Surprise!

It has been a little hairy here lately...



as reflected by Eli's hair one morning last week.




You see, everything was in the works for my Papaw's big surprise birthday party. Family from near and far were coming to gather to celebrate his 85th birthday...

But the surprise was on us. Just days before the celebration weekend, Papaw had a heart attack. After being rescued by Sassy, the Wonder Dog, the ambulance was called and Papaw was taken to the VA hospital. He was then transferred to BSA; there he stayed through two stent operations and finally a by-pass surgery 5 days later.

HA! He must have been mistaken thinking that he would deter our party plans! We just moved our venue to his hospital room!

We did venture out to eat as a family at Nanny's favorite, Furr's. Here are the Kansas crew...isn't baby Max adorable?!?!


Kaci is reading the Twilight series...

Cort and Stef...

Aren't they sweet? Stef is squatting down to make me look taller. They got all of the good genes...(sigh).

Cort, Big Max and my dad...

Mom and Sue...

Lynda and Emma...

Nanny and the girls. (I think that she thought they were making faces at her.)

Eli loved meeting the Kansas crew!

And his uncle Nicky from Houston!

There is one more picture that I would love to put up here. All of my cousins were in Papaw's hospital room at one point. We all gathered around his bed for a group photo. I just love my big, huge family!
If yall are reading this and have a copy send it to me!

10 Months...

It seems like yesterday I was blogging about Eli turning 9 months and today he is 10.


It seems like everyday he learns something new and fun.



He is pulling up on EVERYTHING and cruising along the walls and anything else that he can get balanced on. He has also figured out how to get down from a standing position, but that hardly happens. He is determined to forgo crawling and wants to walk (while we lead) everywhere. He has discovered how to open and pull everything out of the cabinets around the house, leaving plenty of fun clean-up jobs for mommy. Last week he also took his first steps! It was only four steps before he fell, but it won't be long before he is walking everywhere!

He has also discovered how to steal our hearts with just a smile...

He loves bath time...

He has 5 teeth- 2 on bottom and 3 on top.

He is in size 4 diapers, 12 month sleepers and 9-12 month clothes.


It is so fun to see how he is changing everyday.

This month he has added kiwi, apricots, lentils, black beans, cheese (hard), pasta, chicken, and brown rice to his diet. He is also drinking water from a sippy cup. We are eating 3 solid meals a day with every meal having a few finger foods.

I am still making his baby food. Sometimes, I have to admit, I have been jealous of how easy it seems to be to grab a jar and just feed Eli instead of thinking about what I have made and if I am giving him a balanced meal and hoping that he likes it. But, I try to keep in mind that this really is good for him and helping to pave the way for healthy eating in the future.

Here again is his 9 month scrapbook page...

Catch Up...

I am a little behind so here are some fun pics from the end of October!

Isn't my little niece adorable?!?

Eli and I are suppose to be leaving Wednesday for Florida, but I am a little nervous about the hurricane headed that way, so we will see if we get to go!

Happy Halloween!

Here are our little monster's 1st Halloween pictures. Man, there are so many great pictures it was really hard to choose which to edit and even harder to choose which to post. The plan was for me to make E's costume- I have made the dog's for years- but then we stumbled on this adorable outfit for cheaper than I could make.

Get ready for some serious cuteness...

We can't believe how fast Eli is growing up!

Our little monster had a late 9 month check-up yesterday. He is 20.2lbs and 29in long. The nurse said he was a perfect little boy...we happen to agree. We are very excited that we finally have a pediatrician for Eli. He hasn't had one since he was in the hospital. Our student health insurance did not cover a pediatrician, so he saw a regular general doctor. We are so thankful that he has been so healthy and that we haven't needed to go to the doctor for anything but check-ups.

We are also happy to report that the big guy has 2 more teeth! Now he is our 5-toothed little monster.

I don't want to forget the puppies!

I don't know the last time that I have blogged about our first and second born, Callie and Kaikey. They are a little sad that they don't get to dress up this year, but I think they will get over it!

Just for fun here is their picture from 2 years ago...it always puts a smile on my face! They are such good sports!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

So we caved...

and bought a highchair. As much as we tried to avoid it, the booster combo that we had wasn't cutting it anymore for our little guy and his "big boy" foods.
Here was our breakfast Sunday morning of bananas.








For fun I sat Eli in his laundry basket a couple of days ago...and of course I had to get the camera.




He really didn't know what to think...






Kaikeyi came to offer support!

Last week we also got dressed in our crimson and went to an OU/texas watch party. Here is Eli practicing his touchdown move...sure wish we could have used it a little more during the game!