The James Family

TIme for a Change

2008-07-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

So, a friend of ours was showing us some of the cool things that come with having a Wordpress blog. I had no desire to change cause really I thought it would be sooooo much work. Well, last night I decided to see how hard it would be just for fun. They had my blog name available, so that was easy. Then I went to import my blog and it was soooooooo easy. Like, click on a button and within 10minutes all my post had been imported. At this point I'm thinking "Why Not?" SO, we've moved. I'm going to try Wordpress out for a bit and see how it goes. Come visit us at www.thehappeningsofthejames.wordpress.com I won't be deleting my blogger just yet. If you have any tips for wordpress I would love to hear about it. Or if you have any negatives, I would like to know those as well. See you over there :)

The big 3-0

2008-07-12T19:24:00.001-07:00

Sarah and Lucy share the same birthday. It seemed appropriate to have Sarah and her husband, Charlie, over to celebrate with us. We even lit a candle and sang to her :) We lived across the street from each other growing up and our parents still live in those houses. She has always been a good friend. Sarah- We hope you had a superb birthday!!!! We love you bunches and look forward to many more celebrations.

I couldn't resist throwing in an old picture. My options were limited, I only have 3 scanned in from our childhood. Gotta love the puff paint shirt :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Lucy!

2008-07-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

It was one year ago today that we welcomed our baby girl Lucy into the world. We celebrated today with a little party. There was pizza and cupcakes and lots of great presents. Honestly, I'm a little tired, so I will just post a few pictures for now and post another time with more pictures and more details. Thanks to everyone that joined us in celebrating lil Lu Lu's first birthday.....to be continued :)

She is so about to be walking!! She can walk, but not "full time" just yet.

lady bug and butterfly cupcakes

I'm thinking she liked the cupcake :)

Eli liked them, too, a lot.Lucy was sharing her last bite of cupcake with Eli. so sweet....or maybe she was tempting him with it......I'll go with sharing it :)

belated bday

2008-07-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

My birthday was a couple weeks back and I started to blog about it and had no pictures! :( I was sad about that, but it was such a great day. Why post today about it? Well, my mom was out of town on my birthday, so today she treated me to a day of shopping as my present from her and before we left I made sure to take a picture. My Mema came with us. Rewind to my actual bday......I woke up to Eli telling me he had gone to get doughnuts and kolaches (I love ham & cheese kolaches from Shipley). It was about 8:45! I got to sleep in!! That was nice. Then while we were having breakfast my beautiful, thoughtful husband brought me a bday card. In it was instructions to be ready by 10am. He had arranged for me to spend the day with one of my best friends, Whitney, and gave me some spending money. We went shopping and to a movie. What a treat for him to take off so I could have a day off. We came back to my house around dinner time and Nathan had prepared a yummy dinner and had invited Whit, Peter and their boys to join us. While I was out shopping, and what not, the kids that I keep on Wed had delivered flowers to my house. Since I wasn't there to see them Nathan got the video camera out and got them on tape singing with the flowers. After dinner we had a yummy cheesecake, courtesy of Bekah and she also sent a funny card. He had also packed up toys and put them in the attic for me. That is something I had been meaning to do for some time now. It was a great day. So, there it is on record: How I spent my 28th birthday. I should also mention that I got several sweet cards, phone calls and gifts. Thank you to everybody for being so thoughtful. I felt very loved.

Since we were all there and taking a picture we decided to get a 4 generation one, too.

Muddy Waters

2008-07-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

So if you have kept up with our blog you know that we have a muddy spot in our front yard that kids are attracted to. It is where our tire goes EVERY time we back out making a rut and then the neighbors sprinkler water runs straight to it every day making it muddy ALL the time. Well, yesterday it was especially muddy due to the heavy rain. I keep 3 extra kiddos on Wed. We originally went out to have a water balloon fight, but I realized real quick that I should have been more prepared and filled the balloons up earlier. It took like 15-20 minutes to get about 15 full of water and tie them off. About the time that our 45second water fight ended (seriously that fast, the balloons busted so easy) they discovered how much deeper the mud hole was due to the rain. At first I told them they could play, but not to dump it on each other, ya know, trying to keep the muddiness to a minimum. Then after a little conversing with my mother in law we decided that there was enough time for them to really get after it and take a bath before their mom pulled up. It was a wild last hour of the day, but boy was it worth it!!! They had a blast. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

the erff

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

Eli made a scroll thingy at church on Sunday. Later that day he was showing it to me and told me it was a picture of "the erff (earth) and sea" As we were playing that night he started talking about the "erff" again. I'm not sure where this came from, but I love hearing him say earth. Such a sweetie.......a rough and tuff boy, but still mommy's sweetie.

this morning

2008-07-08T05:45:00.001-07:00

This morning came about 4 to 5 hours too early for me. Eli started calling out "MOOOMMMMYYYY!" around 6:30ish. I had gone to bed way too late, so even though it wasn't much earlier than usual, it was because I hadn't slept long enough. So, I get up and lucky for me Eli is in a great mood and is putting up with his very slugish mommy. Then Lucy gets up and I give her some food and sit down to check my email (my computer is in the kitchen) Lucy starts to belly laugh, so I turn around to see what's going on and Eli has pulled a chair up in front of hers and is being silly to make her laugh. It was such a beautiful moment. He has really started to interact really well with Lucy. He still has many moments that he pushes, hits, trips, bumps, snatches, etc., BUT he is adding more moments like this a little at a time. I pray that they will be good buddies and play well together as Lucy gets bigger.

Fourth of July, 2008

2008-07-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

We had a fun 4th of July holiday. We were picked up Friday morning by our friend Whitney and headed to Hot Springs. Eli experienced head phones for the first time and thought they were pretty cool. We ate good food and did lots of swimming. Eli was like a fish! He was none stop. It is fun that he is so comfortable in the pool, but o so tiring!! Lucy had a blast, too. She took several steps all on her own!! She has been taking 1 here and 2 there, but she had never done that many. Wilson and Campbell were great host. I can not believe the difference from last summer to this summer with Wilson and swimming. He was all over the place. Nathan taught him to dive and he caught on pretty fast. It was fun watching him. Campbell spent a good portion of the day pretending to be a pirate as well as swimming around in his floatie. He is too cute. Thanks for having us over. We had a blast.

shout out

2008-07-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

So, one thing we haven't really ever blogged about is our wonderful community group. We have been meeting with most of the group for like 2 years? And one couple started coming in the past few months. We meet on Sunday's after church, share a meal and then discuss whatever study or book we are reading at the time. It has been such a blessing. Our church has just started a series on 1 Peter called Hope is Here. They have handed out little paper books of 1 Peter and asked for everyone to take a picture with the book somewhere in our day. It could be on vacation, in the kitchen, at the pool, where ever. Our group decided we would take ours this Sunday. We are missing one person, but I think she is going to take her picture somewhere in San Diego, so we got her covered. We will definitely take another group shot when everyone is here. It's funny that we have been meeting for quite some time and never taken any pictures. My Mema was and still is the queen of taking pictures. Growing up we weren't always excited to stop to take pictures and she would tell us "When you get old you'll want to know what you looked like" or "You will thank me when you are older" I couldn't agree more. I would be real sad if in like 10 or 20 or 50 years we had no pictures of this group. Enough rambling, here is our picture!

sweetness and sleep

2008-07-01T07:51:00.001-07:00

I went to my room to get ready for the pool and as I was walking toward the playroom I heard the tv. Eli had not only turned it on, but he found the movie he wanted and put it in the vcr the right way. I decided I would let him watch for a minute before we left for the pool, but I wanted him to know it wasn't okay to just turn on the tv or a movie without permission, so I paused the movie and said "From now on you need to ask before you turn on the tv, okay." My intention was to then press play and let him watch. He turned the tv off and looked at me real sweet and said "I watch tv, paweese" in such a sweet little voice.......I just want to pause those moments. They are such small things, but mean so much to a mommy. I should also add it was good timing cause yesterday he was quite the whiney little boy! I believe it has to do with his sleep. I don't know about you all out there in internet land, but I have found that if we get behind on our bedtime it shows! I'm not a rigid scheduler and probly wouldn't have figured this out had Eli not started having night terrors, but really his sleep makes a hugh difference. We were leaving his room at night by 7pm and things were going great, but for the last 3 weeks or so it was turning into 7:30 or 7:45. It doesn't sound like it would make that big of a difference, but it does! He is whineyer (sp?) and irritable. So because we have become aware of this with Eli I started watching for differences in Lucy depending on sleep. Because we have a 2 1/2 yr old, Lucy doesn't have much of a set nap schedule and usually does okay, but yesterday she was so tired that she couldn't go to sleep! She maybe had a 15min nap all day. So we put her to bed at 6:20, she slept till 7:20 and then went down for a morning nap around 9:20!! I usually don't put her down for a nap before the pool, but after yesterday I didn't want to push her again. Momma needs those 2 hours to herself when they both nap!!! Ya know!?! Anyway, not sure why I ended up sharing all that, but it's typed, so there ya go.........

