Trip to the Zoo

Last week, our Sunday school class' play group met up at the Birmingham Zoo. We had so much fun! We saw a bunch of animals (camels and the sand cat were among his favorite), rode the choo choo train & the carousel, pet some barnyard animals, and played in the little water/squirt play area for a while. He did not seem to like the goats in the petting zoo this time around... one of them really loved the way he smelled and would NOT leave him alone. Elijah kept whining, then would say "bye bye" to the goat, then would whine, then say "bye bye"... I was cracking up laughing! Then, when we went to see the sheep, they were all at the back of their pen, so he yelled "come!... come!" Surprisingly enough, they didn't respond to his command. He had a blast playing with (or should I say eating gold fish from) Abby Grace, Joy's little 3 year old girl. At one point, he looked at her and did his motion and word for the itsy bitsy spider, which sounds like "E-E-I, E-E-I;"she understood him and started singing the song! It was so precious! We had a great time and he was out cold before we even left the parking lot.

Our Trip to Orlando

Our much anticipated trip to Orlando is now over. =( We had an absolute blast though! Here's a breakdown of our trip...
Tues, Day 1: Elijah had his first experience on an airplane. We prayed very hard for a quiet flight and the Lord was so good to give Elijah a sweet, happy attitude the entire flight! He loves airplanes, but he saw a car on the runway as we were leaving and kept asking to see a car while we were in the air. Needless to say, that didn't happen. Stephen got to go golfing at Grand Cypress once we got there while Elijah and I, after many wrong turns and stressful tears, made it to Beth and Jay's. We had an easy going night, visiting with our best friends!
Wed, Day 2: Stephen went golfing at the Magnolia today while Elijah and I hung out together. We went shopping and got Elijah and the baby matching outfits for Christmas from Strasburg... a matching set for a girl and a matching set for a boy. =) We also went to the playground and the pool and had a fun afternoon. That night, Elijah's Uncle Jay & Aunt Beth babysat Elijah. They had a lot of fun together (although during their fun Beth's phone somehow ended up in the pool...). Stephen and I enjoyed a fun evening that started with "cocktails" (aka water) at a marina outside the Dolphin Resort at Disney and ended with a great dinner at Shula's. It was fun getting to meet some of the people that Stephen does business with (and enjoying a beautiful evening while doing so!)
Thurs, Day 3: Today was the highlight of the trip for Stephen - golfing at Bayhill! He had a great time. Elijah and I drove to Clearwater to visit his Gram Gram. We had so much fun and it was so good to see her! We went on a walk around the bay and saw a dolphin! We had lunch, played on Gram Gram's organ, ran around her house... He loved dancing around to her bear that sang "Girls just want to have fun." lol I always loved visiting my Nanny and Poppy in Clearwater when I was little, so it was really fun seeing him have fun there too. We went back to Beth and Jay's house while he napped in the car. That night, the 5 of us just hung out around the house.
Fri, Day 4: Elijah and I went to the pool and playground before his nap. Afterwards, Stephen, Elijah, and I went to Hollywood Studios for a few hours. He got to meet Mickey Mouse! While we were in line, he kept yearning and calling for "Mick Mouse!" He went up to Mickey and said hi and then hugged him. It was very sweet. We went to the Playhouse Disney show, which he really enjoyed. We played around in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground and watched a few shows before heading out. We went out to dinner w/ Jay, Beth, Brian, and his fiance, Laurey. It was an exhausting evening, but we had a great time.
Sat, Day 5: Today was our marathon day. We played around the house in the morning before going with Jay and Beth to their friend's daughter's birthday party. Little Addie turned two and had a fun Minnie mouse pool party. Elijah had a great time playing in the pool and running down his gas tank before his nice, long nap. After he woke up, Jay, Beth, Stephen, Elijah, and I went to Magic Kingdom. It was so much fun!!!! We rode the boat to get to the park, which was as magical as ever. Daddy, Uncle Jay, and Elijah all tried to pull the sword out of the stone (see the pictures), but to no avail. We got to ride the giant carousel, during which he kept saying "Neigh, Neigh!"
We saw the 3-D show, Mickey's Philharmagic. Elijah was so cute with his 3-D glasses on, reaching for the objects in the air. Then we rode Dumbo, which he was so anxious to get on, yelling "Dumbo! Dumbo!" We all got do relax a second during It's a Small World. We went in the evening, so we saw their nighttime parade which was all aglow with lights. It was so cool. We ended the visit with a beautiful fireworks show at Cinderella's castle. Elijah was, once again, out before we got home.
We had such a fun trip and it was great visiting with friends and family. After a long trip back to Birmingham, we are finally at home, safe and sound.

Silly Elijah

This is the face our sweet boy makes when you ask him to make his "silly face"... it's followed by a huge smile because he knows he's so cute! It's really funny to watch him do it in the mirror because he makes himself laugh, and then he can't make his silly face because he's smiling so big! Too precious...

