Too busy to Blog, BUT....

Hey everyone, Elijah here. My parents are way too busy with Seminary, Piano Playing, and Wineries to blog about how great I am. I figure when someone is as adorable as me, there should be lots of pictures, right?

So, I have uploaded a bunch of pics to Mama's picasa page.
http://picasaweb.google.com/gailbrecht/PicasaUploadFolder#
(See the upper left-hand side bar on the blog page, too.)
No, I can't talk yet. But kids are very good with technology these days. That's what I can already type, blog, and upload to picasa. I can also watch Sesame Street pretty well.

Love, Elijah.

The First Blog in FOREVER!!!

Most of you know that the Brechts have had some MAJOR transition in the last few months. Thus, no new blogs since June. Ridiculous. So here's a quick update with more to come soon as we get back in the habit of sharing the joys found in Brechtopia!

We went to a kick-off picnic for the Seminary at Eagle Point Park! It's high on the bluffs above the mighty Mississippi River. Pretty cool.

When Elijah wasn't obsessed with the cars or other kids running around... or impressing the Catholic nuns, he took time to enjoy the majestic view!

Elijah also wants to do EVERYTHING the Mom and Dad do. So, he is no longer satisfied with strumming the guitar with his fingers. He uses a pick now. Yes, he actually strums decently with a pick. Although, he can't decide if it's more fun to strum with the pick, or throw it in the sound hole and watch Dad try to get it out.

The campus has a food pantry that we get free stuff from once in a while. Left-over Panera Bread, huge bags of extras from Sam's Club or Restaurants, etc. We got a HUGE bag of frozen blueberries. Guess who likes eating Blueberries?

Aqua-Elijah the super hero.

We are enjoying life in Dubuque, IA well enough. Making some wonderful new friends. Elijah is LOVING life in a neighborhood full of kids his age. More to come soon...

Pictures from the farm

Here are some fun pictures from our visit to Iowa!

We practiced walking...

and smiling BIG SMILES!!!

Think Elijah is happy to be here? We do!!

He loved workin' with Grandpa at his desk.

He did NOT love workin' with Grandpa on the tractor.

He got all dressed up in his overalls just like Grandpa Cletus.

Miss you Grandma and Grandpa!!! We can't wait to live closer to you!

First Steps!

We went for a visit to see Grandma and Grandpa. Elijah was so excited to see them that he stayed awake almost the whole ride down to Iowa! He wanted to wait to show off to them that he could take his first steps... at 11:30pm!!! I just took the video on my cell phone, so it's a bit choppy.

Don't believe me? Watch for yourself:

1 Year Portrats

Grandma loves pictures!! She took Elijah to get his portrait taken for his 1 year birthday awhile back. Here are a few of our favorites to share with you!

Happy Birthday, Elijah!! We LOVE YOU!

Funny, Funny Guy!

Elijah thinks that he is a pretty funny guy these days. He likes to make us laugh. Sometimes we just have laughing fits for the fun of it. Sometimes it's for good reason which you can see below...

He loves to stand on his head and look at you through his feet!!!

Nothing funnier than a little guy in a big guy's hat!
(except maybe sunglasses, but we haven't gotten him sunglasses yet)

Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down.
I'd like to take a minute just sit right there and I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air.

Elijah is jammin' on the Hammond

Mirrors? HILARIOUS!

The Slide

Tonight we had our friends Dave, Susan, and Ethan over for dinner. Dave and Susan are married. Ethan is their son. He's four (almost 5) and taught Elijah how to better play with his toys. After a tasty chicken dinner, we all walked up to the park to use up some energy! Ethan mostly played on the big kid stuff, but Elijah graduated from the smallest slide at the park to the THIRD smallest tonight. Camera phone footage to tell the tale... You can decide if you think he liked it or not!