...but thank you

2008-06-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

There have been several times in the past week or so that Nathan or I will ask Eli if he wants something or would like to do something, etc, and he will say "No, but thank you" It is precious! I think he has caught on to the fact that we think it is so cute and he now will smile as he says it.

Yesterday morning I sat Eli on the potty in hopes that it might finally be the first time he "goes" in the potty. I went in the kitchen to do something and he was talking to me the whole time, but then he started to cry. I figured he was frustrated with me for not being right there with him. I went to see why he was crying. He saw Nathan's razor on the counter and decided to try to shave. It was cute and scary and a little sad all at the same time. Needless to say he got his first nic on his chin. I tried to get a picture several times, but he was crying and wanted lovin, so it didn't work out. Daddy finally figured out something that helped him calm down. If you look closely to his top lip you will see the chocolate mustache he got from the spoon full of chocolate syrup he ate. It was the best medicine he had ever had :) After his medicine he was more than happy to show me his boo boo. He has talked about all of this several times yesterday and today recapping it from beginning to end.

painting food

2008-06-23T11:23:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we got way off our sleeping schedule and boy did it make a difference in our sweet little Eli. He was sooo whiney. After church yesterday he was starting another little fit. In my moment of frustration I remebered that I had bought food coloring gel like 4 months ago to paint toast or crackers as a fun project. He quickly snapped out of it and enjoyed painting his toast for a good 30 minutes or so. When I was getting a paint brush he spotted the googly eyes, so we added those, too. Of course we didn't eat them, but they were fun for a bit. Thank goodness for food coloring!!! I can't believe it took me this long to do this. He had a blast. I think we got back on track with sleeping last night..........or at least I hope so :)

The Coolest Band Ever

2008-06-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

I think Amy posted something about our Nephew, Will's birthday party that we went to. I am not sure if she mentioned that Will and a couple friends did some amazing air band performances. I got one on video. Enjoy!

2008-06-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

I'm constantly amazed at how fast Eli is growing and learning. Lately he has really been doing well with associating people and places and things. Ex 1: I was making some scrambled eggs the other day and asked Eli if he would like some grits. He said "Grits like at Great Gran's?" Ex 2: Eli's swim instructor's name is Luke. Last night we were looking at his class picture from MDO this past school year and one of the boys in his class was named Luke. When we got to that little boy he said "His name is Luke just like the boy at the pool!"

I know there are other stories to share, but my mind is drawing a blank. Anyway, here is a picture of Eli from this morning. I had left the camera on a table that he can reach and by the time I got to him he had open the flash and taken the lens cap off. He just didn't know that you have to turn a switch to turn it on. He was even pushing the right button to make it take a picture (there are 2 real close together). So, when I came in he told me he needed to take a picture of himself, so I turned it on and let him. These are the 2 we got.

WRC

2008-06-18T13:30:00.001-07:00

Today was Eli's 3rd swim lesson at Wild River Country. We had the pleasure of having Nathan with us today. We played for a bit and then went to his lesson. Each day I have given Eli a little treat for obeying his instructor, like a vanilla wafer, but I didn't have any today so he got a strawberry slushy instead. He liked that :) After lunch we got to ride the slide a couple of times. We only get to ride the slide when Nathan goes so this was another treat. It was a great morning! We have been loving our time at WRC.

This is Lucy on the ride home. She is out before we leave the parking lot every time we go!!

fun with Great Gran

2008-06-18T13:20:00.001-07:00

Great Gran is in Little Rock this week and we had her all to ourselves yesterday afternoon. Eli had fun showing off his outdoor toys, finding walking sticks (which were really only sticks, but he doesn't quite understand the difference) and then playing in the water table with Lucy. It was a nice afternoon. Eli and Lucy sure do love their Great Gran. Thanks for hanging out with us. We love you very much!

Father's Day

2008-06-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite a day! We didn't slow down long enough for me to post, but it's better late than never, right. We started the day off by surprising Nathan with a fancy Belgian waffle maker. He has been commenting on how he would really enjoy a nice fluffy big waffle every time we made waffles in our small, not fluffy, little waffle maker. He actually got an update to his closet about a week and a half ago. Eli and I went and got him shirts, shorts and pants. I kept telling Eli that is was a surprise and we couldn't tell daddy and he was all, Yea, surprise. Well, if you have read Nathan's post previous to this one you know that Eli ran in and couldn't wait to share with Nathan about his surprise. It was all he could do to race in, find his daddy and tell him about it. He was so proud to give the clothes to his daddy. I figured, why wait, Eli already told him what we got and Nathan could be wearing them. (really, I'm no good at waiting to give presents, I love to give them at the first chance possible) So, fast forward from then to yesterday, we made the huge fluffy waffles. They were sooo filling, I couldn't even finish a half of one. Then we went to church, came home and had lunch with our community group and put Eli down for a nap. I then started preparing for dinner. We had Nathan's Dad, Grandmother and youngest brother over for dinner. It was nice to see all of them. We hardly get to see Elliott, so that was a nice treat. We don't get to see Great Gran very often either, so Eli was loving all the attention from them. It was quite a treat. After the dishes were cleaned up I sat down to read and passed out! I couldn't believe how tired I was. Anyway, it was a great day. Somehow, I never got the camera out. I'm kicking myself about it today, but I posted some below from the last two months.

Happy Father's day to the best Daddy on the planet!! Thank you for all the stories read, popsicles shared, trips flying through the house, diapers changed, many hours of hard work at your job *especially this past week*, for foot rubs and date nights, for encouraging words and hugs and kisses. I couldn't have ever dreamed up a better man to raise children with, you are a blessing beyond my wildest dreams.

Also, Happy Father's day, belated, to Granpa aka Papa and Big Daddy. You are two very important men in our kids lives and in ours. Thank you for playing such an active roles in all of our lives. We love you sooooo much!!!!

uh-prise

2008-06-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

In the last month or so, Eli has really gotten into surprises. He calls them uh-prises. Amy and the kids went shopping to get me something for fathers day a little over a week ago. When they came home, Eli ran into the living room and said "Uh prise, it's a shirt." He doesn't quite have the secret thing down yet.

So, later on, Amy and the kids went with Nana to Chuck E Cheese's. Eli came home with a special cup with a straw and a sucker. He came running into my office and said "uh-prise" and gave me the drink and the half eaten sucker. I took them and said are these for me? He looked at me like I was crazy and said "No, they're Eli's." Then, he took them back. He is one cute handful.

Chuck E Cheese Please

2008-06-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Nana treated us to lunch at Chuck E Cheese yesterday. It was a great trip. Eli even let Lucy ride with him on a couple of rides! Thanks Nana!

Happy Bday Will

2008-06-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Will, turns 7 this week. On Sunday he had a family party at his house. It was a fun day, long with the driving there and back, but o so worth it. Nana got a giga ball and my patient, sweet husband blew it up. You had to blow it up one section at a time and there were many sections!!! Thanks babe!

Above is a picture of my nephew with 2 of his best buddies totally rockin out to a christian hard rock cd. It was hilarious!!!

Grand Opening of NLR Farmer's Market (CAFM)

2008-06-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

Last Sat was the official start of the NLR Farmer's Market. They have been open for a little bit, but that day was the big celebration and such. There was a ribbon cutting, a few words from our Mayor and Jodi Hardin, the man behind this and the new Argenta grocery. They had a great local bluegrass band and they served beefalo burgers. We ended up with local honey, blackberries and strawberries. It was fun to be a part of the "beginning". If you haven't already, you need to check out the new FM. They are open Tuesday and Sat from 7-12. It is on Main Street in downtown NLR. The farmers are all local and bring true homegrown goodies each week. Here is a link with more information for all those that are interested. http://www.arkansasfood.net/page3.php

Krecia and Patch

2008-06-09T13:03:00.001-07:00

We had the privelage of hosting a couples shower with 2 other lovely ladies a couple of weekends ago. It was for our friends Krecia and Patrick, aka Patch. I have known Krecia for several years now and have only recently been around Patch, but we approve! :) We couldn't be more excited!!! Congratulations!!

