Good News Ultrasound

We had a great ultrasound today. Everything is going well with our baby girl's development, and we were even able to get a view of her face in 3D.

Elijah even said "Baby!" when he saw the screen instead of last time when he saw her spine and said, "Choo-choo tracks!"

Can't wait to meet this little lady!

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love...

Elijah just looked at me out of the blue and said, "I love my mama!" Aww...  My heart!

Vosses Visit

A few weeks ago Dad, Mom, Mary, and Aaron stopped by Albuquerque for a day on their way back from completing a massive road trip that brought them to the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Logan Utah and the Small Satellite Conference, Zion National Canyon, LA where they visited Ike and Abby, and then to Albuquerque on their way back to the Midwest. It was great to welcome them to our new home and to show them around ABQ.

They know one of Elijah's loves is tractors and picked him up a grapple tractor, one of the few tractors he didn't own. You can clearly see the delight on his face when he opened up the tractor.

Although they only had one day in ABQ we made the most of it. After a failed attempt to visit my office at the base (we didn't all have ID's) we headed down to Old Town to walk around the square. We checked out the shops and a historic church.

 

After Old Town we went to our favorite restaurant, El Pinto, for lunch, and had a wonderful lunch on the patio. It was great being together and celebrating Mary's birthday. We hung out at our house and the park near by for the rest of day. 

Later that night we went to a frozen yogurt place called Love! Overall it was a great time together

Friend Elijah

Elijah has a new buddy, also named Elijah!  They are 2 of a kind: happy and active! Here they are reading a riveting "Thomas the Train" book.

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hats for a mountain wedding

Call me romantic, but I love weddings.  Kelly and Nathan (Kelly works with David) wanted whimsical for their wedding in the mountains outside Albuquerque, requesting all to wear hats, no doubt inspired by the Royal Wedding.

 Last week my mom came to Albuquerque while David attended the Small Sat conference in Utah, and we made a project of finding fabulous hats for us to wear.  Elijah's hat was an easy decision after finding a white fedora in Old Town.  He thought it looked like a fireman's hat and was pleased with the choice. I thought he looked more like a little member of the Rat Pack, but wasn't about to correct him!

Isn't he dapper?

After visiting the Old Town Hat Shop and trying on some truly fabulous (and fabulously expensive) fascinators, Mom decided that we could probably make one.  I love this attitude of my mom, "I'll bet I could make this!" (and usually she can!) We looked at some pictures and a few tutorials online, and armed with peacock feathers, black feathers, a headband and glue gun from Hobby Lobby, we set to work designing my wedding head wear. We had an absolute blast, laughing that if I was going to go to a wedding 8 months pregnant, I was going to wear peacock feathers in my hair. I loved the final piece. 

David liked it, too, when he came back, though his first comment was, "What do I have to wear?" Clearly concerned. For him we settled on a cap which, with a camera strapped to him at all times, made him look exactly like a photographer (he was the unofficial photographer, charged with snapping candids.)  This is why we have exactly one picture of him, the family shot I insisted on taking, featured below!

Family picture!

When we first got to the wedding, Elijah was unsure about wearing his fedora, though once he spotted "Mr. Chris" and "Mr. Malik" wearing hats, he proudly wore it for the rest of the wedding! 

Chris (not pictured in his hat!), a captain, works with David.  He reminds us so much of David's brother Mark, even to the way he gets down and plays with Elijah.  Needless to say, Elijah adores him.

Malik and Melody... Melody works with David, and we have gotten to know her and boyfriend Malik as they have been coming to our church.

Jared and his family... we've gotten together with them a few times.

 The wedding was nice, though we did have a rare ABQ downpour of rain.  It just meant we stayed under the white tent!  Kelly looked beautiful, and we had a good time visiting with David's coworkers.

Handsome little Elijah had an absolute blast... behaved perfectly during the wedding, then feasted on sweets, sparkling juice and a cupcake... living the high life!

Nathan and Kelly, enjoying their wedding reception.

Melody, Malik and friend Joanne share a laugh.  They are usually laughing. Fun people!

Elijah and I won prizes for our hats under the categories of "Best Junior" (kiddos), and "Best Not-a-Hat" (clearly, as it was a fascinator!)

The Judges: The Groom, the Bride's brother, the Groom's sister and the Bride...  Check out Kelly's brother's Three Musketeer's hat!

Isn't it amazing how little ones make friends so easily? Elijah and this little boy could have been twins. They bonded over a shared love of throwing rocks and bouncy balls.  They also both enjoyed taking a swing at the pinata set up for the children (This is New Mexico, after all, and I appreciated Kelly and Nathan's touch of making the wedding fun for kids, too!)

Cozy

Getting cozy on a rare rainy ABQ day...

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Puzzles!

We were amazed today to watch Elijah rapidly put together a puzzle. He examined the shape of the piece, looked at the puzzle, then popped it in. It seems he has inherited his Daddy's spacial sense! He, of course, cheered and wanted a high five after putting in each piece!
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Excavator!

"Oma, Poppi, I need excavator..."

Responding to this sad plea from Elijah, Oma and Poppi did some serious research before buying a special present for Elijah. They hit a home run.  The excavator they settled on digs, rotates 360 degrees, has tracks, and is built for serious digging labor, all things important to Elijah.  (Note: It's amazing how many toy tractors are not made for actually digging... the parts just snap off!  I sometimes wonder if the designers actually played with them... These serious oversights would have been spotted in no time!)

