Abby is 8 months old!

Abby had a wonderful first Christmas, despite still being pretty sick, and we had a lot of fun celebrating with her. It was like a double Christmas for Eli because he's having fun playing with all of his new toys and Abby's! Today our little girl is eight months old. She is such a joy; full of smiles and gigles. She loves to play, especially with all of her new toys - thank you wonderful family! - adores her brother, is getting better at sleeping, and is finally starting to crawl (just a few inches at a time) after working SO hard to develop this new skill. Her other new skill is pulling up on the side of her crib; Ryan spent part of Christmas day lowering her mattress to its lowest setting. She is becoming increasingly more vocal, experiments with volume often, and has actually started signing "more" (as of Christmas eve)! She clearly understands several other signs and words, especially those related to eating! She is incredibly active, constantly on the go! Here are a few photos from her first Christmas...

And remember what happened a year ago today? Check it out here...and a year ago tomorrow here. Such an amazing blessing!! Thank you, God, for our precious Abby Lila!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Our Christmas Letter

Every year I write a Christmas letter to send with our Christmas card, but we've always sent it just to family and distant friends. This year I've had several local friends remark that they would like to have received the letter as well. So, since it's too include it in everyone's cards, I thought I'd just go ahead and post it...but you blog readers have the advantage of an updated version! :)
And in case you didn't receive our Christmas card (sorry!), here you go...

Another year, another letter! As I write this I’m recalling a recent conversation in which a friend of mine was complaining about annoying Christmas letters…for her sake I’m going to try to be succinct, grammatically correct, and interesting – all the while avoiding common clichés like “Can you believe it’s been a whole year?” I hope you’ll enjoy our annual update. :)

As always, the Lord has blessed us richly this year. We are so very grateful for the myriad ways in which He provides for us, grows us, and brings us great joy day by day. Christmas time is made all the richer by the fact that it is the celebration of Christ’s birth (and inherently therein, His death and resurrection, and therefore our salvation), the manifestation of God’s unmatched and indescribable love for us – and for you! We hope and pray that each of you experiences the joy that we have in Him. The love God has for us is so complete, so fulfilling, and so permeates every aspect of daily life, that it is truly our deepest hope that we will share an eternity in His presence with each of you. Please know that we pray for you – yes, each of you, even though this is a group letter – and ask the Lord to bless you and draw you near Him in the coming year. We love you, but He loves you more!

One of the many ways in which God has blessed us and grown us this year is through our involvement in The Downtown Church. We mentioned in last year’s letter that we had committed to being part of this church plant (a daughter church of Crossroads Bible Church, where we had been members since just after we were married) in downtown Bellevue. Our new church has already seen growth, and we have been part of some exciting outreach opportunities. Twice during the summer we held our service in local parks, and it was such a blessing to be able to witness in that way. Not only were we able to worship God in the midst of His gorgeous creation, but we were also able to show our neighbors that church is not a building, it is a family in celebration. We also held a service project in The Downtown Park during which we packaged several thousand meals for hungry children in Africa. It brought us great joy (and undoubtedly brought the Lord greater joy) to see random park-goers join us in serving those less fortunate than ourselves. We are looking forward with great anticipation to our next act of service; in just one week we’ll be visiting 500 homes in downtown Bellevue to carol, deliver gifts, and share the love of Jesus. [This was a wonderful experience despite the freezing temperatures!] We’ve also been blessed to become part of the teaching team for the Pre-K class (Eli’s class). We rotate with two other couples, teaching for one month followed by two months of rest. There is both fun and growth in teaching three to five-year-olds God’s Word!

Not much has changed this year in terms of what Ryan and Cheryl do with their time. Ryan continues to teach, coach, and work toward his Health/Fitness endorsement – which is nearly
complete. Cheryl adores being a SAHM for our two wonderful children and is still involved in MOPS, playgroup, and small group.

Eli, on the other hand, sure has grown and changed in the past year! Truly, it seemed that the day we brought Abby home from the hospital, Eli was a changed man. :) Eli adores his sister, and our hearts are continually warmed by the growing relationship they have with each other. They are, undoubtedly, each other’s favorite people; each of them lights up whenever the other enters the room! Eli is a great helper, and increasingly wants to do things on his own. He attends a small co-op preschool on Fridays with some other families from church, and it has been a great experience for him. He loves to learn, and does it quickly! Eli can write his name and most of the alphabet, and knows all of his letters and numbers by sight. He can count to at least 29 and is actually starting to do simple arithmatic (adding, etc.). He loves to sing, do tricks, use silly voices and pretend (he is a different animal every single day!), and is still head-over-heels for Thomas the Train! Eli is also enjoying participating in sports and art classes at the Issaquah Community Center.

