11.11.2010-A Day at Olivia's

My friend Christine has watched Eli for me SO many times, so when she called and asked if I could watch Olivia I jumped at the chance-and not just because I 'owed' her...but I really like hanging out with Olivia :) And so does Eli... We got there right around lunch time.

Eli decided he wanted PB&J...the messiest lunch of all times for him, apparently. Wonder Pets (I think...) was on TV, so he wasn't interested in the camera-he & Olivia were completely entertained while they ate...and since they were so entertained, I decided to entertain myself......yeah...Leah's too big for a doll stroller...

It was completely adorable watching Olivia 'help' me with Leah. She kept coming back and forth from playing with Eli to trying to make sure Leah was warm (at least I assume that's what she was doing).

So cute!

Eli and Olivia always have fun playing together...as long as they are not trying to steal each others' toys.

It was a short visit, but such fun. We need to hang out with Olivia (and her mom :) ) again soon!

11.7.2010-Eli's birthday party...take 1!

One sad thing about living so far from most of my family is that we rarely get to spend birthdays together. SO, when we knew we were going to be with most of the family so close to Eli's birthday, we decided to have a little party for him in Panama City. It wasn't anything big, but so much fun to sing 'Happy Birthday' with most of my side of the family. As soon as the candle was lit, Eli blew it out. We had to keep re-lighting it as we sang...

'Can I blow NOW?'

YAY! Now your wish will come true... :)

'Wow...my wish came true FAST!'

The cousins enjoyed their cupcakes.

I see where Carly learned her cupcake eating techniques... ;)
This is probably my favorite picture of the day...She had no idea I was even taking her picture. I think she's excited...

Keira won the messiest eater contest...

And then it was time to open presents!

Eli loved ALL of his gifts. It's been fun the past few days as he's had some new stuff to play with...and so far the noise making ones haven't driven me crazy.

We're going to have to find an excuse to have everyone together again next year for his birthday...it was fun :) However...I would NOT do the Panama City Ironman to get everyone here...though I think that might work...

11.6.2010-Race Day!

Saturday morning came (not so) bright and (very) early. We really wanted to see Josh start the race, so we were in our cars by 5:30 am...on a fairly cold morning (around 40 degrees...a bit chilly for a 5 week old...) It was completely worth braving the cold, though. The start of the race was something pretty incredible to see! Sorry, Renae. This picture made me laugh :)
Josh getting ready to go! We were able to hang out with him for a bit before he headed down to the water.

Eli was all bundled up for the start. So was Leah...but I don't have any pictures to prove it...

This was the start for the professionals. They started 10 minutes before the 'amateurs'. VERY cool to watch. There was a helicopter that flew overhead, and tons of people on the beach for the start. I couldn't stop thinking 'these people are CRAZY to do this!' :)

Josh did the 2.4 mile swim in just over an hour, so we were able to see him get out of the water and go to the transition area to get on his bike (for a ridiculous 112 mile bike ride...which he did really well on too!)

We went back to the hotel for a few hours while Josh was biking. We were tracking him online, so we knew he would be running by our hotel soon, so we went outside to cheer him and the other runners on. (Yes...after the bike they run...26.2 miles.)

The kids had signs...and lollipops :)

We stood out there for a while cheering.

Carly & Chloe gave the runners high-fives.

It would have made sense to actually take a picture of JOSH running by...but alas...I did not. In fact, after this bit of cheering, I left my camera in the hotel, so I don't have any other pictures. We saw Josh run by 3 times and then headed down to the finish line to watch him finish.

It was amazing to watch the athletes come in to the finish line. What an amazing accomplishment. My brother, Ryan, had to be the best 'fan' out there. For over an hour he cheered at the TOP of his lungs for every single runner that came by. It was mildly comical, but really neat. Most of the runners got big grins on their faces as they were cheered on by him-nothing better than crossing the finish line with a smile :)

Josh came by in just under 13 hours after he had started. He looked great, and finished strong. SO proud of him!

We headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed-I was SO tired! (of course, saying I was tired after watching all of those athletes run by is a little ridiculous. Pretty sure I have no idea what TIRED really means...)

11.5.2010

Later that day (ya know...after the beach pictures) we hung out in the hotel room. Edgar taught Chloe how to play checkers
Grandma snuggled with her smallest grandkids

Chloe played with Leah

Parker & Leah hung out...

...and held hands.

It was a wonderfully relaxing day.

On the beach

We headed up north to watch my brother-in-law run an Ironman. More of that to come...Our condo was right on the beach, so we had lots of time to enjoy the gulf. Daddy with his kids. It was a little chilly, so Leah was bundled up and snuggled up to daddy.
The REAL photographer.

My handsome boy.

Parker was good and bundled too. Parker and Leah are so close in age-it was fun to watch them together.

Renae & her kids. Josh was off getting ready for his big day.

Johnny actually got in the water...

...and daddy was wore out :)

Where did October go?!

Just a couple of days ago I was thinking 'I need to take the kids to a pumpkin patch'...then I realized, it was November...what happened?! To say that October was full of activity would be an understatement...November hasn't slowed down either...I feel like I missed fall this year.

Though we didn't get to a pumpkin patch, we did go to our church's fall festival. I have tons of pictures from it, but I tried to narrow it down to 4...so here are my favorites :) The kids wouldn't have had costumes at all if Aunt Jennifer hadn't taken care of it :) Eli was pretty much the cutest frog ever...
...and Leah was a pretty little flower. Someone said to me 'What a cute idea-to have a frog & a water lilly. What a cute way to get the kids' costumes to coordinate'. I'm sure that's what Jennifer was thinking when she picked them out...

Eli and Olivia stole the show for a while showing off their dance moves. They stood there and danced for a very long time. It was super cute. They literally had a crowd around them watching them. Hilarious.

Thanks to Jennifer for this one. If you don't go to a pumpkin patch, a picture by a bale of hay will do :)

Happy Fall ;)

My little two year old :)

I can hardly believe I'm writing this post. I can't believe Eli is two! Yesterday was my little boy's birthday. Crazy.

Our day started off a little crazy. We had Eli's 2 year old appointment (and Leah's 1 month appointment) at 9am. Which doesn't seem too early, until you are trying to get a 2 year old and 1 month old out the door by 8:30. We were only a little late. I felt kinda bad that Eli got 2 shots on his birthday, but I'm thinking he won't remember it, right?

By the way...he's 32 lbs (90th percentile) 37 inches tall (97th percentile) and his head circumference is 19 in (39th percentile...that's why his hats are always too big...)

After that we went to the park with some friends. (Still annoyed with myself that I forgot my camera...) One of the moms brought stuff to finger paint-Eli LOVED that. I'm going to have to get him some finger paints :) We stayed and played for a few hours and then headed home.

Dinner was spaghetti-Eli's favorite meal. From the pictures you'd think he swam in it...but that's how he always looks after spaghetti night. Eli loved blowing out his candle. In fact, throughout the day I'd sing 'Happy Birthday' to him, and at the end he would blow. It was pretty funny.
Try to ignore the scraped off icing...It WAS his second cupcake of the day (I had taken cupcakes for all of the kids at the park, so he had one there.)

YUM!

We had a party for him in Panama City (post to come...) and will have one with Edgar's family this weekend, so his birthday is lasting all week :)

I can't imagine our life without this little guy. He has brought such incredible joy to our lives. I hope I always remember the sound of his giggle, the way he gets excited when I come to get him out of bed in the morning, the way he sings 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star', the way he gives hugs...so SO many things I never want to forget. I find myself so often thinking 'Never forget this moment'...

Happy Birthday little guy. Mommy and Daddy love you so much!