Stuffed Animals

I'm posting a cute video of Eli after waking up from his nap (don't mind the half dressed half pajama clad kid). He is super affectionate and super sweet to people, our dog, and his stuffed animals. It's wonderful! I pray he's the same with Cora! He named all his stuffed animals and the two he mentions are named Dada and Amy (the hilarious cat stocking he fell in love with at the store and LOVES).

I'm not going to whine about the fact that Eli's had a fever since last night and we're stuck at home miserable on Super Bowl Sunday (okay, so that might count as a whine...get over it :-)). What am I going to do with all the vegetables I bought to make vegetable trays for the two parties we were going to?? Luckily Eli loves veggies! I made him some special oatmeal cookies to cheer him up and when I offered him one he didn't want it....he wanted a mango. I just wanted to die laughing. He is the healthiest eater I've ever seen. Only my kid turns down cookies for a mango! I'm going to make one of his favorite foods for supper as well...broccoli cheese soup. We'll be nice and warm and cozy when this Winter storm hits tonight (4-9 inches expected).

What's the Buzz???

We had a wonderful date night last night! For my birthday my mom got us tickets to see the touring Broadway show Jesus Christ Superstar. It was a treat to get out and we all loved the show (mom came too). Jesus was played by the original actor from the movie, which came out in the 70's, so we were curious to see if he was still able to even sing :-) ha ha. It actually was great! My dad and brother babysat. They were so proud of themselves because Eli had a great time and went to bed easily. It's always wonderful having family babysit. Eli has been in grandparent heaven. He asked about both of them the second he woke up this morning and forced them to play with him every second they've been here :-) Eli loves wearing "Bum's" watch! We met Brandon for lunch and they left to go home. Eli gave out kisses, hugs, and plenty of "I love ya's" as they left.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Eli enjoyed listening to Cora's heartbeat (which was 137). I'm measuring exactly 26 weeks, which is great. I found out I'll have my glucose test done in two weeks and they'll also do an antibody screen at the same time to check on those. So far so good! I'm entering my 3rd trimester next week and am still working on getting everything ready. Brandon is doing our taxes this weekend, so I'm hoping for a nice chunk of money back to cover our roof fixing expenses and my c-section! Brandon's boss gave me another bag of baby clothes. It felt like Christmas morning again! These were all 0-3 month clothes. All I need are some newborn clothes and a few other things to be ready!

"Pooptastrophe"

This morning we had a "pooptastrophe" Brandon and I were super excited that Eli had slept in until almost seven, which is a miracle in this household of early risers. Brandon was getting ready to leave for worship practice when I went in and discovered a very happy Eli covered in poop, all bedding covered in poop, one of his stuffed animals covered in poop, and poop caked on his fingers. I first stripped him and attempted to clean him up a bit, but decided after like twenty wipes it was pointless and had him run butt naked to the shower. Brandon watched him in the shower while I dealt with the disgusting mess. Luckily, I had just bought some Oxiclean which came in handy. It was kind of amusing once the disaster area was cleaned up and Brandon was rushing off to practice. Eli and I still made it to church and had a great time. This must be the week for poop disasters. At the women's brunch I went to at church yesterday, my friend Tanya was telling me about her horrible morning Friday when Seth took his diaper off and rubbed poop all over himself, and then she came in to find him rubbing his poopy butt all over the carpet. Hmmm....the boys must be scheming behind our backs. I really enjoyed the fellowship with friends and other women at church yesterday while Brandon and Eli had a father son morning running errands and playing. My parents gave me a pot roast last time we were there, so I cooked that up with some vegetables and we had my brother over for dinner. Eli had fun playing with Uncle Will. I'm looking forward to the start of "birthday month" as I'm now calling February. Lots and lots of birthday parties to look forward to!

SEEK!

Yesterday, Eli was bringing toys over to put up against my belly to "share" with Cora. He then put his mouth up to my belly button and yelled "SEEK!". HE wanted to play hide and seek with her. How cute! I asked him if he wanted Mama to hide first or Eli...and he said "BREE!' (what he calls the baby). So my belly got to play hide and seek. Last night we had some friends over from church. They have two little girls and a newborn. Eli had a lot of fun playing with them. He was especially thrilled when they initiated hide and seek. Oh the joy on his face! Addie, who is a year older, kept telling him, "Eli...pay attention!" It was killing me. Get used to getting bossed around by women, son. We're supposed to get 6-9 inches of snow tonight, so Brandon is pumped to get to take Eli sledding this weekend. I'm so glad Brandon likes the snow and cold...he gets to take the kids for outside Winter activities! HA HA!

Guitars rock!

