Go Navy!

Here are a few pictures of Elijah in his Naval Academy gear. The big Army-Navy game is this weekend - hopefully we'll catch a glimpse of Uncle Cameron on TV (if he dresses)! Elijah was not cooperating with our plan to get a picture, so most of these were of him leaving the frame - here are the best ones!

Elijah is so strong!

Sorry, Dad, gotta run!

Elijah and Uncle John in their matching sweatshirts.
This picture is not an indication of how much Elijah likes Uncle John, but rather of how much he loves having his picture taken when he wants to be playing!

Elijah is such a big boy

Elijah is growing up, and I am reminded of it several times a day now - he's always doing something new and fun. I have to remind myself that he is still a baby sometimes! Lately, E has been making a transition to using covers in his bed. He's been using a pillow for a while now (the doctor recommended trying the pillow when raising one end of his mattress didn't work out - he would always just scoot down to the other end). He looks so grown up and his crib is looking more and more like a big boy bed. Plus, I think it's cool that he finally gets to use his quilt!
Another thing that he does that is new (and totally cracks me up) is to request to wear hats. He used to hate wearing hats, and now he does it for fun! Check out his 90's-cool look today! He put this one on by himself.

The rest of the weekend

In addition to Thanksgiving, this weekend we celebrated my cousin Johanna's wedding. It was great to see so many friends and family! It was a busy few days, but everything went well. On Friday, Patrick and Elijah got to hang out with Grandpa and Uncle John and Piper and watch football. I had brunch with Johanna and friends, helped out with some set-up for the reception, and got to spend the afternoon with my good friend Kristi, who was home from Texas for the wedding and Thanksgiving. In the evening we had dinner at my parents' house with some of our cousins who came out for the wedding.
The wedding was on Saturday morning. Patrick and I went early to help finish setting up while Elijah attempted to take a nap at Nana's house. (As a side note - E takes his nap in the basement bathroom at Nana's house because it is actually dark and has a nice loud fan. On Saturday morning the pack 'n play was apparently too close to the toilet paper ... no napping happened, but Elijah shredded an entire new roll of tp and decorated the mesh sides of his bed.) The wedding was beautiful and went very well. Patrick was the Master of Ceremonies and did a great job managing the reception. Kristi and I took care of the cake - cutting and serving and all. A lot of other people helped make the day wonderful. It was great to see so many people come together to make it a great celebration. After the wedding, many of our family came to my parents' house for more time together.

Me with Kristi and the happy couple - Sean & Johanna

The little man at the wedding

My boys - aren't they so handsome!?

Little man in his suit

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had a very good but very busy week here. (I'll post more about the rest of the week later.) We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday with my parents and two of my brothers, Stuart and John, and John's family. It was a really nice, fairly relaxing day (as relaxing as preparing Thanksgiving can be), and everyone said that the food was good. I can personally vouch for excellent mashed potatoes and gravy and, of course, Dad's famous apple pie is always wonderful. Unfortunately, turkey totally grosses me out right now, but maybe by Christmas I'll be ready for feast food again. Patrick took over making Grandma's pumpkin pie for me this year, and it turned out very well - John had to have seconds.

John, Linde and baby Piper were here all weekend. We had fun watching Elijah and cousin Piper playing, if not together, near each other. Piper is getting around on her own now and pulling up to stand and walk along things, so they were much more interactive than they have been before. Here are a couple of cousin pictures from play time on Friday.

Come on up here and play!

Cute girl

Piper shares Elijah's issues with pants that won't stay up. What a pain!

Elijah and Grandpa hangin' out, watching the CU game.

Funny Faces

So I am up with Elijah this morning. I decided to take a few pictures, and some of them turned out pretty wacky.

Some News

Elijah is going to be a big brother! I am 8 weeks pregnant, and we've had two good ultrasounds to confirm that everything is OK and the baby is where he/she belongs (hooray!). I've been feeling sick for a few weeks now (I refuse to call this "morning" sickness - all day every day sick is more applicable), but the doctor says that is a good sign. I am due on June 26th. We are so excited!

