Tooth correction

I previously wrote that Eli was getting his incisors - well, I was wrong. It's actually his four canines coming through (he has all his incisors). Two on the right side have broken the gum and the other two are very close. Hopefully we're almost out of the fussy woods with them. Once these come in, he'll have 16 teeth!!!

Marley and Me

Today Tim & I snuck away to watch 'Marley and Me' while Eli was at school. About half-way through the movie, I asked Tim if he felt like we were watching our life on the big screen. The movie was really good and, I must admit, made me cry. I got misty for Jennifer Aniston's character when she talked about how hard it is being a Mom and that yes, people do tell you how hard it is but you just don't believe them. I now believe them but I also believe that it's an amazing responsibility and honor - the sweet snuggles, smiles and kisses make the rough times melt from your memory. I also cried for Marley - mainly because I know it won't be too terribly long before we have to say goodbye to Belle. I was a dog-mom before I was Eli's mom and even though Belle's role in our lives has changed, it will be very sad when we have to say goodbye. If you're a dog lover at all, you have to go see this movie. It was such a treat for us to sneak in a mini-date today!

Hiking on two feet

Today we went out to Umstead for a hike and let Eli do the first section on his own two feet before putting him in the backpack hiker. He loved exploring, touching the trees and picking up rocks and sticks.

2008 Christmas in Review

This was such a fun Christmas for us. Eli was a whirlwind and just had a blast with new toys and mostly with lots of attention! While there was definitely some gift exchanging, the best part was watching Eli and spending quality time together. So, here's our Christmas holiday in review:

Tuesday afternoon, Grandma & Grandpa N came up from the beach to stay with us. Wednesday, Tim had to work half a day so Eli & I enjoyed hanging out with them. Wednesday night we had a great meal of fresh shrimp and baked potatoes....yum - don't get them very often. After bath, it was time for bed and the wait for Santa began. Tim and his Dad put together a 16-in-1 game table for the neighbor's kids - some good father/son time and practice for when Eli and his sibling ask for things that have to be put together!

Eli climbed up the ladder on his swingset by himself on Wednesday

Swinging with Grandpa

Christmas morning we woke up and Santa had definitely been here - between Santa and Grandma / Grandpa, Eli had tons of stuff. When he came downstairs, the first thing he saw was a John Deere ride on tractor from the Grandparents. He climbed right on it. He just didn't know what to play with and was all over the place. One time he started running into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a basketball goal on the other side of the tree. That was hilarious. He knew exactly what to do with it and tried to put the ball into the hoop. We hope he will throw balls into the hoop instead of all over the house. After breakfast, we opened more presents and Eli got to play with Round 2 of new stuff. He also had fun being the center of attention basking in Grandma & Grandpa's love. One thing that has happened lately is that he has become quite Grandpa's boy. He loves Grandpa C when we we're at the farm and asks for him and he did the same thing this week with Grandpa N - he had to keep track of his every move.

Love the tractor!

Going for two points

Finally noticed the tricycle from Santa - he can climb on it, knows what to do but just can't quite touch the pedals

Hello?

Our little stunt boy - he has taken to climbing on everything

Round 2 - a cool playhut from the cousins

Eli had so much fun in just one section of it

After a full morning, it was time for nap and some quiet time. Eli actually took two naps yesterday because the day was so full. The second nap was nice; it allowed me to do some cooking for our friends and family dinner last night. I cooked my first turkey ever and, if I say so myself, it was yummy. I also did dressing, ham, mac-n-cheese, oreo ice cream pies and punch to drink. The punch was the hit of the meal. Our friends brought over all the veggies and other sides. It was a feast! Everyone was so stuffed that they weren't interested in dessert. We were lucky to spend Christmas dinner with the Grandparents, our friends Mike & Mary, Mike's parents and Mary's brother and nephew. It was a full house and I loved all the activity and togetherness.

Mommy & Eli

Friends & Family - for which we are very thankful

Hanging out with full bellys

Santasauras Rex with his 'My First Craftsman' tape measurer

With yesterday being such a full day, Eli actually let us sleep in this morning until 7am - woo hoo! But then, of course, it was full on playing once his feet his the floor! Tim's parents left about mid morning and then Eli went down for a nap. Mommy also used the time to sneak in a nap - it was great! We spent the afternoon hanging out and playing with Eli.

This was such a wonderful (and tiring) Christmas. We were so lucky to spend it at home with family and friends. Next year will be even crazier with two kids in the house but oh how much fun!!

Reading the morning paper with Daddy

Fun time with Play Doh

Grandma & Grandpa N (and blankie!)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you have a day blessed with family, friends and lasting memories.

All I want for Christmas...

is a good night's sleep.....no wait, that's not how it goes....
my two front teeth.....in this case it's the front incisors. Eli hasn't had the best nights lately. Between trying to fight off a runny nose and cutting new teeth, his nights have not been that great. We're hoping for a nice gift from Eli tonight - a full night of sleep.

Christmas Eve

Hanging out Christmas Eve with family, Eli running all over the place, waiting for Santa. If you're curious where he is, check out Norad's Santa tracking. Looks like right now he's in Porto Amboim, Angola. We're looking forward to his visit tonight!

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas.

Lunch with Daddy

Today Eli and I went to see Daddy at work today and go to lunch with him. Tim's coworkers haven't seen Eli since I was on maternity leave with him so they were excited to see how big he had gotten. He had fun running around Tim's office and checking out the shop.

I can drive this forklift

Hanging at the picnic tables with the guys - he climbed up there and sat down all by himself.