Oma came to visit, telling Elijah that the mailman was bringing him a present.  After much anticipation, the box arrived. When Elijah put together what was inside, he did a little dance, squealed, and shouted "EXCAVATOR!"

After checking it out for 5 minutes, he immediately wanted it outside to "dig and dump."  It has not left his grasp since.  For breakfast, he pretty much refused to eat anything that wasn't delivered to his mouth via excavator (we washed it.)

He wanted to sleep with it, but we said, no, it needed to stay in Oma's room, and he could get it in the morning.  After tears, he reluctantly went to sleep, only to wake at 5:30 am calling, "I play excavator!"  Sigh.  I suppose it was technically morning.

He has shown his excavator off, by holding it up in the air and announcing "Ta Da!" to the big kids at the playground walking their dogs.  They smiled and told him it was pretty cool.

Thank you, Oma and Poppi!

Driving...

We've been having fun with Oma! Here we are at a play date where Elijah and Leah discovered a Jeep that drives, and were off! They were squealing with laughter!

big pile of salt

"Big pile, Mama!"

I promise I just ran to the bathroom. I was gone a minute, tops.  Maybe two.  You can see the bathroom door behind Elijah in the picture!  But it only takes a minute for this little man to discovered the salt,  pour it into the teacup ("Big Pile"), and dump that ("I Dump!") into the popcorn bowl.

He was so proud of himself.  I was so proud of myself for not yelling.  I just snapped a picture and said, "Wow, Elijah, what are you doing?"

He grinned and said, "I cook like Mama!"

Awww!

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Matthew 5:13

Phrases

"Mama, dig and dump Right Now?"

Elijah is talking a lot! His latest phrases...

Phrase #1: "Right Now"
As in, "Dig and dump Right Now." And we dig and dump a lot. Hours and hours. The other day we were at the sand park across the street for 2.5 hours digging and dumping with tractors, then came home and he wanted to play tractors in his fort for another 45 or so minutes. Most of the time he insists on me sitting with him digging, too. Lately I've been bringing my cup of cold-brew iced coffee (mmm...) and taking him first thing in the morning to enjoy the cool of the day (a perk of dry heat. The afternoons are baking hot, but we have lovely mornings.)  Elijah loves to try and sample my iced coffee, but I insist that coffee is not for two year olds.  Still, he tries...

Phrase #2: "I Need..."
As in, "I Need excavator." Said sadly, and repeatedly, to his Oma and Poppi via Skype.  The major gap in Eli's tractor collection, to his distress, is an excavator.

And to combine #1 and 2: "I Need banana ice cream with peanut butter topping Right Now." (Did you know if you blend a frozen banana, then freeze it in a container, it is scoop-able and has the creamy consistency of ice cream? Add warm peanut butter for an amazing treat. That's Eli's ice cream, and mine, too, as I'm watching my sugar now.)

Phrase #3: "Here you go."
Here, Mom, take my half-chewed piece of cheese, used napkin, water bottle, monkey, monster truck, or whatever else I may be holding because I don't want to hold it, or have it near my stroller or car seat any longer. Note: this phrase is uttered like he is giving me the most precious gift.

Phrase #4: "Fresh and Clean"
Me: "Elijah, do you need a diaper change?"
Elijah: "No, I Fresh and Clean." (Whether this be the truth or not...)

Phrase #5: "Happy Home"
We refer to our house as our "Happy Home," something that David's family did for their house, and I love it.  I love to hear Elijah say, "I go Happy Home."

Phrase #6: "2 Hours."
When Elijah wakes up from his nap, I think I may have said to him a few times something like, "Wow, you slept for 2 hours!" Or... maybe I reported to David that Elijah had a good nap, because he had slept for 2 hours.  Either way, he picked up on this.
When we go in to get him up in the morning after a a long night's sleep we say, "Good morning!  How did you sleep?"
He responds, nodding, "Two hours." 

Other fun phrases:
When asked where his monkey was, "No idea."
When asked if a particular activity sounded good to him, "So fun."
Emphasizing his desire for something "I want-need..."
When showing something off, "Tada!" or "Look at me!"
When wanting to be held, "Mama, hold-you?" (No doubt from my response, "Do you want Mama to hold you?")
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toddler gymnastics

Elijah's toddler gymnastics class is adorable.  What can I say?  Watching (and chasing after) 2-3 year olds who are bouncing, running, jumping, somersaulting, diving and tumbling is fun!  Especially when the toddler in question (Elijah) is squealing and laughing at every step, and clapping for his classmates.  He fearlessly runs and dives into the "pit," throws himself into a somersault down a ramp, jumps on the trampoline, and skips down the bouncing track (not sure what that's called?), and wobbles on the beam... I really need to bring my camera, though I have no idea how I'll corral my little man and snap shots?

His teacher is amazing with the little ones.  He listens to what she says, and tries to imitate the skill.  At the end of class, she lines them up, sanitizes their hands, then gives them stamps on their hands.  Elijah and his little buddies Caleb and Leah sit on the beam, giggling, waiting for their stamps, and insisting on getting stamps on their feet, too.  Of course, none of them want to put their shoes on after they have cool gymnastic stamps on their feet...

He fell asleep in my arms on the way to nap, he was so worn out.  Here's hoping for a good nap!  I can really use one myself these days.


P.S.  Elijah was wearing his Red Sox shirt with "Little Fan Club" on it.  When another parent pointed it out, he looked at his shirt and declared, "Red Sox.  Baseball! I see with Daddy."  He nods seriously.  "I see Big Papi."  

The parent nearly choked laughing, responding, "Future fan indeed!"