Eli and the Exersaucer

This weekend we pulled the exersaucer out of the attic to and let Elijah play in it for the first time. Kimber told me that Micah loves playing in his exersaucer, and even though Micah is about 6 weeks older than Eli I thought it would be worth a try to put him in it. As you can see, it is probably still a little early, but I had fun putting him in the exersaucer and taking lots of pictures. :) We will probably put it up for a few more weeks, but the way this kiddo is growing he will be playing away in his exersaucer before long!


Above: "Where in the world am I?"


Above: "Mom, in case you haven't noticed this is not exactly the most comfortable position."


Above: "My feet are just kind of dangling here."


Above: "Ummm...could you help me with my arms?"


Above: "Thanks, now what am I supposed to do?"


Above: "Whoa...what is that thing?"


Above: "Hmmm...these trains seem kind of fun."


Above: "Daddy! What do you think of my new exersaucer?"


Above: "I mean, my feet can't touch the bottom, but this thing has some neat new gadgets."

Playing with My Toys

The best of both worlds...Elijah playing with Mr. Hugs and Mr. Monkey!

Funky Monkey

Elijah was introduced to another new toy this weekend whom I lovingly refer to as Mr. Monkey. The name is not too creative, I know, and I believe I am starting to see a trend here...Mr. Hugs, Mr. Monkey...oh well, before long he will be naming his toys himself. :) He also got a few new outfits from Dick and Nancy White in the mail (thank you!) and you can see him modeling his new look below.


Above: Elijah in his cute new outfit. I love the overalls, and Eli enjoyed the material close to his face that he could chew on. :) Look at him sitting up like a big boy!


Above: Eli playing with his new toy..."Thanks Mom, I like Mr. Monkey already."


Above: "Do you think Mr. Hugs will be jealous?"


Above: "Well, if you are sure Mr. Hugs won't mind then I will play a little bit with my new friend."


Above: "This silly monkey!"


Above: "He is a lot of fun!"


Above: "I'm glad I met you Mr. Monkey, you and Mr. Hugs are going to get along just swell."

Swing Nap

Sometimes, no matter how strong our resolve to not give in, Elijah is successful at getting Mom or Dad to get him out of his bed at naptime. His favorite place to nap is in his swing, but we try not to put him in the swing unless he is seriously wound up and will just not sleep in his bed. The other day was one of those days. I was at a dentist appointment and Elijah was pulling out all the tricks for Daddy. So, into the swing he went and he savored the sweet swing slumber. What are we going to do once he outgrows our ultimate backup plan?


Above: Since Elijah kicked one foot out of the swaddle blanket, Ethan put one sock on his free foot so he wouldn't get cold. Good thinking Daddy!


Above: Look at those cheeks... :) All the better for lots and lots of kisses!


Above: So content...now if only he could figure out a way to make every nap a swing nap.


Above: Elijah talking away to Mommy while she changes his diaper. He was very happy after his nice long nap!


Above: Mommy and the back of Eli's head...notice his growing bald spot!

Saying My Prayers

Everytime I lay Elijah down for a nap I pray with him. Our usual naptime routine will be to lay him in his bed, turn on his mobile (while always makes him smile and stare), and then get out his little children's Bible and read a story. Then I will wrap him up in his swaddle blanket, pick him up and pray with him, and then lay him down. Here are some sweet pictures of him before his naptime the other day. The way he has his hands folded makes it look like he is saying his own prayers before his nap.


Above: "Boy do I like my mobile. Those little animal friends of mine just keep spinning and spinning."


Above: "Time for my prayers. Dear God, thank you for this day..."


Above: "...thank you for Mommy and Daddy, Nana and Papa, Mamie and Pops, and all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins..."


Above: "...but most of all, thank you for your son Jesus. We love you and praise you Lord. Amen."


Above: "After all that cuteness, do I still need to go to sleep? Don't you just want to play instead?"

Soooo Close

In the last couple of days, Elijah has started trying to roll over from his back to his tummy. He has gotten really close and Ethan and I think he is about to plop over any second. While part of me wants the little slugger to make it to his tummy since he is trying so hard, another part of me doesn't want him to flip over just yet. Am I ready for him to be rolling over already? Does this mean we have to lose the swaddle? Am I ready for my little man to become more mobile? Ready of not, this kiddo is making progress. I am so excited to watch him make new developmental strides and reach new milestones, and am so thankful for my husband who works so hard to allow me to be here all day with our growing boy!


Above: These pictures were from the first time I ever saw Eli acting like he was trying to roll over. He was in his crib at the time. Later attempts have been on the floor and he has gotten even closer. I'm sure he will be flip flopping around in no time.








Above: You can tell in this picture he is starting to get mad. This is the "Mom, put down that camera and help me" scream. :)

Totally Handsome

My little cutie in one of his new onesies. His outfit says "Totally Handsome" and I happen to wholeheartedly agree. :)


Above: "Ah geez Mom, are we taking pictures again?"


Above: "It seems like this is all we do anymore...pictures, pictures, pictures."


Above:
Mom-"But Elijah, your sweet little outfit says Totally Handsome and I want to capture a picture to show just how handsome you are."

Eli-"Oh stop...well, I guess if you say so."


Above: "Alright, you convinced me. I'll let you catch one big smile before I take my nap."

Love my sweet little boy!

Eli's First Dip in the Pool

After all the hard work on the lattice (especially Ethan!), Eli, Ethan, and I went to take a dip in the pool to cool off. Some friends of ours, Jeff and Candace, were out of town for the weekend and offered to let us use their pool while we house sat for them. We decided to take them up on their offer and had a great time. Elijah went swimming for the first time ever with Mommy and Daddy and seemed to love the water. Here are some pictures from Eli's first time swimming.

My Handy Husband

This weekend, my wonderful husband proved himself to be quite the handy man. Our lattice that surrounded the AC units definitely needed to be replaced. He spent the weekend taking down the old lattice and rebuilding a new one that looks great. Despite the triple digit temperatures, he spent the day sawing and staining with only brief cameos from his wife, who claimed that she needed to nurse his son (which just so happened to be in the cool air conditioned house). I am so proud of him and happy to report that we now have a new, neatly stained, non rotting lattice surrounding our AC units. Yet another reason why my husband is the best husband in the whole world!


Above: Before


Above: After...great job hubby!

A Whale of a Time

This morning, Elijah played with his new Shamu toy that he got from cousins Carson and Melissa. He had a whale of a time with his new friend (sorry, I couldn't resist the cheesy pun). Thanks Carson and Melissa!


Above: "Hello new friend, it is nice to meet you. My name is Elijah..."


Above: "I wonder if I can fit you in my mouth like Mr. Hugs?"


Above: "Well, you are a little big. Maybe I will stick to chewing on my fingers and we can just look at each other instead."

Trying to Sit Up

Elijah has started doing this new trick where it almost looks like he is trying to sit up. He grunts and bends forward, flexing his ab muscles like he is going to just sit right up himself. He has been doing this lately when he is in his swing, vibrating chair, or carseat.


Above: Elijah with both arms busted out of his swaddle as usual. He finished the second half of his nap in the swing.


Above: My sweet sleeping boy.


Above: Starting to wake up...


Above: Mom always takes forever to get me out of my swing...


Above: Maybe I will just get myself out of this swing.


Above: If I could just get a little push...


Above: Crazy kiddo, where does he think he's going... :)


Above: Sweet smile after our morning walk


Above: Silly face