Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Malnar's Come to Town.

Ben and Allison & their 3 children live in Wisconsin so we do not get to see them very often. Since they were in Utah for Christmas they thought they would stop by Arizona for a few days to spend time with the Ash's. They got here on Saturday and ever since then it has been one fun activity after another. All the fun started off with Speedway Raceway on Saturday. Everyone (minus Katie and Jordan) went down to Speedway and we raced two races. Linda did not race but she actually watched all the children. I am not sure if it was more exciting in with all the kids or out on the racetrack!


Here are all the guys wearing the little sock things on their heads

Jacob and I ready to go!

Now for the record. (because their might be some complaining or even some excuses from other's....these are the facts) The first race I came in 3rd place which was 1st place in the Ash family. The next race Jacob got 2nd place which was 1st with the Ash's, and I got 4th which was 2nd with the Ash's. So if you figure that out that makes me the WINNER!!

Like I said we all had fun, but we all came out with our battle wounds too! Jacob, Allison and Adam say they got in the worst accident, but I have the wounds to prove it. Here are my wounds courtesy of Daniel.

You can see bruises in the middle of my back.

Jacob and I stopped in the tunnel during the race. No just kidding this was from the seat belt.

After racing we headed to dinner at this Indian food place. The year before Jacob and I got married most of his family went to India, so they like to eat the food and reminisce. I have eaten Indian food before and have not like it, but this last time I found something I liked yippee!

Allison & Ben

Allison had a little boy named Jacob just 3 days after Eli was born. We have been so excited for these two to get together. I know they are young and that nothing would really happen when they saw each other, but it wasn't true. They were so interested in each other. One time I had them both on the ground tickling both of them it was so cute, because they were cracking up together. I don't know about the boys, but I had a blast!

I walked away from the computer for a few minutes and the following is what I returned to. You have to love those Ash's...they are hilarious.

And by the way, Daniel our brother/brother-in-law is the most awesome person on earth we've realized. All we do these days is sit around and wait for him to come home from college each time.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas Eve & Christmas

CHRISTMAS EVE


On Christmas Eve we went to Jacob's parents house for dinner. Every year Linda makes homemade pizza crust and we all get to put toppings on them. The pizza's are delicious and it is a lot of fun. This year Fred and Laura came with Tressa and all her family that was in town. We had fun with all the conversation and food.

Daniel and Jacob putting toppings on a pizza.

Fred, Tressa, Laura, Daniel, Cecil, Linda and Eli eating and talking.

Eli, Stacy, Tressa, & Laura

Ash Family

After eating we took turns on the Segway.

After dinner with the Ash's we rushed over to the temple to meet up with my family. We watched Jordan Bluth sing. He did a wonderful job...wow he has such a wonderful voice. We looked at the lights for a little bit then we headed to my parents house.



Every Christmas my parents get us new PJ's I forgot to get pictures of Jacob and I in ours but here is Eli in his PJs. Stephanie picked them out she thought they were perfect because they had little monkey's on them and she always calls Eli a little monkey.

Once everyone got to my parents house we got all the Gilmore's and Austin and headed out on a little adventure. Jacob and I earlier in the month contacted our bishop and asked him if he could give us a family in the ward that needed help for Christmas. We got them new clothes, toys, and family games and wrapped them up for what he hoped would be an amazing Christmas for this family. Since, they lived in an apartment and we didn't want to get caught delivering the presents we took as many people as we could to drop them off quickly. After looking for the apartment (which seemed like forever) We all grabbed arm fulls of presents and headed to their door. On our way to the door Jacob (who was leading everyone) says, "that's them!" I looked ahead and there were two people walking right past us. We all froze hoping they wouldn't see us. Lucky for us they just walked right into their apartment and didn't see us. PHEW!! We all talked for a few seconds wondering if we should take the presents now or come back later. We decided to make a mad dash since we knew they were home and we were worried earlier that they wouldn't be. As we were walking up to their door we were all joking that we might get caught at the door putting the presents down and what we would do. Aly had the best response. She said we would just have to pull a Madagascar. I guess in the movie one of the creatures got caught and they said you don't see anything moving their hands in circles. Right then we all bust up laughing...PHEW lucky for us they did not hear us.

