Baby Gate

I put up this baby gate (graciously given to us by my friend Tia!) to block E when he's playing in the "dining room." It also keeps the dogs out of there, so he has one place in the house that doesn't have as much dog hair. Tonight, a little red triangle that he was playing with rolled under the gate, so.....

...going...

...going...

...Gone! Or should I say, Arrived!

check out my teeth and my cuteness

My precious sleeping baby. Wish I could have gotten in front of him to take the picture to get more of his face (and not the pack-n-play instructions/warnings), but couldn't get over there! Still, I love this picture; as mommy, I just look at his cute face anyway.

Here's my top teeth!

Waking up from the nap.

Looking at his grandma!

After the Rain

Grabbed the camera the other night after a quick summer rain. The humidity made the lens foggy, making an interesting filter!

Happy First Dad's Day

I am so proud of Doug in his daddy-hood. He has done a great job with Eli. Doesn't mind changing diapers, bathes and puts him to bed so I can go to they gym, gets on the floor and plays with him, holds his hand while we pray at dinner. Eli just loves him. During those first few months, E only had eyes for Mommy, being that Mommy was his source of food and all. It's been fun to watch him over the months become more and more aware of his Daddy, and get all excited when he sees him. E babbles with 'da da da' a lot these days, and I really think he is now associating those sounds with Doug. Just yesterday, I set E down on the floor and stepped into the other room, as Doug was coming up the stairs behind me. As soon as I heard Doug enter the room, E immediately burst into his "da da da's." I have to admit, I'm kinda jealous! I rarely get the "muh muh's" but do ocassionally. E and I went to the ceramics place last week and made Doug a special coffee mug with one of E's handprints and one footprint. It seems so easy but really it's hard getting that little active foot and hand to spread out and quickly stamp on the mug, before it smears everywhere. But we got some good ones. Here's our father's day photos:

Checking out the cards.

Look right here, Daddy....

So you like it?

My favorite boys.

I know MY dad would have been so proud of Eli, I wish he could meet him. I know he will one day. I often ask God to tell Dad "hi" while I'm praying. Miss and love you, Dad!

Squashy kind of day

Well, unfortunately it's time to say goodbye to the squash plant.

But, getting rid of it did make room for this little guy to pop out. I hadn't even seen him, he was covered by the non-producing squash plants. I don't know if he was ready or not to come off the vine, but I accidently made it fall off as I adjusted the bird block over the tomatoes. Sooo.......

...little jalepeno had an opportunity to make a photo shoot.

and again.

Here's Maggie, afraid the camera will steal her soul so she can't look at it.

And now here she is, in all her drooly glory.

I just have to blog about the series of strange events that happened today. None of which I could photograph, and looking at someone's blog is really all about the pictures (well, for me anyway. Ok, I take that back. I like to read blogs even without pictures.) So here goes. I drop off two pairs of pants at the alterations place to get repaired. The worker man was extremely conscientious, as soon as I walked in, he hurried over, taking the baby carrier from me, and even offered me something to drink! As I was leaving, he went in the back and came out with a piece of cake on a napkin for me! It was all very nice - but kind of strange. Maybe he was bored and grateful for the company I provided for all of 5 minutes. Later on, I went up to a local church with some gals from my church to load up their VBS decorations that we can use for our VBS in July. A lot of Baptist churches will use the same themed material, and pass the materials around, really helps to cut down costs. I casually chatted with a couple of the ladies (VBS workers from that church that were cleaning up), and one offered to let me use her materials from her room. However, she said a few times that she is a teacher and uses these in her classroom during the year. She had to leave, but asked for my number and said she would let me borrow her stuff. Ummm Ok. I mean, it's totally sweet of her to offer to let me borrow her personal stuff, but she doesn't know me from Adam, and I'm not all that clear what all it is she is offering. She does indeed call me a little later, and I end up going by her house, where she explains the meaning behind some of the items she created and used, etc. (She's an Art Teacher). As I was leaving, she said she could "read people" and just trusted me right away with these items. Kicker is, I couldn't understand her when she said her name, so I don't know her NAME. I was too embarrassed to keep asking her. I'm not sure we will use all that she offered, but it was really sweet, and somewhat odd, totally out of the blue. I do know that I will treat them with utmost respect and make sure nothing gets ruined!! So, by now it's Friday evening, and Doug and I like to go out to eat on Friday's. E is cranky, he didn't nap ALL DAY, but we decided to try it anyway. We chose the restaurant based upon the coupon we had on hand. At the end of the meal, E grabs a glass and spills water (very COLD water I might add) down my left leg and partly in his diaper bag; in the process of trying to mop it up, I spill my entire diet coke on my right leg. This is all going on at the end of the meal, as we are saying hi to an old friend we happened to see in the restaurant. Doug pays the bill and as we walk out, I say, "oh the coupon!" which of course we forgot to use. I was a little too distracted with all the cold liquid on my body! And Then, on the way home, we hear this really icky song on the radio, with the word "disco stick" in it, I don't even want to know what the pop girl was referring to, both Doug and I couldn't help but laugh (and be thankful that E doesn't understand all that much language yet). Whew. What a day!

Teething Saviour

We have found this little mesh bag, chewing trainer thing to be awesome to help with teething! I just put in some cold, juicy cut up fruit, and E goes to town on it.

He's going to hate me one day for posting all these weird expressions.....ok maybe not "hate" but highly annoyed....and I'll just tell him, too bad kiddo, this is life...

Mr. Baseball

This little sleeper outfit is so cute, I just had take some pictures and indulge myself and post!!!

C'mon, how cute is this?!

At the Mall

We recently met some new friends - Angie and daughter Bella, 17 months. We have decided to go walking in the mall on Tuesday mornings. I've walked the mall before by myself, and it's much more fun to go with somebody you can talk to! And it's also helpful to go BEFORE the stores (and eating places!) open. Angie and I are the same age with young children, so we have a lot in common. I always feel so "old" with my 9 month old, and I know I'm not all THAT old, but it's nice to know someone else in a similar situation! We let the kids play in the play area after we walked. Since it was early in the day, I figured the play area wasn't too cootified up yet. Didn't bring my camera (can you believe it?), but Angie had hers and let me take a couple of pics of Mr. E almost crawling through a tunnel.

Couldn't get him to crawl all the way through, but that's ok, we're new to this. Maybe next time!

Pool Day

It's great living within walking distance of one of the neighborhood pools. The one closest to our house is beach themed, complete with sand and beach entry into the pool. Great for babies and little ones. Well, if you stay around the tree-shaded areas, as there is not a canopy. I've been so ready to take E to the pool, so ready to start having fun summer experiences with my child! I think he enjoys being in the water, sitting in his float. I hadn't been in a pool in a long time, it felt awesome, pushing the baby in his float while I floated too. He wasn't real sure about the wet sand, but at least he didn't try to eat it. Looking forward to trying out some of the other pools in the area. Here are the pics!

Loaded down!

Do you ever take a picture and think, "I'm gonna love this picture"? This was one of those. As I was taking it I knew I'd love it. I love mom's expression, and how you can just see mainly one of E's eyes...Love it! Need to frame this one!

Summer Bubbles

The time after dinner but before bath and bed is always kind of negligible - some nights, baby E will play with his toys and be content. Other nights, like tonight, he seems bored with his toys (or is it that Mommy is bored with the toys?) and needs something a little different for stimulation (and something to warn off the whinies). So tonight we sat on the driveway and blew bubbles! Check us out:

Look, the lid! Something left unattended that I can grab!

Pop the bubble!