31?!

Yep, it's another baby photo...but this time it's not Abby or Eli. That's actually me - 31 years ago today! Crazy, huh?

Meet the family

Abby recently got the chance to meet some of her extended family.

First, Great Grandma (Ryan's paternal grandmother) visited from Montana. Eli is always excited to see Great Grandma; he likes hearing about her train ride to get to us and always requests that Great Grandma make him her special cinnamon rolls - a request she is happy to oblige!

Next came Grandpa Roger (Cheryl's dad) from California. We had a good time showing Grandpa Roger our favorite things to do around here, and he had a great time visiting his grandkids. The last day of his visit we had lunch with even more extended family...Ganny (Cheryl's paternal grandmother), Ganny's two sisters, and Grandpa Roger's sister, Debbie (one of our two Aunt Debbies!).

Thank you for the visits!

Two months!?

It's hard to believe our little girl is two months old today! It has been a wonderful, crazy, exhausting, exciting two months to say the least. We are so blessed by this little girl. Eli is still totally enamored with his sister; actually, I believe all three of us fall more in love with her every day! I told Ryan today that I am so enamored with our daughter that I actually get butterflies in my stomach when I look at her...how crazy and wonderful is that?! Anyway, here are some photos of our darling daughter at two months...Needless to say we are thoroughly enjoying her beautiful smiles. She is doing lots of smiling these days, and not just at Eli anymore. She and her big brother can both light up a room with their grins! Just for fun, here's a photo of Eli at two months...

And one of him today...

Yes, he is indeed wearing Crocs and socks...and no pants! That's my boy! :)

By the way, we have a HUGE praise to share. We went in for Eli's annual cardiology check-up on Wednesday, and the news couldn't have been better...the cardiologist said his heart sounds perfect - he didn't even feel the need to do another ecchocardiogram because the hole is obviously now just a pin-point, if that! He even said that he doesn't need to see Eli anymore! Dr. Stamm also listened to Abby's heart just as a precaution and said that hers sounds great, too. Praise God for this incredible news - we are so grateful!!

Mommy brain

You've all heard me talk about my brain power diminishing with pregnancy, and then continuing its downward spiral post-partum. Well, my dear husband and son have now both confirmed the serious lack of ability now being exhibited by my brain...

Case study #1: A few weeks ago after I finally got both kids fed, dressed, and into the van and headed down the driveway (an hour late for our scheduled activity), Eli says, "Mama, I saw Zoe!" Sure enough, I had forgotten to let Zoe back in after she went out to pee in the morning and was driving away with our dog in the driveway and the front door wide open! Jeesh!

Case Study #2: Upon coming home from work yesterday, Ryan said "I can tell you have too much on your plate right now because when I left for work this morning both the garage door and the back of the van were wide open!" Oh my! Fortunately my dear husband followed this up with "You're trying to do too much, you need to rely on me more." Thank you honey!!

Let's hope in time my mind will return to full functionality! :)

Happy Father's Day!

God has truly blessed us with an amazing man...Happy Father's Day, Ryan!

Thank you for being such a wonderful dad and husband. We love you dearly, and I thank God for you daily! We are so grateful for the wonderful husband and father that you are, and for all the work that you do to care for and support your family. We love you!

We also want to say thank you and Happy Father's Day to the other dads, grandpas, uncles, and other important men in our lives, some of whom are still with us, and some who are watching over us from above. Happy Father's Day to all of you!

Look alikes

Our sleepy little thinkers...

Eli 5/24/06 Abby 5/29/09
Funny that these were taken three years apart, almost to the day! It's also funny that I really didn't think the two of them looked that much alike until I looked at these two photos...can you believe how much they look alike?

Firsts

Needless to say, I'm having SO much fun dressing my precious little girl. We attended a good friend's birthday party recently, and Abby got all gussied up in her first dress - SO cute!!

Believe it or not, our dear son still has firsts every now and then... I've been a bit neurotic about waiting to introduce peanuts to Eli's diet because there's such a high incidence of peanut allergies in children. Eli's pediatrician recommended waiting until age three, and since I'm such a rule-follower, we waited. A few days after Eli turned three, he got his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Eli was pretty excited to eat his "big boy sandwich" - but he hasn't touched the stuff since! :)

Sibling time

One of my favorite things about our days is Eli and Abby's morning (or sometimes post-nap) sibling time - or as Eli calls it, his "Abby time." If Abby's awake when Eli wakes up, I take her with me into his room and lay her on the bed beside him. Then I just sit nearby and enjoy the love...it is such a blessing to watch the two of them together. Eli just adores his baby sister; he sings her songs, has conversations with her (Eli speaks for both of them!), "teaches" her things, and gives her lots of kisses. Abby, believe it or not, already responds to him so positively...in fact, she gave her first responsive smile a few days ago - to none other than her big brother! It's so amazing to us that they already have such a special bond despite her being so young. It's going to be such a fun blessing for us to watch this relationship grow as they grow.

Eli rides!

Those who've been regular followers of our blog (or just know our dear son well) will remember that while Eli is a big fan of coin-operated rides, he has never wanted us to actually put the coin in to make them go! (Check out this cute little guy - what a blast from the past!) He has always wanted to ride them as long as they don't move... Well, that finally changed! During a recent shopping trip with Nana, Eli finally decided that he wanted to go for an actual ride on the merry-go-round. He had a great time! Hopefully this doesn't mean a perpetually empty coin purse for me! :)

I'm back!

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I've posted! I'm definitely still learning how to mother two children (one of whom is attached to me every two hours!) and still manage to maintain a home - needless to say, blogging has moved waaay down the "to do" list! We're getting better at getting out of the house...I've improved from being two hours late to things to only half an hour late! :) My blog posts, however, are much later... On May 15th (I know!) we took the kiddos to Snoqualmie Falls. Despite its proximity to us, this is the first time we've taken Eli...mostly just because we didn't think he'd be very interested at an earlier age. He was definitely impressed with the big waterfall!
Though, truth be told, he was probably much more impressed with the big trucks!
Abby wasn't particularly interested in either!