September Randomness

Just being silly

Acadia, Wynn, Eli, & Lauryn

We have been having too much fun the past month.  At the beginning of September Eli and I took a wonderful extended weekend trip to Chicago.  Oh what fun we had with Grandma, Papa, Uncle Dev, cousin Splash, and Katelyn.  I can't believe we fit so much yummy food into just a few days.  Portillos, Lou Malnati's, Naf Naf, homemade chicken noodle soup, and a few other favorites to boot.  I love going home just for the food :-)  Eli had the most amazing time with all of his new friends.  He and Splash really hit it off.  It was so funny watching them interact.  It was as if they each knew that the other was a baby as well.  They were gentle (for the most part) with each other and loved the same toys.  They kept taking toys from each others' mouths and wrestling around.  Eli liked to grab Splash's face and twirly tail and Splash like to follow behind Eli as he crawled and push him down with his front paws.  Eli just laughed.  It was too cute.  Of course Grandma spoiled him rotten playing with him constantly and feeding him yummy new foods.  I think everyone had a lot of fun together.  Our last night there we all went miniature golfing.  We tried to warn Katelyn that we are semi-pro mini-golfers but she insisted that she could keep up.  She did a great job!  We went to the most difficult/intense coarse any of us had ever golfed on.  I got a hole in 1 on the first hole (hurray!) and I think that did make Katelyn a little nervous.  Mom got the most amazing hole in one- on the most difficult hole.  She is always full of surprises.  Dad ended up winning even with his handicap (carrying a sleeping Eli in the baby bjorn).  It was so wonderful to spend time with everyone.  I'm glad Eli got to meet his Uncle Devon and I was so happy to meet Katelyn- she is so much fun!  Other things I did while in town:  visited with friends (Mrs. VZ, Sis. Rodo, Sis. Black, Sis. Caine, Sis. Thomas & all my other friends from church), sat in on a missionary discussion with Dev and Katelyn, went shopping, watched football, walked splash, played with the neighbor kids, went to the park, and played outside A LOT.  We learned that Eli does not like grass- it makes him very nervous, but he loves to swing.  It was the most wonderfully relaxing trip.  I love my family!

The day after we returned I was scheduled to work so life was a little crazy for the next 2 days.  Eli is such a sweet boy and loves playing with his friend (his sitter).  She is wonderful.  And Eli did a really good job on the flight for being such a wiggly squiggly boy.  At the end of the week we had a really special day.  My childhood friend/neighbor came to visit.  She brought her husband & cutie baby with her.  We love you Wynn, James, & Acadia!  It was great to catch up with them and all the excitement in their lives.  Wynn will always be my special neighbor/friend.  Thanks for taking the time to visit with us!

Since then we have been hanging out, trying to get organized, and working on a few projects.  I just re-finished a desk and chair (with the help of my awesome friend, Paige) and I'm now looking for a dresser.  I'm trying to make this little apartment more functional for our families needs and a little more Eli-proof!  We love him, but he sure gets into all of our stuff.  I call him captain destructo.

*Eli update:  He loves to eat pureed pears, his 4th tooth just broke the surface yesterday, he is 8 months old, and he just got his first haircut (pictures of that to come).