Elias' First Birthday

It is hard to believe that this little guy is one year old now. My little 5 lb 11oz baby boy is now 23 lbs. Elias is grown so much over the last year. It is hard to believe that he was 6 weeks early. Looking at the picture below makes realize that our God is so amazing. Eli was so tiny and frail and now he is a happy healthy big boy. He as little to no delays from being a premature baby. He is steadily moving up on the growth chart. He is still on the small side for height. At his one year check up, Elias was 23 lbs (23%) and  29 inches long(10%).

Elias right after birth. 

Eli loves to pull up on the furniture. He is cruising around the sofa and ottoman. He has this little push cart that he loves to push around. He loves balls. He loves to eat them and throw them. He can even say ball. I know so big. He loves to throw the ball down and say uh-oh. He is a happy kids. He currently has no teeth but I am sure he is working on some. Liam calls him a drool monster. He is a great sleeper and napper. He sleeps 7pm-7am and naps from 9-11 and then 1-3. We are having a few issues with nap time but I am certain the are related to the lack of teeth. We have been swimming a lot this summer and Eli enjoys is as much as Liam. Eli does try to drink the pool water. This kid will eat anything. I mean ANYTHING!!!! His current favorite is pulled BBQ pork, baked beans and blueberries. He is a Texas boy! I just can't believe how bog he is now. We are currently dealing with some separation issues. He cries for a bit if I leave the room. I have been working on some independent play time and play time in the pack n play. He is doing much better. Eli loves his brother. He loves to crawl on and drool on Liam. Thankfully, Liam loves it too. He is great with Eli. We did have a few issues with Liam trying to carry Eli but we have worked those out. Elias is a happy, healthy boy and we couldn't ask for more! 

Standing by the T.V. His favorite spot. He likes to pull out all the cloth diapers. 

Eli likes to play the music on the table. 

Nothing like crawling under the table. I think we might need a tunnel. 

Eli's birthday dinner. Pulled pork, baked beans, grapes, strawberries, bread and blueberries. 

BBQ always leads to a large mess! 

His first cookie. I just couldn't manage a cake or cupcakes that day so Liam and I made funfetti cookies! 

We have loved watching Elias grow and change before our very eyes. He is an amazing boy. The first few months were rough with the colic, reflux, and milk/soy allergy, but we wouldn't change a thing. We are so blessed to have Elias as our son. Everyday is an adventure with Liam and Eli. We love every moment. This past year as been a wondrous adventure and we look forward to many more. God has blessed us greatly! 

I prayed these verses a lot while Eli was in the NICU. I continue to pray them for their familiarity and comfort. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

 ³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Two Brothers BBQ

Our life group from church did a fellowship night at Two Brothers BBQ. They are rated one of the top 50 BBQ places to eat. Chris and I have been there many times thanks to Troy and Lauren. So we shared our love with our life group. Plus they have an amazing play ground and sandbox. By the way Liam and Eli are not allowed int he sandbox. Apparently Chris has learned one to many things about the stuff that our children and get form sandboxes. Liam played on the play ground and Eli ate a lot! Eli  loves BBQ. This kids is so from Texas! He can eat about 5 servings of BBQ and still keep going. I will say BBQ anything with beans is hands down Eli's favorite food! 

Eating a pickle! He loved it and ate about 4. 

Creamed corn. He loved it. I am so glad he did not get my corn allergy! 

BBQ..... Brisket, Sausage and Ribs! 

Coleslaw. He really enjoyed that! 

More food! This kids amazes me with the amount of food he can eat! 

Summer Fun and Ice Cream

I decided to take the boys to Chick Fil A. At vacation bible school, Liam received 4 free kids meals coupons for donating to the Fisher House. Chris was studying and I was not in the mood to cook lunch. So off we went to Chick Fil A. Liam loves the cow!!! Sadly no cow visit for us that day but both boys walked away with a ballon! Liam was off playing. We wanted a cookie and so I decided that I might was some ice cream. Eli started fusing at me because I was not sharing. Normally we don't do sweets but why not! He loved it. A LOT! 

I couldn't get it to him fast enough! 

Look at that smile! Love! 

