Our Playroom!

This winter we converted Dan's home office into a playroom. We spend a lot of our family time at home in the playroom. It is a great combination of comfortable, but with room to play. This summer, Eli and I have spent lots of time in the playroom and have taken over the playroom closet to hold "special" toys and activities. Basically, just stuff that he needs adult supervision for or stuff that I want to stay "novel".

Futon for lounging or a quick transition into a guest room.

Big floor pillows for lazy parenting.

(We call the pillows "magic pillows" because Dan falls asleep everytime he lays on them. Even if Eli is climbing all over them.)

Book shelf with Momma stuff on the top shelf, Eli books on the middle

and bins of toys on the bottom.

CD player for baby tunes and baby dancing

Eli loves having the CD player down where he can turn it on and off.

Toy drawers. These work okay for now,

but I may be looking into a new organization system soon-ish.

Eli knows what is in each drawer and likes to put things back where they go.

He does however need help to open the drawers.

Below are some of Eli's favorite "special" activities!

Velcro farm board

Pill container and puff balls! This keeps my kiddo busy for like 20 minutes at least.

Magnets and cookie sheets!

Road made out of painter's tape in the hallway.

This is temporary, but I have recently seen an idea for making a

playmat/road on a shower curtain so it can be

folded up and put away when not in use.

130 days, 130 tidbits (Part II)

you came back for day 2? wow, cool.

46. Eli loves to play ball.

47. He has had 5 ear infections since December.

48. He makes a very funny "pig noise" that is supposed to be like a snort, but kinda sounds like Darth Vadar dying.

49. I have joined pintrest.com and am trying not to be too obsessed.

50.

51. I am wearing pants one size smaller than when I got pregnant with Eli. Most days...

52. We got a new dishwasher.

53. I got a Nook Color. Also, thanks to a Best Buy Protection Plan... seriously, awesome.

54. I love Chick-Fil-A. LOVE.

55. Hanging out in a parked/off car and pretending to drive is like Eli heaven.

56. Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting is our favorite little guy book currently.

57. Or Happy Hippo, Angry Duck by Sandra Boyton.

58.

59. Darren and I are kept very busy this summer trying to keep little boo busy.

60. I love Bagel Thins. So does Eli.

61. We have bagel crumbs in our bed A LOT.

62. Eli has started wearing hats, like this week, suddenly.

63. Dan and I recently read and enjoyed The Hunger Games series.

64. I have been cooking, a lot more since we started WW.

65. Dan's favorite new recipe is Smoked Turkey Pizza.

66. Eli only takes one nap now.

67. Most days.

68. Fine motor seems to be a strength of Elijah's.

69.

70. Eli had 8 teeth currently.

71. Dan got a Galaxy Tab.

72. Subsequently, we were addicted to Angry Birds for a few weeks.

73. DK and I are making an ABC wall in the playroom. Quite an undertaking. 26 letters.

74. Eli likes bath books. Books that can get wet, how awesome.

75. Cicadas have overtaken our yard and most of the metro area.

76. Eli is good at cleaning up. He knows where things go.

77.

78. Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Joe is exciting. Especially because of Jazz.

79. Eli likes to pet the crazy Jazz.

80.

81. Playing in the shop with Daddy is really cool, big guy fun.

82. I have a very messed up toe nail.

83. For awhile, we were taking lots of walks in the evening as a family.

84.

85. Frozen Strawberries in my ice water makes me feel like I am drinking summertime.

86. Dan and I are re-watching ER starting at Season 1.

87. Dicecapades is my latest board game. Other favs include Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride and Lost Cities.

88.

Wow. This is getting challenging (and ridiculous).

Helping Out!

Elijah Helps with the Laundry!

Hi, Momma!

Uh-oh... that towel is going to be wet...

Wall of Frames

While I have been on maternity leave Dan and I have been watching a lot of HGTV and DIY. All of these shows have given us the itch to do projects around our house. We have a list of projects a mile long and who knows when we will get them all done or if we will be able to afford half of them, but it is fun to dream.

Thursday Dan came up with an idea to add some character to a huge blank wall in our dining room that has been driving me crazy for a long time. We worked most of Friday afternoon and evening on building a 8 foot by 3 foot frame on our wall and then filled it with a variety of picture frames. I have decided to call it The Wall of Frames. I adore it and thought I would share the before and after pictures!

Before

The frame goes up. It is made of trim that we painted white.

The Layout

I love it!!

Oh yeah and THANKS to my AWESOME husband!!

The First Post

I am starting this blog as a way to chronicle Eli growing up, share fun stories and adventures and mainly keep friends and family updated about our lives. I don't promise to always be interesting, but I do intend to include lots of pics of the little guy (and maybe video too if I can figure that out!). I am really excited about figuring out all of this "blogging stuff"...backgrounds, banners, layouts, comments... this thing is totally customizable and I am hoping I have time to figure it all out!

Time...now that is an interesting topic... somehow I have all the time in the world and no time at all right now. All Eli and I do is eat and sleep it seems with little in between, but still the days seem to fly by so fast like I have no time for anything else!

Today however is an exciting day, Sam and Max are coming over to play... well Eli and Max won't really play, but Sam and I will certainly have fun! We are planning on walking to the park, but it is really chilly out there so... we might have to figure out a Plan B. Hopefully, I will remember to get out my camera and take some pictures of our adventures with them today so that I can post them here!

In other news, Eli will be 1 month old tomorrow! I really want to come up with a fun way to celebrate or at least mark the occasion...creative juices haven't started flowing on that one yet! Also, he will have his 1 month check up with Dr. Powers tomorrow. I can't wait to see how much he has grown! Everyone says he looks bigger, but it is hard for me to tell because I am with him all the time. I have lots of questions for the doctor tomorrow... like WHY has he decided that he wants to eat every 2 hours all of the sudden and WILL IT EVER STOP?. Seriously, every 2 hours (2.5 when I am lucky)... that is a sure fire way to drive momma crazy!

As promised, a picture of the sweet boy! This is my current favorite! (Possibly because he is doing something besides EATING in it ... a rare moment).

- Anna