MY CAMERA!!!!

Just in time for the Holidays, my camera has returned!!! YAY! And to think we ALMOST bought a new one this weekend!!!! Wahoo! Camera, I have missed you so!

11 months old and 3 months home!!!

Eli is 11 months old today. That means that in one month my baby will be celebrating his first birthday and well on his way to toddlerhood!!! Oh, he really is growing up too fast!!! He already has 3 words, can stand on his own (for a few seconds) and walks around the room pushing things! I know he's hoping to walk soon. In a way, I hope so too because he gets soooo frustrated he can't keep up with the "big kids," but I also don't know that I'm ready for 2 kids running through my house screaming!! Oh, it will be fun!!

Things this month have been great. Eli is sleeping through the night (about 12 hours, 7:30 to 7:30)! Not even making a peep most nights!!! He still needs white noise, but I like white noise when I sleep, too! Eli is working on experimenting with more table foods. He's not a huge fan of the texture of most things, yet, though. Avocado - no, pears - no, cheese - no! Haha! Toast is LOVED, though! As is pasta, rice, potatoes; he likes the starches! He also likes little (I mean tiny) pieces of chicken! Hopefully we'll get his diet balanced eventually. Until then he still eats fruits and veggies pureed, so that's good!

Maddie is also doing well. She's super excited about Christmas this year! Her school is doing a Christmas program on Thursday and a party on Friday (she gets to wear pajamas, yay)! Her vocabulary grows daily. Not simple words, no, no! Fancy, fun words! Like "splendid" and "gusto!" It's hilarious the things that come out of her mouth!! She was very concerned that our fireplace doesn't have a chimney (it's gas), because how was Santa going to deliver presents?! It took us a few tries to convince her that "Santa" would still deliver all of her presents and he'd come through the front door, we'd just leave it unlocked!!! But, this year she also realizes what Christmas is really about, which is great! She talks about baby Jesus all the time and wants to give him presents by being good. And she also keeps making little presents, packing them up in her sack and pretending she's Santa Claus and delivers the presents to kids in Ethiopia because "they don't have toys and I have lots to share." She's a blessing!

Hopefully I will post a video before Christmas from Maddie's program. If not, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I should have a new camera by then since it will be my birthday present AGAIN this year from my husband. Maybe I won't lose this one!

Spirit Night!

Tonight is Spirit Night for Maddie's school. Pretty much that means that we can go to Mario's and buy salad and pizza (well, we can buy anything, but we usually get salad and pizza) and a portion of the sales go to Church School! In other words, it's an excuse to not have to cook tonight, which I'm really excited about!

It's about time to register Maddie for Preschool for next year, so we've been talking about which school she wants to attend full-time next year. Currently Church School is the winner, but it is tight. I thought Woods School would be the winner, but I guess I underestimated how much she loves the bouncing purple dinosaur at the Church School playground!!!

Eli is doing great. He should start working on getting in his top teeth any day now. They usually come in 3-8 weeks after the bottom ones, at least. He definitely says "Dog" and "Doggie." Both quite clearly. He also LOVES to say "Uh-Oh" after he drops a toy or falls to his bum. Quite adorable! He says "Dada," but not just in reference to Ben, it's just fun to say! He still can't make any consonant sounds other than Ds and Gs on a consistent basis, so no "Mama" or "Maddie" in our near future, I think. Hopefully he'll get a hang of the Bs and Ms soon so we can start branching out in his vocabulary! Otherwise I see a speech therapist in our future (which doesn't sound like fun, especially since none of it would be covered under the kids new insurance policy).

Maddie is doing well. She got great marks on her "Report Card." We were told that she excels at academics, but needs to work on her gross motor skills. She got her Dad's brains and her Mom's (lack of) athletic ability! Hopefully her Ballet class (starting in January, for her birthday, shhhh, it's a surprise...though she's been BEGGING for them for years now) and soccer in the spring will help her out some! Only time will tell!

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving. We ate and played and watched football. This past weekend Maddie and I got the Christmas lights up outside. Now every time we pull up to the house she tells me how much she loves our house and how pretty it it! It's sweet! This coming weekend we will probably go get a tree. Maddie already has HER tree up and decorated, but we need the big family one (which will be barricaded back in the corner due to the newest addition to our family).

