Show me your smile!

When you say to Hannah, "show me your smile!" she makes this face:

Here's video. Short and so sweet!

Just for the record she makes that same face when you say, "show me your teeth!" silly girl! Here are just a couple other pics from recently. Not particularly smiley in these but still so sweet!

Announcement time!

We are excited to share that we are expecting Baby #3 due January 28! This one came as a little bit of a surprise but we are very excited nonetheless! I guess I'm about 13 weeks now (I'm losing track this time around!) and finally starting to feel a lot better. Not so much nausea, though menu planning is still much harder than usual. We found out just before Father's Day, but I finally had my first real appointment this past Thursday and got to hear Baby's heartbeat. Strong and he/she was kicking around though I couldn't feel it yet. Already getting a little bit of a rounder belly. Since we already have one boy and one girl now, I think this time we're going to wait to find out this baby's gender until delivery! And hopefully that delivery will actually be in the hospital this time! =) So far all is well and we are very thankful but continued prayers are very appreciated!

Sunday sundaes!

Kevin's family stayed over night with us on Saturday night and were there with us then on Sunday morning for breakfast. So we got up and started right away on bacon and pancakes. We put blueberry smily faces on Eli's pancakes so they would look just like those in a Curious George book we just read a couple weeks ago. But just as with his Lightning McQueen cake, he really didn't care one bit. *sigh* Oh well... We had breakfast with all the family and soon after, they left for home since Earl had to work later that day. We could've rushed and made it to church but instead we took a slow morning and relaxed a little after the busy day Saturday and got the house back in order for the party we were having later in the day.

playing with his new diggerand the new sandbox which he hadn't seen yet

Sunday's birthday party was with our friends from church. One of families didn't show up so it was just us and the Avery family! They have three kids, two of which are the same ages as Eli and Hannah and the third only 3 months, so we all get along very nicely! It was a perfect day outside so we played outside and set up card tables in the shade for dinner. We had hamburgers/hot dogs (no lobster like my friend Kristen!), potato salad, pasta salad, and jello fruit salad with ice cream sundaes for the birthday treat!

the whole gang--Eli, Kevin, Ren, Seth, Jorja, Tessie, Hannah

let's not forget Baby Thad who was taking a snooze on the couch!It's been a long time since I've had a fully loaded sundae and this was GOOD! Ice cream, strawberries, caramel, chocolate, whipped cream, and sprinkles! Yumm!Jorja (pronounced Georgia)

Jorja and her balloon she got to take home. She's such a pretty and sweet girl!
Another FUN day! Happy birthday, Eli!

Family birthday party - Saturday.

Eli's actual birthday was Sunday but we had the whole big family birthday party on Saturday. We chose lunch time so those who had to drive back home afterwards wouldn't be out so late. It was a crazy morning getting the house tidied up, Kevin finishing the weed-eating the lawn, and me working on Eli's birthday cake while at the same time occupying the kids. Eli's LOVES his Incredibles (he calls it "Increbilo") jammies, even though he doesn't have any idea who they actually are, so I thought it would be fun for his birthday to get him the movie from the library. So while I needed to work on the cake I set him up with his movie, but he thought it was scary and didn't end up finishing. While the kids were watching the movie and I was working on the cake, I guess Eli went pee on his potty (which I'd brought in by the TV so he'd remember to go) and didn't tell me so I could empty the bucket. Hannah was just trying to be helpful and thought she'd carry the bucket with pee to the toilet, I'm still just working away on the cake having no idea, and of course she splashes pee all over the floor the entire path from the TV room, through the living room, through the kitchen (why didn't I see her??), and into the hallway doorway where I finally caught her in the act! NOT a happy part of my day! But I called Kevin in from outside and he helped get it cleaned up before returning to our tasks. I had just finished decorating the cake (it took 1.5 hrs!), still in my jammies, Eli running around in a jammies shirt and underwear, and Kevin still in his outside grubs when our first guests arrived!! Yikes! Kevin was nice and greeted Aunt Shiela, Grandma Groth, and Great Aunt Louise while I got dressed quickly and then he took a turn for a shower. After this point the day got MUCH better! Not because Kevin finally took a shower (haha!) because the chaos of getting things ready was over! And the rest of the day was FUN!

