The boys have grown so much! Probably the best way to keep up with us is through my flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/kristieab. I have discovered I am sporadic at best when it comes to blogging, which shouldn't be a surprise, I never journaled well in school, either! Some of the highlights of the past 2 months are: Halloween - my mini-Imagination Movers were too cute! We went trick-or-treating around my dad's neighborhood. J pretty much didn't realize what was going on, but Eli did. Every time someone put candy in his bucket he'd drop it, which was really funny. Then we went to some friends' house for their annual Halloween party. Both boys had fun playing with friends, although they are still not too sure about people in full costume. As long as they can see your face, they are fine; if you have a full mask on, they won't come near you!
We went to First Friday in November - a little cold, but lots of fun. Case in point on the full masks - Big Al the Alabama mascot was there, & although E loves elephants (he calls them elephanents) he didn't want to get near Big Al, even with Zach holding him!
My grandmother came to visit us all the way from PA. We had a great week with her, made extra special for me since it was my birthday. The boys loved having her here, and Elias even got to make sticky buns with her, which was a real treat. J also started taking a couple of steps toward the end of the week, so Gram got to see that. Now, he's off - full speed ahead! He has 5 teeth now, though the 6th is so close we can see it through the gum. He's eating table food now, and will often reach for what he wants if you don't give him anything!
Elias has been talking up a storm - to the point that sometimes I have to tell him to just stop talking & be quiet! We're trying to learn the difference between 'outside' voice, 'inside' voice & 'restaurant' voice, but the 'outside' voice usually wins out. It is increased by J chiming in with his baby babble, and they usually play off one another to see who can get the loudest. This usually results in lots of giggles for the 2 of them! Jacob is also saying a few words - Mama, Dada, Jay, Ball, & my personal fav - Bite Bite. He's so funny in the way he says it; I don't know if it's the southern accent or just him, but it usually comes out biiiiite biiiite, all drawn out, complete with a little growl in the middle!
Thanksgiving was a blur...I didn't even get any pictures of that. Everyone came to our house to eat - Zach had ordered a smoked turkey, so I didn't have to cook a whole bird. We went that Friday to cut down our Christmas tree - all 3 of the boys had a great time with that. Thankfully Faith went with us to help corral the wee ones while Zach played lumberjack! Then we had an Iron Bowl party, giving the boys more time to play with friends. I think they wore Dame Catoe out, running her back & forth through the house!
The next weekend we had a cookie swap/SEC championship party at the same friends' house, and there was another friend there to play with, too. The 3 older ones ran all over the house, while J just sort of wandered after them & eventually just did his own thing. I think he got tired of all the walking! Bama won, Zach was happy & we came home with 2 tired kiddos & a tin full of cookies. It was a great ending of Zach's birthday week & a great start to the Christmas season.
And now it's a week until Christmas. The tree is up and the house decorated; stockings are hung, Christmas cards sent. We made a couple of gingerbread houses with the boys - which really just involved Zach & I decorating while trying to keep them from eating all of the candy! We also went the the Christmas parade - Elias was so excited that for 2 days before & a week after all he could talk about was 'going to see big drums, going to see people marching & waving, see people dancing & see the horses.' He loved the bands & spent most of the parade up on Zach's shoulders, waving at everyone that walked by!
Elias has been a source of holiday cheer - saying 'Merry Christmas, Mommy' & 'Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas' to people in the store. We got a countdown calendar complete with chocolate for the boys to share & E has had such a hard time sharing with J. J gets a little bite & E gets a big bite, but it's usually accompanied by tears & requests from E to 'put it back together!' Now, by the 18th day, we're slightly better at sharing. One night I was explaining to Elias that we only have 1 calendar, so we have to share & he promptly told me to get 2! I love the fact that he figured out that solution! Next year, we will have 2 countdown calendars!
Both boys love the tree & ringing all the jingle bells they can find. They love the cookies I've baked & seeing all the wrapped presents in the extra bedroom. I haven't put them under the tree - I'm sure my 2 little elves would have them all unwrapped before Christmas! Everyone will be here Christmas day for presents galore & Christmas ham. What better way to spend the holiday?
