We also got to visit Eli's Godparents, John and Andie and their lovely little 5 month old Anna, our Goddaughter. I think spending the afternoon with little Mister Let's Go made John and Andie wonder whether they'd survive toddlerhood.

Here are some photos of Anna on her baptism day. She's a peach!

Here's a fun photo trip down memory lane...

Here's Eli the first time he met Great Grandma Reeves.


And here's the two of them this weekend.

The theme of this weekend, in Eli's words: "Let's GO!"


Another trip to Granddaddy's house last weekend provided us with lots of time with little cousin Hunter. Hunter is getting so big! He is 8 1/5 months old and growing like a weed! He is a sweet little guy and loved watching his older cousin Eli run and play.

My friend Laurie over at Burlington Blurb does such a great job writing about her family and the ins and outs of life with three rugrats. It made me realize that I haven't really written much recently, mostly just posted pictures. At the risk of boring the heck out of you, here are a few of the most recent thoughts and developments in our world...

You might be able to gather this from our pictures, but we have a great time at home. A really really great time. Sure, we have some typical toddler moments of frustration and incomprehensible shrieking, but we are blessed for the most part with a remarkably lovely, loving, happy child. He loves to help out cleaning up his toys, he loves to snuggle and play outside. He has a great sense of humor and he is a quick study. In general, we're about as happy as parents can be.

I don't claim that Eli is any smarter or happier or better than any other kid, just that he's the perfect amount of smart, happy, and lovely to make him Eli. He makes me happy to be a mother, especially HIS mother.

So what's he doing these days? Let's see... He's 18 1/2 months old now and he is all over the place. He can walk and run and he talks a blue streak. He sings a lot, sometimes recognizable songs, sometimes his own tunes. He loves to dance, either to the radio, his own CDs or to the thumping bass of a car bouncing down the street. He is remarkably coordinated considering that I'm his mother, and he is a great climber. At the playground today, he climbed a small climbing wall built for much bigger kids with no assistance (yes, I was spotting him). He is also fearless, which adds to his success as a climber but also the number of bruises and scrapes he manages to acquire. He loves to pat the dogs and would dearly love to play with them but doesn't really know the rules of dog play (like, you eventually have to throw the toy, not just dangle it over Tabi's nose) and thinks tails looks like a lot of fun. He isn't interested in TV unless he's too sick to do anything else, which has only happened two or three times. He loves babies and always has me stop at the window of the nursery rooms at his preschool before I dop him off so he can look at the babies ("Babies sleep? Shhhh."). He's a hell of a good eater and will try anything we put in front of him, although occasionally it will come back out again. His favorite food is cheese and he asks for it at every meal (it sounds the same as "keys" and "trees" so context is important here).

He's incredible.


p.s. I do want to shout out to Laurie Burlington because Eli and I LOVE being in her music class on Friday mornings. It is SO much fun and Eli sings the songs all week long, whether or not I play the tape. Thanks for being a Music Class rock star, Laurie!

It is finally warm enough to run around in diapers... and drink from a big boy cup!

Mowing Grumpy and Grandmaman's lawn


Easter baby

Eli and his friend "Buster".

Our little rock star.

A few weeks ago, Eli and Kevin went to North Carolina to visit Granddaddy Simmons in Pilot Mountain. It was cold but that didn't stop the swinging!

My friend and parishioner Sarah McKibben is a running rock star and is working her tail off to get a place in the Evotri triathalon team. You can go HERE to read more about her story and to VOTE FOR HER!!

Contrary to what you might believe by reading this blog, we don't actually go to the beach every weekend, although we sure as heck wish we could. We went for the long President's Day weekend and had a blast. Eli had such a good time and was so funny the whole trip. We can't wait to go back!

Pants on head.


Making Valentines (on the ceiling, perhaps?).


The Al Bundy impression

Whew. It is 9:30 a.m. and it has already been a long day. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the penitential season of Lent. Today, many Christians mark this day with fasting and prayer and by going to church and having a cross of ashes marked on their forheads to symbolize the remembrance that we are created by God from dust and to dust we will return when our earthly time is finished. At All Saints' today, we will put ashes on the heads of many folks to help them begin their 40 days of prayer for Lent.

Once a month, we go the best toddler-fest ever in the form of our church's foyer group for parents with young kids. It is a big group and at any given meeting, there will be 8-10 kids with their parents. There's always someone new and there's always fun to be had. The kids play while the parents drink wine and hang out. Here's our little buddy Caroline showing Eli some dance moves.

And what better to do when it is cold and snowy outside but bake? Eli and I had our first adventures in the kitchen together. We made gingerbread muffins. He was a great help!

SNOW DAY!!!
Most any one reading this blog will already know that we don't get much snow in Atlanta. Thank goodness. But a little dusting now and then is pretty fun. Here's Eli's fist snowfall. He's wearing his new froggy rainboots!

Eli took a big bubble bath to combat the "trapped inside on a cold day at Granddaddy's house" blues.

Golf? What's golf?

Well, I got a few pics up and now Blogger's not uploading anymore. Argh.
I'll keep trying, friends. We've had a big weekend with all the snow and I know you're dying to see Eli in his snowsuit and rubber boots. As a side note, I can't say "rubber boots" in our house because Eli thinks I'm talking about his friend Robert and then starts walking around the house going "Bober? Bober?" looking for Robert. Language is a funny funny thing.

Daddy and Eli say "Merry Christmas!"


Baby Hunter gets some quality snuggle time with his Great Grandma.


The cousins open presents.


Hunter and his Granddaddy