Growing Up and Raising Up

School pics

2011-12-28T05:46:00.001-08:00

Don't they look so big...?

Andi - 6 months

2011-11-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

Well hello there. Surprised to see me? (All one or two of you). I'm still here. Sort of...

Andi turned 6 months old last week. Craziness... She has been a pure blessing and joy, but I definitely don't have much free time to get blogging done these days. I did want to get these comparison shots up, though.

Andi - 6 months

Tessa - 6 months

Eli - 6 months

And just for good measure, here's one more of Andi. Just cuz she's cute.

I just realized that I did a birthday update for Eli and now a 6 month update for Andi, but totally forgot to post anything for Tessa's 2nd birthday (back in July). Poor middle child.... Tessa, if you read this one day, please know that we love you very much! I promise to post something for your birthday next year. :)

Oh yeah…

2011-08-20T19:30:00.001-07:00

I do still have a blog. Good to see you, old friend. It’s been awhile.

Here’s a brief glimpse into our Saturday evening. It’s pretty close to perfect if you ask me.

3 years old!

2011-05-19T05:28:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that my sweet boy is 3 today. Happy birthday, Eli!

Introducing...

2011-05-08T14:59:00.001-07:00

...the newest addition to our family! Andrea Morgan (Andi). 8 lbs 2 oz. 20 in. Born May 8, 2011.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T15:24:00.001-07:00

It's times like this when it's nice having a dog around...

2011-04-05T06:11:00.001-07:00

And yes, I know chocolate Isn't good for dogs, but sticky chocolate residue...? No mop needed.

Daddy's Helper

2011-04-02T07:37:00.001-07:00

Fun at the park

2011-03-23T12:15:00.001-07:00

Two posts in 24 hours. Impressed much?

For the lunch ladies...

2011-03-22T16:08:00.001-07:00

Since it's been over 3 months since I've posted anything, I figured it was time to give my 3 loyal readers a little something. Here are the latest snapshots of my two crazy kiddos.

Now that I have a fancy new phone that will allow me to take pictures and post from the same device without the whole downloading to my computer song and dance number, I'll try to do short little picture posts more often. No promises, though...

And if you're confused by my title, those who it's intended for will get it :).

Daddies…

2010-12-09T07:33:00.001-08:00

You can guess who got her ready for bed last night…. ;)

Box O’ Fun

2010-11-21T18:49:00.001-08:00

Apparently the plethora of toys in our house don’t hold a candle to the fun to be had in a giant cardboard box.

This should make Christmas shopping a lot easier!

Superman and the Queen Bee

2010-10-31T18:36:00.001-07:00

Wanted: Minivan

2010-09-28T04:58:00.000-07:00

Reason: Need more seating.
Needed By: May 17th, 2011

;)

Another picture dump

2010-09-18T13:54:00.001-07:00

Here’s another one my typical posts - random recent pictures with short captions. It’s all I’ve got these days. Enjoy.

Eli recently enjoyed his first corndog.
I think he liked it.

This is the face Eli makes these days when I ask him to smile for the camera. Lovely…

Tessa has the right idea.

New fashion trend?

The weather was beautiful on Labor Day, so we decided to go to one of our favorite outdoor spots – Tannehill State Park.

We took a walk on our trail.

And splashed in the springs.

Disclaimer on the following videos: My house is a disaster. Garbage is overflowing, drawers and cabinets are open, random things are strewn on the floor, and counters and tabletops are covered with stuff. Not to worry, though. My house only looks like this about 85% of the time. 10% of the time it’s probably worse, and maybe 5% of the time it’s clean(ish). I am ashamedly giving you this little peak because I want to document these memories of everyday life for myself. Judge away about my domestication skills. I judge myself all the time. Just please don’t call child protective services :).

Birthday party

2010-08-16T06:12:00.001-07:00

I’ve been incredibly busy lately and haven’t had much time to ~~picture dump~~ blog, but I figured I should get pictures of Tessa’s birthday party posted before her next one rolls around.

We had a low key party at home with some of our family and friends. Fun was had by all.

Our little party princess.

Out to play in the kiddie pool.

Time for cake! She wasn’t too thrilled at first…
But then warmed up to it and dug in.

Aunt Jan thought the green icing would make great boogers.

Opening presents. And no, I didn’t wet my pants. I just picked up wet kids outside. I thought some clarification wouldn’t hurt.

Uh…. Yeah. After the party was over I had to keep the crown and Tessa’s “toot-toot” out of reach of this little guy. Gotta start enforcing those gender stereotypes early. :)

As exhausting as I find it to throw these things, we had a great time celebrating our little girl’s big day!

1 year

2010-07-20T17:12:00.001-07:00

My Sweet Tessa,

I can’t believe you are one year old today! This year has truly flown by and I’m so sad that your “babyhood” is over. Really, you were never interested in being a baby anyway. You have done your best to keep up with your big brother since the day you were born. You crawled at 6 months, walked at 9 1/2 months and now you’re chasing after him all day long. You have been such a blessing in our lives. As they say, little girls are sugar and spice and everything nice, and this is certainly true of you. Here are some things about you right now that I want to always remember:

Your sweet smile lights up a room. I could look at it all day long. People always say that you smile with your eyes. It’s a good thing since you have that paci stuck in your mouth most of the time.
You have become a lot more communicative lately. You aren’t saying many words yet (some, but not many), but you definitely have a way of letting us know what you do and don’t want. I have a feeling you’ll be my little chatter box very soon.
You have been a complete mommy’s girl most of your life (I haven’t minded that one bit!), but lately you’ve gotten pretty attached to your daddy. You get so excited when he gets home from work every day. This melts me. As much as I love to be loved, I hope you turn into a daddy’s girl. There’s nothing sweeter than that.
I have loved watching the relationship grow between you and Eli. Even though you bug each other much of the day, y’all love each other so much. When he is sent to time out for being ugly to you, you always walk over and sit there with him, usually trying to sneak him a toy or his sippy cup to console him (a time out no-no). I love how you don’t like to be separated from him.
You LOVE to eat! We have no problems getting you to clean your plate. You are definitely your mother’s daughter in this area :).

We love you so much and can’t wait to see how you grow and develop over the next year. Happy Birthday sweet girl. We are so blessed to have you in our family.

Love,
Mommy

4th, Lake and Party

2010-07-12T19:46:00.001-07:00

In case you haven’t noticed, this is my second post in nine days. I’m patting myself on the back right now – figuratively speaking, of course, since I’m typing with two hands. Anyways…

We went to watch Birmingham’s spectacular fireworks show on July 4th in Homewood with some friends. While we waited for the show to begin we had plenty of family time…

…and booty dancing

And although the fireworks were beautiful

… I much preferred watching this.

This past weekend, we went to the lake with some friends on Friday night and Saturday. I wasn’t sure how the kids would do in the water, but Eli absolutely loved it. Here are a few pics from the weekend.

All that swimming made for one tired little boy. He actually ended up falling asleep on the float. Ahh. I think we could all get used to life on the lake pretty easily.

Later in the day on Saturday, we came back for my Grandfather’s 80th birthday party. Check out these old people gettin’ down! (not you, Aunt Linda :))

I’m fairly certain that my grandfather has never even touched a computer, much less seen this blog, but Happy 80th Birthday Paw Paw! We love You!

The overdue massive photo dump

2010-07-03T08:03:00.001-07:00

So here’s a ridiculous number of pictures and videos of my dear children. Since I’m posting so seldom these days, you get them all at once. You’re welcome. Or, I’m sorry. One of those.

Tessa’s been having some crazy hair lately. I think she may end up with the curly hair after all.

Such a sweet little ham

My sleeping angel

First pigtails!

We had a family cookout at the country last weekend. Of course, the mud puddles were irresistible to the kiddos.

Which ended up necessitating Tessa being transported to the creek like this:

And Eli getting “bathed” like this

How my children ended up so filthy while our niece, Ali, ended up without a speck of dirt on her is beyond me. :)

Our church had their big annual birthday Sunday celebration last weekend as well. There were bouncy houses…

And makeshift sprinklers (aka hose pipes that had sprung a leak). Definitely a favorite with the small kiddies.

