Photography by Jessica Rozof

A friend of ours is planning on starting a photography business and did a practice run on us! We had a lovely time at Riverside Park enjoying the beautiful weather!

Cora 6 months

I thought I better stay on the ball and do Cora's 6 month post, even though it's a week off! First though, I have to mention a funny comment by Eli. He was crying because he needed my help with something. I said, "Eli how are you supposed to ask Mom for help?" Eli replied, "Trick-or-treat!". NOT QUITE! Cora tried on her Halloween costume tonight. She is going as some kind of fairy...pretty cute if you ask me. Cora is still a mellow wonderful baby. She is full of smiles (especially for her brother). At six months:

1. She can roll from stomach to back AND this week started rolling back to stomach

2. She can sit on her own very well and is able to get to her stomach easily from sitting

3. She is super ticklish

4. She is not a very talkative baby.

5. She still isn't making any consonant sounds (no Mama or Dada in sight)

6. She is eating rice and oatmeal cereals for breakfast and butternut squash and acorn squash for supper (she should be starting peas and sweet potatoes next week)

7. She blows raspberries if she gets really excited about something

8. She is on her 6th cold since birth (BOO)

9. She thinks Eli is the best thing in the world and smiles and laughs at him all day

10. She is definitely laid back compared to Eli (thank God)

11. She looks and acts like Brandon

12. She's down to taking 2 or 3 naps a day

13. She still is sleeping terribly at night, but since we are all sick Brandon put her in bed with us the other night and she slept ALL night (now at least we know she can do it)

14. She loves reading books and enjoys trying to tear or eat Eli's more advanced books

15. She is our little "watcher". She is always aware and observing what is going on

16. She has bright blue beautiful eyes

17. When someone talks to her she does this shy thing where she buries her face into my shoulder

Overall, she is developing into a beautiful, sweet spirited little girl! We are so grateful to haver her in our lives.

Jacklyn's Birthday

We hosted my parents and my sister's family this weekend! It was the first time the kids had stayed here and they had a ball! The kids played with all the toys, music stuff, and had fun riding bikes

outside. Brandon took them on rides around Riverside in the bike trailer, which they loved. We all dressed up and wore boas and jewelry out for a tea party at Cup'n'Saucer for Jackie's birthday. It was so much fun to watch the girls drink tea and have a new experience. It's so fun to have girly time! We also had a barbecue, games, and presents for the birthday girl. Afterwards, we let the kids practice trick-or-treating (because they've never gone before). Eli loves this game! He can say, "trick-or-treat" and it is SO cute! Today, the kids all went and played on the sand bar near our house. Destin came home with his pockets full of snails. Such a boy! We all had a great time, and I was so sad to see them go!

Rice Cereal

Cora started organic rice cereal tonight! She is two weeks shy of being six months old (when I started with Eli), so we decided to go for it! She has acted very interested in what we're eating and as you well know isn't sleeping very long stretches, so we're hoping this will help! She was totally confused at first and was making the funniest faces as she ate the cereal. She had this disgusted look on her face the whole time but kept on eating! I wouldn't say that she loved it, and I wouldn't say that she hated it. It was more like she was unsure of what in the world was going on! I'm going to introduce rice, oatmeal, and barley cereals in the next two weeks and then move on to veggies as soon as she is officially six months old. I have been extremely excited to get back into making organic baby food again! It is so much fun!

We finished Cora's new room and she slept there for the first time last night! It was exciting to have both kids in their new rooms. We went to our church Fall festival and Eli had a blast taking a hayrack ride and getting a pumpkin

and playing with the kids. Fun fun!

ROOMS!

