Fallin' in love with Fall!

Wow, it has been cra-zay around here with a bunch of things that are keeping us all on the go. But, that has not taken away from us enjoying this wonderful weather and everything about the fall season. We have been enjoying the great outdoors with some walks, done pumpkin carving, and even Halloween costume shopping. No, no...I am not going to break the surprise. However, there is a wonderful sneak peak of Eli's thoughts when he first tried it on.

Also, the poor guy caught the stomach bug that has been going around town. And, 'go around', it did. Eli had it, I got it, followed by Keith. I think his picture sums it up for the rest of us.

Just love this picture. It is Eli out in his element.
Eli's first pumpkin carving experience! No, he didn't actually handle the knife.

I love this shot! Eli took off running on our walk. I said, "Eli, slow down". And this is what I got. Yes, he interpreted it as 'sit down'. Love it!

Poor guy! Here is Eli laid up on the couch feeling under the weather. :(

Another picture of Eli enjoying his enviroment.

....and drum roll please! The first glimpse of Eli's costume for 2011.

A Great Day...

So, I recently realized that Eli and I were in a bit of a 'rut' with how we chose to spend our time. Suddenly it dawned on me that we hadn't done any art projects together, even though he does them all the time at school. In fact, he is quite the artist! So, we decided to head to Michaels and load up on some supplies. We left complete with: washable paints, brushes, sidewalk chalk, felt, googely eyes, cotton balls, bakers clay, paper, glue, crayons, paper....and of course a toy snack. :) Additionally, while we were roaming the isles we did a little role playing, and Eli preferred to be a 'zoo keeper' over a pirate.

In honor of 9/11, it seemed only fitting to do an American flag. In the middle of 'moms prep time', Eli kept himself busy with alternative projects. Finally, after the supplies were ready, we got off and running and had a blast. Ok, ok, so I needed to do a little bit more research on 'glue for felt', but we made it work in the end....and our beautiful masterpiece is pictured below.

To unwind at the end of the day, and Eli to regain his 'man card', we chilled out to watch the first half of the Cowboys v. Jets game. Eli had to go to bed, of course, so I will have to tell him how it ended in the morning. But, just shortly before he hit the bed, we concluded our night with a little bedtime story and 'talk about I love you' via phone. Yes....I am one of the few unintelligent people that carry two phones in life. And, Eli LOVES to talk on one while I talk on the other. Most of the time he just picks up any phone he sees and puts it to his ear, but when I can take advantage of making the call to him, I do. He was sure to go over all of his animal sounds with me, tonight (my favorites are 'cat', 'spaceship', 'horse', and 'frog). All in all, we had a good day. :)

Holy...whoa, is this a blog update...?!?

Is this an actual updated blog post!?! I know, I am beside myself. Well....... that is all I got, nothing has happened since Easter.

Umm, ok...not in the slightest! Eli is doing so awesome! And, no, no...no one needs to worry, because he is just as cute and lovable as he was a few months ago. I hate to say that I am going to keep this brief, but I almost feel like there has been so much going on, I don't know where to begin.

Updates you are interested in? Eli LOVES to dance! In fact, he is dancing right now! Any song that comes on (TV shows, radio, in a store, ect...) Eli shakes his groove thing. He loves to bounce up and down, clap his hands, and spin in circles. What else does Eli love? The IPad....Eli crack, otherwise called. Not only does he love to play with his favorite games and books on the ipad, and knows how to close out and open the applications as well. It has gotten so bad, that if he is playing a game, and he comes to a puzzle that he can not solve...he knows to push the 'home' button to close out.

Milestones? He has mastered walking, running, dancing, and climbing. Oh yes, Eli climbs on EVERYTHING. Talking? Nope, not yet. That is a big question that I get a lot, but, he is not doing a whole lot of it. That does not stop him from communicating. Eli points, uses about 10 different signs in sign language, and says a some words. In addition to that, he loves doing impressions....he two favorite are 'cat' and 'clock'. But, he also knows 'snake', 'elephant', 'seal', 'duck', 'tiger', 'train', ect. Knowing Keith and I, I don't doubt that once the flood gate of words open for Eli...there will be no stopping him.

