Eleven Months and Teething

Eli is finally teething. Remember when I thought he was teething basically since the day he was born? He wasn't. His first tooth is breaking just now. Like as we speak. He's not very happy about it either. But these pictures are a little deceiving. Mary and I had a mini photo shoot with Eli today.

He turned 11 months a few days ago. I'm desperately in need of ideas for his first birthday. What did you do? I'm thinking of nothing big. Just making a cake for him to dig into maybe?

Eli's been doing a lot of cute things lately. The other day my mom noticed he started wiggling his foot whenever she said, "Dance." Now any time he hears music his arms flail and his legs march.

He loves to point. He points and kind of jabbers like he's saying something important. And like we know exactly what he's saying. It's very endearing.

The latest thing he did that blew my socks off is Jeff's brother jokingly said, "Hey Eli, give me that binky!" Eli promptly took the binky out of his mouth and handed it to Bryan. What??? How long has he been able to take commands? And why have I not been taking advantage of this new milestone?

He also loves to climb stairs but can't quite figure out how to get down them. He's good about only climbing a couple stairs if I'm not right behind him and patiently waits for me to spot him in case he falls.

Here's something funny about Eli I don't want to forget: He always kicks those tiny little legs! I thought it was normal until several people pointed out that those legs are always moving. He's been a kicker ever since he was tiny and he still constantly kicks whenever he's laying down. When we put him down for a nap we can hear him thumping throughout the house. When I change his diaper I get kicked in the stomach. He even kicks sometimes while he's sitting down. He's a busy boy and very active.

Along with his kicking came what I believe is one of his first words. When he would kick me and roll around during diaper changes, I used to say "Eli, stop." Eli thought that was funny for a while. After about a week of me begging him to stop and stay still and him laughing at me, I started to notice him say, "dop." That made it all worth it. So cute.

He loves to be chased around the table. He loves to be outside. He loves bread. Jeff calls him the Pillsbury Dough Boy because he'd eat carbs all day long if we'd let him.

Another funny thing about him is if you feed him plain chicken, or vegetables or pasta, he won't eat it. If you feed him chicken, vegetables and pasta in a casserole, he gobbles up adult-sized servings. He's a casserole boy for sure.

We love our little Eli so much and can't believe how fast he's growing up!

Moms Are Special

I had every intention of getting my mom a card for Mother’s Day. I’m bad at picking out cards though. So I procrastinated. And missed my window of opportunity. So now I’m stuck having to get creative on Mother’s Day. Here goes nothing...

Hey mom. It's really not fair that you don't realize how cool your mom is until after you're off on your own with a kid pulling on your pants that you don't quite know how to raise. So you think back on how you were raised and decide if you like what was done with you. 

And that's when you start to appreciate the ever loving, watchful eye that guided you through high school.

And the smiling and giggling over the years.

And all those lessons on how to bargain shop and spend your money wisely.

And how to work hard and keep a clean house.

And all the encouragement given to achieve difficult goals.

The daily mothering advice and reassurance I'm doing just fine.

The positive attitude you always seem to have.

The help with finding hobbies and enjoying life.

And everything else that got to me to where I am today. Mom, you're pretty great. You're the best mom for me. I'm glad you're my mom and I wish I could have known just how great you are all along. So sorry for that one time when I was a teenager and a little unappreciative.

I used to hate to admit it, but I can see myself becoming more and more like you every day.  I hope Eli's lucky enough to have a mom like you.

And the great thing about being married is you get another mom! I feel so lucky to have Mary as my mother-in-law. She has been so accepting and welcoming to me since the day she met me and I am so grateful for that.

She is such a fun grandma and always has the magic touch to calm a cranky baby.

Not to mention she raised a son I'm kind of fond of.

She knows how to throw great parties and have fun no matter where she is.

I love you Mom and Mary! Happy Mother's Day.

We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

I had an off day today. You know. The kind of day where everything goes annoyingly wrong but not wrong enough for you to be legitimately upset about it. 

When Jeff came home from work I ran out to greet him in the driveway and to hand off a somewhat crabby and somewhat naked baby. I quickly started dinner and then when Jeff came in to talk to me I...snapped. It was also the kind of day where I didn't know I was crabby until someone talked to me. Unfortunately for Jeff he was the someone.

Seeing my frustration, Jeff let me do my thing.

Then he spilled water all over me at dinner on accident. It was the perfect example of how my day was going. It was also the perfect incident to make me realize how funny I was being. And I laughed way more than I should have.

Then Jeff told me to go and relax and offered to do the dishes. Ahh. Just what I needed.

Eli is also super excited to see Jeff whenever he comes home. Almost as excited as he gets when we make one of his stuffed animals dance (see second picture). Jeff is such a cute dad and a cute husband. I'm not typically one to boast about my husband on the internet, but I happened to have cute pictures to go along with the boast so I figured I may as well!

Three cheers for good husbands!

The Frosting

I read an...interesting book called "Mutant Message Down Under." The book is about the Aborigine people. One part said the Aborigines think it's funny Americans have things like frosting and gravy. They're eccentric things that they view as completely unnecessary.

Well Aborigines, I have to disagree with you. I have spent the last week frivolously frosting my house and now it's finally starting to feel like home. The frosting is the sweetest part! The gravy leaves you satisfied. Unnecessary? Maybe. But what's life without a little eccentricity?

Here's the frosted kitchen:

 The family who lived in the house before us left these cute flowers for us. It was so sweet of them to think of us and it really brightened up our house before we got our decorations up.

 I love this bathroom. I still need to put something above the toilet, but I love the lemon decoration on the counter. We are probably going to paint the walls really light yellow in here eventually.

Back to the kitchen. These are not done. Especially not the top shelf. This has been more of a picture storage area until I figure out where to put everything. The bottom shelf is somewhat done. I've been having a hard time finding skinny things that will work on those shelves. I'll take suggestions.

 This is in our living room. Our living room is going to be purple, green, black and tan.

Finally, Eli's dino room! This is actually funny. I know there are a ton of people who love doing their own thing. They love to be original. I'm not really like that. I don't mind using other people's good ideas. Especially when it comes to decorating. I'm quite an amateur.

I made that dinosaur blanket for Eli and fell in love with a dino theme. I looked and looked for decorations online with no luck. Then I googled dinosaur nurseries and kid rooms and I struck out again! Could I really have unintentionally been original? Dang. That left me fending for myself on everything. Eli's room is doomed to be completely homemade and decorated by yours truly. This is what we have so far:

Here's another funny story -- Eli LOVES toilets. He crawls straight into the bathroom and climbs all over the toilet. Maybe he's destined to be a plumber? 

Whew

We survived moving day.

It was so unreal to walk into the house knowing it was ours. Eli made himself right at home.

 Before long David and Mary showed up with all our stuff.

Then my extended family came to help out. 

 ...and have a little fun along the way.

Mary and Kaelynn were so nice to entertain Eli in the midst of all the chaos. 

 After only 45 minutes and a few minor injuries we were all moved in and the movers were enjoying their well deserved treats.

 First family picture with our new house!

 Our real estate agent gave us sparkling cider. We took a break from our work to celebrate with it.

 We couldn't put anything in the kitchen because we had some people coming over to clean the whole kitchen for us. Box after box piled up in our living room leaving us with a huge pile of clutter. As boxes were slowly disappearing I thought it might motivate me to take pictures of my progress. This one is right after we moved in:

 Here's Saturday night:

 Sunday afternoon:

 Monday morning:

All the boxes are unpacked if you can believe it. I've been running around like a crazy person trying to get everything organized. I hope to have it mostly put together by the end of this week. I'll keep you posted on my goal.