Ouch!

I never like to hear over my phone speaker, "Mrs. Kirtley, can you take a phone call?" I always answer, "sure," hesitantly. It makes me nervous. No one calls me at school unless it's Gail to tell me Eli is sick.

So I was extra surprised to hear Aaron's voice on the other end today. He tells me he has Eli. Ok.....

He preceeds to tell me that Eli had fallen at Gail's house today and split his chin open. Ok...now my heart is racing and I have tears in my eyes. (Did I mention that I have 21 Kindergarteners waiting on me?) Aaron tells me that Eli is fine. He has super-glued it back together. (Did I mention that there are perks to having a husband that's an EMT?!) Ok...so do we need to take him in to the doctor anyways?? Nope...he's fine!

No crying.

No screaming.

Little blood.

Apparently Eli was more concerned about the blood that was on his hands than anything else!

So, here is my little baby with his first "big ouchy!"

Seriously, mom! You have to take this picture!

Looks like he's really huring, doesn't it!!

Here is a video of Eli talking about his ouchy!

Big Boy Bed

I really hesitated putting Eli in a big bed. I really found comfort in him being confined in a crib. If he woke up, he couldn't get out until I came to get him. Plus, I had heard horror stories of people that couldn't get their child to stay in the bed and spent hours putting them back to bed.

I may be jinxing myself, but so far I've had no complaints! He stays in bed when I put him in it and in the mornings he stays in it and talks. Once I come in to get him he says, "Morning Mommy, get down?" Then he hops down out of bed. I have to say that I did cry the first night we put him in the bed (I'm blamming it on pregnancy hormones)!

His room is not finished to my liking. He has a bed and a quilt, but there are still some things I would like to do to decorate it and tie it all together. I'm working on getting some organizational things to help with that too! I feel like I can't start the babies room until I have Eli all settled! So, here are a few pictures of what he has so far!

Aaron and Eli taking down the crib:

The new bed!

Yes, I know he has a pink guard rail! We had borrowed one from someone else and it kept falling out. Eli was able to kick it out and he fell out a couple of times that night. It made me so sad! A friend of mine said she had one that hooks on the other side of the bed that he can't kick out and I could use it. It is pink and her son used it too! I didn't care...it meant I could sleep better at night knowing he was safe! Plus, to Eli, everything is green!
Here's the big boy in his bed! Right before this, he got excited and jumped on his pillows and bonked his nose on the frame of his bed. Yes, he had a little bit of a bloody nose. We talked about how the doctor says, "No more monkey's jumping on the bed!"

One more big boy thing:

It may not seem like a lot, but Eli is now able to drink from a cup without a lid! For the longest time we have been trying, but he always tells me to put a lid on it! Tonight I gave him a cup with a little bit of milk in it and he took a drink without spilling! I made a big deal about it and he thought it was SO neat! So he kept taking drinks and did a GREAT job! We only had 1 little spill! My little baby is becoming such a big boy!

Things I love...

Ok, so my pregnancy hormones have set in and I've been a little on the grumpy side.
Things irritate me more than normal.
I cry at almost anything.
I'm hungry and feeling guilty about eating.
I'm angry with my work situation and not knowing what's happening next year.
SO...I need to think happy thoughts. After today's sermon at church, I really need refocus on things.
It was about how God has detours or delays in our lives that we may not pick, but there is a bigger plan or reason. Ok, I get it. Relax, refoucs, and PRAY!
To help get me refoucused...I thought I would list things that I love. I may forget some things, but it's a start!
* God
* Aaron
* Eli and his little brother that's on the way
* Paco...my dog!
* My house
* Job
* My small group
* Friends
* My church
* Rain
* sun
* parents (mine and Aaron's)
* Any and all family
* Neighbors
Ok...I think that's enough to get me started. Thinking of these things already puts a smile on face.

