7 Months

ELIJAH AT 7 MONTHS

 ::Learned how to sit up from a laying position::Crawls on hands and knees albeit unsteadily::Teething with his 2nd tooth brraking through::Reaches for his mama now::18-19 lbs and size 6-12 month clothing::Eats solids 2-3 times a day::Still a happy camper::

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I've heard some of the biggest jumps in development occur between 6-7 months. Well, this kid has become mobile and his personality is shining through more and more each day. He started with this inch worm crawl, but figured out how to get on his hands and knees. He wouldn't wait until his daddy came home to start crawling. He still doesn't pull up to stuff yet so he's not getting into too much trouble yet. Joey was a pretty chill baby and didn't crawl until 10 months old. Eli, although a happy guy, is soo wiggly and just wants to grab at everything!

He has been eating a lot more solids, but has been teething a lot this month. Drool, snot, fussiness, and chewing on his little fingers has been going on for quite a while. Now he has his two bottom teeth and can really hurt when he bites. Hopefully we can kick that habit before it starts.

Eli is very loved here in our home. It is amazing how much one little guy has changed our lices. So happy he chose our family to be with for eternity!

Decided to pick up a couple shifts at Target
because he can.

Pinegrove Cabin 2016

This was the first time since Joey was Eli's age that we got to be at my parents' timeshare near Pagosa Springs, CO. Despite Sam being in San Antonio, TX for a month I thought it would be nice to take a vacation during 4th of July with my fam. We spent a whole week there and the days definitely blurred together. Highlights included the dirt bike and 4-Wheeler, inner tubing down a couple rivers, a hike to Treasure Falls, the Malt Shoppe, daily trips to Walmart (no joke my family are true people of Walmart), and of course the 4th's parade and fireworks.

Everyone but Sam and my nephew at one point or another came up to this tiny cabin. I lucked out and got an actual bed probably because of Eli. It was crowded. First night I didn't think I could survive the week because my kids could not sleep due to the noise. After a curfew was set I felt a lot better. Eli was loved on lots and I think he l it. He was his happy, smiley self despite having a cold. Sadly he gave that cold to Joey and he acted a bit more miserable. Some others got the cold, but I lucked out miraculously (knock on wood). 

The weather was cool and rainy for a good chunk of the time, and of course I didn't think to pack jackets. But it turned out alright. It made it hard to send the kids out to play, haha. I never rode on the dirt bike or 4-wheeler, but that was all the kids wanted to do. It led to a nasty confrontation with the neighbors across the street. He was yelling so loud we could hear it inside the cabin, and they were not kid-friendly things. My dad was eventually able to calm him down and most of us did our best to not let that happen again!

Inner-tubing was really fun despite the river being frigid. We learned our lesson about how to tie the tubes properly when transporting them in trucks, though. We lost a couple with improper tube storage. On our last full day a group of us got to travel a good length down the river in town. A couple were inner tubing and during a big waterfall he fell off his tube and lost his trunks as well. His wife was frantically yelling "PETER! PETER!" when she was approaching, being scared and probably because he lost his pants. So from then on we said someone Petered if they wiped out on their tube. I also accidently got tangled in a fishing line (it is super hard to control where you want to go in tubes) and the girl got really mad at me. Whoopsy. 

The Malt Shoppe was the busiest I've ever seen it. Line out the door every time. Must have been the time and season to be in Pagosa Springs?

Lastly, the parade was really cute, but got long and hot, and we didn't get nearly as much candy as I was expecting. But we did get a huge t-shirt from Wyndham hotels...which is where Sam is staying in San Antonio. Sam's experience there included bed bugs and passionate neighbors. The fireworks in Pagosa were pretty awesome and some of the best I've seen.

And now for pictures!

Left: Joey's cute mug. Right: Hail the size of marbles.

Joey did not get along too well with his cousins, so this moment had to be documented. He also took his pants and diaper off and laid on his tummy on the deck or stairs everyday.

Little air show to start the parade.

Sadly Joey's favorite part (firetrucks) was at the beginning
so the rest was long for him.

Biggin's.

Oh my horse poop.

Not your average steed.

Funny little float. Note the Dory swinging around.

An ad for a little Mermaid play...

It's probably best you didn't see King Triton's interesting hip dance.

We made matching shirts for all the kidlets.

After the La Luz, this was nothing. Even with Joey on my back.

