Today

This afternoon, I got to spend a little time with my good friend, AJ. She lives in Indy but we don't see each other nearly enough.  Amy Jo, we missed you and were totally bummed you weren't able to make it!!

Blessed with good friends.

A North Carolina Christmas!

Kirk, Elijah and I had a great Christmas with the Duncans down in North Carolina.  We were blessed to have the WHOLE family together and we had a wonderful time.  I know I have mentioned this before, but I'm thankful to have in-laws that I truly enjoy!

I bought Elijah's Christmas Eve outfit a while ago and literally could NOT wait to put it on him.  I mean, have you EVER seen a cuter kid than that?

Well, hello there, little man.

Christmas Eve.

Mom and Mia on Christmas Eve...Elijah loves that dog, by the way (she's not crazy about him, however).

These are a little out of order, because this was actually the evening of Christmas, but oh well.  This picture is funny to me...ever since E's teeth have come in, he's been making really funny faces because he tried to feel them with his lips and his tongue.

My family on Christmas.

Christmas morning! So exciting!

I love this kid.

My in-laws house looks so pretty at Christmas...I loved mom's tree!

Elijah got so excited for his gifts, that he climbed on top of one!

Konni, anxiously awaiting gift giving/opening to start!

Wow! Look at this huge pile of gifts!

E got a golf set from Grandma and Grandpa...Daddy is especially excited for him to learn!

The boys in their Christmas PJs.

And here's the girls in our matching pjs. Kirk said we look like floating heads since we all have the same clothes on. I kind of agree :).

Grandpa and Elijah chillin out on Christmas.

The day after Christmas we went out as a family for dinner.  Elijah loves his grandparents!

Duncan Family Christmas 2009.

Elijah's Great Grandma Dunkelberger loves Coke, so Mom wanted us to get a picture of him next to the old fashioned coke machine.

All in all, we had a great time with the Duncans! Thanks for having us, Mom and Dad and thanks for letting us steal your room, Konni!

A Visit from Aunt Rachel!

Right before we left for North Carolina, Rachel came out to visit with us for a few days.  We had a great time in her short visit (it seems like I always want time with family to be extended!).  We took her downtown to one of our favorite places, Old Spaghetti Factory, we went shopping and out to lunch, and I made one of our favorite meals Chicken Enchilada Casserole for dinner.  And, of course, in the midst of all that, she got in a lot of Elijah play and cuddle time!  Here's a few pictures of our time together (unfortunately I didn't pull out my camera until it was time for her to leave, but these are better than nothing).

A little blurry but still cute.

Hahaha...I love how you can tell Rach is laughing at E in this picture.

So excited to be with my aunt! ps. you can see Elijah's teeth in this picture!

Elijah woke up from a nap just in time to say goodbye.  Here is his sleepy goodbye to Aunt Rach!

Rachel, thank you so much for spending part of your break with us! We had a blast...come back!

Merry Christmas!

Because of visitors and travel, Kirk, Elijah and I decided to have a little family Christmas celebration this morning.  WE really enjoyed the family time and especially Elijah's first Christmas with us!

Wake up, mommy and daddy! It's Christmas!

Opening "Horton Hears a Who".

Yippee! A slide!

Elijah likes his new tool set! He's been playing with it all day.

I got Kirk a golf bag.  He is planning on uping his game this summer!

Kirk got me some great gifts...a turtleneck, a sweater, and a Bible.

Merry Early Christmas!

My favorite boys.

This picture is hilarious to me.

This is a little later in the day.  I mainly took these because I LOVE his outfit.

Hey there!

Hammering away.

I love my new tool set!

Christmas at the Zoo.

Some of you may know that over the summer I started volunteering at a local home for single women who are pregnant with nowhere to go and have made the honorable choice to keep their baby.  This home provides free childcare until the baby is 6 months old.  I have really enjoyed getting to know these incredibly brave women and their stories.  I have also enjoyed getting to know some of the older kids (many women who move in there already have other children).  I specifically babysit a four year old named Kennyon once a week.  Last night, Kirk and I decided to take him to Christmas at the Zoo.  The have the place lit up with tons of Christmas lights. Despite the cold weather, we enjoyed watching Kennyon explore.  

Kirk and Kennyon at the gate!

Walkin in a winter wonderland!

Kennyon had a blast with Kirk (it was the first time they had met).  He especially loved being on Kirk's shoulders!

Elijah loved it too!

E was getting a little squirmy so we decided to hold him for a while.  Kennyon hopped right in the stroller and took a ride.  I thought he looked so funny in there.

This is just cute.

Whenever Elijah hears the garage door open, he crawls over to the gate at the top of stairs and waits to see who is coming in.  I love seeing that face as soon as I get home when I turn the corner.

I was trying to get a video of Elijah dancing and clapping, but he was too distracted by the camera.  It's cute anyway...

A Country Merry Christmas from the Duncans!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

hahaha.

Even as I write this, I am laughing.  I laugh every time I look at this picture.  If you've ever seen Elijah get his diaper changed, you know how challenging it is.  The kid does not sit still for even a millisecond.  Tonight, as Kirk was trying to get his pants back on, there was a slight mishap.  Both of his legs ended up in one pantleg.  Hahahahaha.  I can't stop laughing.

Not Elijah's Finest Hour

Well, as many of you know, Elijah has been developing quite the "party in the back" of his hairdo...aka a mullet.  It got to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore so we took him over to Clubhouse Cuts for Kids which is right in front of our house.  Let's just say, it did not go well.  As soon as the lady sprayed his hair to make it wet, Elijah lost it and could not recover.  Kirk took a few pictures with his cell phone...unfortunately they are blurry because he was shaking and convulsing so much.  As soon as the haircut lady left him alone, he was happy as a clam.  Oh well...better luck next time.

Trying to soothe him with his paci (not successful).

She had her work cut out for her.

I scanned in this certificate that they gave us.  He got to go down the slide when he was done and that made him happy!

A Visit to the Barretts!

This past weekend, we headed up to Grand Rapids to see our good friends Scott and Mel.  Mel works at Kuyper college and Scott is in seminary up there.  Mel was my roommate right after college and Scott and Kirk played ball together in intramurals. We had a great time catching up, playing games, and eating an awesome mexican meal they made for us.  Thanks for having us!

Elijah and Mel get along well.

Cheese!

Sorry...not sure why this one is so small.

The boys on our campus tour.

A quick shot at Panera before we head out.  I love this picture!