Iced In...Burrr!

The Texas weather has had quite the "mood swing" lately.  This past weekend was as perfect as could be and left us itching for Spring.  We took long walks and went to the park to push Elijah in the swing.  What a difference a few days makes!  I can honestly say that I have not been out of the house for the past 3 days.  Good thing I spent plenty of time outside this past weekend!  The whole family has been cooped up here this week due to the freezing temperatures and icy roads.  We are thankful that Ethan has been able to work from home, although I somehow seem to think having an almost 10 month old crawling around your feet is not the best thing for your productivity.  Thanks to a purple pair of ear plugs and a strong determination to focus on his work, Ethan has been good about staying on task and I have done my best to allow him to do so.  That said, it has been nice to have him around!

Here are a few pictures from our icy February freeze.  We will be looking forward to getting out of the house soon and hope that the weather warms up at least a little for Superbowl Sunday.  Go Cowboys!  Wait, they're not in it?  Oh well, guess I'll just have to cheer for whoever is winning (as usual).

Saturday, our little "Let is Snow" garden flag was the laughing stock of the whole neighborhood.  They are not laughing anymore. :)

Our street.  It may look like a nice sweet layer of snow on the road, but do not be deceived...that is solid ice!  When Ethan went to get the mail on Tuesday night (yes, those mailmen are crazy) he thought the part right by the street was not frozen and he nearly wiped out on the ever dreaded black ice.

With the winter weather, Elijah and I stayed in the nice warm house to play.  Here is Eli playing in his little "toy corner" (which never actually stays confined to the corner but spreads all throughout the room).

With the extra time indoors to explore, Elijah has learned a fun new trick.  Not only can he unroll the toilet paper, he can now flush the toilet.  Oh, the never ending excitement of the bathroom!  I can't wait until he learns how to "reroll" the toilet paper, but he leaves that fun task to Mom for the time being. :)

"Would you mind opening this lid?  I know that there is water in here and I would very much like to fish my hand inside."

Yesterday was cold, cold, cold. They were doing rolling blackouts so we had 3 times when out power went out for about 15 minutes each. Since it was such a chilly day, Elijah needed to put on his warmest outfit available...which just so happened to be this cow outfit. :) It is all fleece, has footies, and has a hood; it doesn't get any warmer than that. Plus, it just so happens to provide a little extra amusement to Mom and Dad (okay, so especially Mom) who has been cooped up for the last few days...



"Got anything to eat around here?  I am starving...I do have four stomachs afterall!"



Yes, I took a picture of his little bootie...but that tail just cracks me up!

Happiest little cow around!

Elijah and Boomerang in their winter wear. :)

This little boy is just so "udderly" sweet. :)

"Does everyone dress up on cold weather days?  I kind of like putting on my cow costume." 

Glad we got to use his Halloween costume one more time before he outgrew it! :)

Fun Filled Saturday

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day! Ethan, Elijah, Boomerang and I decided to take advantage of this incredible weather and went for a nice walk on the trail nearby. I love going for walks all the time, and when you throw in my wonderful husband, a happy kiddo, our faithful canine, and a gloriously wasteful day it just doesn't get much better in my book! What a delightful way to spend our Saturday afternoon. We came back and had some delicious lunch and then the boys (Ethan, Eli, and Boomerang) all took long, peaceful afternoon naps while I did a little blogging.  Top it off with church and a family dinner out at the Central Market Cafe it was the perfect day. :)



The little video above is of Eli and Daddy playing as we were about to leave for our walk. What can we say, Daddy is just sooo funny! :)

"I've got my sunglasses Mom...don't you want to grab a pair for yourself?"



Check out Elijah's top teeth!  All four on the top are now in and 3 on the bottom. 



"Man, Dad, that was the best walk ever!"

"What do you say, Mom, can we go again tomorrow?"

"I just love going out for family walks!"

Having a "blast" in his cool rocket shirt from Andrew and Blair!

"Daddy's still got it...he is quite the comedian."

My two favorite boys giggling away.  It just doesn't get any better than this!