Happy Belated Bday Ardyn

2008-06-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last week our friend, Ardyn, celebrated is 1st birthday. Is actual bday feel in the middle of the week, so we celebrated by meeting at the Farmer's Market in NLR to pick up some fruit for snacking, then caught a trolley over to LR to go to the Peabody to see the ducks. It was a good day. Eden and Eli loved playing at a little area that appeared Chinese inspired while waiting for our trolley to return. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Thanks for letting us in on your big day Ardyn!

My mini garden

2008-06-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

I got an itch to try growing some veggies and herbs this year. I decided to take baby steps and only planted a handful. I am sooo excited about all of it, but especially my squash plant! It has blooms on it which means that the squash is coming soon! (I think, i'm new at this) So, I thought I would share what I have growing:
I took this picture from inside the patio, so the screen has made it a little fuzzy, but here are my squash flowers

I planted 2 basil plants and then for fun I sprinkled some basil seeds, not really believing they would grow, but they are and so we have much basil. Anyone need some? I can only make so much pesto. Does anyone have any good recipes that call for fresh basil? If so, share please.

Cherry tomatoes.....hopefully. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will come

red bell pepper, not thriving like the squash, but still growing strong

*I also have cilantro and oregno and a plant that is called Chicken Gizard, what a horrible name!*

It's Nathan

2008-06-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, since we have started publishing "The James Family" blog in a book form, Amy and I thought that it would be good for me to contribute to it also. So, I thought about what my first blog could be about, and couldn't think of anything better than...Poop.

Last night, I was playing with the kids in the play room, and Amy walked in and said "Oo, I think someone is poopy." I responded with my usual, "It's not daddy." Amy said, "It's not mommy." And, right on cue, Eli said, "It's Eli!" It was quite humorous.

Not related to poop, Eli was in the bath and slipped splashing water everywhere. When he stood back up, he looked up at me and said "It's whip er wee." It took me just a minute before I was able to translate to "It's slippery."

Then, back to subject, and later on that night, I was reading Eli a book while he walked around and climbed on me. I had not bothered to put his diaper on yet after his bath. Then, in the middle of the book, Eli said, "Daddy, look! It's coming." I look at him and he is pointing between his legs where there is something hanging about 4 inches! Once it falls, Amy grabs him and they go to sit him on the toilet. I know it may be gross, but...

One of these books is not like the other.
One of these books just doesn't belong.
Can you guess which book is not like the others by the time I finish this post?

And here is a picture of him trying so hard to use the potty. He just hasn't quite mastered the concept. It is a lot of pressure.

fun in the sun

2008-06-05T12:50:00.001-07:00

We have been loving the pool this summer! It's fun, helps break up our days AND it makes for great naps when we return home :) Plus, I get sun :)

laying out

2008-06-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we met our friend Jess at the pool this morning. She had somewhere to be right after lunch time, so while we ate lunch, she laid on a lounge chair to dry off in the sun. Eli asked me what she was doing to which I said, "laying in the sun to dry off" and then he didn't mention anything else. She left and we played in the water a bit more. When it was time to start drying off and putting dry clothes on Eli insisted that he have a towel laid on a lounge chair so he could lay in the sun and dry off. And he did, he laid real still for a few minutes (which is good for his age) and then he would freak out because his towel would start to fall or move out of place. It was pretty cute to see him mimic her. I wish I would have had my camera.........

Since I'm talking about Eli already I thought I would throw in another story. Lately we have been eating popsicles everyday. Ya know, those that are in the long plastic sleeve like thing and you push them up. Anyway, Eli is always looking to eat as many of them that you will allow and as often as you will allow. He will wake up and say he is hungry and I'll say we need to eat breakfast and he will reply "No breakfast. I need a popsicle." Or I'll say let's go to the pool and without missing a beat he'll say "And eat a popsicle?" And when we are about to have one I might say something like we can have one and he will say "And then another one?" It's humerous cause he isn't throwing fits or whining, he just sneaks it in anytime he can to see if you might let him have more.

love those swings

2008-06-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things at the park are the swings. It was such a beautiful day today and we made every effort to enjoy it. We started the day off at the pool, came home to nap and as soon as we got up we headed out for the park. On the way there we picked up my Mema and ended our afternoon eating dinner at her house and coming home just in time for bedtime. It was a great day, a little bit on the hot side, but very good.

Look who's walking

2008-05-27T17:15:00.001-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend Lucy started walking, not all by herself, but behind a push toy. It's the first time she has even attempted to take a step.......period. It won't be long now that she realizes it is a possibility.

finally

2008-05-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Update: Here are pictures of the book Nathan had made for me. It is a hard back book with a sleeve. Here is the front

the back

the front and back flap

and here is one of the pages just to give you an idea. Although, each page differs depending on how much text and how many pictures there are. Anyway, you get the idea.

so, we have now delivered all the mother's day gifts, which means I can now share what I got!! Nathan transferred all my blog posts for the year 2007 into a program that allows you to have it printed into a book! It is WONDERFUL!!! I love it! I told him he has started something and that I would now be looking for one each year :) I'll snap a picture of it and post it later so you can see it. I also recieved some money from my mom so I could buy some new clothes, yea! and my mother in law took some of the fabric from my outfits I wore in India and turned them into big floor pillows!! I LOVE IT ALL! Thanks so much!

The Big Day!!

2008-05-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

On Sat, all the bridal party met at 8am to have pedicures done, followed by having our nails painted and then off to get our hair done. I don't have the pictures in the exact order, but close enough. After all the nails and hair were done we headed over to the hotel where Annie's parents had a suite waiting for us to get ready in. From the suite we were picked up by a limo and taken to the church for a few pictures and then the main event. I left my camera at the hotel, so my pictures end here. Maybe I will be able to track some down and post them at a later date. The wedding was gorgeous and the reception was fabulous!!!!! Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Paul B.

rehearsal dinner

2008-05-27T07:33:00.001-07:00

bridesmaid lunch

2008-05-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday night there was meet-n-greet for all the family and bridal party since there were so many from out of town. Sadly I didn't get any pictures :( Then Friday there was a lunch for the bride and her maids and family. It was very nice. I have more pictures, but there are too many to post here.

Annie's sisters in law (Paula and Donna)

Cousin and Maid of Honor Summer

Annie's mom, Joanna, and Paul's mom, Mary

Aunt Reetha and Aunt Janet

Cousin Sarah, Lexi, Tamara and Kate

Carlee, Annie, Brittnie and Lucy

Joanna, Annie, and Mema

Annie: out with the girls

2008-05-27T06:59:00.001-07:00

What a crazy weekend!! It all started with one of my dearest friends, Annie's, lingerie shower that was followed by her bachelorette party. We did the shower at my house on our recently screened in patio (thank you Nathan and family for all your hard work) and then headed to the RiverMarket for some fun on the town. It was a fun night, but the fun didn't stop there....

belated mother's day gifts

2008-05-13T08:08:00.001-07:00

So Nathan put together an awesome mother's day present for me and for both our moms and grandmothers. Sadly, UPS didn't deliver them until the day after mother's day. Eli, Lucy and I went to deliver one to Mema this morning. She loved it! And Nathan's dad stopped by on his way home from KC yesterday to pick up Great Gran's. Unfortunately we have not had a chance to give our gifts to our mother's. It looks like we will see them next week, so I can't talk about the details of the gift until then because both of them read our blog. so this blog is sort of "empty", but I just had to tell the world what a creative, thoughtful, amazing, considerate husband I have been blessed with!!!!! Below is a picture of Mema with the kids this morning and then I posted some pictures of Great Gran from this past weekend since we couldn't be there when she got hers. Okay, so I will fill you all in once everyone has recieved their gift and it isn't such a secret anymore!!!! :) If you really want to know before then, just send me your email. I'm dying to tell someone! :)

another one

2008-05-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

right after i posted the last post I remembered another sweet thing eli has been doing. when i am putting lucy down for nap or bedtime he follows me in and tells me she needs a song. so i ask him to help. he sings with me and then kisses her goodnight. it is so precious to me. don't get me wrong, he does plenty of things that i don't consider precious, but i usually don't walk away from those moments wanting to write blogs about them, ya know what I mean? There are occasions when he is a stinker, but it is quite humerous looking back on, but plenty that just don't make it into my minds folder of "things to blog about".

