Eli Thursday

15 weeks

Almost every time I lay Eli on his back, he flips onto him belly just seconds later. Usually he is happy, lifting his head up to look around, but... sooner or later, tummy time gets old and this happens:

"Help, mom... help!"

I know, son. Sometimes exercising makes want to lay on the floor and cry too.

Eli Thursday

14 weeks

Eli loves to be where the action is, even when it is something as thrilling as doing the laundry, and he is even happier when he is in his bumbo where he can see what's going on. He looks so big sitting up like that! 

Also, this picture shows you how much hair he has, which isn't much more than a little strawberry-blonde peach fuzz. I love my bald little buddy.

Memorial Day

Now that we have Eli, Dallin and I spend our weekends and holidays doing different stuff than usual. In other words, spontaneous road trips and canyoneering adventures don't happen for the time being, at least not for me and Eli. So this Memorial Day, we took a little trip to a nearby creek with Dallin's brother and his wife and son. 

Our little trip reminded me how thankful I am to live in such a beautiful place. 

I love being outside. I'm happiest with dirt under my toes, sky over my head, and trees all around. 

And a pretty little mountain stream makes it even better!

We dipped Eli's toes in, but he wasn't a big fan of the cold creek water. No sir.

But cousin Levi sure didn't share Eli's opinion, as you can see. :)

Although Eli may not have wanted anything to do with the creek, he did enjoy taking a break from his brace, being snuggled by Dallin and me, and chewing on his fists.

Have I mentioned what a cute daddy Dallin is? 

I think Eli likes him too.

It was a really nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon. I can't wait until Eli and Levi are big enough to play in the creek together. Actually, I can wait. My baby is getting too big already!

Also, I just have to say I'm really thankful to be an American. Even though I may not be particularly happy with everything going on politically, I'm so thankful for the freedoms we have because of the sacrifices others have made to make the life I live possible. I know I take it for granted too often. 

Grandma Carmen

We made a quick stop to see Dallin's grandma Carmen today.

She loved holding Eli (who she called Snicklefritz and Toady... haha!), especially since he's bigger and more squeezable now than when she saw him last. 

It was so cute to see Eli smile and chat with her when she smiled and chatted with him. He's a little sweetheart. 

I'm really glad we get to see her often. She's a spunky lady with a lot of great stories to tell, and she's always so happy to see us. We try to stop by whenever we're in town. Even though Eli probably won't remember her well, if he does at all, I'm glad I'll have some pictures to show him when he is older. 

Eli Thursday

13 weeks

Unless it's been a rough night, Eli usually sleeps in his bouncer or crib in our room, but I often can't resist pulling him into bed when he wakes up to eat around 5:00-6:00am. He's so sweet and snuggly. He falls asleep after eating, and when he starts waking up an hour or two later I say, "Good morning, little Eli!" and he always gives me a big, gummy smile like he is just so happy to see me. I know mornings won't be as peaceful as this forever, but I'm soaking it up while it lasts.

I'm on Etsy!

Well, it took me longer than I expected, but I finally opened up my Etsy shop! I posted this tutorial on a whim one day and it ended up getting more attention via Pinterest than I anticipated, so I decided to try my hand at selling some of them. Feel free to check it out here! I also have a Facebook page you can check out here. I'll be adding more listings when I get a chance (having a baby, especially a sick one, makes things take much longer) so keep an eye out!. If you have any suggestions of ways I could improve my shop or items you might like to see feel free to let me know!

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

The weather yesterday was too beautiful to stay inside, so we grabbed some Subway and headed to the park for a little picnic. I brought my camera along to practice on my two favorite subjects.

They are pretty cute, both of them, if I do say so myself.

Eli loves to be outside! If he is fussy, which luckily isn't too often, a quick walk to the mailbox and back will usually cheer him up. 

I'm usually on the other side of the camera, but I'm trying to remember to have someone take pictures of me too, especially with this sweet little man that is growing so fast. 

Dallin can't wait for Eli to be less of a blob and more of a buddy. Often I'll catch him hugging and kissing him and saying, "You're gonna like me someday! We're going to be best friends!" I guess it won't be long before Eli becomes daddy's boy... although I still have the advantage since Eli looooves his food and food = mama. Muahahaha.

Somewhere around the time Eli turned two months old something magical happened and I finally got out of survival mode. As much as I loved his newborn stages, it's nice to feel a little more human and to be sleeping longer than 2 hour stretches (most nights, at least!). It's a lot easier to enjoy all the happy moments (and tolerate the challenging ones) when I'm not in zombie mode, that's for sure. And I'm really thankful that zombie mode hasn't  been finding me as much during the day. Yippee!