5 1/2 months old update

Brandon is finally home! It was a long 5 days :-) I really missed having his help in the evenings. It's the only chance I get to have some "me" time. I had a great visit from Brandon's mom and she helped a lot in finishing up some of the packing. My mom couldn't stand it and came and saw Eli yesterday and spent the night. She was missing him too much to wait. Eli was happy to see Brandon and is loving having him home. Eli is doing new things all the time. He holds his books when you're reading them to him and touches the different textures in the touch and feel books. He LOVES books. I read him about a million a day. My mom brought him a messy baby/clean baby book and he loved looking and hitting the baby faces. He likes to play with anything and everything. His new favorites are water bottles and papers. When you take a drink he eyes it and tries to grab it totally fascinated. He rolls over from back to stomach, but still only wants to push forward when on his stomach. He blows spit bubbles all the time and sometimes chokes himself he gets so much spit going. Now that he's so busy, moving/squirming/jumping etc. we cherish his snuggle times when he gives you loving and lays his head on your shoulder. He even will lay his head on his stuffed cow that my sister and brother-in-law gave him and give it a "hug." He plays with his feet a lot. He's also discovered something else down there that isn't a foot ;-)

We are missing Brandon, but enjoying having Brandon's mom Donna here helping pack and take care of Eli! Donna packed our entire kitchen up the first evening she was here, so I am SO appreciative! Today we took Rica to get a haircut and got lunch and went to Babies R Us, so it was a fun and busy day. We've taken Eli on several walks and Rica's in heaven because Donna's been walking her constantly. Brandon is having a good time in Oshkosh, WI but missing us too. I realize these pictures are kind of blurry because Eli's always moving, but I still liked them! He's rolling from his back to stomach and is always on his side. He sleeps on his side now too. What a big boy ;-)

We're headed to my aunt's house for dinner tonight, so I'm looking forward to some loud conversations. Any of you who know my Corman side know that we are VERY loud when we get together. I'm surprised that all of our tables haven't been broken we pound so much when laughing. I love it. I soak it up. Our Thanksgivings and other get togethers are always full of loud laughter, talking, arguing, huge board games, football/basketball games, etc. When I go to people's houses and it's not a loud and crazy dinner it feels strange and somewhat boring. I can't comprehend not being close to my cousins. We're all good friends and have such a good time together. We always have! I love coming from a big family!

Eli has been showing frustration with his toys. He'll chew on them and then get mad that he's not getting anything in return. What a goof ball! One of these photos happened when Eli grabbed my camera, which I thought was funny. The other one he is blowing spit bubbles and it's dribbling down his cheek. He loves being bounced on my knees and I sing "Pop goes the weasel". Brandon is going out of town on Sunday for 5 days to work the huge airplane festival up at Oshkosh, WI. At least this year he is getting paid to go! My mother-in-law is coming to help me out while I continue packing since I won't have Brandon's help for a week. I think he's going to REALLY miss Eli, and I know Eli is going to miss him!

Happy Real Anniversary to Us!

So we celebrated our real 3rd anniversary yesterday. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Pei Wei and had a tasty meal. My friend and cousin Ellen and her boyfriend brought us back cheesecake (from Cheesecake factory) all the way from Kansas City as a treat! It was awesome. We got all of our utilities and important services ready to be switched over on the 15th of August when we close, so that's a relief. Eli spent all day yesterday blowing raspberries. He had spit bubbles just running everywhere. It's his newest trick, and he thinks it's great fun!

Scooter

Eli has started scooting. Last night in front of both Brandon and I he scooted forward right off of the blanket! When he's on his stomach he pulls his knees forward and pushes off and moves a few inches :-) He's all over his crib when he's on his back, but we've never seen him actually move forward. Brandon was like, "He's crawling"...not quite! We watched an old home video recently when I was around 5 or 6 months and my dad kept calling me "scooter" because I was scooting around as well. He gets his legs kicking so fast when he's on his stomach that I think I'm going to be doomed when that actually turns into movement. At least we'll be in a new house where I can baby proof the second we move in and start from scratch. Eli also loves to play my keyboard. I just discovered it. He goes crazy and pounds the keys all excited. If Brandon and I are both there he is constantly showing off for the other person watching. He looks to make sure one of us is watching then pounds a few chords then stops to get some clapping or praise and goes on. This "show off" stage makes us laugh constantly!

I have a bunch of cute pictures of Eli I wanted to put on here. He's SO fun these days. He is definitely ready for solid foods, so in a month we will get started on that. He loves watching Brandon and I eat and drink. He tries to snatch everything we've got and lunges for things once in a while. He's fascinated by our silverware and cups. I had to put a funny picture on here. Don't worry we're not WT (that's my nice way of saying white trash) and not putting beer in his bottle (I can't even fathom that someone would do this...shame shame shame), but our neighbor wanted Brandon to try this certain beer and Eli thought holding the bottle was great fun. Last night Eli was so cute. During his baths he loves to lay and splash around, but now at the end Brandon has him sit up and lets him splash sitting up. Well he started looking back over his shoulder and Brandon yelled to me that he was looking for me so he could show off. I was off doing something, but he kept doing it so Brandon yelled for me to come. I got in there and he looked back and saw me, smiled really big, turned around and started splashing like crazy. Then, he would stop and look back to see if I was still there watching and do it again. Over and over again. It was SO cute. I guess it wasn't enough to just show off for Brandon. It had to be both of us. He can sit in his Bumbo seat too now. He's just a growing boy!