This is what “relaxing on the couch” looks like for me these days.

The blurriness of the photos is a very accurate portrayal of how relaxing of an experience this really is. I wouldn’t change it for anything, though.

And last but not least, I just have to share these videos.

He’s so going to love that this is on the internet one day.

And that’s all for today. Check back for another incredible long picture dump in a couple of months!

Pictures, pictures.

2010-05-29T20:29:00.001-07:00

And finally, two weeks late, here are the pictures from Eli’s birthday party. I actually didn’t get that many. (bad mommy, bad…)

And the onlookers. (some of them, anyway).

Uncle Daniel and Peyton

Granny and Tessa

Uncle Chris and Ali

Aunt Rachel and Ali

Pop, Nick and Mawmaw

Bob and Grey

Zach, Sam and Tessa

A bunch of people unprepared to have their picture taken

Don’t worry, Tessa. You’ll have your party soon.

What a big boy! Here’s our annual football shot.

2 years

1 year

1 month

And, since it’s been awhile since I posted anything and it will probably be another month or two before I get around to it again, here are a few more pictures and videos for you to enjoy.

We took this video a few weeks ago. She’s off to the races now.

And that’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for stopping by for this thrilling blog experience ;).

Two years old…

2010-05-19T15:08:00.001-07:00

Dear Eli,

I can't believe that you turn two years old today! In some ways it feels like you were born yesterday, and yet I now cannot imagine our life without you in it. I'll always remember the day I found out I was pregnant with you. It came as quite a shock and I didn't feel at all ready to take on the responsibility of becoming your mom. Now, not one day goes by that I don't feel completely overwhelmed by the love I have for you and how blessed we are to be your parents. It's a pure joy to watch you grow up. You're such a sponge right now and I can see you learning new things every day. Here are some of the things you are doing and saying these days that I want to be sure to remember forever:

Some mornings if you wake up early and I'm still half asleep, I'll ask you if you want to come snuggle with me on the couch and you run up saying "nuggle!!!". I can always count on a hug and a kiss from you whenever I need one.
Whenever you want up on our laps you say “up pease! up pease! up pease! up pease! up pease!” until your wish is granted.
We’ve been working on manners lately, and you’ve now learned to say “tinkyou mommyyyyy” in the sweetest voice when you’re given what you requested. This just melts me and you could probably get anything you want out of me when you say that. Thankfully you don’t realize this! (yet.)
Daddy is thrilled that it is now baseball season and you are quickly picking up on his passion for the game. Every time a baseball game is on t.v. you excitedly yell “Beeball!!!” and crawl up in daddy’s lap to watch the game. It’s so cute that it almost makes me not mind the fact that baseball has taken over our television (almost...).
You are obsessed with all things vehicular and always point out cars and trucks and tell us who they belong to. Every time we leave to go somewhere you point out "Daddy's tut (truck)" and "Mommy's cawww (car)". This always makes me smile.
You and Tessa are quickly becoming best friends. You recently began sharing a room and I love listening to the two of you “talking” to each other and giggling in the mornings when you first wake up. I can’t wait to see your relationship grow. I also love how you say “I sowwy Tetta” when you offend her in some way (which also often happens these days).
You love riding on top of daddy’s shoulders and always tell us that you’re "up high daddy's sholshers" when you get to ride.
We’re working on learning your numbers and letters. I love how you say “fesen” for “seven”, “dubadoo” for “W” and “Yi” for “Y”.
I also love how you call crackers and tractors “tattoos” and grapefruit juice "baby juice".
When you see that we’re getting ready to go somewhere you get so excited and exclaim “et's go! Go daddy (or mommy) go!” You also say this over and over and over and over again when you’re tired of being somewhere and are ready to get the heck outta there (mostly in Publix). I love it in the former situation. Notsomuch in the latter.

These are just a few of the things that make your daddy and me smile throughout the day. One day these things will be a distant memory. I so look forward to seeing you grow up, but please don’t get in too much of a hurry. We love you so much. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

(birthday party pictures to come. I couldn’t get it together today, so check back!)

Family Vacation 2010

2010-04-26T20:06:00.001-07:00

I’m not even going to attempt to make this post interesting. I’m too exhausted and am crashing down too hard from my vacation high. Here are the facts:

Location: Folly Beach, SC
Event: Annual Family Vacay
Objectives: Have lots of family bonding time and eat huge amounts of unhealthy food. Check and check.
People in attendance: J.C., me, Eli, Tessa, Gramamma, Pop, Nick, Mawmaw, Chris, Rachel, and Ali

And here are the pics.

The beach had a huge tide pool that the kids played in in. No waves, undertow, sharks or jellyfish = perfect beach baby pool.

We had one tired and super snuggly little boy on our hands after all the beach fun.

“whooooaaa!”

Walkin’ the plank.

The fam

Our little family picture looks a little different this year than it did last year (and definitely different than it did 3 years ago). I wonder what it will look like next year???

The long awaited Grandparent blog update

2010-03-29T18:34:00.001-07:00

I don’t have much to share, but this should buy me at least a week before hearing the question “when are you going to update your blog”. Riiiiight?? :)

Eli is quite obsessed with his new cowboy boots that Gramamma bought for him. I had stripped him down last night before bed and hadn’t gotten his jammies on yet. Before I had a chance to, he found his boots and put them on (on the wrong feet, which made it even cuter in my opinion). It was kind of warm in the house, so J.C. just put him to bed in his diaper and boots (daddies…. :)).

Strikin’ his modeling pose.

Here’s a video of my sweet Tessa-girl. She’s not doing anything spectacular, but I can’t get enough of her giggles.

And here’s one more pic for good measure.

I hate to brag, but….

2010-03-02T07:30:00.001-08:00

I just can’t help myself.

This and That

2010-02-22T19:40:00.001-08:00

So I’ve pretty much come to terms with the fact that this blog is going to strictly be a “please-come-oooh-and-aaah-over-my-kids” kind of space and not so much of a “come-read-my-hilarious-and-thought-provoking-commentary” kind of space (although we all know that was a stretch to begin with). Really, the only reason I still post anything on here is that it’s as close to any form of scrapbooking or journaling that I’m ever gonna do and I need something that I can look back on one day to have some memories, ya know? So, if you’re interested in following along, you’re more than welcome. If not, I won’t hold it against you, because believe me, unless you’re a pretty close friend, I wouldn’t follow your blog if it were as ~~boring and self-centered~~ narrowly focused as this one.

Maybe one day when I have at least three whole seconds to rub together on a regular basis, then I’ll revisit the idea of actually blogging instead of just dumping pictures and videos. Don’t hold your breath, though.

Enough self deprecation. Moving on to the main subjects.

Tessa hangin’ out with mr. cutie pie, Grey. Can we go ahead and arrange the marriage? (kidding….. sort of.)

Bath time fun. Of course Tessa’s bath seat looks like the most awesome thing in the world to Eli (kind of like the exersaucer).

I just think Tessa looks really pretty in this picture. Please don’t tell me if you disagree.

We went to visit my friend Brooke the other day and Eli found an awesome mud puddle ~~face-plant~~ play in.

Our biggest news lately is that Tessa has started crawling (what???). Slow down, Mr. Time…

And here are a couple more videos for good measure.

Is it sick that I find that video funny? Most parents would probably rescue their baby from the overly determined toddler, but not us. No, we video and laugh.

Think these two might be siblings?

2010-01-28T06:56:00.001-08:00

Tessa – 6 months

Eli – 6 months

Eli meets the beebahs

2010-01-26T18:13:00.001-08:00

Portraits

2010-01-23T21:01:00.001-08:00

Eli – 20 months old
Tessa – 6 months old
J.C. and Lindsay – just old…..

We coordinated our session with Chris and Rachel so that we could get some cousin shots. These actually didn’t turn out too bad considering that we were trying to pose three kids three and under. A feat that completely exhausted me….

And here are the family shots.

