My Awesome Husband!

The last few years I have been collecting nativities. I have several of the big nativities that have all of the pieces with the stable and everything, and then I have several of the small nativites that are just the "holy family." A couple of months ago I saw this nativity in a store by our house and I mentioned it to Dustin. Ever since then I have found "reasons" to go into that store to make sure that they still had it. Well, last week Dustin bought it for me! I love it! It is so pretty that I have decided that I am going to leave it out all year. I figure that since it is not really a traditional nativity, it is more of just a pretty religious piece, I can get away with it. So yeah, I put it on the mantle of my fireplace.

8 Months!

Well, I am officially 8 months pregnant this week! It is amazing how fast this pregnancy has gone by. I felt like I was pregnant forever with Elijah, and this one seems like I should still only be a few months along. I feel like I am already mostly prepared for the baby to come though. It is nice that I already have all of the big important stuff to reuse from Elijah. Really the only things I have had to buy have been clothes, and well, who doesn't like buying little girl clothes! LOL Between my own shopping, and Erin and my parents going shopping, this little girl has enough adorable clothes to get her through the first six months! Poor Elijah, his closet has been taken over by frilly pink and purple clothes. He doesn't seem to mind though, he can already appreciate "pretty" things! I feel very blessed at how smoothly this pregnancy has gone for me. I really have no complaints. This baby really was given to me at a time when I needed her the most. I was having a pretty tough time and was quite depressed when I got pregnant with her, and I know that she has helped me become a happier person already. There is a part of me though that I know will not fully relax and enjoy her until I can hold her in my arms. Luckily I will be able to do that in just a few short weeks!

Dancing Elijah

Ever since Elijah was a little baby he has not liked it when people sang around him. Dustin and I used to sing him to sleep on car trips or when he had a hard time falling asleep, so I think that he has always associated singing with goign to sleep. But recently that has all changed. He has turned into a singing and dancing maniac. He loves to sing in the car and when he is in the bath tub. He even sings along to songs that he recognizes when we are out shopping. He even has a headband that I bought for the baby that he calls his "bowtie," that he has to wear when he dances (that is the yellow bow around his neck in the videos.) One of his favorite songs to dance to right now is "Use Somebody" by the Kings of Leon, which is the song that he is dancing to in the video. His favorite songs to sing are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star","I am Like a Star" and "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam." He has such a pretty little voice. I love to hear him singing in his room while he is playing, or when he comes in the kitchen and sings and dances for us while we make dinner. Too cute!

The New Zoo

On Saturday we took Elijah to a county zoo that is about 20 minutes from our house. The zoo is small, but it was really nice. It has a small children's zoo where Elijah was able to feed some goats, and Elijah had a great time. There is also a fun Giraffe exhibit where you can feed the giraffes crackers. Unfortunately though Elijah was too afraid to feed them. So Dustin held Elijah and Eli watched as he fed the giraffes. Elijah's favorite part of the zoo were the monkeys. He loves monkeys!

Family

I am very grateful to be able to live here in Green Bay. I feel blessed that Dustin has a good job that he enjoys and that enables him to provide for Elijah, the baby and I so that we can live comfortably and so that I can be a stay at home mom. I also feel very blessed that I can live so close to my family. It is nice that all of my immediate family and some of my extended family live within only a few hours of us. I am especially grateful for this blessing because for the two and a half years before we moved to Green Bay we were over 13 hours away from them, and I missed them immensely. I am very happy that through divine circumstances we ended up where we are, and I look forward to where we will be in the future. I hope that we will be able to live near family (either Dustin's or mine) wherever we are sent to next. The comfort and support of having any family nearby is a great thing and is something that I am glad that Elijah can experience now, and hopefully will be able experience in the future.

Fun with Grandpa and Daddy

We went down to visit my parents and Erin this last weekend to celebrate a late Mother's Day. Grandpa, Dustin and Elijah went for a ride on Grandpa's tractor/lawn mower. They went for a ride around the neighborhood and all around the yard. Elijah had a great time with his "Tampa and Daddy." While we were down in Illinois we were able to see Uncle Frank, Uncle Jim, Aunt Marge and Grandma Charlesworth. It is really great to be able to see our family, and extended family as often as we do.

Love You Mama!

Every night before Elijah goes to bed I tell him that I love him. For the last month or so I have been trying to get him to say that he loves Dustin and I back. Elijah always just smiles and blows kisses back at us and says "No way!" when I ask him if he loves us too. On Mother's Day that all changed. When we put him to bed that night I told him that I loved him, and he said "love you mama." It was the best Mother's Day present that I could have received! I am very grateful that a little over two years ago I was blessed to become Elijah's mom!