Multitude Monday

So at times I have participated in MckMama's Not Me! Monday blog carnvial. And while I love it, sometimes its a challenge to come up with stuff EVERY week. My friend Andrea has started doing this "Multitude Monday" and I love the concept of it. This phase of life, for us, is challenging. We are tired and overwhelmed as we spend our days raising these two very little boys, juggling Dan's school and work (and recently my school too), and trying to keep our marriage thriving. Not to mention time with friends and also dedicated quiet time with the Lord. WOW!! In the midst of this phase of life, it is easy to get bogged down in thinking about what we don't have, what we wish was that isn't. So what better way to combat a complaining heart than to list what we're thankful for?

1. my husband. seriously...how blessed am I? he's handsome, caring, affectionate, Christ-like, dedicated.

2. my family- original five and extended. my mom, my dad, my brothers, my sister-in-law, Dan's family, Steph, etc. in this particular season of our life, i find myself constantly praising God for my dad's extended life as we came VERY close to losing him this summer.



(Steph may kill me for putting this pic on the blog. Love you Steph!!)



3. the opportunity to be furthering my education. right now its just online classes to complete pre-reqs but I'm thankful to be working on it right now.

4. the opportunity to watch my sweet ones grow. today they are healthy, happy, and a total delight, even when they try our patience!!

nakey boy!!!

Dan took this pic with his phone the other night. Too cute not to post!!!

National Miscarriage and Infant Loss Day

Today is October 15th, Miscarriage and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. We lost our sweet first baby at 8 weeks pregnant back in May of 2005. To read my thoughts on this whole thing you can go here. But just wanted to take a moment to remember all of the babies people have lost. Miscarriage has touched people near and dear to us this year and we have grieved with them. To see a great post about this day check out my friend Andrea's blog here.

I pray that all who have to walk the painful road of losing a baby (early on or in infancy) will know the great comfort that HE alone can give.

excitement!!

So we are super excited lately cause Oma and Opa (a.k.a. Dan's parents) bought a new house!!! They just closed last week and will be moving in over the next month or so. We are so happy for them! On Sunday, some people from their church came over to pray over the house and dedicate it and Dan and Jayden got to join them. Apparently Jayden had a great time running all over and exploring outside (Eli and I stayed home as I wasn't feeling super hot).

Dan got this shot of him in one of the (almost) empty kitchen cupboards. Pardon the not so great quality. It was taken with his phone.

15 months!

Eli turned 15 months old yesterday. Its hard to believe he is 1/4 of the way through his 2nd year of life. Oh this boy is just SCRUMPTIOUS, and such a delight to be around. What's he up to these days?

*He is walking like crazy now, and attempting running but normally just trips himself up and falls.
*He is a champion of baby signs, and will sign "more", "all done", and "eat." (note all signs are in reference to eating..)
*He LOVES to eat and has the fat rolls to prove it. We pump him full of healthy food, though, so we're not too worried. His favorites are graham crackers, bananas, black beans, corn, and pb&j.
*He says a few words. Among his faves are: "banana" (which he actually says completely clearly), ball, "outside" (oh-wa-wa), mama, dada, Jayden, "da" (seems to be yes), "ta-too" (thank you), and "dee-dee" (kitty). He also has a noise that he does for dogs, which we think is him trying to bark.
*He is wearing a combination of 12 and 18 month clothing. He is kind of short so a lot of the 18 month stuff is too long. But the 12 month stuff is getting too tight across his big belly! Hee hee.
*As of yesterday, he now has six teeth!!
*He is still taking two naps and sleeping 12 hours at night. I thought last week he was starting to drop his morning nap but the past few days he's been taking it and sleeping an hour and a half without a problem. So, who knows!!

In general, Eli is a mellow happy kid. He is pretty unfazed by most things and content most of the time. If you make him mad, though, he is MAD!!! He loves his brother and follows him all over the house. He is still a Mama's boy but also can be found having Daddy days where all he wants is Daddy. He is quite fearless and we think will be climbing glaciers with Uncle Sam in just a few short months. Hee hee. But he does seem to be a daredevil and isn't afraid of much. He is obsessed with Bob from Veggie Tales and loves his sippy cup. He seems to be a typical boy as he loves to play in the dirt. All in all, he is completely different from Jayden and such an adventure to raise. His sweetness, though, fills our life with joy and his laugh is one of our favorite things.

We love you, sweet Eli boy!! Happy 15 months!


Playing in Mommy's new UGG boots.

falling down on the job....

Dan looked up at me today and said, "Honey, I'm going to have to start blogging soon..." after checking in on our blog to find it STILL not updated. Wow, I have been so lame these days with it! I'm sorry!!

We're alive! We've had a rough run of sickness in our house the past few weeks. I had the flu and Jayden got it too. Jayden tends to get every sickness in the form of a nasty cough that can easily send him into respiratory distress. So off to the doctor we went and, of course, it was breathing treatment time for our little guy again. He does so well with his treatments, though, and sits so still (doesn't hurt that we put on Veggie Tales or Mr. Rogers for him to watch!). So just as Jayden and I were feeling better, Dan got SUPER sick with strep throat and spent four days in bed. This last week we've been pretty healthy but then today I woke up with a cold. Ah, such is life with two little ones and lots of people in the house.

We're keeping busy busy busy though. Dan is swamped with school, work, interning, etc. The boys are growing like weeds. Eli toddles around all day making us laugh with his silly antics. He amazes us with his intelligence and mellow nature (more to come on him in his 15 month post). Jayden is...well, he's 2! This means he is delightful one moment and a terror the next. He is quite the little musician already. He can play the harmonica, dance in complete rhythm with a song, clap in time, sing on tune, and has even started making up his own songs. We're signing him up for music classes SOON, let's just say that! Jayden also LOVES his brother but also can be not so nice to him. So we're staying busy making sure Eli lives to see his 2nd birthday and playing referee a lot. This is probably one of the big reasons I have slacked on updating the blog!

And what I have been up to? Well, its the life of a mom- changing diapers, making meals, laundry, cleaning, hugging, kissing, playing, laughing...and, oh that's right, being completely exhausted! But, actually, I am very blessed to have my mom and Stephanie on hand to help when needed, whether that comes in the form of keeping an ear out for Eli during his nap so I can take Jayden out for some Mommy/Jayden time, keeping an ear out for both boys during afternoon naps so I can go workout, or sometimes even watching both boys so I can get a much needed break.

So to end this update post, I shall leave you with an example of Jayden "loving" his brother (note Grandma's hand of guidance!).