Fishing

We've spent a lot of time outside lately. Aaron has an old fishing pole that he didn't use anymore and Eli 's been playing with it. He has fun going down into the ditch and pretending like he was fishing. He'd tell us, "I got a big one Mommy!"

So yesterday we went to Walmart and got him a little kids fishing pole, chair and life jacket. Last year we waited too late to get him a life jacket and couldn't find one anywhere! This fishing pole has a fake fish at the end to help them learn how to cast. Obviously Eli's to little to understand the casting part of things, but he liked to reel it in! So...sometime this summer I'm sure Eli will finally get to go fishing for a real fish! You can tell by the pictutres, he's definetly ready!

Pictures

We had Meg take Eli's 2 year pictures this past Saturday. They turned out great! Here is a glimpse of SOME of my favorites! I don't know how I'll ever choose which ones to actually get! Thanks Meg....they are great! Eli had fun taking them too!I LOVE this smile!

Praying

Every night we pray with Eli before he goes to bed. Since we've moved him to a "big boy bed"(pictures to come soon!), I love lying in bed with him and reading books, than praying with him. It's so much more personal to be so close to him! Every night I ask him who he wants to pray for. Here is his list:

Daddy
Mommy
Eli
Grandma Kathi
Papa
Grandpa Tim
Grandma Gail
Steve...at fire station
barn
cows
horses
farmers

The list through Grandma Gail always stay the same...the ones below it change! It depends who he's been in contact with that day too! On Sunday's he'll remember Ms. Tami, Ms. Debby and Gary! I love it! I love to listen to him. I love that he is starting to understand and talk more and more about Jesus. I have to contribute some of that to our awesome church and programs they have. He's only 2, but he's in a class where they actually do a lesson about Jesus every Sunday. He remembers those things and will bring them up later in the week. I have to really think b/c sometimes it just comes out of no where and I'm not sure what he's talking about!
So thank you Debby, Tami and Gary! It means a lot to have dedicated adults willing to work with our kids and little ones!
And....I know I can sleep better at night knowing that the cows and horses have been prayed for!!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Ok....so I do NOT get the "wife of the year" award this year. Aaron's birthday was yesterday. If you remember a post way back in August...I mentioned about how horrible my birthday was. Aaron forgot, but ended up sending me flowers after I reminded him about my birthday! Well....I think I was worse than that. I rememberd his birthday, I just never got around to getting him a card or a present. I know...tell me what a horrible wife I am. I didn't even get him a card from Eli. I tried that day to make it up to him, but I just felt awful all day!

In attempt to make it better, tonight we took him a present at the fire station. Aaron LOVES monkey bread. So after school, Eli and I made him monkey bread. We took it, along with cards, up to the fire station. I think it was a hit and I maybe redeemed myself a little. (He'll tell you it's not the big of a deal, but I felt like it was.)

So...Happy Birthday Aaron! We love you so much! You are an amazing husband and father. Thank you for all you do for us. God has truly blessed us with having you in our lives. Hopefully both of our birthdays will be better next time!

Warning: there might be a picture overload, but I was trying to put some of my favorites of Aaron and Eli on here! He looks like such a proud daddy!

Ladder Truck

Tonight Aaron called and said that if we wanted to ride up in the bucket of the ladder truck, we should come now! So, we dropped what we were doing and headed up there. Eli loves to ride in fire trucks!

New ladder truck!

Riding up in the bucket!

Yes....we were up high. Too high for me! I was scared!

The ladder extends 100 ft. tall!

Looking down at the fire station.

It was neat to ride up in the bucket, however I was scared! It was shakey and bouncey. Eli was small enough he couldn't see what was going on until Aaron lifted him up. He didn't even realize we were moving!

Thanks Daddy for having such a fun job!

Happy Easter!

As I was looking through pictures yesterday, I found this one: So I found it fitting to take a picture of Eli 2 years later with the same bunny! WOW! My little baby is not a little baby anymore!


This was the best family picture I could get! Eli thought it was funny to be funny!


