Dedication

Last Sunday (the 14th), Mark and I were finally able to dedicate Eli in front of our church congregation. Both sets of parents, Mark's sister, and his grandmother were able to join us for this special day too. Eli was pretty well behaved, for a 14-month-old who had to wait about 30 minutes before the dedication "ceremony" took place. He did try to grab the microphone to say a few words when Mark was introducing us, but that was it. We were so thankful to have the opportunity to publicly present our son to our church family and profess our desire to raise him in a Christian home. It was a very special day for our little family.

Eli attempting to say a few words to the congregation...



Wearing his special outfit from Grandma




Tried to get a family pic...someone was a little tired by this point



Checking things out...



Mark's Family



My Family

The Haircut

Eli entered this world with a head full of blond hair and by a year old it was starting to get pretty shaggy. To be honest, it was downright driving me crazy, as I was constantly having to brush it out of his eyes. Well, somehow this shagginess lasted until he was 14-months-old. Last Thursday, Mark and I decided we were just going to take Eli for his first haircut when Mark got home for work that evening. Problem #1: evening is probably not the best time to take a young child out for a haircut...especially his first. We went to Sports Clips, thinking the huge TV's playing sports everywhere would be a good distraction from what was going on "up top." Wrong. No amount of food, sitting on his mommy's lap, or cuddling with his Sheepie would keep him still. The poor girl was so apologetic that she could barely cut even a little off of his bangs. We assured her it was not her fault and left a good tip to let her know we weren't upset. Then, since we were near Target, we decided to go purchase a pair of hair-cutting scissors to try trimming things up ourselves. Problem #2: Cutting hair is not the easiest thing to do, especially when you are starting from scratch...with no previous cut to go by. We got back home about 7ish and decided to strip Eli down to his diaper, have Mark hold him in his lap, and put on the Clifford movie that Eli is currently obsessed with. Well, our plan started off pretty smoothly. Once settled into his movie, Eli kept pretty still while I began to trim the thick bunch of hair over his right ear. Unfortunately, my cut just did not look right and Mark began accusing me of giving our son a mullet on the right side of his head. I didn't think it was quite a mullet, but it wasn't good looking either. After this, we decided to just suck it up and have me schedule an appointment for Eli to get his hair cut at the kid's salon up the road. Yes, it would be a bit more than what we would normally pay for a child's haircut, but by this point we were desperate.

Eli had his haircut appointment Saturday afternoon (I had to take him solo--which was pretty nerve-wracking for me), right after lunch, and the experience was SO much better than before! The lady that cut his hair was quick and he was so distracted by the airplane chair he was sitting in, the animal crackers I was feeding him, and the toys she gave him to play with, that he barely noticed what was going on. The haircut literally took about 5 minutes and his hair looked just how I wanted it to. Nothing too drastically cut, just a good cleaning-up all over. He looks so handsome (and slightly older) with his new do and we're loving it!

Before...



The "Mullet"



In the zone with a mouth full of animal crackers.


After...



He's pretty pleased with his new haircut too!

Boo At The Zoo

On October 23rd, Eli and I met up with his Uncle Rick, Aunt Heather, and cousins for some fun at the NC Zoo. Every year they host "Boo at the Zoo", which is basically an opportunity for kids to dress-up in their costumes, play some games, and listen to some kid-centered music. We didn't dress the kids up, but that didn't matter much, as there were plenty of other things to keep them busy. We had the best weather too, sunny and the perfect temperature for being outside. Eli really enjoyed seeing the animals. (I think it was nap-time for most of them when we were walking around to the different exhibits.) His favorite animals were the puffins. He would giggle up a storm as they splashed around in the water. He also loved riding on the tram to the other part of the zoo. (The NC Zoo is one of the nation's largest zoo's--in acreage) I think he liked the feeling of the wind in his face and hair. It was too cute!

After spending a great day with his aunt, uncle, and cousins, Eli was pretty wiped. He fell asleep within minutes of us leaving the zoo's parking lot! We even stopped to get a quick bite to eat in town before heading back and he slept through the entire meal in his bucket seat! (A huge shout-out goes to Uncle Rick for lugging it inside the restaurant for me!) Suffice it to say, we all had a great day and look forward to taking Daddy with us for our next zoo visit.

