11 months

Big weekend just passed...I turned 30! Eli turned 11 months! Both are unbelievable. I can't believe I am in my 3rd decade. Growing up you always think 30 is so old. Ironically I am at the best part of my life so far! I am in better shape physically, spiritually, emotionally than I ever have been. I haven't dreaded turning 30 at all. I am excited for all my 30's has to offer as a smarter, stronger, more confident woman.

I had a wonderful weekend. I truly am blessed to be surrounded with such loving family and friends. My birthday started off Friday afternoon. I dropped the boys off at my parents house and Mike and I got to Omaha at 3:00. We checked into our hotel jr. suite (Mike went all out!). Sat down and watched a little FRIENDS. It was so nice to a)watch cable TV and b) be able to sit down, put my feet up, and not wonder if the kids were going to wake up and interupt my show! Afer a little while we went down to Kona Grill and had some sushi. Mike wasn't too sure about this, but was letting me make all the decisions. But, he loved it. They have a great happy hour and were very pleased. We decided to go out and do some shopping..braved the cold wind for a little while. I found two pair of shoes at DSW and a couple shirts at GAP. We then went into Firebirds to have dinner. We had never been there, but had heard good things. It was little pricy, but it was pretty good. So we had the chicken quesilldas for an appetizer (don't judge..we love food. so yes, we ate a lot while in Omaha!), I had a french dip and steak fries and Mike had his usual (at any restuarant this is his choice) BBQ bacon burger. And then Mike asked our waitress if they did anything for birthdays. She said, "not really, but I'll see what I can do." She was so sweet. She brough out the creme brulee cheesecake. And it was delicious! Yum.

 So we got back to the hotel and went down to the hottub for a little while and got ourselves nice and tired! In bed at 10:30..oops. Up at 7:30 double oops. (The only downside that I've found to being 30...I can't stay up late or sleep in late!) Even though we coudln't sleep any longer it was nice to mosey out of bed and not be dragged out by James saying, "get your robe, I'm hungry" after being hit in the head 5 times, kicked in the ribs 20 and listening to the videos on my phone for 30 minutes hoping I can shut them out and sleep just "a little longer!" We went to paradise cafe for breakfast and then shopped some more! I found another 6 shirts and a workout shirt. I think I doubled the size of my wardrobe! We got back to Lincoln and took the boys to Cherry on Top for a treat. It was so good to see them and Eli couldn't take his eyes off me! Sunday my mom threw a surprise party for me. All my family and some friends came over for cake and snacks. It was a really fun time. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

Now to Eli! Next month he will a year old. It's so hard to believe. He is growing up so fast. He has a little personality and is so funny. The boys are so similar and still so different. It's so much fun seeing them together.

Here's what he's been up to:

-Weighs 24lbs and is 32 inches long

-Sleeping through the night! Every couple of nights he'll wake up around 3 and Mike will go in and pat him and he'll fall right back to sleep.
-Done nursing. It happened kind of without planning. I was only nursing once before bedtime, and I just started working a couple nights a week filing for the orthodontist my mom works for, and so I wasn't home 4 nights in a row at bed time and he went down just fine. So we just figured it was only a couple weeks before we were going to quit anyway. He goes down so easily. I'm so thankful for my boys who are great sleepers!

-Down to 2 naps! This is a very recent thing and I'm so happy about it. He is still taking his second nap at the same time as James nap most of the time so it works out pretty well.

-Never stops eating! He could keep going. I feed him and then he still wants whatever I am having! He loves cheerios, peanut butter bread, cereal bars, bananas, avocado, yogurt. I usually just give him a drink out of a regular glass. James uses a regular glass too usually but the other day he wanted to use a sippy cup. Eli saw that of course and wanted to try it. HE WON'T PUT IT DOWN.

-Using "drink" sign consistently, started to use "please" the other day but doesn't do it every time.
-Has 2 bottom teeth, 3 on the top and his other lateral on top is just starting to poke through. He has started to think saying  "drink" will get him anything. He says drink all the time. He loves the power!

-Snaps! He will do it on cue too. It's hilarious. I think he started doing it when he was trying to do the sign for drink and I pointed it out so then he kept doing it because it got my attention. He makes the cutest "squinty eyes" and will do it on cue.

-He is quite adventurous and maybe a little stubborn! He is such a cuddle bug that it's so funny how independent he will be sometimes.

trying to get down the stairs with the gate up!

squinty eyes

-Cruising around the furniture and loves his walker, but hasn't taken any steps on his own yet. He is standing on his own for longer and longer so I don't think his first steps are too far off.
-crawls up the steps. If the gate is not up he makes a beeline for the stairs..whether he's at the top or bottom. So you really have to be careful since he doesn't know how to go down them yet!
-says dadda but that's about it for words. He's been doing bababa lately..I'm thinking ball will be his first word like James :)
-Loves to play catch with James. He throws the ball and waits for you to throw it back. It's so cute.

Love them both so much.

Planning Eli's party! So excited..I know it will come quick!