sweet moments

2008-05-11T17:19:00.001-07:00

It's not unusual for Eli to be a little rough with Lucy. He is constantly pushing his limits whether it be sitting on her, pushing her down, snatching toys from her, running and stopping so close to her that it knocks her down......you get the picture. But occasionally he suprises me and shows a sweeter side towards Lucy. He has shown this side more and more recently. One night last week I was feeding Lucy and Eli had finished his dinner. He decided he wanted to see what Lucy was up to, so he climbed up in my lap and to check things out. He then asked me to let him give her her food. I let him sit in my chair and feed her. It was so sweet, yet still a little rough :) He wanted to feed her very fast. He was putting one bean after another in her mouth with no time for her to eat anything. I had to help him with his pacing, but otherwise it was so fun for me to watch this side of him with her. While sitting there he decided that he should wear the bucket on his head and that that made him a farmer. Every day is an adventure with my kids. Some days it is a grand adventure and others it feels like a disater, but over all this motherhood gig has been one adventurous moment after another. Thank you God for such an amazing gift! Please grant me guidance, grace, wisdom, humility, patience, and lots of love for years to come.

the weekend

2008-05-11T16:59:00.001-07:00

honestly, I'm too tired to do much writing right now. here is our weekend in a nutshell. we went to great gran's friday night. ate great food all weekend. hung out with aunt jeanette, uncle brian, great gran and uncle taylor. went to the local festival and eli rode his first carnival rides while lucy napped. then we headed home this morning. tonight we had my mema and aunt pammy over for dinner. it has been a wonderful mother's day. the only thing that would have made it better is if our mother's could have been here, but they are both in other states currently :( Hope everyone has had a blessed day.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T12:09:00.001-07:00

We have already had quite a weekend! But it isn't over yet. I plan to post more later. But until then, I thought I would share with you what Eli brought home from MDO last week. He was sooo excited to show this to me. He went on and on about how he painted and made the grass and how the teacher helped him put his thumb in the right place. Usually I have to ask a lot of questions, but that day he needed no prompting. It made my day! Well, I better get to cleaning up, we have special guests coming to dinner tonight. Check back for pictures from Great Gran's house, Rough and Ready Days festival, Eli's first time on a carnivalish ride and pictures from our Mother's day dinner.

Our very own sleeping beauty

2008-05-06T22:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Lucy took quite a nap. She was out cold and it was going on 3 hours!! She does this every once in a while, but it is not regular for her. So I went in to check on her and couldn't resist taking a picture. She looked so peaceful. I was taking these in her dark room, so there was all sorts of flash action going on. After the 4th picture she began to stir and shortly after sat up ready to go :) She is coming up on 10 months. My how time flies..............we love you sweet girl. Try not to grow up too fast.

par-tay

2008-05-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a couples shower/party for Annie and Paul. It had a mexican fiesta theme. It was a great time!!!!! I can't believe their wedding is just 3 weeks away!!!!!!

cake is yummy in my tummy

2008-05-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

Eli and I made a cake last night. He hleped me pour the ingredients in and then he got the best job, to lick the bowl. This was his first time to get to do this. As you can see, he LOVED it. I got busy pouring the mix into the pan and then turned around to find Eli's hair all spiked up. I assumed he had run his fingers through his hair, but then a few minutes later I looked over to find the bowl on his head. He wasn't willing to let any of it go to waste! :) He told me over and over "Cake it good, it is yummy in my tummy!" "I like cake, mommy" Lucy didn't know what to think of all the excitement. She watches Eli so intently. It will interesting to see how their relationship changes over the course of the next year.

100% BOY

2008-05-04T09:20:00.001-07:00

There is a spot in our yard that our tire hits every time we pull in or out and so has caused a rut or whatever you would call that. So every time it rains it becomes a mud hole and kids just can't resist it, especially Eli. We were hanging out and playing and Eli spotted the muddy water. He has played in it before, so he started by casually walking through it, which was very exciting to him. I was on the phone with my mom and my first response was "Eli, get out of the mud!" I even thought about punishing him when he started to walk through it again. But as I was in route to punish I asked myself "Am I punishing cause he is inconveniencing me or because he needs correction?" Obviously by the pictures I decided not to and after he asked so sweetly "Please mommy I play in the mud?" I replied "Yes you may, thank you for asking nicely" My mom heard the whole conversation and was giggling at me and Eli. In the middle of him playing in the mud I put my parents on speaker phone and let Eli talk with them. He is always amazed to hear their voices coming through on the speaker. I'm not sure he really gets it, but he is usually happy to talk if it is on speaker, but you can forget him holding the phone to his hear. So they talk, he tells them he is getting muddy and wet and then my mom says something about wanting to hug him and without skipping a beat he gives the phone a huge hug. It was precious. And as if he wasn't wet enough from the puddle he asked if we could wash the car, so we did and he was drenched from head to toe and let me tell you, it was chilly yesterday!!! Bottom line, we had a good time. Lucy slept through all of it!

catch up

2008-05-04T09:03:00.001-07:00

I've been meaning to post for the past week, but last week was busier and went by faster than a normal week. So, last weekend we had a special visitor. Gramma Gari came to see us. She got in late Friday night and Sat morning we got busy working on our patio and in the yard. We started the process of screening in our back patio back at Christmas time. As you can see in the pictures below, the kids had a great time. Sadly these are the only pictures I took. I really got into "cleaning out" our back yard. We had sooooo many little baby trees from acorns that had fallen and tons of vines and weeds. Once I got going on that I didn't pick the camera back up. Anyway, Gramma helped a little here and there, but her main help was with the kiddos. Nathan's dad, Granpa, came in, too. He has been a huge help for Nathan with this whole patio project. After a full day of working outside, we cleaned up and headed to Pine Bluff to have dinner with Taylor and Lee Ann. It was a very productive, enjoyable, good day. Sunday we ended up working on the yard and patio again and then ended the day with my first homemade lasgana. We had my mom, mema and aunt Pammie come join us. It wasn't too bad, the lasgana that is, and the company was awesome. Anyway, over all it was a fabulous weekend, Thank you Gramma Gari for coming. On several occasions Eli has requested Gramma for various things, like "I want Gramma to read me stories" or this morning he had a mini meltdown and started crying out "I want Gramma" Needless to say, he loves his Gramma. We miss you, Gari. Come back soon.

the many emotions of Eli

2008-05-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

mad

sad

naughty

suprised

We read a library book about a month or so ago that was about a boy and his ball and a bear. It walked through several different emotions, like the boy was happy playing with his ball, then suprised when the bear arrived, then mad when the bear took his ball, then scared when the bear came back with other bears, etc etc..I'm not sure the exact order, but you get the point. Ever since then Eli will do somewhat animated expressions. I thought it would be fun to try and get them in a picture, so here is my first attempt. He was in the middle of playing with stickers, so he was only so so cooperating.

zoo date

2008-04-28T06:33:00.001-07:00

Eli's MDO teachers organized an outing to the zoo last Friday. This week at school they made lion t-shirts to wear. When we first got to the zoo it looked CRAZY. There were, no kidding, about 50 school busses in the parking lot which equals loads and loads of kids. Parking really wasn't bad and once we got up to the gate, it wasn't as bad as it appeared. The only reason it took longer to enter the zoo was because traffic was worse than we thought and it made people late getting to the zoo. Anyway, so once in, it didn't feel crowded or overwhelming. The weather was just right, warm with a slight breeze and overcast. Eli was an angel, Praise The Lord! And Lucy was, too. :) AND, Nathan was able to take some time away from work to go with us. It was over all a great day. Thanks Mrs Kim and Mrs Stephanie!!!!

