Please Pray!

If you read Jennifer's blog, you have probably already seen this update, but I wanted to pass the word on to anyone else :) Please go over and read this post at Jennifer's blog...Then go over to the Pearson's blog and consider donating to the mission that cares for their two sons...who should be with their mom and dad, but are still in an orphanage...that no longer has walls. And then, most of all, pray for the people of Haiti. Pray that Roland would be found. Pray that Sammy and Gino can finally come home.

Almost there!

He's getting so close!

Actually, after we shut the camera off (of course) he took about 15 steps on his own. He was SO proud of himself :)

A new trick

Yesterday I walked in to check on Eli...he'd been 'sleeping' (so I thought) for 3 hours (actually...probably only 2...) and I caught him doing this: (He's never done this before...)

At almost 14 months old, he's figured out that he can stand up in his crib :)

He had turned his mobile on himself, stood up and 'went after' his bugs :)

Almost got it!

And he snagged his butterfly

'What's the big deal? Boys can like butterflies too!'

He was pretty pleased with himself. However...his next nap wasn't a nap at all, as he played with his mobile the whole time...which led to a super fussy evening. SO, he no longer has his mobile on his crib. It's kinda sad...I LOVE that mobile!

Now he's just got to figure out how to get back down once he stands up...

Mr. Crank Pants

Hey. It's me. Eli Mommy's been calling me 'Mr. Crank Pants' today.

I think it has something to do with me not being too happy.

Mommy's trying to make me happy...but I think she's getting tired...

I'm just not feeling quite normal, I suppose...

Mommy has given me lots of toys to play with

and there have been a few smiles.

I've watched some TV, and eaten almost a whole bowl of Oatmeal (which is the most food I've eaten in a week), but it's jut not working. I'm just not feeling good.

There's been lots of this:

Tons of these:

and I'm downright sick of these:

(They really start to hurt my nose after a while!) I don't have a fever, but I've been coughing a lot, and my nose keeps spewing this green stuff. Gross. Mommy says diaper changing time hasn't been too thrilling either...My mouth hurts too...I've got something called a 'molar' coming in, and IT HURTS!

Mommy hopes I feel better soon (and so do I!) because she doesn't like to see this...

Hope your day is tear-free, tissue-free, and nasty-diaper-free. Cuz mine hasn't been so far...

Cheating

I've decided I'm just too far behind...I am totally going to cheat and direct you to Jennifer's blog for the fun details of our trip :)

She's posted a couple of entries that have lots of pictures...

Here's one post...click HERE. (Yes it's true...my baby sister is PREGNANT!!!!)

And another...click HERE.

We had a wonderful time in Michigan. I can't believe it's over. We had a good trip back-though Eli was sick for it. At one point he had a fever of 103 degrees :( He hasn't had a fever for a couple of days, but he's still coughing a lot, and I've wiped more snot than I care to talk about...

He's in the middle of a 3 1/2 hour nap right now...that's honestly the LONGEST nap he's EVER taken. I'm not kidding. He never sleeps that long. I just went in to check to make sure he was okay...and he was sound asleep.

Oh...and to steal one more post from Jennifer, our church had their dedication service yesterday. You can click HERE to see pictures. The whole thing was very moving. I was surprised at how touched I was by the service...but I really was. When our pastor did the 'welcome', and Ben rang the bell, I had to wipe tears away. Unfortunately, because Eli was sick, Edgar didn't get to come. He stayed home-but he seems like he's getting a little sick too, so it was probably good for him to get some extra rest. The service was beautiful. I didn't get to hear the sermon, though, because I started teaching my Sunday School class. I am SO EXCITED about this class. I'm not sure why I'm so thrilled to be teaching 1st & 2nd graders, but I am. I had 25 kids, and they were wonderful. I can't wait to teach them all about the Promises of God. My mom gave me a bunch of bible story stuff that she has used through the years to help supplement my curriculum. I couldn't help but think of all those bible stories we told in Teens Involved...my mom really did give me such a gift when she taught me how to tell a Bible Story. This week we talked about Noah, and I read the kids a story out of a little story book she gave me, and the kids were completely captivated. They sat so quietly, and were so excited to look at the pictures.

Anyway...I am going to call this getting 'caught up'. When I get a chance I will send out some pictures over Walmart.com of November (cuz I still haven't done that yet either) and December. I know you're on the edge of your seat with anticipation....

Okay...I'm going to go write my super cute Sunday School kids a note :)

A drive and a haircut

Well, we made it :) We had a great drive to my parent's house. We got going at 11:30 am and drove all afternoon and through the night. Eli sat here for a VERY long time. He did GREAT. He took one nap, and watched a couple of videos, played with his games, and watched the cars go by. He didn't really cry at all. What a trouper! He slept pretty good through the night too. It made the trip much easier with him being so good.
Edgar did most of the driving. He drove until about 8:30 and then I drove until about 12:30...then he drove until 5...the HARD hours. I drove until 7:30, and then Edgar drove until we got to my parent's house at 9:00. It was SO good to see 'the farm'...it had been a long trip! It wasn't a bad trip...but a long trip :)

We stopped for dinner at Chick-fil-a and they had a play area. Eli enjoyed getting out of his seat and walking around. I think daddy did too...

We got to my parent's house, and were pretty tired, but we stayed up all day and enjoyed the family. By the time dinner came around we were pretty tired. We ate and brought Eli back into the house (We eat out by the indoor pool) and played with him a little. I think we were both just trying to make it until Eli went to bed :) So when he went to bed at 7:30, we went with him...and slept until 7:00! We both feel MUCH better now!

Today we got up and had breakfast, then headed up to Randee's shop for haircuts. So far, Randee is the only person I trust to cut Eli's hair. This is his before shot.

He was doing pretty good...as long as I was feeding him Cheerios...

The he started to cry so I sang 'There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly'. That worked for a little bit, but then...

...he was done. He didn't want Aunt Randee cutting his hair ANY MORE. He made it through, though, and his hair looks great!

Afterwards he played with the toys at Randee's shop until I got my hair done. He really liked the Cookie Monster toy :) He also enjoyed playing with the kitchen toys...Edgar was sure to get him some Lego's after he got back from his coffee run, so he wasn't playing with 'girl toys' :)

Eli's napping, the boys are playing the Wii, Kristi's knitting, and I'm blogging. The snow is falling, and the wind is blowing. It's good to be inside, and WONDERFUL to look out the window at how beautiful it is here!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope yours was wonderful. It is 11:59...only one minute of Christmas left :) So I thought I'd share some pictures of Eli opening gifts :) Walking over to the tree.

RJBC had left a gift for Eli (Yeah...that's Ryan, Jennifer, Ben, Carly)

A doodle pad thing. He loved it! Although what he liked most at this point was chewing on the pen :)

A gift from mommy and daddy.

A book that sings to you! AND it counts...he's got to get his math down early!

We had a really nice morning. We got to sleep in, and just hung out for a while. In the afternoon we took a family bike ride and were going to head over to Grandpa's house, but found out he wasn't there right then. SO...

Abuelo, Abuela & Sonya came over for a while until Grandpa (aka Abuelito) got home. We had so much fun seeing them on Christmas. Eli was thrilled to have lots of people to play with :)

I hope your Christmas was a wonderful time remembering the Child we've been waiting for through Advent.