The other day we were prepping for bed until Chris heard this noise. We thought it was a toy going off randomly but it turned out to be the ice cream truck.  We have never seen an ice cream truck around here before and we have lived here for four years. So we got Liam and Eli and headed out the door. Troy was waving down the truck when we got outside. The ice cream truck parked right in front of Patty's house. She come out to help with the kids and she brought wipes. We let the Liam pick his ice cream. I was worried he would not eat it. I mean he doesn't eat ice cream at home ever. It is not because we don't let him. He just refuses to try it. Every kid needs an ice cream truck experience so we let him. Liam picked out the pink panther pop. The ice cream lady was out of a lot of stuff. That did not stop the boys and Poppy! I will say the ice cream truck has gone up in price. $2.50 per ice cream. Crazy! It was fun to watch them eat and enjoy this summer fun! 

All the boys walking to the truck. 

Eating their ice cream! 

Liam with pink panther, Jonas with sponge bob, Poppy with bratz, Lachlan with sponge bob and Reef with pink panther. In case you was wondering, yes Lachlan had his jammies on backwards. 

Moments like this make me dread leaving here next year. I am going to miss running next door or just meeting outside to play. I feel so blessed to have made such life long friends in the Gibbins. I know that were ever we go they will visit and we will visit them. They have truly blessed our lives with their friendship, love and support.  It is because of them that Chris and I found God and we are forever grateful to them for sharing their lives with us. So now I have to stop because I am crying like a baby over here. We love you Gibbins and cherish every day with your family! 

Random July Pictures

Here are some Random pictures of July!

Liam and I stayed up late one night for a game of candyland. He was excited to be up past bedtime even if it was only 730. 

My sweet boys after a haircut for both of them. 

Liam's self portrait

Eli loved this watermelon and beach ball at the Gibbins house. 

Abigail come over for a couple of hours while Sam took Kelly to the the airport for her mission trip to Ukraine. They made a secret fort with pillows. 

Eli and Leonidas. I promise you Eli is loving this. I am not sure why but he enjoys being trampled by Leo! They were both trying to get to the doggie chew toy. 

Liam insisted on helping Eli with his bottle one morning. Eli was not a fan! 

Rainy Day Fun

We received a fair amount of rain a week or so ago. Liam loves to play in the rain. Eli was taking his morning nap so Liam and I ventured out to the front yard for him to play. He loved it. He rode the wiggle car and played basketball. Once Eli woke up returned inside. After both boys napped, we all went outside for some more fun. Eli was a little unsure of the rain but loved playing with the ball just on the edge of the garage. 

Testing out the rain

He loves his wiggle car! 

Brothers! 

Watching the rain fall down and brother play

Hi Mom!!! 

Basketball! 

Eli loved this basketball. 

See so happy! 

A quiet baby.......

So I went to the other room for 5 seconds and this is what I returned too....... Wipes, wipes and more wipes everywhere! Eli loves wipes. He likes to ripe them out of the box and eat them. I know weird but to him they are yummy. 

Eating the wipes

See so happy! 

Some pure joy 

At least he is uber cute

Zoo with Blaire

Blaire shared with me her desire to go to the zoo. Well we just so happen to have zoo passes plus we can bring a guest for free! Blaire's plans for Saturday were cancelled due to Seamus working again, so we quickly decided to head to the zoo. Liam was a bit of a grumpy pants that morning but all was well.  Eli was a cranky baby. It also doesn't help that I left the ergo carrier and his beloved paci in the car. I am not sure what I was thinking. It made for a not so great morning with him. Liam did show Blaire all the animals he loves. We really do love the zoo. We are even more excited because we have a new baby turtle. Not just any turtle but a two headed baby turtle named Thelma and Louise. How awesome! I realized that I did not get a single picture of Blaire at the zoo. I am a horrible sister.

Here is the Lion statue picture. 

Liam took this picture of the Sun Bear. 

He also took this picture of the clouded leopard. He loved the leopard that day. I can say the leopard was very active and all over his habitat. 

Liam and the clouded leopard

Our Tiger was also on the move. She was super active compared to her normal laying around self. 

Thelma and Louise! Look at how cute they are! It was a made house to get in the aquarium, but worth it to see these girls! Liam is still talking about the turtle with two heads.