9 months

2008-04-23T19:10:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that Lucy has been with us for 9 months!! It has flown by. She is such a precious gift. Here is what she is up to these days: crawls very well, pulls up and has now mastered standing and then getting back to sitting position (she was standing and then crying cause she couldn't get back down), she eats table foods like it is her last meal ever, when we are preparing her food she does this excited dance thing in her chair and her eyes get real big and excited, she responds well to scheduled times EX: we eat between 5 and 5:30 each night and no matter when she last ate that afternoon she is soooo ready for food and lets you know it. Also, she is ready for bed at 7. One day she took a later than normal nap, woke up around 5ish or so and I thought she would fight sleep, but she goes down like clock work at 7 no matter what her naps have been like that day. She does fight her naps a little, but I believe a good part of that has been my fault for not being more consistent with when we nap. We are working on that. Her body seems to have a very good sense of time :) She is pretty tough, Eli has really been testing his limits with us in regards to her, but one day she will fight back! Watch out Eli :) Lucy is totally into putting all things in her mouth. I included one picture that shows her putting rocks in her mouth. She would get them to her lips and I would swoop in and get them out, but she does it over and over and over......etc....we have to watch her pretty close, she will put anything in there. Overall, she is healthy and happy! I am currently working on breaking her of her early morning bottle. She wakes up between 5-6 for a bottle and then goes back to sleep. I am confident that she doesn't "need" this bottle, but it is so convenient to just give it to her. So, I am trying to prepare myself to actually break her from that habit............one of these days........sooner rather than later I hope. I know it will only take a couple of days, but it takes work, ya know!!! I just don't think she will voluntarily give it up, although she has slept till 7 or so without it on a few occasions. These are the pictures Whitney L took to document her at 9 months. What a precious subject. Thanks Whit for the beautiful pictures. We enjoyed our day with you.

A fun fact about these pictures: this dress was made by my grandmother Abbott for me when I was a baby :) I know she would love seeing them on Lucy.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

2008-04-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Will, asked us to video him doing a little dance of sorts to the song It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time and then post it on U Tube. Well, that's just what we, and when I say we I really mean Nathan, did. You can see it on Nathan's blog: http://nathans-soliloquyme.blogspot.com/ Check it out.

family

2008-04-16T09:30:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we had to say goodbye to my Mema's sweetheart, Carl. He went to be with the Lord a week ago after suffering a severe stroke. We will miss him. Because of this sudden passing my brothers came to town for his funeral. I hate the circumstances that brought us together, but it sure was good to get to spend a little time with them and my sister in law and 2 nephews and niece. Eli LOVES his cousins. I wish they were closer, but really I guess we are blessed that we aren't too terribly far away. Here are a few shots from our day together. Todd, Me, Jeff

Jeff and Eli

Me and Nathan

The boy cousins: Drew (1), Eli (2), Will (6)

Sydney (10) She really enjoyed goofing around in my large shades.

The girl cousins: Lucy (9months) Sydney

Spider Man!!! and Savers

2008-04-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the grand opening of the new Savers on JFK. I really enjoy Savers and am so excited to have one so close. They offered free face painting and popcorn for their grand opening, so of course we went to help them celebrate and get all painted up. Eli was so still while the woman painted his face. I was impressed. After she was done she held up a mirror for him to see himself. He thought it was pretty cool. I think he was a little shocked and confused and happy all at once :) Anyway, it was a good time. That evening we started trying to wipe it off and he was not having it. It started to look like he had on eye liner. AAGGGHHH!

Eli throwing out his web

"I hold her"

2008-04-06T20:46:00.001-07:00

Eli isn't crazy over babies. I have no doubt he loves his sister, but he just isn't one to be all about a baby like some kids can be. So, needless to say, he rarely asks us to hold her or anything of that nature. He will find her toys to play with and let us know when she needs her paci or bottle. He notices when she isn't around and asks for her. He is very interested in what she is doing or eating, he is always asking questions about her. So, this afternoon he decides he needs to hold her. In the past I have tried to get him to hold her and when he agrees I tell him to sit down first, which of course is usually not what he wants to do, so it doesn't work out. Well, this afternoon, he said "I sit down and hold her" and that's just what he did. He was very proud for a few seconds until she started to squirm and cry at which point he started to hold her tighter.........I then took her back...........but for a few brief moments he was being so lovey!!!!!

My little big boy

2008-03-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday we have lunch with 2 other couples. It is our community group through church. Anyway, Eli always loves the attention he gets when we have guests, but today he was something else, it was so cute. So everyone gets here and we have the table all set up and he starts to tell whoever will listen where his seat will be at the table. Next we all gather in the kitchen to fix drinks and get our plates and he looks around and sees everyone has big cups, so he decides he doesn't want his sippy cup. I tell him that's okay and reach for one of his small big boy cups to which he becomes distraught and says he wants one like ours. I finally talk him out of it, cause come on, a 2 year old with a large cup.......yeah, that's what I thought.......anyway, so we all go sit down and he wants whatever we have on our plates on his plate. He is studying what everyone else is doing. He kept looking at Chris sitting next to him and talking about whatever he could think of, like "You drink wemonade?" If someone said something funny and we all laughed, he would look around and laugh with us. He noticed that a few of us reached out for a paper towel and pull it off the roll, so he reached out to do the same. ANYTHING we were doing, he was doing his best to keep up and be a part of the group. I know my writing about it isn't really describing it the way I would like it to, but it's the best I got. It was a precious moment for me, to look at my baby boy and see the wheels turning in his head. To see him make conversation and interact with the group. I've never seen him do anything like this...........Well, enough rambling. I sadly have no video or pictures to show from today, so I thought I would just put a random picture or two up. And since we are talking about my kids, I thought I would add that Lucy is crawling very well and fast AND is pulling up on everything!!!! I'm afraid she will be walking before long. She isn't even 9months yet!

Easter

2008-03-23T19:01:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T18:28:00.001-07:00

Egg Hunt

2008-03-22T18:11:00.001-07:00

Today our church had an Easter Egg hunt. We first met inside where they had kids opening resurrection eggs and talking about the meaning of Easter. We said a prayer and then it was off to the field to "hunt" for eggs. It's kind of funny to me, they just lay them all over the grass, no hiding involved. :) I totally understand, I mean it was for kids 2 and under, but it is still funny to me. Eli filled his basket FULL! He had a great time finding eggs and an even better time opening them to find candy. "chocolate is good, mommy" or "this is yummy" Afterwards we went to celebrate Campbell's 3rd birthday and had more yummy treats! Eli also dyed eggs for the first time and really enjoyed it. He is a very hands on kind of artist, so needless to say he has very orange hands after handling his eggs. We got home a little after lunch and all 4 of us crashed. I haven't taken a good long nap like I did earlier in a long time and boy did it feel so wonderful. I had to make myself get out of bed to fix dinner for my family and get ready for our lunch tomorrow. I think I might just go crawl back in bed right now :)

Up up and away!!!

2008-03-21T12:29:00.001-07:00

This last one doesn't even look real, but let me assure you, there is no trick photography going on here. It's crazy cause until I look at the picture I don't even realize how high he throws him in the air! I have fond memories of baseball players from my dad's team throwing me up sooo high at the ballpark. Ahhh..........to be so little again............

Wye Mountain

2008-03-21T11:49:00.001-07:00

We headed up to Wye Mountain this morning in hopes of capturing some family pictures. This is what we got. It was beautiful and sunny and windy, o so windy! We had fun over all. There was a girl there taking pictures for our Mom's club. Hopefully she was able to capture some better ones. This is the best of the best out of my shots.

In the car, he decided to smile real big once strapped in and headed home. what a stinker!

This picture really shows how the wind was blowing. Needless to say, our attempts at any with me and the kids was unsucessful mainly due to wind.

I thought this last one was sweet.

I was very pleased with the way the orange looked w/the yellow and green background. I'll have to keep that in mind for next year..........there's always next year............

Lucy laughing

2008-03-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

The teeth

2008-03-20T20:41:00.001-07:00

I mentioned in a previous post that Lucy has 2 teeth now, but we couldn't ever get a picture of them.............that is until tonight. I was able to get a picture that shows her first teeth. They pretty much came in at the same time. I am happy to report that it was very uneventful for Lucy. Besides a lot of drool, we didn't notice any thing else that can come with teething. Well, I take that back, she did spike a fever a week or so ago, but she didn't act like she didn't feel good and she checked out all clear by the doctor, so maybe that was due to teething. Anyway, bottom line, they are here :) Hopefully the rest will come in as easily.