Sorry random people, but you are on my blog now.

Only picture I got with my boys.

The overlook view my mom loves.

I didn't ride the 4-wheeler, but Joey did.

On the way home in Espanola. Joey just woke up,
but I had him get in there anyway. I think he liked it?

We lucked out with only a few bug bites, but Sam had several.
We have to figure out how not to bring them home!

5 Years

We hit the 5 year mark! Time is really funny. Some days you feel like it's been forever but when thinking about a certain moment (like our wedding day) I'm like "wow that was 5 years ago?!" To celebrate we mainly went to Disneyland, but we also decided to go on the La Luz trail heading to the Sandia Peak, eat at the restaurant there, then hit the tram down on our actual anniversary. 

The hike feels like real life. You have to work hard before it starts to pay off. The first half was hot and not too pretty or shaded. Then all of a sudden it's green and shaded and breath taking. It was a perfect day to go (we couldn't leave until after noon and the weather cooperated). Here are some pictures, because blog posts are boring otherwise (I'm not alone in this right?).

 I didn't get a picture of the wild flowers, but there were so many colors! It took some self restraint not to make a wild flower bouquet. The little tree pictured above was interesting. The tips were this bright green and super soft. Then it transitioned into a normal bristly pine tree. Now for Sandia Peak!

iPhone doesn't do it justice.

What we just hiked.

It got super windy and cold. We didn't stay on the top for long.

We did eat dinner at High Finance. It is definitely overpriced, but the food was decent and the view beautiful. Funny story: we went to the temple a week prior and saw a temple worker that was the spitting image of Ben Stiller. Like Sam and I both totally agreed on this. We saw him again on the ride down but chickened out on talking to him. I really wanted to get a picture to say "DOES THIS OR DOES THIS NOT LOOK LIKE BEN STILLER?!" but it would be creepy and probably rude. Oh well.

Happy anniversary Sam! An eternity with you sounds heavenly :)

6 Months

ELIJAH AT 6 MONTHS

 ::A pro at sitting up now::Gabs with "da das" and it's adorable::Roly Poly bug::First tooth on his bottom right::Doesn't refuse a taste of solids::Loves to laugh at his brother::Sleeps in the same room with him too::Wiggly little guy wanting to grab at everything::Around 18 lbs::

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Eli has made huge leaps in his development. He has been sitting up for a couple weeks now, and it's great (except when Joey feels the need to knock him over). We have our 6 month appointment tomorrow for measurements and whatnot. Poor Grandma Hobbs gets to be with him after he gets his shots while we go on an anniversary hike (I realize this as I'm typing, sorry!). He got his first little snaggle tooth, 3 months earlier than Joey!

He's doing well keeping a schedule with his sleep as long as we are home. The bassinet was getting tiny for him so we took a risk and put him in the crib, which is in the same room as Joey. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. Joey is out like a light when Eli wakes up crying (so is Sam).

Eli is our wiggle butt and grabs at anything in his reach. But he's so happy. A lot of people comment on his happy countenance, and it's a blessing to have him. I couldn't have asked for a better second child at the moment.

We've been spending our days at the park:

First time sitting up for the camera.

Loving the swing.

Snuck a PB&J sandwich in while my parents
were distracted and didn't regret it!

Prunes make me blow out of my pants!

Found my toesies.

Passed out while playing 

 These past 6 months have been a party! We love you Elijah!

5 Months

ELIJAH AT 5 MONTHS

::Getting too heavy for his carrier::Loves to squeal and squawk::Had his first taste of solids::Grabby McGrabberson::Can roll from back to tummy::Soon on his way to sitting up::Sleep training fairly well (knock on wood)::Happiest outside::Smiliest little guy::

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This kid! I'm so happy he is a part of our family. He is getting very big and it's getting so hard to carry him in his carseat. We'll probably be ditching it soon. We gave him some rice cereal twice this month, as well as a taste of Joey's applesauce. First time he hated it, but downed it the second time. 

It's been hard having him on my lap while doing something, like eating. He broke a plate, knocked over glasses of water, and wants anything I'm holding! We decided to try putting him right outside our room to sleep at night and feed him 6 hours after he first falls asleep. I think he's doing well, but I'm not ready to put him in the same room as Joey until he can sleep through the night.

Here is a small collage of Eli rolling around during his photoshoot, making it harder on me to get a decent photo:

We love our Eli babe!