Updates for Keith and I? Keith is still rockin' and rolling at Travelers and I started a new job. After 5 1/2 years with Samuel Adams, I left for a role in marketing at RaceTrac Petroleum. I am truly having a blast with my new role, and feel like this is what I am supposed to be doing.

So, here is some of the 'highlight Eli shots' from the last several months.

Easter!

Well, this was Eli's 2nd Easter....and well, slightly more eventful than last year. Gosh, I don't totally know what we did last year, but I know that he was only a month or two old...so probably, not a whole lot. This year!? We had a great time! I was so excited to watch Eli enjoy his Easter basket and do an Easter egg hunt.

The Easter bunny came to our house and left Eli a basket with books and eggs. Eli also got a 'sports activity center' with a slide, which he loves to climb on. Not so much into the act of 'sliding', but loves to climb to the top. He also got a bouncy ball and pillow pet, as well. After the basket festivities we headed to my mom's for an Easter egg hunt and some lunch.

Eli did great! He knew exactly what to do with his eggs and basket. I kind of guessed that he would be a natural at Easter. See, he LOVES to put things into stuff and take stuff out. For instance, he will deconstruct his entire diaper bag and put it all back in. Or, he will go into the pantry and take every can out of a 12pk of soda and put them back in. So, when I was thinking about my little man with eggs and a basket...DONE! It was really cute to watch him walk around and 'do his thing'. So, here are the pictures!

Eli's First Haircut and new BFF!

(Quick note: This is one of two blog updates, so be sure to check out the other one below with pictures!)

Well, we finally did it! We got Eli a hair cut! Man oh man...was I/were we on the fence about it. He looked so so cute with his shaggy little mop hair, but we moved forward. I noticed in last nights bath that the back was getting a little long and kind of girlie. So, we decided to go in for a trim. We actually just picked a spot close to the house that specializes in kids. The shop and hair dresser were so-so. You could tell that Eli was not a fan and pretty uncomfortable. He got pretty fussy towards the end and it helped when I put him in my lap to finish the cut. I feel like the whole thing was over and done with in a matter of minutes. I suppose they learn how to cut quick, considering the kid's tempers. But, Eli did really well, and we let him have a reward at the end. Yes...yes, we let him have a little cherry dum-dum sucker, which he absolutley loved! I will also admit, at first, I had MAJOR hair cut remorse! The minute my lil' man didn't look like himself I wanted to cry! I hated that it was all chopped off and would be awhile before it came back. I hated that Eli didn't look like 'Eli' .... :(. However, after a few hours and some styling tricks by Keith I am pretty sold!

So, before moving straight to the photos, I just have to share a few other tidbits. First, is that Eli learned to blow kisses today! :) So cute! Keith taught him while I was rummaging around a store for some clothes...hehe.

Second, is a cute story from the grocery store tonight. The three of us made a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home from dinner. As we were at the register checking out a young grocery bagger asked me a few questions about Eli. About that time Eli walked over to him with his arms outstretched to be picked up. The young man picked up Eli with a look of surprise on his face. We insisted that our child doesn't always ask to be picked up by strangers and he was 'special'. You could tell the guy was shocked and flattered at the same time. It is store policy that the baggers take the groceries to the car, so Keith insisted on pushing the cart while the young kid carried Eli. Yes...we walked all the way to the car with Keith and the cart and the young high school aged bagger-boy carrying Eli. LOL! Eli was loving it! The kid was somewhat awkward and I was laughing hysterically. Finally, we arrived at the car and I tried to grab Eli to put him in. He began to fuss so I gave the two new BFF's a few more minutes together. Finally, after a bit of a fit, Eli went unwillingly back into my arms. That, of course, was not after Eli reached back out to get one final hug goodbye. It was such a cute and sweet moment. I never got the kids name, but certainly called the store and put in a good word for him with the manager on duty! Only regret...? I didn't snap any pictures of it. :(

Ok...now back to the haircut! :)

Eli, before the haircut.

The shaggy mop....so cute!!

'What is going on? What is this thing they put on me? I feel violated!'

'Um, ok...why are we doing this again?! I am not happy!'

