Life with Eli

Abby is here!

2009-04-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

From now on you can find updates at our new blog: "The Eli and Abby Show" - go ahead and update your bookmarks, because though this blog will still exist, from this point on all new posts will be there. Thanks for checking in, and thanks for your prayers!

From the mouths of babes...

2009-04-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

One of our very favorite things about Eli's age is the conversations we can have with him, and the things he comes up with to say on his own. He cracks us up constantly, he is such a funny kid...and not only with his words, but also his antics. One of Eli's favorite pasttimes is "naked racing." This has become a nightly ritual as soon as he's out of the bath and dry. He asks one of us to say "ready, set, go" and off he goes! Sometimes he runs laps around the living room, sometimes just back and forth between the bathroom and playroom. As if that weren't funny enough, he has decided to add some other naked activities to his repertoire. He and Dada often "wrassle" in the evenings, and he now wants to "naked wrassle." Finally, the funniest one...Eli likes to look at websites (specifically Thomas and Curious George), and the other night in the midst of his naked racing he ran past the computer, paused, and said "want to look at a naked website!" He clearly meant he wanted to look at a website naked, but Ryan and I were cracking up over what actually came out of Eli's mouth!

Abby's Room

2009-04-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I think we're ready...we have diapers, all the baby stuff has been cleaned and sanitized, my induction is scheduled for Tuesday, and yesterday I finally finished our little girl's nursery! I'm so excited - it is so cute! Here are some photos...

I think we did a pretty good job of making it a very girly room despite the blue carpet and walls!
Now we just need a little girl to put in there! :)

Oops - Easter!

2009-04-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

I'm late with a post - what's new? :) We hope you all enjoyed a beautiful and blessed Resurrection Sunday! We thank God for the amazing gift of salvation! We enjoyed our first Easter at our new church (you may remember from our Christmas letter that we're part of a church plant in downtown Bellevue called The Downtown Church). We enjoyed serving in Eli's classroom that day and seeing all the precious children dressed up in their Easter clothes - so cute! All the little girls in their adorable Easter dresses made me very excited about buying one for my own daughter next year! :) After nap time we headed to Nana and Pa's house for an egg hunt and a wonderful dinner. Eli had a great time finding his treasures hidden around the houseand was delighted to find lots of M&Ms hiding inside the eggs. He definitely had more sugar that day than he's ever had in one day before!

Happy Easter everyone...praise God that Christ is risen!

Depot Park

2009-04-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

On the last of our three beautiful spring days last week, Eli and I headed to a new park. Issaquah's Depot Park is train-themed, and therefore right up Eli's alley! There's an old train depot that's now a museum, and a couple of retired engines and train cars to walk around and look at. Additionally, there's a great train-themed playground. Eli and I brought lunch to the park and had a wonderful picnic by the trains before heading to the playground. I was surprised that he didn't want his picture taken with the trains; I guess it was because they were so big close up. He had a great time looking around though, and tons of fun at the playground. Two of his favorite things were the big curly slide and this really unique (and safe!) swing. My favorite thing was the flowers. We'll definitely be back to this park a lot this summer!

Gymboree

2009-04-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

I figure I better get a few posts in while I can. Once Abby arrives I'm sure my posts will be even fewer and far between than they are now!

For the past three months Eli and I have spent our Monday mornings at Gymboree. We signed him up for classes as a Christmas present, and it has been a really great experience! We only have a couple more weeks, as we'll be done at the end of April, but Eli has really enjoyed it! The Gymboree play equipment is great, and the classes are theme-based. For example, last week the theme was "Around Town," so the equipment was set up to recreate a town with a park, a library, a bank, etc. The 45-minute class engages the kids' imaginations and incorporates lots of different physical activities as the kids pretend to check out and return books at the library, stock the shelves at the video store, play at the park, visit the bank, etc. Each theme is two weeks long, and then they completely change around the equipment so that it's really a totally different environment the next week. They do a really great job. Classes always end with parachute and bubble play, which they somehow manage to incorporate into the theme every time (last week it was a car wash). We're definitely going to miss Gymboree!

Carnival!

2009-04-11T20:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were blessed with three absolutely gorgeous spring days! Sunday was over seventy degrees, which was remarkable in and of itself (and made all the more remarkable by the fact that we'd woken up to snow just two days earlier!).

After church we headed straight to Nana and Pa's house to enjoy the sunshine together. There was a little carnival just a half mile from their house, and after a wonderful lunch we headed out for a lovely walk to the carnival. Eli had a great time running in the sunshine and playing games with Nana. One of his favorite games lately is running a few feet ahead of me, then when I catch up telling me with a big grin, "I ran so fast Mama couldn't even catch up!"Once we got to the carnival Eli spent some time just taking in the sights. He had no interest in riding the rides, but lots of interest in watching other kids ride! He seemed to particularly enjoy watching the mini roller coaster - maybe he'll grow up to love them. He was definitely interested in the game section. He found the skee-ball game right away, a favorite because it's "just like the game at Chuck E. Cheese!" After a round of skee-ball, Eli and Nana tried their hand at the water-shooting game (I imagine it probably has an actual name, but I don't know what it is!). Eli won a stuffed purple gorilla, and had a great time doing it. Finally, Dada decided to try his own hand at one of the games. You can't read the sign in this photo, but it says "hoops are not regulation." After missing a shot that really should have made it, Ryan decided that this referred not only to the size of the hoop, but also the shape! We were actually a bit relieved that he missed - you can't quite make out the size of the prizes at this game, but we don't exactly need a four foot tall tiger in our house! We all had a very fun day, and really enjoyed being out in the sun!!

Maternity photos

2009-03-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

My good friend Emily, who is an incredibly talented photographer, shot some maternity photos of me in January. Despite her talent, she couldn't do anything about my bad hair day! :) Still, I know I'll always treasure these pre-Abby photos. Here are my favorites... I really wanted a shot of Eli giving Abby a kiss. We had made a little game of it at home, and he loved it. Of course, once we were standing in front of a camera, it was a no-go!

I think this one will probably be framed in Abby's room...

Thanks, Emily!

Blog slacker

2009-03-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been a great blogger lately...for the record, I'm not just being lazy. A few weeks ago, after being sick the entire month of February, I managed to dislocate a rib coughing (yes, really!). Let me tell you, that is a painful injury! Typically they would just pop the rib back into place, instantly relieving the pain. However, because of the location of the rib and its proximity to Abby, they weren't able to do that. I am SO glad to say that the pain has diminished significantly with a combination of medication, physical therapy, and acupuncture. (Side-note, a huge THANK YOU to Joe, a good friend of ours and an amazing Physical Therapist, for all of your help). I have my third acupuncture appointment on Thursday, and the acupuncturist is confident that I'll be pain free after that treatment. I sure hope he's right! So, all that to say sorry for the lack of posting recently. Of course, I can't make any promises that I'll do much better over the next couple of weeks/months!

Zoo day!

2009-03-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

With all the sunshine we've been enjoying and Ryan's new freedom on Saturdays with basketball season being over, we had to head to the zoo! Just the day before we went, a new monkey escaped from its exhibit. Fortunately Eli was content playing with the "pretend monkeys" that greet visitors at the entrance! It was a really great day together as a family. Eli had a really fantastic day, due in part to the fact that we've been home-bound with nasty colds most of the month. We also spent some time exploring parts of the zoo we haven't really spent time in before, which was a lot of fun. Eli's two new favorite areas are the Habitat Discovery Loop and the Zoomazium. The HDL is a really cool little trail through a wooded area where they've created kid-sized versions of various animal habitats. There's a bird's nest, turtle shells, burrows, spider webs, etc. that kids can climb in, around, on, and through. There are also a couple of slides...I'm assuming these are just for fun, and not some animal's actual living quarters! :) We also hit the Zoomazium, the zoo's indoor play area for little ones. Eli found an even bigger slide here, and spent the rest of our visit climbing up the "boulder" to slide down this fast, curvy slide. He had a blast! As usual, one of the highlights of Eli's day was "riding on Dada" - he didn't stop saying "wheee!" from the Zoomazium (at the back of the zoo) all the way to the car. He was also delighted to see the peacock on our way out; he remembered seeing it on our way in during our last visit to the zoo and had been looking for it throughout our visit.

Hooray for sunshine, family time, and the zoo!

Definitely not Spring!

2009-02-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

Like I said, I knew better than to get my hopes up in February, but I still didn't expect to wake up to this yesterday...

This little bit of snow was a welcome break from the three days of non-stop rain and hail that preceeded it. Anyway, today was another beautiful, sunny day, so at last we were able to get out for a walk again. We got to look at the last couple of snow patches left in the shady spots...and learn about shadows...It was actually quite warm in the sun, and we sure enjoyed the time outside. We've had some serious cabin fever lately between the weather and our never-ending colds!

Spring?!

2009-02-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know better than to get my hopes up when it's only February! Still, we've really been enjoying the sunshine lately, despite the still-cold temperatures. We've been taking lots of walks to the playground and little "hikes" through the woods around our house, and this weekend we found the first Spring flower in our yard! All of this makes me really excited for warm weather and lots of time outside in the coming months.

Potty Party!

2009-02-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry (yet again) for the long blogging hiatus. We've had a crazy three weeks between Ryan's sports, all three of us being sick, and (drumroll please)...potty training! We decided that it would be really nice to get Eli out of diapers before Abby arrives, and he's been going in the potty off and on for months. So, we checked out Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day from the library. We'd heard great things about this method from lots of other parents, and we have to agree with all of the great reviews we heard. I know that every child is different, so we can only speak to our own experience, but for us this was a great book and a great method! The whole premise is that your child first teaches a doll how to use the potty, and by doing so, learns the process himself. You make a big deal about the whole thing...the whole day is a "Potty Party," complete with decorations and a theme (Eli's was Thomas the Tank Engine, what else?!), and lots of positive reinforcement (i.e., treats!).

So, on February 7th, Eli woke up to a present...a little boy doll named Paul. Paul decided that he wanted to learn how to use to the potty that day, so Eli took off Paul's diaper and helped him into his very own Thomas the Tank Engine big boy underwear (custom-made by Nana - thank you!!). Eli spent the morning teaching Paul to use the potty...we watched DVDs and read books and spent lots of time in the bathroom (and yes, Paul is anatomically correct and pees in the potty!). I apologize to anyone who tried to check out a potty-training book or movie from our library system that weekend...I think they were all at our house! Here's Eli "studying" one of his potty books in the giant carboard Thomas I made...

When Eli woke up from his nap that day he received another present: his very own Thomas big boy underwear! He was really excited to put them on and have his own Potty Party. He spent the rest of the day in just a shirt and big boy underwear. We spent countless hours in the bathroom practicing, earning lots of stickers on the potty chart, and discovering all sorts of fun things you can do while sitting on the potty...

You can play the harmonica,or play trains,or color and make up songs (this video is 1 minute, 45 seconds, but the first 45 seconds are the best - feel free to skip the rest!).

That night we had a "Big Kid Celebration" to celebrate his success. Eli got to choose whatever he wanted for dinner that night, and what did he choose? Pancakes and pizza - and yes, we obliged him and made both!

