Picture Day

Today is picture day. We are going to attempt to take our family picture for our Christmas cards (yes, I'm going to be lazy and send out a pre-made card!) as well as get Eli's 9 month/10 month pictures. I say attempt because the last time we tried to get some cute pictures of Eli, Mason, and Eva it was disastrous. I'm hoping it was the oncoming ear infection and not the large, flashing umbrella lights that made Eli so unruly and uncooperative.

Being an organized person I had today all planned out and made the appointment to reflect the best time of day for Eli, after we had eaten lunch and had a nap but not too far after when he'd be wanting to lay down again. We are supposed to meet Dylan at the food court at 12:00 and eat lunch then off to Portrait Innovations for a 12:40 appt. Since Eli usually gets up at 8:00, lays down again by 10:00 and is up by 11:30 I thought this would be perfect. Yeah, right! I can here all you more experienced mothers laughing at my imagined control over Eli's schedule. I'm sure I'll laugh about it too....later....

So this morning started off as usual. Except for the fact that Eli woke up at 6:30! What the heck was up with that!? So we got up, me vowing to keep him up until 9:00 so that he would be really tired and sleep until at least 11:00. Well, that went well, we played and he sort of ate and by 9 he was really ready to lay down. Again, I thought, perfect! Well, I apparently forgot to let his colon in on the plan and at 10:30 he woke up screaming with extremely dirty pants. Totally off schedule and super cranky! So I figured I'd change him quickly, lull him back to drowsiness with a bottle and lay him down again in hopes he'd sleep another 45 minutes and be happy for picture time....

Currently he is in his bed, full belly, and initially he was quiet and I again thought, perfect! (why do I keep jinxing it in my head!) He is now babbling happily and saying all his words and noises.....Oh well, guess we'll get him up and get ready to head out to the mall. Hopefully this goes smoothly, they should let you do a dry run before charging you! If this goes well I might have some cute pictures to post and if not, I'll post what we get and have a great story to tell!

Trained Monkey

My good friend Vanessa has us over every Sunday for our "Football Sunday" celebrations. We get together, eat, watch the Bears, play with the baby, eat more, etc..... it's great! In the beginning of the season she decided we should teach Eli how to make the touchdown sign and to do it on command. We have been working tirelessly, and I mean that, to get him properly trained. I thought that maybe by the Super Bowl we would have it down. But surprise- he figured it out today! What a cutie! So what if he still can't crawl...or scoot... or really move forward at all :) At least he can make the touchdown signal on command. Let's focus on what really matters, shall we? So here he is!

Home again, home again....

Eli and I just got back from a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa Piper. We also got to stop twice and visit with the great-grandparents which was so fun! We are gearing up for a busy traveling holiday season! Luckily, Eli is doing just fabulously on his sleeping away from home. While we were with Grandma Jackie we traveled overnight to Iowa to visit with our friends Mason, Diane and Micah. We had a great little trip in a trip! We shopped and ate at restaurants then Eli and I got to spend the night at Mason's house. Eli was a star! He slept nearly all night (except for a dirty diaper at 11:00) and even went down for a nap the next morning. Can I say that I'm in love with Dr. Ferber again? Best book I ever bought!
In just two short days we will be off again to visit Grandma and Grandpa Welch in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. While sleeping is getting better the car rides are a little tougher. Seems like both the babies (Eli and Eva) are getting a shortened tolerance for the car. Not good! But we'll make it eventually. We're going to try driving overnight coming home- we'll get Eli all bathed and bottled then pop him in the car and pray for a sleepy ride home. I'll let you know how it goes! After that I'm sure we'll head to Galesburg one more time before Christmas and we're also going back to WI for another family Christmas- whew!
As I write my post I am listening to an awesome Pandora radio station that I created with nothing but Christmas music! Check out Pandora.com if you've never heard of it, I love setting it and listening to music all day. Cammie is coming over today for present wrapping and I think after the Bears play we'll watch Polar Express and really get in the Christmas mood! Happy Thanksgiving week to everyone!

A smooth transition...

Dylan and I played with Eli for a long time last night in his room. We practiced his butt to belly transition and he did it 5 times! Isn't it funny how proud and excited you can be for a little boy who is figuring things out? And if this is how I feel when he does something inadvertently (by reaching as far as he can in front of him and bouncing on his butt a little) then how much more proud and excited am I going to feel when he is a big boy and trying to do things.... and then succeeding? I'm worried I may just be crying tears of happiness all the time because he's accomplishing things! Tying your shoe, hopping on one foot, putting on a sock? I may just be one big ball of tears and snot (happy tears and snot) until he graduates from college! I guess I really just hope I can still get that excited about my baby boy as he gets bigger and no doubt sassier. I want to always feel like whatever he is doing is the most important thing in my day because I think our babies and big kids need to feel that from their moms. What? I'm a mom? Oh yeah, there's that realization again :) And finally- video proof that my baby is getting a little more mobile....

(Please excuse the sideways view! Now I know not to hold the camera like that!)

Waiting for Carpet

Tomorrow we get our new carpet (hooray!) but in anticipation I moved much of our furniture/belongings into the garage and kitchen. Here are a few pictures of Eli and the kitties enjoying the empty rooms!

Bathtime Song

I'm feeling too lazy to write much, so I thought I'd post a cute video of Eli singing in the tub...

My First Cookie

Here is a little lesson from Eli on enjoying your first chocolate chip cookie with picture tutorials...

#1) It is a must to use two hands when placing the cookie in you mouth. Also known as 'double-fisting' it is a clever technique that is helpful when you are trying to get as much food in your mouth at one time as possible.

#2) While eating, smear as much chocolate on your mouth as you can. This helps release the essence of the chips so you not only enjoy the taste but also the delicious aroma of chocolate for a well-rounded cookie eating experience.

#3) Smiling, cooing, babbling and flapping of arms are all acceptable while eating your cookie. This lets the baker (daddy) know that you think they are fabulous and may actually lead to you getting to eat more cookie. Play your parents as much as possible before they start catching on to your devious ways.




#4) Pausing for a milk break is an important part of cookie eating. An experienced diner will hold pieces of cookie in his mouth and then drink the milk, essentially 'dipping' his cookie in milk even though his mom won't take the lid off his cup so he can do it the fun (messy) way.



#5) And finally, place cookie on your shoulder and in your hair and ear to save for later. If you're lucky, mom won't notice the chunk you hid just under your bib (she noticed) as well as the whole chocolate chip that you melted with your fingers before smearing it into your ear (she noticed but decided to tackle it in the bath later).




Eli thinks that this is the BEST way to eat a cookie and everyone should try it like this at least once!