12-14 Months

I have definitely been slacking a little in the milestone department. I never did a 12 month final post and pictures, and kept waiting to catch up, but never did. I do want to at least put some updates down here so I can remember them later on. So here we go...

Hank and Uncle Anthony in background

 Next week, Eli Matthew, you will be 14 months old! You started full-time walking the week of your 1st birthday. Now, you are running everywhere! If you get really excited, like during your Easter egg hunt, or if we are playing and chasing you in the living room, you might resort to crawling still. :) It looks so odd and funny to us now!

You are so much fun! You wake up smiling and go to bed smiling. You are usually only upset if you are tired. You are a strong-willed little guy, and don't always like to be told no. If we tell you not to do something, you get a huge grin on your face, and try to do it a couple more times to see what will happen. Stinker.

Deanie and Papa's backyard

 Right now, your favorite things are balls and dogs. You love to play with the dogs--you sit on them, pat them, giggle when they kiss you...your very favorite is when Huck sniffs your neck! You say "ruff, ruff" every time you see or hear a dog. You love throwing balls with us, and you love to hand Boone his tennis balls to play with. You say "ba" every time you see one. Your new word lately is " yes" although is sounds more like "yesssssssth". We love it. We say, "Do you love mama? Do you love daddy? Do you love Jesus?" And you'll tell us, "yesssth" after each one! So glad your new word isn't "no"!

 Your favorite song right now is "This little light of mine"...and you stick your little finger up and sway it back and forth when we sing it. You also love to blow on it during the "won't let Satan blow it out" part. Patty cake is another fave because you like the "rolllll it" part.

You are still a pretty picky eater. You usually have a fruit and grain cereal bar and milk for breakfast. Lunch is always hit or miss. One day you love oranges, the next you throw them all on the floor, or your new favorite, put them on your head. Drives me crazy. You usually eat whatever we do for dinner, but right now your faves are lima beans, broccoli and pizza! Oh, and ever since Deanie introduced you to Reese's cups, you say, "mmmmmm" every time you see one! We took away your bottle after your 1st b-day, and you drink only organic whole milk, juice, and water. You love your milk! It has caused some bathroom problems lately, so we haved backed off the dairy a little bit.

 You don't have a huge vocabulary yet, but you decided this month to gesture and say "ehhhhh" to show me what you want. I keep telling you to use your words, so hopefully you'll learn what those words are soon. :) You say "dada", 'mama", "uh-oh", "ba", "bye-bye", "yes", and some fun noises, like a car, train, fire engine, snake, and Indian sound.

You are wearing 12-18 months clothing- 12 for width and 18 for heighth. We just bought you new size 3 shoes because you outgrew your 2's. You are taking two 2 hours naps a day still and sleeping around 11 hours each night. You MUST have your lovey Mr. Elephant with you for naps. You suck on his trunk until it's soaking wet and stinky.

Your hair is growing all the time; it covers your ears, and I could make a teeny tiny ponytail out of the back. Your first hair cut is a'comin' soon, little man. You have 8 teeth still, and no signs of any new ones yet. Though, there are some days where your daddy and I check your mouth multiple times CERTAIN there MUST be new teeth coming through with your bad attitude, but nope. :)

Boone and Huck's cousin Hank

You still love your Baby Einstein and Praise Baby dvds, and we watch one every single morning. You sit in my lap. I drink coffee and check blogs and facebook...you drink milk and eat your cereal bar. Then, we're off and running for the day. I love our little morning snuggle movie time.

Your daddy and I always say this stage has been the most fun with you yet. You walk around outside with us and play, play, play. You fake laugh just so we will laugh with you too. You are a little ham and LOVE attention- which all your relatives give you plenty of. You love to give high-fives now, and wrestle with your daddy on the rug at night. We are both so excited to take you on many firsts this year that you might actually enjoy too! Like, playing in the sand at the beach, feeling the ocean water and watching the waves, going to the aquarium and the zoo and seeing all of God's creatures, etc. There is just SO MUCH to see and explore in this big world God gave us, and we are so excited to do it with you, Eli Matthew.

All pics- April 21, 2011 almost 13 months

Every single night Eli, I pray and THANK God a million times over for the GIFT that you are to us. I ask Him to LEAD us and HELP us be the parents He wants us to be. I pray that God and you will forgive us for our shortcomings, and I pray that our HEARTS are always in the right place to raise you be a child of God. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being YOUR mommy and you and your daddy are the most special things to me on this EARTH. Thank you for your BIG smile, your open-mouth kisses, and laying your head on my shoulder. I never want to forget those things that make you YOU.

Embrace the Camera.

Here's my little Easter bunny scrunch face...

 and the wings and mullet he's growing (which I love)...

showing off his new white kicks...

in his lion and the lamb jon-jon for Easter...get it? Lion = Jesus. Lamb = my precious babe. Amen.

And here's my Embrace the Camera Thursday pic...

Matthew's glaring and fake smiling, my hair needs highlighting and de-frizzing, and Eli needs a big fat nap.

Real life, people. Happy Easter from Eli.

Embrace the Camera can be found out andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com

Weekly Menu

Fried crappie and bass, Broccoli slaw, Ina's Potato Salad (Matth caught the fish, and he said this is the best potato salad ever...it's mustard-y, which I don't love, but he did!)

Stuffed Peppers and Caesar salad

Broccoli Cheese soup, Salad, French bread

Black Bean and Spinach Quesadilla, guacamole

Eggplant Parmesan, angel hair marinara

BBQ sandwiches, broccoli slaw, potato salad ( all leftovers)

Hobos, Sauteed French green beans

Besides Ina Garten's potato salad, every other link is to literallyspoonful.blogspot.com
I really have no idea how I stumbled upon her blog, but I did, and my family is much better for it! I love her recipes and everything I've made of hers so far has been so good. Plus, she also has a life blog about her cute lil' family. Go check her out if you need some good quick recipe ideas!

