5.12.11 Dad & Mom's visit...day 1

Everyone is
happy

when Grandma

comes to

town (and Grandpa too :) )

5.10.11-Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Party

It occurred to me a few weeks ago that Eli is 2 1/2. I can't believe it. It is so incredibly crazy how fast time flies. I decided it would be fun to celebrate the occasion, so I had some friends over. Eli is completely obsessed with the book 'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom' so I thought we'd have a party with that as the theme. I made some cupcakes. (The trees were made out of royal icing. Looked really cute...however, when royal icing sits in buttercream icing for more than a few hours, it tends to 'melt'. It was cute for the party, though)
I made a coconut tree for Eli and got some letters. Eli played with it for a while...and still plays with it. Pretty sure the tree will be there until we re-do the family room.

Eli took all of the letters down and lined them up on the floor. Then he sorted them by color. He's so funny.

We had a very nice party...which I failed to actually take any pictures of. It ended up being 10 little boys, which was fun...and a little loud :)

I DO think celebrating half-birthdays is fun...we might have to make a habit of it :)

Mother's Day

Thought I'd share a few of my favorite pictures from Mother's Day. I never got my head together enough to take a picture of me and my kids...or a picture of mom with her grand kids...kind of annoyed that I forgot that. Next year, I suppose. Mom and Dad came over to our house for lunch.
Leilani came over with Isaac. (No picture of her either.)

Edgar did capture this series of pictures, though, and I LOVE them.

Leah kisses ;)

This was the only picture I took of my firstborn...playing with his cousin.

It was a really nice afternoon. Always nice to hang out with my family!

Goodbye Toothless Grin!

Leah has a tooth. Just thought you'd like to know.

Thank you cookies

This is a rather terrible pictures of some cookies I just finished this evening. They are a little gift for some very special people. This year there have been several people that have made an impact in Eli's life. The children's leaders at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) have been unbelievably amazing. If you have children and have the chance to attend BSF you should do it...even if it's just for the children! Eli has learned so much this year. I don't think Edgar and I really thought Eli was 'ready' to learn much about God. We took him to church and prayed with him at night, but really thought that was about all a 2-year old 'needed'. Then I started to go to BSF and I quickly saw that Eli was not only really learning about God, but he was EXCITED about learning about God. We would pull into the parking lot and he would get so excited and say 'Bible Story! Bible Story! Learn about God!!'. It was so cute...and amazing that a 2 year old caught on to what was really going on :) I now will often hear him playing with his toys talking about Jesus. When Edgar and I talked about whether I should go to BSF again next year, Edgar said 'You have to go! Eli NEEDS to be there'. I think because we saw what he was capable of learning at BSF we became more vigilant about teaching him about Jesus. We take time to tell him Bible stories and teach him about Jesus. He LOVES it when I pull out the flanelgraph and tell him stories with that :) We work on his memory verses each week, and while he has yet to actually say one from memory, he's learning. (And a few weeks back when his verse was 'The Sovereign Lord helps me' mommy learned a few things to :) ) I can't even begin to write down what an impact this has made on my son...I don't know that I will ever truly know. I DO know, though, that I will miss going each week this summer. We'll definitely be going back in the fall :)

The other amazing thing is that even in Leah's class they have a Bible story, and they pray over each and every baby in the nursery each week. Just.Beautiful.

I have been tremendously blessed by the study in Isaiah that we have done this year, and am sad that it is coming to a close. Tomorrow is the last 'regular' meeting until next fall. It has been so wonderful to have the accountability of a Bible study group as well as to sit under the incredible teaching of God's word. Sometimes I don't understand why God so richly blesses me and my family with opportunities like attending BSF, but I am incredibly grateful. It has truly been an incredible year.

Seven Months Old!

Yesterday my beautiful little girl turned 7 months old. I took zero pictures of her yesterday, so when, at 12:30, Eli asked to take a nap, I took her outside to snap a few pictures today. (Thanks Aunt Jenny for the beautful dress!!)

She is (obviously) sitting well on her own. It's been fun watching her do and discover new things.

She loves to grab things-especially mommy's hair. She loves to play with people's faces. It's so cute. She has several toys that she likes. She likes little stuffed animals-I think they are easier to hold on to. There is a little dog that she has that she particularly likes. She also laughs really hard at Eli's Skippy JohnJones puppet...I might have to get one for her too ;)

She has been eating like a champ. She's had rice cereal, peas, green beans, and today she got prunes...because she's...well...she needs a little fiber...

I'm enjoying every minute of her beautiful toothless grin. I'm afraid it's going to be gone soon...I think she's got some teeth coming.

She's pretty clingy to mommy right now, and gets brought to me most days when I am teaching my class because she's crying. We get paged most Sunday's too (though today she made it all the way through church in the nursery-yay!)

She LOVES her big brother, and is usually content to just sit and watch him play. It's getting harder to nurse her, because she always wants to see what he is doing :)

She was 18 lb 12 oz at her last appointment (I can't remember if I had already posted that...). She has the most amazing, adorable rolls on her legs (why can't rolls on my legs look that cute?!). She will generally smile back at you if you smile at her. She is such a happy, lovable little girl.

Couldn't ask for more :)

Easter Sunday

So I'm a bit behind in posting this...sorry. It's been a busy week :) We had the kids' Easter baskets and outfits laid out so they would see them as soon as they got up.
I'm pretty sure Leah didn't notice hers...

...but when Eli came out he noticed his right away. As I was taking this picture I noticed giant red spots all over his face. He got eaten alive by a mosquito in the night...lovely. He looked like he had gotten in a fight. Oh well...

I don't think he realized there was candy in the eggs. There were some cars hidden in the grass, though, and he played with those that morning while we got ready. (pretty sure I ate all the candy) That boys loves his cars...

We tried to get a family picture before we left, but my dress and Leah's dress totally washed out and we look like we are wearing glowing white dresses...

Jennifer took this picture for us...but Eli was working on, um...well...we had to take a break from pictures to have a little diaper change...

While he was getting a diaper change, Leah and I got some pictures taken :)

Eli's buddy Olivia.

I'm thinking this is a pretty typical family shot when you have a 2 year old...

After church we headed to Abuela's house. Eli fell asleep on the way there and slept through lunch. He got up and still looked dashing in his suit :)

I couldn't pick my favorite...so here are a bunch of Leah.

She really enjoyed the ribbons on her dress...eating them, that is...

Sticking her tongue out at mommy :)

Yes, this is the dress I made for her :) I made a skirt for myself out of the same material...but I don't have a good picture of that skirt. It wasn't nearly as 'ruffle-y' as Leah's :)

The cousins :) Eric & Leilani couldn't make it, so Isaac wasn't there :(

Eli wasn't too thrilled about taking this picture either. I think by that point he was tired of pictures, and tired of being in long-sleeves. It was fairly warm out.

So he got out of his church clothes and played in the water table at Abuela's house for pretty much the rest of the afternoon. He LOVED it. (And he did have a shirt on at one point, but it got soaked.)

Abuela making Leah laugh.

Eli even had a car for the water table :)

I'm not sure why I found this so funny...but Edgar was explaining something to Eliott and needed this sketch thing to do it...

We had such a nice, relaxing Easter. The service at church was beautiful, and the fellowship of family was so nice.

This Easter season has been so wonderful. It has been so amazing teaching Eli about Jesus and what He did on the cross for us. Our prayer is that we will daily seek to serve and love God more faithfully and raise children that live in the light of His resurrection.