We set down all the presents I banged on the door has hard as I could really loud, and we all took off running. The Gilmore's and all the kids ran one way and Jacob and I ran another. (We wanted to try and see them open the door). As we are hiding around the corner Jacob said, "Stacy you forgot to leave the money." I looked down and saw the money envelope I forgot to put down. We start laughing again, because we have no idea how we are going to get them the money with out getting caught. Since this family has never seen me before I did a casual walk by and I could hear the family moving in the presents and all their fun comments. So we waited for them to finish and then Jacob dropped the money at the door, knocked and ran again. Lucky for us all three times we never got caught!

CHRISTMAS DAY!!!

We woke up at about 6 am and started opening presents. We had a lot of fun and we all got some exciting things...

Aly and Ethan getting things out of their stockings.

Austin with his stocking

Eli's first present!

Eli really liked the ribbon on the present.

Buddie got tired from all the excitement.

My mom got Eli these little wind up toys he loved them. We would just wind them up and he would watch them and try to get them. I loved this picture because of his cheeks


Mamo and Papa getting cuddly.

Jacob surprised me big time this Christmas. Since we decided to get Christmas for another family we were not going to get presents for each other. I ended up buying him some special running shoes and some clothes for it that he had wanted. So I thought he was going to get me a present. On Christmas morning he told me that he forgot it and that I couldn't have it. I was sad. Then a few seconds later my sister goes Stacy here is a present for you from Santa. I looked over and I saw the wrapping paper is from our house and I knew it was from Jacob. I opened it up and I saw this beautiful necklace. I loved it. I wanted to put it on so I went and got scissors to cut off the tag. The tag was so close to the chain and to make a long story short I cut the chain!! I ran into the room where everyone was and I was almost in tears when I told Jacob what happened. He was such a sweetheart and didn't even get mad at me. I kept saying, "leave it up to me to want something for two years and then when I get it ruin it after only 10 minutes!!"

About 30 minutes go by and my sister said Stacy there is another present here for you. I looked and it was the same wrapping paper. I was confused because this time the box is pretty big. Then she handed it to me and it was really heavy. I looked at Jacob totally confused but I started opening it. I soon found out why it was heavy; because Jacob put a bag full of change in there to confuse me. I looked closer and I saw another jewelry box and inside was a ring I have wanted forever!!! I went CRAZY!!

For some reason I can't get a good picture of it, but isn't it so pretty!! I never got a picture of the necklace, but they match so picture this but as a necklace.

After we finished opening presents we had a delicious breakfast with my family and then we all took naps. At one o'clock we headed over to Jacob's Aunt Tressa's for her yearly Christmas party, where we ate and had a white elephant gift exchange.

Here is some of Jacob's family as we are waiting to start the game.

Tate, Fred and Jacob waiting for the game as well. We ended up winning a razor scooter and a $25 gift card to Home Depot.

Over all our Christmas was amazing. We had so much fun with family. The highlights of Christmas for me were...

  • Giving the presents to the other family
  • Spending time with our families.
  • Having a sweet baby boy to share Christmas with this year.
  • All the yummy food.
  • Jacob's sweet and thoughtful present to me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Last Night....

I won Eli slept the whole night and has already taken a nice nap this afternoon. Everything is off to a nice start. Last night was extra special because Eli woke up when I laid him down and I left the room. I heard him talking to himself for a few minutes and then put himself to bed! I don't know why I didn't try this earlier.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Just One More...

We found just one more way Eli is like his Dad. My mom put on a Baby Einstein video for Eli the other night. Eli couldn't get enough of it. It is so cute to watch because he tries so hard to get right up to the screen. I say this is another way he is like his father, because anyone who knows Jacob knows that Jacob loves movies. Actually to say Jacob loves movies might be an understatement. Here are two videos of Eli watching a clip off of Youtube. This clip is not a Baby Einstein, but Eli really likes music and this Hippo is dancing so he really likes it.

I wonder who has bigger cheeks Eli or the Hippo?

Don't you love the rolls.

Now an update on Eli and his night time actives. On Saturday night Eli did great. He did not sleep through the night, but I still consider the night a success. Eli did not eat well before he went to sleep so he woke up hungry at about 3 o'clock. I fed him and he went right to sleep on his own. He then did not wake up until around 7:30. Such a good boy. I am fine with getting up with Eli if he needs food. I just don't like to get up because he just doesn't feel like sleeping.

