Everyone at church today was just getting the biggest kick out of Elijah walking/running around. It's been working out perfectly where I can just take him into the nursing mothers room after worship and he takes his nap in there while I get to listen to the sermon for once! Church just happens to fall exactly on his morning nap time, and he's definitely one of those kids that can't miss their nap or they turn into monsters! I hope I can keep him on his normal schedule during all the holiday celebration. He looked so grown up today in his church clothes; I just about cried! My little baby is definitely turning into a little boy. It's hard to still think of him as a baby when he's running all over the place. This is the first and only day I've been able to get his hair to stay DOWN and not stick up all over the place. I'm so used to it sticking up, it was fun to see it down!

I'm really enjoying Eli's new ability to walk around the house without me having to bend over and spot him. He's getting so good at it that I just follow him around instead of bending over ready to prevent a head injury. He has taken a few spills that I couldn't catch, but every time he sort of caught himself on his hands instead of taking it in the face, so I am glad he's maybe figuring that out as well. Yesterday, he figured out he could carry around and chew on a teething ring while walking. Big stuff people :-) We had an interesting dinner date with my cousin Ellen and her boyfriend last night. We purposely went at 5 so Eli would still be in a good mood. It was pretty much a circus. It would have been a million times easier for me to cook a ten course meal at home. Finally we got him sitting in between us in the booth playing with a sippy cup of milk and eating puffs. I gave him a puff and he started choking, which then Brandon informs me he had just given him one...crap! He choked and then threw up everywhere...I caught it in my hands...just a natural reaction. You should have seen my cousin's faces. Later Brandon and I were laughing so hard thinking back on it. My cousins' boyfriend Paul was like, "Did you just catch that in your hand....SUPER MOM!" Disaster. This age of exploration is exciting, but challenging/impossible in a restaurant.

Bye Bye

I can't believe it's only a week away from Christmas with my side of the family! Time is just flying by. Our friend Steve who is staying with us has not found a job yet, so we are still praying for some results soon. He was out in the blowing snow today on his bike. Two cars yelled out "Idiot" as they drove by. He said he agreed with them :-) Welcome to Kansas...usually we're friendly. Eli loved standing at the back door watching the blowing snow. He's seen snow before at my parents, but this was quite a white out. He only took one 40 minute nap today, thus was extremely cranky this evening. Poor Brandon just had to chase him while I made some squash to freeze. At least he's getting so good at walking that you barely have to spot him. The doctor gave him a new book yesterday and he loves it just like the other one she gave him. This one has babies too and he gives them kisses. He usually gives the baby who is crying a kiss...so sweet. It cracks me up that he usually turns the pages in his books with just his pointer finger. There is something precious about that little finger. Earlier today we were playing ball and I encouraged him to say "ball" and he did say "ba". Then, tonight Brandon was saying "Bye bye" and Eli said "bye bye" several times. I'm going to keep working on it with him. I'm getting pumped for all the festivities to come!

9 month appt!

Eli had his 9 month appointment this morning. He's growing well and weighs 17 lbs 6 oz (which is a little less than 3lbs more from 6 months) and is 27 3/4 inches tall (I think that's a little over 2 inches growth). He's only in the 10th percentile for weight, but is in the 24th percentile for height. We mentioned he's been scratching at his ear and she did find a bit of a wax build up, which she took care of. Eli did not like being held down for that or the 2 shots and cried and cried and cried! He would only come to me and would cry laying his head on my shoulder. So sad! After all the trauma, we had to still take him to the lab to have his finger pricked to check for iron deficiency. More trauma. He screamed and screamed as they tried to get enough blood. By the end he had the crying "hiccups" so bad, it was pathetic. I put him down for a nap as soon as we got home (which wasn't easy because he didn't want me to let go of him even for a second) and he had those hiccups in his sleep for an hour! His appointments are definitely going to be traumatic from now on until he can understand what's going on. She gave me the go ahead on wheat and dairy, so I'm going to introduce him to pasta, baby yogurt, and cheese. I'm looking forward to giving him more and more table foods. He's definitely ready.

Read Read and Read!

We are staying busy around here chasing Eli. He's getting better at walking/running every day. He plays this game where he runs towards you, and then at the last second cuts to the right and runs away laughing. We laugh because sometimes if he gets scared and thinks he might fall he closes his eyes...while running! Not a good combination! He likes to play the "closet game" where I go in the closet and he opens and shuts the door to find me. It's really cute. He's been really focused on open and shut, so we've been practicing with different things. He is babbling a lot, but we still can only notice Mama and Dada (which he now likes to scream at the top of his lungs at Brandon). He is in love with books. I think I have every book memorized and probably am reciting them in my dreams. He crawls or walks over to his books and picks out which one he wants you to read and then will sit down in preparation and whine until you read it to him. I've tried many a time to read a different book...he gets MAD! After reading "Brown Bear" for the twentieth time in a day, you would see why I'm suffering ;-) I'm just SO glad he likes reading and books....since he's a boy....I doubt it will last too long. He is still affectionate and does like to snuggle sometimes, even though he is a mover and a shaker! One of Brandon's old rooomates in college (he's actually 60 though) is staying in our basement while he looks for a job/apartment. Please pray he finds one soon!

More Thanksgiving photos

As you can see...his hair is getting more and more funny...and shaggy!

Welcome Luke Alan Wohler!

My cousin Megan had her baby yesterday. Many of you have prayed for Megan over the years, as she had a rare tumor in her brain that used to bleed and cause paralysis in her side. At the time of discovery, she was told she could probably never have children because it would cause the tumors to have a massive bleed. Basically, this baby is a giant miracle from God! She had brain surgery over a year ago and still was able to carry this baby full term and both mother and baby are doing great. She still faces challenges and could use prayer in caring for little Luke because she still has some damage to her arm and hand from the surgery. She has overcome every challenge in her life so far, and I am positive she will face this one head on and figure out the best way to deal with her handicap. I am so excited for Eli to have another boy cousin to play with! All he has are boy cousins so far and guy friends! One of my friends is getting ready to have a boy too. Someone's got to have a girl around here!