California

We had such an awesome trip to California! So much to tell, but I'll try to keep it kindof short so you don't look at this post and say "yeah right...I'm not reading that!" ;) We went to Disneyland and California Adventures. Highlights were: Hannah got to have lunch with the princesses, Elijah got to meet Mickey Mouse, Hannah rode her first "thrill rides" and loved them, and we got to see the parks (and characters) all decorated for Christmas. It was wonderful. We also got to celebrate Thanksgiving with GG (that's what we call my grandma--short for great grandma) and all of dad's cousins in Laguna Beach. That was really great, too...but too short. :) Oh...and Elijah had his first airplane ride! He did surprisingly well--not much fussing at all! There were four plane rides in all since we had to change planes in Minneapolis--one was about 45 minutes long, and the other about 4 hours long. And we survived!! ;) It was a great trip, but we are glad to be home. Now, we're getting the house decorated for Christmas (we put up Christmas lights yesterday and are getting trees today) and we're getting ready for Hannah's 5th birthday (!!), which is tomorrow. :)

I Found My Feet!

In just the last couple days, Eli found his little feet. :) It was really cute...it started off with him just really staring at them and being kindof amazed--like he was thinking something like "wow! what are those and where did they come from?!?!" And not much later, he was grabbing at them. I guess it won't be long before they go to his mouth...ewwww.... ;)

The "Little Man" Playing and Chewing

Hannah and I were about to have our dinner tonight, and she was playing with Elijah in his Exersaucer, so I decided to take some pictures first. When looking back at the pictures, I realized that he's really starting to look like a little person!! It's so amazing how fast he grows up! He also has been really into chewing lately. And chewing ANYTHING. His hands, my hands, shirts, blankets, burp pads, and, of course, toys. You can see the two little bumps where his bottom two teeth will eventually come in, so I guess the chewing probably feels good there. He has one teether that's oval...we call it his football. :) His Exersaucer has a blue elephant that's meant to be a teether, and he LOVES it. I have to clean up the pool of drool he leaves behind! Anyway, he's just doing great! We're super excited about our trip to California on Saturday! We're going to spend the week with Grandma in Los Angeles, and we'll be going to Disneyland and California Adventures (including a lunch with the Disney princesses for Hannah and me--already reserved and NOT cheap!); plus going to Thanksgiving dinner with Dad's whole family. And, of course, after we get back, it'll be Hannah's 5th birthday!! WOW!!!

Elijah's First Cereal!

Big milestone today!! Elijah tried his first solid food! He had some rice cereal, and he did pretty well considering it was his first time! He spit a lot of it out, but he didn't resist it too much, either. Hannah loved getting to help!! We all enjoyed being together for his first time eating "real food." :)

Elijah's 4-month Appointment

Elijah went to the doctor for his 4-month appointment today. As always, everything is wonderful! He's growing wonderfully...he now weighs 15 pounds; 13 ounces (70th percentile) and is 24 3/4 inches long (49th percentile). The nurse was so amused by him--he was standing on my lap while she was asking me all the typical questions, and the whole time he was just looking at her and smiling off and on...it was VERY cute. I found out that we can now start him on solid foods--rice cereal at first, then oatmeal, then "real" foods at 5 months (like Gerber veggies, fruits, etc.) Then, at 6 months Cheerios!!! :) Hannah is so excited that we can start solids because now she can be involved in feeding--FINALLY something she can really be involved in!! Pictures of THAT to follow soon--and I'm sure they'll be adorable!! Of course no baby's doctor visit is complete without a few shots. Eli got the same 3 shots as last time, and will get them again at 6 months. Apparently the side effects are a little worse the 2nd time around, which is obvious to me because he's been really fussy and really sleepy all day. Poor little guy. I don't think I've seen him smile once since the doctor's appointment. I'll hope for a better day tomorrow. By the way, we've been really enjoying some beautiful weather here! It's been in the 70's, and it's November!!! I can't believe it!!! Unfortunately, the honeymoon is about to come to an end...tomorrow's the last warm day. It'll be highs in the 40's by the end of the week. We're trying to soak up all the warm we can get!!

Happy Halloween!!

We had such a fun Halloween! Hannah dressed up as Snow White (no surprise that she was a princess, right?), and Elijah was a pea pod. :) On Thursday night, we went trick-or-treating at "Attic Angels," which is a retirement home where Mom volunteers. The residents there were wonderful. They were so nice, and, of course, they loved seeing all the kids. They especially loved Elijah and his costume! Even all the other kids there kept coming over and saying how cute he was! (I hope Hannah wasn't TOO jealous--people did say how cute she was, too.) :) They had a really nice, big room set up with a pile of hay and pumpkins where we could sit and take pictures--we got a great one of Hannah and Eli. :) On Friday, Hannah and I designed our pumpkins together and I carved them (with direction from her, of course) :) I was really pleased with how they turned out--I was quite impressed with myself (one even had earrings!)--and with Hannah's and my creative skills! Friday night, we took pictures of Hannah and Elijah in their costumes, and then I took Hannah trick-or-treating. This is a great neighborhood for it--lots of kids, lots of houses, lots of decorations...it was great! She was a little hesitant at first about going to the doors, but it didn't take long before I would start walking to the door with her and she'd say "I can do it by myself" and leave me standing at the sidewalk. LOL She had a lot of stamina, and she got a lot of candy (a couple houses even gave out whole candy bars!) It was a great Halloween! Time for some sugar highs!!!

Portraits of Elijah

Well, here they are, everyone! The portraits of Elijah! There are more than these, but these are the only ones that are really decent. Don't you just LOVE the pouty face? That will for sure be in the scrapbook!! I have been saying all along that I want a picture of that adorable pouty face, but it's so hard to capture it, but the awesome photographer got it! The others are great, too. We ordered some of each except for one (and I think the one we didn't order is the up close tummy one, but I put it up here because it's still really cute.) Enjoy!