Photo dump

2010-01-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

As is usually the case, I don’t have much interesting commentary to share with you all today. So, after much ~~nagging~~ gentle requesting from various members of my family, I’ll dump some of the pictures I’ve taken over the last few weeks. Enjoy.

In case your thinking how great the quality of these pictures look (even though Tessa was not very thrilled about the picture taking experience…), I took them while playing around with my friend’s Nikon D90. It’s pretty much my dream camera. And in my dreams it shall remain.

Moving on.

Our human children usually hog all this here blog space, so I think our firstborn needs a little attention. Isn’t she the sweetest?

Tessa’s first big girl bath!

Eli loves lining up all his animals. And for the record, the striped one in the middle is called a “Beebah”. It’s his absolute fave. I need to take him to the zoo soon so he can point out the real life beebah.

Eli “helping” to take the Christmas tree down.

Never too young to surf the web

“Hangin” with Ali at her gymnastics b’day party.

I’m not sure why, but I think this is so sweet. This is one of those images I’ll want burned in my memory in about 20 years.

Tessa and Gram

Such a smiley boy

Daddy has some big shoes to fill, but Eli’s trying!

Day at the park

One of my favorite pictures of all time. Priceless.

Come back tomorrow (or maybe next week…) to see Eli and Tessa’s new portraits!

Happy Trails

2009-12-30T22:01:00.000-08:00

So it looks like I've been on top of this blogging thing lately (six posts in the last month! I'm on a roll, folks). Impressed? I bet you are. Or maybe not, considering that all my entries fall firmly into the "mommy-blog" category (aka "incredibly-boring-to-everyone-but-family-and-maybe-a-few-friends" category).

And this one is no exception. Here are some pics from last weekend. We went hiking at Tannehill on our trail, and I used it as an opportunity to play with my new camera. Enjoy. (or move along to a much more intellectually stimulating or funny blog. Whichever you prefer.)

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

Testing out the new camera

Maybe I need to adjust the settings a bit...

That's better :)

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did. And, unlike last year, I remembered to take plenty of pictures. (Thanks for the neato new camera, Dad!). Here are a few of the scenes from our day.

Eli opening his first present on Christmas morning.

Books from Gram! Penguin books, of course.

(For those of you who don't know my mom, she's a wee bit obsessed with penguins. When I was growing up, our car had a penguin license plate, a stuffed penguin suction cupped to the back window, and "I heart Penguins" and "I break for Penguins" bumper stickers on the back bumper. Just to give you an idea...)

Tessa and Layla watching Eli unwrap his loot.

Sorry Tessa - You were slightly jipped by Santa this year. If it makes you feel any better, he did the same thing to Eli last year. He promises to make up for it next year once you have a better idea of what's going on.

But, Layla felt sorry for Tessa and thought some kisses might help.

Look at this precious backpack from Gram! My aunt also got Tessa the matching girly one with ladybugs on it. So cute!

Examining and arranging some of his new treasures.

Random pics

Look at the cool racetrack that Pop made!

Eli got so caught up in unwrapping presents that he thought they were all for him - even cousin Ali's. He was not a happy camper when he realized this wasn't the case.

And neither was Tessa when she took a ride in the back of Eli's new dump truck.

But Eli was happy to give it a try.

And then decided that it was more fun to stand on it.

Santa may have neglected Tessa this year, but the rest of the family didn't!

But who needs presents when you've got such a wonderful daddy!

Even though this Christmas was full of presents, food, and family, we are so very thankful for the reason we celebrate Christmas. Thank you, Jesus, for coming into this world and providing hope for us all! Merry Christmas everyone! Have a wonderful New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

He's all boy. Hairdo and all.

2009-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows Eli can attest to the fact that he's all boy - wide open all the time, fearless, and into all things related to cars, trucks, trains and puppy dogs. But, after about a half dozen times of random people telling me what a beautiful girl he is (while oftentimes also telling me what a cute boy Tessa is....), and after countless tears and battles while I tried to comb out his tangly little fro, we decided that it was finally time for Eli's first big boy hair cut.

Oh, this wasn't an easy decision for this here mama to come to. I love his little corkscrew curls and was terrified that they would all be cut off and not come back. Plus, there's just something about that first haircut. I guess it's a rite of passage from babyhood to boyhood. Next he'll be shaving, driving and, well, growing up and leaving us (sniff sniff). Okay, maybe I'm jumping ahead of myself a bit. We'll just focus on the haircut for today.

Here are some before shots:

Look at that precious curly Q! What am I thinking for cutting it off?!?!

In the barber shop.

Then we got to the fun part.

Suited up and sucker in hand. He's not so sure about this...

Now he's sure that he does not like this. We basically had to hold him down while he screamed his head off.

But, even though the barber took a tad bit more off than I requested, it turned out pretty cute and he still has his curls.

Now I just hope everyone else in the barber shop still has their hearing....

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-16T11:29:00.000-08:00

Picture compliments of Gramamma

I'm sure this makes Daddy so proud...

2009-11-30T16:19:00.000-08:00

It's very possible that most people will think these are nothing-special video clips, but I could watch them for hours....

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my life? I really don't deserve these awesome people...

And here are the whole two pictures I took on Thanksgiving. I guess that's better than last Christmas when I took none. Yeah... Eli's first Christmas and I forgot to take pictures. Oh well. At this rate maybe I'll remember to take at least four this Christmas. (fingers crossed....)

Tessa with Grandaddy and Aunt Cathy.

Tessa with Paw Paw (and no - my grandfather doesn't have a fro, although that plant behind his head would make an awesome hairpiece for him, don't ya think? :))

10 years...

2009-11-21T05:02:00.001-08:00

Ten years ago yesterday, these two young people started their journey together.

J.C. and me - January 2000 (17 and 20 years old!)

What an amazing journey it's been! During that time we have finished college, gotten married, moved away, traveled to some amazing places, ~~gained a few pounds~~ eaten some great food, gotten our first dog, moved back home, bought our first house, and been blessed with these two wonderful children.

Eli - 18 months old

Tessa - 4 months old

It's been a wonderful decade, hon! You're the best husband I could ever hope for and I can't wait to see what adventures we have in the next ten years!

New pics

2009-10-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

I really have no fascinating thoughts to share with you all today. It's amazing how being around two small children all day every day can suck all intelligent and interesting thoughts right out of your head. Poor J.C.... He actually still likes to talk to me, even though our conversations these days often revolve around either poop, breastfeeding, or the kids' napping successes/failures of the day . It's amazing, really.

So, this post is basically going to be a bunch of pictures of our awesome kiddos. You're welcome, grandparents. Everyone else - I'm very sorry...

Look who's smiling! (She has been for awhile, but I think these are the first pics of that cute grin that I've posted)

Eli has a renewed obsession with all his old baby toys. If Tessa is in it, then it must be the greatest thing ever. I've had a tough time lately keeping him from stealing her paci, and getting in the swing, bouncy seat, bumbo, and now the exersaucer...

Quick! Snap the picture before he runs away!

My sweet boy. Please don't grow up. Pretty please? Thanks.

Post-face plant pic.

I assure you that this isn't what it looks like.

My loves.

Argh! I'm a pirate!

Eli was definitely "in character" during our church's trunk 'n treat event. Several times I had to stop him from stealing other kids' loot. :)

Take a closer look, please.

2009-10-12T13:07:00.001-07:00

Take a look at this picture:

Let me describe it to you since the colors didn't show up well on my camera phone. Pink socks, flowery jeans. pink and purple butterflies on the top (oh, and a pink elephant toy hanging on the carseat).

Now, if you were a random person in Chick-Fil-A and you saw a baby dressed like this, what gender would you guess this baby is?

Hhmmmm.....

And, if you happened to guess incorrectly, would you be utterly shocked when told that she is, in fact, a girl?

Come on, people.....

Do I see a Peruvian Pan Flute Band in Our Future?

2009-09-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

Spoon Training

2009-09-09T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hello my three loyal visitors! I know it's been awhile, but life is pretty busy with the kiddos. I plan to keep the posts coming (albeit sporadically), so keep checking back.

