just ducky...quack, quack.

How many times have I browsed through the baby bath section at Target or Babies 'R' Us, studied "the" duck bathtub, and continued walking because it just didn't seem right for us?!? After hearing the cheers from some of my super mom friends, countless times have I looked and countless times have I just scooted our cart by...that is, until now. Recently, Eli seems to be outgrowing his baby/infant tub. While he is still giddy over bath time, splashes with the best of them, and continues to submerge his whole body in the warm water (notice above that the duck did not stop this), he could use a little more room to soak, but is just not quite ready or stable enough to be the king of the huge tub. Knowing this, I have scoured local stores to try to find a "baby bath ring" that suctions to the bottom of the tub, with zero success. While I was able to find one online to order, needless to say, I went another route for my own reasons. Thanks to my mother, the other route, you guessed it, was the giant, inflatable, quacking duck. How could my mom resist purchasing this inflatable tub when each time the duck "quacked," little Eli smiled one of his huge smiles and gave a little giggle?!? To my complete surprise, the duck is the perfect transitional tub for Eli! Big enough for him to play in the water directly in front of him, while giving him extra space, but yet small enough for him to feel secure while sitting up in a smaller area (remember, he's still a bit wobbly), the duck is just great! For all of you who praised this tub - you were right! The Freeman Family now gives the once passed over duck tub, two "feathers" up...quack, quack!


Rub-a-dub-dub...there's a quacking duck in my tub!

six incredible years.

On Saturday, June 19th, Andy and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary! While it seems like just last year that we were dancing the night away at our reception and honeymooning at the beautiful Royal Hideaway, we just can't believe that after two final years of medical school, 4 years of residency (the end is in sight), a move to Louisville, Kentucky all on our own, a beautiful baby boy, and my new job as a stay-at-home mother, six years have passed so, so quickly! We love the life that we are building together and are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for our many blessings.

To celebrate our six wonderful years, Andy and I enjoyed a special day, spent as a family of three, and later, a "date night" at Lilly's . From start to finish, our day was perfect! I truly have such a thoughtful, thoughtful husband, as he was full of loving surprises all day!

Always ready to lend a hand, LeeAnn, our dear friend and "Louisville Mom" kept a watchful eye on our little Eli! Thanks again, Ms. LeeAnn for your help! We certainly enjoyed our few hours of "together time", and sought peace in knowing that Eli was in such loving hands!

****
13 years ago, I knew he was a keeper.
13 years ago, I knew I found my best friend.
7 years ago, I knew we would be together for the rest of our lives.

What I didn't realize 13, 7, or even 6 years ago was just how much we'd help each other, fix each other, grow with each other, pray for each other, mend each other, comfort each other, and celebrate each other.

Six years ago, I married my match, my friend, my love, my husband.

After 13 special years together, I look forward to the next 50!

a day for dad.

Eli and I are very, very excited to celebrate Andy's first Father's Day on this sunny and hot June day! We just can't imagine our home without this special Dad and are forever blessed to love him each morning, noon, and night. For the way that he makes Eli giggle, for the way in which he helps refill humidifiers, diaper baskets, and wipe containers, for the way he lays out jammies, lotions, combs, and sleep sacks each day, for the way in which he still continues to help in the middle of the night without being asked, for the way he makes up silly songs, and for the way that he loves his little boy with his whole heart, Eli is forever, forever blessed to call Andy his"daddy".

Happy, happy Father's Day, Andy! We hope your very first Father's Day was as special as you are to us! We love you!

****

To celebrate Father's Day, Eli, with my hand-over-hand help, made our favorite Dad a very special, heartfelt, and homemade card to be framed. What fun we had using finger paint to create Eli's first "masterpiece". We think it turned out pretty cute... if we do say so ourselves!

...the very proud (and oh-so-cute) artist...


****
Happy Father's Day to Andy's father and my wonderful father-in-law, Jim! We love you and can't wait to see you very soon!

****
We send lots of love and hugs to Papaw Joe Beymer, for whom our Eli Beymer is named! We love you so very much, Papaw and are counting down the days until our next West Virginia visit! Happy Father's Day! We love you!

****
...and finally...

Yellow roses grow in heaven; Lord, pick a bunch for me. Place them in my father's arms and tell him they're from me. Tell him that I love and miss him, and when he turns to smile - Lord, place a kiss upon his cheek and hold him for a while. Remembering him is easy, I do it everyday - there's a big ache in my heart that will never go away...

...as we lose, we gain a deep knowing that with a relationship with Christ and in the presence of faith and grace, love is eternal...

look who came to swim today.

Take a peek at Eli, the swimmer, in action!

diaper dip.

For the past two weeks on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, Eli and I, along with my friend, Kelly, and her beautiful little gal, Ava (7 months), enjoyed a "Diaper Dip" swim class at one of Louisville's YMCA branches. What fun we had with these little swimmers! While Eli and Ava were the youngest of the 6-17 month swimmers, they both thoroughly loved the water, while splashing, "swimming" on their bellies, floating on their backs, and chasing turtle floaties around the shallow end. Eli and I were so thrilled that Andy was able to come during our last class to watch his little swimmer and to of course be the proud photographer. What a special, special time with my little guy!