Video Insight

This first video will provide you with a little more insight as to why I have not uploaded more videos. :)

While Elijah is getting super active and interactive, his alertness and "interest in technology" makes it quite difficult to record him in his tasks. I constantly find myself thinking...oh, I wish I had this on video! But, sure enough I will try to grab the video camera and instantly he loses interest in what he was doing and his focus shifts to the ever coveted video camera or flip video camera. :)



In this video from a few days ago, Elijah was playing with his baseball toy from his Uncle Daniel and Aunt Jenny. He has really started to get into this toy! He learned how to take the bat and hit the ball with it, rather than just chewing on the bat. I tried to catch this on video, but you can clearly see the result of that attempt above. :)

Yesterday, Eli and I were playing with this toy again and I tried raising it up where you can actually hit the ball off of the tee. He was hitting it with his hand, but was having a blast knocking it off! I would say "yay!" and give him a high five and he would just laugh like it was the funniest thing ever. Then I would get the ball, put it back on the tee, and we would repeat the whole process. We must have played that game for 10 straight minutes (which is an extremely long amount of time on one task for a 9 month old)! Thanks again for the toy, Daniel and Jenny, Elijah loves it and will surely grow up to be a professional baseball player thanks to you. ;)



This second video is from a while back. Currently, Elijah is a constant babbler and says Mama and Dada very well, although still not necessarily discriminately. At the time I was taking this video, I remember that I was about to put the little guy down for a nap and he kept saying "dadada." Ethan had not heard him say it before so I ran, got the flip video and came back up to record him saying it. While he didn't say dada, it is still cute of our silly little guy bouncing and playing in his bed (very ready for a nap as you can tell). :)

Very Silly Boy

Here are some silly pictures of our teething machine from this morning.  Getting to stay home and play with our sweet little boy is the best job in the world...I am so blessed!

Here Eli has the "Air Jordan" tongue going on! :)

Again with the tongue.  He is constantly feeling all those teeth coming in...he now has 7.

Our little buddy is just about over his cold, but still has some drainage going on.  And yet, he is so happy nonetheless!  You can tell that you are a full fledged mom when you use the sleeve of your shirt to wipe a runny nose,  and don't even feel the need to go change your shirt since you know it's only a matter of time until you rub it again. :)

Climbing on Mommy's feet and having a good ol' time.

Trying to come get the camera but Mom was too quick and snapped this cute one just in time!

Climbing Stairs

Guess what Elijah has learned how to do? If you looked at the title and guessed climbing stairs, then right you are! Elijah has been aware of the stairs for quite some time now but had not ventured up them until this past weekend. On Saturday he climbed up the first step for the first time. Ethan and I were both there and were impressed with his new accomplishment. The very next day, he was not only climbing on the first stair, but went up about four stairs! This kiddo sure learns quick... Needless to say, our actions were 1. take a few pictures (okay, so this was solely my doing), 2. teach him how to go back down the stairs, 3. get online and order a baby gate for the bottom of the stairs. :) Here is the little man in action.

Elijah crawling around the kitchen, looking for trouble.  One of his favorite kitchen pasttimes is pulling the towels off the oven bar.

Eli's mischevious grin after spotting the stairs.  There is no stopping him now...

Destination, top of the stairs.  He is determined, he is focused, he is ready. 

We have lift off.

Up he goes!  One down and he is going strong.

"Hey Mom, are you seeing this?"

"I am really starting to get the hang of this climbing business."

Two down and Elijah takes a break for a quick photo op.  You can see Boomerang is present to supervise the creature in his stair climbing debut.

"I'm pretty high, aren't I Mom?"

"I think I'll keep going a little higher."

"I can't let Boomerang beat me afterall."

"You are going to help me get down, right?"

Eli the Superhero

Our little Superhero, soring through the air in his cute new PJs! 

Ethan was home a little earlier than usual last night so we had some family play time before bed.  He took these pictures with his new IPhone (that he got through work) and then sent them to me.  I think they came out great!  And now without further ado, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's....

...Super Eli!



These are the cutest pjs from Mamie.   Here you can see the front pretty well.  They have a "belt" across the waist with a huge gold belt buckle and a little patch on the chest that says "Sidekicks."  The little footies are red to match the red "cape" on the back.  Adorable!



This is Elijah's new favorite face to make.  I think he is feeling his teeth with his tongue.  Almost all 4 have now broken through on the top and one more on the bottom, bringing him to a grand total of 7 teeth.

And finally, I saved the best for last.  How could I ever get enough of that sweet little face! :)

Messy Eater

I used to consider myself a messy eater because I use a lot of napkins when I eat.  Somehow, my definition of the phrase has recently changed. :)

Here are a few pictures of Elijah after eating one of his teething biscuits.  He seems to have a great time chewing on them, but they make a huge mess.  I put him in his high chair with his bib on to enjoy his treat and by the time he was finished his face, hands, hair, and clothes were covered.  That's what little boys are for, making messes and enjoying every second of it.  So, what is a mom to do but grab the camera, take a few pictures, and then put him in the tub. 

You can also see Elijah with his new sippy cup.  He has just recently started drinking out of it and loves drinking his water now with his meals.  He is really good at drinking out of it when I hold it for him, but is still working on holding it and drinking from it all by himself.  You can see him trying to figure it out below.