He did a great job, and has been doing a great job ever since! I'll admit that on Sunday I was in tears by 8:30 a.m. because Eli did not want to sit on the potty, and every bit of research you read on the subject tells you not to force the issue. However, Sunday morning seems to have been a fluke, because our little boy has become quite a potty champ! Since then he's had no more than one accident a day! Eli has already gotten really good at knowing (and telling us) when he needs to go and when he doesn't. We're really thrilled by what a great job he's doing...and really excited that we haven't changed a diaper in two weeks! :) We can tell he's really proud of himself for his accomplishment, too. Now let's hope we don't see too much regression when his baby sister is born...especially in light of the 12-14 diaper changes we'll be doing each day for awhile! :)

"What's that up in the sky?"

2009-02-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

This post title actually came out of Eli's mouth a couple of weeks ago when we were driving into Seattle to visit the Science Center. He literally pointed at the sun and said "what is that up in the sky?" Now that's a Pacific Northwest kid if ever there was one! Fortunately we've seen a bit more of that thing up in the sky lately. It's still pretty darn cold from a CA girl's perspective, but seeing some sunshine definitely helps! On Tuesday we went to visit Ryan at school during his lunch break and then headed to a nearby park to enjoy the brightness. Believe it or not, I didn't have my camera with me (I know that comes as a huge shock to those who know me best!), but fortunately my phone takes pretty decent pictures. Needless to say, Eli loved the opportunity to play outside in the sun. We both had a great day together at the park - and enjoyed the fact that we actually needed our sunglasses!

My BIG little boy

2009-02-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately I don't have a photo to go with this post. Actually, I do, but for modesty's sake and because this is the internet, I'm not going to post any...I'll explain: Eli has recently decided to take showers. He hasn't forgone baths completely, but he thinks it's pretty cool to take a shower like Mama and Dada do. It was his idea in the first place and he's choosing showers over baths most of the time. I know that this really isn't that big of a deal, but for me as a mom, it is. Ryan gave him the first shower, and I walked into the bathroom just to see how it was going. Now, I'm going to blame it on pregnancy hormones, but I nearly teared up to see my baby standing up in the shower, so tall, washing and rinsing his own hair! It's just the most recent in a long list of things that show us our little boy is growing up so fast. He also recently stopped sleeping with his blankie, totally on his own. I know that these are good things as far as his growth and development go, but there's also a part of me that feels sad that he truly is a little boy now, and not a baby. Granted, that's a really good thing since we have an actual baby on the way, but I reserve the right to weep a little! Here are a couple more photos of my growing-up-too-fast boy from his two-year session with Emily...

More family fun

2009-02-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the 17th, Dad/Larry/Pa's birthday, we all headed to the Pacific Science Center together. We hadn't been there since Eli was a baby, so Ryan and I were especially excited for Eli to get to experience all that it has to offer. There is so much to see, do, and explore there. Of course, our excitement was further fueled by the fact that it was also the weekend of their Annual Model Railroad Show. We knew that this was going to be a big hit with Eli! When we first arrived we spent a few minutes in the dinosuar exhibit. I was glad that Eli was intrigued by the big creatures instead of scared. It didn't take long, however, before we discovered the train show. Needless to say, that's where we spent the majority of our time! Eli was in awe of all the little trains going on all the little tracks, not to mention all the little towns, tunnels, bridges, etc. The best part was that there were three different areas in which they had set up smaller model train displays for kids to actually operate. There were, of course, lines for each of these, and we wondered if Eli would really have the patience to stand in line for his turn. I suppose we shouldn't have been surprised, but during our entire 15 minute wait in the first line, Eli didn't take his eyes off the display, much less wander away to explore something else. He was evidently watching very carefully, because once it was his turn he stepped right up and knew just what to do. There was a dial to turn and switches to switch, and Eli did it with very little help or instruction. I love the look of concentration on his face! It was really neat to watch him do this, and he absolutely loved it. He continued to talk about "driving" the trains for the rest of the weekend! The last of the three trains he got to operate was actually a model Gordon (of which he has a little cast-iron toy version at home, thanks Aunt Deb!) from Thomas and Friends. This, of course, was a special treat, and Gordon has been his favorite engine at home ever since! Another feature of the train show was The Iron Horse Railway, a small train that we could ride. Lucas was excited, but Eli wasn't so sure about the ride (it was already nap time by the time we got on the train). It took him most of the ride to decide that it was pretty cool to be on a real train, but the way he talked about it afterward made it obvious that it was another highlight of his day. Our final bit of fun at the Science Center that day was in the robotics display; a digger that you could operate with levers and switches. Yet again, no surprise that Eli loved this! He and Dada spent quite awhile filling up the digger and dumping the loads. It was a great day for all of us, and the cousins definitely had fun playing together. We're really excited to take Eli back to the Science Center sometime soon!

Family time

2009-01-30T15:22:00.000-08:00

This post and the next are a couple of weeks overdue, but I guess that's not too bad considering that Eli's Christmas thank-you notes are over a month overdue! (Sorry everyone, I promise they're coming!) Anyway, we had the pleasure of hosting our very first houseguests in our new home recently: our sister-in-law, Elizabeth, and our nephew, Lucas. They and Ryan's grandma were all in town for a long weekend to celebrate Ryan's dad's birthday, and we packed the weekend full of fun family events. The first day of their visit we headed to the Sno-Park at Snoqualmie Pass for some sledding. Eli is kind of funny about the snow; he gets really excited when it snows and wants to go out and play in it, but once you actually reach the fluffy white stuff, he's suddenly timid and wants to be carried instead of walking on it. Once I finally convinced him that it was really fun to walk on the snow he was good to go (but it's really funny that we go through this process each time it snows!). We headed up to the top of the sledding hill, and Lucas wasted no time in hopping on the sled and sliding down. After watching for a few minutes and realizing what a blast Lucas was having, Eli was ready to give it a try - with Mama, that is. So, we climbed onto the sled together, and off we went. Unfortunately we hit a small bump and suddenly we were tumbling off the side of the sled together. Neither of us was hurt at all (it's not a steep hill and we didn't go far), but it scared him enough that his sledding was pretty much done for the day! Awhile later we did get him to climb back on with me at the bottom of the hill, and Pa pulled us along a few feet. Eli seemed to enjoy this, but definitely the thing Eli enjoyed doing most at the hill was pulling the sled up to the top, giving it a push down (without anyone on it), and cheering, "go sled, go!" Poor Lucas thought this was a serious waste of a trip down the hill! Eli's other favorite part of our snow day was the heavy machinery (anyone shocked?). There was some sort of modified bulldozer (yes, belive it or not, there is a piece of heavy machinery that we don't know the proper name for) flattening and smoothing the snow nearby, and every few minutes Eli would look around for it. So, despite the early tumble, Eli had a fun day in the snow!

Halftime entertainment

2009-01-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

As you know, we spend a lot of time at high school basketball games. Eli spends a moderate amount of time actually watching the games, and mostly plays with whichever trains, trucks, or cars he has brought along for the evening. He usually spends halftime going for a walk with Pa, often in search of a snack! Once in awhile, though, he decides he'd like to play on the court at halftime. Last night was once such night, and little did we know, we were in for a show! Eli climbed down from the bleachers as the sound system began blaring Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and as soon as he hit the floor he began what I can only describe as a toddler version of breakdancing! It was hilarious (although, I do understand that most of you probably won't find it nearly as amusing as we do as his parents)! I think it's pretty funny that you can hear the high school kids in the background start cheering! At one point you see Eli look across the court at his audience, soon after which the show ends. :)

I wish I'd gotten more of it on video, as you can see I only caught the tail end. Anyway, he spent the remainder of halftime running up and down the court "playing" basketball. I may be a little biased, but I have to say it's the best halftime show I've ever seen. :)

This precious boy

2009-01-24T13:45:00.000-08:00

This morning while getting ready to head to the gym (don't be impressed, I'm getting there once a week at best!), I overheard this from Eli in the living room: "Zoe, come look at the Christmas cards. This one says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and God put a special star in the sky." Talk about one of those melt-mommy's-heart moments! I was suddenly so glad we've not yet gotten around to taking down our Christmas card display. When I came back out he was still moving his finger across the printed words on the card and whispering to himself. When Ryan got home from basketball practice Eli told him that he had told Zoe about Jesus being born in a stable, and that he wanted to read his Bible for nap time. Way to melt my heart again, precious little boy! This is such a fun age in so many ways, not the least of which is seeing how much he's learning, especially about the things that matter most.

P.S. Obviously the photo has nothing to do with the post...I didn't have a photo to go with this one, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to share one of my favorite photos from his two-year-old photo shoot with Emily. Thanks, Emily!

Doggy crates

2009-01-05T20:16:00.000-08:00

Eli loves animals, and takes very good care of both his real dog and all of his "pretend animal friends." He has a puppy that has its very own firetruck pillow/bed right next to Eli's firetruck bed, and Eli diligently makes sure that Puppy is "cozy" every night and gives him hugs every morning. Lately Eli has become very aware of how much Zoe enjoys her crate; it's really her little sanctuary and it's obvious even to Eli how much she enjoys having her own little space. So, it came as no huge surprise when he told us that he wanted to make crates for some of his other doggies. He chose two little stuffed dogs that he thought needed crates, and he and Ryan set to work on their big project. Unfortunately I didn't get many great photos of the process, but it was a pretty impressive project! Ryan brought in some scrap cardboard from the garage, they measured the dogs to see how big the crates should be, and Eli cut the tape with his prized monkey scissors. Eli decided the crates needed lots of holes just like Zoe's, and Dada used his drill to put the holes where Eli wanted them. It was such a neat father-son project, and Eli is thrilled that Little Doggy and Little Joby now have their own crates!

Merry Christmas!

2009-01-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

At long last, the Christmas post...