Disneyland 2016

Sam is officially finished with his third year of medical school, so what better way to celebrate than to take the first part of his boards? Step 2 of the Boards requires the students to travel to specific locations and have patient encounters. Good news is that it is pass/fail, no grades or scores involved. One of the locations is Los Angeles. We decided a Disneyland trip was in order. With Joey's birthday, Sam's hardest part of medical school over, and our 5 year anniversary this year, we felt the trip was justified. Sam has never been and I haven't been since the age of 5, either, so we were ready to have an adventure and see if Disneyland is worth it. 

We made it in (thanks Kristy for the matchy matchy shirts!)

Sleeping Beauty's castle

Me and my boys

Even ducks take their families to this place!

Enjoying our first Dole Whip

Life-size Lightning McQueen? Heaven!

Waving to Mater

Joey was freaked out by Red

Anywhere that Joey went that monkey was sure to go!

Tomorrowland has really become Star Wars land!

The parade and fireworks had to be the most magical part of Disneyland!

Everyday I hoped it would get less crowded
 and everyday it got more so.

Last day! Family pic and Mickey's Toon Town

Can't leave without a pic of the Mouse!

Our week might not be worth reading about if you never been to the place or hate long, detailed posts, but feel free to continue if you want!

Sunday, April 24th: 12 hour car ride with a three year old and 4 month old. Enough said. Plus traffic in California. We stayed in a Quality Inn in Anaheim 10 minutes away walking (which was one of our better ideas).

Monday, April 25th: Our first day in Disneyland. We had no idea what to do first or where anything was so there was a lot confusion and bickering. We rode a train and went on a few rides that had short lines, but eventually we split up: Sam would take Joey on rides while I got Fast Passes for Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones ride. I couldn't find Sam after doing that so I took Eli on Pirates by myself. Then I nursed Eli while Sam and Joey took a turn.

Sam took the kids while I went on Indiana Jones first. The line was still super long even with a Fast Pass and single rider. After Pirates, Indiana Jones seemed really short! I was so worried about getting a stroller pass that I forgot my phone on the ride! I ran back through the exit and luckily the cart that came in first was the one I rode, so I didn't have to wait so long. I also got the stroller pass, thank you very much. Sam rode Splash Mountain and I took Joey to eat a Dole Whip (can I say yum?). We went back to the hotel, ate lunch, then went back to swap rides and use our stroller pass.

In the late afternoon we went to go see a Disney Junior show at California Adventures. Joey doesn't watch the Disney channel, but that morning we turned it on for him while getting ready and he already recognized all the characters! We finally got to see Joey really having fun. We walked into Bugs Land for a ride and Joey played in a splash pad for a little bit. For dinner we stopped by Cars Land and ate at Flo's Cafe. The best food I had on the trip in my opinion and Joey was in heaven. While Sam took Joey to see Lightning McQueen I watched a little show starring one of the other cars. Sam said Joey kept saying "Big McQueen! Eyes!" (the eyes moved on all the cars there). He loved it until he had to say hi and he got a little shy, but you could tell he was really enjoying himself.

It was getting cold and even rainy so we headed back for the night to rest up for the next day. So many people, but my sister said this would probably be the busiest day and it would get better from there. Hahahahahaha.

Tuesday, April 26th: We decided to use our Magic Morning this day and I thought it would be less crowded. If anything it felt even more crowded! We headed off to Tomorrowland, and it felt a little different than the rest of Disneyland in terms of how it was run. Sam let me go on Space Mountain first (only a twenty minute wait) while he watched the kids. Sam went on a rocket ride with both kids in tow, and it was a lot of work for him, especially since they required socks or shoes so Sam had to put Joey's socks on Eli. Space Mountain was Star War-ized, so it was just like being part of the Rebellion in Episode 4. I asked where to get a stroller pass, went there, and found out that I was supposed to ask first thing and have Sam there to show that we did indeed have little kids. So Sam never got to go on it (the wait became 45 minutes). He decided later to get a Fast Pass but it was during the parade, so he decided against it. Sam rode the Star Tours ride instead and got a stroller pass while I ran over to California Adventures at 9am when it opened to get a Radiator Springs Fast Pass. I waited 15-20 minutes just for it, but we got it.