I recently decided that the time has come to teach Eli to feed himself with a spoon. Recently he has become very independent and doesn't like for me to feed him, and since we're both getting bored with all the finger food options (and not everything I cook is finger food and he will be eating what I cook!), it's time for him to learn the skill. Needless to say, our first attempt was.... well... See for yourself.

Perhaps chocolate pudding wasn't the wisest choice to start with. Any tips from the mamas on how to make this process go smoothly?

Tessa's not really doing anything cute yet, so I often forget to take pictures of her (poor thing... Think she might have issues about this one day?). But she's still pretty cute, so here are a couple of pics of her. I think we've gotten a few genuine smiles (not the gassy grins) out of her recently, so I'll try to catch some on camera to post soon.

I really hadn't thought that Eli and Tessa looked much alike, but now I don't know... What do you think?

Tessa

Eli

Definitely a resemblance :).

I tried to get a few shots with the kids together. Eli wasn't interested in sitting still, so this was the best I could do.

Creeks, Country and Cupcakes

2009-08-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

Life with a newborn and one year old has put quite a damper on my ability to blog regularly, so I've got lots of pics to share from the last couple of weeks.

We went to Tannehill a couple of weeks ago to hike and Eli got to ride the train and play in the creek! Tannehill is one of our favorite places to spend a pretty day. There's one hiking trail in particular that J.C. and I love. I have vivid memories of us walking this trail at different points through our relationship - while we were dating/engaged and were dreaming about our future together, right after we moved back from Florida and were wondering where we would end up with our jobs and house, when we were pregnant with Eli and were trying to imagine what our life would be like when it wasn't just the two of us, when we had Eli and were pregnant with Tessa, and now with both our kiddos! I get sentimental sometimes when we're on the trail because I can imagine us walking down it one day with our grandkids! Here are a couple of pictures of Eli from the day. (Unfortunately I didn't think to get any of Tessa. She was strapped to me the whole time and I'm not a fan of getting pictures of myself :)).

Riding on the train with Daddy

Splashing in the creek

Eli had his first cupcake the other day, compliments of Aunt Rachel. He seemed to enjoy it much more than he did his birthday cake a couple of months ago.

This is what Tessa was doing while Eli enjoyed his cupcake. I think she was jealous. Can't say I blame her.

Here are some pictures of Eli playing outside at Gramamma and Pop's (which we call "the country").

And here are some random pics of my cuties!

One month old!

2009-08-20T18:41:00.001-07:00

Happy one month birthday, Tessa! I already can't imagine our life without you.

Survived Week 1? Check.

2009-07-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

So we have made it for a little more than a week now with no major crises or meltdowns and are doing really well! Tessa has been a great baby so far. She mostly just eats and sleeps right now, so my main task has been to keep Eli from "loving" on her too much. I think I've said the sentences "Be gentle with the baby", "Don't touch the baby" and "Don't catapult the baby out of the bouncy seat" about 6,492 times since we came home last Wednesday :). He hasn't really shown any signs of jealousy, though. I think he's too young to really "get it" and has rolled with it beautifully.

But, I know the real reason you're all here is to see the pics, so here you go!

Got Eli from the grandparents and we're headed home! Tessa's not too thrilled about it at the moment.

I have to say that I'm lovin' all the pink stuff.

Layla's already lookin' out for her little sis.

Eli being "gentle".

Enough with this gentle business. Time to tackle Layla!

Eli has recently started snuggling with his stuffed lion when he's sleeping. This melts my heart!

and this laugh does, too.

(and yes, my baby generally does wear just a t-shirt and diaper when we're home. Pretty ghetto, I know, but it makes diaper changes a lot easier! Don't judge me... :))

I debated whether to post this on my blog, but it was an amazing moment that I want to be able to look back on when I go through my blog later. So, you get to see it, too. Don't worry - nothing innapropriate is showing, but you do get to see a slimey baby :)

Welcome to the World Baby Girl!

2009-07-21T06:39:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby girl, Tessa Kate, was born yesterday at 1:24 pm. She is 7 lbs 5 oz, healthy and beautful! Before I get to the pictures, there are few things I want to post.

Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for us throughout this pregnancy and delivery. J.C. and I are so relieved to have a healthy, full term baby girl! We were both worried that we would go through a similar ordeal with this pregnancy that we went through with Eli, but God is good and we made it! I can't tell you how great it is to have the "normal" childbirth experience and get to hold and nurse my baby right away and have her stay in the room with us (although I only got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night...). These were things we missed out on before and are soaking it all up this time around!

I want to extend a huge thanks to my wonderful husband and my friend, Rachel G. who helped me get through the delivery yesterday. I had wanted to have a natural delivery for several reasons and couldn't have done it without their support. Thank you so much!

Now on to the pics!

Last belly shot before heading to the hospital.
She's here!

Proud Papa.
Daddy and Eli taking it all in.

Monday is the Day!

2009-07-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well, Mr. Blood Pressure has gone on attack again. Although, not quite as viciously as he did with Eli. I do not have pre-eclampsia again (yet), but the doctor thinks it's best that we go ahead and get Tessa delivered before we get to that point. Since I'll be 38 weeks this Saturday, we've scheduled the induction for Monday morning. Although I had originally hoped to carry this pregnancy to at least 40 weeks, I'm fine with this given my body's apparent revolt to being pregnant. We are just so thankful that I have been able to carry her this long and that we are officially "full term". Plus, I have to admit that the selfish side of me is a little glad that the pregnancy torture will soon end given this 90 million degree heat.

So, please be praying for us on Monday! Pictures will be posted as soon after delivery as possible.

For those of you who are irked at me for not posting any recent pics of Eli (I know, I know...), please go visit my sis-in-law's blog to see some that she's posted. She's a much more diligent picture-taker/blogger than me I'm afraid...

Take That Mr. BP!

2009-06-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems that my battle cry has Mr. Blood Pressure quaking in his boots for the time being. He has retreated! Really, I'm quite sure it was not my little pep talk that put him in his place so much as God hearing our fervent prayers and those of our friends and family. Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for us. Keep 'em comin'!

On a side note, today actually marks the exact point in the pregnancy that I was at when I delivered Eli. So, I'm very relieved to have gotten a good report from the doctor today and that Tessa will be hangin' out in my belly for longer than he did. Who knows? Maybe I'll deliver late and have a 10 pound baby this time around. A mama can dream.... :)

Wow!

2009-06-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, as ridiculous as I thought our maternity pose looked, it pales in comparison to this. I couldn't resist sharing.

Thanks for sharing this link in my comments, Rach. It gave me a HUGE laugh!

One Year Portraits!

2009-06-07T18:27:00.001-07:00

We had Eli's one year portraits taken yesterday and they turned out great! I really thought that getting him to sit still, look at the camera and smile would be close to an impossibility, but with the help of the photographer, daddy, Gramamma, Pop, and some crazy dance moves by mommy we were able to keep him entertained enough to get some good shots (of him, not my crazy dance moves. Sorry... :)).

Here are a few of the pics.

The outfit that Eli is wearing in these pics was actually J.C.'s dad's when he was a baby. He and J.C. both had portraits taken in it and now we have some with Eli!

And now for the cheesy out-take. The photographer made us pose for this and we were both trying not to laugh. I feel like the caption should say "Yes, I will have your baby". Ah, it makes me giggle. :)

Dear Mr. Blood Pressure...

2009-06-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Why do you hate me and my babies so much? We're nice people. Eli is pretty cute and never did anything to make you mad at him. Now you're thinking about turning on Tessa and I hope to change your mind. I will be stalking you daily and will fight you till the end. Please keep yourself in check and don't attack my kidneys. Thanks.

Party time!

2009-05-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

We had Eli's birthday party at our house on Saturday and it was so much fun! I have to admit that I was seriously stressing about it because the 100% rain forcast was putting a damper on our plans to have the party outside on our large deck. I had no idea how we would fit 30 guests in our not-so-large house; but thankfully, God heard my urgent pleas throughout the day and the rain stopped right in time for the party! (big sigh of relief :)).

Here are some pics from the festivities.

Yummy hotdog!

Of course as soon as we lit his candle he wanted to go straight for the flame.

