boo to you.

Last week, Eli and I gathered paint and holiday paper to create some pretty "boo-tiful" Halloween cards. I must say, I think they turned out super cute and no doubt will hang on a few refrigerators! What a cutie Eli was as he carefully studied me painting his entire hand with white paint. I will neither confirm nor deny that my little artist had a snack in his other hand to distract him just a bit during our artistic endeavor. I look forward to days ahead when Eli and I can have a regular arts and craft time. I have lots and lots of cute monthly projects (and the bins in our garage to prove it) up my sleeve from my years in my Kindergarten classroom.


...conversation with my husband as he returns home from work and sees our ghost art drying on our kitchen counter...

Andy: Wow, Honey! Those are super cute! Where did you get that idea?

Devon: ...Ummmm...Did you forget what I used to do before Eli Monster?

Andy: (smiling and laughing) Oh, yeah!

Devon: Oh, geesh!

rainy day.

As a cold, rainy, and very windy day set in yesterday, Eli and I were confined to the warmth and safety of our home for the entire day. With tornado warnings and watches looming over all of our area, we needed to find something fun to do during the three or four hours that we normally sneak out of the house for a bit to run errands or go for a nice long walk. After a quick thought, I decided to remove two cushions from our sofa, a no-longer used bed sheet, and make Eli what every little kiddo needs at one point or another...a fort.

While I know he will love this more and more as time moves forward, I couldn't help but take advantage of his ever-present curiosity, and just give the homemade fort a try. What a success!

He loved crawling back and forth, out and in, and laying and sitting in his new "cave" with his toys. This mama couldn't resist crawling "under" and playing right along.

What a fun morning we had, despite the gloomy and scary weather! Sadly enough, our much-used outdoor table didn't have such a fun morning in the 80 mph wind. I suppose this is the perfect excuse to purchase beautiful outdoor living furniture next summer!

our little pumpkin.

baby bradford.

Yesterday afternoon, I was able to sneak away from our home, leave Eli in the safe hands of his dad, and spend some time with Dena, one of my most favorite mamas-to-be, and a few sweet friends at baby Bradford's baby shower! What a wonderful family baby Bradford has been blessed with. Loving parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many good friends are eager to meet this sweet boy and simply cover him with snuggles. We have prayed and prayed for Bradford and are so happy that our God is an awesome God and this baby boy will soon make his arrival! As for me... I just can't wait!

What a perfect shower Dena and Bradford were gifted! As you can see, this is no doubt one special and loved little cowboy!

simple + delicious.

During the fall and winter months, we, like everyone else, love to make warm and cozy food. While Andy loves a big pot of homemade chili and I prefer homemade vegetable soup, we both agree on one of our most favorite dishes - Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. While this recipe is super easy and fast for me to prepare, as an added bonus, it cooks right in the crockpot! Don't you just love a good crockpot recipe?!? After preparing this yesterday for Andy, myself, and a few spoonfuls for Eli, I decided to share in hopes that this favorite of ours might become a family favorite of yours!

To begin, dice one cup each of carrots, celery, and onion. Add your diced veggies right into your crockpot.

Next, shred one entire store bought (I told you it was easy), rotisserie chicken, with skin removed, and add to your carrots, celery, and onions.

Stir in one entire box or four cans of low-sodium chicken broth and the secret ingredient, two cans of Campbell's cream of mushroom with roasted garlic soup. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence.

Cover and cook on low setting for 8-9 hours or on high setting for 3-4 hours.

When your creamy chicken noodle soup has finished cooking, and right before serving, add a handful of egg noodles to your crockpot and let cook for 10 additional minutes. Be careful as to not add too many egg noodles because they will soak up and swallow lots of your delicious broth.

So easy and delicious...Yum! Yum! Yum!

a-choo.

So many different and random things make Eli laugh these days and when Andy and I find something that tickles his little funny bone, we can't help but do it over and over and over again. What a sweet sound it is to hear our cutie giggle! One particular morning this week, during our grocery store adventure, Mr. Eli had had about enough of Kroger and amongst the frozen vegetables decided that he simply did not want to shop for groceries any longer. In a final attempt to distract him, I pretended to sneeze (please do not ask me why this came to mind)...a-choo! Low and behold, up from the deepest depths of his belly came the most precious laugh that not only made me smile and laugh, but also caught the attention of fellow Kroger shoppers and employees. Well...after this little discovery, needless to say, I went about gathering my frozen edamame, grape juice, milk, yogurt, and shredded cheese just "pretend-sneezing" my way all the way to checkout. Simply put - as a mama, you do what you have to do to get the job finished!

