January-February

I just uploaded some recent photos from my camera so this post doesn't have a specific theme, just covering all the pics I have. Just be thankful I posted something here people :) Within the last week, Eli has figured out how to pull up. The first thing he pulled up on was the edge of the bathtub. I was fixing my hair and turned around to see him standing looking into the tub, then trying to pull himself up and over the edge and into the tub. I intervened. Do not worry. Now he pulls up on this little play table, the ottoman, his toy basket, my leg, Tucker, etc.

It isn't graceful, but he gets it done.

This was one of the sweetest things I have ever witnessed. This play table needed new batteries. I was in the kitchen making dinner or doing something spectacularly domestic I am sure. I heard Andy say to Eli "Buddy, do you want to help me put new batteries in this? Let's go get a screwdriver and I will teach you how to do it. I will teach you how to fix lots of things." It was so cute I almost cried and then ran to get my camera. It just made me think of all the times they will have together. I know Andy cherishes the memories he has of working in the garage with his dad and is SO thankful for the things his dad taught him, and I LOVE that Andy wants Eli to have those same memories and learn those same things. It was just a sweet daddy-son moment that I got to witness. It kinda makes me tear up now just thinking about it. Moving on...

So I needed a couple of baby gifts. One for Eli's friend Mason who was celebrating his 1st birthday and one for Katie, Eli's dear sweet babysitter, who is expecting baby #2 at the end of March. I decided that I wanted to do something a little different for them and I was feeling just a little creative or crafty or something so I made these cool fabric blocks (found the idea here). I made some for Eli and his friends Kerrington and Micah too while I was at it. It had been quite awhile since I had done anything crafty and I forgot how much I enjoy it.

Oh the poor baby. This picture makes me so sad. Eli had his first ear infection a couple weeks ago. He woke up with a 102 degree fever and was super snuggly and clingy. Andy took him to the Dr. (it was a Wednesday, one of only 2 days I work so we decided Andy would take the day off instead) and he got some antibiotics (which he HATED). I took this picture on Thursday. He was still running a pretty good fever and still did not feel well. I sat him up in the corner of the couch and tucked him in with the boppy and some pillows and our super soft blanket and let him watch Veggietales. He is all better now. I think it was the blanket...or maybe 10 days of antibiotics.

We have had lots of super cold snowy icy days here in the last month or two. This buffalo sits in the lawn in front of my work building and we can see it from the windows of the clinic. Now I am not usually one for "potty humor" but this made me giggle. A patient pointed it out to me and then we laughed for a good 5 minutes. Awkward place for an icicle.

My little snow baby. He did not love the cold wind. We went sledding with some friends from church and we bundled up the baby and took him along. He didn't get to sled, and I only got to sled once before Eli needed to warm up in the car, but geesh isn't he cute? Kerrington was there too but somehow I didnt get any pictures with her looking anywhere near the camera.

This is our end table. Eli's new favorite spot.

Some of our favorite gifts...

Andy's uncle Dave (and family) makes these amazing rocking horses for firstborn little ones in each family and they gave Eli his while we were in Hillsboro for Grandma's birthday. As you can tell, he enjoyed riding it...but needed just a little help to stay on :) We didn't get a really good picture of the horse itself, but I will just tell you it is SO lovely! We love it!

My dad made Eli this rattle and it is his "go-to" toy. He consistently chooses it from amongst all his other toys and then belly crawls around the room with it, occasionally shaking it but ultimately working his way to the kitchen or entry hall where he can then beat the rattle against the tile.

more eli

This was an outfit that Andy's Grandma Froese got for Andy when he was a baby. It finally (kind of) fits Eli. We had to use a clothes pin to temporarily hold up the pants? shorts? bloomers? whatever you call them for these pictures. Eli didn't mind. He thought it was a pretty cool outfit, and he just looked to stinkin' cute. He thought it tasted pretty good too.

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma Loewen

Andy's grandma celebrated her 80th birthday at the end of 2009 and the whole Loewen clan got together to celebrate on New Year's Day. I didn't get any photos of the big party, but i managed to get a few pics once things quieted down a little. Cousins Eli and Bethany part of the Froese family circus.

Walking with Great Grandma

Grandma with a couple of her "greats"

so serious

4 generations

LOVE IT

I started this painting project on Thursday afternoon. Had to take all our pictures down, clear off the mantle, move a little furniture (or wait for Andy to come home and move furniture is more accurate), tape off all the baseboards, 7 doorways, 7 windows, bench in the mudroom...lots of tape--you get the picture. I painted most of the day Friday, but with the cutest little boy in the world here to keep me company, progress was slow. Paint, nurse, paint, take dog toy away from Eli, paint, feed Eli squash and oatmeal, paint, take computer cord out of Eli's mouth and redirect him to an actual toy, paint, put Eli down for nap....ahhhh peace and quiet and painting for what?!? only a 30 minute nap? poop. Eli's naps have generally only lasted 30 minutes. I was "blessed" with a short napper, but for the past 3 weeks he has been giving me the WONDERFUL gift of a 1 1/2 hour nap, only once a day, usually in the morning. I love it because can get things done around the house just a little easier. So Friday morning when I put him down for his nap I was expecting 1 1/2 hours of uninteruppted progress. The joke was on me...30 minutes was all I got. He just didnt want to miss out on all the excitement. I painted until Andy got home then called it a day. We started back up on Saturday morning and sharing baby wrangling duties allowed us to finish up mid afternoon. We cleaned up, assembled our new cocktail ottoman and put all the furniture back in place. I just love projects like this....well, I actually love all home improvement projects because you can SEE the results. You work and work and work, but you get to see and appreciate what you accomplished with all that work. This was a relatively easy and quick project but made a huge difference in the look and feel of our home. Our living room feels so much cozier and so much more "us" now. I don't have anything against beige walls, but I stared at those darn beige walls for 15 hours a day for 6 weeks straight while on bedrest so I was pretty much done with them :) Anyway, we are loving our new living room. The downside is that looking at this room makes me want to paint EVERY other room in the house. This is the mudroom (too small to really get a good picture) and the coat hook on the right was made by Mr. Andrew Froese. Isn't it awesome? We got the 5 hooks from Hobby Lobby but wanted to unite them somehow. He got some sweet tiger stripe maple and walnut from work and made this for me. Love it!

Our new cocktail ottoman. We wanted to replace our coffee table that would be a hazard to Eli's head once he starts to pull up on things (sharp edges and corners). I think this changes the feel of the room too....makes it feel so loungey (probably not really a word)

Eli's toy corner and the chair that used to be an accent color in our red living room. Now it is camoflauged...or maybe it clashes now.

Cute dogs. What color should I paint the entry hall? (That is the room through the arch) We have some great botanical photos and I think I will hang my cross collection in there on the opposite wall. We will be getting some sort of cabinet/table for under the photos (right now I am using 2 tv trays covered by an old curtain...haha...those don't get to stay much longer)

come visit us. we won't make you paint.

Painting

After living in our new house for nearly 9 months we are finally getting some paint on the walls (YIPPEEEEE!!). Bye bye builder's beige!! We are painting the living room first and have chosen "Ryegrass". I just started painting today and am pretty happy with it so far. There are lots of windows and doorways so that means lots of cutting in, so the process is slow, but I am so excited to have some color in this house! Pictures to follow...

family photo shoot

I am sure most of you have seen these by now, but here is a link to our Christmas/Eli's 6 month photos. These photos were taken by Elyse Fair (elyfairphotos.com) I love these photos more each time I look at them!