Eli is officially sleeping up in his new airplane room! He's doing wonderfully going up and down our newly carpeted stairs and loves the glow in the dark stars Brandon put up on his ceiling. He was so excited for his Grandpa to sleep across the hall from him last night and was hoping to hear him snoring :-). I still have decorating plans for his room (model airplanes hanging from the ceiling, a Cessna poster, etc.) but at least we've transitioned him up there! It's an awesome room filled with eight windows, lots of space, and he loves it! Brandon took today off from work to paint Cora's new room (Eli's old room on the main floor). We're doing a light pink with the black furniture. I think it is going to look awesome! My best friend Courtney and I went to a Michael Bolton concert this week. She had been given free 5th row tickets. We were the only ones there under the age of 50, which we had a good giggle about! We had a BLAST! His voice is still amazing and the concert was so much fun! With two kids still sick, this was a much needed night out!

Double rainbow

We got to enjoy a double rainbow in our backyard last night. The second one wouldn't show up in pictures because it was so faint, but we all enjoyed God's beauty! All of us have colds, and I have an ear infection that is keeping me up at night, but I've kept a great attitude throughout it all! Every day Eli is making funnier comments. He is just SO cute. Last night when we were reading about Jesus he said that Jesus was crying because he had a boo boo and his mom had left him to go get a hot dog. Seriously? On our walks, we've started our official leaf gathering. He pretty much tries to bring home every leaf he can find pretty or not! When we got home he brought a few leaves inside and kept saying, "Leaves die....water!" He wanted to put them in water to try and save them. So stinking cute! Cora just thinks she is a big timer. She tries to do everything Eli does, and when I help her do it she is just so proud of herself. She honestly thinks she is keeping right up with him. If he jumps, she wants to jump too! It is just so adorable! Eli is back into a terrible separation anxiety phase again. One of our friends said they had the same thing happen. We've been having issues at church and home. If Brandon has to go somewhere in the evening, Eli will literally cry for an hour. Saturday, when I went out to lunch with my cousin and to get my bridesmaid dress exchanged Brandon said he cried for two hours. I've been talking about it a lot with him and trying to help him understand. When we come home he'll tell us he cried and missed us and want us to hold him and snuggle him for a long time. I just keep reminding myself that it's just a phase!

Happy Birthday little brother!

My baby brother Will is 22. CRAZY! It seems like just yesterday he was wiping boogers on me, beating me up, and farting on my face :-). We threw a little birthday bash for him last night. We had some of our cousins and his friends over for barbecue and an ice cream cake. Eli was excited ALL day for Will to blow out his candles, so Eli helped him! He was a good sport. The funnest part of the party was the moment when Will discovered the new motorcycle my dad had bought him in our garage. My dad traded one of his bikes for a bike Will has always wanted and just stuck it in our garage for him to discover. Will took one of his friends out to see my dad's motorcycle and SURPRISE there was his new bike! Needless to say, I think he had a great birthday. It was wonderful to spend time with my cousins and refreshing to have some fun. Today the 700 layoffs took place at Cessna. Our best friends made it through, but several of Brandon's old coworkers and his old boss were laid off. It's a very morose day there. On a brighter note, Brandon won an award at Cessna last week and he got a gift card to P.F. Changs. Maybe in 18 years we can actually go on a date and use it :-)!!!!!

Better week

We had a great surprise visit with Brandon's parents this past weekend! The kids had a great time with their grandparents and enjoyed all the attention. Eli was thrilled to get a new cymbol for his drums from Papa Judson and had fun running the trails of Oak Park. He enjoyed showing off his love of letters and his new words. Sunday night we visited the Racchinis for Ethan's 3rd birthday party. Eli had a blast playing with the other kids and Cora enjoyed chilling with her Nana. Although I was really tired from a hard week, the fun weekend was just what I needed to lift my spirits. I got the kids back on schedule and decided to just start waking Eli up in the mornings, so he'll take a nap. For sanity's sake I need the break mid day. Needless to say, things are looking up around here! We are getting ready to get a quote to carpet our stairs. Then, we'll move Eli upstairs and Cora into his room. My thoughts right now are to do Cora's room white with a bright red accent wall. With her black and white furniture I think this would look awesome. We'll see!