One Years Old

 I can't believe he's one already! He looks like such a little man with his tie on. 

 These moments don't last long at all; sometimes I just want to freeze time! I'll have to settle for memories and photos to capture these treasured little toes and chubby cheeks. 

Ten Months Old

 He's getting pretty wiggly. 

 I love those neck rolls...

I know it's mean of me to post this photo but it's just so funny to see the faces he can make when he's "working" on something smelly.

Here's his sister at ten months old. 

Nine Months Old

 Happy, happy, happy.

 Just look at those teeth! He's up to six now, and they're sharp!

 Look who found his toes. 

Abigail at nine months.

Hungry Horse Campground

 We camped at Hungry Horse and on the Fourth of July they had a great truck parade! Lots of cool trucks and tractors... and candy!

 We had to cover Elijah's ears when the firetrucks came by. He loved watching the parade though; both kids watched the entire two hours!

 We also spent a lot of time at the pool. They have a "normal" pool and a really nice kiddy pool. 

Eight Months Old

Abigail at 8 months.

Elijah's Tree

 We planted a tree for Elijah just like Abigail's. His is much bigger to start with and it's a Sunset Maple, not a "General Lee" White Oak like hers. 

Half a Year Ago...

...I was sitting in the grass right here planting my daffodil bulbs. It was sunny and beautiful. I could barely bend over so I sat and planted sideways. :) Abigail played with her bike in the driveway and Derek worked in the garage.  When I finished it was almost suppertime but I chose to sit in a lawn chair and lazily enjoy the afternoon on a rare late October day. Contractions started and I let them come for about an hour before I really knew this was it. We decided we better get Abbi fed and arrange to just have to her sleep at my brother's house for the night. We hung around at home for awhile and went to the hospital at 11pm. This little guy was born at 2am: 

 He's never seen or touched grass before so I won't be able to get him to look up. But I just want to capture a photo of him in front of "his daffodils" while they're in full bloom. 

These two bring so much joy to our home.

 I never saw it coming but it hit me like a train. Love. 

 I'm so glad these two will have each other to lean on, pick on, laugh with, cry with, and love for the rest of their lives. You're going to be bigger than her one day, Elijah, but she'll always be older than you. :) 

Three Months Old

Dear Elijah,

You are three months old already and such a cutie. Oh, I love those chubby cheeks and thighs. You're a mama's boy right now and I love the snuggles. You fuss and fuss for everyone else and then as soon I get you you're fine. The only time you really cry for me is when you're really mad about our nursing time being over or when you're sleepy. Then it just talks a few minutes of snuggles and you're asleep.

You sleep pretty good. We can have you to bed between 9:30 and 10pm at night. You'll sleep in 3-4 hour slots. Sometimes you'll skip that late evening one and go 6 hours between feedings so we try and get you to bed as soon as Abigail is down and then we "run" to bed too.

You eat great! (Mama's Milk) You eat roughly at: 6:30am, 9:30/10am, 12:30/1pm, 4:30pm, 7:30/8pm, (11pm or skip it), and sometime between 1am and 3am. You'll skip the 11pm feeding sometime. If I try to feed you at 11pm in hopes that you'll skip the 1-3am feeding it never works. You must like that middle of the night snack.

You smile for me all the time and even laugh out loud! You started trying to "talk" as well, it's really cute to hear the "ahh" come from your mouth and then you kick and swing your arms all excited! You love to watch Abbi and other kids as well. You'll holler if you're left alone and can't watch people. 

You try to "kiss" when I pick you up and kiss you. When I go to give you a kiss you open your mouth and eyes really big.You hold your hands together and suck your hands and fingers more now. You kinda notice/watch tv when it is on which is funny (or if you're on my lab and I'm on the computer... as long as the screen is changing often enough to get her attention).

You wear 6 month clothes right now and shoes sizes 1-2. You're in size 2 diapers.

You weigh 15 pounds.

Here is your sister at three months old. 

Love,
Mommy

Two Months Old

Dear Elijah,

You are two months old! I think we're still learning our way around as a family of four.

You get fussy  between 7pm and 11pm so we usually walk with you or work around the house with you in the Bjorn. You sleep on and off throughout the day. You sleep on your back swaddled up and sometimes on your tummy with your arms free.

You eat great! Every 3-4 hours, you never miss a meal.

You smile at us all the time now. I love it!!!

You wear 3 month clothes but they're tight so in a few days I may switch you to 6 month clothes. Your feet are a size 1. We just switched you to size 2 diapers. You weigh 13 lbs, 3 oz (61st percentile) and are 23.25 inches tall (51st percentile). Your head is in the 84th percentile.

Here is your sister at two months old.

Love,
Mommy

Elijah's Baptism

There were so many photos from Elijah's baptism on December 9 that it was hard to choose so I'm just going to let you look at the photos without any explanation!

 Ok, actually this photo above needs some explanation. We had all the chairs and tables set up around the house. It was going to be a full house since it was too chilly to be outside like at Abigail's baptism. With all those chairs set up Abbi thought it looked like a great place to put all her stuffed animals so that they could attend the party as well.

 Elijah wore his Daddy's baptism outfit and it fit great. It's a good thing we did his baptism right away though or he'd have grown too big for the outfit!