A sick visit

All I have to say is..mommy's don't have time to be sick! I came down with some nasty bug, and as always, I seem to get sick at the worst possible times. Luckily it was only a 24 hour bug, but there was a lot going on during those 24 hours. I had both babies to take care of on Thursday, and we also had family coming in town for just that night. Just my luck! Good thing they were really only coming to see Eli anyways :) My grandparents, Aunt & Uncle stopped by for the night to break up their trip to Florida. They're all going on a cruise that leaves on Saturday.
Eli was such a show off for everyone! They all couldn't believe how much he'd changed just since Christmas.


He and his great-grandaddy Earl have such a special bond...it's the sweetest thing ever. It brings me such joy to see them together.


Hi everyone! See what I can do!

Even though I wasn't feeling my absolute best, it's always so refreshing to see family. We're counting down the days until our trip home for my mom's wedding next month. It will be a short and very busy trip, but we've learned to make the most of those!

Cousins & a New Playroom

This past weekend we had the opportunity to take a quick trip to Columbia. We've been wanting to spend some time with Katie, Charles and the boys at their new house(ok maybe its not that new anymore), so we decided that we better take advantage of a free weekend before baseball season officially starts. We may only live a few hours away from each other, but its still hard to see each other as often as we'd like. We're very anxiously awaiting Baby Smoak #3 to be born in August, and we're dieing to know if Eli will be getting a new boy or girl cousin!

It was fun to see Eli interacting with the boys, and trying to keep up. He was so interested in everything that they were doing, and likewise were Chase and Jacob. They enjoyed playing with Eli's toys, and as always, Chase was the first to offer his help in anything that involved caring for the baby. He is going to be so fun to watch with his new brother or sister!

We took the kids to the park on Saturday, and got to enjoy some much needed sunshine! Katie took some really good pictures of Eli while we were there.




After a few rough weeks of unsucessful baby-proofing in our living room, we finally turned our sunroom/breakfast nook into a full playroom for Eli. We still have several things to get, but it's already been a LIFE SAVER! He's just all over the place, and it was impossible to get anything done around the house with our previous set up. We knew that we would run into problems once he started crawling. Ive never wanted carpet so bad in my life!




He now has very comfy carpet to crawl on, and hopefully his poor little knees will start healing up. We still have to order a gate for the doorway, find some toy boxes, and I think we'll also do some sort of fun bean bag chair. We'll definitely miss eating every meal out there, but I'll take my sanity instead! We have a perfectly good dining room that we'll finally get to use.

Now we just play,play,play all day!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has never been a huge ordeal in the Morgan household, but we did have fun together on this special love day! We had an extra happy little guy, which made for some extra cute pictures too! I can't say that this happiness has stuck around since then though. We're getting a few more teeth, and this round has come with a few very miserable days of 'I will scream and fuss everytime my mommy leaves my side.' He totally thinks this teething thing is for the birds.




This has got to be one of my favorite pictures. I just get lost in his smile, and his laugh is simply the best. He really has such a precious spirit




The boys and the dog enjoy a little pre-nap movie :)


We made an attempt at some cute Valentine's pictures, but he just wasn't willing to sit still


He very quickly made his way down from the chair and was on to something new

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Life is certainly about to take a turn for the busier! Just in the past week, Eli has taken his first steps and began to crawl/army crawl/scoot all over the place. We always knew he would take his first steps before he ever showed interest in crawling. We are now watching our very busy and inquisitive boy learn that he can get into just about anything if he puts his mind to it. He’s not interested in sitting still for more than a minute or two.

This past week he also learned how to clap and do 'So Big!' For some reason I just melt every time he claps his little hands. He's so very proud of himself and his new accomplishments. We were eating dinner at Jim & Nicks the other night, and he entertained many with his new tricks. When he raises both of his hands up for 'so big,' he also tilts his head to the side. So stinkin' cute! He even showed off his new trick during his baptism on Sunday. When the Pastor asked the congregation to raise their hands, Eli watched them, and then raised both of his hands. He thought that everyone was telling him to do 'so big!'

We had the best weekend, and really enjoyed our time with our family and friends here. My mom and Tom were unable to fly in from D.C. because of the blizzard, so they took a leap of faith and drove instead! This really meant the world to us, and we are so thankful for them. My mom is here spending the week with us, and will fly back to D.C. on Saturday. We're really taking advantage of our time together, as this will be her last time here before the wedding next month, and then the move to Texas following that.

Danielle, her parents, and Alicia drove down from Virginia. We were more than thrilled that they were here to be a part of Eli's baptism.


Eli has really enjoyed all of the extra entertainment this week. He's such a social kid, and has always loved a new face. We were able to get a Valentine's date night last night, and Mimi loved getting to spend some extra alone time with her boy.
I'm kicking myself for not taking enough pictures throughout the week, but we were constantly on the go!
But they definitely got plenty of snuggle time too!


Right before Mimi left this morning :( We will miss her like crazy!

Tickles

After a very restless nights sleep, Eli was just as happy as ever this morning. He's getting more and more ticklish, and we love the laughs that come along with that :) Last night was the first night in many months that I actually got Eli out of his bed to console him. He will wake up occasionally throughout the night, talk to himself or fuss for a few minutes, and then go back to sleep. He was completely out of wack, and I secretly loved every second of our 30 minutes together snuggling and rocking. That's not something that will ever become a middle of the night habit in our house, so it makes those times extra sweet and special. Just knowing that a little 'mommy and me' time will cure anything always helps.