Playing

Elijah is really good at playing on his own and we think he's very funny to watch. Since learning to walk, he's been really energetic and goes all over the place while he's playing. Here are some pictures of Elijah playing last night.

Nice shades, dude!

And here's a video ... yes, he falls pretty often. I don't know what he's doing with his tongue, but it's funny!

Catching up

Hi! The past six weeks or so have been really busy for us, with people visiting us and us going away, and lots of stuff generally going on ... so I thought I would just try and fill you all in on some of the stuff happening around here.

Elijah is growing up so quickly now. He is quite a pro at walking and likes to try to carry all sorts of things with him as he travels. He attempts to pick up and carry lots of things that are large, awkward or heavy - he just wants to do it himself. He is saying quite a few words, some more clearly than others, and tries new words all the time. Some of his favorites right now are: cheese, shoe, "tah" (which means hat), "dadda" (can mean either Daddy or dog, depending on the context), "nana" (which can mean either banana or his grandma), and "peas" (can be either peas or please). His new favorite sound is a firetruck, and he laughs and laughs when Daddy or Mama make the sound for him. One of his favorite toys is his tool bench, especially the nails, bolts and wrench. He is so much fun most of the time! On a less fun note, Elijah has been experimenting with temper tantrums, especially at diaper changes. The joys of parenthood continue! =)

Last month, my mom and I threw a bridal shower for my cousin Johanna. It was a great day and everything went well. Lots of people came, and a lot of people helped in so many ways. It was fun, but mostly I was glad that it was a blessing to Johanna as she gets ready to start a new life. Congratulations, babe!

I had a really nice time on my trip to Pittsburgh and got to visit lots of people there who I haven't seen in a while. I got to meet lots of babies and spent some time with my grandma. I stayed with Erin, John and baby Caleb - so fun!

I finally got to meet little Caleb!

After I got home from Pittsburgh, Patrick went to a conference in Flagstaff, Arizona which he enjoyed. But we've been glad to all be home and get back into a normal routine this week. Of course, next week is Thanksgiving and Johanna's wedding, so we'll have another crazy week! It's going to be really fun though, and we are excited that so many friends and family will be in town. Hopefully there will also be lots of fun pictures to post.

We've had some wonderful and exciting news from friends lately, too. Congratulations to Dave, Erin and Ella on the birth of baby Lucy! We are so thankful for a healthy mom and baby and excited for your new little love! We were also rejoicing with our friends Mike and Tori, who are finally in the last stage of an adoption process that has been so terribly long. Congratulations, and we are so excited to meet the little guy! Elijah thinks that the boys are going to be great friends.

College football!

Elijah was just lounging in his chair, watching some football on Saturday. Go Navy!

More fun with food

I am trying to catch up with some things I have to post - so hopefully there will be a few new things coming soon. Here is another video of Elijah eating (is it getting old yet?) - black beans and rice this time - and generally being silly. Enjoy!

Sunshine Day!

We have had sunny, beautiful weather this week (seriously, is it November or what?) and Elijah, Nana and I took advantage of the sunshine by going to the park the other day. Elijah really enjoyed the slides this time - he got to go down by himself since he had Mama to take him to the top and Nana to catch him. He wasn't scared at all!

Apples

Elijah really likes to eat, especially fruit. Here is a (very long - sorry!) video of the kid eating one of his favorites, apples, and talking with Patrick with his mouth full.

Elijah's week in pictures

Lunch with Nana

Playing Grandpa's guitar

E loves to play the piano!

Playing peek-a-boo through the library doors

There he is! (Yes, he's been blowing kisses on the glass.)

We're back

We're home again! Elijah had a great week with Daddy at Nana & Grandpa's house. He wasn't sure that he was excited to see me at the airport (not mad, just indifferent), but he said, "Hi!" every 10 seconds or so on the way home. He woke up glad to see me in the morning, and has been his normal, happy self since.