What a blast we had this weekend! Wedding dress shopping with my cousins and aunt was a blast. We may have been at David's Bridal for 3 hours, but there was a lot of laughter keeping us going. Ellen found a beautiful wedding dress and all the accessories and we eyed bridesmaid dresses. Considering both Megan and I are 6 months pregnant, I don't think trying dresses on was an option :-) We're going to go back this summer after the babies are born to get a better idea. We hit up Red Robin afterward for burgers and fries. I needed "girl" time SO BADLY! YAY! Then, last night we went to our friend Josh's birthday party. We all surprised him! It was so much fun. Eli's friends were all there, so he had a great time playing with the kids. For not being in daycare/preschool I'm pretty happy with the way he gets along with kids. I was always a little worried about that. He shares very well (of course he has his little moments) and really enjoys the other kids.

We spent Friday and Saturday outside! Oh it felt wonderful. The high was pretty close to sixty with the gorgeous sun shining. Eli and I played ball, sand box, chalk, did some yard work, and took walks. Even just those two days were so refreshing to me. I think I can survive Winter after all! As I look at the forecast and see snow, highs in the 20's again, etc. I'm just going to remember these two days and what Spring will bring!

Since we haven't been able to go church in like 2 months from sickness, I was scared for how Eli was going to handle being back in the nursery. Of course he threw a crying fit when I dropped him off, but I waited outside the door for a couple minutes and could hear he had calmed down and was fine. When we picked him up he was munching on a snack and so excited to show us his art project, which happened to be a picture of the prophet Elijah being fed by the ravens (a bible story that he loves). I was laughing so hard when we got to the lobby because he kept yelling "bread" and pointing to his picture. I realized they had glued a tiny cracker in the raven's claw. In a flash, he had ripped off the cracker and it was devoured. Oops...a little glue won't kill him right? He also had some pink marker on his face. I would love to know whether he marked on his face or another kid did. So fun to get to go to church again! Praise God!

Potty pictures ;-)

I may or my not have had a freak out this week over being imprisoned and lonely from sickness for two months :-) Eli just has a cold now, so I can take him places but not around other kids. I miss my friends and church so much! I'm just holding out hope for spring and health. Brandon's been thinking up evening activities we can do to escape. When the weather's been decent Brandon takes Eli outside while I cook dinner, which has been nice. We ran to Target the other night and I was thrilled to get Eli's birthday party supplies. I can't wait for his guitar themed birthday! I think I have pretty much everything for it now. Invitations were sent out the beginning of the week, so all is good. Yesterday, we went and ate lunch with Brandon. Eli sure loves Cessna and visiting his Dad. We also went on an outing to Barnes and Noble and read Eli some books. Eli wanted me to take some pictures of him snuggling his Wolf stuffed animal and sitting on the big potty and his little potty. So cute! What a boy! I'm 25 weeks along now and getting BIG. I would say the baby is considered "viable" meaning they would try to save her if she was born. I got a bag of girl clothes from Brandon's boss. It is wonderful to start getting clothes and sorting through them. She told me she has many more for me! Can't wait! So grateful! I'm really looking forward to a break tomorrow when I got wedding dress/bridesmaid dress shopping with my cousin Ellen tomorrow. I'm going to be a bridesmaid in her wedding next New Year's Eve. Cora will be 8 months by then and Eli almost 3....crazy!

The farm was a perfect get away for our weekend. Eli had a ton of fun soaking in all the attention from his grandparents and his new surroundings, and I was off my feet more than I've been all year. My foot is feeling a million times better. It doesn't really even hurt when I walk, praise God! The two hour car ride up to my parents is a breeze for us now. The older Eli gets the easier it gets in the car. Now we're going to throw a baby into the mix :-) My mom had a going away dinner for our friend Saturday night, so my brother came up for the feast. Eli enjoyed playing b-ball outside for once and spent some time petting the cats and swinging in the swing my dad made for us when we were babies. He also suckered my parents into playing hide and seek and monster with him a lot. We came home a night early Sunday night because we could tell Eli was getting sick again. This is not a joke! Glad we did because that night the little seal, I mean boy, started the barking cough. Luckily he only had that croupy cough for one night and now just has a runny nose and cough.

We were able to squeeze in trying out a double stroller I've been eying. It's the Sit and Stand Plus. It allows for a baby carseat or regular seat in the front and a regular seat or a little seat in the back for the toddler. The toddler can either sit or stand while riding. I figured since Eli's getting to the age where a lot of kids like to walk, he would like being able to stand while riding. I was right! I pushed him around in the store letting him stand and he kept saying MORE! We'll definitely be getting that stroller whenever I can find it on sale! I can't live without our walks, so I want to make sure I can get outside with both kids easily.

I brought home a bag of my baby clothes to sort through and wash. There's a few things that are still in good enough shape to put Cora in (especially for some comparison pictures) and the rest I'll let her use as doll clothes. It was fun to look through and see outfits I recognized from pictures etc. Girl clothes are fun! All the stores finally have their Spring and Summer baby clothes out, so I've been drooling looking at all the cute dresses!