Easter Uno.

Easter weekend was a blur, but it's pretty safe to say fun was had by all. We decided to drive to Franklin b/c we knew there would be plenty of activities to celebrate Eli's 1st acknowledgement of Easter. Last year, he was four days old, and we had just gotten home from the hospital the night before. The Easter bunny didn't even bring him a basket, thanks to a sleep-deprived and overwhelmed mama. This year, the bunny made up for his absence with an actual visit to the Gentry Farm and a hug for Easy E.

 We had to coach him a little with what to do with the eggs, but he's really into picking things up and handing them to us right now, so he figured it out in no time at all. He found his first egg and that was that.

He was so excited with all the other kids running around and bright colored eggs that he forgot how to walk.

 Here's his loot. He was the big winner that day...for least eggs found.

Not really...but he was very content with his first egg and was happy to hand the others he found to his friends nearby.

Don't look too closely at his basket below. I bought a rainbow colored one from Walmart for two dollars and hand-painted it with white acrylic paint. I was going to spray paint it, but time flew and it never happened, so his basket was a little pastel looking. I did sew him a makeshift liner to hide most of the basket. I'll have to do better next year.

 His first prize was a heart shaped sticker that we promptly stuck on his shirt. He wanted the candy instead. Every time one had a reese's in it, he'd say, "mmmmmmm" and hand it to us to open.

 Later that day, we headed over to my friend Corinne's house for another hunt and cookout. Eli almost fell asleep in this swing. Can you see his glazed over look below? No smiles, no squeals, just that same open-mouthed stare the whole time.

 His buddy Aiden kind of had the same expression, but his tired little body gave over to a few cries soon after.

 Sweet Adriana made an appearance at 6 weeks old.  Isn't she precious? She even had her basket ready for all the egg huntin'.

 Eli was a pro this time...ran from place to place, picking up a few eggs here and there.

 Here Aiden, eat my egg.

 No, no my blonde friend...those aren't for eatin'

 What's that you say? No candy in these eggs? Nonsense...
 Hey there--a distraction! Two daddys are calling our names...

 Here's most of us girls with our brood. I'm in love with these two pictures. Christa and Adriana on the left--friends since middle school. Katie and Aiden come next--friends since elementary school. Corinne in the middle with Olivia and Ava--friends since high school.

 We're missing our last little dark-haired Jeanna and her Ethan, but the five of us have pretty much done it all together, and it's crazy, and fun, and precious to see us all with our babies in one spot. I seriously imagine we'll have pictures with all of us when our brood as quadrupled, and our dark circles will be darker, our bellies bigger, our hair shorter, and our minds a little more gone. I love love LOVE these girls and their humor, and their hearts, and their Christ-like spirits.
I hope one day our babies will have pictures just like these with these same friends and their own kids, and we'll all be old still blonde grandmamas together.

While I have your riveted attention, could you say a few prayers for me? Remember Sara Walker and her colon cancer? The chemo and God are working hard and the cancer cells are reduced-- praise God. Her brother Michael and his wife Stephanie are here in Knoxville with us, and Stephanie just miscarried this week on Mother's Day weekend. Please pray for healing of hearts, and bodies, and comfort for them to know that God is good and in control of all things. He already knows His plans for them and their family, He knows their needs, and knows every tear they cry. I never feel like I say the right words for circumstances like these, but I do know that God can pray for me when I don't have the words.

Easter Day post and Mother's Day comin' next...

Boys to Men

I've mentioned before how I read Internet Cafe Devotions for articles on faith and life. I read this one today, and although I am far away from needing to put some of this advice to use with Eli, I most definitely am already praying and calling out to God for help in raising a boy to be a Christian man and leader. If you are the momma to a boy, go ahead and click on this link. She also gives to good resources for books on this, but I'm gonna add a third-- Bringing up Boys by James Dobson.

Go read the article here: Boys to Men

Pizza, Graham crackers, and Bin Laden

Good Monday! I planned to blog today about Easter, and house stuff, and everything else that's happening in our life right now, but I just can't bring myself to talk about all that trivial stuff yet. First, I am hurting and praying for all those who have been affected by these tornados and storms in the Southeast. We hid in the closet for a few bad hail storms, but nothing else happened to us besides a few broken windows and lots of debris.

My brother's house has been without power since then and they have been visiting family and friends until it comes back on. I am grateful that's all that happened to them, but know only a few miles away much worse happened to others. A house is just a structure, and our eternal home is with God. I pray for the lives that were taken and hope those people knew God and are rejoicing with him now.

I'm also praying for Osama Bin Laden. That may seem wrong to you, but I just can't seem to agree with all the rejoicing going on. Am I glad there is less evil in the world? Yes. However, this morning, I watched as Facebook became filled with messages of  "Thank God Bin Laden is dead!" and those phrases didn't settle well.

I'm not even sure my husband quite agrees with me on this one, but I think Bin Laden was one of God's children too, and although it hurt Him to see his child do such evil acts, He still loved him and wanted him to turn to Him.

Proverbs 24:17, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice"
Ezekiel 18:23, 33:11. "...As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!...

I'm still stewing over all these thoughts in my heart, but although the American side of me is glad this evil threat is no longer, the Christian in me is sad and not rejoicing over a death without Christ.

On a lighter note...here's a few pics of my baby...

I think if I'd let him, he would only eat pizza and graham crackers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Be back soon.