On Sunday night though it was a different story. Eli woke up and 12:20 screaming. Normally he just kind of grunts for a while and then starts crying. He never screams. That should have been my first clue that something was wrong, but I am so determined to be strong that I kind of let him cry for 5 minutes then I gave in and picked him up. Once I picked him up I smelled something awful and I thought Eli had bad gas. (Since he is breastfed they never stink) Then the smell didn't go away and I realized he had a Poopy diaper and that is why he was crying. Darn that banana because the smell almost made me sick. I changed his diaper fed him and then he went right back to sleep. I thought to myself OK he can cry for food and a diaper change. Then at 5:30 he started to cry again. I myself was too tired to fight him so I just got up and brought him into bed with me. So Eli won last night. So far the count is mom 2 Eli 3. Here is to me winning tonight.

p.s Since Eli has been sleeping better at night he has been taking really good naps during the day. Here are some pictures of Eli at nap time. I just thought he was being so cute. Oh I love being his Mommy so much.


Look at those rosie cheeks.

So peaceful

Jacob is so excited for Eli to grow up and watch sports with him. So when he saw this PJ's for the Cardnals he said I had to buy them. I guess you can never start to early.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Some More First for Eli

Today Eli had some more firsts. Lately Eli has been showing such an interest in me while I am eating. He seems so fascinated by the whole process and I can tell he is dying to try what Mommy is having. I hate to admit this, this week we started to let him have little tastes. It started innocent enough with me giving him a taste of my yogurt. Then it progressed to tomatoes. (Oh my he loves these) I basically would just let him suck on it for a while then take it away. Well today i realized I might have started something a little too soon. I was nursing Eli and he stopped, but I could tell he was still hungry. So my dad went and got a banana a mashed it up, and we fed him a VERY small amount. Eli LOVED IT!! He went crazy and ate what was on the plate. I think he would have eaten more, but we would not let him. Here are some pictures we got.

He is the first officially taste.


Here is the video we got of it. If you listen closely you can hear Jacob say, "Should we be doing this." To which I reply, "It's a Banana what can go wrong." (ha ha famous last words)

After my parents house Jacob and I drove home and then we decided to go for a walk. We took Eli down to the park and we put him in the swing. He LOVED IT. Jacob started pushing him and he started laughing, he just loved it. Then I thought it would be a great idea to go down the slide. Jacob thought I should do it and he would watch. I was so nervous it would go so fast that I was not paying attention and I ended up landing on my bottom at the end of the slide. Jacob then took him down twice and he never fell on his bum (he was so kind as to point that out to me). I am not sure if Eli liked that slide I guess we will just have to try that again sometime. While we were there some little boys showed up and started playing. Eli loved watching them. He wants to grow up so fast it is breaking my heart. Eli please stay little just a little bit longer!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Sleep Eli...PLEASE SLEEP!!

For the past month I have really struggled with the fact that my sweet baby boy has not been sleeping through the night. I tossed around so many things that must be the problem, I started with, he is just hungry. Then I wondered if he was just waking up out of habit, or was it the fact that he was teething and he was in pain. After a few weeks of the teething problem I could tell when he was crying because of that so this week I figured I could safely assess when that was the problem. The only thing I couldn't was to make sure he had enough food in his belly to sleep through the night. I agonized over giving him a little bit of rice in one of his bottles. I use the word agonized because the doctor said he only needed my milk until he was 6 months old, also he seemed perfectly healthy and happy, why change a good thing. After getting way to tired one night and talking to Stephanie, Katie, and Linda I decided it was time.



On Wednesday night Eli received his first little rice bottle. Why I choose this night I am still asking myself. Jacob was gone so I basically had to figure out how much milk and how much rice all while Eli is tired and starving. Lets just say it went well but honestly if any one would have been watching they would have thought I was a crazy mother! For example Eli is crying in my arms so instead of measuring the rice I just dumped it in the bottle ( my sister did this all the time why couldn't I) well that worked out fine until I realized I had no clue how much I gave him so how was I going to know if that was too much or too little. Then there was the problem with the nipple. Duh it was only putting milk through before it needed a bigger hole. Eli is still crying so I cut the top with scissors very quickly and very desperately. OOPS I made the hole way to big. Eli being the sport that he is ate the remainder of the bottle by me basically pouring some in his mouth and him swallowing. POOR GUY! I wish I could say he slept through the night, but no he woke up at 1. Since I knew he was not hungry I tried not to pick him up when he cried. I just gave him his binky and would rest my hand on his chest and tummy to comfort him. This kind of worked. I finally gave in and picked him up and rocked him back to sleep. I realized he liked something pressed close to his face so I pulled out this super soft burp rag and let him rub that on his face. He loved that. He woke up again at 4 and this time I fed him. Then he slept until around 8:30 hmmm things were already getting better.

