The first year of "happily ever after" is almost over!

At this time last year, Mike and I were trying to stay calm and keep ourselves occupied as we waited (hopefully patiently and definitely breathlessly) to hear word that Katie was having a baby.  Now, almost a year since she did have Eli, I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

How did we go from this:

to this:

I've never had so much fun in my life--and trust me, I've had a fun life!  Eli's learned how to smile, laugh, clap, wave, blow kisses, roll over, sit up, crawl, sleep, feed himself, "talk", splash, explore, play, and get into just about everything.  I can't wait to see what new adventures the next year brings....and the next......and the next!  We are so grateful for such a beautiful miracle!

Finally crawling and on the move!

It won't be long and he will be walking, he likes to grab on our fingers and walk around more than crawling.

Nothing beats a good belly laugh!

One crazy March...and April looks about the same!

Seriously, is it Spring yet?  Idaho just keeps throwing us these random beautiful spring days (moments, sometimes) followed immediately by snow and gloom.  I'm ready for spring to come and STAY!

So, around the end of February, my old Junior High principal (who's now over all the federal programs like ESL, which is what I did) asks if I can help with the language testing for Middle School, Junior High and High School.  I'm pretty excited to have a chance to see the students and my colleagues again, so I agree.  Plus, the pay's not bad.  So I ask when the testing window opens and how long I'll have to do it.  Oh, it opened 2 weeks ago, there are exactly 4 weeks left, and we didn't get our info to the state fast enough, so they didn't have time to print labels with all the kids' info--you'll have to fill in all the individual bubbles.  Sweet!  Thus my March began.  I got all the testing done in record time.  It was WONDERFUL to visit all the kids again and see their progress.  But it only took 2 weeks for me (and Eli) to be SO GLAD that it would soon be over!  I am so glad not to be a working mom.  It's HARD!

Needless to say, my house has been a disaster, Mike and I haven't eaten well, and none of us got the sleep we needed.  I was sooo glad to be done.  Then I got another call from my old principal.  Seems he's a little overwhelmed with all this (it's his first year with these responsibilities), and isn't quite sure where he'll find time to organize all the tests the way the state wants before sending them all back to the state.  No problem--I respond.  It won't even take a day, and I'll bring Eli.  3 days later, it's finally done.  But at least Eli got to come with!

Now, I'm finally finished and look forward to next week--my first week completely and totally free of work duties.  I'll never take being a stay-at-home mom for granted!  I love my job :)  Here's why:

 Well, first of all, my charge is adorable.

 Plus, he's adorable.

 Also, he's adorable.

 Did I mention that my job is adorable?

 He's adorably good at getting into sticky situations.

 He helps with the laundry.  Again, insert adorable word here.

 He's adorably clean.

Last, but certainly not least, it's his adorability that makes me love my job so darn much!

Eli vs. Brush

Eli knows how to berate with the best of us....and he cheers for himself when he wins!

Keep the good times comin'!

Life is good in the Nelson household!  We're mostly healthy and always happy.  Mike continues serving in the Bishopric as the 2nd counselor.  He's feeling more comfortable with his responsibilities and other bishopric members.  I'm still in the Young Women's program as 2nd counselor.  All but one of the girls I started with have moved on because they've turned 14, and the one who's left will leave in July.  I'll be working with a whole new set of girls.  It's sad and exciting all at the same time.

Eli adds a lot of fun to our church experience.  He has only made it all the way through sacrament (without being taken out by mom, I mean) once.  Since we started going at 9, it's not usually because he's exhausted.  It's usually because he's wide awake and yelling up a storm.  It is slightly embarrassing, but much much much more entertaining!  When he really gets going, I'll look up at Mike to see him chuckling at his son's antics.  Sunday School is pretty much devoted to keeping Eli's tiredness at bay and then attempting to get him to sleep.  He usually gives in to the sleepiness after 15-20 minutes of chewing me out on the stage next to the Sunday School room.  Because he's usually sleeping when Young Women starts, I have a relatively easy 15-30 minutes.  Then it's all about the entertaining again.  I used to spend all my time on Sundays watching all the other little kids in the ward because they are SOOOO entertaining.  Now I rarely take my eyes off my own!  I LOVE IT!!

Eli constantly amazes us with how much and how quickly he learns.  It seems he's picking up something new every day.  He started rolling from his tummy to his back about 2 weeks ago.  We've been wondering when in the world he'd ever get from his back to his tummy.  Well, last Friday, on his 7 month birthday, while no one was looking, he decides to make his debut.  I had walked over to talk to a friend.  Mike was at the table by his blanket talking to someone else.  When I returned, Eli was on his tummy.  Thanks for waiting for that one moment when no one was paying attention to reach that milestone, Buddy!  Luckily, he did it again later that night and both of us witnessed it.  He's only done it again once since then....

He's so into everything he can get his hands on, now, that I don't scatter a few toys around him anymore; I just sit him down next to the toy basket and let him go at it :)  He can play for a good hour (when he's fed and not tired) without even looking around for me.  He's babbling up a storm, eating solids like nobody's business, and clapping (not on demand, though).

Well, that's us in a nutshell.  Oh, I forgot Fisher--that happens a lot since Eli joined our family.  His best chance for attention is snuggling up to Eli.  He's getting pretty good at it!

6 month milestones

While Eli has not yet decided that it's time to roll over, he is getting VERY good at sitting up!  The pictures below show him with a pillow behind him, but unless the floor is hard, we don't even use the pillows anymore.  He even sits up (pretty well) in the tub.  It's just about the only position he has where you can tell he has a neck!

As far as rolling over goes, he comes SO close.  He gets on his side all the time, and he's even kicked his leg over a couple of times, but he doesn't pull his arm out from under him, so he's quick to kick his leg back over to be on his back.  It'll happen, one of these days.

He's also found his feet and his always grabbing his toes and socks.  He laughs out loud a lot more and is getting much more ticklish.  He DOWNS his solids and sort of knows how to drink out of a sippy cup.  Also, he's figured out Da and Ta and thinks it's pretty cool to hear us repeat them back to him.  He continues to master the art of blowing bubbles with his saliva and is quite respectable at it.  Squealing and babbling are two more communication skills he's added to his repertoire.

Eli grows and learns so fast that he constantly amazes us.  He is a perfect and happy little guy, and we love him to pieces!