We had a wonderful first Christmas together in our new home. Really, we've had a wonderful Christmas/Advent month with all of our holiday activties, and this special day was just the icing on the cake (unfortunately not literally...I had every intention of baking a birthday cake for Jesus, but that's one thing that just didn't get done. It's on the "must do" list for next year!). Anyway, Ryan and I had a great time on Christmas Eve setting out Santa's gift to Eli and filling his stocking. We talked about how, as kids, we never would have believed that Christmas could possibly be more fun as an adult. However, it's SO much more fun now, as an adult and parent! First, there's the unmatchable joy that comes from a deeper understanding of Christmas; understanding that it's the day we celebrate the very greatest gift ever given to each and every one of us, the day we celebrate God's immeasurable love for us, poured out through the birth of Jesus Christ and His ultimate sacrifice in giving His perfect life out of mercy and love for us. I mean, WOW! Combine that with the giddy, giggly joy of being a parent picking out gifts you know your child will love and then getting to watch in jubilation as your child excitedly enjoys those gifts. And even more important, hearing your child talk about the birth of Jesus and beginning to learn what Christmas is really about. I can honestly say this was my favorite Christmas ever! An added perk was that it was definitely a white Christmas! We thought we had gotten all the snow we were going to get, but woke up to a couple of fresh inches and it continued falling throughout the day. Ryan went out and shoveled the walkway in the moring and had to go shovel it again later in preparation of our dinner guests' arrival. I got up early to make fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast...don't be too impressed, as they weren't Ryan's grandma's "from scratch" cinnamon rolls. I took a shortcut and used Biquick, but they turned out great and were at least more "from scratch" than the canned variety I've made in years past. It was a fun activity that I think I'll continue in years to come. (This photo was taken later, when we finally sat down for breakfast).Ryan got up a little while later, and by the time he finished shoveling the walkway Eli was awake. I probably looked like a giddy little kid as I ran to the garage, baby monitor in hand, half-shouting "Eli's awake, Eli's awake!" We went up to his room to get him and then all came downstairs together to see what Santa had brought. Eli had been hoping all month that Santa would bring him Thomas' Roundhouse (aka, "the place where Thomas sleeps"), and lo-and-behold, that's exactly what Santa brought! :) Eli was really excited! After awhile we got him to open his stocking, which was filled with everything from toy zoo animals to new stamps and his first pair of scissors (monkey scissors no less) to Lightning McQueen and 'Mater socks. Our little guy was a happy camper! Later, the new giraffe and the new monkey scissors "helped" with opening presents. Opening presents was quite an adventure...an adventure that didn't end until today! Eli was so into playing with his new toys that he didn't want to move on to other gifts. I can't tell you how many times on Christmas day we asked him if he was ready to open another present and he answered, "No, want to keep playing." After the first "no," Ryan said, "He's the first kid in history to say "no" to that question!" I guess we should be glad that he showed appreciation for the things he received instead of just ripping through everything without much thought. I'm sure that day is coming eventually! Anyway, he did a really great job of opening gifts, and it was fun to watch. It was a very Thomas Christmas at our house this year. Eli received not only the Roundhouse, but also several engines and cars, tons of tracks, a collection of Thomas books, Thomas pajamas, and a subscription to the Thomas magazine! Eli spent the majority of Christmas day (and every day since then) playing trains. He is also definitely enjoying the variety of other things he received. Thank you so very much to all of our wonderful family for all of the amazing gifts! In the evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Ryan's parents and grandmother. We're really enjoying hosting dinners in our new home. Unfortunately I had the camera positioned wrong, and Eli and I were cut out of the photos. Obviously next time I need to look at the pictures to make sure they turned out well! It was a truly wonderful day, and despite the fact that he'd been sick all week, Eli thoroughly enjoyed his Christmas. Here's a photo of the snowman Dada made for him in the backyard a couple of days before Christmas, since Eli was too sick to go out and build one himself. Eli did get to go outside just long enough to add the all-important carrot nose! I also have to share a couple of quiet Christmas moments...Eli enjoying some of his new books on Christmas morning... Merry Christmas everyone! May you be blessed with the joy of the Lord in the New Year!

The other big announcement

2008-12-27T09:38:00.000-08:00

Didn't want to keep you all in suspense too long, so...

We plan to name our little girl

Abigail Lila

and we'll call her Abby.

In all of our talk about names during the past four months, we never came up with one that really struck us with that "Yes! That's the one!" feeling. Finally, just last week, Ryan came up with Abby, and we both loved it right away. I think it was pretty much locked in when I looked it up and discovered that it means "a father's joy" or "joy of the father" - I don't think I've ever heard Ryan say "Aww!" before. :) Abigail, like Elijah, is a Hebrew name. There were two Abigails in the Bible, the more notable of whom was David's third wife, known for her graciousness and beauty (1Chronicles 2). Our little Abby gets her middle name from my beloved "G-Ma," another woman known for her graciousness and beauty. G-Ma was a wonderful woman; well worthy of having her first great-granddaughter named after her.

Well, I think that's it for big announcements from us for awhile. Now I'll get to work on the Christmas posting! (It may take awhile, I have 170 photos to wade through!) :)

The news you've all been waiting for...

2008-12-26T12:40:00.000-08:00

We had our ultrasound this morning, and (drumroll please)

It's a...
Yes, we're expecting a daughter in early May! I know many of you are not at all surprised by this news based on how different this pregnancy had been, but I was surprised. :) Here are a few photos of our baby girl...

Her profile...

A side view of her spine, neck, and head...

And one of her face, looking up at you and waving with her left hand!

Needless to say, we're excited! Of course, we have a lot of work to do and stuff to get since most of Eli's hand-me-downs aren't going to work...as much as we want her to be involved in sports, our little girl's room is not going to be blue with a sports theme! Check back soon for a name announcement and Christmas photos.

We hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas day!

Christmas cookies

2008-12-23T20:56:00.000-08:00

Eli and I had a wonderful time making Christmas cookies last week. I have fond memories of holiday baking with my grandma (G-Ma) when I was a child, so it's something I was really looking forward to doing with Eli. It was a hands-on project from start to finish, and Eli loved it! He helped every step of the way, so I'll let the photos tell the story... If you look closely at the series of decorating photos, you'll see the progressively growing mess on Eli's work surface. Needless to say, the decorating was his favorite part (yes, even more than tasting)! They may not be the prettiest cookies, but this project was definitely about process, not product - and well worth the extra cleaning of the kitchen! We had a great time, and will definitely carry on this tradition in years to come.

First snow

2008-12-20T17:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, obviously I'm a week late on this post since we've now had way more snow. Anyway, last Saturday we got our first snow of this winter, and Eli sure was excited! He told me a couple of weeks ago he wanted to go play in the snow, but there wasn't much I could do since there was no sign of the fluffy white fun. That changed Saturday night, and Sunday morning we woke up to a nice white blanket. We got all bundled up and headed out for some fun. Eli decided to take on the job of shoveling snow off the deck - mostly just so he could get to his construction vehicles. He was disappointed to find his wheelbarrow filled with a solid block of ice. He scraped at it a little trying to get it out, but to no avail. I think it's going to be a fun winter with him. Last year he wasn't all that into the snow, but this year he's definitely a big fan. The other big fan of the snow is our little Zoe, which is really ironic since she hates being wet and cold. Something about the snow brings out the puppy in her and she has a great time leaping and running around. She also loves chasing and biting snowballs! It was extremely cold out, so after about half an hour we headed inside to warm up with Eli's first cup of hot chocolate - definitely a new favorite treat!

A whole WEEK!

2008-12-19T14:47:00.000-08:00

I called this morning to reschedule my ultrasound...now, barring any other complications, our ultrasound is scheduled for Friday, December 26th. So, we're back to the news being a secret through Christmas, only it's a secret from us, too! I'm rather dejected that we have another week to wait. However, I'm really glad that it's Christmas week, so there will be lots of wonderful things going on to make it go quickly. To help me pass the time, you'll see I've added a poll to the right column so that you can guess the baby's sex (great idea Emily!). Also, I'd love for you to comment on this post with name ideas! We have a few ideas, but we'd love to hear your thoughts. I'd offer a prize if we pick your name, but too many of you know some of our favorites! :) Anyway, give me your ideas...

At least we got a walk...

2008-12-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

Despite the big disappointment of the day, we did get to go for a great family walk. We all got bundled up (Zoe, too!) and braved the elements. The snow was really coming down, and we were all covered by the time we got home. It was well worth it though, to get out of the house for awhile and enjoy the beauty God created. It really was gorgeous out there!

No news :(

2008-12-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well, for those of you who are here looking for gender news...no such luck! (For anyone who hasn't heard, Ryan vetoed the whole "wait until Christmas to share the news" idea last weekend). Today was supposed to be the day of my exciting ultrasound, and thus the big reveal here on the blog, but alas, the snow foiled our plans. Ryan came back to bed at 6 a.m. this morning saying that school was cancelled because of snow - I was immediately wide awake and whining about what this meant for our 2:30 doctor visit. Sure enough, a call to the doctor's office confirmed my fear: they were closed all day. To add insult to injury, I don't know when I'll be able to reschedule. They weren't doing any scheduling today, and weren't sure if they would tomorrow either. That puts us into Christmas week, and I'm guessing it's going to be a long shot to squeeze me in sometime before our holy holiday. Ugh! Usually I love the snow - but I couldn't have wanted it less today!

Reindeer Festival

2008-12-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

Eli and I made our second annual trip to the Reindeer Festival on Thursday. It was exactly the same as last year, but much more fun because of Eli's age. He was thrilled to get to feed the reindeer, and very surprised to learn that they love apples! We also learned that reindeer are the only species of deer in which both the males and females have antlers. This was a little confusing for Eli since he always calls deer with antlers "the Dada deer." Anyway, Eli's two favorite reindeer were Vixenand Olive. Never heard of her? Neither had we. Apparently there's a movie about a dog who mis-hears a radio report about Blitzen being injured and Santa needing to make his run with "all of the other reindeer" as Santa needing "Olive the other reindeer." Anyway, apprently Olive the dog had a species-change operation, because she's definitely a real reindeer. Wow - I digress (big time)! Eli also got to visit Santa in his house, but wanted nothing to do with sitting on his lap! It took lots of coaxing just to get him to take a Hershey's kiss from Santa. :) Maybe next year he'll come out of his shell a bit. Aside from meeting all of Santa's reindeer, the highlight of the festival for Eli was getting to sit in Santa's sleigh. He went back three times to climb into it again. As we were leaving he told me over and over again that he wanted to come back another time and give the reindeer more snacks! The Reindeer Festival was definitely a hit.

Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-12-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a busy day at our house...in addition to setting up the firetruck bed, we also set up our Christmas tree. Eli has been asking for one ever since he started seeing them around, so he was really excited. He loves the lights, and wants them on all the time (fortunately we do too!), and picked out our new tree skirt (he chose the one that looks like Santa's suit). He even did the decorating by himself! He has a set of little yarn ornaments that he put on the tree Saturday evening. Sadly, Ryan and I haven't done our part, so only the bottom two feet of our tree is decorated! Maybe we'll get it done this Saturday. :) Anyway, it really feels like Christmas around here now, and we're all excited. We've continued our Advent celebration, and Eli really looks forward to it every night. What a wonderful time of year!

Big boy bed!

2008-12-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

It's official...Eli's a Big Boy now!

Saturday Eli said bye-bye to his crib and helped Dada set up his big boy bed. And not just any bed...a firetruck bed! Needless to say Eli is incredibly excited about his new bed! Naps have been sporadic since Saturday because the bed is just way to exciting. Fortunately the nights have gone incredibly well, and even during the nap times when he doesn't sleep he's not getting out of his bed. We are so grateful for how smooth the transition has been. We know it may not stay this way, but this is a great start! Thanks Great Grandma for the awesome new bed, and thanks Aunt Debbie for the fantastic firetruck bedding!

Baby talk

2008-12-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

Well, our poor little bun-in-the-oven has been sorely neglected on this blog! Mainly because the only news (or non-news) to report has been that I am still sick (yes, even at 19 weeks!). I am definitely grateful that the nausea and fatigue has definitely improved, though! I was having to take medication consistently every eight hours, whereas now I can get by with once a day. I am so grateful to be functioning normally again, able to cook and eat, and not needing to nap daily. Not only has the pregnancy gotten easier, but it has gotten more fun...since Wednesday, November 19th I've been able to feel the baby moving. This has been a real treat since I didn't feel Eli until 22 weeks. By the time I felt him, he was really a big baby with big kicks, so I completely missed out on this stage of the little "flutter" in the tummy. It's really fun! Even Ryan is now able to enjoy it; he was able to feel the baby with his hand on my belly for the first time last night. Getting to enjoy this stage is making the nausea that lingers much more bearable! AND...less than two weeks until we find out the baby's sex! (And yes, we're still planning on keeping it to ourselves for one week until Christmas.) :)

Oh what fun it is to ride in a...fire engine?!

2008-12-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

On Monday of last week we enjoyed a fun evening with friends at the Sammamish City Hall Tree Lighting event. It started with a performance by a local elementary school choir. Needless to say our two and three-year-olds didn't really care much about the performance! So, we headed out to the Gingerbread House-making station where Eli and Sierra had a blast decorating their houses (which, incidentally, were actually milk cartons with graham crackers glued onto them). Eli had never done this before and was really into the project; Sierra, who's a pro, opted to eat icing straight out of the container instead of wasting it on her house! :) I just love the concentration on his face in this photo...