NIGHT 2
This night started off with a rice bottle again. This time Jacob was home and he watched Eli while I got the bottle ready. I measured the rice this time...good job Stacy. Then instead of cutting the nipple with scissors I cut it a little with a knife much better right...WRONG. I again cut it to big and the pour guy drank like 2 oz in 30 seconds NO JOKE. This made Eli really mad and I think he decided then and there he no longer liked rice bottles. He let out a huge burp and refused to eat again and went to sleep. He slept from 8 to 2 am. 2 am is the time I think he wakes up out of habit so I would not feed him. I tried the soft burp rag, the binky and comforting him. I even let him cry a little. TRUST me there was not much crying and I am sure it was more painful for me then for Eli. At 2:45 I gave in a rocked him to sleep. He slept until 6 this time. I fed him and put him back in his crib. I thought he slept until around 8 but I was wrong. I guess Jacob heard him talking in his crib so he went and got him and played with him until he had to go to work.



NIGHT 3.
I decided Eli and I both had enough with the rice bottle and so I just decided to nurse him and see if I noticed any difference. He ate for a little bit then wanted to play. He played until 9:45 then became fussy I put him in my arms and 2 minutes later he was out!! I put him in his crib and I went to sleep in the guest room. I spent the rest of the night wondering what time it was, because the guest room does not have a clock. I kept worrying Eli was going to wake up any minute and I would have to listen or fight the crying. I didn't hear Eli and I heard Jacob...could it be? Did Eli sleep through the night? Then my thoughts shifted.OH NO IS HE OK?? I called Jacob and I told him Eli didn't wake up and I was worried he was not ok. I was too scared to go check so I made Jacob...Eli was sound asleep. Yippee he did it. Eli didn't wake up until 7 am! Now lets see if he does it tonight too!! I am xso greatful for my wonderful husband and great baby who hopefully will start sleeping through the nigh from here on out. Keep your fingers crossed!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Bonfire at the Ash's

Lowe's was having a huge sale this weekend so Jacob stoped by to get a few things. Among some needed items Jacob brought home this...

On our first date and ever since Jacob has loved making fires and hanging out around them. So I can see why he made such a compulsive purchase. I decided to try this out with him and maybe it could be our new thing we like to do together. So I made us some hot cocoa and we hung out around our fire.

Eli has been teething so I have not gotten much sleep so don't mind how old and tired I look in these pictures! It was so funny because Daniel was taking the pictures and Jacob wanted to be holding the hot cocoa, so everytime Daniel went to take a picture, Jacob would grab the cup real fast because he had to be holding it, I thought it was funny.



Daniel was in town still and so he joined us for our little party.

Like I said before Eli loves it when we call him a cutie pa tootie. Last night Jacob was walking around with Eli on his shoulder and he would say it and Eli would just start laughing. I caught it in a picture...look at those chunky cheeks.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

4 months

On the 25th Eli turned 4 months old, which meant another trip to the doctor. Since my past experiences with taking Eli to the doctor have not been great I decided to ask around and try another doctor out. EVERYONE pretty much recommended Gilbert Pediatrics, so I thought I would take Eli there for his 4 month visit. I wish I could say that I had a plesant exsperience and that everything went great, but nope I was not so lucky. Everything started off great. I had everything I needed, which was the 1st time I went and didn't forget something! I even got there a few minutes early knowing I would need to fill out paperwork because Eli was a new patient.

After filling out the paper work I noticed the women sitting behind me had the smallest baby I had ever seen. I started talking to her and found out the baby was born at only 2 lbs!! This little baby was so small I couldn't believe it she looked fake she was so small. I got to talking to the mom and so that helped pass some of the time in the waiting room. Then after she got called back I started paying attention to the other parents in the waiting area. I started to observe moms walking in and walking straight back to the doctor. Then I noticed that people who arrived at the same time as me were already leaving!! I started to wonder if they forgot about me so I went up to the front. I could tell the receptionist saw I was waiting a while and asked Eli's name again. I told her and thought for sure I would be called back shortly. I started visiting with some other women in the waiting area. One of them I knew and didn't even know they had a baby so it was nice to catch up. My friend told me her appointment was at the same time as mine and she was leaving so I started to get up set and asked them if they forgot about us. She said no and I was the next person. Finally after waiting an hour and a half they called me back! This wait would be frustrating for anyone with a small child.