Our little Abigail is growing by leaps and bounds, too! As I write this she is nearing her eighth month and looks like she’ll be crawling by the time you read this. [She's not yet, but she is definitely mobile!] She has two bottom teeth and the first top tooth is about to break through, [it has, and she's now cutting a fourth] and she has a bright, beautiful smile to show them off. She loves fruit, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal. Abby is a very happy and social baby – no sign yet of separation anxiety (I’m going to regret writing that!). [Yes, I do regret writing that!] Her very favorite thing to do is jump or bounce, and she gets some serious air in her Jumperoo! She loves to play, especially with Eli’s toys, and wants to be kept entertained. She loves to laugh, and is one of the most giggly babies we've ever known!

We are so blessed by these two amazing children! It never ceases to amaze us how your love for your kids just continues to grow and grow, as does the joy and laughter they bring.

We hope this letter has found you well and enjoying a happy holiday season. Please do let us
know how you’re doing! You can keep up with us on our blog: www.theeliandabbyshow.blogspot.com.

Merry Christmas and God bless you!
Ryan, Cheryl, Eli, Abby, and Zoe

Dedicated!

We were blessed to have Ryan's mom, dad, and grandma join us at The Dowtown Church yesterday morning for Abby's dedication. Our church doesn't practice infant baptism, but instead particpates in the practice of dedicating our children to the Lord. It's basically a time of prayer and blessing over the child and a promise made by the child's family and church family to raise her up in the knowledge and love of the Lord. Abby and Eli got to wear their "fancy clothes" as Eli calls them, and Abby actually let Pastor Jayson hold her for a few minutes before the separation anxiety kicked in! :) It was truly a blessing to our family...and I do have to point out our little Mr. Cool standing there with his hands in his pockets. :)

And, just for fun, a few photos from Eli's dedication three years ago (11/12/06) at Crossroads' Bible Church...

Christmas wishes

Can't you just hear Abby saying, "You want what?? You can't be serious!"

Photos

I thought I'd share some of my favorite recent photos of my kids...

I am amazed and thrilled by the special relationship they already have....so much love!

And some serious puppy love, too!
Finally, Abby and I all bundled up together for our church service project (we went caroling and delivered gifts to several neighborhoods in downtown Bellevue). It was literally freezing...fortunately my coat was just (barely) big enough for both of us! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all enjoyed a happy, healthy, and blessed Thanksgiving day! Our family had a wonderful day together. Eli and I made my G-Ma's cranberry bread and zucchini bread in the morning while watching the parade. I really enjoyed the mommy/son time, especially while continuing two traditions I loved so much as a child. Ryan spent the morning playing football with some buddies and still can't move! :) Mid-afternoon we headed to Uncle Larry and Aunt Marishka's new house to enjoy a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner and great company. Eli really hit it off with Marishka's six-year-old nephew, and the two of them and Zoe made quite a (crazy) trio! We didn't give Abby any turkey, but she did enjoy her first lefse. What is lefse, you ask? A beloved Norwegian tradition, lefse is a thin potato pancake often eaten rolled up with butter and sugar. It's a yummy treat that Ryan's mom makes every year, and that we all always look forward to. Abby didn't get to experience it with butter and sugar, but the plain lefse seemed to be a big hit! Abby also turned seven months old yesterday! We still can't believe how quickly she's growing up. Today when I got her up from her nap I found her up on her hands and knees - yikes! She is such a joy! Anyway, back to Thanksgiving...Eli enjoyed his Thanksgiving dinner looking awfully handsome in his holiday best! He couldn't get enough of the turkey! He pulled up a chair at the counter to watch Uncle Larry carve the bird, and Uncle Larry could hardly keep the platter full as Eli was sampling. :) At one point he grabbed a little piece off the serving platter in front of him and said, "Look Mama, I found more turkey!" Such a funny little guy! The boys also enjoyed a nice post-feast story time with Uncle Larry. One of my favorite family traditions is going around the table and sharing what we're thankful for this year. Marishka limited each of us to just one thing this year for the sake of getting through all the gratitude before the food got cold! :) While I have SO much for which to be grateful - seriously, I feel so blessed in so many ways - one of the things I am most thankful for at this stage of my life is the privelege and blessing of being a stay-at-home mom. I am so grateful for the precious time with my amazing children, and so grateful to Ryan for working hard to make it possible. Of course, the ultimate thanks goes to God for His provision and for placing this desire in my heart. The Lord is good to me!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Syrup...

We're one of those families who enjoy having breakfast for dinner sometimes. So tonight when Eli asked for waffles for dinner, I was happy to oblige. Little did I know I was in for an adventure! Abby fell apart halfway through dinner after skipping her afternoon nap, so I left Eli alone at the table for a few minutes while I put her to bed (Ryan was at basketball). I returned to find this: I'm hoping you can really see the details in the photo...an empty syrup bottle (that was nearly full when I left) and three huge puddles of syrup. It was one of those moments when you see the situation in front of you and you're just stuck, like "how do I even approach this?" Let me tell you, cleaning up that much syrup is not an easy task! Needless to say, Eli will not be left alone with the syrup anymore. Ah, the adventures of motherhood!

