The lost months...May and June 2010

Precious memories that must not be left out!

The Blooming Festival parade in Nashville with Hunter and Erin!

And with Holly!

Kid's Museum in Raleigh before Gram Bailey arrives to help pack.

Sweet, sweet memories of Noah & Elijah playing the night

we had to say our final good-bye to our dear friends, the Taylors.

Papa came to help us move...what a blessing that was! 

And one final snapshot in front of our lovely NC home.

Elijah's Miss Janet will always hold a very special place in our hearts!

Home sweet Home!

A late night snuggle and book with cousins, Anna & Jamie!

Avery & Elijah ... all smiles!

Father's Day

This is what happens when you have all girl cousins!

I will NEVER forget the stomp dance!

Aunt Anne loves to be funny! 

Complete sweetness!

Fun times!  So glad to be back with our family!

Soon our family of 3 would become a family of 4...

Papa's fishing buddy...that's what his shirt says!

I LOVE TO SHOOT HOOPS!!!!!!

First time playing in my new pool.

Avery got to join me!

Finally an update with BIG news!

Well, I have been too busy (or at least that is my excuse anyway) to blog ... it has been nearly two months now. Perhaps it has something to do with my last post being of Elijah walking! I've been trying to keep up with him ever since and am exhausted when he finally goes night night!

OR perhaps it is the fact that our life is in the midst of BIG changes. Most people know the story by now...Matt has accepted the job of Offensive Coordinator at Wartburg! We are so excited to be moving HOME! Matt has been gone for a week and a half now. Elijah and I are planning to join him in early to mid June!

We are definitely missing daddy! As hard as this will be for me...I can't imagine being in Matt's shoes...away from Elijah for a couple of months. We are hoping he can come back for a weekend in a couple of weeks. It is hard to know what Elijah thinks of him not being around. He definitely anticipates his arrival anytime we talk about him. Matt bought web cams before he left and we've been able to Skype twice now. Pretty cool and definitely more beneficial for EJ than a just a phone. Today he repeatedly threw a ball at the computer to Matt. :-) Here are some precious pictures of my boys before Matt left...

There has been lots to do, a lot has been accomplished, and there is still LOTS to do! There are so many details when you are making a big move like this. Throw in the fact that I'm 27 weeks pregnant and that makes things even more interesting. :-)

In the midst of the excitement, I must say that I will be sad to leave our current home -- our house, our jobs, our friends, and those friends that have become like family. This is where Matt and I and now Matt, Elijah, and I have become a family -- this has been our HOME as a family. We've made WONDERFUL memories here and it will ALWAYS hold a special place in our hearts! I can't tell you how fortunate we've been to have been surrounded by wonderful people in our six years in Rocky Mount.

Speaking of our home...it recently got a paint job in preparation for selling and it looks great! We've had one showing and it will go on the market tomorrow. Here is a picture I took this weekend...And here is a picture of our family before Matt left...oh my goodness...I forgot to include Belle in my spiel above! She was the center of our world until Jan. 16th, 2009 ... she now takes the back burner but takes it well! :-) We don't love her any less though!

Spring break is officially over starting tomorrow morning. :-( I've had a productive week and a very fun couple of weekends with my sweet little boy! Today we went to the park...he loved the swings, the slide, and the basketball court! Poor kid wanted desperately to get the basketball up to the big basket. We needed daddy to lift him up though so he settled for mommy making a couple of baskets for him. :-) I took a few pictures of him yesterday playing outside .... enjoy!

Pretty petunias! And an adorable boy!He does so well with the flowers too...exhibits such self control by not picking them! He puts his hand right up to them and gently touches but is not destructive. :-)

Oopsie...I fell. That happens a lot these days. It made for a nice picture though!
Here is Elijah with his favorite thing in the whole world...his basketballs, football, and blue ball! He loves to collect them and sit with them on this step. He will then throw them, kick them, or swat them and ask mommy to chase after them. If she won't then he will. :-)One last thing...I have lots of pictures to post from the last couple of months but plan to back date the posts so don't forget to check them out too...whenever they get there!