Okay, now go for it! Mommy wants some good cake smearage pics and just knows that you'll tear into it.

No? Here - I'll help get you started.

"Mooomm...." Everyone's looking at me! Get me out of this high chair!

Needless to say, the special little miniature cake that we got for Eli remained entirely in tact. (much to mommy's chagrin :( ....)

Moving on to the loot.

We love you so much!

Also, I realized the other day that it was time for another football comparison shot.

One year!!!!

Eight months:

Five months:

One month:

Happy Birthday Eli!

2009-05-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Has it really been a year already? At exactly this time one year ago we were in the hospital anxiously awaiting your arrival. It seems like yesterday...

One year ago I couldn't imagine what life would be like with you. Now I can't imagine what life would be like without you. You are such a joy and blessing in our lives and it's so exciting to watch you grow and learn new things every day. I do wish that I could freeze certain moments and keep them forever. I feel like our lives have been going in warp speed since you were born and I know that you're going to grow up way too fast!

I'm amazed that it's possible that in 365 short days you went from being this teeny tiny 2 pound baby:

To this active, rambunctious big boy!

And who would've thought that this is how your mommy would look on your first birthday?

Not me.

So what are you up to these days?

The most exciting news is that you've taken your first steps by yourself! You officially took your first steps last Thursday (May 7th) and had a few more over the weekend, but then decided to take a little break and started up again yesterday! You're taking about 3-4 steps at a time, so I'm sure you'll take off any day now. I would post a video showing off your new skill, but you don't seem to want to cooperate with the camera.

You're not saying too many words yet, but you seem to have "Dada" mastered. In fact, most of the time when I try to get you to say "Mama", you get a very mischievous grin on your face and say "Dada" instead. Haha. Hilarious.... :)

You've recently learned how to shake your head "no" and do it constantly. I'm not sure you know what it means yet, but it's cute. I'm sure it will remain that way until you do learn what it means and then it may lose some of it's charm.

I love you, bud. Happy Birthday!

Family Vacay '09

2009-05-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we had our annual Zannis family vacation in Chattanooga. Here are some pictures from our trip.

On our way to the Incline Railway!

Gettin' ready to climb the mountain.

Grammamma and Pop with the kiddos.

Family pics at the top of Lookout Mountain.

Eli and Daddy in Veteran's Park.

Eli and Ali with Pop

I love those curls!

My view looking down. Whoa, what a big belly!

Eli chillin' in the hottub with Aunt Rachel and Ali.

Of course, when we were packing up to leave, Layla parked herself next to the car and wouldn't move. She's always scared that we'll leave her.

So that was our trip! We had a great time!

11 months

2009-05-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

Is that crickets I hear out there?

I know, I know. It's been awhile since I posted. But, I'm horrible at taking pictures regularly and my daily life really is too boring for an every day (or even an every week) blog post. I'll try to do better Mom, Granny, MIL, FIL, Aunt Cathy, and the handful of other readers I may still have out there :).

I took this video a couple of weeks ago of Eli laughing at J.C. "fake boxing" behind the couch. He really thought it was hilarious. The video is difficult to see (we have low lighting in our living room), but the sound is really the best part anyway.

Here are a few more random pics that y'all may enjoy.

Eli discovering Layla's doggie door.

Out we go. Fun times...

Ali and Eli havin' some fun in the sun. Look at my big guy standing up all by himself!

Eli knows that it is a big no-no to play with Layla's water bowl, but sometimes the fun to be had is just too enticing for him. I looked up from doing dishes the other day to find this.

Yep - he's sitting in the salad bowl (which I often let him play with while I'm working in the kitchen) while splashing around in the water. Now I do realize that the appropriate reaction would have been to sternly correct him instead grabbing the camera and trying to hide my giggles. But then I would have missed this great photo op. It may not have been my best parenting moment (seeing as how it seems recently that we're back to square one with the water bowl issue), but it's one heck of a pic, don't ya think? :)

Can you believe that Eli will be a year old two weeks from tomorrow? A year old!!! I can't. Time is going by way too fast..... Stay tuned for birthday pics!

My little birthday girl

2009-04-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

And no, she's not "just a dog". She's my baby. My first born (sort of... :)). And she's five years old today. Happy Birthday Layla!

Here are some pictures from Layla's "childhood".

The day we brought her home.

Playful puppy

Snugglin' with Daddy
Snugglin' with Eli.

Eli hadn't quite warmed up to her yet, but I think he has now. (I can't figure out for the life of me how to rotate this video clip, so you'll have to turn your head sideways. Sorry... :))

Happy Birthday Layla! We love you!

She has a name!

2009-04-06T19:01:00.001-07:00

We have now officially settled on a name for our baby girl. She will be Tessa Kate Zannis. We've been heavily leaning toward Tessa for quite awhile for the first name (years, really), but we were unsure of a middle name until recently. Now that J.C. has agreed to this name, I decided to hurry up and post it before he changes his mind! :)

No pics on this post - sorry... I'll try to post some new ones soon.

Beach trip!

2009-03-27T11:14:00.001-07:00

As promised, I have posted some pictures from Eli's first beach trip! He had a great time and got to spend time with some great friends. Enjoy the pics! (and try not to get too jealous :)).

The happy fam.

Wow! Sand!

Look Mom! I found some seashells!

Let's have a taste.Yuck! It's a little gritty.
My two handsome guys.
Babies on board :)

Eli had had enough beach fun by this point. Maybe this scared him.
J.C. out in the kayak.
The group (minus Scott, Rob and Meredith). Gotta love big baskets of fried seafood. Yummm.

So suave and sophisticated

My little smiley guy.

Sadly, Eli fell down and got his first black eye on the trip (the first of many I'm sure). So pitiful...

Then and now...

2009-03-23T13:30:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful trip to the beach last week with some great friends from grad school (well, J.C.'s grad school). I promise to try to muster up the gumption to post a sampling from the massive amount of pics we took from our trip before the end of this week, but in the meantime I will share this:

April 2007:

March 2009:

It's amazing how much your life (and appearance.....) can change in 23 short months.

It's a.....

2009-03-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

GIRL!!!

Without further ado, I introduce you to Baby Girl Zannis (name still TBD).

Rest assured, this will be the last time I show off my daughter's "girl parts" on the internet! :)

Everything looked great on the ultrasound. She's healthy and growing well!

And of course, I can't have a blog post without posting some pictures of my other babies as well. We had so much fun in the snow!

9 month check-up

2009-02-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it! Eli is almost 9 months old. It's so hard to believe that we'll be having his birthday in three short months! We went to the doctor yesterday for his 9 month checkup and shots (wah :(...). The doc says he's doing really well! He's in the 25th percentile for his height and 10th percentile for head circumference (non-preemie adjusted). His weight is still lagging behind as he only weighs 15lbs 2 oz. It looks like he's going to be a skinny kid like his daddy, but the doctor said this was fine. He's healthy and active, and his motor skills development is right on target (perhaps even a little advanced) for his age.

We've been feeding him three meals a day for the past month or so, and have recently started giving him different table foods. We tried couscous the other night and this was the result:

Yep - we even got it up the nose.Believe it or not, we actually got more down the hatch than on his face, though you'd never know it from the pictures :).

One of Eli's new favorite kitchen activities is to help Mommy load the dishwasher.

What a great helper!

In other Zannis news, we find out the sex of Baby #2 on March 2nd, so be sure to check back then for our big announcement!

Rub-a-dub-dub!

2009-02-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Last week we started using Eli's "big boy" bath seat instead of the infant tub, and he loved it! He was always indifferent to having a bath before and now he has a blast just splashing around and playing with his toys.

Of course, Layla was intrigued.

So she finally took the plunge.

A few dog hairs in the bathtub won't hurt, right?

Crawling!

2009-01-19T13:37:00.000-08:00

It's only a few "steps" at a time right now, but that counts, right?

Eli is 8 months old today, so we took another football comparison shot:

8 months: 5 months:
1 month:

Here are some more pics (and video) that we took today.

So excited about his new accomplishment!

Practicing those push-ups!

