This morning I went to get Eli when he woke up and he was...on his stomach (I'd just fed him at 4:30)! That's the first time he's rolled over completely and slept on his stomach instead of his side. They say just to put your baby on their back to sleep and wherever they go from there is fine. I met Brandon for lunch today and Eli was overjoyed to get the treat of seeing his daddy during the day. He acts surprised like, "What the heck are you doing here?!" Tonight we're going to dinner at Brandon's boss's house!

Wood floors...yikes!

Yesterday, I left Eli on a blanket in the dining room on his back with toys for a couple minutes while I ran to the restroom. This is what I saw when I came back :-) Caught ya! My days of leaving him on a blanket and he staying there are definitely over. He can get around by rolling mainly, but he's scooting and flinging himself all over the place. The bad thing is, when he rolls from his stomach to back he hits his head on the floor. He's fine going from back to stomach because his head lifts, but the other way is trouble. Because we have ALL wood floors, except in the basement, I'm going to need to buy some big rugs to prevent injury.

I made two kinds of squash yesterday. It was a lot of fun! I made 48 servings which I froze in special kind of ice trays (which are 1 oz servings) and then put in freezer bags. It took me a while on the first one because I've never worked with squash (I'm an idiot and didn't realize it's just like a pumpkin). The second one was quick and easy once I figured everything out. I've come to the conclusion I need better knives...I could barely cut the dang squash.

He loves to read!

I realize it's been a long time since I posted...there just has been SO much going on! We were supposed to go to Branson, but because of a rainy forecast and unexpected work training we decided to host everyone at our house. We had a great time with family all weekend. We went out to eat a lot, took walks, celebrated my sister's birthday with all the family, went to the Exploration Place and saw the human body exhibit (I thought it would freak me out since it is REAL dead people, but it was neat) etc. My favorite part of the exhibit was the babies. They had several babies who had died of genetic issues (one was conjoined twins), and several babies at different stages before they were born. It was amazing to see what Eli would have looked like close up at the different times I had sonograms. What a miracle!!Overall, it was a great time! Eli enjoyed having everyone around to give him attention, but was so wound up the whole time he barely napped.

He is still doing great with his eating. He is passing on all of his cereals, so we will hopefully move on to veggies this Friday. He has eaten 2 times daily Rice Cereal, Oatmeal Cereal, and started Barley Cereal today. Next we'll move on to the yellow veggies. Today we went to the organic store and got a Butternut Squash and Acorn Squash, so I can make some homemade baby food and freeze it! I'm excited to try to make my own and the doctor encouraged it and really discouraged using store bought. I really am limited on some things because I want to only use organic frozen or fresh. Whatever I can't get I've already stocked up on some store organic baby food to use instead.

Feet...bumbo...cereal!

6 months old!

Eli had his 6 month appointment today! He's growing and changing so fast. He weighs 14 lbs 15 oz and is 25 3/4 inches long. He's right on track growth and developmentally. Our pediatrician was impressed with some of the things he's doing. He only got two shots, so that was a relief. So far, he hasn't been very fussy. We were really excited to start rice cereal tonight. Eli LOVED it! We got it on camera and took a bunch of pictures. He couldn't get enough of it. He just ate it right down and didn't have a problem with the spoon at all or swallowing. He kept grabbing the spoon and bringing it to his mouth for more! He's been so ready to eat, and he finally gets to. Today he started eating his feet. I guess he was desperate!

We're IN!

We finally are in our new house! Saturday a lot of friends and family helped us move and get situated. Both of our parents helped us unpack, and we are pretty much done, believe it or not. We really appreciate all of the help. Thank you to: Tony, Josh, and David Racchini, Bob and Donna Judson, Jim, Louise, and Will Corman, Sam Corman, Todd Barstow, Chris Horst, Paula Corman and anyone else I've forgotten :-) My aunt Cate brought by 3 cherry pies and we got pizza for lunch. On Sunday morning, we dedicated Eli at church. He was so cute grabbing for the microphone and enjoying all the attention. He was looking all around smiling. Eli started rolling around like crazy this weekend. Before he would only roll over once in a while, but this weekend he's rolling like crazy. I can barely change him because he immediately rolls over. He likes to tear up mail and to knock paper off the table. He gives a lot of kisses these days. He was snuggling and kissing all of our family all weekend. He's sitting up extremely well when he plays with toys. It has been fun to see him develop so quickly these days. When we sing "The ants go marching..." he marches...it cracks us up. He also still loves showing off in his jumper. He jumps on one foot at a time, so it looks like he's prancing. So cute! He grabs his feet a lot and will grab one foot and kick with the other. It looks hilarious! We are just loving our new house. It is so much roomier and has so many windows. Our old house had so many trees; it sometimes felt like you were living in a cave. Yesterday, we moved my brother Will into the dorms at Wichita State University. I think he's going to have a great time! I'm excited for him to experience college. I had so much fun and learned so much. Well, I'm just planning on getting settled a little bit more before we head off to vacation in Branson this weekend.

