September iPhone Pictures

I'm finding myself taking more and more pictures with my phone on a daily basis than with my real camera. Here are some of our daily highlights from September. They capture sweet moments of our family and our life. I'm thankful for the portability of my phone because it makes remembering these moments so easy. 

Tinsley and Eli checking on Caleb's lizard thingys. 

Eli was chosen as the Super Student the first week in September. 

He loved being the line leader every day for his class. 

This was the poster we decorated to go in the hall. 

Seeing the dentist for his six-month check-up. He LOVES our dentist!

Eli wrote me a note for my lunchbox.

It made my heart so happy :)

Picture of the bridges on one of my early morning long runs. 

The last harvest of the bell peppers. We had them coming out of our ears!

"Shaving" like Daddy in the bathtub one night. 

Eli and I went by the co-op one morning for gardening supplies.

We were in the right place at the right time and got to see a HUGE alligator that had just been caught.

It was HUGE!

Eli loved getting to see an alligator up close!

Bike ride down to the river later on that evening with Daddy. 

We celebrated Mom's 54th birthday.

Dinner at Zue-Zue's house

My sweet boy and me after school one day. 

The fall burlap banner I made for our house with the velvet pumpkins 

I picked up at Hobby Lobby last year for 75% off. Score!

When we were visiting my Mom and Dad Josh called to let me know late one night that he was in the ER because he sliced his finger to the bone trying to take down a pop-up tent at a festival in town. Thankfully, Reve, his secretary and our soon-to-be cousin, was able to take him to the ER. 

I hated not being there to take care of him! Multiple stitches later he was better.

Eli's journal from school the Monday after Josh hurt his finger. 

It made me smile and it was definitely a keeper!

Time for a Cleaning!

This school year has been so crazy for me for some reason. It's almost the end of the 9 weeks, yet I still feel like I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. My kiddos at school are doing well, but I've got a group this year that needs A LOT of one on one attention, which is kind of hard to do when there's 17 of them and just 1 of me. We're doing our best though! 

With everything crazy like it is, it was no surprise to me to come home one day and realize that I'd completely skipped Eli's appointment with the dentist to get his teeth cleaned. I remember all afternoon feeling like there was something I was supposed to do but couldn't remember what it was. I came home, opened my Erin Condren calendar and there, bold as day, it said "Eli Dentist Appt." Oops! Thankfully, our dentist is great and they were able to schedule another appointment within a couple of days. I made sure to not miss that one!

Eli has always done well at the dentist, but this time was the best. He climbed in the chair right away and let Mrs. Tori look at his teeth and give them a good cleaning. I'm so glad he is comfortable at the dentist, but everyone at the office does go above and beyond to make their patients feel at ease. 

Eli loved "Mr. Thirsty"!

After his teeth were brushed and flossed, Mrs. Tori gave Eli a fluoride treatment. After that it was time for Dr. Lee to check his teeth and make sure those "sugar bugs" were staying away :) Eli got a great report and then it was time to go home! He got to pick out a sticker, but he was disappointed that Dr. Lee didn't have any bouncy balls. Dr. Lee said he'd get some the next time Eli came. Eli gave me two cheesy smiles and then it was time to go home! 

Showing off his clean pearly whites!

Cheese!

Time To Count Those Pearly Whites

Last Wednesday, Eli and I had to go to the dentist for his check-up. We talked about the dentist the whole way there so he wouldn't be nervous about going. He was okay in the car, but once we got to the office it was a different story. 

We went into the room to get his teeth cleaned and Eli was not having any of it. He clamped his little jaws shut and wouldn't open up for anything. He kept saying, "I want to go home, Momma." The hygienist, Mrs. Torri, and I had to use some reverse psychology on him and eventually it worked. Whew! He just needed a little time to warm up, I guess. After a few minutes in the lobby playing with some of the puzzles, he was ready to get his teeth cleaned. Thankfully, Mrs. Torri specializes in cleaning toddler's teeth, so she was finished in record time. 

Next up was a check up by Dr. Lee. Would you believe Eli opened his mouth right up and kept it open the entire time Dr. Lee was examining his teeth? Little stinker :) Dr. Lee said everything looked great. Yay! Eli does really well brushing his teeth most nights, but every now and then I have to get a little creative so he'll let me have my turn. (He always get to go first, but Momma ALWAYS goes behind him.) Dr. Lee said to keep doing what we're doing and he'll see us in another  months. For being such a big boy, Eli got to pick out a bouncy ball. He was extremely excited about that!

Say, "Ahhhh!"

Of course, we had to pull out the sunglasses when he turned on the overhead light :)

Way to brush those teeth, Eli! Keep it up!

Eli's 1st Trip to the Dentist

A few days ago, Eli went for his very first dentist's visit. For a couple of days before we'd been talking about the dentist with Eli to prepare him for his visit. We assured him that he was a nice man and all he wanted to do was look at Eli's teeth and count them. I was a little nervous about taking him, because I'd heard horror stories of kids kicking and screaming on their first visit. I definitely didn't want that. I picked him up from Mrs. G's house and asked him where we were going. He told me we were going to the dentist. I asked him what the dentist was going to do and he happily replied, "Coun my teef!" I was very happy that he seemed excited about it, so we drove to Dr. Lee's office for his first visit.

When we got there, Mrs. Vickie had me fill out all the necessary paperwork. I chuckled at one of the questions..."Would you like to keep all your teeth rather than replace them with dentures?" Ummm, yeah that's the plan :) While I was doing that, Eli enjoyed playing with the puzzles they had there. He REALLY enjoyed the mix and match bear puzzle they had where he got to change outfits on this bear.



Soon Mrs. Torri called him to the back so she could clean his teeth. He climbed into the chair without a moments hesitation and settled back like he'd been doing this all his life. I was super impressed with him at this point. Mrs. Torri showed him all her special tools and explained every step of the cleaning process to him. I knew that if he was going to have a breakdown this would be the time it would happen, but it never did! He let her clean his teeth like a pro! The only time he got a little nervous was when she pulled out the water and the little vacuum thingy. He wanted me to sit with him when he saw those, but Mrs. Torri let him play with them for a little bit and he was over his fear. He looked at me and said, "I a big boy, Mama!" I asked if that meant he wanted me to get out of the chair with him and he replied, "Uh-huh!" Wow! My little boy is getting too big :(








Mrs. Torri finished cleaning his teeth and then Eli got to pick out his surprise. He got a timer, some new toothpaste, and a new toothbrush. He was very excited. Mrs. Torri left to go get Dr. Lee, and while we were waiting for him, Daddy stopped by to see his little man! Eli was so excited! He showed his Daddy everything he'd gotten for being such a big boy. Daddy had to leave to go back to work, but Mrs. Loyce came in when Daddy left and entertained Eli by showing him how the chair was magical and could go up and down. Eli LOVED that!




Dr. Lee came in next. He's such a great dentist and always makes visits fun. Plus, he has two young kids of his own, so he knows how to talk to kids and make them feel relaxed. Dr. Lee looked at Eli's teeth and counted them. Eli helped him with this part. I found out that Eli can now count to 13 on his own :) He's getting so smart. Dr. Lee said his teeth and his bite looked great! He said to keep doing what we're doing. I was so thrilled for a great report, but more importantly I was ECSTATIC over the fact that Eli had done so well!



We left the room and Zue-Zue was waiting for us. She'd heard about the visit from Daddy and drove over to see Eli since her office was just a block away from the dentist's. We were all so happy for a wonderful report!