Priceless

Fisher Price Piano: $43.00

Baby Einstein Activity Mat: $50.00

Fisher Price Galloping Jumperoo: $65.00

Finally, getting your hands on a remote control that you can play with: PRICELESS!

It's the little things in life that mean so much :)

Rise and Shine

Eli normally goes down for the night anywhere between 7 and 8, so usually around 6 or 6:30 in the morning, I hear his sweet little voice cooing over the monitor letting us know he's awake. He's got some toys that are tied to the sides of his crib so he can play with when he wakes up; the thought there was to ensure Mommy and Daddy at least 15 more minutes of sleep because Mommy is SOO not a morning person. Eli definitely is! I'm hoping that will change and he will learn how wonderful it is to sleep in, especially on a Saturday when you have absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to go. Eli always wakes up in the best mood. He starts thrashing around, scooting, lunging, and crawling in his crib as soon as he sees me or Josh walk through his door. It's so sweet :) Most of the time, he'll just lay there in your arms for awhile and let you cuddle him (the only time we ever get to cuddle, because he's always on the go!). It's such a special time for all of us. After that, he has his bottle (see sidenote below) and then is ready to play!

Sidenote: You would think that after not eating for 12 hours my son would be starving! Nope! Where most babies will drink an 8 ounce bottle in the morning, Eli will drink about 2-3 ounces and refuse the rest so he can play. Ugh! It's so frustrating sometimes. He is the most finicky eater I've ever seen.

Eli can't wait to get down on the floor in the mornings to play. He rolls around, scoots, lunges, talks, fixes things, plays, and has the best time waking up. I've included some pictures of my little wild thing in the mornings :)

Checking out his stroller

Working on the tires, checking the pressure

Bright-eyed and bushy tailed :)

Looks like the jogging stroller needed a tune up

Tires must go flat quickly on strollers these days

Shining Daddy's shoes

Serious case of bed head!

My little blue eyed cutie pie :)

Love him!

6 Month Portrait Session

Eli and I went to Jami Ainsworth's photography studio this morning to have his 6 month portraits made. He was in a fabulous mood and really hammed it up for the camera. The session was over in record time, less than an hour, and we had almost 100 images that were great. Jami and I narrowed them down to the ones we liked the best, which was so very hard to do! She's posted two preview images on her site, if you'd like to go visit and take a look . Thanks for a great session, Jami!

New Church

Yesterday was the first day in our brand new renovated sanctuary. We started the renovations when I was still pregnant with Eli and now it's complete. It felt like a completely different building church, but it was SO BEAUTIFUL! The pews, the stage, the floor, the walls, the bathroom, the stained glass, everything about it was perfect. If you want to see before and after pictures of the church, go to Nicki's blog to see the pictures she took. It really helps you see all the changes that have taken place.

After church, I went to get Eli and we took a few pictures together in the new sanctuary. When you first walk in the church now, there's a big lobby with a huge chandelier. Eli would hardly look at the camera for a picture because he kept tilting his head backwards to look at the chandelier. It's so nice in there. Oh, and you'll also notice that Eli and I are sporting the same outfits from the weddding the day before. LOL! I didn't really think through this when I got us dressed yesterday morning, but now you all know that I'm one of those people that will rewear an outfit if it's around a new group of people. See, all the people at church didn't see us in the outfits we wore to the wedding, so I didn't think anything of it...until, I uploaded the pictures! Hey, they were still clean and it took all the guesswork out of getting dressed for church yesterday morning :) Oh, and this is the outfit that Eli's Grandpa E bought him when he came in last weekend. Isn't it so cute? I thought it was a 9 month, but it's a 6-9 month so I'm trying to get as much wear out of it as I can. You'll see pictures of it again soon because I'm probably going to put it on him for his 6 month pictures with Jami this week. I can't wait!

Eli Travels to Canton

Saturday, our whole family traveled to Canton, MS, to see my cousin C.J. get married. This was a special trip for us because it was the first time that my grandparents, aunt, and cousin from North Carolina (My dad is originally from North Carolina and most of his family is still living up there.) got to meet Eli. They have all been following him on the blog, but they had never met in person. I couldn't wait for Eli to meet them!