lunch spread--Subway party sub (yummy!!), veggies, watermelon, and chips

birthday boypresents! Eli got this fun Diego dinasaur play kit thingy, a Thomas the Train set to go with his other train pieces, an Eric Carle ABC game, a ride-on tractor with scoop and trailer, a T-ball stand and bat, a small sandbox, and of course a few books! Thanks, everyone!

cake time!

sees cake...

but wants to keep playing!

we couldn't get him to go to his cake until we finally started singing Happy Birthdayblows out candles

...and he's back to playing with his train! he didn't want cake!

but Hannah took care of business!

everyone eating, Ei playingwhile the kids were napping we all sat outside to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather!! this is Aunt Shiela and Great Aunt Louise

cute pics of Carri and Lucas (Kevin's sister and her husband)

love this one!

brother-sister pic

the cat got lots of love and attention!

nice picture of my parentseven Grandma Groth (who's 93!) rode 3 hrs to come for Eli's party!we played a couple rounds of croquet!

Then for dinner we went to town for BBQ with Kevin's family (mom, dad, Carri, Lucas, and Nannie). We put kids in bed and then did some small fireworks in celebration of Earl's (kevin's dad) birthday that was just a couple weeks ago. It was a really fun day and so nice to be surrounded by so much family!

Happy 3rd birthday, Eli!!

How can it be that this sweet boy is 3 already?! Eli is such a blessing in our life, and we are so thankful for him! Even as hard as it is sometimes, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

It's hard to believe how much he's changed in just one year. At 2, he was still saying his first words and maybe making two-word combos like "more please" or "red ball" and now a year later he's talking full sentences non-stop and really very clearly! He's got so many ideas in his head he sometimes can't generate the words fast enough though!

He's a smart boy and grasps concepts quickly: smaller, bigger, more, less, matching, sorting, left/right. He knows almost all his letters now and numbers 1-10. He always skips "5" when counting but otherwise does very well counting objects/pictures. He's getting much better at learning how to hold a pen for writing and can trace pictures pretty closely. Coloring, however, is not his favorite thing. He's more likely to play with crayons than actually color with them.

Loves...
* doing activities and workbook pages and sometimes requests to do them
* anything TRAINS!
* digging
* cats and chasing them
* playing with little trucks
* cooking
* washing dishes
* wrestling with daddy
* being LOUD
* talking on the phone (he wanders around the house while he talks too, it's cute)

Eli is very BOY and loves all things little boy! But he's very sweet at the same time. He's quick to say "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!" if he bumps you or you say "Ow!" If you make a sigh or seem like you're in a bad mood, he'll ask me what's wrong. Even when the kitty meows, he'll stoop down to it and ask it what's wrong. The other day I didn't feel too well, and Eli says, "Let's find something to make you feel better...(pause)...Hmm, something warm and cozy... (thinking)... I have a good idea! ("goodea") A blanket. (very matter of factly and goes to couch) My blankie! (and puts it over my lap)." Very thoughtful and sweet to even give me his blankie!

Potty training has been another exciting thing as of late. It took him a long time to show any interest and I finally just kind of prodded him into it. It clicked with him one day and he does very well. Still have several accidents in the same day and other days stay completely dry. He still won't go on any other potties except his own, but at least it's a great start! And he's very determined when he says, "I will not poop in my underwear!" Thank you for that one!

Eli is a good big brother. He and Hannah get along very well. We have a fair share of sibling squabbles when it comes to sharing, but they're otherwise nice with each other and love playing together. And they're getting a nice partnership where he can help her do things, like he opens the fridge door for her so she can put her cup away or he shows her how to put clothes (and only clothes!) down the laundry shoot. He loves to tell her to say certain words or sometimes I'll hear him pointing out something to her while we're driving in the car.

An exciting part of this year has been watching how much Eli learns, understands, and remembers as everyday things about our life become more and more natural. It totally makes my heart swell to hear Eli say his own prayers followed with an almost complete Lord's Prayer. If he can remember all that, he can certainly start doing memory verses! He reminds me of people we need to pray for when we're at the dinner table. And he has a basic understanding of the gospel. He teaches me every day what it means really means to love and how I can be a better example of Christ.

Thank you, God, for the wonderful blessing of Eli!!