Father's Day 2012

We spent the Father's Day weekend with some of my family at LakeNear again this year. It is always nice to be up there, where Eli can run around inside and outside the house and just be a little boy in nature. The weekend was pretty laid back and that was alright with us. On Father's Day we celebrated the Dads of our group by making a yummy breakfast, going on a hike/swim at the park, and finishing the day off with a yummy dinner from the grill, ending with a dessert of homemade blackberry pie (picked from the bushes on the property). Eli thinks the world of his Dada and I'm sure baby #2 will feel the same way. Our kids are blessed! Playing with the water-table on the back-porch (little turkey refused to smile with his eyes open) Reading Mark's new book from Eli about dads who never grow up. Ha! A little skinny dipping in the Lake = priceless Father's Day memory! We love those sweet cheeks!

Get exciiiiited!

After much thought (and harassment), well over a year of it, I've decided to continue updating our blog. We have many family and friends who are spread out all over the place these days and it's just an easy way to share our lives with them and keep a little "record" for us too. So, here's a few updates on what's been happening. Eli's been growing like a weed. He'll be 3 in a few short months and I'm blown away each day at how quickly he's turning into a little boy. Mark and I are loving every moment of this crazy time! Mark continues to work hard to enable to me to stay at home with Eli and I am so thankful for that. I'll admit, some days I find myself longing for the routine of "the workday" but then I quickly realize what stuff I'd be missing out in these early years of his life. And finally, we are also anticipating a little bit more change around these parts... If you didn't catch the shirt, Eli is going to be a big brother sometime around January 1, 2013. I'm 12-weeks along and everything looks great. We are thrilled about this and look forward to quite the new year!

Two Blonde Puppies

Recently, Eli and I met the newest addition to my side of the family, my younger sister's lab/golden/german shepherd mix puppy Chaya. The two of them together were quite entertaining and Eli loves any and every "Dawwg" he meets. While we were together, Chaya practiced her tennis-ball fetching skills and I think Eli enjoyed fetching the ball just as much as she did! We can't wait to play with both of them again soon!

Story of My Life

Lately, Eli has been known to fall asleep in the last 5-10 minutes of car rides. Especially if it's right around lunch time. He gave up his morning nap a while back over the Christmas/New Year's Holiday, but I'm wondering if this is a slight remnant of the good old days. (I think his adjustment from two to one nap was harder for me than him!) Normally, I wouldn't mind him taking a quick power-nap, but the problem comes when we get to our destination. Eli will usually stay asleep while I take him out of the car but once I need to put him down and he begins to wake up, he gets UGLY! Maybe this is paybacks for all the years I was less than pleasant in the morning before school to my family.

So, it isn't unusual for me (or whoever else is riding in the car with us) to begin doing anything and everything we can to keep the little guy awake for the remainder of the car trip. Singing loudly, tickling, trying to engage Eli in a conversation, and gesturing wildly are all pretty typical plans of attack. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. It's kind of a crazy high-stakes game to see what will happen. Boy have our lives changed since September of 2009!

This picture was taken after our return home from an obviously exhausting shopping trip yesterday morning to our local Walmart...right before lunch, of course.

Bathtime Fun!

Eli is all about bath-time these days. Mark has become the expert bather in the house and I love that the 2 of them have this Daddy-Son time together. Eli absolutely loves to play with his toys and splash like crazy. He does not like it when you pour any type of water on his head, though. After he's gotten good and pruney, we wrap him in a nice warm towel before getting p.j.'d up. (Sometimes we'll even sing a round of "Matchmaker" from "Fiddler" in front of the mirror when he's looking especially babushka-like.) It's a simple little routine but we love it around here.

New Years 2011

Yes, I know we just started the 2nd month of the new year, but I figured I should share a few pics from our new year's eve festivities.

We spent the first part of the day at the VA Living Museum to participate in their countdown to noon. They had lots of fun activities for the kids and even a small petting zoo of some miniature animals. Eli had a blast hanging out with his cousins, looking at all of the animals, and of course, crawling through his favorite log in the museum.



Had to include a pic of "Mr. Logistics" (my Dad) with his stroller full of coats








Mark shot this picture of our gorgeous niece Bekah while we were at the museum...I just love it!



After dinner, all of the family piled into the mini-vans to go see our local drive-thru christmas lights attraction. Eli absolutely loved all of the lights, just as we expected. The only thing he did not like was when Daddy decided to hang out of the van's sliding side door to take better pictures of the light displays. That did not go over well! I must say, the park really stepped it up this year with lots of new light displays. I think I may have enjoyed the it more than our son!






Eli did not stay up to watch the ball drop in Times Square or bang pots and pans outside at midnight, but he will have many more years of that to come I'm sure! Mark and I enjoyed ringing in the new year with lots of yummy food and fun family. We're looking forward to the fun that 2011 will bring!

First pic of the New Year!

Branching Out

Eli seems to be broadening his taste for toys that go in his mouth. So long circles...bring on the squares!