help but laugh watching his hair blowing around like crazy while he's doing it!

* He is obsessed with my hairdryer. If he's around when I"m getting ready, he'll crawl right up to me to get me to shoot some hot-air in his direction.

* He also discovered that he can sit in his Bumbo chair (just barely fitting) and flip out of it. If it were up to him, he'd do it for hours!

* Eli is absolutely obsessed with pictures. Everywhere we go in our home, he's always pointing at the various photos that are around. His personal favorite is this one we have of his cousin Caleb on our fridge. Pictures of himself and other babies come in at a close second.

* Recently, he also likes to do other silly things like "walking" on his knees and rolling/scooting all over our kitchen floor. I feel as though his personality is coming out more and more each day.

*One other thing Eli does now is dance. If he hears a song that he likes, he'll start bopping up and down on his knees or his butt and sometimes even wave his little hands around. He especially likes the theme song for "The Office" which entertains his father to no end! It's pretty awesome!

Eli is such a sweet little guy and we love him to pieces. His killer smile has captured our hearts and we cannot wait to experience this next stage of toddler-hood with our son. We are so blessed!


This is what I see when I go in to get him after a nap...







Crawling all over the place!




Drooling over our pizza...he did get to enjoy some crust.



Eli was sad that we wouldn't let him have a margarita...






"Woohoo, I'm one!"

What a Weekend!

Well, football season is in full swing and Mark could not be happier. Usually, I'm not that into it, but after this past weekend's excitement, I may have a tad more excitement towards it. Why, you may ask? Our alma mater JMU actually WON their game against Virginia Tech (21 to 16) this past Saturday! They aren't even in the same division and Tech was ranked 13th in theirs. This was pretty much a game where JMU was paid a lot of money to make Tech look good when they won. Guess that didn't quite work out! Unfortunately, they didn't broadcast the game down here in NC, but we were able to get updates online. Mark's convinced they won partly due to the fact that Eli wore his JMU t-shirt that day, so now I've been told the poor little guy has to wear his shirt EVERY time that JMU plays for the rest of the season. Let's just say it may be a mid-drift top by the time November rolls around!


Eli was pretty excited about JMU's win over Tech too!




This weekend was also pretty awesome because my sister and I totally pulled-off a birthday surprise for our mom. Mark was super sweet and kept Eli on his own for the night, while I drove up to Richmond Saturday evening to spend some quality time with the girls. We cooked up a yummy dinner and dessert and watched a chick flick. The next morning we had a last-minute surprise (for Mom) with Dad showing-up to join us for church. After the service we went out to lunch and then I had to head back home. It was a quick trip, but I had so much fun being able to spend some quality time with my mom...and Erin too! The weekend was a definite success all around!


A shot of the yummy food...and Mom and me!


Erin and Mom




For some reason, we all wore some shade of green that evening. This was completely unplanned...promise!

Busy Weekend!

Eli was a pretty popular little guy this weekend! On Saturday, we headed out to celebrate his buddy Ramir's first birthday. These two little guys are only a few weeks apart in age and are sure to be great friends in the future. Eli had a great time partying it up!






Then...



Now....



Oh my goodness, these picture make me want to laugh and cry! Where has the time gone! (Oh, and it has been decided that Eli is most definitely larger than Ramir these days!)



Eli also got to swing for the first time while we were at the party...pretty obvious...he LOVED it!





Sunday was quite packed with events as well. Our day began with church and a little guy that decided to wake up a lot earlier than his normal time. This lead to him getting pretty whiny before we left and crashing in the car for the last bit of our short drive. I wasn't sure how he would do in the nursery, since he was a little more tired than usual during his typical nap time. Thankfully, he managed to make it through the entire service in the nursery without a major melt-down...and I was able to hear the whole sermon. It was awesome! Hopefully, he's getting back into the habit of being in the nursery after our summer of crazy travel.

After church, we went home to eat a quick lunch and then headed back out on the road to visit Mark's Grandmother in Petersburg. Mark's parents and sister were also able to make it out to visit with us as well. Like I said, Eli is a pretty popular little guy! He had a great time showing-off for everyone and completely crashed in the car on the way home.





We were all pretty exhausted by Sunday evening, but it was so worth it. Can't wait to see what fun the next weekend will bring!