I pray that everyone also enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and is gearing up for the Holiday Season! We have had on Christmas music since Thursday (well, actually, we played it in the car starting Monday of last week, but don't tell anyone)!

Thanksgiving Party

Here are some pictures from Maddie's Thanksgiving Party that I helped host. They were taken by her teacher, of course, since our camera is still MIA! I have pulled out the old camera and taken a few pictures, but it's definitely not as good as MY camera. Oh well, my birthday is coming up, so I think my dear husband will get me a new one...of course we'll find my camera as soon as I have the new one, but what can you do?! I HAVE to have a camera for the kids' birthday parties in a month!!

Have you seen my camera?!

Well, I haven't posted in a while. 1) Because we've been pretty busy and 2) because I can't find my camera and I really like to post pics of the kids. Their sweet faces are far more enjoyable than my meaningless banter :o)

Things are well. We went to DC a few weeks back and we had a great time. Eli, Maddie and I spent a few days with my parents, then Ben came up to join us and we spent the weekend with his parents and Chris, Val and the kids. Maddie had a really great time playing with her cousins!

Eli is still growing. His growth curve for weight looks more like a vertical line than a curve right now, which is awesome! He's also learning so many new things! He can pull himself to a stand (though we have learned that he's selective about the objects he uses to do this). He can also "cruise" a little when standing. And he loves to walk (almost run) when holding on to our hands. Maddie is very eager for him to be able to play Ring Around the Rosy! Not too much longer. And, surprisingly, he might end up crawling on his hands and knees before walking. When we last saw the Pediatrician he said he thought he'd walk and skip proper crawling, but he's learned he moves much quicker when his belly isn't dragging, so we'll see. He is a boy of endless surprises! He also might have a word...Dog, of course! Also Maddie's first word. He now says it when he hears them or sees them and he looks outside when you ask him where the dogs are...we'll keep you posted. I'm not ready to call it yet!

Maddie is doing well as always! She's quite a humorous child (she got that from her dad). Another Mom and I hosted a Thanksgiving Party for her at Church school and she enjoyed having her Mommy there. We played pin the feather on the turkey, Thanksgiving Bingo, made little turkeys (I would post a picture, but...no camera), and ate cupcakes and apple slices with caramel. A good time was had by all, though entertaining ten 3 year-olds for a few hours is exhausting...to say the least! I give her teacher mad props!

Nothing too exciting going on for us. We will be spending our first ever Thanksgiving with just our family. We were going to do Chinese food, but I have decided, for the kid's sake, that I'll make a turkey breast, green bean casserole, stuffing (Stove Top, don't get carried away now!) and a pumpkin pie. The turkey breast cooks in the Crock-Pot, so I won't be stuck in the kitchen all day!!! WAHOOOO! We'll see how it turns out...

Should I ever find my camera I will post new pictures of our most precious ones! I haven't seen it since early November...you're guess is as good as mine!

You learn something new every day!

Well, I saw Eli do this yesterday and thought it was a fluke...I was wrong! He has done it at least 5 times today. He sits, then goes back to his tummy to move to get another toy, then sits again to play with it! He has also learned how to get to the playroom, and he wants in! We'll have to talk to his sister when she gets home to make sure that's okay ;o)

Update from Maddie: That's NOT ok! He needs to be able to walk, be a big boy and be 7 years old! Wow, this girl is strict!!!! I bet she'll crumble with a little bribery, though!

Halloween 2009

Playroom!

For the playroom I have to send a huge thanks to our friend Jon, my Dad, and Ben (my hubby)! They all put a lot of time and effort in to this area that was once dead space under the stairs! Maddie absolutely LOVES it and often goes in there not to be heard of for an hour. I am not allowed in because I clean up her toys and put them where they don't belong! Daddy and Eli are allowed in...on occasion!

Nursery!

We've been home long enough, it's about time I showed everyone what we came home to!!!! Many, many thanks to our friend, Emma, for designing/decorating the nursery! It's beyond awesome! And equal thanks to my Mom for financing the facelift! We were so incredibly surprised and pleased! And there are nights when I'm rocking Eli and I look at the room and I think, "This is what I always pictured a perfect nursery looking like!" The photos can't even begin to do it justice, but you can at least get an idea!

Crawling...Eli style!

Here's Eli's "Commando crawl." He's working on his full crawl, but I think he's super excited that he can move in all directions without rolling!

