Camping + Cold = Crazy

We (Sam and I) are repeat offenders of picking the COLDEST and/or STORMIEST weekends to go camping.  It is a running joke that we determine the weather as to when we go camping.  We didn't fail last weekend either.  The coldest weekend of the year, lows in the 20's and highs in the 40's and 50's, we, plus Gramma and Papa, spent 3 days tent camping at Roaring River.  The adults deserve a boy-scout badge but Eli didn't even notice the cold!  What a trooper.  I don't have all the pics yet, and I don't have time to give a full report at the moment, but here is a preview of some of the moments I captured.  Enjoy!





All packed in and ready to leave!





Ready to hike!





Just chillin' (literally)



Leaves are so fun!

How beautiful is this face??!!

Best "play-pen" ever... a broom and an empty trailer

The river view at 7 a.m. - breathtaking (and not just cause it's 24 degrees!)

First experience of throwing rocks in the river - loved it!

The guys' goofy grins
(This is what Eli does when you ask him to smile... wonder who he learned it from??)

My little superhero ~

I bought this costume as a Christmas present for Eli but Sam was so excited about it (my crazy comic-book-lovin' husband) that he asked me to put it on him early.  Eli HATED the mask (which is why I am holding his arms down for the picture) but "flew" around the house in his cape.  I'll still wrap it up and give it to him again... that's the great thing about a short attention span!

  Super cute, my little Superhero!! 

Eli used the potty chair!!!

Ok, I must preface this by saying that I always thought those mothers were SO WEIRD that bragged about their children's bathroom habits and goings-ons... now I totally understand!!

Eli has been playing with his new potty chairs both at home and at Gramma's house for a couple weeks now but not actually using them.  Last night as I was readying him for his bath, I sat him on it and gave him a toy to occupy him while the water filled in the tub.  He suddenly looked up at me and said "all done".  I thought "yeah, right" but picked him up anyway.  Lo and behold, he'd gone pee-pee!!  I was so excited I started doing a potty dance with Eli and he got so tickled and was laughing so hard that I thought he was going to pee again, on the floor this time, so I quickly put him in the tub!  Sam had to come see what the commotion was and started laughing at the sight of us dancing and laughing, all because of a simply body function.  I really hope that the rest of potty training goes this easy!

Oh, the small joys in life!!

Not much of an update...

Last night was our first Adoption Answer update call.  She mainly went over the rules and changes that have happened in the past year and told us how the updates will happen each month, what information they are allowed to give us regarding the moms/babies, etc. 

Our update:
Our hard-copy profile has been looked at 4 times in the last month.  We've had really good feedback on our profile, we just haven't been "the ones" the birthmoms are looking for.  We were told that September has been a slow month in the number of birthmoms being ready to choose so being looked at 4 times was actually a good sign.

The reason we are not online yet is because they had to let-go of the web designer and are in the process of getting a new one.  We still didn't get a definitive answer as to when our picture/profile will appear.  We are not the only family that hasn't been added or updated.

So that's all for now.  And we wait...

Family Vacation: Friday, 9/21 – Sunday, 9/30

Wow… where to begin.  What a great time being off!  Yeah, there were downer times but 1) I wasn’t at work!!!! and 2) I was with my hubby and son!!!

We tried a “stay-cation” for the first time and we definitely see the tremendous benefits of it.  I am hooked!  Granted, actually going somewhere once in a while would be nice but this was exactly the relaxing “get-away” we needed right now.  Here’s a little of what we did:

Monday we drove to Jinks, Oklahoma to see the Oklahoma Aquarium, go out to eat and shop a little in downtown Jinks (very cool, very little, old-fashioned town).  The aquarium was pretty neat, not amazing, but Eli had fun.  You can tell from the pics that he wasn’t afraid of touching anything.  He even wanted to “ride it” when he saw the sharks!

INSIDE THE SHARK TUNNEL... SUPER COOL!



"TOUCH??" AND "RIDE IT??"



GOT TO TOUCH THESE STING RAYS AND SHARKS

TOUCHING A SEA CUCUMBER

JAWS!!!!

Tuesday and Wednesday Sam and I decided to get away by ourselves and left Eli with Mom and Dad.  We went camping/fishing/hiking at Roaring River and it was WONDERFUL!!  We love our little guy but it felt like we were dating again that we could do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted and didn’t have to worry about naps, snacks, diapers, etc.  The weather was very nice but the park was surprisingly busy for being a mid-week trip.  Granted, I think we were the youngest in the park though.  This picture was taken about halfway up a very steep hill on the Deer Leap trail.  I think we had to stop just to catch our breath.  Boy, we are out of shape!!

Thursday, things started going a little downhill in terms of good luck… we had planned for weeks to go shopping in Rodgers, Arkansas with Sam’s brother, Zeb, and his wife, Abby (taking Eli with us, too).  However, Thursday morning when we arrived at Zeb’s house, we could tell something was very wrong with Abby but she insisted she wanted to keep going.  We barely made it to Rodgers before we realized the severity of the pain she was in… long story short, after driving straight back home (the only shopping we accomplished was at Cabela’s) and sending her to the emergency room, we found out she’d herniated a disk in her lower back and had emergency surgery THAT NIGHT!  Then Friday morning we had to go back to Neosho to take care of their dogs for them until she was released from the hospital and Sunday we were back there again helping them move in their new living room furniture and taking out their old.  Even still, we were really glad we were there to help them when they needed it.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when we weren’t helping Zeb and Abby, we spent really nice quality time as a family at home.  Eli got to “mow”… don’t freak out, Sam’s barely even in first gear and the blades aren’t running.  **They are moving at the same time I am taking pictures and they aren’t even blurred… that’s how slow he was going.** 

It was really tough coming back to work again today for both of us.  Sleeping in, lazy days, home-cooked meals, accomplishing some long-needed projects, short day trips with very little planning… I can’t wait until our next stay-cation!!

Meeting new cousin, Morgen ~

Eli met his new cousin (sister to Ava) yesterday.  He told Morgen "play?".... while he was very sweet to her, he quickly lost interest since she didn't do anything but sleep.  How boring! ha ha

FIRST MOTORCYCLE RIDE!

Last Thursday, 9-13-12, Eli got to take his first "cycle" ride with Mommy and Papa.  He LOVED it.  Can't you see how comfortable he looks?  He talked non-stop the entire time we were moving (in Eli babble and barking at dogs along the way) and cried and threw a fit when we took him off.