Finally calm once he got in my lap to finish off the cut. Um, yeah...shoulda tried this in the beginning. Looking dapper, though...huh?

Yes, because Eli was so great for his first hair cut, he got a sucker like all of the other kids. And he LOVED it. Ok, so he might have put the wrong end in his mouth a few times and got sugary gooeyness all over the car, but 'hey'!

Here is Eli studying his new favorite thing....a cherry sucker!

And here is the finished product, after some post 'dad styling techniques'. I must say, I am a much bigger fan!

Yikes, I am slackin'...many updates and pictures!

Ok, I have been slackin' in a major way...two whole weeks have past since my last update!?! So, while I am not really a fan of two updates around the same time, I have to do it. There are just way too many cute pictures of Eli to go unnoticed. Not to mention, Eli got his first haircut today! So, that will be in the second update....that is too important to wait.

So, with out much ado, I will move onto the pictures. There is so much to be said about them, so be sure to read the captions so you know what is going on. :)

Yes, I taught Eli to stick his tongue out...'way to go mom'. It is so cute! It is kind of an inside joke between us.

Isn't he so cute with his little tongue sticking out!?! You can tell he is fully committed here.

Here is Eli joining Keith and I on a 5K walk. This was his first big walk to complete, and he did it with style.

What would a victory be without a picture at the finish line!?

Eli expressed such an enthusiasm for walking after the 5K we kept it going.

That is one excited kid! He loves to go on walks....ok, and look at puppy dogs too (considering I am pretty sure that is what he was looking at during this picture).

Here is one of Eli's FAVORITE things to do now. He LOVES feeding himself with a spoon. And well, he also loves chocolate yogurt. He pretty much insists on putting every bite of food into his own mouth, not crazy about being spoon fed by someone else. He also loves to go through the act of putting food on the spoon, even if he never actually gets anything into his mouth.

Here is what you get when he 'did it himself'. Yes, he pulled the suction cup bowl off the table and went crazy!!!

Sick, Sick, Sick

This can be interpreted a few different ways. First, you could look at it in terms of Eli being sick three times since being in daycare for 3 weeks, yikes! Or, you could know that all three members of our tiny family have been hit this week/weekend with sickness.

We got our first 'sick call' 3 days into school. He had a fever, had to go home, and couldn't return for at least 24 hours. The second sickness came this week....(so, YES, we went a whole week without illness, round of applause please!). I picked him up on Wednesday and had been told that my little man threw up twice in the late afternoon. Shortly after we arrived home, I got my first 'real mom moment' when the poor guy threw up all over me, after walking in the door. A few hours later, Keith got the first 'real dad moment' when the same thing happened to him. So, he stayed home on Thursday and went back on Friday. Well, it was around Friday afternoon that I suddenly got a little lightheaded and ill feeling. Not to much longer after that, I had the full blown stomach bug. Meanwhile, Keith has been battling a scratchy throat/head cold all week.

In the grand finale of it all Eli, Keith, and I all ended up being laid up in bed this entire weekend (despite having birthday plans to celebrate Keith's big 2-8). Eli woke up this morning (Sunday) with a major fever and continued to fight it all day long. He has been very lethargic and just wanting to lounge around the bed. The plus side? He is extra cuddly and sweet! He has spent all weekend laying all over us and holding us so tight....it is sick and selfish of me, but I am enjoying that part. So, after a full day of vegging, it came to a climax with another major sick episode. This one was a lot more 'major' than the rest, and nearly caused a chain reaction (I will refrain from more details). So, this evening the fever seems to have broke and we are praying that little boy will manage to get some sleep tonight. Us? Well, I am already set-up for a three day weekend in order to take him to the doctor tomorrow, Gammie (my mom) has Tuesday covered, and Keith may take some of the rest of the week (if not all). Looks like he is going to be 'out of school' as much as he has been 'in school' over the last 4 weeks.

Do need to send out a 'Happy Birthday' shout out to Keith! Tuesday, March 29th he will be 28!

So, here are some 'sick pics'. These were taken today. The first one is Eli looking so cute and sad laying in bed. And, the other three are some 'bad dude' pics...post 'after sick' bath, and Keith giving him a feel good-cool dude hair do.