The highlight of the evening for Eli came after the houses were done...a well-decorated firetruck arrived, and the firefighters let the kids explore inside. Needless to say, this made Eli's day (week, month...). He sat in every seat, most notably the driver's seat. It took some serious coaxing to get him out from behind that big steering wheel! They had the firetruck well-decorated, complete with tons of lights and Rudolph and Santa's sleigh on top. It was a really fun night! (Thanks, Lena!)

Eli's first Advent

2008-12-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

We've started a new tradition in our family this year: celebrating Advent. Ryan grew up celebrating Advent, but it was new to me. I'll let author Lisa Whelchel explain it: "The word advent means "to come," and it refers to Jesus' coming to earth as a baby on Christmas day. The season of Advent is all about looking forward to celebrating the day when our almighty God stepped into history as a human being." Whelchel wrote a great book called The ADVENTure of Christmas, and we're using a lot of her ideas and projects in our celebration. Our final MOPS meeting of the year focused on how to celebrate Advent, the meaning of the symbols, and actually making our own Advent wreaths to take home. The meeting got me really excited about beginning this tradition in our family. Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas (this year it fell on November 30). Every family does things a little differently, and ours is no exception. Many families use Advent calendars with doors, drawers, etc. for the children to open each day. Instead of the traditional calendar, Eli has an envelope to open each day. Each envelope contains a little treat (a couple of M&Ms), two small "gluing projects," and a coloring page. This photo shows Eli finding his first M&M...Since Eli is really into gluing, he has a paper Advent Calendar Christmas Tree that he gets to glue numbered paper ornaments on to count the days of Advent. The other little gluing project is that each day he gets one verse from the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke that he glues onto a piece of construction paper. Each day we read as much of the story as we have. The coloring page each day is a page from a Christmas Story Advent Coloring Book that has a piece of the Biblical account of Christmas along with a picture to color that corresponds to that piece of the story. (Anyone who wants to use these materials can just click on the links; I didn't come up with all of this on my own!). We're also doing miscellaneous projects every few days to illustrate some aspect of Advent in a hands-on way. It's been a lot of prep work, but well worth it! One part of Advent that many families do the same is that each Sunday we light another candle on our Advent wreath (there are five total, each with a different meaning) and talk about what that week's candle means. Eli has been excited to help light the candles and blow them out. It's really fun introducing this special tradition at a time when Eli is so into learning and doing. Last night after cleaning up his toys he looked up excitedly and said "want to do Advent now!" I think it'll become a tradition that he treasures!

The First Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T20:33:00.001-08:00

Okay, so maybe not the first Thanksgiving, but our first Thanksgiving in our new home and our first time hosting Thanksgiving. What we thought was going to be a quiet night for just the three of us ended up as us hosting a dinner party for nine! Yes, we did know about all of the guests before I did the grocery shopping, and yes, they were all invited. :) Before I get into details, we want to apologize to all the family members we just didn't get to call on Thanksgiving. Please know that you were in our thoughts and prayers. We were just incredibly busy with our hosting responsibilities! While I admit I was a little nervous about our first venture into hosting a large group for a holiday, it was really great. One of the things we've looked forward to most about our new home is the ability to entertain; we simply didn't have the space to really do that in Redmond. We really enjoyed our evening with friends and family, and while washing dishes that night we were already planning when we could do it again! One of the big highlights of the evening for me was getting to use my grandmother's china for the first time. I have to share a photo of my table despite the fact that the photo itself didn't turn out very well; I know I didn't do anything exceptional, but I was excited about how nice the table actually looked since I've never hosted a somewhat formal dinner before. It was such a treat setting the table and thinking of G-Ma (my nickname for my grandmother) watching over me while I did it. We'll end this post with a photo of Eli's playroom...this is what it looked like after I started cleaning up and thought to grab the camera. Here's the kicker - just two little munchkins made this whole mess! Needless to say, Eli and his friend Evelyne had a fun evening!

Finally, a little gratitude...We are so very thankful for our family, immediate and extended, both those who are still with us and those who've gone home to be with the Lord, and certainly for our new little one on the way. We are so grateful for our new home, our health, our friends, our church, Ryan's job, and all of the innumerable, immeasurable blessings we enjoy. We truly have such a blessed life - thank you Lord!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The joys of singing

2008-11-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately I have no photo to accompany this post because it's about what Eli said, instead of what Eli did. I've actually been meaning to do this post for awhile, but Eli added another adorable anecdote to the story today, so here you go!

At every nap time and bedtime we sing to Eli. The songs are different depending on the day and who's putting him to bed. I often sing hymns to him, and end with "Jesus Loves Me." We've been singing "Jesus Loves Me" to him since he was a baby, so he's more than a little familiar with the song. One morning I brought Eli into our bed to cuddle for awhile until I was ready to get up (he woke up way too early that day!). While we were lying down, Eli started to sing..."Jesus loves me...Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...for the Bible...Bible, Bible, Bible...He is strong." Unfotunately I interrupted him with my giggles, and the song ended there, but it was so darn cute!!

Later that week at bedtime I was singing "As the Deer." Eli often asks the name of the song I'm singing and what it's about, so it didn't phase me when he interrupted my song to ask what it was called. I answered, "As the Deer" and continued to sing. He then interrupted with, "what is that song about?" I answered, "it's about God," and continued to sing. Finally, he interrupted and said, "that song is about deer!" I couldn't help but laugh and say, "well, yes it is!"

We had a similar conversation this afternoon when I sang "Come Thou Fount." Eli: "What's that song called?" Mama: "Come Thou Fount." Eli: "What's that song about?" Mama: "It's about God." Eli: "What is that song about??" Mama: "It's about God." Eli: "That song is about fountains!" Again, followed by laughter from both of us! I did take the opportunity to explain the fountain as a metaphor for God's love for us, and he seemed satisfied with the explanation. Though I'm sure we'll have a recap next time I try to sing that song! I just love the conversations we have at this age!

Just like Dada

2008-11-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

As many of you have noticed, Eli looks more and more like Ryan as he grows up. This little boy loves his Dada, and loves to do things with him, from reading the paper to watching football to doing yard work. One morning I walked into the living room to find this adorable sight...

A few days later Eli got a long-overdue haircut, and boy does he look like Dada now! Anytime he loses his curls, you can really see the resemblance (especially those of you who knew Ryan at this age!).

Working hard

2008-11-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Eli spends most of his time playing hard and working hard (his words)! A week or so ago he was working hard helping Dada reassemble our coffee table. As you can see, he took his job very seriously, with all of the appropriate equipment. I think a lot of us will be surprised if this boy doesn't go into construction when he grows up! :)

State Champs

2008-11-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

The high school cross-country team that Ryan coaches once again went to the state finals, and they won! The team and coaches spend the weekend in Pasco, WA, and Eli and usually go along. Eli's favorite parts of the trip were playing with the little boy in the mirror in our room and chasing the birds after the meet! Cograts girls (and awesome coaches)! By the way, Ryan's the guy you can hardly see, fourth from the right. :)

Another overdue blog post...

2008-11-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

Subtitle:

Trick or Treat!

Eli had another great Halloween. As you've read, he was really excited about his Thomas costume! We enjoyed spending the evening with our friends Brooke and Jeff and their kiddos. They invited us over for a yummy dinner and then trick-or-treating in their very kid-friendly neighborhood. Eli and Grace had a great time together, and collected a lot of goodies! Grace was great at saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" at each house...Eli, not so much. :) He was too shy to say trick-or-treat, and then was so amazed by all the candy that as much as we prompted him to say thank you, all he could manage (at every single house) was, "there's a lot of treats in your bucket!" (Yes, he still says "you" when he means "me"). :) Eli also had his first candy that night. Not his first sugar, by any means, and yes, he's had sprinkles on cookies, etc. But this was his first real "candy." After trick-or-treating we all hung out for awhile at Brooke and Jeff's house. Eli was happily playing with Grace's toys when she went and got his treat bucket for him, pulled out a little pack of M&Ms and said, "here Eli!" Suddenly Eli realized there was more to this trick-or-treating thing than just obtaining the treats. :) He thoroughly enjoyed the half-dozen M&Ms that I gave him, and fortunatley completely forgot about the treats after that! :)

SO long overdue...

2008-11-18T14:40:00.000-08:00

No, of course I'm not talking about the baby, I've got awhile to wait on that! I'm talking about this shamefully late blog post! Okay, here's the real post title:

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving was quite an event in our house this year...well, actually it was a series of events. After choosing his special pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, Eli was not about to carve faces into either of them! So we went to Fred Meyer and picked out another pumpkin specifically for carving (or "giving it a face" as Eli said). We brought it home, laid out some newspaper, and got to work. Eli chose the face we'd use from a jack-o-lantern collage we made earlier in the week, and loved being so involved in the process. However, once we opened up the pumpkin and starting pulling out the gushy stuff, Eli was done being involved! :) He had no interest in touching the weird stuff or the seeds, no matter how cool we said it was. He did want to hold the little pieces of pumpkin once we started cutting out they eyes, etc. Afterward, Ryan roasted the pumpkin seeds, and they were so good that we decided we should do the whole thing again (okay, that and the fact that we had hoped for a more sensory experience for Eli). :) So, off we went to Fred Meyer to buy yet another pumpkin! Again, Eli chose the face and we went to work. This time, however, he was really into the whole experience. He wanted to pick seeds from the gushy middle, play with the seeds, and touch everything. He really had a lot of fun with this one. Sadly, the pumpkin seeds weren't quite as yummy, but it was well worth it for the fun Eli had.

Thomas the Tank Engine

2008-10-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Eli was excited to choose his own Halloween costume this year. At first he wanted to be a doggy, just like last year. I thought this was a great idea until I began the search and couldn't find one big enough to fit him. Fortunately a visit to the costume shop saved me...as soon as Dada pointed out the Thomas costume, Eli's decision was made! He was so excited, and immediately said "don't want the doggy, want Thomas!" Since then he's gotten really into Thomas! He has a Thomas warm-up suit to wear under his costume, and a Thomas bucket to take trick-or-treating. The other switch is that when he gets to watch a show, he no longer chooses Wiggles - now it's Thomas every time! :) While he was posing for this photo with Emily, I asked him if he was Thomas the Train...he very quickly informed me that "I'm Thomas the Tank Engine!" Pardon my mistake! :)

I also had to do a little reminiscing, and I can't believe how different Eli was a year ago. My baby has definitely become a little boy! Enjoy the walk down memory lane...be sure to click on the YouTube links!

http://eliandzoe.blogspot.com/2007/10/eli-had-such-great-day-last-year-he-was.html

King of the Castle

2008-10-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

Bellevue Square mall, where we've gone to play on the boat many times, finally opened their long-awaited new kids' play area. We went to the grand opening on October 10th (yes, this post is really late!), and despite being a madhouse, it was really fun. Eli loves the new play equipment and literally climbed and explored every single thing there was to climb and explore! It's ocean-themed, hence the name "Kids' Cove at the Square," so it includes several boats, sea creatures, sand castles, etc. There are several tunnels, slides, and lots of places to climb. Eli had a great time, especially when we were joined by his good friends Clara and Hannah. We all had a very fun day together, and I'm sure we'll have many more this winter as the rain keeps us indoors for playtime.