Trunk or Treat!

Two Sundays ago, we joined our friends the Porter's for their church's Trunk-or-Treat. Since Eli is still working on the walking thing and regular neighborhood trick-or-treating would be a little challenging, we figured this would be a perfect event for him. He had a great time toddling around with his buddy Caleb and selecting his piece of candy from the bowls at every car. However, he never quite figured out that he needed to drop the pieces of candy into his trick-or-treat sack. Maybe next year.

Tight grip on his animal crackers...


Caleb trying to help Eli with his hood...


Cutest little duck ever! (He did not like his hood either)



Our little tiger!


The 3 of us!

State Fair!

Last Thursday, Mark and I took Eli to his first NC State Fair. We had to miss last year because he was a tiny newborn. From the start, Eli loved it. The weather that evening was perfect and there was so much for him to see and hear.

We were able to catch a pig race, visit a LOT of animals, and eat a TON of yummy fair food. To Mark and I, the fair is mostly about the food. I mean, where else can you get fried oreos and fried pecan pie? Eli was able to enjoy a sampling of everything we ate too, and boy did he love that!

This year's fair experience definitely did not disappoint! All three of us are looking forward to next year's fun already!



So this is what a fried oreo looks like...



Beyond ready to take a bite!



The 864 pound pumpkin!



Looking at some animals.





So excited about my frozen chocolate-covered banana with sprinkles! My favorite fair food!



Eli's eyes were locked onto Daddy's fried pecan pie!

Rough Night!

A couple weekends ago, we had our monthly Couples Fellowship dinner. Since it fell so close to Halloween, we decided to dress-up the kids like we did last year. Things were so much different this time around...which is to be expected with an almost 2-year-old, a 1 1/2-year-old, 2 one-year-olds, and a one-month old!

So, let's get to the reason for the title of this post. Eli's night started out well. He was having a great time toddling around playing with his little buddies. The drama began at dinner, when I had to take his milk cup away because he kept slamming it on his highchair making milk squirt everywhere. This did NOT go over well. He proceeded to throw the biggest crying fit, eventually making himself vomit-up some of his dinner. The worst part was that the puke came out with a huge bubble that I totally caught in my hand. What a Mom moment. Eventually, he calmed himself down and was perfectly fine.

After eating, we dressed-up all of the kids. Eli is a tiger this year and absolutely hates the hood that is a part of his costume. Taking pictures was quite crazy this time around. We didn't really get any good ones because at least one kid was always trying to escape the couch they were sitting on. Sweet baby Keira was the only one that cooperated!







The worst part of Eli's night happened right after pictures. He was walking around and ended up tripping and falling face-first onto a little plastic Handy Manny hammer. When he stood up, the blood was gushing and he was pretty hysterical. Thankfully, Mark and I got the bleeding to stop pretty quickly and eventually got Eli calmed-down as well. I'm sure this only the first of many bloody injuries to come...

Playing so innocently...




The aftermath...

Apple-Picking 2K10 Part Two

On Saturday, we headed out to pick our apples and just spend a great day hanging-out as a family. This was the first time all of my family had been together since the year before. So, this year's trip was a highly anticipated event by all, and thankfully the weather was gorgeous for us all weekend.

On our way to the orchards, we stopped by our usual spot to get lunch. It's amazing how much Eli has changed in the period of a year!

3 weeks old





Almost 13-months-old




The trees were full of apples this year and it was nice to miss the crowds from the Apple Festival this year, since we were able to go the weekend before it started.


Eli power-napped on the drive to the orchards. This was how we found him when we arrived!



Picking apples with Mommy!


Throwing apples into the pond with Daddy...






We had to stop by the apple scale after we were done picking. This year, thankfully, my child did not fall out of the scale...

2009



2010



And of course, we had to end our day with a little hill-rolling and hanging-out in front of the lodge...







...a perfect ending to a perfect day!