2 1/2 years old

I can't believe it but Lydia is 2 1/2 years old now. She continues to amaze me daily. She has the sweetest heart and is so polite it hurts. She is very strong willed which I hope she never loses, but learns to aim it at the right things. Lydia gives the absolute best kisses, hugs, and back rubs. She is a beautiful little girl and has an equally beautiful soul. Lydia we love you so much.

Happy Halloween!

Lydia and Eli in their "borrowed" wagon

Eli started out with a dum dum and ate it the whole time. Happy as a lark getting rained on and dragged around.

Eli watching Lydia jump around and say "quack quack"

Though Michael had to work today, we were able to actually have two Halloweens this year. Yesterday we went with our friends the Merlands to the Ronald McDonald Halloween Trail that they had at a park off of Watt Road. Though we all got eaten alive by mosquitoes and lost the Merlands half way through the trail, we still walked away with candy and a red wagon (The Merlands, our van can have tons of stuff in the trunk).

Today, Courtney, or Aunt Tatey known by Lydia, came over and we carved pumpkins, baked pumpkin seeds, and went trick or treating despite the rain. Please don't make fun of the bad carving... I was pressed for time. Eli went as a skeleton and Lydia as a Duck... and she actually wore the hat the whole time. Since we had the wagon, we used it (thanks Merlands), and the kids had a great ride while Courtney and I got great exercise. (We live on a hill... and for some reason no matter what route you take you end up walking up 3 hills and down just one?!?!) Lydia greeted every door with "trick or treat... quack quack". LOL Eli wouldn't let go of his pumpkin to get it filled with candy (that's one kid you don't want to take candy from!) so I had to get it from the homeowners and put it in his bucket.

We had a VERY successful run of trick or treaters too! I had bought 5 bags of candy and I ran out at 7:30 and had to turn off all the lights. (And I only had one piece!)

We also had the wonderful arrival of my first niece, Taylor, today, so Happy Birthday and Happy first Halloween!

Eli's first hair cut

I have known for a while that Eli had to go get his hair cut or else commit to growing out his mullet (LOL), so since we aren't red-neck and he's not the son of Billy Ray Cyrus, we went for the hair cut today. I got lots of recommendation on where to get it done, and finally decided upon Hair by Michelle. I hadn't even thought about the fact that today was Halloween, but as soon as we walked in the door I almost turned around. There to greet us were two witches, and since they were Eli and Lydia's first "Grown-up" witches, both halted at the door and hugged my legs. Thankfully we had a little bit of a wait and a wonderful playroom to make the kids feel more comfortable. It wasn't too busy, just a bunch of nice older women that couldn't stop gushing over the kids. Eli even ventured out of the playroom and started giving blocks to one of the witches and asked to be picked up by one of the older women. So, hair cut was a "go". Overall, Eli did great! There were a few tears shed, but as soon as our witch... I mean hair dresser... handed Eli a lolly pop he did great.

Now, it's Lydia's turn next time... and I think she's ready, if only I were.

BEFORE
BEFORE
AFTER

One year stats

Eli just had his visit yesterday with the doctor for his one year exam and has been pronounced a healthy happy baby. (We already knew that). He weighed in at 23 lbs 10 oz... I thought he would have weighed more since he feels heaver than Lydia to me, but guess not. For weight he was in the 60% (down from before but DR. said he looks great). His height is 30 1/2 inches and is in the 89% for height (Daddy's genes). He was a real trooper for his shots too. One little cry and then he was good.

Now for the bad news. Eli has no enamal on his front teeth and will have to undergo sedation to get caps put on 6 of his front teeth. While under general anestesia he will also have x-rays, teeth cleaning, and polishing. We had already been to a pediatric dentist, but the Pediatrician confirmed that yes it was necessiary. Boo! So as of right now he will be having his procedure done on the 9th of December. Please keep him and us in your thoughts and prayers that day. There is some good news with this. Usually this only effects either the front teeth or the back teeth, so he shouldn't have to have this done again when all his other teeth come in. Rarely does it effect the adult teeth too, so that's good.

Today Eli is recovering from his vaccines and a bug he picked up at the Ped's office (vommiting... poor guy). So hopefully this weekend we will be back to normal so that he can celebrate my birthday dinner with us and Grammy (Grammy is taking me out... how nice!).

Pumpkin patch!

Family photo! I got one of those Cegrums for my Cegrum pie.

This is the first picture of me with my babes... and of course neither one is paying attention to the camera. Nice try though

This is a picture of Lydia and her "Chicken Nuggets" as she so friendly called them the second she saw them. Not very PC, and I think the chicken knew because they ran from us. LOL
Lydia and the other animal... the ones she didn't call diner.Elijah and Aunt Christy

Elijah and his daddy (and he is a daddy's boy)

Lydia and her pumpkin... she only carried it for a few feet and then handed it off to Grammy (too heavy she said).

Sunday we all went to the pumpkin patch. We invited Grammy, Aunt Christy and Aunt Courtney to all come too. We all had a great time and since everyone actually came we also opened presents (be-lated birthday presents) and celebrated Eli's birthday. It was such a beautiful clear cool day... just the way I like them. Lydia right away picked her pumpkin... but it took me longer. I even walked away with a great recipe for Cegrum pie that I can't wait to try (but then Michael will have to take the rest to work... have to watch my diet). Overall... GREAT weekend and day. We just wish Nana could have been there.

Elijah's makeshift birthday party... his first cupcake.

Eli reading his book that Aunt Christy got for him.Lydia "helping" unwrap Eli's birthday presents.

Little Man Walking

Eli started walking about a week ago and he loves it. No big surprise, but he gets a kick out of walking around. Giggles all the time. Here's a video of him playing with his new toy.

Happy BIRTHDAY!!

Hooray! I can't believe it but today Eli turned one. For some reason I really took a trip down memory lane with Eli's first birthday as opposed to Lydia's. It made me feel so sad and happy at the same time. I can remember it all as clear as it was yesterday. I hope this memory is always as sharp as it is today. Anyway, to celebrate we spent time as a family together. There was lots of everything Eli enjoys doing (eating and playing). He is walking like crazy now... he still stumbles sometimes and crawls but he is doing great on his feet. Is it just me or does the second one grow up so much faster than the first?!

Eli (or should I say Lydia) open his presents today after our walk around our new neighborhood and he LOVED it. We got his a huge Tonka Dump Truck and some little cars (from Lydia) and he was having the best time taking them out and putting them back (video to come). We opened Granny's present (my granny... so his great granny) too and is was a great book that immediately went into the bath tub and was fought over like crazy (we might have to go buy a second).

I think it was a great day and we truly celebrated the addition that Elijah has been to our family. Eli we all love you so much!