After Sam went on Star Tours he came over and rode on a Tractor ride with Joey. We shared a Ghirardelli milk shake and then explored the Pier for some fun stuff to do. All we really did was ride a Merry-Go-Round, but it was fun none-the-less. Sam rode Radiator Springs while I went home with the kids. After lunch I rode Star Tours while Sam went through a Star Wars museum with Joey. Star Tours made me the most sick, for sure. After I rode Star Tours we watched the Jedi Training show (really cute), got a strawberry lemonade, then went back to the hotel. At some point we rode Bug's Land rides and I rode Radiator Springs--it had to be my favorite ride! They did a really good job with it. We planned on seeing the Parade today and thought showing up a little over an hour before the show would get us decent seats. After a mix up and standing firm ground, we got Joey a front row seat to see the whole thing. We met a nice family we chatted with before the show. The parade and fireworks show is worth it! It was around this time that I realized all that Disneyland had to offer and why it was priced as much as it was. Also when it felt the most magical.

Wednesday, April 27th: Sam wanted to attend a webinar about Air Force residencies, so I went to get Fast Passes with Joey for the World of Color show at California Adventures. The Fast Pass machine was broken so the man was just handing them out. We rode the tractor ride again. Later Sam met with me at Disneyland, where I SAW HIM PUT OUR DISNEYLAND TICKETS IN HIS WALLET WITH THE WORLD OF COLOR TICKETS. He confirms this too. We rode Peter Pan (I got a Dole Whip to share in the 40 minute line), nursed Eli in the Finding Nemo line, then went back to the hotel to eat lunch.

However, when we decided to head to Disneyland, Sam reached into his wallet at the lines and our tickets were gone! The World of Color fast passes were still there, so it was so weird. Sam decided to check our hotel room while I walked through Disney Downtown District to look at souvenirs with the kids. Sam called and said he couldn't find our tickets, so after a thorough search of our bags and stroller, I found the Lost and Found to see if anyone picked up our tickets if they fell. The lady was really nice and said that was their number one lost item. We could get our tickets back if we had a receipt. Sam e-mailed me the confirmation, but it didn't count. I told her about the World of Color tickets and she said she could track our tickets (but since the guy was just handing them out our Fast Passes weren't linked to our tickets). Just when I was about to lose hope Sam said he had the Space Mountain Fast Pass he got from the day before and the lady said that would work. :D Whew, so Sam ran back with that Fast Pass, we got new tickets, and then finished off our Disneyland trip.

We toured Sleeping Beauty's Castle. I wanted to get a picture with a Princess with Eli, but when I saw the line, I was like NOPE. We also went to Mickey's Toon Town. We could have done more rides, but we felt done. Mickey's Toon Town was really fun for all of us, though. The lines for everything was just getting long, so being able to do something without waiting in line was just what we needed. We went back to Downtown District to eat dinner (not our brightest idea: it's rude to walk out of a restaurant after seeing the prices so we ended paying $40 for a pizza). After dinner we went to California Adventures to wait for the World of Color show. We met an awesome Mormon family next to us and talked about how easy it is to pick out Mormons at Disneyland (my favorite game waiting in line). The World of Color show was also amazing. Whoever choreographs these things should get a medal. It was the perfect ending to our Disneyland experience.

Thursday, April 28th: We wanted to relax this day and let Sam study for his test the next day. We did make a trip to Newport Beach. However, it was so cold we stayed for 15 minutes and called it good. We then swam in our pool...for all of 15 minutes because it too was cold. Not much else about this day...

Friday, April 29th: Sam had his test really close to where my brother lives, so I dropped Sam off, went back to the hotel to take a nap (almost crashed into another car by taking a peak at the GPS and looked up in time to see that traffic completely stopped on the freeway), went to a park and Target, then headed back to pick up Sam. He said he probably passed so that's good, right?

We went to Big 5 to pick out running shoes, went to the coolest little fruit picking park, then headed to my brother's for a dinner at Cafè Rio. LA has some good stuff and good weather, folks. We played a game of Quirkle then headed back to the hotel to pack for the ride home.

Saturday, April 30th: Poor Sam, drove 12 hours only to hop on a plane the next day. The weather was really scary and I didn't feel comfortable driving, or taking screaming Eli out of his carseat.

***

You did it! We loved the trip, but between small kids and the awful crowds, it could have been more awesome. But it couldn't have been better weather and we got to see some cool stuff, so we're happy.