Happy Birthday Eli!

Eli,

Today you are 3 years old! I didn't even know it was possible for time to go by this fast. You continue to bless our lives each and every day. You have grown SO much over the last year, and have experienced so many new things. You're greatest accomplishment has been the way in which you are filling your role as big brother. You show your softest and sweetest side when it comes to your baby sister, and we are so proud of the way that you've welcomed her.

You are sweet, yet strong-willed. We pray that you will use your strong will in your later years to stand firm and tall in what you believe. But until then, we'll have to work on our patience with you :). Three is already proving to be full of many new things! Many new attitudes and many new opinions. You are often too smart for you own good, and surprise us each day on how quick you learn new things. We can't wait to see how you grow and mature as you start pre-school in the fall.

You love all sports, anything that involves construction/building things, and your love for cars/trucks/trains is still happening. You love all breakfast foods, and would eat a pb&j for every meal if we let you. You are becoming super attached to Bailey dog, and we love watching you take on little responsibilites in caring for her. You love to complete little chores around the house, and I can always count on you to help me clean. You talk all.day.long. You say and remember things that we have no idea where you heard. You don't forget anything, and hold us to our promises daily :). You are BUSY with a capital B. You go non stop until your head hits the pillow at night, and even then sometimes you keep going :).

You weigh around 30lbs, and won't stop growing like a weed!

We love you SO much, and thank the Lord each day for blessing us with such a sweet boy.

*Birthday party picture overload coming soon!*

Pool Day

We've had some really hot days here recently, and I've been slowly working up the courage to take the kids to the pool. We've lived in our neighborhood for 4 years, and have never been to the neighborhood pool. We're fortunate to have access to Nana & Pop Pop's pool in the summer, so we've just always spent our pool days there. I think I'll start going to ours a little bit more, just out of convenience. I wasn't sure how our pool trip would go with two kids, and only one mommy, but it went surprisingly perfect! Eli swam his little heart out, and I had to drag him out of the pool after an hour and with very blue lips. It's looking like he's going to be quite the little fish this summer. Layla just hung out and even took a little nap.

 Eating a quick snack on our way in.

 Couldn't leave without a picture of my two in their suits!

Looking forward to a summer full of fun in the sun!

Great-Grandparents are here to stay!

We feel SO blessed and lucky that our kids have such special relationships with two sets of great-grandparents. We always wished that they lived closer so that we could see them more regularly, and our wish finally came true! GG & Goomba (Danny's grandparents) have moved back to Hilton Head after 24 years! They met Layla for the very first time last Monday when they arrived, and it was something we had all really been looking forward to. Layla was SO sweet & cheerful and had LOTS to say to her GG. She talked non stop for 20 minutes and GG just ate it right up!

 We're just so excited that we'll be able to see them on a regular basis, and that they're here to stay!

The Look

We think Layla just has the cutest facial expressions.This is her,"My brother just made an extremely loud noise" look. :)
And her, "I feel like such a big girl in this seat!"Followed by her, "somebody get me out of this seat before I break my neck."She stays busy all day watching her brother's shananigans. There's nothing better than free entertainment :).

Easter

We had such a special Easter weekend this year. Danny had 4 days off from Baseball, so we took full advantage of the extra family time. We went to a wedding on Friday night (kid free!), so it was great to start our weekend with some adult time :). We even got to spend some time on Saturday with out sweet friends Billy and Amanda, and their new addition baby Brantley. We couldn't be more thrilled that they've finally joined the world of parenthood!

It was fun to watch Eli really get into Easter this year. He's not quite old enough to truly understand the meaning, but we sure did talk a lot about why this day and the days leading up to it are so important. We don't put a huge emphasis on the Easter bunny, but it was still fun to watch him dig into his basket that morning. He was sweet and helped show his sister what was in her basket too. He had way too much candy over the course of the day, including about 30 jelly beans that he helped himself to while we were getting ready for church. Lovely!
We ended up having to miss the Easter Egg hunt at our church the weekend before, so Molly and I did a little hunt at our house one afternoon for Eli and Amelia. It was just as exciting for them!

The Easter bunny hid his basket, and he had so much fun trying to find it!

Our sweet girl just sat happily while her brother emptied both of their baskets.
Both kiddos before church.Our church service was really special, especially since it was our new Pastor's first Easter Sunday with us. We went straight from church to Nana and Pop Pop's house, and stuffed ourselves with an amazing Easter brunch! We then did another Easter egg hunt there for Eli.
So thankful that we're able to celebrate Easter with Nana & Pop Pop each year. They always make it so special.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

3 Months!

Layla Grace, you are 3 months old today! I don’t even know where to begin, because you are seriously changing so much every day. Over the last month you have become SO much fun! You are so happy & content, and are so easy to take places now. As long as you aren’t tired or hungry you’re good to go. I am enjoying your baby days SO much.

*You are different from your brother when he was a baby in that you love your car seat and diaper changes. Oh yeah…and those rolls on your thighs too, he didn't have a single one :).
*You not only don’t take a pacifier, but you HATE the thing.
*You prefer to suck on your hands all day. I lose count each day of how many times you gag yourself. We keep wondering if you’ll be a thumb sucker, but for now you just prefer your entire hand in your mouth.
*You no longer spit up!!!!! This is such a huge answer to prayer for me! I can’t remember the last time you spit up, and whenever that was, it was in your bed after a night time feeding. It’s so nice to dress a baby without a bib! Although the excessive slobber & drooling has just started :).
*You are on a great schedule now, and have become very predictable.
*You nap in the morning for about an hour, and in the afternoon for at least 2 1/2-3 hours. You catch cat naps in between and after, and while we’re out and about.
*You love your bed, but will still nap well in the back pack, car seat, or in the arms of a lucky someone.
*You have been fighting us hard on taking a bottle. About once a week you will take a bottle with no problem, but every other time you act like we’re trying to poison you! You’ve taken one the last two days, so hopefully we’re on to something!
*You wear a size 2 diaper, and size 3 month clothes.
*You haven’t given us a big belly laugh yet, but you’re SO close! You make the sweetest noises when you’re happy, and kick your legs like crazy out of excitement.
*You love the sound of your voice, and try to copy sounds we make! You coo all day long, and it’s my favorite sound ever!
*You sleep at least 12 hours at night, waking once or twice to eat. You are wanting to go to bed earlier, and we’ve stopped trying to keep you awake until we go to bed.
*Breastfeeding has been a breeze with you, and for that I’m so thankful!
*You continue to be such a happy baby, and you’re perfectly content to ‘just be.’

We love you so much baby girl!

Pit Stop

We couldn't be happier that the time has come for my mom and Tom to move back to Virginia! We were even happier when we found out that they'd be making a pit stop at our house on the long drive back! We only had them for a few days this weekend, so we made the most of our time together. It had been 9 weeks since Mimi was last here, so she had lots of baby loving to do!
And Eli had lots of Iphone stuff to catch up on.
Layla was all smiles for her Mimi!
Eli and Dan got a fun new toy to play with. I won't tell you how long it lasted before it was broken.
We had a big lunch on Sunday, so that evening we opted for a frozen yogurt dinner :). We have the greatest new place called Lovin' Spoons, that's a self serve yogurt bar. The toppings are endless! Eli's favorite part is getting to sit and drive in this little yellow beetle.
He insisted on taking Mimi and Layla on a ride too.
I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time there this summer!

It was fun, but short, and we can't wait for them to come back in just a few weeks for Layla's baptism and Eli's 3rd birthday celebration!