Trouble

"Yes Mommy, I took the wipes out of the container...

And it was FUN!"

Eli

Because the wearing of the first John Deere shirt is always picture worthy- nothing runs like a Deere!

Being fed by big brother...this was so cute. Caleb is such a great big brother and did such a good job feeding Eli. It was pretty funny to see him open his mouth wide when Eli should bite down on the spoon. Caleb is really sweet when trying to calm Eli down too. If I have to run out of the room Caleb will say to Eli in a very sweet voice, "Mommy will be back, it will be okay." or "You're alright." He did this without me prompting him to and when I first heard it my heart melted a bit.

Eli's growl face. He makes this face in more pictures than I can count.

Other things Eli is up to these days at 10 months old:

• Said mama for the first time- repeatedly while we were on our Easter trip in Memphis, but has not said it again since we have been home.

• Loves to crawl behind our bed where our alarm clock and lamp are plugged in. We block the opening with pillows and he has tried very hard to crawl over the pillows.

• Pulls up to standing on almost anything.

• Loves chasing after his big brother on all fours and will laugh if his brother is laughing.

• Enjoys eating real food- including crackers, bananas, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes.

• Still enjoys frequent nursing.

• Had rather be held by someone than ride in his stroller.

• Experienced the first real "melt down" of his life when we were at a restaurant late one evening with friends and I took a metal fork away from him. He arched his head and body back and had a fit in my arms. He acted like that for a few minutes and I finally had to take him outside to calm him down. As Rosemond would say, the little criminal has reared his true self!

• Loves playing with toys and getting things out of containers.

• Loves playing with pots and pans.

• Overall, an incredibly lovable and fun baby!
  

Mom's Birthday

For the second year in a row we celebrated Mom's birthday at Cock of the Walk. We had a great time- only Luke and the Hinkson clan were missing.

Caleb and Rad really love each other!

So do Jeremy and Seth! Or was it the food they were loving?

Eli is always so great when we go out- he just loves to watch what is going on around him. Hard to believe when we did this last year he was still growing inside me!

Mom always enjoys holding one of her grandchildren, but especially when they are little and it is her birthday celebration! Happy Birthday Mom! You are a blessed woman and we have all been blessed by your love and the attention you have bestowed on us! May God continue to bless you!

Pranksters

These are some of the boys' latest tricks.

Caleb has been running and jumping and trying to side-click his heels. It is pretty funny to watch.

I have no idea if he knows how much his mama loves to do this as well (crazy I know, but I once saw this in a musical and have loved it ever since!). One of Eli's favorite places to play is the table in the living room. Most often he just crawls up to it and pulls on it or most recently, up on it to a standing position. The other day, however, he decided to attempt to climb over it. He did not quite succeed and the last picture is right before he broke down crying out of frustration. He did give it quite the effort!

"Look Mom, only one hand!"

We recently borrowed a high chair from one of my friends whose son has outgrown it (thank you Robyn, Eric and Ethan!). The high chair is for Eli as Caleb still needs to use the booster-chair we bought for him. But look who wound up using it? I bet if Eli started using bottles Caleb would have to check them out too.
Caleb helped me make breakfast the other day. We made the resurrection rolls I posted about earlier. He is such a good helper! He did great rolling the marshmallows in the butter and then sugar/cinnamon mixture. The rolls were actually pretty yummy (though terrible for you!) and a really neat way to illustrate our Savior's death and resurrection, although I don't know that it all made sense to Caleb.

Here's how they look out of the oven.

"I've gotten up, and I can't get down!"

Spiderman, Spiderman

And just for my own future reference, an awesome list of replacements with vegan cooking.

A visit with Mamaw

Mamaw and Uncle Russ came over this past week to celebrate Uncle Russ' 39th birthday. What a fun time we had! Daddy grilled out steaks and they were yummy! Caleb spent most of the night playing catch and chase and "the claw" with Uncle Russ. Eli managed to let Mamaw hold him for a few minutes, that is until he began to scratch at her face
(an attempt to get her glasses I think!).

Neat Easter Idea

Don't these seem like a neat and fun thing to do with your kids for Easter? And they sound so easy! Caleb's preschool is going to make them next week and the teachers asked me how they could do it so Caleb could participate (due to his allergies), and to my pleasant surprise it appears as if the only alteration needed will be to use dairy-free butter!!! How fun for him! I'm so glad he will be able to participate as he loves, loves to cook! Who knew crescent rolls were milk and egg free? We might make them for ourselves this next week.

Farmville friends

We recently had a visit from our very close and wonderful friends from our old home in Farmville, NC- Hunter, Melissa and Bailey. It is hard to believe, but when we moved from NC Bailey was just a few days old. She is now almost 5 and such a little lady! She is one of the most mannerly children I have ever been around and so cute to boot! We had a great visit with them and are looking forward to hopefully visiting them soon for the Farmville Dogwood Festival.Caleb and BaileyBailey is very photogenic, my boys- not so much at the present!Such a cutie!Eli at Panera Bread

Jeremy and Caleb enjoying their Panera Bread fare (by the way, when you have
a child with food allergies, a fruit cup is always a good thing!)

My mom kept Caleb and Bailey to allow us adults (and Eli) a visit to Opryland Hotel. It was a great night!