Dancing Baby!

Last night I was making dinner when Kirk and Elijah came in to help me.  We had some music on and it quickly turned into asinging and dancing session.  Elijah was loving it and Kirk and I were cracking up!

Just getting started...still a little unsure.

Ok, I can do this...

Just dance.

How cute are these two?

Don't worry, Elijah. Daddy will teach you his best moves.

Dance, baby, dance!

I am sure this won't be our last dance session in the kitchen.

Remember This?

You may remember me posting pictures from one of my baby showers of a bunch of different onesies that the guests decorated.  I had to pick a favorite and I chose the one that said TAYLOR on the front with Class of 2031 on the back.  Here are some pictures of Elijah modeling the winning onesie!

Hopefully he will eventually become more enthused about Taylor.

I'm also hoping I can show the admissions office this picture when he is ready for college and they will give him a scholarship.

The Boys!

Today we had a fun visit from some of Kirk's best friends from Taylor.  They all live in the Chicago area and decided to make a day trip to meet Elijah (and play basketball of course).  Unfortunately, because of a major accident on the highway on the way down here, a trip that should take just over 3 hours took over 6.  We felt really badly that it took so long and even more badly that it made their visit shorter, but we were so thankful they were willing to make the trip.  Thanks, guys, for coming! Elijah loved meeting you all (and we had a great time hanging out!).

Jeff, Paul, Elijah, and Diepstra.

Diepstra taking a turn at the solo shot.

Jeff was captivated by the little guy.  We made sure he got in some good time because he is going to be a dad in 4 weeks!! We can't wait for your baby boy to arrive.  He's a natural, by the way :).

So cute.

Paul was super excited to meet and hold Elijah too.  After a few crying pictures, we got Elijah to settle down for this shot.

What a nice family photo :).

Those are 5 good looking boys! You guys are great friends and we so appreciate you coming down!! Thanks again, guys.

Worn Out!

Today Kirk and Elijah were sitting on the couch watching basketball (Kirk is teaching him to cheer for Butler basketball) while waiting for Kirk's friends to arrive (more pictures of their visit to come!).  Apparently it just exhausted Elijah and we thought it was so funny that he just fell asleep sitting up that we had to snap some pictures.

That pink thing on his wrist is a wrist rattle just in case you were wondering...we're not dressing him in pink bracelets or anything.

I love this picture...you can really tell how little he is!

Nothing better than a good nap on a Saturday afternoon.

Lucas Oil Stadium!!

Last night Kirk and I had our first big night out away from Elijah.  I was sad to leave him, but he did great with Amy Jo!  Kirk's work threw an event for some of the employees upon the completion of a big 4 year project.  It was at Lucas Oil Stadium, which is the brand new stadium where the Colts play.  I couldn't believe they rented out the whole place and we had a lot of fun! It made Kirk and I both really want to go to a game, so we may just have to try to make that happen this upcoming season!  If anyone knows where we can get free tickets, let us know!

A shot from the outside.

I wanted to post this picture because you can see some of the wreckage that's left over from the RCA dome which the leveled this summer.

After dinner, we got take a tour of the stadium, which started up in the press box.  What an awesome view of the field!!

They didn't take us into the Colts Locker Room, but we got pretty close.  

I guess you have to be more of a big deal to be let in there.

We did get to see the visitors locker room, which was huge, but not even close to as nice as the Colts, we were told.

Another shot.  The tour guide told us that even though this locker room is nothing super special, it's better than Baltimore's visiting locker room.  Apparently theirs is pink.

Kirk especially liked the super tall shower heads.  He usually has to duck :).

After the locker room, we got to go out onto the field! The stadium is so huge that it made the field look tiny.  Kirk said he's not as impressed with Peyton's throws anymore :).

In the endzone!

I wish these pictures came out a little clearer, but I'm glad we got a shot of the two of us on th e Colts home field!!

Oh Tony, we will miss you.

How can you not love Peyton Manning?

One Month Old Already?!