Josh went to play golf Saturday morning before we left, so Eli and I spent the morning playing on his new piano; well, new to him at least! Before Eli was born, Nicki dispersed all of Jonah's baby toys to our family. Some went to Sue's house and some went to Josh's grandmother's house. When Sue saw how much Eli loved Hannah's piano, she went to Josh's grandmother's house to get Jonah's old piano for Eli. We love it! Thanks, Nicki and Jonah!


Eli has now mastered sitting up from a laying down position. It happened so fast! He rolls over from his tummy to a sitting position so quickly now. He still isn't crawling, but he's a fan of lunging across the floor. He's earned a couple of bruises on his forehead already from this new sport :) Do they make baby helmets?


Sue came over to watch Eli for me while I went to get a pedicure and run a few errands around town. I got back, packed and ironed all our clothes, gave Eli and bottle, and once Josh got back, we got on the road. Eli did GREAT! He slept the entire 2 1/2 hours to Canton and didn't wake up until 10 minutes before we got to my aunt's house. Mom and Dad met us there and we quickly changed and headed to the church to meet the rest of my family.


We got to the church a little early because we knew that we would have to leave immediately after the wedding was over. The wedding started at 6:30 and Eli usually goes to bed around 7:30, so we knew that he might get a little cranky if we stayed past 7:30. The wedding party was taking pictures in the sanctuary, so we joined in on the fun :) My family from North Carolina couldn't wait to get their hands on Eli. I hate that we live so far away, but I'm glad that we at least have the blog so they can watch him grow up. Who knows? Maybe one day we'll get up there to visit them.

My grandparents (My Dad's parents)

Our attempt at a four generations picture.
So many people were taking pictures, no one knew where to look!

My dad's sister, Aunt Linda, and Eli

My cousin, Ginger, and Eli

When we went to North Carolina during the summers,
I would ALWAYS stay with Ginger and her family.
She was the big sister I never had :)

Ginger looks like she's about 25 but believe it or not she has 2 teenage boys.
She couldn't wait to love on Eli since her two boys are so big now.

Another attempt at a four generation pic.
Dad was the only one that got this one right.
Way to go, Pop!

Eli with his great-grandparents

My grandmother with her youngest great-grandson.

Before the wedding started, I gave Eli a bottle and he actually took most of it before deciding the program looked more appetizing. When you're teething, I guess anything will do!

Quick fun fact: The wedding took place at my uncle's church, Grace Episcopal Church, in Canton, MS. If you are a movie buff, then you may recognize this church because it is the same one they used in the movie A Time to Kill. Isn't the church beautiful?

View from the back of the sanctuary

Front of the church

Josh and I sat in the back of the church expecting that we would have to leave with Eli once the service started. Well, we didn't even make it to the start of the service. The entire church was so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop, and then my son decides to let loose with a string of raspberries, oohs, aahs, and squeals. Yeah, I understand why most people keep babies at home during weddings now :) I did my best to keep him entertained and quiet, but that didn't work out so well. Josh took one for the team and took Eli to the nursery area while I watched the wedding. It was such a special service and I'm glad I got to see C.J. get married. It's so funny to watch us all growing up and getting old. I left after they exchanged vows and went to find Josh and Eli. Eli was so tired but he was fighting sleep as hard as he could. I took him from Josh and worked some Mommy magic and got him to take a tiny power nap during the rest of the wedding. We said goodbye to all our family, changed Eli into his pj's, and loaded up into the car. We warmed a bottle for him and gave it to him on the road. He took ALL of it (so proud!) and then passed out. He didn't wake up until we walked in the door of our house. He's such a good traveler! We had a great time and I can't wait until we get to see everyone again :) We love you guys!

Playtime with Hannah

We went over to the Hargon's house last night for supper and Eli and Hannah spent lots of time playing together. It is so amazing to see how much these two have changed since they were born. It was definitely different than the first time these two met when Eli was only a week old. Hannah loved having someone her size to play with and Eli was quite enamored with Hannah. He's not around other kids, except for at church, so he had a blast playing with Hannah and watching Hannah's older brother and sister, Joshua and Marlie, play in the backyard. He almost jumped out of my arms because he got so excited.

Hannah is crawling everywhere-she keeps Dianie, her mom, on her toes!- and pulling up on everything! She had lots of toys that Eli doesn't have yet and he fell in love with her piano. I think we're going to have to get him one. He sat at that piano the entire time the adults ate supper and just played and played.

