Happy Halloween!

Lydia and Eli kept raising there arm and saying "Yee Haw"! They were so stinking cute!

Awww, my sweet Woody!

I don't really understand why Lydia was doing, but it looked kind of like a Sumu Wrestler entering the ring?!?! LOL, but she sure was cute!

Meet the pumpkins! Lydia's is the one on the left, then Christy's, followed by Eli's on the right.

Woody (aka Eli) was very upset he didn't have a hat, Jesse (aka Lydia) was very upset she didn't have boots.... an almost perfect outfit.

Woody needed to test out his horse all dressed up... while it look like Lydia is being a watchful sister, she is actually about to push him off because she wanted to test out her costume too.

Aunt Christy and Lydia!

This year we were all excited of Halloween because Lydia knew what was coming, and her excitement was infections. We have had our costumes picked out and bought for months! (Seriously, ever since Toy Story 3 came out... which was summer time for those of you that don't keep track) Lydia picked out everyone's costumes, you didn't have a choice. Lydia, of course, was to be Jesse. Eli was Woody, I was supposed to be Barbie, and Michael was given a choice between Ken or a Soldier Guy, even Grammy was supposed to be Buzz Lightyear. We were lucky enough that Grammy and Aunt Christy were able to come down to go trick or treating with us. First though we had to carve pumpkin, have snacks, then dinner, and pig out on candy. While trick or treating was a bust because it fell on a Sunday this year, and being in the bible belt, there was so much talk about moving it to Saturday that there were trick or treaters both days. For those of you that don't know, Sunday is church DAY, there are 3 different masses, two in the morning to choose from and then another in the evening. So, when we started out we came to about 8 houses before our first door was opened. After that thinks picked up and by the end of the night our pumpkins were full (thanks mostly to all the candy that I was going to give out... but we didn't have a single person come). As we were approaching home Lydia started to whine that she wouldn't get to trick or treat for a LONG time. All in all, everyone had a great time.

Our song bird

Lydia has been blessed with many of my "gifts". One of those that she loves to let people know about is her ability to sing (and dance... but we'll save that for later). She has a current favorite song, "The Only Exception" by Paramore. She breaks out into song ALL the time. Just like her momma, she only sings the chorus and is always in tune, so it really makes for a wonderful song. This is one time that I had my camera handy for all to witness.

Caution: when watching this video it may make you nauseous! I was standing perfectly still, but my subject wouldn't stop swinging.

Getting Settled

Eli has decided that he strongly dislikes swinging the "traditional" way and this is the only way he wants to swing. So, needless to say, Lydia sometimes gets the same "dislike".

Our house is very close to Harrison Bay state park, and they have a great playground and then a stage! What better way to work out the afternoon giggles than to run around acting crazy on stage?

Lydia with her hair up (she is getting much better about getting her hair done on a regular basis so she looks less homeless now) ;)
I tried for about 10 minutes to get a good picture of both of them looking and smiling at the camera, this is the closest I got before my subjects got restless. Really, what was I thinking trying to take pictures at the park before they got to play?

So, now that we are all moved in, mostly everything unpacked, and ready to befriend our new community... what better way to do it than to make the rounds of all the parks and libraries! Already we have a couple friends that we meet out to do things with, which is really nice.

Our House!

I still haven't taken a front of the house picture, but this is part of it. Once we get landscaping in and grass I'll post again
Our escape artists bedroom (AKA Eli).Lydia's Bedroom
Family room (please ignore the box on the ground)
Dining room (still no pictures up... but soon I hope).
Part of the kitchen... I REALLY want an island in the middle for more counter space!This is where all the magic happens ;)

Bithday party!

The birthday boy himself!Eli and his Cookie Tray :)

Lydia trying out Eli's new bike... really, she just needed to make sure it was safe.Lydia wasn't left out either. Papaw Mike (Michael's father) and Mamaw Barbara gave Lydia a computer!

Lydia getting some much needed Grammy time.

Michael and his grandmother Vivian, It's like pulling teeth to get a smile!

To celebrate Eli's second birthday we wanted to throw him a birthday party. We weren't sure how the turn out would be since we had just moved to Chattanooga, but thankfully Knoxville isn't that far away and many people were willing to make the trip for our special boy. Everyone may know that Michael can put the cookie monster to shame... well Eli has the same genes apparently. After attending recent friends birthday parties it became apparent that Eli was not a cake guy (I know... hard to believe). So, what better to give Cookie monster junior than a "cookie" cake. So after mingling, Lydia opening Eli's presents (Eli wasn't very into the unwrapping, more about the playing part, so he was more than happy to have Lydia do the honors), we did his birthday "cake". The party was a hit and Eli ran himself silly that night. Happy Birthday sweet boy, we all love you very much.

Happy Birthday Elijah!

Today our little boy turned 2! To celebrate I want to tell everyone all about our sweet little boy. He is the sweetest, most docile little boy. He plays hard, sleeps hard, and gets so dirty all the time. It is a running joke on how long he can wear a shirt without getting it dirty. Everyone says that its just boys, but I really think its just Eli. He is so "boy", Michael and I are fascinated in how boy and manly he is. Michael jokes that he is more manly than him. He is automatically driven to cars, trains, tucks, lawnmowers, and all "ball" sports. If you flip through the channels and happen upon a game, any game, then Eli will scream and throw a fit until he gets to watch an appropriate amount. He loves to eat! Eli's favorites are cookies (he's my little cookie monster, while Michael is my big one), but he also loves fruit. Eli has grown VERY attached to his blanket and insists on having it with him almost all the time in the house. However, he has very strict rules that all of us must abide by. For example, we are only allowed to touch the blanket when holding him, Lydia is almost never allowed to touch the blanket, and as soon as Eli sees the blanket, his thumb goes into his mouth. I could go on for hours gushing over our sweet boy. Happy Birthday Eli, we love you dearly.