New Blog Posts

I made several new blog posts, but they are post-dated for August and September. I hope to get around to October, November and December before the new year! Thanks for being patient, Mom! :)

Halloween

It has been way too long since I've posted pictures. It is hard to believe that Elijah is almost 14 months old! Most of my friends have Elijah's birthday party on their blogs and I do not! Soon...

Elijah is walking beautifully and quickly these days! I am stunned by how rapidly he became proficient. He can stand up from a sitting position independently and doesn't need to pull up on anything. It is really strange for me to see him do that. He's not a baby any longer. He can change directions quite easily also and he has just started to do a bit of a "run" when he is excited. I have tons I'd like to share and at this point, I still hope to catch up on the blog, but it seems impossible so lets just take a quick look at Halloween!

A sweet woman from our church, Dorothy, found a clown costume at a garage sale that was just his size and thought of Elijah. He wore it when the youth had their Halloween party on Wednesday and he was adorable. A few of the girls who babysit Elijah helped me paint his face. Have I ever mentioned the incredible babysitters we have!? They love Elijah and he adores them! We feel very blessed. To finish off our costume theme, I was a lion and Aaron was a lion tamer. Cute, huh! That was Aaron's witty idea.

On Halloween night, Elijah was an octopus. My friend, Kim, who is really into making amazing costumes loaned us the octopus costume that her three boys have outgrown. On Halloween we went with our friends (Ian, Lisa and Aidan) to trick or treat in the downtown Ballard area on Market street and then to dinner. The local businesses had candy for the kids. I was pretty overwhelmed by the large crowd, but it was great fun. Elijah had a portion of his first sucker. He was NOT a happy camper when we decided he had had enough. I think it is safe to say he's definitely going to be like his mommy and have a sweet tooth.

After dinner, Aaron, Elijah and I went to a few houses to trick or treat and then went to a carnival at a church. There was a professional photographer taking pictures so we got a really nice shot of Elijah on a bale of hay. Enjoy the pictures of our sweet toddler!

Elijah Takes His First Steps!

Elijah took his first steps today! He has been cruising quite well along walls and has been letting go of the ottoman to take a successful, lunging step to the the next piece of furniture. We decided to just try this out so we stood him up by the ottoman and he walked right to me! You can imagine our surprise! Screaming and scrambling for the camera quickly ensued!

Dedicating Elijah to the Lord

We dedicated Elijah to the Lord on Sunday, September 13th. May God guide us as we raise Elijah; may he grow to love the Lord with his whole heart and walk intimately with Him.

Elijah's First Birthday Party

We went all out to celebrate Elijah's first birthday in the youth room of our church. It can be hard being away from our families at special times like this, but because God has blessed us with such an incredible church family and such caring friends it isn't as difficult as it has the potential of being. We were overwhelmed by and grateful for the love Elijah received on his birthday. Thank you for loving him and for making his birthday special!

The birthday boy! Happy Birthday!

I had a ton of fun decorating with some friends!

Elijah loves animals so we had
a safari animal theme.

Yummy!

Lisa and the birthday boy with a balloon in tow.

Daddy and Elijah enjoying a snack!

Levi cashing in on the pinata candy!

Guests were given the option to contribute money toward a
well being dug in a rural village of India in Elijah's honor.
Here's the link to the intro video we watched. It is the
second video marked intro.
http://thewaterproject.org/thewaterchallenge_video.asp?utm_source=Water+Challenge+Info+Requests&utm_campaign=a8a8f0ab8e-How_to_Start_the_Challenge8_24_2009&utm_medium=email




We are watching the Water Project video.
The effects of unclean drinking water are staggering.

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Elijah! Happy Birthday to you!

Mmmmmmm!

What a bad day to forget a bib!

Elijah really enjoyed all his new toys!

Aidan was a great helper since he has more gift opening
experience than Elijah. It was a lot of fun for me to see how
much fun our young guests had playing with the new toys.

Maddie and Elijah

Elijah's 2nd Haircut

Elijah got his hair cut for his birthday party and his dedication which both took place the second weekend in September!

This one has nothing to do with
his haircut...it's just cute!

They had a fun little playground outside the hair salon
so we played while we waited for Elijah's appointment.

Elijah's sat in a fire engine and was adequately
distracted with the toys he was given.

I was watching carefully since I'll
hopefully be cutting Elijah's hair in the
future when he is a bit less wiggly.

Elijah had fun pushing this Elijah sized cart around.

Elijah's First Birthday

Elijah had a great first birthday! I cared for Maddie on his birthday so they had the whole day to play together. It was a beautiful day so we walked to the park and played for quite some time. When we got home we had dinner and cake as a family, and then Elijah opened his gifts. He had a birthday party the following weekend.

Elijah and Maddie started their own spoon
band. They are quite talented!

Elijah's crawling up the steps, but he has to look
back often to make sure I'm still following.

Victory! He made it to the top!

Elijah and Maddie love to go down the slide!

We're outta here!

Wahoo!

I don't know what's going on, but I think it's going to be fun!



Mmmmmmmm!



Oh, I get it! They actually want
me to rip this paper!

Elijah's first football! Sorry Dad...green was
the only color I could find at the dollar
store! No burnt orange or blue.

Hmmm. What do they want me to do with this?

Elijah's first drum!

Elijah's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Elijah! We love you more than words can describe. We hope today is as special as you are! Love, Mommy and Daddy

Zoomazium

The Woodland Park Zoo has some indoor play space for kids when the weather is rainy or cold. It will come in handy this winter.

Youth Retreat 2009

The first weekend in September we had a youth retreat. God did some amazing things. One student made a decision to trust Christ and we all grew as we studied His word. Aaron did an incredible job planning everything and teaching. A sweet couple in our church, Gordon and Marie, loaned us their cabin in the mountains and Sue returned again this year to cook for the entire retreat. They were both answers to prayer. Aaron and I led small group discussions after the lessons and we played many fun games including a murder mystery. The weekend was also filled with laughter and staying up far too late. Elijah did really well despite the crazy sleeping schedule. He loves these kids. Overall, weekends like this are such a blessing because we get to have fun and see God move in the students we love, but they are also a good reminder of how old we're getting. We sleep well when we return home!

We hiked to this beautiful lake for lunch.

It was a bit drizzly, but it didn't stop any of us from
enjoying the beauty of God's creation.

During one of the teaching sessions I had to go
upstairs to try to keep Elijah from distracting the
students. He does that very well, you know!
Luckily I could still hear most of the lessons for
the small group time.

Wrapping up the weekend to head home

Cheetos, Tables and Aidan

If you knew me as a child you know the best way I

could teach my son to use a fork is with cheetos!

This is one of the battles we'll have to fight.
Elijah loves to climb and this is his new mountain.

Aidan and Elijah

Blowing rasberries!