Little Miss Hannah

Eli and Hannah were so interested in each other.

Hannah showing Eli how to use her piano.

Mr. Piano Baby

Mozart in the making :)

After supper, Eli and Hannah decided they wanted to sit together at the table. Couldn't you just eat them up? Hannah was in a great mood that night as you can tell from all the smiles. She showed off her snazzy pink sunglasses and even shared them with Eli. She also shared her white hairbow with Eli. Josh and I had to admit that he makes a pretty cute little girl :)

We had a great time with the Hargon's! I'm so thankful for great friends! It's nice that our kids are going to get to grow up and have fun times like this throughout the years :)

Hannah and Eli

Miss Eli (??)
We'll use this as blackmail when he gets older :)

Grandpa E Comes to Visit

This past weekend, Josh's dad, Ed or "Grandpa E" as Eli calls him, came to visit! He had not seen Eli since he was born, so he was pretty shocked when he saw his grandson this time. Ed came in late Friday night after Eli was already in bed, so he didn't get to see him until Saturday morning. Eli woke up and as soon as he saw Grandpa E, he gave him one of his classic Eli smiles-eye crinkling,wide open mouth, gummy smile! Eli LOVED having a new person to play with; I guess Mommy and Daddy get old after awhile :) Eli showed his Grandpa all of his new tricks and even mastered a new one while Grandpa was here. Eli can now pull himself up to a sitting position from his tummy. He's done this randomly over the past week, but Saturday morning he kept doing it over and over again, so it's pretty clear he's figured it out now.

Eli and Grandpa E

Ed wanted to take Eli shopping for something he needed, but I told him that Eli had every toy that a 6 month baby could possibly want, so we decided on a cute church outfit instead. We went to the Picket Fence to pick out a cute outfit. I gave Eli a choice between a white Feltman and a green and blue checked outfit and he decided to go with the colorful one. I'm getting it monogrammed with his initials, so I can't wait to see how cute he's going to look in it! Don't worry, you know I'll have lots of pictures to post :)

After a few more stops, we were all pretty hungry. We ran home real quick to get a bottle for Eli and then we headed to the Mexican restaurant. Eli was actually sleeping before we got there, and I had the nerve to think that it would actually last through lunch. How naive of me! He woke up IMMEDIATELY when the car stopped. Oh well! We decided to go ahead and attempt to eat a meal. Eli did okay. He was so exhausted and got cranky towards the end. He did actually sit in a highchair for the first time (at a restaurant, that is) and did fairly well. I was a nervous wreck, however, because when you have a child as active as Eli a little strap that goes around his lap isn't going to hold him very long. I held one of his arms the entire time I ate because I was so scared he was going to fall and hit his head on the very HARD ceramic tile floor. Right before we left, our waitress brought Eli a red balloon. Why oh why did she not think of this sooner? To put it mildly, Eli LOVED his red balloon. He quickly figured out that pulling his hand down brought the balloon closer to his face. He played with the balloon the remainder of our time at the restaurant, in the car on the way home, and once we got home. Josh has decided that he's going to buy a helium tank so Eli can have a neverending supply of inflatable balloons to play with at home :)

That night Grandpa E decided to have a little fun and tied Eli's balloon to his big toe while he was on the floor playing. It was so funny to watch him move his foot up and down trying to get the balloon. Once again though, he quickly figured out how to get the balloon where he wanted it. He then proceeded to floss his two "toofers" (teeth to you people that don't speak "baby") with the balloon string. Our dentist is going to be so proud!





Sunday morning, Grandpa E and Eli spent some more time bonding on the couch playing with each other. I hate that Ed lives so far away, but I'm so thankful for this time that we all had together this weekend. I loved watching Eli love on his Grandpa and his Grandpa love on Eli.






Eli was obsessed with Grandpa E's watch. We have no clue about this because Josh and I both wear watches daily and he hasn't shown the slightest bit of interest in ours, but every time Ed held Eli, Eli would fixate on Ed's watch. I guess we know what to get him for his birthday in November now :)


Before Ed left to go back home, we went outside to take some more pictures. Ed's going to be out of the country for a few months, but hopes to come see us again once he gets back. I can't wait to see how much Eli has changed when he comes to visit again. Thanks, Grandpa E, for coming to visit us! We love you and can't wait to see you again!

Three generations of Wilson men