Packing

We've got a lot of packing done. It isn't taking as long as I thought it would. We take turns entertaining Eli while the other packs. It's working out nicely. We've been walking to our new house every evening. Rica is back with us, so we plan to keep walking there so she can get used to the back yard and the dogs next door. Yesterday, I spent the day with my mom and brother and my cousins. We went to lunch and did a little shopping for Will's dorm. It was great to have adults to laugh and talk with during the day. Baby conversation can be a little one sided ;-) They did the inspection on our house yesterday, which I've been really worried about, and there weren't any major problems. We have a list of the repairs the buyer would like us to fix, so Brandon is going to take care of those best he can. I'm so relieved. Here are some pictures of our new house and back yard.

SOLD

Yesterday our buyer signed the contract, so unless they find something horrible in the inspection we'll be moving next month! We are set to close on August 15 and move August 16. That gives me exactly a month to get our entire life packed into boxes. One week of it Brandon is going to be out of state for work, but luckily his mom is going to come up and stay with me so I will have some help with Eli and can get something done. I'm excited!

Eli can kick his musical aquarium that is attached to his crib. He discovered he can kick the spinning toys on the bottom and the button to turn the music on. Several times in the night I've heard him kick it on. Another new thing he is doing is that he always tries to sleep on his side, but he rolls back over and wakes himself up every time. It drives us crazy! The second I lay him in the crib he brings his feet up and rolls on his side. Just a second ago I held his feet down so he wouldn't roll on his side. It worked! It would be fine if he didn't relax so much that he rolls back to his back and wakes up. Eli stands really well now and is getting better at sitting up. Brandon can always make him laugh hysterically when they are playing. It's such an amazing thing to see their interaction!

Eli is so much fun lately. He's all smiles and laughs. He likes to flirt with other girls; he sure is such a flirt. He loves people and loves smiling at other people and watching every move they make. He's taken a notice in us eating and food, so I think he'll definitely be ready for solids at 6 months. He likes to kick and throw his arms like crazy when he's on the changing table. It's getting harder and harder to change his diaper because he's wiggling so much. He kicks and splashes like crazy in the bath too. He'll look to see if we're watching before doing something to show off. It cracks me up! We just keep loving each stage he comes to more and more. Friday night we had a band show in Hutch. My parents watched Eli and everyone passed him around. He did pretty well until the end of the show and got fussy. Saturday we went out to breakfast with my brother and my cousin Sam. Later we had both guys and my cousin Ellen over for pizza, a walk, and games. It was great to be with our family and Eli loved having the company. We are still waiting on the buyer for our house. I'm praying he will be able to work things out financially. Until then, I guess I just have to stay busy keeping the house clean and jetting away for showings. One day this week there were three in the same day! We've had a lot of people look at it. I'm trying to be patient!

A friend made an offer on our house today, and we adjusted the contract and we'll hopefully get this thing rolling soon! We're excited! Eli has started to kind of "sing" more often. It is different from cooing and makes us laugh. It's really cute and we get a kick out of it. We also discovered that he is extremely ticklish. We both had noticed that when we touched his armpit during his bath he always smiled and flinched, but today I was tickling his stomach and he was laughing the hardest we've ever heard. Brandon ran and got the video camera. Don't worry I'm not torturing him with tickling. I'm extremely ticklish and hated being tickled. Eli is outgrowing a lot of his clothes. He was wearing a 6-12 month onesie today and it was just a tiny bit loose on him. It's crazy how fast he grows.

Eli's new favorite toy....a BALLOON!

We had a blast with all of my Corman side over the weekend. We had a huge party at my parent's house for the 4th and the food and fireworks were amazing. All the guys enjoyed doing fireworks nonstop for hours. Brandon and all the cousins went swimming up at my parent's beautiful pasture pond far away in the hills. Eli loved being with all the people and was his charming self. He laughed and smiled at my sister the entire time. He loves his aunt Becca!! He always makes his gurgling dinosaur sound at her. Eli was so good the entire weekend. He had a lot of fun. We met all the family at my aunt's house in Salina for a huge pasta feast Saturday, and then we all met up at a Chinese restaurant on Sunday for lunch before heading home. It was so nice to be surrounded by all my family and cousins. Eli met his future wife at my parent's church. We have an arranged marriage going with the worship pastor's daughter named Louise.

Happy 4th of July

I'm telling everyone an early Happy 4th of July because we're headed to my parents tonight. All of my entire Corman side is coming over to my parent's house for a huge party tomorrow. I'm so excited to see everyone. My sister is dying to see Eli, so I know he'll be smothered with love and attention the whole time we're there. So far, we've had 4 showings on our house in the 3 days it's been on the market, so I'm considering that successful. We're leaving Rica at my parents, so when we come back it will be easier to go do some fun things during showings instead of dealing with her in the heat. Eli's waking up a lot at night now because he's discovered the fun of kicking onto his side. It wakes him up constantly. I'll be glad when he gets through this phase and gets back to sleeping through the night! Hope everyone has a great holiday!!!!!!

Today like 20 Realtors came and toured our house! They all LOVED it, and were excited to try and find buyers. I got so many compliments, and I was encouraged that this might actually work out. We already have a showing tonight and tomorrow night. The dog is going to be an issue I can already see. Brandon and I could go do fun things with Eli during the showings, but we can't because we have Rica to take with us too...grrrr. It's too hot to leave her in the car. Maybe she'll have to go to "farm camp." Here is the link to our house listing. Be sure to watch the virtual tour.

http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?zp=67203&mnp=18&mxp=17&typ=1&sid=30b92afd6b62467b9ae18114e9627c8b&lid=1100876569&lsn=4&srcnt=15#Detail