It's hard to believe that Elijah was one month old yesterday! The time really has gone by so quickly.  I took him to the doctor this week and he is doing great! As the doctor put it, he is bigger than 3 out of 5 guys his age at 10 pounds (62nd percentile) and taller than 9 out of 10 at 23 inches (89th percentile).  He is really growing up so fast!  Yesterday, in honor of his one month birthday, Elijah started giving us smiles! They are a little sporadic, but so much fun!

Here is a half-smile he gave me today!

Kirk really had him smiling today when he came from work.  Unfortunately, I couldn't capture one of the big smiles on camera, but here is a little one.

This is Elijah's best trick.  He gets really upset when his pacifier falls out, so after he loses it a couple times, he starts holding onto it.  What a smart young man!

Happy Valentines Day to Me!

I am the luckiest girl in the world. This year, I had two Valentines! On Saturday, Elijah was taking a nap in his bassinet and Kirk told me he needed me.  So I went over to get him and Elijah had a Valentines gift for me!

This is the sight I saw! A sweet card and one of my favorite candies.  The card said "Dear Mommy, You are the B-E-S-T mommy ever.  You even make me half smile sometimes. Love, Elijah" What a sweet son!

I think this position is Elijah saying, "Give me a hug, mommy!"

Kirk also gave me a sweet gift.  He took me shopping to buy a new outfit for a work event of his that we have tomorrow evening (stay tuned for pictures of that).  Thanks to my 2 favorite boys!!

Is Elijah picking favorites??

This is the face Elijah gives me.

"Come on, mom, say something interesting!"

And this is the face he gives Kirk...

"Dad, you're so much cooler than mom!"

sweet sleeping baby...

I usually run for the camera when Elijah is awake and alert, but let's be honest, a sleeping baby is so sweet!

This is his standard sleeping pose.  Arms behind the head...this is the life!

Jess, Kev, and Campbell, he loves his swing! Thanks for handing it down to us!

A New Toy!

As much as I love holding Elijah all day long, he is getting more and more restless in my arms by the day.   Because of that, I decided to pull out a new toy today.  I wasn't sure if he would care or not, but as it turns out, he loved it! He was kicking his feet and reaching at the hanging mirror...it was so fun to watch! Unfortunately, the pictures I took at first got lost, but I took some more later on and here is the result.  

Whoa....so much to look at!

Interestingly enough, he found the tubes that held the toys up more fascinating than the toys themselves.

"Hey, is that me in the mirror?"

Love him.

By the way, the Drakes gave us this play mat.  Thanks so much Aunt Mel and Uncle Jeff...Elijah loves it, and I made sure that he knows it's from you!!

He's Not Ours

I have been so nervous to take Elijah to church. I know it sounds strange. Church is supposed to be a safe place, right? Well, it's not that I'm afraid of going to church itself, it's just that our church is so big (4500 people) and to me it seemed there was too much that could go wrong. What if he exposed to too many germs? What if the music is too loud for him? What if he starts in crying in the middle of the service? What if I don't feel like I am completely in control at all times??

I went to church yesterday with Elijah in tow (although, to be completely honest, I didn't feel totally ready to take him). It was amazing how quickly I felt the Lord speaking to me once we were there. The words of the first song we sang convicted my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Those words were "Lord, you can have all my hands can hold". As many times as I have heard that song, those words took a whole new meaning as I pictured the hours each day that I hold my little man in my hands. He's not mine. He's not Kirk's. He's the Lord's.

The conviction continued as our pastor spoke about absolute surrender. "Are you completely surrendered to the Lord's authority in your life?", he asked us. Again, what an incredibly challenging question!! The control is not mine. That's a hard and comforting reality all at the same time.

My mother always told me that there are moments in life when the Lord reminds us that our children are not our own. I had one of those moments yesterday. I am working on giving up control. And I am incredibly grateful that the Lord holds my little boy in his all-powerful hands.

Chillin at Home...

Last night Kirk and Elijah were just hanging out in the living room and we had to snap some pictures because Kirk and I both thought he was looking so much more grown up! I know everyone says they grow up so fast, but it really is amazing the changes we see in Elijah every day.  I just can't get enough of these pictures.

It looks like he's talking here.  Really he was crying, but that's not important.

I love Elijah's face in this one!

Just watching some television.

Have I mentioned that I love him??