Girl can eat!

2008-03-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in another post, Lucy has suddenly discovered her love for food! She went from barely eating a jar of food a day to 2 jars and a couple of snacks throughout the day. This picture is of her chowing down on her second zwieback toast stick in like 10 minutes! She must be growing in a serious way!!!

Happy Birthday, Krecia!!!!

2008-03-20T14:55:00.001-07:00

Krecia and her fiance Patrick me and the birthday girl
Nathan and Patch
Us
The Group

So, last Friday we celebrated Krecia's birthday. She is one of my favorite people ever! A group of us went to eat at Bruno's that night. We attempted to get a group shot, this is our best one. Hope you had a wonderful birthday Krec. We love you and were blessed to get to celebrate with you.

Kansas City

2008-03-20T14:42:00.001-07:00

sneek preview
This is their roommate Carrie

TMNT dude!
Little pig little pig let me in!!!

Gramma and Lucy
Lucy has definitely bumped up the amount of food she eats!!! She couldn't get enough this past weekend.

Uncle Elliott

Aunt Tarah and Lucy

We had the pleasure of spending a long weekend in Kansas City. We went to visit Eli and Lucy's Gramma Gari and Aunt Tarah. O, and we also got to see Uncle Elliott. :) It was a wonderful weekend! Well, the company was great, the weather was cold and rainy. While we were there Gramma Gari made Lucy an easter outfit. It was fun for me to go pick out a pattern and fabric and then watch her put it together!!! It is so stinking cute! We took a couple of pictures when we tried it on to make sure the size was good, but it wasn't complete. I have included a picture, but you will see the finished product after we take Easter pictures on Sunday. Eli was in play play play mode from sun up to sun set. His Gramma had all sorts of toys and dress up clothes and masks and hats.........he never had a dull moment. Thanks for having us!!!! We look forward to seeing you again real soon!

conversations

2008-03-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

So, lately Eli has been playing with his action figures and making them talk to each other. Some common things that he makes them say are: "HELP! I'm stuck!" or "HI" "Oh, Hi", etc.....but just now I heard something for the first time. One Buzz figure looks at the other and asks "You poopy?" "Oh, I change you" then a few minutes later Buzz asks "Who's poopy? You Poopy?" It made me laugh and thought it might make you laugh, too. If not, well, I don't know...........

Ryder

2008-03-07T18:52:00.001-08:00

We got to have our dear friend Ryder over this morning for a quick visit. It has been too long since we got to play with him. He is getting so big! The snow caused us to cut our playdate short. Thanks for coming to see us Ryder and Annie. Don't be strangers!!! cheese

taking a picture w/the buzz camera phone

do you like my hat?

2008-03-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

I have been reading some books on activities to do with children 1-3yrs old. Eli has reached an age that he needs a little more structure when playing. So one of the ideas in the book wasn't anything new or that I haven't heard of, just needed my mind to be refreshed and pushed a little to get in the right direction. If you haven't kind of guessed by the picture we have started a "dress up" box. We decided to start this box about a week or so ago. It started with 2 hats and has quickly become several hats, several fun pairs of sunglasses and 1 hawaiian leis. Eli's nana added a few hats to our collection this afternoon and we had fun playing with them. Here is Eli, Lucy and their Aunt Tarah playing earlier today.

Somebunny is crawling!

2008-03-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I admit that is an extremely cheesy title, but I had to tie the bunny ears in there in some way. I'm not sure if they were mine or one of my dolls, but either way they are from my childhood. I have so loved going through my old baby clothes and dolls. But anyway, back to Lucy's big news....... so, yesterday Lucy discovered that she could crawl. She hasn't gotten it down, but she is practicing :) She also has 2 teeth coming in. They are her two front bottom teeth. We haven't been able to get a picture of them yet, but soon my friends, very soon.

talking in circles

2008-03-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

Nathan has posted a fun video. You should check it out :)http://nathans-soliloquyme.blogspot.com

Also, if you check blogs regularly or at all really and you haven't set up a google reader or something like that you should really conisder it. It saves soooooo much time!!!!

Okay, that should be all for today. I think I have posted enough for now.

6 month pics

2008-03-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

well, lucy is almost 8 months old now, but i wanted to share her 6 months pics we had done. i would have posted them earlier, but i had to scan them to the computer first. o well, better now than never :)

pizza and friends

2008-03-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

Alex and Lucy
Brian
Eden
Ardyn
Pizza Chefs

Eli and Lucy had some friends come over this morning to play. We had a big time. For lunch the kids got to make their own pizzas. They had a good time. Now it's time for nap! :)

SNOW!!!!

2008-03-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally got to see some snow. We bundled up and went out to experience snow, but our outting was very quick. Since we don't have a need for snow shoes and gloves, we don't own any. It didn't take very long for Eli's feet and hands to get real cold so we said goodbye to the snow and came back in to our warm house. It was fun while it lasted and it sure does look pretty.

What?!?

2008-02-24T17:24:00.000-08:00

I was in line at Wal-Mart this afternoon and saw a cute picture of Suri Cruise on the cover of a magazine. Her picture caught my eye so I read the caption next to it. It said something like, NO TV or Happy Meals!! Scientology Playdates! The strange life of Suri Cruise. WHAT? Since when is not allowing your toddler to watch tv and chow down on happy meals so weird? And while the whole scientology thing is odd to me, having playdates with others that are scientologist isn't weird, is it? I mean, seriously...............

Baby Henry came to visit!!!!

2008-02-20T13:12:00.001-08:00

We got to meet baby Henry last night. His daddy, Justin, is one of Nathan's friends from Monticello. He and his wife, Megan, now live in the Boston, MA area. They came to visit some friends and family in AR and we were blessed to have them over. Isn't he beautiful?!?! He is even prettier in person. We had a little photo shoot with Henry and Lucy and here are the best shots. Thanks for coming to visit!

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades

2008-02-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

We were fortunate enough to spend this past weekend in Colorado with no children. Yeah!!!! Anytime I am gone for more than a day I like to find a little something for the kids. Well, I found some cutie glasses for Lucy. I also found myself some new glasses, so this morning we took a picture of us girls in our new shades. Later Eli decided he would like to wear them. He put them on and didn't take them off for like 30-45mins! I have bought him a pair in the past and he didn't wear them more than a couple of minutes at a time, but he was rocking these today :)

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T19:19:00.001-08:00

It was sooo pretty this afternoon. Eli and I decided it was a good day to eat lunch outside, so that's just what we did. The table he is sitting at was my dad's when he was a child. :) Lucy even got in on the action. She enjoyed some peas. Everyday I feel like Eli comprehends a little bit more and a little better. It's fun to see him growing and learning. What a blessing! It is a process that is slow and yet it goes by so quickly. Some days I wonder if the whole "terrible twos" deal is gonna last forever and other days he seems soooo far from that. I don't know that I am making any sense, I am very tired. Bottom line: I'm in love with my babies and cherish every moment I am blessed with them, be it a pull my hair out moment or and awwww moment. Hope you all had a blessed day.

Eli made this little Valentine man at the library. I am so excited that he has finally reached the age where we can begin to enjoy the library.

just for fun

2008-02-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

we didn't have blogs when Eli was smaller, so I decided to share some old pics of Eli.

6 months

7 months 8 months8 months

11 months
11 months
11 months

1 yr

comparison

2008-02-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

I was curious if Eli really was as much bigger than Lucy at 7 months as I think he was, so I found some pictures to do a comparison. You be the judge.

Reunion for NLRHS class 1998

2008-02-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

I got a bulletin on myspace about our 10yr reunion coming up this summer!!!! If you don't have a myspace page or don't check it, here is the information:

OKAY PEOPLE! WE'RE FASTLY APPROACHING OUR 10TH REUNION! WE ARE JUST ABOUT LOCKED INTO THE LAST WEEKEND OF JULY, AS A DATE FOR THE REUNION. WOOOOOO HOOOO! THE REUNION COST WILL BE $40 FOR SINGLES AND $60 FOR COUPLES. THIS IS A FAIRLY EXACT ESTIMATE....IT WILL NOT BE MORE THAN THIS. THE MONEY WILL BE USED FOR THE FOLLOWING:* PICNIC FOOD* BANQUET DECORATIONS* BANQUET FOOD* DISC JOCKEY....DJ* CLEAN UP* DEPOSITS FOR BANQUET FACILITY* ANY OTHER INCIDENTALS THAT MAY OCCUR DURING THE WEEKENDWE HOPE THAT ALL OF YOU WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE! ALSO, WE NEED ADDRESSES FROM EACH OF YOU. IF YOU ARE IN CONTACT WITH ANYONE NOT ON MYSPACE, PLEASE GET THEIR ADDRESS FOR US. PLEASE, SEND THE ADDRESSES AS A "MESSAGE" NOT AS A "COMMENT". THANKS,CLASS OF '98!