Easter

I remember last Easter so well! Elijah and I returned home from a trip to Iowa with Grandma Meg. Daddy had Easter baskets all ready to go for Elijah, me and Meg! It is hard to believe how much our little guy has changed in that year!

This Easter it was just Elijah and I. We had a wonderful weekend! On Saturday, the Henningers invited us to eat breakfast at the Highway Diner and then go to Sunset Park for an Easter egg "hunt." It was so much fun and Elijah was a kill! The pictures that follow will hopefully tell the story! Sorry for the overload but it really is a story in pictures.  The one thing that will be left out is our ride on the carousel...Elijah's first! He was a little unsure but in the end I think he enjoyed it! 

"Look mom!  The Easter Bunny!"

Yikes -- he's kind of scary...running back to you now!

And the egg hunt begins...hmmm..a couple steps onto the grass and I'm taking it all in...what are all of these kids doing?

This little girl is a friend of the Henningers and she was showing me how it was done!  "See...you pick them up..."

"and put them in."

Cool.  Now that you've collected them all for me...guess I'll sit down and dump them all out!

Oh...more.  Thanks!

Soooooo cute!

Dumping them again...how frustrated she must be getting. :-)

My sweet, sweet boy! 

And then this became the entertainment! 

Ohhh what a fun morning! 

Easter morning was fun as well.  The Easter bunny hid eggs and Elijah had lots of fun finding them, opening them, and eating the raisins that were left inside.

After our egg hunt, we had oatmeal for breakfast.  Enough said!

We then took a bath and got dressed in a nice Easter outfit...

Noah Taylor came over for a visit later in the morning while his mommy and daddy took his new brother, Luke, in for a check. By the way, our good friends, Matt and Olivia, welcomed Luke about 2 weeks ago. He is a very precious little guy! We then joined them at their house for Easter dinner with Matt's parents and brother. We had a yummy meal compliments of Honey Baked Ham and Matt's mom. Elijah thoroughly enjoyed it! We are so blessed to have the Taylors in our lives!

It was a little warm out so we had an outfit change before we went to Matt and Olivia's.  After his nap he was goofy and cute...not sure why he is always sticking his finger in his nose...probably learned it from his daddy!

It was a happy, happy day and weekend!  We are blessed in so many ways!

Walking!

Elijah has been mobile for awhile now. He hasn't been officially walking but he has been walking along things, taking a few steps here and there, and walking with us. Tonight, much to our surprise, he walked all the way across the room! I just happened to catch in on video! Enjoy and try to ignore the annoying proud parents! :-)

Isn't it hilarious that he holds his arms straight up in the air? We pretty much walked laps around the house all weekend with him holding onto my fingers so I'm guessing that may have something to do with his "Frankstein" walk as Janet called it. :-)

Good Sheperd Day School

Elijah started daycare or day school as it is called at Good Sheperd on January 20th.  He is in the young toddler room with Miss Vanessa and now 3 other boys and 1 girl (Ward, Campbell, Harrison, and Avery)who will all be turning 2 in April or May.  I feel like he has transitioned well.  I think the interaction with other kids is wonderful for him and he has gotten to do lots of fun stuff in the month that he has been there. 

This is actually a day at home with mom ... we were out of school for 3 days due to that snow!  (Which by the way, we got another 3 inches last night but it is almost already gone and the roads are fine!  I've really enjoyed the snow here this winter!)

This is the picture collage I made for Elijah's room at Good Sheperd...it was fun to make!  I haven't done anything like this in a long time!

Elijah's first work of art! 

 

And his most recent...

Love it!

This was taken last night.  What a doll, right? 

I think he had lots of sugar at his Valentine's party because he was really goofy last night! :-)

IT'S A ...

GIRL! 

Elijah will have a little sister come July!  Can you believe it?!  We are so excited!  We are 18 and 1/2 weeks and all looked great...so thankful for a healthy baby and mommy! 

Enjoy your first look ...

She's adorable, isn't she? :-)