Hodgepodge of Recent Pics

Things have been a little crazy around here lately and I have been terrible about updating the blog.  I wanted to post some quick pictures that have been buidling up.  Here is a little of what we have been up to lately.  Hopefully I will have time to write about more updates soon!

Elijah and I have been going over to my beautiful friend Sarah's house for playdates lately.  She has two precious girls and a boy.  We have a BLAST when we go over there to hang out and I always leaved refreshed and encouraged by my dear sweet friend.

While Sarah went upstairs to get the kids, Eli found some awesome balls in her kitchen (aka, balloons).  The game here was trying to pick both up at once. :)

"Almost got them..."

"This is proving trickier than I thought..."

"Man, these are slippery!"

It was a gorgeous day so we enjoyed some time playing in their back yard.  Here Eli is playing on the perfectly sized swingset with Sabrina and Elaina.

Fun in the baby pool!

"Phew, those girls are exhausting..."

"I need a few minutes to rest!"

Some Mommy/Eli cuddle time in the backyard...my favorite!

My sweet friend, Sarah, and her little girl Elaina

David is as handsome as can be.  He is 9 months old and just melts my heart!  We are looking forward to our next playdate with Sarah and her crew soon!

Here is my little man all spiffed up for church.  I thought he looked so adorable that I just had to get a picture of him.  He is holding up some treasured object that he found on the ground with such pride. :)

A little drawing in the dirt

Heading over to the gate

My new header...I love this picture (and mostly the little boy in it!)

We recently had our first MOPS meeting of the year.  It is my second year being involved with MOPS and I love it!  Eli likes it too and always has fun playing with the other kids in the nursery.  It is such a fun and encouraging time for me to get together and visit with other moms each month.  Looks like someone is ready to go in!

I was trying to get a good picture of him on his first day of MOPS this year so I can look back at the end of the year and see how much he's changed.  I'm sure he will keep growing and changing at lightning speed, so I need to document as much as I can.  You may notice that his jeans are a little short...they are from last year.  Putting them on made me realize how much he's grown, and how much I need to go shopping to get him some new (larger) clothes!

Can't get enough of that sweet face

Elijah admiring the flowers.  This little guy LOVES to be outside.  Objects that he can identify outside and at least attempt to say are: grass, dirt, tree, bush, flower, car, and sky.  He is also very into planes.

Still tagged on his back. :)

His response to "Elijah, where is the tree?" :)

Me and my little buddy

"Let me try that Mommy, I think I can get a better angle if I hold it."

We've been playing out at playgrounds a lot since it has been nice out lately.  We are enjoying the fall like weather!

Steering the boat

Trying to hold on to both rails at the same time

Fun on the slide

Playing the drums

My little cutie playing with his blocks in his tshirt and diaper.  He has started actually building with them.  He also knows the color green and can pick out the green blocks if you ask him.  I am pretty sure he is a genius. ;)

Another word(s) our little sports nut knows..."golf club." :)  He has a little plastic set that he loves.  The other day he came and grabbed my hand and wanted to take me somewhere.  I couldn't tell what he was saying until he took me to the real set of golf clubs in the closet.  I was impressed that he knew that they were the same thing!  Here he is playing with one of Mommy's golf clubs.

A little bit long for you buddy

Working on his swing

A little dark, but a sweet smile

A little tough to wield, but this one is determined!

Hitting the ball with the club :)

Guess who found the camera cap?

These next few pictures are of Eli playing outside with the sidewalk chalk.  I found some on sale for really cheap at the store recently.  I took it outside and showed him how to draw on the rocks.  He quickly confiscated the chalk and proceed to go mark every rock one by one, with Boomerang at his side to help. :)

"I'll mark this one..."

"Perfect.."

"And now this one..."

Putting on the finishing touches

"I think I got them all.  What should I do next?"

"Maybe I'll taste it.  Hmmm...kind of chalky."


That's all for now.  Hope you have a great day!

The Fort Worth Zoo, Round 2

Last week Elijah and I met up with my good friend Kimber and her little boy Micah.  They are in the process of moving from South Carolina all the way to Las Vegas.  Talk about a lot of driving!  During their little break in Dallas, we had the chance to meet up with them and thought we'd get out and do something fun.  Kimber and I had gone to the zoo a while back with the boys, and thought since it was such a gorgeous day we'd give it another visit.  And boy was it a lot of fun!  The first time we went, it was really just a glorified walk for Eli.  He didn't get to get out of the stroller very much the first time since he was a pretty new walker.  While he did fine riding around in the stroller, I don't think he was very aware of the animals during the first visit.  But what a difference a few months makes at this age!  This time both of the boys really seemed to enjoy it.  Since they are both "seasoned walkers" at this point, they were able to get out a lot more and explore for themselves.  As you'll see in some of the pictures, they were much more aware of the animals and really had a good time.  We are so thankful for Kimber and Micah and were glad to get to spend the day with them.  Have a great rest of your cross country move, Kimber, and we are already looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Me and Eli at the Zoo

One monkey...

...and another monkey

My little pointer discovering all sorts of things at the zoo

"Mommy, why is that water green?"

Flamingos

Elijah and Micah checking out the fence

"Man, this is a great toy.  It is so much fun climbing on the fence."

"Thanks for stopping here, Mom, this was a great idea."

"Do you want to play on it too?  This is why we stopped, right?"

"Ooooh!  There are animals in there?!  I thought the fence was the main attraction here.  Cool!"

"This glass is secure, right?"

"Because that crock has some pretty huge teeth." 

"Not that I'm scared or anything.  I am a very brave big boy, after all."

And we thought our crew was slow...

"That looks like fun.  How did you get up there, Micah?"

Elijah checking out the scene :)

Here he was quite fascinated with the various turtles and fish swimming by

"Mommy, look!  Did you see that?"

Riding on the turtle like his buddy Micah

My little wrestler putting the turtle statue into a friendly headlock.

This area was supposed to be a petting zoo.  The kids do not get to walk through the fenced in area, though, but instead are allowed to pet the animal if they are close enough to reach.

Most of the animals seemed to have figured out this rule and stayed well away from the fences with little peanut butter and jelly streaked hands reaching for them.  I don't blame you, goat, I'm not sure I would want those little guys petting me, either.

"Ah well...I didn't get to touch the animals but washing my hands is just as much fun, anyway."

Checking out the animals in the little barn interactive play area.
That is that end of our pictures.  Thanks for the visit, Micah and Kimber, we can't wait to meet at the zoo again soon!