A trip to the pumpkin patch

2008-10-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

Our family enjoyed a fun day at Fall City Farms today. We went to the early service at church to make sure we'd have plenty of time to meander the pumpkin patch for the perfect pumpkin. We visited this farm a couple of weeks ago for the Harvest Celebration, and Eli was excited to return. He's a big fan of their animals and sandbox, and was excited to discover that they also have a large pumpkin patch. He's been very excited about pumpkins lately, and couldn't wait to pick his own. It was a pretty cold morning, so we got nice and bundled up...complete with Eli's "dinosaur" hat! (Called such because of the "spikes' along the top).It may not be the cutest thing in the world, but Eli loves it, and I love that it keeps him so warm. After saying a quick hello to the animals, we headed out into the pumpkin patch on our hunt. Despite the patch being a bit picked over by now, it didn't take Eli long to find just the one that he wanted. Eli tried very hard to pick it up, and was relieved that Dada was able to carry it for him! :) He also wanted a small pumpkin that he could carry, and he was so excited and proud to carry around his own little pumpkin. After paying for our pumpkins we enjoyed a little treat; this is the same farm that has the yummy fresh mini doughnuts...mmmm! Eli also got a cute little pumpkin sippy full of (really) fresh apple juice - seriously, this juice was amazing. We actually got to watch them making it as Eli (with a little help from us) enjoyed his juice. We headed into the farm store hoping to take some home with us...unfortunately it was $10 per gallon! I have to say though, it was really good apple juice! :) We headed home after giving Eli some time to play in the sandbox. It was a great day on the farm, and we look forward to going back again.

Harvest Celebration

2008-10-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

On Saturday all of our local area farms (and there are lots of small farms around here) participated in a Harvest Celebration Farm Tour. With Ryan in Portland all day for a cross-country meet, Eli and I were excited to have something fun to do. I told Eli we were going to a farm as soon as he woke up in the morning, and he was so excited! After breakfast we headed to Fall City Farms to enjoy the animals and a wagon ride. As soon as Eli saw the animals, he took off running toward them. After briefly visiting each of the animals (cows, chickens, and horses), Eli found a sandbox full of tractors. Needless to say, he was a happy camper! Despite my attempts to get him to explore more of the farm with me, my little digger wanted nothing more than to stay in the sandbox! :) He did decide to venture out for a treat, though...the farm had a little stand set up with a mini-doughnut machine. Mmmm! Eli sat down on a pumpkin to enjoy his snack, and we got to listen to some good bluegrass music by a local duo called Spoonshine. After our snack we enjoyed a wagon ride, which Eli thought was pretty great. The wagon was pulled by a John Deere tractor, so Eli couldn't have been happier...until he got to "drive" a tractor himself. It wasn't a John Deere, but he didn't complain! :) Finally we headed back to the car, with a quick run through the hay maze on the way. The next (and last) stop on our farm tour was the River Valley Cheese farm. Though they're a popular farm because of their fresh, homemade cheeses, it was the baby animals that brought us to the farm. They had baby cows, goats and yaks (when was the last time you saw a yak up close?) that visitors could pet. Eli loved petting the baby animals, especially the goats. By the time we were done it was past nap time, and both of us were exhausted! We headed home for some rest after a really fun day together.

New blog feature

2008-09-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

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

More lake love

2008-09-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-09-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

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...

"Need some pribacy"

2008-08-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry, but I have no photo to go along with this blog post...for reasons that will be obvious once you read it! ;) We've had a little potty in the bathroom for a couple of months now, not because we wanted to start potty training already, but because Eli wanted to go potty when we did. Mind you, he wasn't really going potty, he just liked to sit down (fully clothed!) and pretend. In recent weeks it has become part of his bath time routine to go try to go potty after he's stripped down before hopping into the tub. About a week and a half ago we were going through this usual routine when Eli looked up at me and said "need some pribacy," and proceeded to close the door! I had to laugh at my two-year-old telling me he needed some privacy, but was also glad that he was understanding the concept since we've been teaching it in relation to other people going potty. Well, I was still laughing a moment later when Eli opened the door beaming and said, "I did it!" I said "what?!" and looked in the potty - sure enough, he had gone!! We knew from when he learned to walk that Eli is not one to relish the spotlight, but I couldn't believe that as soon as he had some privacy he went pee in the potty! Our nightly bath time routine now includes Eli actually peeing in the potty consistently every night. He loves it! He's always so proud of himself for going. Looks like potty training may be easier than I imagined! Way to go Eli!

10 more miles on a four day run...

2008-08-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

I'm certain the post title requires some explaining...it's part of the chorus of an old country song (18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses by Kathy Mattea, and yes, I used to listen to country - exclusively!). Anyway, it just seemed appropriate for this post...

We returned Tuesday night from our marathon trip to Montana; out of the seven trip days, we spent four full days driving (returning to the post title, we were pretty excited when we had only ten miles left of our four day run!). That’s too much even without a two-year-old in the car! It was well worth it though, as the time spent with Ryan’s family as we grieved the loss of his grandfather was absolutely invaluable. We were reminded what a blessing it was to have such a great visit with both of Ryan's grandparents last summer. Ryan and several other family members took a trip out to his grandparents’ farm in Scobey, which was great for all of them.

Post subtitle: "This is a good cabin!"
To break up the 15 hour drive to Wolf Point, Montana, we spent a day at Aunt Pattie and Uncle John’s cabin in Lincoln, both on the way there and on the way back. Eli repeatedly told us “this is a good cabin!” during our stays. He enjoyed the little horsey and swing in their backyard (lucky for him they have grandkids!).

We also spent some time throwing rocks into and splashing in the Blackfoot River, which Eli thought was really fun. He even saved one “special rock” that he picked out to bring home.

Just in case you're wondering, that water is extremely COLD!

Eli also enjoyed the deer, both real and “pretend.”

There are constantly real deer grazing on the lawn at the cabin, and we all enjoyed watching them. The highlight of the cabin for Ryan is the 4-wheelers.

He was a little disappointed that Eli didn’t want to go for a ride with him (“not make it go brrrm brrrm”), but Eli did think it was pretty cool to sit on it while it was turned off. :)

Thanks Pattie and John for letting us stay and enjoy your cabin! On the last day of our drive we were treated to some road-side entertainment as we watched a herd of long-horn sheep grazing (though if you ask Eli about them he’ll tell you, “they’re not sheep, just mountain goats!). That little guy really is something!

Another goodbye to Grandpa

2008-08-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Before sharing a little about our trip I wanted to share another photo and Grandpa's obituary...

Paul F. Gilbert

1921~2008

Paul F. Gilbert, age 86, of Wolf Point, Montana, passed away Sunday, August 10, 2008 at the Faith Lutheran Home in Wolf Point. Paul Frederick Gilbert was born November 2, 1921 on the family farm south of Scobey, MT to Frederick Marion and Carrie Stella Norris Gilbert. He was a graduate of the Class of 1940 at Scobey High School. On March 25, 1944 he married Alvera Edna Kaul in Glendive, MT. They had a son, Larry and a daughter, Karen. Paul farmed and ranched all of his life. He loved animals (horses, dogs and cows) but especially appaloosa horses. He was active for many years on church boards and as a conference delegate and attended church all his life. Paul loved traveling and wintered in Arizona for a number of years. The past ten years he and Alvera lived in Wolf Point and spent summers on the farm until recently. Paul is survived by his wife of 64 years, Alvera of Wolf Point, MT; his son, Larry (Doris) Gilbert of Sammamish, WA and his daughter, Karen (Tim) Christensen of Otis Orchards, WA; six grandchildren: Jeremy Gilbert, Ryan Gilbert, Andrew Gilbert, Anne Christensen, Daniel Christensen and Peter Christensen; and two great grandsons, Lucas Gilbert and Eli Gilbert. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and three sisters.

Beach dog!

2008-08-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that Zoe has been conspicuously missing from these beach blog posts – that’s because she finally gets one all her own as the finale of our beach trip posts. Our little Zoe is definitely a beach dog, and I think she would have gladly stayed there without us when we left. :) Zoe loves to run in the sand, tiptoe into the water, chase the seagulls, and play fetch along the shore. She and I enjoyed several early morning walks on the beach, and she was thrilled to spend most of the week off-leash. She had at least as much fun in the puddles during low-tide as the boys did. Though she was taken by surprise a few times as she ran through the puddles; a few of them were pretty deep, and she inadvertently ended up swimming a couple of times! We were particularly entertained by her “bat dog” look on the really windy day we spent flying kites…

Zoe was definitely in her element on the beach! (Weren't we all?!)

Oh Foogo!

2008-08-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first ever product review on the Gilbert Family Blog. It may also very well be the last, as its purpose is to serve as an online writing sample for a copy-editing position for which I am applying (thanks Emily!). Wish me luck on the job!

Many of us Mamas have been caught up in the BPA-free frenzy of late, and for good reason. One product I was excited to try is the Thermos Foogo Sippy Cup. I'd read a favorable review on Safe Mama.com, a site I look to often for advice, and was sure this cup was going to be my new favorite. It boasts a fabulously toddler-friendly design with afixed handles (it's also available without handles) and is magnificently mama-friendly since it's dishwasher safe and BPA-free. Even more exciting in my book is the fact that it reportedly keeps beverages cold or hot for up to 6 hours - no more lugging around the insulated lunch box to keep the kiddos' milk cold! Also exciting: no need to find a specialty store, as the Foogo is available at Target. So, what's the catch? It leaks. Big time. Both the product website and the reviews I read touted this sippy as leak-proof. After several serious spills I figured I must have purchased a defective cup, so I exchanged my drippy sippy for a new one. No luck. I figure it must have something to do with the fact that the lid and valve are constructed of four seperate pieces that must be disassembled and reassembled with every washing, and I'm amazed the editor of Safe Mama, whose son carries his cup around by one handle all day, had no trouble with this cup. The bottom line? Though I definitely don't recommend this cup (unless you don't mind a milk-soaked diaper bag), I love the design and the great insulation. I plan to return my cup (again) and try Foogo's "Leak-Proof" Straw Bottle. Perhaps there'll be another product review here after all!

Dig, dig, digging!

2008-08-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

No one who knows Eli even a little bit will be surprised that his very favorite thing to do on the beach was DIG! We brought buckets, shovels, and diggers along, and Eli couldn’t have been happier. He never got tired of digging and playing in the sand.

Oh the joys of little boys!

2008-08-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Someone to look up to... One of the biggest highlights of the week for Eli was hanging out with his cousin Lucas. Lucas is about a year and a half older than Eli, and Eli just couldn’t get enough of him. Most of Eli’s older friends are girls, so it was really neat for him to have an older boy to look up to and play with all week. The boys played together, dug together, and laughed and laughed and laughed together! We had professional family pictures down while we were down there, and this is what happens when you ask two little boys to sit and pose at the beach…

Seaside

2008-08-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

Later in the week the Gilbert men went golfing, and the ladies and kiddos headed into Seaside for some fun. Our first stop was the Seaside Aquarium. The aquarium is famous for its harbor seals, which you can feed while you’re there. Eli absolutely loved watching the seals eat, splash, and swim. He likely could have spent an hour there! His second favorite part of the aquarium was the touch pool full of starfish, anemones, and urchins. With Aunt Jill giving him a boost, Eli managed to grab hold of one of the starfish right away, and thought it would make a good sponge to clean up the water he had already splashed. I quickly realized that Eli didn’t understand that this was a living creature, so we had a quick lesson in sea life, which made for a much happier starfish! After leaving the aquarium we headed to the fun center so that Lucas could drive the bumper cars. Eli surprised me by wanting to drive, too. Even though he’s really into cars, I thought he’s be a little frightened by the whole bumper cars experience. He really seemed to enjoy it though, and excitedly told Dada all about it when the guys met up with us for lunch.

