Eli, Look Alike, Part 2

So maybe his family resemblance is a little closer than my brother. Last night our MOMS Club had mom's night out. Our moms (or in my case grandma) filled out a survey and sent in pictures. Then last night, we all tried to identify each others baby pictures and guess the main character of funny childhood stories. This is one of the pictures my grandma sent in. I am six months old in the picture, Eli's exact age. I believe the comment last night was, "Who put Eli in that pink dress."

Eli and Uncle Matthew

Eli's middle name is Matthew. Both Jason and I have little brothers named Matthew, so we thought it was appropriate (Eli being the little brother and all). The more interesting things is that from the very beginning everyone has been saying how much he looked like my brother. This was a surprise, because of how much Walker looks like Jason. So I scanned in some pictures of my brother from his first year and have selected some of Eli's pictures in which he has a similar expression. What do you think?

(I apologize for that one picture being sideways, I didn't realize it was that way before I uploaded it)

Wednesday, Eli's Day

So, on Wednesdays Walker goes to Mother's Day Out, that makes it Eli's day. Of course, I use the day to run some errands and do some cleaning, but Eli also gets mommy time without any toddler interruptions. Even Target is fun, since he gets to sit in the car carrier and make funny faces at me. Usually that is Walker's seat and Eli rides in the front carrier. Eli doesn't seem to mind, but it is fun to see the store from a different view. Today, Eli worked especially hard at being precious, so I got some good video. He is growing up so fast. Walker was fast, but it actually seems impossible that Eli is 6 months old. One of my friends commented that he looks like a toddler now, not a baby. Please don't say things like that. Then, I end up in the car crying at a Micheal W. Smith song and the people next to me think I am not fit to drive (not that this has happened or anything).

Rolling With Style and Funny Hats

Eli is growing so fast. He is almost as big as his brother and is really ready to get out there and play with him. Of course, learning to crawl will help him with that endeavor. He is getting close to crawling, but right now he can still get just about anywhere he want to, by rolling. This is especially true when one of Walker's toys is in sight. Yesterday he rolled himself over to the toy bin; turned it over; and perused his options.

On Saturday my dad, Pops, brought Walker and I Chick-fil-a for lunch. Don't think he left Eli out. He let him play with the bag for a while (it was empty, right). Then he put the whole thing on his head. Then he tore it into a right sized hat. Of course, laughter ensued. I love that he lets us put just about anything on his head. Walker was the same way and enjoys wearing a hat now, which mommy loves for sun protection. Eli is extremely fair skinned so it is important that he continues to be cooperative with this stuff, not that a Chick-fil-a bag offers much protection.

Sleeping In

On Saturday morning our children blessed us with a wonderful surprise. Both Eli and Walker slept until almost 8. Now, I know some of you out there without children don't think 8am on a Saturday is late, but for our kids it is. Maybe yours will be different (whatever you have to tell yourself to move forward with family making).

Eli usually wakes between 5:30 and 6:30 to eat and go. But, Saturday he ate, and drifted peacefully back to sleep - miracle #1. Walker rarely sleeps past 7, like I can count on one hand the number of times it has happened. Usually when it does happen we run in his room sure that something is wrong. But, Saturday he woke up happy about 7:50 - miracle #2. One can only hope that they are cluing into this weekend thing and this will continue, yeah right. But, anyway for one glorious Saturday, we got a break from the parent race and did not wake with the sun.

This picture is taken later that morning, far to late for everyone to still be in pajamas, but alas we all were.

Outside Play

Finally, the extreme temperatures have broken and we are able to enjoy the wonderful outdoors. Every afternoon after snack and seeing the school bus we go to the backyard. Walker has a blast 'mowing' the grass and Eli absolutely loves to swing with me on the patio. No matter what the boys' mood was before, as soon as the outside air hits there face they are happy. I pray their love of the outdoors remains as they get older.

We are also able to enjoy the park once again. We have a great park just a few miles from the house (Joe Tucker Park). It has the cushioned Astroturf and activities that are great for toddlers and older kids alike. Walker absolutely loves to go and has conquered everything but the 'big slide'. He will climb to the top look down, and the go back down the stairs. He will slide soon, and then I will cry because he is growing up to fast.

Eli is usually well behaved at the park (remember the outside mood control) and enjoys watching all the kids run around. You can see on his face how much he wants to get out and run with his brother, and it won't be long for that either. Of course, I will cry when that happens too, because he too is growing up so fast.

The other neat thing about this park, is it is the same park my parents took me to play at when I was little. That is one of the nice side effects of raising your children in the same area you grew up in. You get to see your children in places you remember from your childhood. Pops and Grandma Jayne joined us at the park on Sunday and we got some good pictures from that trip. It was neat to have my Dad and my boys with me in a place that holds such fond memories.

So Smart

Untitled from jason.mccay on Vimeo.


So, I know everyone thinks their child is the smartest in the world (or in our case, children), but Walker really is pretty smart. He goes to Mother's Day Out one day a week and every week his teacher comments on how smart he is. Of course, we already knew that, but it is nice to have outside confirmation.

Here is video of me asking him some questions. Now, he has known what many of these animals say for a long time, but he refused to perform on camera. The book is his favorite truck book, he usually reads most of the words, but really wanted to read his new Halloween book from his Grammie. I do loose his attention in the middle, but the beginning of the video is pretty good. I apologize for my shooting abilities. I know no one wants to watch video of a book. I intend to get better at video editing, but one thing at a time. The more amazing part is that Eli was sitting off camera, quietly in his chair. A new development as well!

Disclaimer: All the moms I know have brilliant children as well. :)

Play Time

Yesterday Walker had a friend from church (okay, and I did, too) over to play. We go to small church plant, Clearwater Community Church, but there are tons of little boys to play with. In fact, between both Walker and Eli's nursery classes their are only two girls (I guess they will get their pick). And there are several little boys in Walker's age group who have little brothers in Eli's class. Of course, yesterday, Eli and Palmer didn't do much playing, but Walker and Harrison did seem to have a good time.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of playing with the Crafts and the Scurlocks from church. Those families really took care of my brother and I when we lost our mom. They really worked hard to keep our play time "normal." I pray that we will continue to bond with our church family and the boys would develop friendships that draw them closer to God as they grow.

Great Grandparents Visit

My dad's parents, Grandma and Grandpa B as they are known to me, came to visit yesterday. This was the first time they saw Eli and they had not seen Walker since Thanksgiving, so there have been many changes. It was a good visit and the boys were well behaved. These boys are very lucky to have 7 living great grandparents that all love them. Walker has picked two of their names and decided to call all of them Memaw and Papaw. All except for Dandy, who just gets to be Dandy. Jason and I are so happy that our children are getting to know our grandparents, who are such and important part of our lives.

Let the blogging begin!

Each day there are many exciting adventures that occur with my wonderful boys, Walker and Eli. I am terrible at keeping up with a baby book and only fair at keeping a journal. So, why not try blogging? My desire is to have a place to post fun stories about our family and create a digital scrapbook to share with our friends and family. My first course of action will be to get a good family photo to place at the top of the blog. Isn't that terrible? Eli is almost six months old and I do not have one picture of all four of us that I am willing to place on the internet. So there we have it, my first blog post, and away we go!