This cracks me up.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

The loves of my life.

Thanks Granny!

2008-12-24T13:24:00.000-08:00

(from Eli)

Dear Granny (really my Great-Granny),

Thank you so much for my new walker. Even though my feet don't quite touch the floor yet

I still loooovve it!

Thanks for my awesome Christmas present, Granny!

Love,
Eli

Randomness

2008-12-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure you figured out from my post yesterday, J.C. and I are having another baby! Little Zannis #2 is due on August 1, 2009 which means that our children will be just over 14 months apart. And yes, we planned it that way (I know I'd be wondering that if someone else had babies so close together). Please pray for a healthy pregnancy and a full-term healthy baby!

On to a different subject. J.C.'s mom showed me some of J.C.'s six month portraits the other day. The resemblance amazes me!

J.C.

Eli
J.C.

Eli

So, it definitely appears that Eli got his good looks from his daddy. Lucky guy! :)

Thoughts on a Thanksgiving Morning

2008-12-22T07:29:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know that we're a little past Thanksgiving now, but I wrote this on the morning of Thanksgiving and am just now "getting around" to posting it :).

Dear Son or Daughter,

I learned just this morning that God is blessing us by bringing you into our lives. I can't tell you how excited and grateful your Dad and I are (and Eli and Layla, too, though they don't quite realize what's going on yet). You are already such a blessing to us and we can't wait to meet you! Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to our family.

Love, Mom

Could anything possibly be more disgusting than this?

2008-12-18T17:24:00.001-08:00

http://www.firemeetsdesire.com/

Flame-broiled meat scented cologne by Burger King. Barf.

The website is pretty funny, though. Keep clicking to make it spray. You won't regret it.

I had the best of intentions...

2008-12-17T13:24:00.001-08:00

Well, if you haven't gotten a Christmas card from me yet, then don't hold your breath. Despite my best intentions of being a good and domestic wife/mommy this year, I never got around to getting a good picture taken of us and ordering the cards.

So, Merry Christmas! I truly hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. Maybe I'll pull off getting the cards out next year. Maybe....

Bouncy trouncy flouncy founcy fun fun fun fun fun!!!!!

2008-12-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

(From the Tigger song if anyone is confused about my title)

For comparison purposes, these pictures were taken in the jumparoo just four months ago.

P.S. from Eli - Thanks cousin Ali for letting me borrow your jumparoo! I looove it!

6 month portraits!

2008-11-24T17:28:00.001-08:00

Check out my little man! Doesn't he look so grown up? (sniff sniff...)

Impromptu attempt at taking Christmas card pictures...

2008-11-22T06:01:00.000-08:00

What happens when, on a whim one morning, you decide to try to take a picture for the Christmas card and you have two adults (one who hates to smile for pictures), a baby, a dog, and the self timer on a camera?

Well, this....

Whoops. Forgot to take the hoodie off.

Where's Layla? And Eli is looking away.

Same thing...

Close... But not quite the one :).

Eli is looking away, my hair is covering up half of Layla's face, and J.C. isn't smiling. Let's try another.
Not it.

Also not it.

This one was the best one and I seriously thought about using it. But, Eli is looking away and he really is the main attraction to the photo (in my opinion, anyway), so I think we're going to try again on a different day with an actual person taking the picture.

Spiffy new look

2008-11-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

It seems like every blogger I know has been changing their blog templates, so I decided to follow suit. Like it?

Baby on the move

2008-11-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

I left Eli here:

only to come back 5 minutes later to find him here:

which means this has become an urgent problem (soon to be remedied):

P.S. - Happy six month birthday Eli! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Your dad and I love you so much!

I'm a big fat quitter. Literally...

2008-11-14T10:18:00.001-08:00

The self-inflicted torture of Friday fess-ups will resume after the holidays. We'll just call it my new year's resolution...

I know... Pathetic.

A first...

2008-11-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

In Wal-Mart today, I passed by a lady who noticed Eli and said to me "Wow! What a big baby!". Of course, she didn't ask me how old he was, but it was nice to hear something other than "Wow... He's so tiny. I have a 3-month old niece/grandchild/etc. that's soooo much bigger than him."

Can you tell I have a complex about this?

Pics from the week

2008-11-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

Eatin' his big boy foodYummmm!!

Mommmm... Do I have to clean my plate?
(And a bonus video for the grandparents...)
I've always heard that it's the cheap, simple toys that they like the most. I guess it's true!

Friday fess-up...

2008-11-07T16:20:00.001-08:00

Down .3 lb this week. Bleh....

Friday fess-up...

2008-10-31T16:01:00.001-07:00

Back on track.....ish...

I'm down 1 lb this week. Ho hum.

On to more exciting news (at least for me). I took Eli in to the Newborn Follow-up Clinic at UAB today. This clinic specializes in doing developmental assessments for premature and low birth weight babies. I'm happy to report that Eli is in the 90th percentile for motor skills development for his preemie-adjusted age (25th percentile for his "real" age)! They all seemed really surprised at how well he's doing. This is a huge relief for me because I have been freaked out by the possibility of Eli having developmental delays, autism, etc. (sometimes the internet is your worst enemy, ya know?). At least for now, these worries are gone.

They were also completely shocked that he made the transition to nursing after being bottle fed for so long. The dietician that we met with had worked at this clinic for 10 years and said that she could count on two hands the number of families that she's worked with who were successful in doing this. Big pat on the back for me! Or not. It was an answer to much, much prayer! Thank you Lord! I have decided, however, to go ahead and start him on rice cereal next week. He only gained one pound last month and hasn't been too satisfied after his feedings (I've had to start supplementing with formula some to fill up his little belly). The doctor thinks it's probably time to start him on cereals and baby foods (in addition to nursing), so we'll give it a try!

So there's the Eli update. I personally think that's much more exciting than my weight confession :). I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ode to my baby monitor

2008-10-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

I've been asked by several soon-to-be moms what my most treasured can't-live-without baby item is and I must say without a doubt that it is my Angelcare baby monitor (followed closely by the swing). J.C.'s coworkers gave the monitor to us at his work baby shower. I had never heard of it before we received it, but it. is. awesome.

There are a ton of baby monitors on the market ranging significantly in price. This one isn't cheap, but it is worth every penny (well, if you're not so fortunate to receive it as a gift. Thanks MAS/MSA! :)). The thing that makes this one so great is that in addition to being a sound monitor it has a movement sensor pad that you put under the mattress in the crib and it detects even the smallest of movements from you're baby while they're sleeping. Even breathing! If no movement is sensed in the crib for 15 seconds, there is a warning beep. After 5 more seconds, an alarm sounds.

Yes, we have almost had a heart attack several times when the alarm has gone off in the middle of the night only to find that Eli had wiggled his way to the other end of the crib (off of the mat). There have also been a few times that I think he probably had stopped breathing and the alarm jolted him back into his breathing pattern. Babies (particularly preemies) are prone to having sleep apnea. Most of the time they self-recover and begin breathing again on their own, but I wonder if this could be a cause of SIDS... This monitor will let you know if your child stops breathing in their sleep. You can't put a price on that kind of peace of mind.

The only reason I was able to get any sound sleep after we brought Eli home from the hospital was because of this monitor. I'm sure when Eli gets a little older and starts sitting/standing in the crib I'll wish we had a video monitor, but for small infants I think this one is the way to go. It's so great! I don't think I could live without it.

If you have a must-have baby item, please share it in my comments!

Oh, woe is me...

2008-10-24T09:42:00.001-07:00

Previously, on Friday fess-up:

I've lost three pounds! Yay!!!

On this episode......

What? Is my scale broken? It has to be. Because I was really hoping that all the junk I've eaten over the past two weeks was calorie-free junk. They make that, right? You know - the kind that if you eat it in small enough bites spaced out throughout the day then it really doesn't count. That exists, right?

You'd think I would know better by now...

I've gained two pounds since my last fess-up two weeks ago. Two pounds!! Uh, that means that in 7 weeks I've lost a big whopping total of 1 pound. I'm soooo over it. Only I can't be over it because if I throw in the towel, I'll continue to gain even more.

Why? Why must women struggle with this constantly? Why can't I have a brownie when I want one? Or three? Not fair.

So, tune in again next Friday. Hopefully my willpower will reappear this week (well, really make it's first appearance) and I'll have better news then.

In the meantime, to turn my frown upside down, I'll post a few new pics of my favorite little munchkin.

Life isn't so bad after all. :)

I've been tagged!

2008-10-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by my step-sister, Charis, to share seven random things about myself. Hmm... This will be a toughie for me. I started to attempt the 100 random things post a few weeks ago when my friend Brooke did it, but gave up because I had a hard time thinking of even one thing to share! But, here goes...

1) When I was in the 4th grade, I got my hair cut really short and everybody thought I looked like a boy. I was made fun of endlessly at school (mostly by my friend Greta's husband, Bob :)) and am still traumatized by the experience to this day. This is why you'll probably never, ever see me with hair above my shoulders again.

2) When I'm holding J.C.'s hand, I have an obsession with touching the deepest part of the crevices between his fingers (weird, I know). He finds it hilarious to close his fingers so that I can't reach them. It's not.

3) Before we had Eli, J.C. and I actually tossed around the idea of not having children (or waiting a long time before having them). Then, SURPRISE, we found out we were pregnant. I'm glad God had different ideas than we had, although we do wish we could have Eli and my paycheck (with me still being able to stay at home). Oh well...

4) Now, we're already thinking about planning for a second child in the near'ish future. Giddy-up!

5) I grew up an Auburn fan and actually went to Auburn my freshman year of college before transferring to Alabama (and of course changed my allegiance). Roll Tide! (Sorry Dad...)

6) I hesitate to post this on such a public forum, but I'm hurting for material so here goes... I'm not voting in the upcoming election. I have my reasons and I've heard your quite passionate reasons for why this makes me a horrible American/parent/Christian, etc. Please spare me. I shall one day return to the land of voters, but not this time around. I feel very fortunate to have the right to vote and the right to not exercise the privilege. That's all I wish to say on this topic.

7) I can't think of anything else!

In lieu of tagging seven other people to post this (most of my blogger friends have already posted things like this fairly recently), I invite anyone who wishes to share random facts about themselves in my comments!

5 months old already...

2008-10-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

Eli is five months old today. I can't believe it! He's growing up so fast... Check this out.

1 month old (at more than twice the size he was at birth):

5 months old:
Isn't that incredible? I'm excited about him getting bigger, but it's going by too fast! Slow down Eli!

Here's a bonus pic:

Taking a bye week...

2008-10-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you have noticed that I have not posted my Friday fess-up. No, I didn't forget. I'm just not doing it this week. I'm not even getting on the scale. I just don't wanna. And it's my blog, so there. I will post next week. I promise!

Success!

2008-10-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

I finally caught Eli rolling over on video!

And here's an out-take:

Friday fess-up...

2008-10-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Is it Friday again already? Really? Bummer.

I'm down .4 lb. So, I'm exactly where I was two weeks ago. (long sigh).

Down is down, I know. But, if y'all haven't figured it out already, the 12/12 date I had set for myself as the "goal weight date" isn't gonna happen. At least not unless my dieting motivation magically snaps into place really soon (don't count on that...). Maybe I'll get there. One day.

Grrr!

2008-10-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

We're sick parents, I know...

Side note: The "grr'ing" noise for Layla means it's play time and it cracks me up how she's jumping around with her goose in the background.

My Sleeping Angel

2008-10-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

5 Minutes for Mom is having a photo contest for the best sleeping angel and the winner gets a new kid's bedroom set! If this photo wins, I would like the Summer Breeze set for Eli. Here's my entry:

Layla (the four-legged one) is our first-born "child" and we adore her. When we found out we were pregnant with Eli, we weren't sure how she would handle sharing the spotlight with a human sibling. Ever since we brought him home, she has rarely left his side and is such a great big sis. I can't wait to see them become best friends as Eli gets bigger!

Here are a few more pics just for fun (not entered in the contest).

First meeting:

I love this one.

Cute videos

2008-10-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the videos we've taken of Eli this week. Please excuse mine and J.C.'s silliness in an attempt to get him to perform for the camera :).

Eli rolled over for the first time by himself yesterday! (Well, really it was the second time, but the first time was a complete accident a couple of months ago). Of course I ran to get the camera, but he decided not to do an encore. The video is still cute though!

We finally caught a few laughs on video, although they aren't as good as some of the other ones we've gotten when the camera is not on. I'll keep trying though! I posted two videos here because the second one cracks me up with the big sigh at the end.

Friday fess-up...

2008-10-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it was bound to happen...

I'm up (gasp!) .4 lb. Boo :(. Let the reproachful comments begin.

I'll spare you all of my pitiful excuses. And, I'm going to hurry up and post something else so maybe not as many people will see this shameful post. Ha! :)

4-month pedi checkup

2008-09-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

I took Eli in for his 4 month checkup today. Here are the stats:

Weight: 11 lbs 2 oz (3rd percentile)
Height: 24'' (15th percentile)

I actually expected him to weigh a little more than that, but the doctor seemed really pleased with his growth and said he's catching up more quickly than he expected. His percentile numbers are for his real age instead of his preemie-adjusted age, so I'm just really excited that he's on the charts. Our boy is doing great!

Friday fess-up...

2008-09-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

Wow - I'm seriously shocked this week.

I'm down .6 lb for a total of 3 lbs.

This is shocking to me because off the bandwagon have I been. Seriously... I drank sweet tea, got seconds at meals, and generally broke all the dieting rules. So, this is a lucky loss. I'm saying this out loud because I know how my brain works. When this happens I start to believe that the pounds will magically melt away without me having to work at it and then I begin to slip into really bad habits. So, I'm going to revisit this post each day this week to try to remind myself that it doesn't work that way..... Don't y'all just love being inside my head?

P.S. - For those of you who may wonder how I get it down to a tenth of a pound (I got a little sass from my F-I-L about this :)), it's called a digital scale. It's probably not the most accurate scale in the world, but I report what it reports.

First Laughs!

2008-09-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

Last night we got our first real laughs out of Eli. It was so adorable! So what do I do? Run to get the camera of course! What does Eli do once the camera is on? Well, you'll see... (Please excuse the poor lighting.)

Why is it that babies know when the camera is on and then do the opposite of what you want them to do? Oh well, perhaps I'll have better luck "capturing the moment" next time.

Would you please pass the jelly?

2008-09-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hhhmmmm..... I love homemade jellies and preserves. And lucky me - I have a mother-in-law who picks fruit from her fruit trees and then spends hours peeling, grating, cooking and jarring the the yummy stuff. And it is delicious. I would say that it's worth all the work but I'm quite positive that I'll never be quite that domestic. So, I'm just really thankful that she finds it to be worth it and is willing to share :). That being said, I usually eat it pretty sparingly so that I can make it last awhile. It's always a sad day when I run out and realize that I'll have to go back to the store-bought stuff or beg for more.

Every time we meet with our small group, one of the couples prepares a dinner and the other couples bring sides/drinks/dessert. Last night the theme was "breakfast for dinner" and our friends John and Jessica made a delicious breakfast casserole, and J.C. and I volunteered to take biscuits and jelly. Hmm. Delimma. Shall I take my treasured homemade jellies or stick 'em with store-bought? They may not appreciate the homemade stuff as much as I do, right? And if they do, then they might eat it all. And that would be sad. So, being the only child that I am and thus having issues with sharing, I had decided to take store-bought. It was the good store-bought brand (not the Publix off-brand stuff), so that's not too selfish, right? Wrong.

As we were leaving, J.C. asked me if I had packed my beloved homemade jellies to take (which he loves, too). I ashamedly told him I had not... Then he gently reminded me that we should always share our best with friends and that we needed to make sure that we taught Eli this important lesson. Oh, I felt baaaddd. He's so right. If my MIL had the same attitude that I had last night, then we would never have gotten the jellies in the first place.

So, thank you, honey, for reminding me of this last night. And thank you, MIL, for generously sharing your delicious treats. They were a hit!