Misc pictures

Halloween Parade Video

Halloween Parade and silly pictures!

Here are some silly pictures of the kids and a picture of Maddie in her Halloween Parade at school today. She's a unicorn this year, but decided to wear last year's Lady Bug costume for the parade. I will try and get the video uploaded of Maddie marching, but I make no guarantees! As Maddie would say, "You get what you get and you don't get upset!"

Daraja Children's Choir

We were able to go see the Daraja Children's Choir of Africa again this year! Only Maddie and I stayed for the concert, but Ben and Eli came to visit and have dinner beforehand. It was a great time and Maddie enjoyed it. She informed me that the girls were her favorite...no surprise there! And she was really jealous that Miss Emma had some of the kids staying at her house! Maddie wanted ALL of the girls to come have a sleepover with us! Too funny!

And, as we were leaving, Maddie got upset and I couldn't figure out why. She said, "We didn't get to see the girls in their pretty green dresses, we need to go back!!!" I mean we left at intermission, but I don't know what the girls were going to wear in the second half! When we got home I mentioned this to Ben and he reminded me that they wore green last year! I cannot even believe that girl's memory sometimes!!! She's JUST like her father!!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures. I tried to post the video, but no dice! If you get a chance to go see a concert, we highly recommend it! They're coming to our area again in early December, and I have a feeling a Little Miss will request to go again! http://www.410bridge.org/daraja/ It's free! And donations go to a great cause! http://www.410bridge.org/

New pictures...sort of!

A wonderful family took pictures of sweet Eli in August. We received the

pictures the day we traveled to pick up the little guy, so we never got a chance to post them! But, now you can see more pictures of our sweet boy when he was only 7 months old! He looks so sleepy!

One Month Update

Wow, what a month it has been! It was the best of times. It was the worst of times ;o) But, mostly it's been good! There were definitely a few days there (like the day Eli got 4 shots and I got to spend 1.5 hours at the Dr. office with 2 kids plus 2 hours driving to and from...not a good day) that were pretty hard, but we have pulled through victorious! Eli is doing great! He is a very happy boy most of the time. If he's hungry or tired, though...look out! He loves to MOVE. He can't quite crawl yet, but that doesn't mean he stays still! He can roll everywhere and crawl backwards quite well. His latest and greatest is walking while holding on to your hands. That's his FAVORITE! He can nearly stand without any balancing help,

and can sometimes stand for a few seconds on his own. And he's quite good at sitting now.

Eli is the proud owner of TWO brand new teeth. One came in last week and the other came in just today! Hopefully he takes off a few weeks before working on the top ones, as teething does not make for a happy Eli (or Maddie, or Mommy or Daddy). But he has been healthy, which is great! And Maddie has mostly been healthy, too (aside from the ever-present cough that will hang around from September until March).

Food has been a toughie with this little man! Maddie ate...well, EVERYTHING! And a lot of it! Eli has a more refined pallate, it seems! However, we're starting to make some movement. For a while he would only eat sweet potatoes and apples. Now he will still eat those 2 (with rice or wheat cereal mixed in, wahoo), and carrots and pear yogurt oatmeal (baby food). As for "real" food, he's far less picky. Luckily he will try about anything. But if he doesn't like it he lets you know! So far he has liked everything he's eaten in "real" food, which is great. He's had wheat bread, applesauce, mac and cheese and steamed zucchini! Wahoooo! I also have some yellow squash to steam and try in a few days. Of course, I have to steam it until it's mushy, so it's losing a lot of nutrients, but at least he's getting used to the taste! Tonight he will be having (not sweet) potatoes for the first time. We'll see how that goes. We're having cheese and potato pierogies with our dinner, so he'll get to have some of the stuffing!

Last weekend Auntie Nayne and Uncle Scott came in to town and we had a great time. Saturday morning we went to the pumpkin farm and then the girls went shopping while the boys went home to watch college football. Sunday we enjoyed Ben's homemade waffles and Fuel Pizza for lunch before they needed to return home.

All in all, things are going well. It hasn't all been great but I now feel like Eli has really attached nicely and we are all bonding. Eli always looks to Momma for comfort and Daddy for FUN! That's exactly how Maddie is! I'm starting to think I'm pretty boring!!!

It was a hard month, but I really feel like we've been through the thick of it and we've emerged from the other side so much closer and stronger! God's great that way!