Thursday, October 29, 2009

My Sweet Pumpkin

Im not much of a nickname kinda girl, but somehow Eli has ended up with about 50 nicknames....many of which stem from Pumpkin...Punker, Punker Poo, Punks....he is my little sweet Pumpkin!
I bought some mini pumpkins to go in a center piece on the kitchen table for the fall holidays. Eli loves to play with them and at every meal I say things like "Look Eli, its a pumpkin" and then I will put it on the table and say "Where is your pumpkin?....here it is!" and I will point to it....I was darn determined to get him to be able to point to it when I ask where the pumpkin was by the time Halloween came around. We are a day away, and no such luck...maybe by Thanksgiving....
It was only natural that we went to visit a pumpkin patch.....








Old Friends

I feel so lucky to have friends that have been there by my side for about 20 years...man, we are old! Which brings me to the purpose of this post.....HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY LAUREN!!!!

Last weekend, Laurens sweet husband threw a suprise party for Lauren in Austin at her parents house. I had spoken to her about an hour before she was to arrive at the party, trying my best not to slip up and seem "normal." She asked me what my plans were for the evening, so I told her Blaine and I were going to have a date night, my parents were keeping Eli for the night, and that Blaine was taking me to a 'suprise' location. She was so excited for me that we were getting our and would have the night to ourselves.


She thought she was going to her parents house to pick them up for dinner to celebrate her birthday a little early, and to her suprise.....



Needless to say, she was very suprised and the night couldnt have been more fun...great friends, delicious food catered by Maudies and a margarita machine, what more could you ask for???













Lauren, Brooke and I have been best friends since we were in second grade, and to this day, they remain the best friends I could ever ask for.

Our friendship began as little girls having slumber parties, calling eachother to wear matching outfits so school, spying on boys, passing notes and having tea parties. It has blossomed into a friendship full of trust, love and laughter. Im so lucky to grow up with and grow old with these beautiful women!


Happy birthday Lauren!!!!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Vacation at home

Why is it that being home feels so safe. I still consider my mom and dad's home as my home, my home away from home. When I am there, I feel safe, and relaxed. I don't know if its because when I am there, I'm not constantly thinking of what I need to do to clean or prepare with my next free second, or that I don't have to pick up a finger for a homemade meal, or glass of wine. I don't think it's because my room upstairs looks like I am still in high school, dancing on the drill team with my Bat Mitzvah picture hanging above my bed.

I swear that the first few times I left their house after Eli was born and I was going home to an empty house because Blaine was at work I had tears running down my face as I drove out of the cul-de-sac. It kinda sounds like I live in another state or another country and don't make it home that often. But in fact, I'm just a handful of miles away and across the river.

So, we are re-doing our fireplace (Blaine is actually do it). I don't have any pictures of the original one because it was so heinous that I made sure it was cropped out of any pictures that it snuck into. In order for us to miss the banging of broken tile, the loud nail gun, the screeching of a miter saw, and fumes of Kilz and paint, we camped out at my parents house all weekend. It started out that I was going to go over there on Friday after Eli's chiropractor appt (that's a whole other story, for another time) and packed the bare minimum to stay the night just in case. Well, Saturday rolled around and we were still there, still hadn't gotten out of our pajamas and progress was being made on the fireplace....so we stayed the whole weekend. Blaine came for his daily visits and dinner since he cant bare the stay away from Eli for too long and we hung out at home all weekend long with my mom. I felt like I was on vacation.

Here is the thing about being at my parents house, Eli is the star of the house and everyone is excited to see him. He claps, we cheer, he poops, we cheer, he laughs, or stands up, or rolls over...you get the point...we cheer. So, all I have to do it sit back and be there to provide the milk, he provides the entertainment and my mom helps out with Eli.

My grandmother, "Mom" comes over every Saturday after services and Eli LOVES it when she sings to him. There is one song in particular that she sings to him in French that mesmerizes him.



It was a beautiful day on Sunday, so my mom and I took Eli on, the 3 mile walk to see Maw, my other grandmother. She has this truck filled with Lego's that has gotten so much mileage from all of the 6 other great-grandchildren, and Eli was no exception....


So, our weekend get-a-way home was great and the big fireplace reveal is soon to come!
It was time to end the weekend with our bedtime routine. We got home just in time for dinner, and Eli could not be more ready to get on with dinner and on to his bath...



He loves his bath so much that when its time to even just walk to the bathroom, his whole body tenses up with excitment! Its the same thing every night...I get the water ready, and he watches.

Check out those legs!!!! I mean, really, where did those legs come from??? This night our bathtime went a little different than usual. I had just undone the plug to let the water out and I caught a glimpse of something floating past the toy turtle, and low and behold...POOP...a poop nugget floating in the water. Eli pooped in his bath. So instead of wrapping him up in his puppy towel and making puppy sounds all the way to the bed to get him in his pj's, we scooped out the poop, and all his toys, took a second bath, and sanitized the tub and all the toys!
It was then story time, and off to bed.


Goodnight!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Short and Random Update

My best friend Lauren was in town this weekend to throw a Sip and See for Eli's friend Sophia. On Sunday, we went over to the Valdez's to hang out and catch up. Eli had so much fun over there that I could have just left and he wouldnt have even known it!

Between Gary playing peek-a-boo with Eli's feet over his eyes, to Cindy playing the "drums" on a Wheat Thins box, to Lauren letting Eli swap the dogs tail (it was a toy dog that Cindy gave to Eli), he didnt look for me once!

Note to self: next time, just drop him off and leave!




We have been keeping things pretty low key around here. Eli's newest discovery is water...as in to drink water! He loves it, and has figured out the sippy cup....
(yes, you are seeing right, his legs are crossed, he crosses his legs now whenever he sits!)

But would MUCH rather drink from a cup. My mom taught him that trick. I learned the hard way that it is important to keep ALL cups out of his reach!


Have I mentioned how much Eli loves his Aunt Rachel???? Sorry to be the dotting mother, but this giggle just never gets old!!!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Rainy Days

If you cant play in the rain, I guess the next best thing is to watch it!












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