Eli at 9 Months!

Nine months . . . already? It seems like just yesterday we were meeting this sweet boy for the first time. Everyone tells us how HUGE he is for his age, and he IS our biggest baby! Starting out at a humble weight, he has grown much more quickly than the girls. At his 9 month check-up he was almost 21 pounds. Neither Emily nor Megan hit the 20 pound mark until they were 2 years old. But, he is also taller than they were at this age. His healthy appetite is a culprit for his great growth. Among his favorite foods are yogurt, pears and peaches, pizza, macaroni, green beans, spaghetti, cheese, and -- his favorite, by far -- ice cream!!!! 

Eli is also our most active baby. He gets where he wants to go, and chases the girls wherever they go. Among his favorite activities are baths (actually, any activity that includes water), taking walks, pounding on the piano and walking. And, big news -- little Eli is sporting his first pearly white! 

A big thanks to Dawn Hughes for taking time out of her busy schedule to snap some photos of Eli!

Puttin' on the Armor of God

Emily and Megan have been studying the Armor of God in their youth group. Last week they came home with some "armor" they made. Here is Emily with her Belt of Truth, Sword of the Spirit, Breastplate of Righteousness and "Helmet" of Salvation. 

THANK YOU to all the dedicated volunteers  who spend so much time creating meaningful lessons for the children. THANK YOU for sowing seeds!

Story Time

Reading is a big part of our school day. We have been on so many adventures through books. Before the girls could read, like most parents, we read a lot with them. It is so much fun to share in the reading fun with Eli. This book (BIG Little) was a baby gift (from when we had Emily) from my old boss at the hospital. It is a fun beginning board book, along with it's buddy books -- Yummy YUCKY and Quiet LOUD!

Pounding on the Ivories

I love listening to Emily and Megan practice the piano. Thanks to the patience and lessons from Grandma Kathy, they do more than just pound. They are learning to love music and create it. Thank you to Grandma Mary for the piano. (It gets played a lot, Mom!)

Well, the love for music is greatly evident in the youngest member of our family. Like any baby, he loves to sit at the piano and pound. When the girls and I start singing our geography song, he gets excited. When I start singing to him sometimes he dances, and sometimes he taps his little hand to the beat. Soon, he'll be competing with Emily and Megan for practice time at the keyboard!

Candy Chemistry

Last Saturday the girls and I attended Candy Chemistry, a girl scout program that centered on all different forms of sugar!! It was a fun program and I will never look at candy the same way again. Oh, the fun you can have with candy. Did you know that you can watercolor paint with the dye from Skittles? Or crush dum dum suckers to make stained glass candy? And, there was a LOT of chocolate dipping going on. I had to snatch a few of the chocolate treats for myself!!

Here's a fun little observation. Drop a handful of M&Ms and Skittles into a glass of water. Wait about 10 minutes and discover something cool! The ink that prints the white "m" and "s" is edible, but not water soluble, so you should have little "m"s and "s"s floating in your water. 

The girls' favorite part of the day was dropping Mentos into a 2-liter bottle of pop. A pop geyser. It is fun to watch, but if you are the Mentos dropper, make sure you are quick on your feet. 

: ) I love any program that makes science and discovery fun, and this was definitely fun!

Captured Moments

An Apple A Day . . .

Matthew's favorite fruit is the apple. Eli loves to sit on Daddy's lap and share apples with him. Since Eli doesn't have teeth, he pretty much sucks on it. Here he is with his own apple. He bit it with his gums for quite a while before giving up on getting any juice. 

Eli's New Trick

This is one of Eli's new tricks -- clicking his tongue. Matthew has taught each of our babies how to do this  and it is just TOO CUTE!

Eight Months and Counting!!

Eight months . . . already? It seems like so long ago that our little guy was a newborn. Every day we love watching him discover new tricks. He has been SO much joy and we thank God every day for our sweet Eli. He has constant entertainment (Emily and Megan) and when they aren't around, he is looking over his shoulder for them. Eli knows that Daddy is the "fun" one who will toss him in the air or take him for a ride on his shoulders. He loves to stand, and will hardly sit anymore! We love having a little boy to join our two girls. What a joy!

I love it! I got this one snapped before major demolition occurred to the blocks!
A moment later it was all over. 

Sweet Megan

Eli's First SuperBowl

Ok, I know it has been a LONG time since I posted my blog because I just found our Super Bowl photos. Actually, I didn't take many because I was busy entertaining Eli so Daddy could enjoy the game. But, we did get a few shots. Grandma Kathy came over to cheer on the Giants. We chowed on pizza and pop. So, another football season ends. And we look forward to next year, because surely Dallas is due for a good season. 

Go Cowboys!!

Our future quarterback

Daddy and Megan

Captured Moments

Patiently waiting for lunch. 

Book time with Emily. It is fun to have big sisters to read to him.

Josiah Shoots Hoops!!!!

Josiah had soccer games at 7:30 a.m. (which we missed because Matthew was still choring) and at 4:30 (which we missed because we had to come home so Matthew could do evening chores). Bummed that we missed both of those. But we did catch his UPWARD basketball game. He is a great ball handler, and has a nice shot too! It was cute, and we were so proud of him. Way to go, Josiah!! 

Josiah loves to get his hands on the ball! 

He is great offensively, and defensively, and had several steals during the game.
We were so glad to see him play. 

Josiah got a patch for his defensive play during the game. Way to go, Josiah!!

Bump, Set, Spike!!!

A few weeks ago, we all piled in the van and drove over to Quincy for a little sports day with our niece and nephew. When we rolled into town we were just in time for Lissa's volleyball game. She had tournament games all morning, and we caught one of her games before we left for Josiah's basketball game. She did great. She is a 

great setter and had some good serves. I wish we lived closer so we could go to more of their events. The girls loved it and I think Eli enjoyed it too (except for getting hit in the head with a stray volleyball during warm-ups. Actually, it didn't hit him hard, and it didn't seem to phase him.).

Want to see Josiah's basketball game? Check out my next blog entry!!