He learned that if he threw the eggs hard enough in his basket that they would break open and then he could get the candy out!

Look what I found!!

We hope you all had a blessed Easter!

Decorating Eggs

We FINALLY got around to decorating our eggs tonight! I put the egg in the cup and Eli stirred away! I just let him stir until he'd say, "All done. Want nuver one!" So tomorrow we'll look for eggs, probably in our house because it's supposed to rain. Too bad he's the ONLY child on both sides of the family. He doesn't have any competition! I guess in a few years he'll have a little brother to compete with, but it sure would be nice if he had some cousins (hint, hint!)

Basket of Love

This morning a group of us got together to give Jess a "Basket of Love." We knew that this weekend would be hard for Jess, so our friend Amy (Finding the Balance) thought we should put together a basket of love for her. (I took a couple of pictures from Amy's blog!)

We all purchased things from many of the Etsy stores that were supporting Cora and the playground. There were so many neat things everyone had crafted, it was hard to choose something!

With Easter being tomorrow, we gave her the Easter "Basket of Love" today with a nice brunch. Thanks to Jess' mom for preparing brunch and opening your house for all of us. It was a nice morning to get together and show our love and support for Jess. Thanks to Kendall and Amanda for organizing it all.

Jess...this is just a little piece of how much we all love and care for you. You are always in our prayers...We love you!

Concert

Last night, on Good Friday, we went to a concert in Wichita. There were 5 bands there....and it was only 10 dollars to get in. I'll see if I can remember all the names: The Afters, Hawk Neilson, 5th Avenue North, Jeremy Camp and Mercy Me! I have to say that I have only heard of Mercy Me and Jeremy Camp...although I had heard some of the songs by the other artists. One recently on Grey's Anatamy by The Afters.
It has been a long time since I've been to a concert and I've never been to a Christian concert of this caliber! It was amazing to be there. Surrounded by 10,000 Christians on Good Friday....lifting Jesus up. Yes, it was SOLD OUT. There were people saying they had gotten there at 9am to get seats. They were just selling tickets that door. We got there at 6:30pm and had to sit at the top. Oh well....that's what the big screen is for!
I don 't really have words to describe how I felt or feel....so many emotions and thoughts were running rhough my head.
Here is a clip of Jeremy Camp (the video is not the greatest...it was from my camera and the lights didn't help!!):
"There will be a day..."

When we see Jesus face to face...

Happy Easter...remembering the true meaning of Easter.

And the Doc says...

We're having another BOY!!!! I was a little surprised, but excited none the less! I'm excited for Eli to have a brother to run around with and do things with. Plus, I love my Eli soooo much, how could I not be excited about having another boy!

I know...I said I wasn't going to say anything, but I decided it really didn't matter! Why wouldn't I want everyone to share in our excitment of having a boy! So...that's what it is! Now....to come up with a name!!!!

Eli's words...

Every day Eli amazes me with the things he says! Today he was outside with Aaron while I was downstairs. I heard him come inside and this was our conversation:

Eli: "Mommy, where are you?"
Me: "I'm downstairs Eli"
Eli: "I'm talking you..."
"Hello...I'm talking you!"
Me: "What? You're talking to me?"
Eli: "Yes...I talking you...."
Me: "Ok...come downstairs!"
Eli: "ok!"

Funy boy!

Happy Birthday Eli!!!

Today we celebrated Eli's birthday! We had a packed house with close friends of Eli's! He was so excited and such a little ham! Here are some pics of the day!

Eli's friends:

Cambri

Taylor

Ollie

Isaac
Birthday Boy!

Grandpa Tim and Grandma Gail bought Eli a wrestling singlet! Doesn't he look like a wrestler! Look at those stubby legs!!!
Tractor cake....yes I made it! A lot of work to just be eaten!
Happy Birthday Eli!

Eating cake and ice cream in the wrestling singlet!

Happy Birthday Eli! Mommy and Daddy love you SO much!