Later that day, as Eli was his typical "wild, crazy-boy self", jumping away in his much-loved jumperoo, I decided to partake in our sneezing game again!

...just take a peek...

thank you a & a.

Who doesn't love to get special goodies in the mail?!? Eli received a "spook-tacular" package from his favorite twins, Anthony and Alex, sweet boys of my wonderful friend and sorority sister, Becky. Arriving from Murrysville, Pennsylvania, Eli received such a cute glow-in-the-dark Halloween shirt, orange and black socks, and a coupon for a sweet, frosty treat - yum! Thank you so much Sargo family for Eli's special package and for thinking so thoughtfully of our little guy! We hope to see you very, very soon!

Just look at these sweet little guys...don't they just make you smile...twice?!?
We love you Anthony and Alex!

best buddies.

It's so sweet to watch the ever-growing relationship of Eli and our little Carmen. He just adores our precious Carms and lights up when he sees her, thus crawling in a mad dash towards her, following her wherever she goes. I love to watch Carmen bring Eli her toys and assume the fetch position as she waits and waits for Eli to throw her favorite squirrel, lobster, or ball. Recently, amongst the sea of toys in our home at this fingertips, Eli has taken a considerable liking to Carmen's most favorite toy -- "the squirrel" -- playing with it for what seems like hours and yes, even trying to put this much loved, slobbery toy, in his mouth (gross). Carmen seems to look at Eli and say, "Really?!? You've taken over my entire home and now you want my squirrel?!?" Eli just shakes and shakes Carmen's squirrel right in front of her nose, playing with her in his own way. What fun it is to watch Eli and Carms love each other!

sweet, sweet home.

After 10 hours in the car on our return adventure from South Carolina, we were all excited - to say the least - to drive into our garage and stretch our legs, relax, and in Eli's case, take a warm bath and get ready for bed. During our car ride home, while Eli was a fantastic traveler, there were a few times that fussiness took over, and I was the ever-flexible acrobat, that crawled my way back and forth from the front to the back seat. Who doesn't need a little company during a long drive, someone to look at and talk to, and most importantly, someone to play with? When we reached hours 9 and 10, no book, no music, no toy would do; however, a three-fourths of the way empty water bottle and one episode of Secret Agent Oso on an iPhone was just what Eli needed to finish his long, long, long day in the car!

What a wonderful fall vacation we had with Andy's family. However, considering Eli has only slept in his own crib 3 days in the month of October, we are happy to be surrounded by our things, our carpet, our toys, our bed sheets, our bathtubs, and our home. I think we'll stay put for a while.

cruisn'.

While we were so excited for Eli to see the sand, the surf, and the pool again during our fall-time vacation, who would have thought that he would take such joy in something quite different -- riding on a golf cart! We by no means need a horn on our golf cart because our little boy, with wind whipping through his hair, squeals with happiness during the entire ride, letting everyone know that we are on the move! While I cautiously and tightly hold onto him for dear life, while we are cruising at our speedy 7 mph, he does everything short of jumping onto Andy's lap to get a hold of that steering wheel! Do we have a future golfer on our hands (let's hope) or just a little boy infatuated with all things that move?!?

pool shark.

Words simply cannot express how much Eli loves water...especially the swimming pool! His entire face lights up when he sees a pool, falling water, or a fountain of any kind that spurts water. Luckily for him, during this week of vacation in Myrtle Beach, our indoor and outdoor pool have not disappointed our happy little fish. Completely content to swim on his belly, float on his back, kick, splash, and dunk his whole face under the water without even thinking twice, Eli has certainly enjoyed his morning swims and we just love splashing right along with him!

fall in wv.

On our way to South Carolina, Andy, Eli, and I briefly stopped for a fun, few days in West Virginia! The weather in West Virginia is simply beautiful during this time of year, with crisp, cool mornings and evenings, while afternoons are mild and warm. It simply is the very best! During our two-day stay, we were able to relax, enjoy walks back and forth on the small road in front of my mother's home, enjoy play time with Nana and Papaw Freeman, visiting with Nana and Papaw Beymer, and squeezing in some mucn-loved time with Uncle Kent and Auntie Danielle.

