A Little Bit of This and that

I am so SORE!
I went to jazzercise for the first time in a few months. At the halfway point I thought I was going to die. The routine Sounia, the instructor, is doing has LOTS of cardio and targets every part of the abs. This is good since I still have a little bit of baby belly left...a whole year later.
What I love about jazzercise with Sounia is how much fun I have. I may be sweating like a pig and about ready to collapse but it still fails to feel like exercise.

I am quite happy to announce that Elliot's first tooth finally broke through last week! It's his top left front tooth and he looks like a little jack'o'lantern when he smiles. He has some others that should be making their appearance soon as well, but for now he is my one tooth wonder. I'll miss calling him Toothless!

He threw a FIT when I tried to get a cute picture of him smiling so you get him mid-tantrum at a funny angle...but there it is!

Elliot's party for his birthday should be interesting...we reserved an arbor at a local park for Sunday afternoon, not knowing it will be about 106 degrees! We picked this particular park because it is almost completely shaded, but we will see how everything ends up. It will be a time to visit and have some cake, nothing fancy, but I am really excited! It just doesn't seem like a year has already rushed by.
(I am especially excited about the cake! I will definitely post pictures.)
My mom, Landyn, Josh, Elliot and I went to said park on Monday to scope out our spot and check out the playground, which turned out to be a successful (and sweaty) adventure.

On a more serious note, my grandfather is in the hospital and is not doing well at all. They have been having trouble with his dialysis, he is passing blood and is in a generally fragile state. He has been in and out of the hospital over the last few years but each visit gets closer and closer together. Any prayer would be appreciated, for him as well as my family. I know my grandparents are extremely disappointed they won't be at Elliot's party, but I am more disappointed that things look so grim for now.
My mom and I took Elliot to visit him on Wednesday, before everything started going really downhill and while he was out of the ICU.

I'm not sure why these pictures turned out so grainy...

We will be busy next week with Elliot's party, actual birthday on Monday and 4th of July plans. Another busy summer month ahead!

**Update on my grandfather:

Right now he is back in ICU basically waiting to die. They can't get his dialysis to clean out his system and without it his body will continue to poison itself. Every part of his body is compromised...one treatment just causes another problem. His heart is functioning very little. He could have a heart attack and pass, or just basically wait for his body to shut itself down since his kidneys failed long ago.

We were able to see him for a few minutes this evening. He is mostly incoherent, rambling about things that make no sense. 

I feel heavy and for once it's not just the heat.

I know things will get better

"You've got to make a decision
We can leave tonight
or live and die this way"

-Swimming With Dolphins

Here are some things that have made June awesome:

1. Getting Elliot's pictures taken professionally for the first time for his birthday party invitations, which turned out adorable.

2. We had a family reunion (on my mom's side) and I got to catch up with relatives I haven't seen in a long time. I also ate so much watermelon I had a stomach ache.

Oh, and I did this:

which for me is pretty much the ultimate state of being.

3. I found some sheer curtains to hang over our kitchen slider! The best part is that I only paid $15 total for two panels and a scarf that altogether would have originally cost $240! That might be one of my best scores ever.

4. Elliot celebrated his first Father's Day with his daddy on Sunday. It was special watching Elliot walk around with his unending smiles saying  "da da" and "daddy." So much has changed so quickly.

5. Seasons 5 of Psych and 4 of Leverage, both were excellent.

6. My beautiful mother turned 50 years old yesterday. My family celebrated with a delicious dinner of BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, salad and iced tea. Josh and I brought her a pretty bouquet of chrysanthemums, carnations and snapdragons (some of her favorites) and I am working hard at finishing her present, which will hopefully be finished soon so I can share pictures! I'm pretty pleased with it.

7. Yesterday also was 5 months to the day since my miscarriage ended in January. This is very exciting for me, as this means my body is healthy and healed enough that we can try to have another baby. It feels like these 5 months have dragged on and have been a test to my patience, but here I am! I am excited to see what the rest of this year will hold for our family.

Sick and Tired

That is what I have been for the last two weeks!
I am finally on the mend from a pretty aggressive sinus infection, but there is a lot of recovery left. I am so tired from not getting much sleep combined with the unending stresses of this past month.
For all of the good parts, I am so glad that Saturday's "Divine Brunch and Boutique" is over. I was already on empty the Thursday before so by the time we made it up to Fresno, after waking up around 4a with Elliot/to begin getting ready, all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with my husband and baby and snuggle the day away. Alas, I spent the day chatting it up with a bunch of cool ladies...not quite the same.

