My Favorite Game

Eli and I like to play this little game.

I say, "Eli, guess what?"

He looks at me and smiles.

I give him a big kiss and say, "I love you!"

We've been playing this game for as long as he would respond to his name. It was just something fun I would do with him throughout the day. I almost always do it when I'm putting him in his car seat.

Now that he's older, sometimes I like to share exciting news with him, like we're going to a birthday party or Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit. But if I start out with, "Eli, guess what?" he gets a huge grin on his face and puckers up for a big kiss from me. I love it! Sometimes he doesn't even wait for me and just plants a big wet one on my face. This truly is my absolute most favorite game ever.

Hey Eli, guess what? I love you!

Pregnancy Update

I've been slacking on taking new pregnancy pictures, but have had a few requests so here they are. They were taken late one evening, so don't mind how I look, just focus on the cute little baby bump that is "Baby Brother". That's what we're calling him right now.

Right at 22 weeks

I think the green shirt above makes me look bigger, so this is a few days later.

It is funny how different pregnancies can be, yet how similar at the same time. I am still sick, but definitely not like I was during the first trimester. I now have bad days instead of occasionally having good days. And I'm not throwing up every morning (just some) or taking the medicine every day like I was in the first trimester. This is all coming in time for summer, when I will get super hot and sick again. But I am enjoying this time while it lasts.

This little guy just feels bigger than Eli did. Partly because I have gotten bigger earlier this time, guess my body is just jumping right into this whole pregnancy thing. But I think it is also because this boy isn't stuck folded in half like Eli was. He moves, and kicks, and rolls, and I can feel him all over the place at the same time. I'm glad he has lots of room to move around. He also seems to be a lot more active than Eli. Baby Brother is moving something almost all the time. I love just feeling the little reminders of life inside of me all day long. He doesn't wake me up and it's never uncomfortable (yet), but it is just amazing to feel that life and to feel like, sometimes, he interacts with me.

Eli is still a loving big brother. He does his fair share of climbing and jumping on me, but he also loves to snuggle my belly and give Baby Brother kisses.  I can't wait to see these two boys playing together!

Things are really going well in this pregnancy. I have started having some crazy back and leg pain I've never had before, and that puts a damper on things a bit. But I'm hoping to find some ways to deal with that (maybe lots of swimming this summer). We're still undecided on names. We think about different names all the time, some funny, some serious, but just haven't found the one yet. Good thing we still have a few months left!

Hoppy Easter

Easter was smack in the middle of our celebrations this year, just between our anniversary (and getting sealed!) and my birthday. It seems like we've been celebrating something for the entire second half of April. Earlier in the month we had what is turning into our Annual Easter egg hunt at Mel and Dave's house. Steve and Jen came up and all the kids loved playing together. I forgot to bring my camera, but Eli was really in to finding the eggs this year. He loved picking them up, telling us their colors, shaking them to hear the candy rattle inside, then putting them in his bag. All the kids had a blast playing together and hunting for eggs. It's so fun to see Eli get older and more interactive with his cousins.

We had a nice Easter as well. The Easter Bunny left a basket full of goodies on our table, along with a new book and bunny for Eli.

Easter goodies!

He loves the bunny!

Then we headed up to Payson to have dinner at Keith and Barbara's house. Mel and Dave were up there as well, and it we had a nice visit together. Eli just adores Hailee and Claire, so he was thrilled to have more playing time with him. He also loves being outside and enjoyed wandering on the big golf course right out their back door.