One for each hand

Worker Guys

Ben bulit some planter boxes for our garden last weekend. Eli was so excited to help as usual, he even lined up all of the bolts and washers.

It's getting warmer

Eli loves to "commune with nature".
He was in the buff, but the neighbor kids came over, so I had him put on underwear.
The pool started out with clean water, but of course, it ended up like this.
Last year we bought an attachment for the kitchen sink so we can hook the hose up to it and pipe warm water into the pool. We love it because even if it's 90 degrees outside, the hose water feels like it just melted off a glacier. By the time the water warms up enough to submerse yourself, it's usually dirty. I think the hose attachment is the best $3 purchase I've made.

Scooting and Sitting

Lilly gets where she wants to go pretty quick now. She's constantly exploring the house, especially near the front door, I think she's trying to escape! She's also pulling herself up on some small furniture, like Eli's chair. She can get up the one step in the playroom, which I'm a little sad about, she's not as easy to contain anymore. She's also sitting really well (finally), although she doesn't like to sit for long because she's got places to go!

I just found this picture of Eli at the same age Lilly is now, 9 mos. I hear all of the time that Eli and Lilly look exactly alike, and of course I see some similarities. As you can see in these two pictures, they're absolutely brother and sister, but their own little people.

Rhododendron Garden

Getting Bigger

Today I was looking at Lilly and wondering where my little baby went. She's no longer a newborn, she scoots all over the house, calls for me when she's hungry and takes toys from Eli. Where does the time go?

Tulip Festival

Easter

Dada

Talking

Lilly said Mama!
Eli said Dada first, so I'm extra excited to be the first word this time around.
When she's whining, because she's getting hungry or tired, she says "maaa ma ma ma ma maaa". I was so excited that I let her whine a little longer than normal on the first day, just so I could hear Mama. Ben didn't think this was so nice, but hey, Mom's need those little reminders that we're loved. I don't think she's too traumatized!

Zoo

Eli's zoo favorites don't have anything to do with animals. He loves the tractor , the construction on the ape exhibit and the photo booth. I don't think he even knows what the photo booth does, he just likes to sit in his own little house and push the buttons!

Eli used the camera in the car on the way home. Here's the closest thing I have of a recent picture of myself!

Socks

Lilly's sock hatred has reached a whole new level!
Apparently it's not enough to take her own socks off.

Enjoying the Sunshine

Lilly has been making some funny faces lately. She wrinkles up her nose and breathes in and out really fast, apparently this is really funny because she cracks herself up every time. She's growing up so fast, scooting everywhere, rocking on her hands and knees and eating baby food like mad. She no longer my little baby who just lays there, she's super squirmy and yells at me when she isn't getting what she wants fast enough. Oh my, the time just goes by way too fast.

Eli has been loving his bike. We go on a ride almost daily, either at a park or just around the block. On Saturday we went to Blue Lake Regional Park and had a blast. Eli rode his bike around the wetlands, threw some rocks, played on the playground, and dug in the sand. It was a beautiful 65 degree day, we couldn't have asked for a better experience. Thanks Tonks for joining us, we all had so much fun. I'm sure we'll be headed back again sometime soon, it was a great find.

New Suit

We have a membership to the pool, but haven't gone since Lilly was born. I think it's high time to get this girl in the water, so we got a swim suit (can you tell I'm just loving having a girl to shop for?). Hillsboro SHARC here we come!

Sisterly Love

32 Cents

About a month after we bought our Mazda someone (I won't name names) put change in the CD player. We called the dealer and they said it would cost $150 to take it out. I searched the internet and found instructions on how to do it ourselves. Unfortunately it looked pretty involved, so we've put it off until now. We had to take apart most of the dash and center console, I was a little scared about getting everything back in. It ended up not being as bad as I had anticipated, and only took about an hour and a half. Everything is back in and the CD player works!

Lemons into Lemonade

At least someone thought it was fun to get a new water heater!

On a side note, Lilly tried Cheerios and loves them.

7 months

Ukulele

My brother Chris got Eli a Ukulele for Christmas. Eli loves it, but calls it a guitar no matter how many times we correct him. It's the perfect size, thanks Uncle Chris!