San Antonio Trip

I am backlogged on my blog posts again!  So, jumping back a few weekends, we took a trip to San Antonio and had a great visit with my family.  We traveled in the same weekend that my little (or better said younger) brother Daniel and his wife came in and had a dual 25th/1st Birthday Party. :)  It was so fun getting to visit with everyone and we always wish we could stay longer.  I didn't take any pictures while I was down there (gasp), but Ethan took a few while we were opening presents for Elijah.  You can get a glimpse of some of the fun below.

The birthday boy wearing his birthday garb, getting plenty of help opening presents from his big cousins Dylan and Katelyn.  Dylan and Katelyn were so sweet to Elijah; it just melted my heart to see them love on him!

I am entrenched in some very deep conversation apparently while Dylan figures out the new toy.

Eli got this awesome phone toy from Daniel and Jenny and he loves it!  He was always obsessed with our real phones prior to this toy... our phone upstairs is actually unplugged because it wound up off the hook so much and the wireless phone downstairs has been known to ride to the store and back with us.  So, this toy was a perfect fit for our little phone lover and is easily a new favorite!  I already find myself humming all the little tunes it plays, and the good thing is that now this little blue phone travels around with us instead of the real one. :) 

"What could this one be?"
I didn't get any pictures, but it was a bubble lawnmower!  I cannot wait for Eli to get out there and mow the lawn next to Daddy...Precious!!  Thank you Michael and Jenny!

Mommy trying to show Eli the card, but like all kids, he bypassed the card and went straight to the present.  Roy and Connie gave us this count and learn school bus which is also an amazing gift!  Elijah loves to slam down the different color balls into the bus and play all the different tunes.  I have to admit, I find myself equally amused with this toy.  They should edit the box to say ages 1-30. :)   

Oops, I must correct myself from above.  I said that I didn't take any pictures but I forgot about these precious pics.  This is my older brother, Michael, with his newest little kiddo Matthew.  Matthew was such a trooper for the long night of fun!  He is such a good baby!  By the end of the night, he zonked out on Daddy's lap and I couldn't resist taking a few pictures.

I will never get enough of the innocence of a sweet sleeping baby face.  I love you Matthew and am so glad to have you as a part of the family!

Recently

Here is a "shmorgishborg" of some recent pictures I haven't had a chance to post.  These should give you a little bit of a feel for what we do all day when we stay at home to play. :)

We got this Zebra Rocker as a hand me down from some friends and Elijah loves it.  He is now able to get on and off by himself. 

Elijah is also very "creative" when left alone to play by himself.  Look at that face...busted!

"Who, me?  I didn't do anything."

"But since the toilet paper is already unrolled, may as well have a little fun."

Helping Mommy "unload" the dishes.  Yikes!

Figuring out how to peel a banana for the first time.  The funny thing is he just so happens to be wearing his "Bananas over Mommy" outfit.

"Hmmm, so I just pull this part back..."

"And voila...let's just give this a little taste."



"Gross!  Mommy, you didn't tell me it was bananas in there!"



Quite the little charmer already. :)  I'll take flowers from my little cutie pie anyday!

Climbing around.  The table legs make a great home jungle gym.



Before Elijah figured out how to turn his little walker around (which he does like a pro now), he used to just push it the other way and walk on it backwards.

Little did he know that this was actually harder than turning it around and walking with it the right way.

I guess the added challenge makes it that much more exciting.  Do not mind the spaghetti sauce on his face in these pictures.

Eli loves to crawl under the barstools too!



"Hey Mom!"

Elijah has gotten really good at crawling under things.  It is neat to see him get better control and awareness of his body as he ducks down low to maneuver under chairs and such.

And he's off!

Heading up the stairs, another favorite.

My little cutie, stirring up trouble.

"What trouble?  Surely I am too sweet for trouble."

So handsome in his new shark outfit from Nana C.

Check out those curls.  Elijah's hair is getting so long and curly, but I just don't have the heart to cut it yet!

Playing with his new phone toy from Uncle Daniel and Aunt Jenny. He loves this toy and has not stopped playing with is since he got it!

Calling up his friends.

Checking out the stroller.

Elijah is good at "sharing" his toys with Mommy...which really means he hands me things all day long. :) 

"Bye-Bye everyone...thanks for checking out all of my pictures!"



Spoonfeeding

Elijah is starting to get into spoonfeeding himself. We are still working on "accuracy" but the little guy is starting to get the idea! Here are a few short videos of Elijah feeding himself this morning at breakfast. He is eating yogurt and cheerios...delicious! Not sure how much he actually got in his mouth, but it sure was fun. :)

Easter Firsts

These pictures are a little late in coming, but I didn't want to skip some of Elijah's "firsts" that he experienced during Easter weekend. The Saturday before Easter was a fun filled day.

First, Ethan and I took Elijah to his very first Easter egg hunt at our church. The little guy was not exactly sure what to think about this crazy tradition as you'll see below.

First Easter Egg Hunt



"Hmmm...what is this thing?"



"Hey Mommy, what am I supposed to do with this?  And why are you taking rapid fire pictures of me?"

"Whoa...jackpot!!"

"I love Goldfish!!"

"Tastes a little funny.  Must have gotten more grass than goldfish in that bite."

"Oh, there is another one."

"I wonder if there are more goldfish in here?"

"Wow, there are a ton of these little treasure filled toys."

"Maybe I should give this to Daddy to hold while I go and get some more."

Off to get more eggs.

"Sweet, found some more."

"I'll go with...this one."

"Daddy, can you help me up so I can walk?"

"I might make better time on my feet."

"On second thought, I think I am good on goldfish."  Attention span, maxed out.

Daddy and Eli.  You can see our very personalized first "Easter basket" is Ethan's hand.

Another sweet picture of Daddy and his little boy.  Here you can see some of the other kids hunting eggs in the background too.  All of the eggs are hidden very well. :)

Family Photo, minus Boomerang. :)

After Elijah had found all the Easter eggs his little heart could desire, we went to another nearby church that was having an Easter Eggs-travaganza. They had all sorts of activities for the kids, but the one that captured our interest the most was a petting zoo. Elijah was very interested in the animals and seemed to enjoy this even more than the egg hunt.

First Petting Zoo

The petting zoo had llamas, which I found interesting.

...and chickens, ducks, bunnies, goats, etc.

Elijah and another boy checking out the animals.



"Whoa, Mommy, this is cool!"



"Are you seeing this?"

Going to check out the goat.

We didn't get in (the very long) line to walk through the inside of the petting zoo but just checked things out from the outside.  I think at this point it worked out just as well.



Elijah moving in for a closer look.



"What a funny looking dog!"



"I wonder if Boomerang knows this guy?"



Checking out the bigger animals with Daddy.

This "cousin" of the llama was there...and alpaca.

Ethan: "That is one ugly beast."

Eli:  "Yeah, that is one ugly beast."

Ethan: "Your not taking pictures of me just so you can make up thoughts for me later and post them to the blog, are you?"

Alpaca: "Happy Easter Everyone!"  Yikes, I may have just stooped to a new low making up thoughts for the alpaca...
Oh well...Happy Easter!!