They took all of Eli's measurements and then I waited for the doctor. The doctor was Dr. Jones he was great. He answered all of my questions and was very informative. He took his time and was very helpful. I was concerned about vacinations so he talked to me about that, since Eli did not recieve any shots on his 2 month visit these shots were going to be his 1st. They wanted to give him 4 different shots, but I said only 2 at a time. So Eli got two shots one in each leg. While he was crying I noticed a white spot on the roof of his mouth. NOOO NOT THRUSH AGAIN!! I had the nurse bring the doctor back and sure enough it was back. Grrr!!! After getting a new prescription I left and realized I had been at the office for over 2 hours!

Eli as of today you ...
  • love it when your dad calls you  a cutie pa tootie. For some reason whenever he says this you crack up.
  • favorite toys are: your blue bear, your rattle with the lady bug, the sun with the catipillar & your blue elephant.
  • still love to watch your mobile.
  • hate your car seat.
  • love when we sing - you are my sunshine, the patty cake song with Mamo & The frowny face song
  • learned how to roll over one way and turn in cirlces on your blanket.
  • still only drink mommy's milk
  • talk all day long main words you say are: ah goo, (over and over again) and you learned how to make bubbles and make your lips motor boat.
  • laugh at all the silly things your parents do
  • hated your bath until you were 3 months old. Now your dad gives you one every night and you love it.

Things I want to remember...

  • How rolly polly your legs are. I love to count all your rolls.
  • Your little blue eyes. They are so sweet. For some reason even when you are crying it looks like you are smiling at me with your eyes.
  • One night your dad and I were playing with you. We were holding you over our heads talking to you and making you laugh. All of a sudden you spit up and we both barely dodge getting spit up in out faces!
  • How everytime you look at your daddy you get a big grin on your face.
Eli's current stats are:
Weight - 16 lbs. 14 oz 80%
Height - 26 3/4 in. 90%
Head - ??? 10% (still)
*Stephanie calls Eli Beetlejuice because his head is only in the 10%*



Wednesday, November 19, 2008

My Hero

I have been sick for the past week and therefore I have not been getting much sleep. The lack of sleep was really starting to get to me. I was frustrated during the day because I was just hoping Eli would take really long naps, and I was frustrated at night because that is when I felt the worst. Jacob saw that I was pretty warn down and this is where Jacob came to my rescue. I got up to feed Eli around 5 am. For some reason after this feeding Eli thought it was wake up time, and was ready for Mommy to play with him. Jacob (I am sure still sleepy himself) came in and sent me back to bed. He then turned off the baby monitor and took Eli until he knew we was starving for food. (Jacob told me he would have taken him longer if I just had a bottle pumped for him) It was so sweet because that little extra stretch of sleep was what I needed to get re energized for my days as a mother. I know to some this seems like nothing but to me it meant the world. I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful and sweet husband.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Sunday fun

The last two nights I have had a really bad sore throat therefore, I have not been getting very much sleep. Jacob was really helpful this morning with getting our family ready for church. He made me breakfast and got Eli ready for church. Just before we left Eli made some very questionable noises in his diaper so Jacob basically made 3 diaper changes before we even left. Then during Sunday School Jacob was holding Eli and we heard a very loud blow out. Everyone started looking at us like what the heck and Jacob made a funny face and pointed at me like I did it. (I didn't know he did this) Jacob then took Eli out and changed his diaper. He came back a few minutes later and a lady in our ward wanted to hold him. So she took him for a few minutes. While she was holding him there was a moment when the room was very quiet. It was at this moment that Eli decided to fill his diaper yet again. This time it was so loud that EVERYONE turned and looked at us! We couldn't help but to start cracking up laughing. Jacob again took Eli out to change his diaper. For the record that is 5 diapers before 11:30.

After church we went to my parents house for lunch. After lunch I looked out the window and I saw this...