His newfound fun is finding shadows. He first found it on the tennis courts when we were playing soccer. He likes to wave to it and chase it... and especially likes it when his shadow and mommy's shadow do the itsy bitsy spider. Everytime he sees a shadow, whether it be on the dance floor when we're watching "Dancing With the Stars" or when we're taking a stroller ride, he yells, "shadow!!!" He's really good at pointing them out to us.

Another fun word he just loves to say is bicycle... which he pronounces oh so cutely as "Bi-thi-ble," always saying the first syllable with a high pitch. And when he sees a bike, scooter, wheelchair, or motorcycle, he says, "bi-thi-ble, bi-thi-ble, bi-thi-ble!"

And here is the picture of Elijah's new girlfriend, Karidyn McKenzie. She was born yesterday to his Aunt Holly and Uncle Jonathan. He has already given her a sweet little pet name - he kept calling her "baby." =)

Fun times

Well not much is new with the little man... we've been getting into a good routine of going on a walk and then ending up at the "playground", or as Elijah pronounces it, "carride." As soon as we make the turn on the main road of our subdivision, still 200 or so yards from the playground (which he can't even see), he starts yelling "carride" or "slide" over and over and over! It's pretty funny. While we're at the playground, Elijah loves to play soccer in the tennis courts nearby. As he chases the ball, he yells "run, run, run, run!" I wonder where he learned that.... =)
Anytime he sees a stroller, he's now saying "baby." I've asked Elijah whether mommy's having a baby girl or baby boy, and he's told me I'm having both a girl and a boy, so he's making sure that whatever I have in my belly, he's guessed correctly. =)
We're getting really excited about our trip to Orlando! We leave one week from tomorrow! We're going to have a lot of fun flying in an airplane (which Elijah LOVES) down to Orlando. Please pray for a safe and quiet flight! We'll be visiting with Aunt Beth & Uncle Jay, Gram Gram, and Brian & Laurey. While Stephen's enjoying his conference (aka golfing most days), we'll be maybe visiting disney and sightseeing in Florida. He's very excited about the idea of seeing "Mick Mouse." Everytime I mention his name, he can't stop saying it over and over again! He has a mickey mouse book and mickey mouse diaper cover that he sees, so he knows what he looks like. It should be a lot of fun though!

Fun at Play Group

On Friday, we had our monthly play group with a bunch of the kids and moms in our Sunday school class. This month, we went to Jennifer and Brad Bradley's house and had an Easter egg hunt and explored on their farm. The hunt went well ~ little man did a good job collecting his eggs, but was really more interested in their dogs. After the Easter egg hunt, we went over to see a bunch of the animals. Elijah got to pet, feed, and chase a ton of goats. He thought they were really cool. He's not the gentlest petter though ~ he's a bit spoiled with Sage allowing him to poke her in the eyes and climb all over her. He also saw some chickens and roosters, which he tried to chase, but couldn't quite catch. It was a fun day!

Easter Weekend

Elijah had a great Easter weekend. W e went up to Huntsville to spend time with some family. He got to see his Papa Jeff & Nana Jerrie, Nanny & Poppy, Aunt Kristi & Uncle David, his cousin Taylor, and Uncle TJ. We had our first trip to Chuck-E-Cheese - he had a blast! He liked riding the little cars and even gave the big mouse a high five. He and Taylor were driving in a jeep car together and Elijah decided to pull down the lever that tilted up the front end of the jeep pretty high. Elijah loved it, but it Taylor wanted nothing to do with it - he refused to ride any more rides the rest of the day!
Easter day was a lot of fun. Before church, Elijah received some notes from the Easter bunny, sending him on a scavenger hunt around the house in search for Easter gifts. With each gift, he got a new note with a riddle that he had to solve (basically made him name the picture which led him to another gift & note, ultimately ending with his Easter basket.) After church, he and Taylor went on an Easter egg hunt outside his Nanny and Poppy's house. Elijah loved collecting the eggs and putting them in his basket. He tried to help out Taylor, who insisted on dumping his eggs out of his basket - that was way more fun for him. After the Easter egg hunt, they went inside to find even more goodies from the Easter Bunny. Before our ride home, he got to finish off his Huntsville trip with a visit to the fire station. He loves sitting in the cabin of the fire truck and running around the station. It was a really fun Easter.

Easter Egg Fun

Well, Elijah and Mom tackled coloring Easter eggs together. It went a lot better than I had hoped! At first, I tried to hold an egg while he scribbled on it with a crayon, but he fought me b/c he wanted to hold it. After trying that for a little bit, I decided to let him hold the egg and scribble on it with the other hand - and what do you know, he did great! He, so intently and delicately, scribbled on it like a pro. Then he dropped each egg into the different colored dyes and loved it! Now all I hear is him trying to say egg (he leaves off the g sound) b/c he wants to see them! I wish taking pictures would have gone as well as dying the eggs - he decided to bang and squeeze a couple of the eggs... ooppsie! We've been having Easter egg hungs inside the past couple of days b/c he has this new found fascination with eggs. He throws each egg into the basket and once it's pretty full, he dumps it over... And then we repeat...Too cute!