Famous Babies

Eli and his cousin Christopher are in the 2012 Pottery Barn Kids catalog. Check them out here and closer up here.

They are in the pictures on the wall in the background on the first link. On the second link, you can see them better. Eli and Christopher are together in the middle pic on the 2nd link. Eli is sleeping because it’s tiring being a baby model! Christopher is in one by himself to the right on the close up and center from a distance.

How it happened. We did a family photo shoot this past April with Elias’s family. The photographer was asked if she had any pictures of babies to put in the catalog, so we gave permission to use the ones of our boys. Pretty cool!

 

Walking with Walker

WalkingwWalker

►

 

Standing Up

Standing

►

 

Eli update

We had a wonderful Christmas in Tallahassee with Elias’s family.

Eli celebrated his first birthday on December 26th. He had a fabulous birthday party with the family. He LOVED the chocolate cake, so much so, that after he finished his piece, he continued to lick all of the icing off of his fingers until they were clean.

Developmentally he is doing great. I watch him do things this week that he didn’t know how to do last week. It fascinates me how quickly and how much they learn at this stage. He knows how to go up stairs, pull up and scoot around the room holding on to things. He’s even started testing his balance lately by standing up without holding on.

He has a ton of teeth, including 4 molars. I think he has 13 total now. He sure knows how to use them to eat. He eats quite a bit these days. As of about a week ago, we are off bottles. He’s drinking whole milk out of a sippy cup like a big boy. It sure is nice to not to have to buy formula and make bottles!

We just got back from his 1 year check up and here are his stats:

Weight 23 lb 7 oz (55%)
Height 30″ (50%)
Head Circumference 18.5″ (75%)

At our last visit he was 75% across the board so he’s come down some in height and weight. He’s still toting that large noggin around. We just know that he’s got a massive brain in there! The pediatrician was very pleased with him overall. She said developmentally he is actually slightly ahead of where he needs to be. He can locate his foot and mouth which apparently doesn’t typically happen until around 15 months. Told you that noggin housed a large brain!

He also did really well with his Ouchies. He had a finger prick and 3 shots. He didn’t make a peep when he got his finger pricked. He was just annoyed at the nurse for putting a bandaid on his finger. He did however scream quite loudly when he got his 3 shots. Within about 45 seconds however, we was A-OK. That’s our tough guy!

Yesterday we had lunch with the Kings. The Kings have a little girl named Kaelyn that was in the hospital with Maia. Kaelyn is doing great and is absolutely beautiful. It was so good to see everyone.

That’s all for now. Below are some pics over the last couple of weeks.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Eli’s corner

Here are some of the Christmas and birthday presents! He now has his own kid corner!

 

Headed to Tallahassee

Pit stop #1. A little drizzle ain’t gonna slow us down.

 

Sabanekh and rice

This Lebanese dish rocks – spinach, beef and rice.  Shannon made it tonight.  Eli and I love it!

Before and about one minute later…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Happy Sunday

 

Eli Update

Look at me, I can stand AND I can see out of the window.

My very FAVORITE food is green beans. This can might last me a week if I ration them.

 

Halloween Costume Comparison

In my Halloween post, I mentioned that the costume that Eli was wearing was my sisters. Well Megan did wear it and so did I. I wore it at 14 1/2 months and Eli wore it at 10 months. It looks like I had a little room to spare. Eli probably won’t fit in it in another month. He’s our big healthy boy. He definitely doesn’t miss a meal and now that he is crawling, he eats even more! I love it!

Shannon at 14.5 months

Eli at 10 months

 

Thank goodness for grandparents!

Eli has spent some quality time with some of his grandparents lately.

Back in mid-October, Mai, Elias’s mom came for a week and watched Eli while I was out of town teaching. Eli was in heaven! I think I even caught a hint of him babbling in Arabic after she left. Mai is amazing, she’s a do-er which is so nice. She grocery shopped, cooked lots of stuff from scratch and took care of Eli. So both Eli’s were taken care of! We were so sad to see her go.

Now Eli is at my parents house. We had a wedding in Anderson this weekend, so we dropped off Eli at my parents house (aka Camp Greenville) on Friday early evening and then stopped back through Sunday to see him for a couple of hours. Eli is living like a king! Now I’m in Columbia teaching a class and Eli is still at Camp Greenville. My fabulous parents are bringing him to Columbia tomorrow after my class so we can head back home to Charleston.

We are so lucky. Our parents are awesome and we are SO thankful!

Here’s a picture of Eli shopping with my parents at Wal Mart. He’s not so sure about the strap!

 

Happy Halloween!

My mom made this costume for Megan when she was a baby. Eli received quite a few compliments on it this evening. Thanks Grandma Marcia…it was a hit again. I guess cheetahs/tigers/leopards don’t go out of style. What exactly is it anyway?

We had a great evening trick or treating with about 20 other kids (batman, spider man, pirate, princess, blue dinosaur, fancy nancy, and many more). Our mode of transportation was hay ride pulled by a giant red tractor. It was fun to watch the kids jump off hit a few houses and then hop back on. What a great evening.

Eli visited one house and received a twizzler which he sucked on for part of the ride. I’m sure there will be plenty more next year!

 

P.S. Celebrations!

I can’t believe I forgot a very important celebration. Megan and Hunter celebrated their 1 year anniversary this past Sunday! Congrats sister and bro in law!

What a gorgeous couple! Congrats!

 

Visiting dad at the office

 

Celebrations!

I’m so bummed. I created a post on my phone Wednesday regarding Elias’s birthday and just realized that it never posted.

Wednesday, October 26th marked Elias’s 36th birthday. We had a mini celebration due to it being the middle of the week. Eli and I made him a mini cake. It was quite pitiful in appearance actually but it served its purpose and tasted good. We will celebrate a bit more this weekend! He certainly deserves a HUGE celebration as he is such a wonderful husband and dad.

October 26th also marked Eli’s 10 month birthday and as you saw in the previous video he’s crawling. So that deserves a celebration as well. He is hilarious to watch on the video monitor. We put him down for a nap and he spends the first 15-30 minutes crawling from one end of the crib to another with his lovey in his mouth. Then he eventually settles down and naps. When he is done napping, he just sits up in his crib, hangs out and waves his lovey around until we come get him. He is SO good and we are SO thankful!

October 26th also marks 17 months since Maia’s departure of this world and entrance into a much more beautiful and peaceful one. October 26th is also just one day past what would have been her 27 month birthday.

October 23rd deserves a huge CONGRATS and round of applause. October 23rd marks my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary! To celebrate, they took a train ride through the mountains of NC. We are so proud of them for honoring their commitment to each other. They have set the bar pretty high for us. To make it as long as they have, we have 8 times longer than what we’ve been married already! Crazy! Congratulations Mom and Dad. We love you!!

One final celebration is for our wonderful friends, The Wilsons. I recently read on their blog (The Wilson Heart) that they are expecting a little one. The Wilson’s have two beautiful girls and had a sweet heart baby, Josiah. Josiah fought a long hard battle here on earth but joined the Father about 4 months prior to Maia. The Wilson’s are a beautiful Christian family and will be wonderful parents to their new little one.

So much to celebrate as we approach this year’s Thanksgiving! We are so blessed and feel that we are exactly where God wants us to be!

Pitiful homemade cake

Mom & Dad’s 40th Anniversary