Friday fess-up....

2008-09-19T08:33:00.001-07:00

The verdict this week is....

Down 1 lb. for a total loss of 2.4 lbs.

I guess this is going to be a marathon and not a race. Goals for this week: no sweet tea...

This really IS hard....

2008-09-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

No one ever said parenthood was going to be easy. And I never assumed it would be. And yet, somehow I find myself surprised by the fact that it really is difficult. At this point, Eli is starting to become a pure joy. He's mostly sleeping through the night, he's smiling all the time, and is generally a happy little guy with limited amounts of fussiness. He's not the problem - I am. I've discussed how I'm trying to overcome my selfishness in terms of having less quality time with J.C.. Another thing that I'm struggling with now is trying to learn how to sacrifice my bad habits in order to raise my child the way I know is best.

I am a TV addict. I am basically an only child and I grew up with the television as my constant companion. When I'm home, regardless of whether I'm sitting down to watch it (which I really don't do too much), I like for it to be on. I feel like the house is too quiet without it. And now that I'm home full time this means that our TV rarely gets a break. Poor thing... Do I think this is healthy? No. Do I want my kids growing up to be TV addicts and watching all the unhealthy things that are on all the time these days? Definitely not.

Before I had Eli, I told myself (and J.C.) that I was going to try to break this habit and learn how to be at home without having the TV on. I've felt for a long time that I needed to do this and somehow thought that having a child would automatically give me the motivation I needed to overcome it. How naive.... When we first brought Eli home from the hospital, I justified having it on because I was feeding him (or pumping) almost constantly, and what else was I going to do all day? Look at the walls? And besides, how much could he really be absorbing as a newborn? It's not like I'm watching anything "bad" like talk shows and soap operas. I'm watching things like HGTV and Baby Story on TLC. No biggie, right? Excuses, excuses.... I could come up with a ton of them because I really don't want to break my addiction. I really like TV. And unfortunately, having a child hasn't taken away this affection and magically transformed me into the parent I aspire to be.

Ridding myself of this bad habit isn't only good for Eli, but good for me. I've been reminded in several ways recently that I need to focus on the things that are important and have eternal significance and not spend my time and mental energy on the silly and potentially harmful things like TV. So, I guess I'll do what I should have done in the beginning - realize that it's not by my strength that I will overcome my shortcomings, and turn this one over to the Lord every day.

And on an unrelated note, here's the latest pic of my little cutie pie.

Bring it on Big Daddy!

2008-09-12T19:23:00.001-07:00

Oh yes, we have found it. The best bar-b-que in the state of Alabama and perhaps beyond. J.C. went to this place a few weeks ago with his coworkers after it won the gold medal in the Birmingham News' Best Ribs contest (beating out Dreamland!). After hearing J.C.'s account of how good it was almost daily since he went, I decided that I must partake ASAP. And, since it's a little out of town, we decided it would make a great motorcycle trip. So, J.C. took the day off from work today and we left the munchkin with Gramamma and Pop to hit the road for our little adventure.

Man, the food was amazing! They have the whole package - good ribs, good pork, good side dishes like fried corn on the cob and turnip greens, and of course good sweet tea (a must for any bar-b-que joint). This one was a real winner. I highly recommend it.

Here I am with Big Daddy himself. Please excuse the helmet-head hair I've got goin' on here.

After lunch we decided to ride around for awhile and ended up going to Swann Bridge - one of the few remaining wooden covered bridges in the state. I had such a wonderful day hangin' out with the best hubby in the world!

Beautiful scenery!

Ah, the motorcycle. We love it so.

And of course, I can't post pics on my blog without at least one of them including the little guy, so here he is hangin out with his Gram.

Friday fess-up

2008-09-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

As promised in my post last week, I have to fess up about my weight progress. So.... (drumroll).......

I lost 1.4 lbs this week.

eh...

It's a loss, so I'm not devastated, but I definitely could have done better (especially for week 1). I pretty much blew it yesterday by eating every delicious bite on my plate at the Greek Festival and then eating Chick-Fil-A (with sweet tea...) for dinner. I'm going to purposefully blow it again today because J.C. took the day off from work and we have been planning for weeks to make a trek out to Warrior to this really good BBQ place he found. Oh well. I'll have six days to make up for it before my next fess-up. Happy Friday everyone!

Baby awkwardness

2008-09-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

I've observed that there are generally two types of people when it comes to babies. Those who love them and just must hold them. All of them. Even those belonging to strangers. And those who give the customary "oh how cute" schpeal to the parents but are perfectly fine with letting the kid be. They're just not "baby people". I myself fall into the latter category. I do think babies are cute and absolutely adore the one that belongs to me, but have no pressing desire to hold random babies just for the sake of holding them. It doesn't bother me to hold them, especially if it has a purpose like helping the mom out if she needs both hands for something, and I certainly want to hold the babies of my close friends and relatives. But, I would never in a million years ask to hold the child of a casual acquaintance or stranger. That's just me.

That being said, there are also generally two types of parents in this world. Those who are very uneasy with their children being passed around and would prefer people to keep their hands off, and those who have no problem handing them off to eager "baby holders". In this area, I'm also the latter. I really have no problem with people holding Eli. I completely understand why some parents are hesitant to pass their babies around, but I'm pretty easy going about it. Mind you, I would never hand him over to a random stranger or a sick person, but if it's a healthy friend or family member, or even an acquaintance, I really don't mind if people hold him. I want him to become accustomed to being held by people other than J.C. and me and I actually want him (gasp) to be exposed to some germs to help develop his immune system (this spoken by a woman who's child hasn't gotten sick yet...).

So, being that there are these types of people out there in varying degrees (on both sides), this can bring about what I call the baby awkwardness. Here's the scenario:

Person approaches parent and baby with "goo goo' look on their face. They say all the customary stuff like "He looks so great!" , "How adorable!", etc... My personal favorite is "He looks like a normal baby now" (in a tone of great surprise). This statement doesn't really offend me - I know Eli looked like a shrivelled up alien when he was born, but I do find it pretty funny that people would be shocked that he looks so "normal" now. Anyway, I digress from the topic.

So, person approaches and it seems like they want to ask me if they can hold him, but are nervous to ask because they don't know if I'm one of the moms who's paranoid about this sort of thing. I think about offering, but hesitate because I don't want to be one of those people who just assumes that everyone wants to hold him and then shove my kid on someone who's just being nice. This situation can be a little awkward.

So, assuming I know you, you are welcome to ask me to hold Eli if you wish. I really won't mind. Pick your moments. Please don't ask me to hold him while he's screaming and I'm trying to calm him down (as one lady recently did) and, unless you're a very close friend or relative, please give him back within a reasonable amount of time so that we don't have another awkward situation of me having to ask for my child back.

Think I might over-analyze things a bit?

Anyway, here are a couple of cute pics from our day of tailgating on Saturday.

Dieting Day 1

2008-09-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

Today marks the start of my new "lifestyle" with food. After the weigh-in this morning I need to lose 18.4 pounds to reach my goal. If all goes according to my nicely spreadsheeted out plan, then I hope to reach this goal by 12/12. That's doable, right? 18.4 lbs in 14 weeks? We shall see.... Check back next Friday morning to see if I've stuck with it. I'm hoping me posting this online will help to keep me motivated. Wish me luck!

The time has come...

2008-09-04T11:29:00.001-07:00

Well, the time has come for me to actually attempt to lose the "baby weight". Sadly, I gained about 40 lbs in my short 7 month pregnancy and am still carrying about 20 of it. So.... I guess I need to do something about it since I don't think it's going to melt away while I pig out as I had hoped it would... :(

I joined Weight Watchers about two years ago and lost almost 40 lbs in 8 months. While I'm not going to officially join again, I'm going to try my gosh-darndest to follow the plan. It'll be tough to do it without having to go to the meetings for my "moment of truth". So instead, I am going to post my weekly gains/losses on here every Friday morning starting next Friday. I will not post my actual weight (what woman would!), but will post how many pounds I lost or gained that week. I need accountability!

ugh... Let the dieting begin.