She Loves Him!

She clearly loves her little brother. And although you can't tell from this picture I think that he might be even more fond of her.

I'm 3 Yeas Old (And I'm 5 Months Old)!

The 23rd day of the month is clearly a good day for us! Both of our little ones were born on the 23rd- Lily on the 23rd of April (yesterday) and Eli on the 23rd of November. Exactly two years and 7 months apart. So yesterday Lily turned 3 and Eli turned 5 months!! We celebrated Lily's birthday yesterday with a fun trip to the playground with some of her little friends from my Adventure Moms group and a delicious dinner at Olive Garden. Yes, Olive Garden is one of her favorite resteraunts (and, ahem, one of mine too)! My favorite part of the night was when we were waiting for the waitress to box up our leftovers/get our dessert/bring our bill. We were sort of in this little corner nook and while we were waiting Joe told Lily that she could get up and dance around as long as she stayed in the little nook. So she started dancing and Eli, in that moment, found her absolutly hilarious! He just couldn't stop laughing at her- full out belly roll laughs! And she was having a blast entertaining him (and the waitress and possibly a few other families around us). It was quite possibly the most adorable thing I've ever seen. It's my goal this week to finally learn how to use our video camera so I can try to get this on video! We had a great evening. Happy birthday to my sweet and spunky little Lily!

Hunting Eggs

For a second year in a row we did an Easter egg hunt at Nonnie and Grampy's house. This year, however, Joe and I did everything- bought the candy, filled the eggs, and hide all of the eggs around the yard. I wanted to do it and I loved it! I felt like such a grown up- since this was the first time EVER that I was the one hidding the eggs! And the girls had such a great time with it this year. It helped of course that the weather was just perfect (sunny and in the mid 70's). Lily was quickly declared the egg hunting pro because she was so fast at finding them and was really excited to get as many as she could (they did have candy in them after all)!:) Brenna did great at it too and Lacey was content to follow behind a bit with Grampy and find all the eggs that the older girls missed along the way! A few times we had to step in a bit when both Lily and Brenna were going after the same egg, but they are so good with each other that neither of them got upset (pretty amazing). What a wonderful way to spend an Easter afternoon!

Easter 2010

Sneaking an M&M

This girl loves her M&Ms

We had the most beautiful Easter Sunday:

Sunny skies

Warm breezes

Worship celebrating our resurrected king

Family

Swinging

Spring dresses

Chocolate

Delicious food

Black Bear Time

Dancing

Joe's mom got this wonderful footstool for Christmas. If you hadn't noticed- it's a black bear. It's genius really. A footstool that doubles as a fantastic toy for the many little ones running around their house during family gatherings! As you can see Lily loves this little black bear and Eli seemed to enjoy her as well!:) The only problem is that every time I see the bear out of the corner of my eye I think its our dog Indy!

Eli's First Hike

We finally took Eli for his first hike! The day before Easter we drove to the coast and visited Camden Hills State Park. I absolutely love Camden. Joe and I got engaged there and were married there too! We visit often when my parents are here (they love it there too), but this is only the second time we have been hiking there (the first time being the day Joe and I got engaged)! It was a short hike- maybe a mile total- but it was a perfect little first hike for Eli. I carried Eli in the BabyBjorn and Joe was prepared to carry Lily on his back in our Kelty backpack- but she walked the whole way!! She did such a great job! At the top of the hike is a sweet little "castle" tower that Lily just loved. And when we got to the top there was an amazing fog bank covering the ocean which made for a really cool view. It was sunny and warm and just a beautiful day on the coast. After our hike we headed into town near the harbor and ate lunch at a deli that is one of our favorites and then spent some of the afternoon exploring the harbor, throwing rocks into the water, doing log rolls down the beautiful green grass in the park, and discovering the library (which is a fantastic place)! It was one of those perfect little family days!

Strolling

My View

Eli waiting patiently for his sister to gather sticks

Whiskers the bunny joined us too!

Even the smallest puddles are hard to resist!

Lily showing her brother the sticks she collected

It's spring here and our little winter baby is finally able to meet the sun on a regular basis!:) These pictures are from Eli's very first walk with me (and Lily and Indy) here in Maine! Previous to this he had only been on two walks before (one with me in Florida and the other with Joe at home). Isn't that crazy? I guess that's what happens when you are born in Maine at the end of November! We had a great time on this walk- Lily collected sticks in her bucket and we just took our time strolling and enjoying being outside. And I've learned that when Eli is outside strolling he is a very happy baby-not a single unhappy peep out of him- just a few giggles here and there! Being outside is good for ALL of us and we will be taking MANY more in the next few months. Joe feels loved when we help him by walking the dog, Lily and I get some fresh air and a little bit of exercise, and Eli is happy! And some days we even learn a little about the world that God created (like tonight the three of us learned how dark clouds mean that rain is coming)! So we ended up a little wet tonight- but it was still worth it!