Lee and Chase decided they were going to work on their tans!! I thought this was to funny. I did not grab the camera fast enough because when I first saw them they had their paints pulled up so they could get more color on their upper thighs...classic!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

At home fun with Eli


I just love being at home with our son. He is such a pleasure I eat up every minute I have with him. He has really started to share his little personality with us, and oh my goodness he is too fun. One day a few months ago a lady in our ward came up to me and said that her husband said," He wasn't sure if Eli was a baby or a doll." I am not sure if he meant that I dressed him up like a little toy or that is he is just that cute . I strongly believe it to be the later and these pictures are my proof.

Eli snacks on his fingers often. Sometimes I catch only his thumb in there. I quickly remove it and give him a Binky.

Eli realized his mom and dad are funny.




Lately Eli has been showing me how strong he is so I thought I would pull out the Bumbo and see how he did in it. I am concerned because it was already so tight on his little bottom. I needed help getting him out of it. I know this usually happens but my concern is how soon it happened!

Eli was a little concerned at first, but after a while he warmed right up to it.

See it only took a few seconds and he was quickly back to sucking his fist

The last little while I have caught Eli watching the TV. He seems very interested in it so I thought I would put on a show for him and see what he thinks. When Ethan was little he loved the show the Backyardigans and that show happened to be on so I picked that one and this was the end result.

While I was pregnant with Eli I was coaching a volleyball team. One of my girls her name is Kiki (that is her nickname) won this blue bear and brought it to practice for Eli. It was Eli's first toy and it is currently his favorite. The other night Eli was crying because we put him in is car seat. I handed him the bear and a few seconds later I realized he stopped crying. I looked down and this is what I saw.

If you look at his hand he is holding his little friend. Eli is so sweet, he melts my heart.

See I told you he loves it.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Come What May, and Love It

Today I was reading from the November ENSIGN which contains all the October Conference talks. One of the talks I read was by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin and was titled Come what May, and Love It. This talk really touched me. He says, "I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life."

He continues to point out things he has learned to help you be happy and successful. The first is to learn to laugh. He explains that when things are really difficult it is better to laugh them off than to get angry and make a situation worse. I loved this because I do this sometimes when I am really frustrated and although most the times those around me hate it, this method really does work and help. An example of this was when I was in high school I had a very difficult volleyball practice. Our coach sat in the middle of the court and all he asked was for us as a team to serve 12 in a row over the net and in, that he could not touch. Every time we messed up he wanted us to run a diving suicide or 360. This should have been a 5 minute exercise, but in turn took us over 2 hours and we still never did it by the end of the practice. By the time I went home we had ran 77 of them! I remember looking at my knee and seeing it was completely swollen and that I was so tired, but I also remember laughing the harder it got. I thought to myself. "what can you do about it Stacy." I chose to learn and grow from it and not to make the situation worse.

The next thing Elder Wirthlin points out is seek for the Eternal. He quotes Joseph Smith when he said "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
"And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all they foes."
I liked this because it points out that trials and difficulty will only be for a short time. This reminds me of a time my dear friend Sharisa's grandmother said something to me when I was upset and crying. She hugged me and whispered in my ear, "this too Shall Pass." To this day her words have stayed with me. Which also brings to the 3rd lesson, compensation. For everything taken away the lord promises the faithful it will be restored 100 fold. I can think of times where I lost something and then I realized that a short while later that I was blessed more than before. I know that the lord keeps this promise.

The last thing he teaches is trust in the Father and the Son. Elder Wirthlin says "the simple secret is this: put your trust in the Lord, do your best then leave the rest to Him." Jacob has said this to me many times and time and time again it has been proven to be true. Although I am not currently going through a difficult trial there have been times in my past I felt I could go no further. I truly felt comforted and strengthened by this talk. I know it was meant for me to hear and the next time I am challenged I will remember his uplifting and insightful words.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Our Dear Sweet Eli.



Oh our sweet little boy! You brighten our lives so much. Tonight while I was holding you Eli, you started to fall asleep. With your eyes only a sliver open you started to giggle. I smiled back at you and you put the biggest grin on your face. I am still unsure if you were dreaming or if I caught you the moment just before you dozed off. If you were dreaming I wonder if you were thinking about us playing with you or some other memory you love. Either way I know you are sleeping and dreaming peacefully.

**This is not the first time you did this. The first time you did it your dad said, "We are so lucky to have such a happy and content baby." I couldn't agree more.***