Is There Anything Cuter Than a Baby Penguin?

Today is Eli's 5-month birthday! I thought such an occasion would be perfect for me to do my favorite thing with pictures of him -- make a GQ Baby magazine cover. My photo editing skills have improved since my last attempt. And yes. I do have a lot of free time lately.

Motherhood Mythbusters

Women tend to hear things about having children. Here are some of the common things I heard while I was pregnant (and sometimes even before) and whether I have found them to be truth or myth.

1) You will think your baby is the cutest of all the babies.
Well, this is tricky because I have the cutest baby, so I wouldn't know any different.

2) Your hair will fall out in clumps after having a baby.
Every morning after I get out of the shower I sing this line from Enchanted, "Pluck a hairball from the shower drain." Our bathroom, carpets, clothes, sometimes food and always Eli are now masked beneath a layer of blonde hair. No myth here.

3) You will be busy.
Even if someone asks me what I did all week and I can't think of one thing to tell them, I still feel busy. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, oh yeah and taking care of a baby can be surprisingly time consuming. Truth.

4) Babies are resilient.
Eli may or may not have fallen out of his baby swing this week due to an irresponsible mother. It's a good thing this is true!

5) You will love your baby more than you could ever imagine.
Jeff and I are frequently in Eli's room staring at him while he sleeps or giggling at him when he's awake. We think he's the coolest. This is definitely true.

So I guess what all those mothers told me weren't old wives' tales after all.

Houston, We Found an Alien.

The three happiest moments of Jeff's married life include: 1) getting married, 2) meeting Eli and 3) dressing up as an astronaut for Halloween. I had never seen Jeff quite as giddy as he was the night before the Excell Halloween Party assembling NASA badges, designing with duct tape and parading around the house in full costume.

We had fun at the Excell Halloween Party. Mary had the house all spooked out. The night included the usual Halloween festivities of Bingo, cake walk and fish pond. Eli LOVED his first Halloween!

(This is Tana's brother and his wife. They were Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf. Impressive!)

Happy Halloween!

Stories of Jeff Excell - Top 3

I distinctly remember being in my car with Kenz in the library parking lot when this story of Jeff Excell unfolded. Somehow Jeff's name had casually slipped its way into our conversation like it always did.

I started thinking about Jeff. I had recently met his younger brother, Bryan, at church. When I tried to pry Bryan for dirt on Jeff by asking him to tell me all the horror stories of their childhood (expecting something similar to my childhood full of headless Barbie dolls, slender fingers constantly making me aware of my chubby ones, and endless name calling), Bryan said, "Jeff is the nicest brother I could ever ask for. He actually let me borrow this sweater today."

Unheard of! I continued to pry, but Bryan could not think of one bad memory of his older brother. Wow.

I thought of how he was always at all three hours of church, and how he seemed to get a kick out of me and my roommates. I remembered how he made the library a new adventure every day and always made studying fun.

Suddenly these words escaped my mouth, "You know, Jeff Excell is probably one of my top ten favorite people... No, he's probably top five... Actually, I would say he'd even make the top three." Kenz laughed and agreed. Jeff Excell was (and is) such a kind, fun, overall great guy.

The rest of the way home I remember thinking, If Jeff Excell is one of my "top three," why do I not like him as more than just a friend?

And that is the pivotal moment when I realized I was in fact starting to like Jeff Excell as more than just a friend.

What Happened in Vegas

I just got back from the Excell Girly Girl Weekend in Vegas. It was so much fun! Here we are leaving Friday morning:

Eli has been a little crabby over the last week. He's been funny about going down for his naps. By funny I mean he screams about 30 minutes before he falls asleep. I was nervous Eli would scream the majority of the trip. I was happy to see a happy baby (basically) the whole way to Vegas.

 We met up with Laura and took a tour bus to The Strip.

 Look what we have here -- a quiet, peaceful baby!

 We HAD to go to The Cheesecake Factory. Nothing says girls' weekend like delicious desserts. (Who's that sleeping all through lunch?)

As Eli began rustling towards the end of lunch, I started gathering everything for a speedy exit. Instead of screaming and throwing a fit, he woke up happy to be in Vegas with the girls.

Shopping without a husband to drag around? Sign me up! The last time I had been to a mall was for maternity clothes a year ago. I was so thrilled to be in a mall again.

 Oh, hi Eli. I barely noticed you there because you were being so good.

We soaked our shopped-out muscles in the hot tub. The pool was gigantic, and we had it all to ourselves the whole hour we were there.

We made matching t-shirts at the end of the night.

Then things got weird. But what else would you expect at 1:00 in the morning during a grown-up sleepover?

 After some indecision on where to go for breakfast/lunch on Saturday, I spotted one of my most favorite places to eat. It did not disappoint.

 Eli was hungry but politely let me finish my sandwich.

 Then we went shopping yet again. Dream come true! Tana and Laura got pedicures. It wouldn't be a girls' weekend without painted toenails.

 More dessert? You betcha!

It was a fun, relaxing weekend we all needed.

 And Eli was an absolute angel the whole time! I love this new tradition.