"Go on a hike!"

2008-08-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

We've been slowly introducing Eli to the concept of hiking, starting with shorter, easy walks thorugh the woods to get him excited about this enjoyable outdoor activity. When we suggested a hike to Eli in Oregon, he was pretty excited! :)

Mid-week we visited Ecola State Park (near Cannon Beach) with Andrew and Jill to explore and enjoy the Clatsop Loop Trail. This hike is actually part of the Lewis and Clark Trail, so we learned some things along the way, and it was neat to see part of where they'd been. The hike proved more challenging than we thought (the first mile and a quarter just went up), and we weren’t able to see the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse (the highlight/goal of the hike) through the fog. This lighthouse has a really amazing story, so it was a bummer to miss seeing it. Still, it was a beautiful hike and well worth the effort. Eli and Ryan had some great bonding time, as Eli spent the vast majority of the hike on Ryan’s shoulders. They had fun exploring together, and our creative little musician even managed to make a drum out of a tree branch, using a stick he picked up to bring back to Zoe! :)It was great to be out enjoying God’s creation together, hiking, climbing, and exploring.

A day (or several) at the beach!

2008-08-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Bear with me now, after a week of playing at the beach it’s hard to keep straight which day was which, so what you’re getting is just a jumbled mess of all our beach fun.
We were all excited to hit the beach first thing the next morning, so after Pa and the boys made oatmeal we all donned our beach gear and headed for the shore. Here's another [in]famous Eli ensemble... :) It was about a 4 minute walk from our house to the beach, but with Eli in tow it was more like 10! :) We got there just in time for low tide, and Lucas and Eli had a great time playing in the puddles left by the receding water. After lunch and nap we headed back down to take advantage of the wind that had picked up. Mom and Dad had brought along a plethora of kites, and Jeremy was especially anxious to play with his old stunt kite. The kite-flying was pretty cool, but as usual Eli was more interested in digging. Talk about a boy in his element! Ryan headed out to the water and was visited by a flock of pelicans (in reality they were still quite far away from him). We got to watch these big birds fishing all week. Eli kept us all entertained in the afternoon when he decided he was a turtle! Not just any turtle, but a sand turtle! He spent quite awhile crawling around in the sand, at one point saying he was headed out to the ocean. I’m glad he gave up on that goal since he was still a long way from the water! To finish off the day, we enjoyed yet another beautiful sunset from the deck of the beach house.

A long drive, but well worth it!

2008-08-15T19:55:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the first in a series of several blog posts (probably between 6 and 8!) on our trip to Oregon. I know, I know, that’s a bit excessive. But I’ve narrowed it down as much as I can, and there were just too many fun things and great photos to pare it down any more! So without further ado…we spent August 1-8 at wonderful beach house in Warrenton, OR (just between Seaside and Astoria) with Ryan’s parents, brothers (Jeremy and Andrew), sisters-in-law (Elizabeth and Jill), and our nephew, Lucas…10 of us total. It was a wonderful week! Though the drive down was only about 3 and a half hours, that’s a long time for Eli and Zoe to sit still! Eli settled in to watch Bob the Builder with his blankie and Puppy, while Zoe showed us her seldom-seen aggressive side… Okay, so in reality she was yawning, but doesn’t she look vicious?! I find this photo hilarious considering Zoe’s extraordinarily submissive and friendly personality.
We arrived at the beach house late afternoon and were so excited about the awesome digs Ryan’s parents found! This elaborate lounge chair was the first thing I saw when I walked in, and I spent most of Eli’s nap times curled up in it with a book. I thoroughly enjoyed this great chair and its great view!The guys, however, were far more excited about the foosball table than the comfy chair. Eli wanted desperately to join in the fun, so Ryan pulled up a chair and let him play goalie. :) The foosball table was a source of much enjoyment during the week, much to Andrew and Jill’s chagrin since the table was right outside their bedroom! The finale of the day was first of several great sunsets we enjoyed during our trip. Though this one wasn’t particularly colorful, it was such a great image of God’s glory shining down on us.

Hey...look what I found!

2008-08-12T21:16:00.001-07:00

It's the long-lost wedding photos! These are actually compliments of Unkie (aka my Uncle Harold); they're stills he captured from the video he took of the wedding. I actually came across it completely by accident today; it was unlabeled and I needed a jewel case, so I popped in the CD and voila! Thanks Unk!

Even though it's not a photo of us, I had to throw this next one in just because it's so special. I always loved this shot, but now more than ever since my dear G-Ma is looking down on us from above.

We embark on the long drive to northeastern Montana tomorrow; we appreciate prayers both for the Gilbert family in this time of greiving, as well as us (especially Eli) on the loooooong drive.

Six years!

2008-08-10T10:39:00.001-07:00

Today is our sixth wedding anniversary! I was looking forward to posting a wedding pic or two until I realized that all of the digital wedding photos we have are on a CD, packed away in a box somewhere! So, I have one random picture of us from a dinner on our honeymoon. This blog post made me realize that we were awful at taking photos until Eli was born! We literally have only about two dozen photos from our two-week honeymoon!

Anyway, I just want to say thank you, Ryan, for six wonderful years of marriage. I love you as much (or more!) today as I did six years ago when I said "I do!" I thank God for you every single day (really!), and I treasure the time we have together. I look forward to many more wonderful years of being your wife. :)

Gone to a better place...

2008-08-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

Ryan's grandpa, Paul Gilbert, has gone home to be with the Lord today. We have some wonderful memories with Grandpa from our trip to Montana last summer. He really enjoyed the time with Eli, as well as playing cards and Rumikub with us...he always loved to play games. We are blessed to have had that time with him. We thank God for the time we had with Grandpa, and that Grandpa is now with Him in the land of eternal joy where there is no suffering.

Bothell Landing

2008-08-06T15:12:00.000-07:00

Our playgroup met at Bothell Landing last week, and despite the distance from us, Eli and I have discovered a new favorite place to play. We started out on the play structure, where Eli was very excited to get to play on Noah's Ark! He saw this "boat" from the parking lot, and immediately said "want to play on the ark!" :) He also impressed me by going down a big slide all by himself. This is an achievement since, although Eli used to love any and every slide - no matter how big - he's been a little wary of them since taking a painful fall from a big one a few months ago. I'm really glad to see him enjoying them so much again. As usual, Eli had a great time on the swings, and his little buddy Simon had a blast swinging too. We also brought along our squashed hot dog buns from the scrapped camping trip, and Eli had a fantastic time feeding the ducks and geese.It was all fun and games until one of the ducks got a little aggressive and decided that if Eli wasn't going to give him the bun, he was just going to take it. Fortunately Eli got over it quickly and went right back to work feeding the others. We had a lot of fun at this park, and we'll look forward to going again...especially since it's so close to Emily and Simon's house and we can visit good friends and a good park in one trip!

"Camping is fun!"

2008-08-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, those were Eli's actual words! :) We took Eli on his first camping trip last weekend. I know, I know, that's crazy considering that he's two, and that before he came along we went camping at least a couple of times each summer. We simply hadn't made the decision to try this new adventure with him yet. Fortunately Ryan had the brilliant foresight to do a practice run in the backyard first. The first hurdle was figuring out where Eli would sleep now that he's too big for a pack & play. I have to say, we came up with a great solution! Eli has a little toddler-size tent and sleeping bag that we picked up at a garage sale. Until now it has just been for play, but it has become a great substitute for the pack & play! We borrowed a huge tent from our friends Jessie and Steven that we could actually fit Eli's tent into with plenty of room left over for oursevles. So we set up camp in the backyard last Wednesday, put Eli's blankets and animals into the tent, then made a really big deal about how fun and exciting it is to camp and sleep in a tent. Well, maybe we made too big a deal of it, because Eli was so excited that it took him two hours to fall asleep that night! Every time one of us moved Eli would pop up and excitedly tell us "I'm in the tent!" :) He did finally settle down, though, and the practice run paid off during the real camping trip - he was asleep within ten minutes of us putting him to bed, despite our very noisy neighbors and the incredibly loud fireworks display from the casino a few miles away! Anyway, we got to Ocean City State Park and set up camp on Friday afternoon. As soon as we were set up, we headed down to the beach. It was great weather for it; sunny and just warm enough. Eli, of course, had a great time digging in the sand. Despite the cold water we all waded in a little bit. After playing for awhile we headed back to our campsite to make dinner and wait for our friends Myles, Emily, and Simon to arrive. Eli thought it was pretty cool that Dada was making a fire in our campsite, and he was quite happy to sit by the fire in his very own camp chair! He did get a little bored and decided that since we hadn't brought his blocks along, he'd have to make do with what was available...Hmmm...yet another strike against me in the race for "Mom of the Year" :) Myles, Emily, and Simon arrived later, and we had a great time sitting around the campfire talking and making s'mores. Eli woke up very briefly twice during the night, but otherwise slept great and was in a great mood in the morning. Unfortunately it started raining at about 2 a.m., and though it wasn't heavy rain, it didn't let up. We held out as long as we could, made breakfast at camp (check out Myles and Emily's very handy pancakes in a can!) and hung out around the campfire for awhile longer, but in the end it just wasn't worth spending the rest of the weekend cold and wet! Though it was a short campout, it was worth the trip, and fun while it lasted. As you may have noticed, the first and last photos here are compliments of Emily. The top one was taken from across the campfire, and I love the smoky look of it. I love this one below for obvious reasons...It sure is a blessing to have a wonderful friend who's also a wonderful photographer! Thanks Emily - and thanks for all the work you put into planning a great camping trip!

Hooray - a new place to play!

2008-07-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

We've enjoyed several walks to a park near our new home that is mostly made up of sports fields, but also has a small playground. The playground wasn't anything to write home about, very small and not super toddler-friendly, so we mostly enjoy running around on the field (check out Eli and Zoe in June). The playground did have a short tunnel that Eli enjoyed, though, until the last time we visited. We were very disappointed to find that they'd taken out the tunnel and boarded up the play structure. On our most recent walk we opted instead to visit a further away, larger playground - but on the way home we passed by the old standby. We were delighted to find that they've put in a whole brand new play structure and some toddler swings!The new play structure has a musical theme, with drums and bells for the kids to play in addition to climbing and sliding. Eli and I were both thrilled with the new additions, and even though we'd already spent time at the other playground, we opted to explore the new digs. I think we'll be make more frequent visits now that the playground has gotten a great new face lift!

Fun in the Kirkland sun

2008-07-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

Our playgroup met at the Kirkland waterfront last week, and we had a great time! The day started with a free concert from the Brian Waite Band. Trader Joe's was one of the event sponsors, and they also gave away free popsicles to the kids. Eli enjoyed his treat thoroughly! We then moved down to the water for some splashing, but Eli spent most of the time playing in the sand (no surprise there!) with his good friend Hannah. After Hannah went home Eli decided to do some splashing after all, only his venue of choice was the fountain instead of the lake. He had a great time running around in the fountain with two little girls we didn't know...that's our little ladies' man! Finally we settled onto a park bench to enjoy our picnic lunch. It was a very fun day, and some great mommy-son time!

Lake love!

