Family Visits!

We enjoy visits from friends and family and recently we have had a couple. Mom and Dad came for a couple days and then Tony and Cali came in for a weekend visit. Here are a few pictures from these special occasions.

Nords cookies and Sunergos hot coco and coffee. Yum.

Hiking at Hemlock Falls... but with all the lack of rain the falls weren't there and the stream was pretty dry, but that made for easier looking for stream creatures. That made Eli pretty happy.

Fossil Hunting!!! I found one! It was really fun to hunt for a while. I don't think I have been fossil hunting since before Eli was born. I look forward to doing this more once the kids get older. We had to take turns watching Otto who was sleeping in the van, but that worked out well since the hunting site was pretty steep at many points.

We spent Saturday out on the boat. It was a beautiful day! The water is starting to get a little chilly now, but we still got in for a bit.

Eli caught a damselfly.

We've all had a bug...

Ohhh the joys of sickness. Oh my. It is really one of those times for me when I have a stomach bug that causes me somehow to be soooo thankful for being healthy most of the time. I think the Lord reminds me of how fragile and at the mercy of His amazing hands we are when I am feeling so weak and completely helpless.

The first day a good friend Aleasha took Eli and Otto for me and the second day I started with a list for Brian to do in the am (to prepare for the day) and then just let the kids be savages the rest of the day (at least that is how I felt). Brian was great though. He came home each evening and did it all- cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids and he even did some laundry. Wow.

Well as bugs go Eli and Otto and Brian all came down with it five days later. Thankfully I had all my energy back in time to care for all of them. Praise God! Eli did ask me if he could give me my virus back because he said he didn't want it anymore. Too bad it doesn't work that way.

The part that makes me so sad though is Mom and Grandma Gerrie were supposed to come visit this week and we had to cancel that - didn't want to send anything home to DC with them.

Two praises - we went to the doctor to hear the heart beat on Thursday and everything was good and strong and okay after two days of sickness. I was very thankful because I was concerned for the baby during such an intense illness and I know a lot of you were praying for me and the baby - thank you!!!!

I also didn't have coffee for four days so I have decided to stay off the caffeine the rest of this pregnancy - I already went through the headaches of withdrawal so I figured that I might as well just keep away till the end.

Yes, my little Eli likes to snap pictures of everything these days so he got a few good ones of me in my state of sickness. I thought I would share. And then it was only fair that I got one of him too. :)

Baby Belly

I can hardly believe that I am 15 weeks along already this week! My due date is April 3rd and all of us are so excited. Eli took this picture of me. We were in the kitchen and Eli asked if he could take a picture of the baby belly. Both Eli and Otto are very excited about starting to see my belly grow as this little one grows. Otto seems to find it really funny (especially my belly button). He will push on my belly button and practically fall over from the giggles.

The second picture is just a more official one that I had Brian snap... since the one Eli took is missing my head. It really is me!

My second appointment is this week and we are all going along to hear the heartbeat! Next month is the ultrasound - we are so excited to see this little baby and find out if we are having a boy or girl!

Otto Turns 2!

Otto's birthday was September 1, 2008. It was Labor Day! I remember waking up at 6 am and turning to Brian and saying, "I think I am in labor on Labor Day!" Otto arrived that evening! I thought I would share a picture from the day after - the day of pics are just a bit alien in nature so I spared you those. :)

We started the day with a trip to Sunergos for a hot coco and a visit with Papa!

Dairy Queen ice cream cake with Papa's decorating - Otto loved it! We asked him what he wanted on his cake and he said "boat!!!"

After everyone left the kitchen Eli grabbed the icing for one more squeeze....

pizza... Otto's favorite!

Celebrating Eli and Otto's birthdays with Grandpa Dave and Grandma Kay and the relatives on Brian's side up in MN!

Boat!

We have sooo enjoyed going out on the boat this summer. Taylorsville Lake has been our weekend hangout for the past couple months. I hope we have a little boating time left before it gets too cold.

nosey nosey.

Eli likes to swim to the shore and look in the rocks for bugs and other creatures.

I like to just float around on the tube. I did get attacked by a fish the last time... three bites at me (ouch!!!) so I decided to switch to the mattress so I wouldn't get bit... well that silly fish then jumped out of the water and into my lap!!! Ahhhh! I almost dropped Otto in the drink.

We had lots of fun swimming and cannon ball jumping with the Eric, Danielle and their boys Judah and Levi.

Resting...

Otto is a little cuddle bug.... soooo sweet.

Eli Snapping Pics

Here are a few pictures that Eli has taken over the past month. He loves to grab my camera and take pictures of whatever suits him at the moment.... usually Otto or himself or just random pics - most of the pictures he gets of me are with my head cut off (which always reminds me of those Charlie Brown cartoons "mwa mwa mwa"). Enjoy.

Self shot.

Oh wow, I have a head here and it is not a close up of my backside (as many are... delete, delete, delete). I was feeling pretty ill in the pic, but I did my best to smile for the little guy.

The compost pile... ewwww.

What I love about this is that he will take a picture of his mouth and then flip the camera around really fast to try and see the inside of his mouth. It is pretty funny to watch.

mwa mwa mwa mwa mwa