Before each class, these little swimmers
would "stretch out" on their towels.

Suprisingly, while the indoor thermostat in the pool area read 100 degrees, the water was always colder than we expected. Eli always smiled wide when the water would touch his cute belly!

...Kicking his legs (mermaid style with lots and lots of "bum" action)
and reaching, reaching, reaching with his arms
to get the floating turtle...

Ava was quite the pro at going under the water.

What fun we had! We can't wait until our beach vacation!

Fun on his belly, while sitting up, and laying on his back ...Eli loved these floating fish...

backyard fun.

While we are quite sad that our housing development does not have a fun pool to visit, we decided to "decorate" our backyard with a small, inflatable pool especially for our little swimmer. While Eli is used to a much larger pool at our "Mommy and Me Diaper Dip" swim class, Andy and I were excited to watch his reaction to a pool that was just his size! Eli simply loved the cool water and splashed for days as he explored his new turtle pool, rubber ducky, squirters, and watering can. We can't wait to splish and splash the summer away in our backyard with our little minnow!

cookie monster caleb.

What fun we had this weekend celebrating Caleb's second birthday with his "Cookie Monster" themed party! While Andy and I now know that "life with baby" moves quickly, we can hardly believe that sweet Caleb is TWO! It seems like "just last week" that Andy and I were waiting patiently in the hospital hallway to meet Creed and Whitney's new bundle!

Hot and humid Louisville weather definitely did not deter this birthday boy from enjoying his family and friends, Little Tikes bouncy, tunnels, sprinkler, and especially the abundance of "Cookie Monster blue" sweet goodies!

Eli enjoyed the heat while hanging out with his new buddy Hayden!
Hayden, born at the beginning of November, is such a sweet boy with a face full of smiles!

...a big smile, sweet icing mouth and fingers, wet from douses of a water bottle...
successful party with one happy birthday boy!

...seven hours later...

Seven hours later...Noni arrived at Black Powder Court! Andy, Eli, and I were so excited to welcome my mom to Louisville and our sweet Carmen pup home during the weekend! We are always so thrilled to have visitors and simply cherish the time we have with our family! Eli loved spending time with his Noni and rekindling his friendship (with a little tug of her ear...ouch) with Ms. Carmen. Thanks so much mom for the fun weekend spent with our little guy, eating your favorite Grater's ice cream, fun trips to Target, a sushi dinner, shrimp and pizza lunch, shoe shopping galore, and yummy butterflies! We can't wait to see you soon and are counting down the days until our family vacation!

jump, jump, jump, eli beymer

After days and what seems like weeks of exploration, at last Eli's chubby feet can touch the ground and he can finally begin to use the jumperoo as it was intended...for jumping! The brightly colored jumperoo and all of its gadgets is fast becoming one of our favorite play activities! With each passing day, Eli's jumping becomes more animated and wild. We just love to watch those chunka, chunka legs push off the ground! Thanks so, so much Sandy and Ralphene! Eli is jumping for joy over your sweet shower gift!

six month statistics

This past week, Eli and I ventured to the pediatrician for his 6 month (where did the time go?) well baby check-up. Eli just loves the brightly colored rooms of his pediatrician's office and is simply a wiggly worm from the time he is laid on the table until the time he is redressed. Happy, smiling, and even laughing with and at our doctor, Eli weighed 16 pounds, 10 ounces, and measured 27 1/2 inches long. Our little boy currently has two teeth and is surely working on more...ugg. We feel so blessed to have our healthy, sweet boy!

...six fun facts about Eli at six months...

Eli loves his exersaucer and jumperoo more and more each day. He especially loves to "munch" on the apple in his exersaucer and spin the ball on his jumperoo.

While Eli is not quite sitting up on his own, we have been practicing! Frankly, he shows little to no interest in doing this, unless you catch his attention with flashing lights, music, and other toys to help him forget that he is actually sitting. While he is able to sit tri-pod style, our pediatrician remarked that a baby "this happy and wiggly" simply doesn't have time to just sit still. In our home, Eli would just rather roll and roll and roll.

Our little boy is a fantastic eater and has finally started to even enjoy his morning cereal. He loves all baby food, but especially veggies. Fruits, while he will eat them, make his little lips pucker.

Eli continues to love all things "bath"! We can't get enough of watching our happy baby smile, splash, and submerge himself in the warm water.

No matter if he wakes from a nap happy or not-so-happy, he always has the biggest smile on his sweet face when he sees mama or daddy come to his rescue.

Eli loves his early bedtime! Each night, he is ready for bed at 7:00 pm or at times, even earlier. He generally sleeps from 7:00 pm to 5:20 am (on the dot), wakes to eat and then returns to sleep most usually until 7:00 am. While taking a hiatus from sleeping through the night (perhaps due to those two cute teeth), we are SO HAPPY to report that Eli is back on track with his sleeping, in turn helping us to return to ours.

*****
perhaps I should erase this last comment as to not jinx our little sleeper
...knock on wood...