You can send your address to me if you don't have a myspace and I'll pass it on. If you are from NLRHS class of 98 you better plan on going to the reunion!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm very excited about this event.

Our little multi tasker!

2008-02-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

We are trying to get some potty training going on in our house. I truely believe that you can't force it, however we are just trying to talk about it and get Eli interested. This past weekend I found some Toy Story underpants that were an awesome deal and mostly had Buzz undies in the package. Eli really likes them so on 2 occasions he has asked to wear them and the only thing he has to do is sit on the potty every 20 min or so. He isn't a fan of the actual sitting on the potty, but wants to wear the undies bad enough that he pouts through it. The last time we went to try and use the potty he was distracted by his toothbrush and totally forgot he was sitting on the potty for a minute! He hasn't had an accident OR peed/pooed in the potty, so no real progress. I guess we're just planting the seed.......sigh.................one day it will happen and we will feel like we got a mini raise with the money we will save on NOT buying diapers!!!! So close, yet so far away. :) Isn't he precious with his tatts and multi tasking skills!

Lucy's latest trick

2008-02-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

Lucy usually takes her bottle in her bouncy chair. The past couple of weeks or so we have been letting her hang out in her chair when she is done as long as she doesn't have a fit. She started wiggling more and more until she realized that she could turn on her tummy and play! She might chew on the chair or reach beyond the chair to whatever is within reach. She seems so proud and happy when she does this. It's really fun to see how much she is growing and becoming more independent in her movements. Just last night she rolled over like 3 times to get to a toy she had her eye on!!! She hasn't tried to crawl yet, but she has done the on all fours rock back and forth so I imagine it won't be long.

All on her own!

2008-02-03T16:11:00.001-08:00

Not long ago I realized that I have been slacking a little bit with our 2nd child. How? you ask, well, with Eli I worked with him on holding his own bottle starting at a few months old and he could hold his own around 5 months. With Lucy, I just started working with her (she is going on 7 months) and as of the past few days she is doing pretty darn good. With Eli we started cereals and such around 4 months. Recently we went in to see the doctor for Lucy's 6 month check up and they asked how food was going.......oops. I came home and started making more effort to try spoon feeding. Eli really likes it when she eats at the same time as he does. O well, I know it really doesn't matter in the big picture and that she is fine. I guess it is just weird to think about how different things are with the second! And it doesn't help that Lucy is like way smaller than Eli was at her age. She just seems so much younger to me. For those of you that would like to know she now sits up very well, reacheds for toys and successfully gets to those out of reach 9 out of 10 times, jabbers a lot, doesn't really care for baby food yet, has got up on all fours and rocked, turns from tummy to back and back to tummy without a problem and is sleeping till about 4:30 without us having to put the paci back in (that is on average, not every night) and then after we put her paci in she will sleep till anywhere between 5:30 and 7!!!!!! She is a good baby girl. I guess that's all for now.

Lastest in our collection of all things Buzz Lightyear

2008-02-01T11:34:00.001-08:00

Okay, so this isn't the best picture, but what you are looking at is a big fleece blanket with a Toy Story theme. It also has Zurg, Hamm and Rex on there. Eli's Aunt Becky gave it to him yesterday and he has enjoyed it so very much. He has watched a movie with it, took it to Nana and Big Daddy's to show them, slept with it and is about to nap with it. I think he would eat with it in his lap if we would let him. Thank you Aunt Becky for thinking of Eli and his love for all things Buzz.

"Wucy a princess?"

2008-02-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

I bought Lucy some little tutus at a sale yesterday. This morning when I was getting her dressed in one, Eli asked, "Wucy a princess?" to which I replied, "Yes!" He can be sweet when he wants to be.

Lucy Lou

2008-01-22T07:36:00.001-08:00

weight limit???

2008-01-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

I guess Lucy made this look like a ton of fun, cause as soon as she gets out Eli jumps on in! I would think there must be some kind of max weight limit. Oh well............

Nathan's Birthday Dinner

2008-01-22T07:23:00.001-08:00

Nathan's birthday was last week and to help us celebrate my mom and dad had us over for a birthday dinner. Here are some pictures.

100% Boy

2008-01-22T07:14:00.001-08:00

Once again I find my son enjoying dirt. What's that about? He started out just playing in the dirt and throwing it around and then at some point he must have thought "Huh, this stuff looks tasty!" It's because of these moments that I decided to read Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson, in hopes that I might get some kind of understanding into the ways of little boys. Even though it is gross, it makes for cute pictures :) Enjoy!

Happy 28th Nathan

2008-01-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR NATHAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOOUUUU!!!!!!
Below is a copy of Nathan's birth announcement, seemed appropriate and then a couple of pictures that I like so I thought I would throw those in, too. Wasn't he such a cute kid??!!

Date Night!!!!!!

2008-01-12T19:51:00.001-08:00

Nathan and I had a much needed date night this evening. As we were driving to the Rave we were trying to decide the last time we went out just the two of us and it was in Oct for our anniversary! Before you feel too sorry for us, we have been on dates and such without our children, just not all by ourselves. We love love our dates with friends, but it was fun being just the two of us. We went and saw a movie and then went out to eat. When we got to the restaurant there was a 45 min wait. A few years ago I would have thought twice about staying, but now-a-days I enjoy the excuse to not be in any hurry and have to wait. We really enjoyed our outing. Thank you grandpa Jerry for babysitting and grandma Arlene for our Outback gift card (it was a Christmas present).

good friends

2008-01-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Sadly, we had two funerals this past week. One for my great aunt Pat and one for great uncle JD. Pat was on my Grandpa Brown's side of the family (my mom's dad) and JD was on my Mema's side of the family (my mom's mom). Lucy is still small enough that I can take her to the visitations and ceremonies, but Eli is far from it :) Luckily our good friends Ms Victoria, Cal and Laney were available to play with Eli all morning. Victoria just emailed me the pictures of the boys playing and I couldn't resist sharing them with all of you. Thank you so very much for loving on Eli while we were away.

what an angel!

2008-01-11T19:49:00.001-08:00

My mom's side of the family all got together tonight at US Pizza. She had a handful of relatives in town that we hardly ever get to see. My original plan was to leave the kids at home to avoid any chance of a stressful night, but some of my cousins asked to meet Eli. So Nathan and I decided we would all go and he would take the kids when it was bedtime and head home. (what a sweet husband I have!!) Eli wasn't just good, he was exceptional tonight. No fits, no meltdowns, he waved at all the different people that he met, he ate his food, he looked at the camera and smiled for several pictures..............just really really good and agreeable. One time he came to me crying because Nana had left the room and he wanted her to stay, but just sad, not frustrated fit. It was a good time. I really enjoyed seeing all the Brown's. I have many pictures of tonight, but for now I will keep it to these few. I am too tired to mess with the others right now. I should also mention that Lucy was a sweetie, too. I think she only spit up on 1 or 2 people and I was one of them :)

Super Elijah

2007-12-29T18:43:00.000-08:00

When Nathan was a little boy, his parents made him a cape that said "Super Nathan" (as seen below) For Christmas this year Eli got a cape that says "Super Elijah" just like his daddy's cape. The inside of Eli's has Philippians 4:13 in it "I can do all things through Christ who stregthens me" Very cool gift. Thanks to Aunt Tarah, Gramma and Granpa for their combined effort.

bowling

2007-12-29T18:26:00.001-08:00

Friday we headed out to Cabot to go bowling. It was Eli's first time and I think it is safe to say he enjoyed it. It was pretty cool, you can set it up to where bumpers come up for different bowlers and then go down for others. So they automatically came up when it was Eli's turn. Uncle Jeff and Bid Daddy were such great coaches for Eli. We had quite a group, Nana, Big Daddy, Uncle Jeff, Josh and Jennifer Clary, their kids, Emma and Ty, and Charlie and Sarah Rogers. Eli had a little trouble waiting his turn, but not near as bad as I anticipated. We also ran into our cousins Kaylee and Jessica. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. Thanks Nana and Big Daddy! Here is Eli's very first time up to bowl! Very exciting!
He got a Spare!!!
Cousins Kaylee and Jessica with Lucy and Nana
Ouch! Nana sure has a big swing! She entertained us all with her "form". She swings her ball so high behind her. Creepy, but cool picture. I'm not sure how it happened, but you can see straight through that ball as if it weren't there.