P.S. Thanks to Nonnie and Grampy for this fantastic double stroller- I love it! Thanks too to one of our sweet ministry supporters who made Eli this adorable sweater and to our friend Jennifer who bought him these precious fuzzy bear pants! We are well taken care of!

Family of Four

Above: Easter 2010

Below: Thanksgiving 2007

I just love my little family of four!

Look how far we have come in two and a half years!

Sick, Sick, Sick

I know that Eli looks pretty happy and healthy here. But that was earlier this week. On Tuesday I went to a women's bible study at my friend's church for the first time. I'm excited about the study, I'm excited about being with the women, and I'm really excited for the great children's program they have for the kids while the moms are in the study. On Tuesday Lily went happily to the children's program (some of her favorite little friends were there). I on the other hand had a little bit of a harder time leaving Eli in the nursery. This was the first time I have ever left him in a nursery (we keep him with us on Sunday mornings in our church). I didn't have to leave him (I could have brought him into the study with me), but I thought it would be good for me to get away for a bit and really be able to focus. So I left him. And my heart felt a little conflicted the whole time. But I knew it was good and as it turns out he did great and for 45 minutes happily watched all of the other little kids play! So, all was well. Until...two days later he starting getting sick. And yep, sure enough my little Eli is sick again and now his sister is too! Another little boy in the nursery that day also got sick the day before Eli so I feel pretty confident that that's where he got it from. Sigh. It just seems to be a cold at this point, but my little fella seems pretty out of it (Lily is taking it very well). I guess after RSV landed him in the hospital I've been pretty cautious so even this little cold has me a little more nervous than I probably need to be. I'm sure he's going to be fine and I'm sure I'll leave him in the nursery again sometime- but maybe I'll wait a bit!:)

Take my picture Mama!

Recently Lily said to me, "Will you take my picture, mama?" These sweet words have never come out of my daughters mouth before! Sure, she likes to look at the pictures after I take them, but she's not at all a fan of posing for pictures. In fact, trying to get her to smile for a picture is quite challenging. But this day she actually asked me to take her picture! I just couldn't believe it. So, what was the difference? It was Whiskers. Whiskers the bunny. During her cousin's birthday party Lily's Nonnie brought little stuffed bunnies for each of the girls. Lily's is grey and makes cute little chirping bunny noises. Lily loves Whiskers and she wanted me to take her picture with her new little bunny. Somehow her puppy and tiger also ended up joining her, but you can still see a bit of Whiskers cradled in her left arm. Of course she still ended up hiding behind them for one of the pictures, but this is progress none-the-less!:)

Brenna's Birthday!

Lily patiently watching her cousin open presents!

Brenna taking pictures with the camera she got for her birthday

A few weeks ago we celebrated our niece Brenna's 3rd birthday! Like last year she wanted a ballerina birthday party (the girl knows what she likes and sticks with it)!:) And really it was perfect for the girls- give them some classical "ballerina" music, a tutu, and some fairy wings and they are set for the afternoon! Of course I briefly attempted to get a picture of Lily and her two cousins in their cute tutus but they were having none of it! Once again it was so fun watching Lily and Brenna play together. Brenna would hold out her hand and say, "Hand, hand" to Lily and Lily would grab her hand and the two of them would skip off together holding hands. They did this a number of times- it was too cute! Happy Birthday Brenna!

Indy

This is Indy- our 6 year old, 80lb black lab mix. He is very loved in our family. We have had him since he was 8 weeks old. And in the years that he has been a part of our family he has slept in our bed to varying degrees. Finally though when I was pregnant with Eli we booted him from our bed (during the evening). Since then he has slept rather peacefully in our living room (except during the day when he claims our cozy bed all to himself). But something unusual happened when Eli was born. Indy stopped sleeping in our bed all together (at night or during the day)! I think that it happened for a couple of reasons. First was that Eli started sleeping in our room (in our bed in his newborn lounger or next to the bed in the co-sleeper). Apparently Indy didn't want to sleep around the baby. In the first few months we also changed most of Eli's diapers on a blanket on our bed. Apparently Indy didn't want to sleep where diapers were being changed (and who can blame him)! And finally, during the first few months Joe slept in other places (so that at least one of us could get some sleep). And Indy would rather sleep with Joe in a twin bed than with me and the baby. Overall though I think that Indy just figured that the bed was the baby's now and he just sort of forgot about it. And I LOVED it!! For the first time in 6 years our sweet, cozy bed was blissfully free of dog hair. But...about a month and a half ago Eli started sleeping in the crib in his room. I started sleeping in the twin bed in Eli's room (since he's still nursing once a night). Joe started sleeping in our bed again... and Indy started sleeping there again too (at night and during the day). Uggghhh...dog hair everywhere. As you can see he has made himself right at home (and yes, he often sleeps with his head on our pillows)! As cute as he is I've informed him that his days in our bed our numbered. As soon as our babe is sleeping through the night I will be regaining my rightful place in the bed (and Indy will once again be booted to the living room). And now that I know how delightful a bed can be when it's free of dog hair I will be doing everything I can to keep him out of there all together! I love him, but this tired mama wants her bed back!!