Much to the dismay of the wooly worm crawling across my mother's back deck, Eli was an all-American, bug lovin' boy as he studied and attempted to "play with" this wooly fellow. Just look at those left-handed, pincher fingers! Try as I might to hand things to Eli in his right hand, we think our little guy may have inherited his father's, both of his grandfather's, and Auntie Julie's "left handedness".

Lounging on a comfy blanket, Eli watched as Uncle Kent and daddy passed football, while Carmen and Cousin Oden ran back and forth playing and hoping to catch the ever-flying football. We just love Fall and wish that this beautiful season lasted just a bit longer!

sink.

One less "Eli item" to pack during a trip always means a bit more rearview sight for Andy. Now, we forgo the toddler tub and use the good ol' fashioned

...kitchen sink...

What fun the little guy had last night during his warm bath in the middle of my mother's kitchen!

let go of my eggo.

In an effort to introduce more and more table food into Eli's diet, this morning, in addition to our iron-fortifed oatmeal with fruit, we began our day with a special treat - a multi-grain eggo waffle, sans the butter and syrup (that will come soon enough). Although our little guy is a lover of 99% of baby food, he has been less than thrilled with many of the "table food" items that I have tried feeding him. However, this morning, I was feeling confident about our "carb-a-licous," multi-grain, nonetheless, eggo waffle!

Sure enough, Eli gobbled down one plate full of waffle and then a second, until his small round waffle was nothing but a delicious memory! Success! Perhaps next we will try adding a few blueberries!

Afther his waffle had ben devoured, Eli checked his plate twice to make sure he had eaten ever bite!

...then he decided to eat his plate...

off to miami.

Last Wednesday, Andy, Eli, and I took to the friendly skies for a little family fun in Florida! While we were visiting Miami, we stayed at the Loews Hotel! What a positively beautiful hotel! While the Loews had much to pamper Andy and I, it also catered to our little guy. When we arrived, we were informed that the Loews has a partnership with Fisher Price. We were given a brochure of toys (including a toddler bathtub) that would be brought to our room for Eli - what a perk!

Andy has worked endlessly in the past year with research pertaining to breast cancer in regards to women in Appalachia (Eastern Kentucky) and the treatment (radiation vs. mastectomy) or lack there of that they chose to undergo and the circumstances that prompted them to do so (I think I put that correctly...maybe). Andy won an exciting award for his research from Susan G. Komen and presented his findings at a conference in Miami...thus leading our little family south!

...just look at that great research...

...take a peek at our fun family time in Miami...

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10 months for eli.

Eli is 10 months old! Oh, how those weeks just fly by! It seems that each and every month I think, "This is my favorite stage thus far," but the next month arrives and it always seems to replace the last by being "my favorite". Eli continues to be one busy, busy, BUSY little boy. He loves to explore and seems to just enjoy crawling from one destination to another. He pulls up on just about everything and shows interest in taking those first steps...oh, my. He loves to "let go" of things that he is holding onto, stand for a few seconds, and then flop onto his cute little bum...then repeat, then repeat, then repeat. We can hardly believe that we have a 10 month old and that his BIG birthday is just a pair of months away. Birthday goodies for his party have already started to arrive at the Freeman home! While we can't wait to celebrate his unbelievable first year (it will be here all too soon), we are just loving "this stage" with our precious, bubbly, boy!

...While Eli has learned a lot in the last 10 months, oh, oh, so have I...

I have learned that just like adults, no two days are the same in "the life of Eli". Just because he took two really great naps "yesterday", today could be much, much different.

I have learned that our little boy is quite flexible. He goes with the flow, although I try very hard to keep him to his "schedule". And while I worry about things a little bit too much, I need to give Eli more credit in being able to adapt. He can do this very well...it's me that needs more work. I'll get there...hopefully.

I have learned that ponytails are my best friend.

I finally understand why my mother and father were terrified of me riding and driving with my fellow teenage drivers. Oh, the thought of sending him out in a car...I think I'll pass for now. Oh, and the thought of a bully...just forget it.

I have learned that simply because our little Eli began sleeping through the night at 7 weeks old , tightly swaddled, he will not always sleep through the night as he demonstrated from months 4-9, still waking for an early morning feeding each and every day. We are back on the sleeping train...for now! There will always be a new tooth, perhaps an ear infection, and maybe even just the need to see mama or daddy.


We love you Eli B! From the tip of your thick head of hair right down to the tips of your crossed toes, we just enjoy you and love you more each day!