Christmas

2007-12-27T05:36:00.000-08:00

we wrapped up our Christmas with a gift exchange with Gramma Gari. Eli got some cool books, blocks and movies. Lucy got a precious doll that came with a handmade bed that Gramma made. We ate lots of great food, hung out and even managed to get out for a little bit of shopping. Well, that's how it happened for me, Nathan worked hard on screening in our porch while I shopped. I will post pictures of the screening process in another post. thank you to Gramma Gari for helping us get that together. And thank you Elliott for helping Nathan, too.

You better WORK! turn the left. now turn to the right.........

2007-12-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

Lucy got some super cute tights for Christmas from her aunt Tarah. We decided she needed a denim skirt to show them off and set out to find one this afternoon. We found 2 really cute ones, but only one fits now. So what do you do when you get new clothes???...... fashion show. It was so fun for Tarah and me. I think Lucy enjoyed it, too, but not near as much as we did :) And those legs!! I love'em!!!!! Thanks for putting up with us Lucy. Maybe one day you will be more into this kind of stuff.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T20:37:00.001-08:00

This day came so quickly! Here are a few highlights from the day. We started our day by opening Eli's stocking to see what goodies were in there. Then we loaded up and headed to Nana's and Big Daddy's. I'm too tired for too many detials, but let's just say the kids got some good stuff!! We have one more day of celebration with Gramma Gari and Nathan's siblings and then it's done till next year. It has been a wonderful Christmas. Eli has been sooo sweet today. What a blessing our little boy and sweet little girl are to us.

Eli and Tiger and Bear, OH MY!

2007-12-25T04:59:00.000-08:00

What a busy couple of days it has been! We started the holiday weekend by making cookies. We never got around to icing them, but they were still a yummy treat. Then we went caroling on Friday night in LR. Got up Sat morning and headed to Monticello for some yummy food, good company and a few presents. We caroled on Sat night. Sat night was Christmas Eve for the James family. They have tradtions that happen on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas Day. They have always been kind enough to rearrange when we celebrate so we are able to do Christmas with both families. They have been caroling on Christmas Eve for about 30 years now!! Eli was a little bit frustrated the first night after the first couple of houses, but once he got the hang of it, he really enjoyed it. He would dance and run around while we sang. He even got to go in one house and play with their son and his dinosaur as we sang. What a treat! While we were caroling on Sat night, Eli got a big surprise, heck, it was a surprise to all of us. We got to a house and some how ended up caroling inside instead of on the porch. Little did we know what was just inside the door. Apparently their daughter, all of their kids are our age, anyway, she put her name in a drawing hoping for a new tv. When she got the call from the drugstore, she was sure she had won it. She answered her phone anticipating the announcement that she was the new owner of a tv, but instead they informed her she was the proud new owner of a .......................................LIFE SIZE TEDDY BEAR! Do you see where this is going?? They had the enormous bear tucked next to the tree behind presents. When Eli spotted it he was so fascinated by it. He didn't throw a fit wanting it, he just kept telling me "I want da beear, mommy. I want ta take it wit me" I'm not kidding when I say it is about my height and bigger than me! So, the family realizes how much Eli likes this bear and they get it out from behind the presents and set it in the floor in front of him. He immediately hugs it and sits in it's lap. It was precious. Long story short, the bear ended up in our van that night and then in Eli's bed. Little did we know what surprise we would have in the morning. We awoke to find that Granpa had got Eli a life sized tiger. The joke quickly became that all we needed was a lion.........get it? Lions and tigers and bears, Oh MY! Good times. We decided you are only a kid once, so why not! They are both pretty darn cool. The tiger is freakishly realistic, but still very cool. So, off of that story, we finished up LOTS of food in Monticello and headed home. We were greeted by Gramma Gari, who is in town all week! We got to take a break from present for the first half of Christmas Eve and then last night we headed to "the country" (as my brothers and I have always called it cause it seemed so far away as a child) to see my dad's side of the family and get a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. Whew, I'm tired just recapping our past couple of days! :) But it's not over yet. We have Christmas with Nana, Big Daddy, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Pammy the Great, her friend Ken, Mema and her friend Carl this morning. Then we will close the holiday celebrations with Gramma Gari, Aunt Tarah, Uncle Elliott, Aunt Lee Ann, and Uncle Taylor tomorrow. Lots more good food and company!!!! Well, that's all for now. Here are a few pictures from the past couple of days. I haven't taken as many as I would have liked to :( Merry Christmas to you all. May we all be able to wade through all the "stuff" in this time of year and remember our Lord Jesus Christ. What an awesome, untoppable gift He was and is and will always be. God bless and guide you all! We'll be back with more pictures soon.

Saturday

2007-12-18T12:44:00.001-08:00

What a day we had Saturday! We started our day by going to a birthday party for Jonas. It was a morning party at Gymboree. Eli has sooo much fun climbing, sliding and crawling around. Thank you Jonas for letting us celebrate with you!

From the party we went straight to Nana and Big Daddy's house for Christmas with my brother and his kids and stopping the fun only long enough to take a nap we celebrated Christmas again that night with my mom's mom, mema and my mom's sister, Becky and all of her kids and grandkids. It was a lot of fun. We sang karokee, ate good food and got a visit from Santa!

"YOU... ARE.... A.......TOY!"

2007-12-16T07:52:00.001-08:00

If you spend any amount of time at our house then you definitely recognize the quote in the title. We are quickly becoming experts on Toy Story and Toy Story 2. As I was uploading the pictures for this post I overheard Eli say, "YOU ARE A TOY!", as he was playing with Buzz and Woody. It seemed an appropriate title for this post, although I'm not positive why....... So Christmas has offically begun for our family. We celebrated with my brother and his family yesterday afternoon and then with my Grandmother, Aunt and cousins last night. Eli and Lucy recieved very cool toys and clothes. Eli also recieved a very cool jacket from his Great Aunt Becky, it is a bomber jacket with Buzz Lightyear patches. Here are pictures of him sporting his new Buzz Lightyear jacket. He isn't much of a camera ham so this is the best I could do to get the picture. It was all I could do to get his shirt on first, he kept saying "my jacket". I will post more pictures from the 2 celebrations yesterday later. We are getting ready for church, so I better go freshen up. Enjoy! And thank you Aunt Becky for such a cool gift!

Just the girls

2007-12-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

Last night was Fellowship Bible North's Women's Christmas Event. It was so nice. It was held at Next Level Events and included a yummy dinner, shopping from some local women, a program and ended with all 100+ women singing a few Christmas songs together. I was blessed to have both my mother and grandmother present. I am so thankful that we enjoy each other and are able to do outings like this together. Here is a snapshot of the 3 of us. Christmas is officially here!!!! We are celebrating with my brother and grandmother this weekend. I can't believe it is already here.........wow, time has just flown by! Merry Christmas to everyone. May you be blessed as we celebrate our Saviour's birth and remember the gift that he gave us so many years ago. God bless and guide you!

Our baby girl is 5 months old

2007-12-13T06:01:00.001-08:00

Our sweet little Lucy is officially 5 months old as of yesterday. She is such a happy baby. Still spits up a bit, but nothing like it used to be before we started the Enfamil AR formula. She loves tummy time and is already showing signs that she might crawl in the next month or so, yikes! She loves to pull her feet above her head and kick her feet when she is in bed. When she kicks it makes a loud THUD THUD THUD. She appears to be a morning person, she wakes up happy and very content in the morning. Half the time she is awake and we just happen to look in on her and get her out. Very rarely does she fuss when she wakes up. She has been such a blessing. I could talk about her for days, but I know this isn't the place to ramble on and on. Thanks for checking in!