I will hopefully have some more updates to make soon now that I have an antibiotic fighting my sickness for me. Until then, as always, some pictures:




I found these on my old Myspace blog that I was perusing last night. They are from mid-2007. I believe I am at my uncle's house. I'm holding my cousin, Aydan, and I just love that we were accidentally color-coordinated that day. Also notice my beautiful grandmother, Evelyn, in the background. I've been really missing her lately so it was bittersweet seeing her face in the photo.

Good Morning!

Here's What's Up

* Operation sewing machine is finally going to happen! I purchased some machine oil, set up a cute little corner in our living room after figuring out something to set up shop on (I am borrowing a tv tray from my parents) and have been taking time today to organize some of my fabric for the projects I've been waiting to start. I am quite excited...it's been too long.

* I have been furiously crocheting whenever possible. I have about 6 bibs, minus buttons, done and two pairs of booties. I need to finish up my flowers for the hair clips I plan to sell but everything else is undecided. Maybe some hats, blankets...not sure what I will have time to do. 

I really love the pattern for these booties but it is REALLY time consuming so not sure if I'm going to have time to make more.

This is still being worked on...I ran out of yarn.

I finally got around to organizing my growing collection of yarn, which (as you can see) is taller than Elliot. He thinks the boxes are his toys and gets very irritated when mommy starts to play with them. 

* Elliot turned 10 months on the 4th, meaning he is that much closer to turning 1...I can't believe it! I'm so excited to start planning his party and even more excited about spending the evening with his grandma and papa setting off an immoderate amount of fireworks!
His tenth month was a very busy one. He mastered crawling, almost immediately began pulling up on things and is standing on his own for small amounts of time. He even attempts to take a step at times which is a huge failure but completely adorable. He also had his first illness requiring an antibiotic, an ear infection in both ears that was AWFUL. He has his follow up appointment on Wednesday to see if everything has cleared up. 

Still no teeth yet but there are definite signs that some may be developing soon. Though honestly having no teeth has not stopped him from eating anything.
Right now I really love the silly faces he is starting to make:

This was the last bit of a snarl similar to the one in the previous picture, just caught at an awkward moment. I love it!

We watched the animated Tarzan together this evening and he was enthralled. 

* For mother's day I treated my mom and myself to a little spa time. We had a very nice mani/pedi followed by an hour massage. While my mom's unfortunately did not go as well as I had hoped, we still had a lot of fun spending the morning together. Candace was nice enough to watch Elliot...thanks again, friend!

* Coming up on the calender: Josh's father turns 50 on Sunday. Elliot has his appointment Wednesday. The Purely Divine brunch/boutique is on the 21st and both of our mom's have birthdays next month. I expect busyness through the beginning of July.

* Josh and I have about a million projects we are going to attempt to tackle this month. It stinks when you let yourself get behind. Now everything we haven't done has piled up and new things keep on coming. I will attempt to give better updates as we make some progress.

And that's about it. I will post more on any projects I get finished.

The Business of Eggs and Family

Wednesday: The Dying of the Eggs

My egg cozy. 

(can't tell we're related...)

Every picture of the three of us looks like this. We apparently felt very intense about the egg-dying experience. 

****

Sunday: Easter Egg Hunt and General Good Time

Apparently 10 month old boys have more interest in grass than dyed eggs. 

After the egg hunt the boys moved the party into the sandbox.

Elliot dove face first into the sand...and thought it was hilarious until I had to dig sand out of his mouth, nose and ears.

This might be one of my favorite pictures ever of Elliot.

Landyn ran up and down the stairs to my parents' balcony looking for Robin, his toy Batman's sidekick. "WAAAAAAABIN, WHERE ARRRREE YOU?? YOR MUH BEST FWEND! IT'S ME, BATMAN!"
It's hard to capture the adorable way he talks, but you get the idea.

A friend of my brother brought her two girls, Brooklyn (left) and Hailey, over to join the fun. The lipgloss I gave them was a big hit. I think by the end of the visit Brooklyn's entire face sparkled.

All four kids playing together. Hailey put her arm around Elliot so he wouldn't fall.

Brooklyn flying like Superman.

And then we headed home. Easter 2011: Success!