Trick or Treat!

Thomas and Ladybug wish you all a very happy and safe Halloween!

Pumpkin Parties

We've had a very busy week; in addition to all of our regular activities, the kids and I hosted two Pumpkin Parties (Halloween parties sans scary stuff). Ironically, neither of my kids actually wore their costumes for our costume parties! Abby did, however, look very cute in her first pair of jeans, her "Got Candy?" t-shirt, and the pumpkin hat we borrowed from some friends.We had festive decorations and snacks (including my yummy pumpkin spice cake), coloring, cookie decorating, and story time (okay, so I planned on having story time and reading The Pumpkin Patch Parable, but there was no way we were going to get either group of kiddos to sit still for a story!). A couple of friends even stayed for lunch: pumpkin shaped grilled cheese sandwiches! One friend remarked: "Wow, you must really love Halloween!" Actually, I just really love having a home that's so great for hosting get-togethers like this!

What we've been up to...

In addition to what you've read the past couple of days, we've been enjoying some other fun fall activities. Eli is loving the Sports Sampler at the Issaquah Parks & Rec. They have this great program that introduces kids to the basics of soccer, tee ball, and basketball over the course of nine weeks. I don't know who has been having more fun; Eli participating, or me watching! It is so cute watching a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds run around playing sports that they hardly know how to play! :) Here are some soccer highlights...
Eli's other new activity is preschool one day each week. We are so blessed to be involved in a great little home-based co-op with some other families from our current church and our former church. The kids are learning letters using an awesome curriculum called Handwriting Without Tears. They also have a scripture memory verse each week, songs and stories, and usually some sort of craft or art project. Eli loves it, and excitedly tells all about what he did at school each Friday.

Both of these activities are lots of fun for Eli, and have also been great growth experiences. These are really the first two activities that he has done on his own, without Ryan or me being directly involved. I think this has challenged Eli, but he has risen to the challenge, and is thriving in both environments. As usual, our little boy continues to impress us and make us so proud. Even better than that, he is making himself proud as well!

Pumpkins and sweet potatoes

Sunday evening was a big night at our house...First, we had some freshly picked pumpkins to carve. Eli was really excited about this, so we actually let him do some carving this year. Technically I did the carving (I carved with a realy knife, then gave Eli the kid-safe pumpkin carving knife), but it made the activity really fun and easy for Eli. (Not that this face he's making looks like it's easy!) He also had a great time scooping out the seeds. The other big part of our evening was Abby's first solid food! I baked some organic sweet potatoes, mashed them, and mixed them with milk. Abby looked ready...

But wasn't super excited about that first bite (or the second, third, etc.)...After awhile, though, it grew on her!And before long she was eating happily

and wanting more!

It was a fun evening for our family!

Pumpkin Patch

We made our second annual visit to Fall City Farms on Sunday. We like this particular pumpkin patch (there are actually quite a few nearby, we feel so blessed to be able to take our kids to a realy pumpkin patch instead of a grocery store parking lot) because in addition to the patch, this farm has animals, a hay maze, tractor-pulled hay rides, fresh apple juice, fresh doughnuts, and - Eli's personal favorite - a sandbox stocked with tractors! Our first order of business was the search for the perfect pumpkin...

...which ended very quickly because Eli really wanted to get back to the sand box! :) He chose almost the first pumpkin he saw! It was a fun day!

Abby is six months old!

Believe it or not (we certainly can't believe it), Abby is six months old today! My how times flies. This has been a big month for our little girl with lots of firsts; her first plane ride (more on that in a later post), first visit to the beach, first tooth(!), and first food. She also met her cousin Lucas, Aunt Elizabeth, and Uncle Jeremy, started sitting up, and learned that she can actually get places by rolling! Needless to say, we're all having a great time together. She is still a very happy, friendly baby...though she was not at all happy about getting that first tooth! Her very favorite thing to do is jump in her jumperoo, and Eli is definitely still her favorite person to see! We are all so blessed by this precious little girl. At her six month well-check today she measured 27.5" (95%) and 17.5 lbs. (75-90%); she is exactly the height Eli was at this age, and a pound lighter. Here are some favorites from her six month portraits...

Blogpalooza!

Okay people, I know I've been a total slacker for the past month (and then some)...in my defense, I do have a three and half year old who never stops asking "why" and a six month old who never sleeps...but, I digress. :) Anyway, to make up for it, I'm about to go blog-crazy and post daily for the next week or so in a desperate attempt to catch up before the holiday madness sets in. So, prepare for Eli and Abby overload! To start us off, here is a cute photo of the kiddos, and one of the sweet pup who is sadly neglected on this blog...