2008-07-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

Our little family has a new favorite place: Pine Lake Park. We've gone several times this summer, including twice by bike. It's only about 10 miles round trip, but still a good workout with several hills along the way. It's a really great park where we've enjoyed everything from playing in the water and on the playground to watching little league games and playing on the swings. We've even made friends with the local wildlife, including the very bold ducks and a fascinating garter snake that Eli followed half way across the park! We're forming a new Sunday afternoon tradition of packing a picnic and biking to Pine Lake Park. We're really enjoying the fun family time and the wonderful summer weather! On this particular day our trip to the lake was an impromptu one, so we didn't have a change of clothes for Eli. After he played in the water we stripped him down for the ride home (he kept his diaper on, though!).

Camera shy?!

2008-07-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a good thing we had no aspirations of child modeling for Eli (though we all know he sure is cute enough!) :), since his new m.o. when someone points a camera at him is to cover his face or turn around. What happened to my little ham who was more than happy to smile for the camera? Even all of Emily's tricks that usually work so well (you can just hear Emily and myself mooing in the park!) aren't fool-proof anymore. He's even gone so far as to tell me to turn off the camera! Needless to say, he's got us all concerned about the much-anticipated family photos we have scheduled in two weeks - we're talking extended family, happens once every couple of years, family photos! Please pray that Eli has a change of heart or at least decides to be exceptionally cooperative during the family vacation. :)

Eli's first service project

2008-07-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

Last night was the last church service of the summer - okay, I realize that needs a little explaining for those of you who aren't familiar with our church...In addition to traditional Sunday morning services, we also have a Saturday evening service, which is the one Ryan, Eli, and I usually attend. We love this service for several reasons, the greatest of which is the fact that Eli stays with us during worship and communion, then goes to his classroom during the sermon (and has his own little Bible lesson). The Saturday service takes a hiatus during the summer, and we all go back to Sunday mornings until the Fall. Okay, now on with the story... :) The church leadership wanted to do something special for the final summer service, and boy did they succeed! We had an extended time of worship, and then the kids all stayed in the sanctuary for the sermon (which was abbreviated for the sake of both the parents' and the little ones' sanity). Then the whole congregation did a service project together - which was really awesome! We partnered with an organization called Children of the Nations to package 10,500 meals for hungry children in underpriveledged countries. It was really amazing! They did a great job of getting everyone involved by creating age-appropriate tasks; Eli's age group helped by coloring the boxes in which the food is shipped. It was so neat to engage in this act of service together, both as a congregation and as a family. As you can see, we especially enjoyed our incredibly cool ensembles: hairnets and plastic aprons! I'll talk about Eli's hand-over-the-face photo posture in a later post!

Oh happy day! (Part 2)

2008-07-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

After what was supposed to be nap time on (last) Tuesday (apparently Eli was way too excited about all this summer fun we're having to sleep), we continued the day of fun with our first family bike ride. We bought a bike trailer at a garage sale a few weeks ago, but had not yet had the opportunity to use it. Ryan spent a good chunk of time tuning up our bikes and fixing a wheel on the trailer, and we were ready to go. Eli was surprisingly excited about his new Thomas bike helmet, which is great for us. It also came with Thomas knee pads, which Eli insists on wearing anytime he puts on his helmet. He was really excited about going for a ride in his new bike trailer!

We ended up going for a two-part trip. First we headed to the nearby shopping center so that Ryan could get a haircut. During the 25 minutes that it took, Eli pooped, and I realized that I neglected bring along any of the necessary "supplies." So, we headed home for a change, threw together a picnic dinner, and then headed back out for part 2 of our ride, destination: Beaver Lake. It was a great ride, and a great day to visit the lake. Despite one minor meltdown (compliments of the nonexistent nap) we had a great time. After not riding a bike for about three years (jeesh!) we'd kind of forgotten how much fun it is! We all really enjot it, and we're looking forward to many more family rides as long as the weather allows!

Oh happy day! (Part 1)

2008-07-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

We had such a great day on Tuesday that it earned two seperate posts: pre-nap fun and post-nap fun! You'll have to check back again soon for part 2! We started the day with a super-fun playdate with our good friends Jennifer (my friend), Clara, and Hannah (Eli's friends). :) We headed to Bellevue to try out the new sprinkler park, and boy was it a hit! It took Eli a few minutes to warm up to the idea, but once he got comfortable he had a blast! The park is really well done, with random sprinkler here and there as well as squirting Orca whales (one of which I'm pretty sure is life-size), a half-sunken boat, a spitting frog, a spraying dragon and sea anemones, and a rotating globe fountain. There's so much to explore, and it's all really neat!

Eli decided to test the waters with his foot to make sure it was safe! :)

He decided it was definitely safe - and a lot of fun, too! Hannah thought it looked good enough to drink, and Clara and Eli quickly followed suit.

Fortunately this is as far up as Eli got on the whale. They did a good job of making steep enough that little ones don't make it very far.

After getting nice and wet we headed to a shady spot on the grass for our picnic lunch. The kids sat just long enough to gobble a few bites and get some dry clothes on, then headed to the playground for even more fun! It was hard to leave when we all needed to head home for naps.

Needless to say, we'll be heading back to the sprinkler park soon!

Happy Birthday Dada!

2008-07-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not the "big 3-0" for Ryan, but it's pretty darn close! Sorry honey! :) Unfortunately Ryan got kinda jipped on the b'day celebrations after all the festivities for mine; but as we all know, Ryan's a bit more low-key than I am anyway, and prefers a more low-key birthday. Ryan had basketball camp on his b'day, so I took the liberty of telling one of the other coaches who, along with all the kids, made a spectacle of Ryan all day. Thanks Erik! Eli and I brought a picnic lunch for Ry and the other coaches, complete with b'day cake, candle, and singing. That evening Ryan got to hang out on the lake on a friend's boat with his small group guys. He opened presents when he got home, including this creatively wrapped gift from my Uncle Harold - the "bow" is made of duct tape if you can't tell from the photo. Nice job Unk!

Friday night Eli and I took Ryan out to dinner, and Ryan chose Chuck E. Cheese (hmmm, wonder who influenced that decision?!). Eli and Dada both had lots of fun. Happy Birthday Ryan!!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th everyone! We hope you all had a safe and fun Independence Day. We had a busy but fun-filled day. In the morning we hit the Kirkland 4th of July parade. The event starts with a kids' parade, but I don't think Eli really understood that he was in the parade - he was too busy eating his snack! :) He enjoyed watching the real parade though, especially the fire trucks and police motorcycles. After nap we headed back to Kirkland for a barbecue with some good friends. Eli, Clara, and Hannah had a good time playing together, and Eli enjoyed snacking on (and sneaking) marshmallows while we made s'mores in the backyard. We headed home just before the fireworks began, and the noise was a little much for our tired little man. Fortunately he was so tired that he went right to sleep despite over an hour of "loud banging." Though he was wary of the noise last night, he asked several times today "where's the fireworks?" Maybe next year he'll decide he wants to see them. We'll see!

Oh no...it's the big 3-0!

2008-07-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

You'll all have to excuse me for this post; I know this is Eli's blog, but this post is all about me! :)As my 30th birthday approached, I realized I had two options: try to sweep it under the rug, or embrace it and make the most of it. I chose the latter, and am so glad I did! My birthday festivities were spread out over several days, which was really fun. We started last Wednesday when Ryan's parents took us out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory - a real treat! After dinner Eli helped me eat my cheesecake and open my presents; I don't know which of us enjoyed it more. Afterward Ryan's parents took Eli home so that Ryan and I could continue our date night alone. Another treat!

My celebrations continued Friday with a fun girls' night out with several of my girlfriends. We had a great time enjoying good wine and great desserts! It was really fun to get out with the girls and just sit and chat and enjoy the time together. Thank you all so much for helping me celebrate! Special thanks to my small group girls for the awesome blouse to wear, and to Melissa for doing my hair and makeup! You girls are fabulous!

Sunday we had my "official" birthday party; we hosted a backyard barbecue for many of our friends. Despite the uncharacteristically hot weather we had a great time. The kids had a blast playing together, and Eli, Clara, and Grace kindly made "muffins" for all of us using lots of dirt and Eli's toy barbecue! We had a great time celebrating with a great group of friends, and we really appreciate you guys coming over!

Finally, I actually turned 30 on Monday, and it was a truly wonderful day. We started the day with Eli's cardiology appointment, and I was really worried about what the doctor would have to say. As always, God gave us the strength we needed and also blessed us with wonderful news...the hole in Eli's heart appears to be nearly closed! We'll go back in a year for another check-up, but the cardiologist was really positive and believes that Eli won't need any treatment. God definitely wins for best birthday gift!! (Emily, you're a close second with the amazing photo gift!). We are so grateful to the Lord for taking such good care of this precious little boy He has graciously entrusted to our care for the past two years! After our good news from the doctor we headed straight to the zoo, and from there we headed to the beach for a picnic lunch and some play time. It was really such a wonderful day!

Thank you all for your happy birthday wishes - it was a happy birthday indeed! I've decided turning 30 was really great! :)

Eli and Zoe

2008-06-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

Well, since this blog is technically Eli and Zoe, it's long past time our little Zoe was mentioned! We're really enjoying our new-found summer sun around here, so Eli and Zoe and I took full advantage of the opportunity to go for walks to nearby parks on Thursday and Friday. You can tell from the photo that Zoe was incredibly excited to go run around (and roll around!) in the park! Both of my little critters had fun running up and down the grassy hills, though Eli had to stop regularly to watch the progress of the "BIG mower!" that was mowing the adjacent baseball field. We're having fun exploring our new surroundings now that the weather is allowing it. :)

Our happy little berry lover

2008-06-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Our little man absolutely loves berries (well, any fruit really, but he's especially partial to berries). The other day he proudly displayed his berry-love after enjoying a lot of strawberries and grapes with dinner. Aren't you glad you weren't around to change that diaper? :) By the way, for all you parents of little ones out there, you have to check out Jamberry by Bruce Degen (he's both the author and illustrator - the illustrations are very cute and clever, you'll see something new every time you read)...very cute book, and needless to say, one of our favorites!

Playing at the park

2008-06-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Ryan's cross-country team had a barbecue to say goodbye to the seniors and kick off their off-season training. Eli and I went along for the sand and the hot dogs. :) This park has a huge sand volleyball court, so Eli brought along his bucket and shovel. We'd been to this park several times before, but haven't been since last summer. As soon as we arrived Eli said (in his BIG, exaggerated voice) "that's a LOT of sand!!" Needless to say, he had a great time...and got a lot of attention (as usual) from the girls. :) There's also a playground that Eli enjoyed, complete with a digging toy. Unfortunately the digger is quite complicated to operate, and ended up just frustrating our little digger. Still, he had a great time!

Fun in the sun!

2008-06-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had two whole days of summer! Okay, I know I sound like I'm being awfully dramatic, but seriously - up to this weekend, we had literally had only 23 days this entire year that reached above sixty degrees. So really, this sunshine was long-awaited and much appreciated! :) I think the entire world has global warming except for Seattle (and yes, I'm kidding). Eli was very excited to finally get to use his whale swimming pool. We got it out a few weeks ago, gave it a thorough cleaning, and inflated it, only to have it sit there unused. As soon as we saw the sun peeking through we knew today was the day to slather on the sunscreen and play in the pool! Eli had an absolutely fantastic time - as you can see by the look on his face. :) I really hope we continuing getting more of this wonderful summer weather. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of sunshine!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

Two days late is better than never, right? :) Happy Father's Day first and foremost to Ryan - thank you for being such a wonderful father to our son! We also want to wish a (belated) happy day to the other fathers, father-figures, and grandfathers (both here and gone) in our lives. Thank you all so much for the influece you've had in our lives! We love you!

