Me and my teddy

So one of the presents Eli got before he was born was this little teddy. It's extra special because it's a special non-allergin bear (which is perfect for my allergy genes Eli may have received). Unfortunately, Bella got a hold of it and lovingly amputated part of his foot (even before Eli was born). It's on my list to sew up...

I love my hands!

Eli found his thumb around Thanksgiving and has loved it ever since. Now he chews on his fists too!

Congrats Babe!

We are very excited to announce that Mike won Brownsburg Chamber of Commerce Member of the Year! He was chosen because of his involvement in the Chamber. They were very impressed with his participation at the Chamber events, luncheons, and town events. He also volunteers often and donates Driven gift cards.

Congrats babe!

A little poo-pooh

I bet by the title you were getting nervous! I almost forgot we had this Pooh outfit. He only got to wear it a few times, but at least we got lots of photos of it!

Eli - 3 months

Eli - 2 months

Eli - 1 month

Meeting Grandpa Dave

As I've noted before, Dave's cemetery in Rensselaer is so beautiful. Woodsy and comfortable, it's so peaceful and calm.

This was our first family photo with the dogs. They were happy to visit Grandpa Dave because they get to run around off-leash.

It was so nice to finally have Eli there. I love that Eli is right next to Dave's name in the picture, since after all, his middle name is after his Grandpa Dave.

We didn't have much time to spend there because we had to turn around and rush back to be in Zionsville by 7 pm for our first session of "Growing Kids God's Way" parenting class. I couldn't believe we drove all those places in such a short time, with a baby and dogs no less!

My first picnic

After we left the Heritage Lake house, we headed North on 65 to Rensselaer. We had a lot of stops to make that day and not a lot of time to do it. Poor Eli didn't get any full feedings, just a lot of little ones because we just didn't have time. Mike was surprised at how often and how long they would take since he never had to wait on us before. Back then, a full feeding would take us over an hour!

We took a break at Chick-fil-A in Lafayette for a picnic. It was so fun to lay Eli out on a blanket in the grass. They had the best grass, it was so green, thick and plush. He enjoyed his first picnic immensely, he ate and then napped in the sun. Couldn't get any better than that for a little guy!

We got a milk shake for dessert. Somehow, while trying to juggle Eli and the dogs, we weren't paying attention and Bear was able to discover how tasty whip cream on a milk shake is. Geez, you would think we don't feed him!

Remembering Dave

On September 23, 2009, we took time to remember Mike's dad, Dave. Eli was just a little over 2 weeks old and this was our first day trip with him. Our first stop was to their house at Heritage Lake.

We sat outside for a little while. It was over cast but the sun was breaking through the trees just a bit, right where we were sitting. "Jesus Rays", as I call them, were peaking between the tree branches. You know Jesus Rays, they are the beams of light that break through the clouds. They are always apparent in religious paintings so that's why I dubbed them "Jesus Rays. The lighting was amazing, we know Dave was with us. It was so beautiful in the woods.

I love my lips!

Not sure how many of you are Veggie Tale fans (a Christian kids cartoon series), but I love them. Anyway, one of my favorite songs is Larry the Cucumber singing "I love my lips." Eli had 3 different looks to him when he was itty-bitty. LOOK ONE: (featured above): no bottom lip. He would hold it in and suck on it. LOOK TWO: a mini bottom lip LOOK THREE: a full bottom lip (and it would sometimes stick out right before he would cry. Mike said he gets it from me... I am the sensitive one) Eli really looked different depending on what he was doing with his lovely lips :)

Elephant knees

As I said before, I loved baby Peanut's elephant knees!!! They were so cute and wrinkly. I'm glad we were able to take a few pictures of it because he only had them for a few weeks. Ummm, they are so cute!

Bath Time

Eli really did not enjoy baths at first. It retrospect, even though we tried to use warm water, we were in the middle of the kitchen, so it was probably breezy. You know how much you hate it when you are in the shower and the doors open a little, I guess this was like having a garage door open!

I was so afraid of holding him in this little tub, he was so little and slippery. Mike was not afraid of bath time at all. I would hold him and he would 'detail' Eli :)

Funny Face

Gotta love this photo, it cracks me up! He's so stink'n cute and he kind of looks like a grumpy old man too!


This is his "Hey there good look'n" face :)

The Paparazzi - my first photo shoot

I'm sure by now you've figured out that I like pictures... a lot! I think when Eli was born he thought he moved in with the paparazzi! I remember I took lots of him in the hospital and he hated it. He would cry and stick his bottom lip out.

It was so hard to take his picture because he was so sleeping. We rarely got to see him with his eyes open! Every time it would happen I would say "We have a baby... with eyes!" because I was so excited to see them.

So these are my first stabs at a newborn photo shoot. It was incredibly hard! I've included quotes from Eli or my thoughts too.

"What am I doing outside? It's bright and breezy."


"Mommy, can you stop talking about my elephant knees?"
I thought his little wrinkly knees looked just like elephant knees and it was my favorite thing because I love elephants!






"Wow, my mommy must LOVE taking pictures. She is wearing me out!"


"I guess I may as well give her what she wants, a little smile every now and then."

Mouth wide open

Just have to love this picture of Peanut sleeping with his mouth wide open!


And what's not to love about a screaming baby? Bear's trying to figure out what's wrong. He looks so tiny is his clothes!

Eli - 1 week

Since I enjoyed the belly pictures so much, I decided we would continue the tradition once Eli was on the outside :)