My brother and I had a blast seeing Les Mis here in Wichita. I cried the whole show, of course. I pretty much cry in every Broadway show whether it's sad or not because I love them SO much! Brandon had fun babysitting and didn't have any problems getting Eli to bed (I usually do the whole bedtime process after his bath). We had a lot of fun visiting with my cousin and her boyfriend from California on Saturday and Sunday at my parents. Eli charmed them with his smiles and laughter. My dad was thrilled that Eli was big enough now to swing in the baby swing that he made us when we were little. Eli loved it! He was also giving everyone open mouth kisses and snuggling on their shoulders. We close this Friday! I am so relieved to finally be here and looking forward to all of our family and friends gathering to help us this weekend.

Eli loves his new toys! It has really helped him stay distracted during tummy time as well. We were laughing last night because he would spin this toy and it would make different animal sounds and he was cracking up. That's really the first time I've seen him laugh really hard at a toy. He especially would laugh at the horse sound. I think it's because my mom played this game with him where she would run around with him like he was riding a horse and would make a horse sound at the end. I'm pretty sure he remembers it, and still thinks it's funny. I started getting a clogged duct yesterday and was freaking out, but today it seems better so I'm not going to worry about it so much. Man, am I ready for the weekend.

Christmas in August

So my mom informed me that most of Eli's toys are boring, and he's so active he needs more stimulation to keep him busy. We went to lunch and out to Babies R Us and she went a little crazy! Eli grabbed for every toy we showed him, and mom picked out the most loud fun toys she could find. She got him his own phone too because he's obsessed with my cell phone and lunges for it every chance he gets. He picks up on how to manipulate the toys very quickly and if he's not figuring it out I just have to show him one time and he remembers.

Well, I survived our last night of stressful events ;-) Our concert when well. It was at a Hispanic church and we followed a rapper. It was extremely HOT and there weren't very many people, but the people that were there did enjoy it. It was so hot and humid that all of our instruments would go out of tune every song. I think I will avoid outdoor concerts when it's 105 heat index! While we were playing the mayor of Wichita and the chief of police came to visit with the people, so that was kind of fun. When we left Eli was showing off for mom like crazy in his jumper. He showed her how to play with every toy and was jumping like crazy. Then, mom said he looked around and saw we weren't there and threw a major fit. Mom just slapped him in the stroller and took him for a LONG walk. He loves music, so she sang to him the whole time too. I swear his life is like a broadway musical. He'll probably start singing before he talks :-) He was happy to see us when we got home, which was cute. I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Friday night I'm going on a date with my brother to see Les Mis. It's his favorite book and of course an awesome musical. Then, we are headed up to my parents to visit with my cousin Meredith and her boyfriend Jeffrey from California. She works for American Idol, and they are having tryouts in Kansas City, so she's here to judge the tryouts. Don't worry...there are only 15,000 trying out!!!! What a relief to be done with all of our evening stuff. I'm ready to have Brandon's help in the evenings again. Our goal tonight is to order a gate for our new backyard. We've got to find one that will work and quick to keep Rica in!

I was just reading an article in the paper about how high child care costs are, especially for infants. They say that most people spend $743 a month for child care for an infant and $1500 a month for two kids. I'm saving us a lot of money by staying home!!!!!!!

2 weeks until we move! I'm so excited and ready to get out of the boxes and clutter. Since Brandon came home we've been crazy busy, so I am looking forward to Wednesday when all the craziness stops. Tonight we have band practice because tomorrow night we are playing an outdoor concert (in 103 heat). I'm praying they change it to indoors. We got some more professional pictures of Eli taken on Friday. They turned out really cute. As soon as I get them I will post them on here; it might be a week or so.