Sitting in Daddy's chair - he then tried to climb on the desk and bang the computer keys.

Christmas at the Farm

Warning: this post contains LOTS of pictures

This past weekend, we went down to Grandpa & Grandma C's farm to celebrate Christmas with Evia's family. It was such a great weekend. We drove down Friday night at Eli's bedtime and he did much better making the transition from car to bed. Saturday he slept until 7am so we were very happy with that. He, once again, was our little "doodle doo" echoing the rooster. We had a yummy breakfast (pancakes and fresh sausage) and then Eli was let loose outside to play. Boy was he happy with that. He explored everything with Grandpa and oved running around. He got all muddy just as a little boy should. After nap time, we headed to Evia's grandparents to have big dinner and enjoy family time. There was food a plenty, let me tell you! Mom cooked country style steak and rice, Uncle Mike grilled a turkey and pork butts, Aunt Brenda brought chicken. If you went home hungry it was your own fault!! After dinner, we took the requisite family pictures in front of the tree and Eli opened some presents. He really got the hang of ripping paper so Christmas Day should be fun. His Great Aunt Val and family got him a See and Say and some farm tractors. He loved all of them. (Today he's been pushing the tractors around A LOT.) When we got back to my parents house, we did our Christmas with them. Again, Eli had fun tearing into the paper. The first gift he opened was three nerf balls - a football, basketball and a soccer ball. He didn't care about much after that. He's all boy and loves balls and wheeled things. We had a great time playing Christmas before Eli went to bed.

Sunday morning we went to my parents' church. Eli did pretty well to start and loved the children's message provided by puppets. Then he went to children's church with Grandma where they read, colored and made a Christmas ornament. We then went out to eat with my other Grandmother (Huggy Grandma as we lovingly call her) and celebrated with her. Eli was an eating machine at lunch (again) and sampled everything on his place. Grandma even got him an ice cream cone for dessert and he had fun exploring it. It rained all night so once we got back to the farm, Eli didn't get to really run around but Grandma made sure he got to see the animals some more before he left.

We drove home at his bedtime on Sunday and had an easy drive home. We're very fortunate to have family a reasonable drive away and be able to see them on holidays. Although we won't be with them on actual Christmas Day, we will be talking to them and thinking of them all day.

Exploring with Grandpa

In Eli-style, showing off his belly. Notice the resemblance to Grandpa's belly!

Such a sweet boy

Our little tornado - running around happy as can be

One of my favorite pictures - I took this from the kitchen window without them knowing. Eli just sat there with Grandma and Grandpa. I can only imagine their conversation.

Saturday night dinner - eating it up

Pictures with Evia's Grandma & Grandpa

Family photo in front of the tree

Ripping into his Tonka truck (Thanks Uncle Billy & Miss Laura!)

Eli & Uncle Billy - they just happened to be dressed alike

Chasing Daddy - this was pretty funny to see

Hmmmm, this ice cream isn't bad

And the cone is pretty good too

Once he learned how to rip open presents, Eli wanted to help everyone. Here he's helping Huggy Grandma open her gift.

School Christmas party

(a little catch up)

Friday afternoon was Eli's Christmas party at school. Santa came to visit them that morning. Apparently Eli did pretty well with Santa - I'm looking forward to seeing the picture! He even learned to say "ho ho ho". The Christmas party was at snack time and it was fun for the parents to hang out in the room. Eli got some yummy treats that he normally doesn't get - a juice box and cheese puffs specifically. He couldn't get enough of the cheese puffs! He was trying to take them off the other kids' plates as they left the table. It was funny because each kid seemed to have their favorite snack and go looking for more when someone got up. After snack time, we all went outside to play. It is so much fun to watch the kids interact. It also reinforces our appreciation of Eli's teachers who do such a great job teaching them, caring for them and watching them all day. Pictures of the fun.

A table of cute little boys (there are no girls in Eli's class right now)
Hanging with Mommy

Kinda windy out here Mom!!

Climbing up to slide

Hanging with my dinosaur pal

Baby 2 update

Real quick - 2 appointments this week. Tuesday was bloodwork and meet with prenatal nurse. Today met with my doctor. Did all the normal stuff - weight, blood pressure, etc - and then got to hear baby's heartbeat. It was a very strong and fast heartbeat. Good news! Now I'm all set for another month and at that appointment, we'll schedule the ultrasound to find out if it's a boy or girl. Anyone want to start guessing?

Now I'm off to Eli's school Christmas party. I missed his Santa visit this morning because of the doctor but am looking forward to the party. Tonight we're off to the farm for our Christmas celebration down there.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We'll have lots of pictures when we get back!

We got a package....

Eli had lots of fun tonight. We got a box from the cousins in Florida and it had packing peanuts. Eli has never seen them before so we let him play with them. He had a great time ripping them apart, dumping them out and stomping all over them to make noise.

Oooooh, what is this?
They feel kinda funny

Getting the hang of it - I can make a mess!!

The end result - peanuts all over the kitchen and one very happy little boy!

Coudn't resist this messy face tonight. We think Eli is growing right now because he has turned into an eating machine. He had fun eating his spaghetti tonight.

Eli the Red Nosed Reindeer

An absolutely adorable picture they took at school of our sweet little reindeer.

Photo fun

Eli has taken an interest in the digital camera. He likes to look at the display and tell me who is in the picture. We took our own series of photo-booth style self portraits and he kept showing me where Mommy was. We also took pictures of Daddy and Belle. Fun being silly!