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.