New blog feature

You'll notice the fun little pregnancy ticker above the posts...I had hoped to put it in the side column, but it's too wide. So, now when you visit our blog you'll see the baby's development first, then scroll down for the latest blog post. Rather see the ticker all the way at the bottom of the blog? Let me know with a comment. Enjoy!

And baby makes four!

Yep, we're happy to announce that we're expecting baby #2! He or she is due to make an appearance on May 3rd, but of course we're hopeful that baby will follow in big brother's footsteps and arrive a couple of weeks early. :) Not that you can see much in this picture, but that little bean in the the bottom of the black bubble is our baby at 7 weeks, 2 days (September 16th). So far this has been a more difficult pregnancy, but I'm trying to keep my focus on the fact that we'll have a new little bundle of joy in just seven months. We appreciate prayers for my mental and physical well-being. I've been really sick and haven't found the relief I'd hoped for through medication. All of this is, of course, taking its toll on me emotionally, too. Anyway, we are all so excited to welcome a new baby to our family. Eli even talks about the baby growing in Mama's tummy..."it will get bigger and come out!" We're so grateful for the blessing of another baby, and we'll keep you posted as the pregnancy progresses.

Almost famous

Check out the little cutie on the bottom right of Emily's new blog header!

More lake love

Last week we had a wonderful extra little taste of summer. We wanted to take advantage of what we knew would be short-lived sunshine, so we got some sandwiches and headed down to the Kirkland waterfront for a picnic and some playtime. Eli wasn't particularly interested in lunch; there were ducks to chase, sand to dig, and water to splash! Eli had reminded us we needed to bring along his bucket and shovel, so he had a blast playing along Lake Washington's shore. After lots of digging and splashing, Eli decided it was time to take a dip - once again, fully clothed!

He's such a funny little guy, and he sure had a blast! Needless to say, when it was time to head home we stripped him down and he rode him in nothing but a diaper. :)

Fun times with friends

We enjoyed an end-of-the-summer barbecue with our small group last weekend. Brooke and Jeff were gracious enough to host the event at their home, and we had a great time with our friends. Eli chose his own outfit that day and cracked everyone up. He wore camoflage corduroy pants, camo sandles, a brown John Deere t-shirt, and a brown fleece vest. One comment was "he looks like he's ready to go hunting!" Oh, and did I mention that it was at least 70 degrees out? :) Well, apparently he realized that his outfit was far too warm for the weather. So, what better way to cool off than to go swimming? Fully clothed! Yes, Eli layed down in the kiddie pool fully dressed and was delighted! He then climbed out of the pool just long enough to excitedly tell us he "went swimming!" He cracks us up! The kiddos then enjoyed a picnic dinner on the grass and then gave all the mommies an "awww!" moment when they all cuddled up together on the bench giggling. Needless to say, fun was had by all! :)

Family photos - finally!

At long last I'm ready to post some of the family photos from our trip to Oregon in August (thanks so much, Elizabeth, for arranging this!). We ended up with a CD containing 389 photos - so don't complain too much about me posting so many here. :) These are just some of my favorites. Enjoy... (and don't be surprised if some of these pop up on our Christmas cards!)

The whole family (I absolutely love this first one)

Mom and Dad, who we have to thank for this wonderful trip

Jeremy, Elizabeth, and Lucas, who we have to thank for these wonderful photos

Andrew and Jill, who are always so beautiful and so photogenic

Three happy young couples

Three generations of Gilbert men
A proud and happy dad with his sons

The brothers
The cousins (they had SO much fun together!)
Eli exploring

Our happy little family

And one more shot that I love of me with the man that I love

Zoofari!

We paid a long-overdue visit to the zoo on Saturday. We had been averaging about twice per month, but it's been awhile. Eli was so excited! In fact, the plan was all his...Friday afternoon he was playing with his stuffed giraffes when he looked up at me with the brightest eyes, stood up and said "Want to go to the zoo tomorrow! Want to go to the real one!" (As opposed to the pretend zoo that his giraffes live in). So, Saturday morning after seeing Nana and Pa off on their wild adventure (we're talking seven week cross-country road trip! Hope you guys are having fun!), off we went. One of the top animals on Eli's agenda was the bears, and we reached their habitat just in time for their feeding. It was really amazing watching them hunt for fish, especially as they would come right up to the viewing window. I've never been this close to a live bear before!It was a little much for my little man, but he soon discovered that the otters were fishing, too, and that was much for fun to watch! We watched the otters for quite awhile and Eli enjoyed every minute. He followed them back and forth along the viewing window and tapped on the glass saying "otter, otter, otter!"We finally headed out to the zoo's North Meadow where they were having a Member Appreciation party (the title of which was "Zoofari") - Eli picked a good day to go to the zoo! It was actually really cool. They had free snacks and ice cream, free flamingo hats and tiger posters, and some fun music, too. They also had bouncy houses and face painting, but those had outrageous lines, and fortunately Eli didn't mind skipping them. It was nice to be back at the zoo. We had a fun day together, and incredible weather, too!

Random...

Okay, so this is a completely random and pointless post (and, disappointingly, has nothing to do with Eli), but I just had to share what we saw at the grocery store the other day...

Weird, huh?! I don't have a particularly common name, and I definitely never expected to see it (much less be inundated with it) in the produce aisle of the supermarket!

And yes, I know it's probably even more odd that I actually stopped to take a picture of it. :)

Sold!

At long last, our house is sold! Today was our closing, so everything's signed and it's a done deal! We are so grateful that the Lord brought us a buyer and so relieved to be done with that house! Thank you all for the many prayers during this process.

Way too fast

Ryan and I were talking the other night about how grown up Eli seems to be lately. Even just in the past few days he seems so different. The conversations we have with him now are simply amazing, and the things he thinks up on his own are incredible! Case in point, my bed time conversation with him tonight...it started out with me telling Eli I love him. He responded by telling me that he loves the family, specifying cousin Lucas and Uncle Jeremy (he's here visiting for the weekend), and proceeding to tell me that he loved spending time with them at the beach house (a month ago) and telling me everything we had for dinner at the beach house (seriously, he told me three out of six nights!), and that he made oatmeal at the beach house in the pan. I couldn't believe that he not only remembered all of this, but came up with it on his own without any prompting. I then asked him what he wanted to thank God for tonight (we do this every night and he always has amazing, and often funny answers). He answered immediately: "thank Him for trains and train tracks and engines and train signs and smoke stacks and engine drivers." Whoa! As you may have noticed, this is a kid who loves trains and has been reading lots of Thomas books lately! Anyway, this probably isn't all that impressive to all of you who have kids of your own. Ryan and I are just simply amazed by how different and grown up Eli suddenly seems. He's growing up way too fast! On that note, he's a picture of my little boy two years ago...