Eli Recently

Eli is such a happy, fun little baby.  We love him SO much and are having fun watching him learn.  He crawls all over the place and pulls up on everything.  He is so observant of everything around him and loves to watch people, like his mom.  He likes to get into everything and there are a lot of things for him to get into in our little apartment that we haven't baby-proofed at all.  Lately his favorite thing to do is pull books off the bookshelf and open my bedside table and pull out anything he can grab.  He is so fun and smiley and laughs at so many things, especially when other people laugh.  We love him!

This picture is a few months old but I love it.  His little cellulitey legs and bum are so cute to me.

This was on my birthday, so 3 months ago.  We were at a little mission get together to see Yulia before she entered the MTC.  She is in the back middle in the burgundy sweater.  One of the girls we baptized on my mission.  She is SO great. 

We went to Temple Square for Eli to see the lights and he loved it! It was SO cold and he was bundled up in his stroller to look up at the lights.  We only took him out for a picture :)

At the Tulsa Aquarium over Christmas.  Eli loved the clownfish.

Christmas morning.

Eli laying in Zoe's doll bed that Brian made.

Swimming at the hotel in Oklahoma City.  The water was so cold but he liked it.

Getting ready to cut his hair.

Ready for Church.

with Grandpa.

Grandma's lipstick on his forehead.

Laughing with his soother in.  He almost always wants his soother these days so we're trying to cut back a bit :)

Dinner before Steph's game.

With Grandma and Grandpa.

He has figured out how to carry around his toys with him while he crawls.  He's such a funny and cute little guy. 

Canada Trip!

It has been SO long since I've posted on this blog...I think about a year and a half. Ha. I'm going to try and be better since I now actually have things to talk about. Life with Eli is pretty great.  I was so nervous and scared about becoming a mother.  As Wes wrote in an earlier blog, I had to deliver via c-section because Eli was breech.  The c-section was scheduled for 2 or 3 weeks before it happened and that just made me more anxious knowing exactly when he was going to come.  Easter, the day before I had him, I was SO nervous and felt sick thinking about the surgery, post-surgery, and some aspects of being a new mom.  Everything went so smoothly and was really great.  Eli has been such a good, sweet baby since he was born.  He was(and still it) SO patient, happy, pacified and sweet.  The hardest adjustment of becoming a mother was the lack of sleep and being home so much.  Being home all the time still gets to me and I try to get out and do something everyday.  As far as sleep goes, Eli has slept through the night for the past 3 months.  A few nights ago he slept 15 hours! Anyways, he is the best little guy and I love spending my time with him. I am extremely grateful for him and for all the blessings in my life.

The end of September, my parents flew me home for a couple weeks. It was a wonderful trip! I had such a great time spending time with my mom and dad, Kate, Dan, Scarlett, and other family.  I also loved being home with the dogs and cats :) They loved Eli and he actually seemed somewhat interested in them, too. It was SO nice always having my mom there to talk to and just being able to relax and visit.  I was so so thankful I was able to be home for a couple weeks.  

This is all of the Thomas family that was there for Caitlin and Jordan's wedding.  It was so fun to be there for the wedding and see how happy Caitlin and Jordan are together.

Eli LOVED my mom. He hasn't been like that with anyone.  He was always staring at her and smiling.  He would cry when I would try to clean his nose or do certain things and when my mom did, he just smiled the whole time.  Ha. I really wish we lived closer so he could see his Grandma more often.  Hopefully in a few years we will live close!

Mom, Kate, Scarlett, Eli and I went to the zoo one day.  It was pretty cold outside and we were there for about an hour and a half.  Eli loved laying in the stroller looking around and finally fell asleep about 5 minutes before we left.

Thankfully, he fell asleep again in the car a few minutes later.  It was cute seeing him and Scarlett both sleeping.  

She kept trying to hold Eli's hand and would grab it anytime he lifted it up.  She kept waiting with her hand open for him to move it so she could get it.  It was cute and so funny. 

Barks and Linky would come over and kiss Eli when they came in from outside.  Surprisingly, he would just smile and laugh.  It made me proud :)

Eli doing what he loves best these days.  He is constantly putting his fingers in his mouth and sucking/chewing on them.  He hardly even takes his soother anymore because he prefers his fingers.

I love him! He is the sweetest little baby.

I think this picture is so funny.  We went out to eat at the Silver Inn(the BEST Chinese Food) and my dad was holding Eli.  With his outfit and pose he looks like he's just another guy sitting around the table in on the conversation. Haha.  He looks like a total man except for the soother. 

He got tired after a little bit of bouncing on my dad's knee and fell asleep in grandma's arms. 

Getting ready for his bath.  He loves his baths!

Aunt Suzanne and Auntie Lin came out for dinner and a visit.  It was so nice to see them and Eli loved rocking with Aunt Suzanne.

Eli was so excited to see Wes when he picked us up at the airport.  He loves Wes SO much and is always staring at him and watching him.  Wes is a very involved dad and has been very helpful since day 1.  It's so   nice.

Haircut

When Eli was about 2 1/2 months old, we figured it was time for a haircut.  His hair was pretty long.  I still loved it but Wes had been wanting to cut it for a while.  It looked cute until someone touched it and then it would get greasy really fast.  Since he was born people have very frequently commented on how much hair he has and often touch it. SO about 1/2 hour after going out, his hair would look pretty greasy. 

One night it was looking pretty rough and I just decided to cut it.  Wes held him while I started trimming and he was soo good. He fell asleep after about 5 or 10 minutes.

Anyways, here are some BEFORE pictures:

DURING:

I felt pretty sick after we gave him a bath and I saw how short it was.  I think I might have cried.  I really regretted cutting it at all and thought it was way too short.  He went from having soft, fine baby hair to adult hair. After 2 or 3 days I loved how it looked and thought it was really cute.

  AFTER: