Elliot's First Christmas!

Happy Holidays everyone!  We had so much fun celebrating Elliot's first Christmas with the entire family.  It was a busy day but worth it so that we could see all of our family in one day.  Elliot was a trooper, napping on the go, happy while awake,  and loving each new present and all the glorious wrapping paper!  We started the day with breakfast and stockings at my parents house with Jenny, Gawain and the kiddos.  We traveled from there to my Grandma Richardson's house where we spent hours laughing and enjoying our large beautiful family.  The wooden car he is enjoying in the picture above was a gift from Great Auntie Peggy!  Then it was back to my mom and dad's for a nap for Elliot and Ailsa,  and then over to Mary and Gavin's for a visit and present exchange.  THEN, our final destination was my Grandma Barber's house for a traditional english Christmas dinner and dessert.  It was a full day, but memorable!
The best present by far was this little gift under our tree!
Tillie got a new beanbag  and was so excited to share it with "her" Elliot.  She just knew he would love it and she was right!  He snuggled right in and munched on some wrapping paper.
Oh, the joy!  This was the photo that we gave as gifts to the family.  Those dimples, that smile...
Elliot is crazy about our christmas tree...so sparkly, just like him.  Now that he is almost (one day shy) 7 months, he is exploring his bigness.  He is starting to get on his hands and knees and desperately wants to scoot across the floor to reach his toys, Coby, or whatever else he sees.  He is eating like a little champ and I am having so much fun making his food and coming up with new combinations of yummy food to try.  Elliot's latest favorite is banana-pear muesli.  He now weighs 19 lbs and has the cheeks to prove it!  I am happily spending my days doing lots of nothing besides enjoying my time with Elliot and Jason.  I head back to school on January 15th.

Sending all of you love, peace and joy in the New Year!

love, c, j, and e

Back on track

Whew!  What a month!  Sorry we've been "off the radar" lately.  I finished my 3rd semester of nursing school, which was a true test of my comittment, but I did it.  Finals are over and now it's smooth sailing in to 4th semester and "almost" the end.

Elliot is amazing...growing by the minute and exploring so many new things that he can't keep up with himself.  We are facinated by his determination to figure things out and loving his addictive chuckle (especially when daddy dances)!  We had Tillie over for a long overdue sleep over and had so much fun!
We were able to squeeze in a jaunt to Sabino Canyon (elliot's first).  We had a great time with perfect weather and a yummy picnic lunch.  Elliot dipped his toes in the running water...

                                                            ......posed with the mountains
                                                              ........stopped for a snack
                                                             .......and hung with dad

Now on to Christmas and New Years...so many firsts for Elliot and so fun for us to participate with him.  I can't wait to watch him tear in to some presents!

Love to all,

c, j, & e

Elliot @ 6 months!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We are extremely thankful this year for many things.  Mostly we are thankful for our incredible, beautiful, sparkly little boy who brings us so much joy everyday!  We are thankful for the incredible amount of love and support we receive from our loving family and amazing friends!  This year we are thankful for our new president-elect whose ideas inspire us once again to hope for change.  We are thankful to have each other and to always have just what we need.  Above is a pic of our little milagro holding his favorite milagro pillow handmade for him by dear friends Jen and Julie.

The last couple of weeks Elliot has discovered swinging!  He loves it!  Jason hung his swing (a hand me down from the Bosco's, thanks guys!) in the back yard.  The days here have been gorgeous and he loves to just hang in the swing and listen to the wind chimes.
Here he is with his ever-present dimply smile that lights up the room and our hearts!

Elliot has also discovered that he can sit up all by himself (with pillows behind him and dad's hand to soften the fall).  He seems to feel very proud as he sits up tall and plays with his toys.
Jason had to work on Thanksgiving (boo!) So Elliot and I went up to the station to visit while they were making their feast.  Elliot loved all the attention from the guys but still doesn't realize how cool it is that his dad is a firefighter!

All our love and thanks to you all for everything you do...

c, j, & e

Elliot 5 1/2 months

Elliot has been especially cute lately, hard to imagine, huh?  Despite having his first cold and cough, he has pretty much bounced back.  He is nearly sitting up on his own and is enjoying his new freedom (pics soon). Here he is contemplating life!
He loves to give face kisses, the droolier,  the better!  He also enjoys knawing on your chin or cheek, whichever he finds first.  Did I mention that he is teething?
Sometimes he just likes to be kissed, wouldn't you?
Here he is "nakie as a snakie" and oh-so-cute and chunky!
AND, he started eating this week!  He still prefers to just chew on the spoon, but he's getting the hang of it.  He loves butternut squash!

Love to you all!

c, j, & e

El the Skel-eton

It was a great first Halloween for Elliot!  He dressed up twice...once as a Chili pepper and then again as a skeleton so that he could be "halloween twins" with Kieran.
He had his first taste of pear on our picnic yesterday and loved it.  He's nearly ready for first foods! Jason and I are so looking forward to showing him the world of delicious food!  

Here he is "tripod-ing".  Almost sitting, getting there!

Elliot's favorite mode of transportation is "in arms".  This sling (made by my mom) comes in very handy when we need to get stuff done.
We broke down and bought a jumpy-chair-toy-thing at a yard sale.  It has all the bells and whistles (literally) and Elliot loves it! Here he is enthralled by it's many gadgets.
Sending November love out to all of you especially those celebrating this month! Happy Birthday Greer, Grandma Barber, and Cousin Megan !!!

xoxoxo,

c, j, & e

Elliot almost 5 months...

hey all,

Elliot had a busy week! We joined our family at the Agua Linda Pumpkin Patch last weekend and had a blast.  It was a little warm (in the 90's), but we managed to have a good time and brought home pumpkins and some delicious pumpkin butter!  We were able to snap a rare pic of the family as Jason and I were heading out for our day.  Jason in his uniform and me in mine We like to call them our blues...)

Elliot had a chance to meet his cousin Austin for the first time!  Sarah and Michael were here from California and the family gathered at Judy's to meet Austin.  Elliot and Austin just stared at each other and then they reached out and held hands...AWWWWW!  So cute.  We had a nice time catching up with family and hanging out outside.

Elliot had his picture taken for the Tucson Citizen newspaper...check out the link to the right...

Also, check out the link to even more pics of Elliot on Flickr!

sending lots of love,

c, j, & e

tongues and toes...

The past few weeks, Elliot has been working on getting his toes in his mouth.  Last night...success!  He was so pleased with himself and sucked on his (post-bath) toes for a good while.  He also has discovered that he has a tongue in his mouth.  He rolls it around, gums it, sticks it out, so much fun!  Also this week Elliot found his thumbs.  He has been sucking on his fingers non-stop for months now and he finally realized that there are thumbs on his hands.  We think he may become a thumb-sucker...could be worse.

Our dear friends Minette, Ryan and their son Everett were in town from Colorado last week.  They don't get to town too often, so we are thrilled to see them when we can.  Minette, Greer and I all have boys 2 months apart.  With the addition of Julia's son Quinn and Betsy's son Mateo, we have our own little boys club!  We love it and talk all the time about how they will be as they get older and all the mischief they may attempt!

I am officially halfway through my 3rd semester of nursing school and this one has been a real doosey!  At this point, I'm just looking forward to getting through it.  We just finished our rotation in Pediatrics, which I loved!  Now were on to Med-surg which is all big people (aka adults).  I'm much better with small people, so wish me luck.

This Saturday we are heading out to Aqua Linda Farm for pumpkin picking.  If that name rings a bell, it's because that is where Jason and I got married.  We're looking forward to sharing it with Elliot.

It is definitely fall now although we still are having some 90 degree days.  The mornings and evenings are gorgeous!

love to all...

c, j, & e

Elliot gets political...

hey everyone,

Elliot was in good company at the Obama Rally we all attended on Sunday.  We were all wearing our "obama gear" and got all fired up in support for change!  It's never too early to be political!  I found some other cute pictures on my camera that I had been wanting to post so here they are...

Elliot had his 4 month check-up and shot today.  The check-up was great, he is growing beautifully. The shot didn't go so well, but so far no reaction to it (what a relief).  He weighs in at almost 15 lbs and is 25 inches in length.  His head grew an inch and a half in a month...we're not surprised because he's the smartest baby ever!

xoxoxo,

c, j, & e

Elliot @ 4 months!

Hello all!  Elliot will be 4 months old tomorrow!  It is unbelieveable how fast it has gone.  Jason and I have noticed an "explosion" of skills coming from the little guy in the past week.  He is very proficient at grabbing toys and bring them to his mouth.  When he drops them, he gets them again!  Brilliant!  He can scoot around on his tummy and end up halfway across his blanket.  The volume of his voice has increased and he loves to serenade us...especially at 4 in the morning!  He gets cuter everyday (if that is possible), and we fall more in love every minute!  We had a nice morning with our friends greer, kiley and nate at himmel park.  It was breezy and felt like fall...

love to all,

c, j, & e

Elliot grows!

Elliot has been busy lately!  Not only has he learned how to grab things and put them in his mouth, he has had many functions and parties to attend!  Aug/Sept are big birthday months in our family, so we have been celebrating!  First my dads' birthday where Elliot debuted his very dapper hat (a hand-me-down from buddy Quinn).  Then Kieran's hot-wheels-themed birthday party, and then the co-bday celebration for Kieran and I (we were born on the same day!).  He was a champion as usual, delighting all those attending with his infectious smile and happy spirit!  Elliot has also been working very hard on tummy-time and is now starting to really enjoy it!  I think it helps that he can look around, reach for things, and roll over on his back if he wants.  Elliot has been amazing while transitioning to the change in our schedules.  We are incredibly blessed to have my mom and Mary (Gawain's mom) on hand to fill in the blanks while I'm at school and Jason is working.  It feels so good to know that Elliot is in such loving hands while I'm away.  The weather is finally changing and fall is coming!!!  I remember once again why we live in Tucson!!!

sending love to all of you...

c, j, & e

Elliot @ 3 months!

hello all!  The past two weeks have flown by as we have tried to adjust to our new schedule now that I am in school.  It was a lucky break that Jason's days off just happened to be the days I was in school.  So, the childcare transition has been hard, but good.  Jason has done an excellent job of taking over the "mommy" role and Elliot doesn't seem to have noticed.  The first day I left, I cried all the way to school, each day has gotten a little easier since then.  Elliot hit his 3 month  milestone and is 14 lbs now.  His 3 month doctor visit went well (except for the shots) and he is in the 50-75th percentile in height, weight and head circumference.  His doctor, Molly, describes him as  a "thriving" baby.  Music to my ears...

Today we tried Elliot in the bungee bouncer that was a hand-me-down from his cousin Kieran.  Lately, all El wants to do is stand and kick his little legs, so we thought he would love it, and he did!  He stayed in it for about 20 minutes...turning this way and that and shrieking with delight that he could "stand" on his own.  According to Jason's mom, he was the same way!  Just wait until he figures out that he can jump in it too!

The weather is threatening to cool down and we are all looking forward to gorgeous fall days!!!

love to all...

c, j, & e