Crawling to Mexico

So Josh has left on a week long mission trip to Juarez, Mexico. We decided (since Elijah can't reach the refrigerator to fend for himself) that it's best if I stayed home with him while Josh is gone. That, and it's ridiculous to take a newborn on a mission trip... to Mexico... in June... or anytime, really.

Elijah missed dad SO much that he decided he was going to crawl to Mexico.
It will only take him 7 years...
Especially since he's not crawling yet.

That being said, we've been having a great time today! Elijah took a few naps, and cooed a lot to the ceiling fan, and to his favorite frog man. He was amazing and slept right through me vacuuming, and moving the furniture around so I could use the carpet cleaner Grandma Brecht let us borrow.
He even noticed that things were different when he woke up from his first nap. It kind of threw him off sitting on the couch with me in the middle of the room instead of where it usually is.

Then we went for a walk with our neighbor, Mary Jo. It was really nice to have some adult conversation and to get out of the house while our carpet was drying. It's been a long day, and we both miss Josh. Please pray that they have a safe trip! Thanks friends. And if you're reading this before Friday, (when Josh comes home) give me a call or send an e-mail because my husband can't do either this week. Hope to hear from you sometime!

Elephants on Parade

Tater Daze! That's our city's summer festival. It features a carnival, games, bands, food, and lots of things to learn about our community in Brooklyn Park, MN. It ALSO has...

a parade.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This was Elijah's first parade! And it was right outside out door on the street next to ours. So we decided to get out and enjoy the neighborhood and all the fun floats. We did, however, have to wake Elijah up from his 3 hour nap that day.

Lesson... LEARNED.

Like his mother, he does not like to get out of bed for just anything.
And especially not when someone wakes him up from his newborn slumber.

For the most part, he had a good time, and was enjoying looking at all the people and wierd things passing by. Then he got overwhlemed and wanted to go back to sleep...
especially when new and STRANGE things came along...

like the Knights of Columbus.

Good times.

i'm cute

What more needs to be said?

Our First Baseball Game

We went to our first baseball game today! It was the St. Paul Saints vs. some team from Souix Falls, Iowa that we beat. We love going to Saints games because they're super fun. Where else can you sit outside in beautiful weather, eat a hot pretzel, and watch people try to throw cottage cheese into a big inflatable cottage cheese basket? Or hear a random fan struggle through leading the crowd in singing "Minnie the Moocher?" Or pretend to ride a roller coaster with "Super Fan?" Or watch the game from a hot tub? Only at Saints games. It's pretty awesome.

Elijah had a good time.

He pretended to be superman flying through the stadium.

Mr. Justin ate lots of cookies and Mr. Graham tried to make me laugh, but he couldn't distract me from making bubbles and flying like Superman with daddy.

Mommy kept me warm and happy all through the game. I stayed up WAY past my bedtime! But I still slept for 10 hours when we got home. It was a big day for me!

Baptism

Elijah was baptized today! We felt so loved and blessed to be surrounded by such great friends and family. Josh's family all drove up from Iowa to Elijah did amazing at the service. He didn't cry until midway through the service, and then mid-sermon he fell asleep... like some people wish they could.

His godparents are Kevin and Abbie Smith (great friends of ours) and Jennifer and Cal Burr (Josh's sister & husband). They're GREAT! He wore the same baptismal gown that my brother and I wore when we were baptized. My grandmother and godmother (Bee and Gail Bichlmeir) made it for me, and we shared it among the family. It was so cool to have Elijah baptized in it too. I know he'll grow into a great man of God someday. It's our promise to raise him in the Christian faith, surrounded by a community of believers who will help him grow in Christ.

After the service we had people over for lunch to celebrate. Elijah was overwhelmed with all the people that were in his house and cried a lot more than usual... but I guess I'd be cranky too if I woke up to 20 strangers in my house. Grandma and Grandpa got some good baby time in later in the evening when mom and dad went to play some music in the park. It was a long day!

The cutest EVER

So this is mom writing, and having a LOT of fun looking through pictures to post for your viewing pleasure. There have been so many priceless moments to share since Elijah has been with us, it's hard to choose which ones to talk about. I am SO in love with our son, it's hard to contain... especially now that he's sleeping through the night. (We hope it's not just a phase!)
One of my favorite moments with Elijah was during prayers one night. We prayed for grandparents, godparents, friends and relatives... and after each person that I named, Elijah would smile and say, "ooo." Then when I said Amen, he smiled and said, "mmm" and then I laid him to sleep in his crib, and he didn't say anything else and just went right to sleep. Already you can tell that his heart is the cutest EVER.

New things

Here are some new things we'd like to share with you. LOTS of handsome smiles! Elijah is an absolute joy to be around. He loves to smile for mommy and daddy. Especially when he wakes up in the morning!
We started him on a bedtime routine... it's really helped him sleep a lot better! We give him a bath, put on his jammies, feed him, rock him, sing a lullaby and say prayers. He falls asleep on his own in his crib now, and usually sleeps between 8-10 hours every night. He's incredible!!! Babies love routine! AND bathtime...

Daddy's real good at making him smile.

Our son sucks... his thumb. He isn't the greatest at keeping pacifiers in his mouth, so he resorts to his thumb when he can't find a pacifier. What can we say? He loves to suck. At first it would take quite awhile for him to find his thumb, but he's getting better at it now, which doesn't thrill mom all that much. (It's a hard habit to break, but we can't exactly stop him from finding his thumb when we're sleeping.) We've gone into his room in the mornings several times and find him just laying his his crib, content sucking his thumb after 10 hours of sleep. We love him! Maybe that's why we haven't blogged so much... we've been too busy catching up on sleep! And we're not gonna lie, it's awesome. Just like our kid.

WHAT?!

Mom turned 30 today?!Yes, Gail just turned 30. She finally caught up to Josh. :) Now she's thirty, flirty, and thriving!

Okay, seriously. We're sorry. It's been almost a month since we last posted a blog about our beautiful new son, Elijah. What can we say? We love spending time with him! We get super excited about all the new changes that are taking place in his life that we don't want to spend time on the computer... which means updating our blog. But we promise to be better about adding new Eli-goodness for you to enjoy. Don't lose heart!

Josh & Gail