We enjoyed Father's Day with some long-overdue sunshine, and we headed straight from church to the ballpark to enjoy the Mariner's game. Despite the loss (which we fully expected, considering the season our team is having!), we had a great time. We enjoyed the quality time with Nana and Pa (thanks for the game you two!!), the wonderful warm sun (that has, sadly, disappeared again), and of course the obligatory visit to the Moose Den to see our friend the Mariner Moose (who was a bit overenthusiastic and thus intimidating). It was a great day - hopefully even more so for Ryan and Larry! :)

Definitely NOT Emily's photos!

2008-06-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

I recently took Eli into J.C. Penney for birthday portraits merely because we were going there anyway and we get these coupons from them that make their portraits dirt cheap. I knew I wasn't going to get anything remotely the quality of Emily's - which is why if we ever get some sunshine around here we'll have Emily do his "official" two-year portraits - but since it was convenient and cheap I thought I do it anyway. Eli, of course, wanted nothing to do with the camera, and the photographers there really don't have great skill in working with children (go figure!). We did get a couple of cute shots, but needless to say, we're looking forward to more from Emily!

Eli's new crib

2008-06-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to post this picture! It's actually from almost a month ago (5/12). Eli really likes his crib, and often after waking up from nap will lay back down and ask one of us to put his blanket back on. He doesn't go back to sleep, he just wants to "stay in crib one more minute." :) So, one day after nap he found the laundry basket sitting in the hallway. Being the resourceful lad that he is, he found a blanket, climbed into the basket and said "lay down in a crib." He had Mama laughing out loud!

So happy swingin'

2008-06-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

Eli's new favorite thing to do at the park: "swing more!" Eli has always enjoyed the swings, but lately he can't seem to get enough. I think these smiles are pretty self-explanatory! Sorry these pictures are a bit blurry - I'm sure you can imagine it's kind of hard to get clear action shots with my little "budget-friendly" camera! :)

Happy Birthday Lala!

2008-06-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my "little" sister turns 17 today - WOW! Happy Birthday Laurel! All of us up here are wishing you a wonderful day and sending lots of love, hugs, and prayers your way. Have a great camping trip, and may God bless you tremendously in the next year of your life! We love you and miss you, so come visit us again soon!

Happy Doughnut Day!

2008-06-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so for all you Krispy Kreme lovers out there, I should have spread the word yesterday, but today was "Doughnut Day" at Krispy Kreme (for future planning purposes, it's the first Friday in June), when every customer gets a free doughnut of their choice. So, shirking the knowledge of a doughnut's not-so-healthy properties, Eli and I headed out for a treat. He had a great time watching the doughnuts being made, and picked out his own special doughnut - which, for the record, he ate less than half of (thus my Mom-of-the-Year award nomination is still partially intact, right?!). Yes, it was a silly little outing, but it was some really great mommy-son time, which I really treasure! A sidenote for everyone outside of our immediate geographical area; you can't quite see out the window in this photo, but it's pouring down rain outside. Hmmm...is today June 6th, or November 6th? I think this may be the first time in my life I've begun to wonder if it's going to rain on my b'day. I think I'm dealing with the whole turning 30 thing pretty well - but if it rains all day on my b'day, I'm afraid my outlook on the coming decade may be a bit dreary! :)

Melt-your-heart moments

2008-05-29T14:37:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I have a lot of melt-mommy's-heart moments with Eli...he's such a dear, sweet, fun little boy - and I admit I'm a bit on the mushy side (can't you just hear Ryan saying "..."a bit"? That's an understatement!"). But I think today's moment takes the cake! Eli and I have been working on coloring and decorating thank you cards for the birthday gifts he received (yes, they're a little late), so we've been talking a lot about coloring pictures for people we love. Today my precious little man climbed up into a desk chair, found a piece of paper and a pencil, and started to color. This all went unnoticed by me until he looked up and said "Making it for God!" Awestruck, I turned to him and asked "what did you say?" He repeated, very emphatically, "Making it for God!" As you can imagine, I then became a puddle of love-mush on the floor! This was compounded by the fact that just two days ago as we were buckling Eli into his carseat, he said (completely out of nowhere), "Eli loves Jesus." Thank you, Lord, for growing our dear son's spirit and love for You!

SO much birthday fun!

2008-05-21T08:11:00.001-07:00

Wow, where to even begin?! Eli's birthday celebration began on Thursday with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. His favorite part of Chuck E. Cheese? The tokens! Seriously, he doesn't even care about actually playing the games, he just wants to put the tokens in the machines! We played skeeball together, and he just tried to get rid of the balls as fast as he could so that we'd let him put in the next token. :)

By the way, you'll notice that Eli looks like he can't see a thing with his hat pulled down so low - that was all him! Every time we tried to adjust it, he pulled it back down and said "no, keep it down!" Silly guy. :)

He also had fun pretending to ride the monster truck (that was the one thing he didn't want to put a token in!).

Friday (his actual birthday) we headed to Idylwood Beach for some fun in the sun. Eli had the time of his life, and it was all I could do to get him to sit down for some lunch. He hasn't stopped talking about the beach since! This is definitely our new favorite park, and we'll be spending lots of time there this summer! Friday night Eli got free ice cream at Coldstone Creamery, and as you can see he enjoyed it thoroughly. If you're an ice cream lover like Eli (and his Mama!), you should definitely sign up for their birthday club! Saturday was the big zoo day, and the long-awaited feeding of the giraffes. It was aboslutely worth the wait! The giraffes get so close (as you can see from the photos) and take the food right out of your hand. We weren't allowed to pet them (though we were close enough to do so), but you can feel their tongues when they take the food from you. Eli had a great time!

Also at the zoo, Eli enjoyed petting the goats in the Family Farm section. He made sure to pet each and every goat!

Notice the very cool shirt that Mama made for Eli's big day! :) The back has a smaller backhoe and says "Under Construction."

That evening we had a family birthday party at home, complete with "funfetti" cake and Curious George plates and napkins.

It was an exhausting and wonderful weekend! Happy birthday again Eli!

New favorite photo

2008-05-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

I'll post more birthday details later (it was a wonderful but exhausting weekend!), but I wanted to share these wonderful photos from our good friend Emily, who is an amazing photographer! The first one is my new favorite photo of Eli - I'm glad you weren't all there to witness the process of getting this gleeful look, as it involved me singing and doing a chicken dance! Nevertheless, it was worth it to capture that expression! Thanks for the great shots Emily!Everyone else, enjoy the photos, and I'll try to post another b'day update soon with pics from Chuck E. Cheese, Idylwood Beach, and the zoo - the giraffe feeding was fantastic! By the way, here's Emily's website for anyone who's looking for some great photos...http://www.emilyweaverbrownphoto.com/

Happy 2nd Birthday Eli!!

2008-05-16T00:44:00.000-07:00

It's 12:44 a.m., and Eli is officially 2! (For any who are concerned about my lack of sleep, I'm actually creating this post in advance and setting it to post at 12:44!) We can't believe we've already flown through 2 blessed years with our little boy!! Here's a little photo tour through the past 2 years...

Our brand new baby boy...introducing Elijah James

6 months old and learning to sit up

Happy First Birthday Eli!

18 months old...first visit to Chuck E. Cheese. (To be the first of many!)

Celebrating turning 2 with a birthday sundae at Red Robin.

We are so grateful to the Lord for the two wonderful years He has given us with this amazing boy! We treasure each moment with our son and just enjoy being with him so very much. What a truly incredible blessing you are Eli James! Happy Birthday Bug - we love you!

Ice cream!

2008-05-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

April 30th was 31 cent scoop day at Baskin-Robbins, and you know that being the ice cream lover that I am, I had to take my family! Eli was very excited about picking out his own scoop of ice cream...he picked the "rainbow kind" and ate every last drop - with the exception of the bite he so kindly shared with Dada. Eli definitely inherited his Mama's sweet tooth!

Another day at the zoo

2008-05-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

We visited the zoo again last Sunday and had a great day. It's really neat to see Eli enjoy different animals each time. The giraffes and bears were the favorites this day. We asked Eli what he wanted to see first, and there was no question that we were heading straight for the giraffes! Eli got a real treat as we watched the giraffes being fed; Eli was sitting up on Ryan's shoulders, and one of the giraffes came over and said hi. Eli was literally just a few feet from the giraffe's face! We learned that you can pay to hand-feed the giraffes, so we promised Eli he could do that on his birthday (yes, we're going back this weekend!) and he has not stopped talking about it! The slightest mention of birthday elicits the following information: "Feed-da-giraffe. As [ask] zookeeper (while signing "please"). Get some yeaves (aka leaves)." He is truly looking forward to his birthday adventure! The other thing we discovered on this trip to the zoo is the "habitat loop" which is a cute little hike through some kids-sized animal habitats and across a bridge with a waterfall. Eli had a great time climbing with Dada, and also watching Dada climb - I'm not sure which of them had more fun! :)

Take me out to the ball game...

2008-05-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago (yes, I'm still that behind on blog posts!) the Mariners had a kids weekend, and we headed to the ballpark. This was actually Eli's second game, but he was only four months old at the first one. Needless to say, he was much more into the experience this time! We all had a great time, and despite missing his nap that day, Eli had a great afternoon - there was just so much to do and see! He discovered a fun new snack while sitting in the bleachers and spent much of the game eating sunflower seeds as fast as we could shell them. He also got to visit the Moose Den and say hi to his old pal the Mariner Moose. He was very excited to see his furry friend again, and came much closer to giving him a high-five. :) Near the end of the game Eli went for a walk with Pa and came back wearing a very cool Mariner's cap that he is rarely seen without these days! Eli has added "Ichiro" and "Mariners" to his vocabulary, and it's awfully cute when he sits in Pa's lap watching the games on t.v. and says "Go Ichiro! Go Mariners!"

A day at the farm

2008-05-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Kelsey Creek Farm held its annual sheep-shearing event. This may sound like an odd thing to go watch, but they turn it into kind of a festival that's really fun for kids. The highlight for Eli was seeing all the farm animals, and he got a real kick out of watching the sheep "get a haircut!" He loved seeing all the animals and took the time to say hello to each of them, both in his language and in their own respective languages! :) Of course, any respectable farm also needs some John Deere tractors, which Eli was quick to find. He really wanted to "dwive it!" but fortunately for us he was content to just look. It was a beautiful day out, so we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the lawn before heading home. It was a great family outing, and we enjoyed the time together.

The fort!

2008-04-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

Probably Eli's favorite part of his new house is his very cool fort! There's a space under the stairs that was built
with the intention of serving as a storage closet. However, Ryan and his brothers (who were kids when this closet came into being) quickly decided that it was much better suited to be a fort! It's a very cool fort, indeed, and Eli has made himself quite at home in it. At least once a day he goes and plays in his fort, which is equipped with a light, a rocking chair, pillows - and thanks to Eli, a firetruck and guitar! It's a great space for a little boy, and our long-term plans for the house include finishing the walls in the fort a little more so that Eli can paint his fort whatever color he chooses. Lucky (and happy) boy! The guitar (aka, "tahkitar"), by the way, is currently one of Eli's very favorite toys. It's actually a little ukelele that was being stored in the closet/fort, which Eli claimed as his own when he discovered the fort!