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Elijah Robert Hutchison February 10, 2006 10:42 A.M. 8 lbs. 1 oz. |
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Stories Happy 2008! Tomorrow we will be ringing in another new year, they seem to keep going by faster and faster. Is that a sign that I'm getting old? :) Here are some memories of 2007: *Celebrating Eli's 1st birthday *Taking family trips to Sedona, Colorado, and Ohio *Eli learning to crawl and then to walk *Celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary *Bethany celebrated the last birthday of her "twenties" (I hear it just gets better...) *Fun trips and events with our youth group: Magic Mountain, Summer Camp, Acquire the Fire, Operation X, Revolution *Being a part of two wonderful small groups *Migrant children Christmas party We are looking forward to all that God has in store for us in 2008!
Boy, the holiday season just flew by this year. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, hosting some of Micah's family members over at our house for the big feast. Luckily, we were mainly in charge of just cleaning our house and not cooking all of the food! We celebrated Christmas with Micah's family on Dec. 23rd, had a great time dressing up for LifePoint's Christmas Eve services on the 24th, and celebrated with Bethany's family on Christmas Day. Santa left many fun toys in the living room for Eli to wake up to on Christmas morning. He was especially thrilled with his new ball house and didn't want to come out after he went in :) Another highlight of this Christmas season for me (Bethany) was coordinating sponsors for the migrant workers' children in our area. People from LifePoint and my school district purchased clothing and toys for the children, and then we handed them out at a fun Christmas party where the children were able to take pictures with Santa, make some ornament crafts, jump and slide in a bounce house, and eat some great Italian food. Our youth group helped out with wrapping all of the gifts, and Micah even dressed up like the grinch for the big party - the kids loved it! This is the second year I have coordinated the sponsors for these children, and we were happy to be able to partner with the Angel Tree ministry at our church and make the event bigger and better! Hopefully this will be something our family can enjoy during the holiday season for years to come....
Eli dressed up as Batman this year, thanks to his buddy Tyler who loaned him the Halloween costume that he never ended up wearing last year :) Daddy had a youth group event, so mommy and Eli met up with Eli's cousins and had a great time trick-or-treating. Eli and Emmie especially enjoyed having their lollipops along the way! The only problem with taking little ones trick or treating is that now we're left with all of this candy sitting in our house... guess daddy will have to take care of that!
Well, after taking his very first steps alone about a month ago, Eli is now off to the races and walking everywhere! He is definitely enjoying the new-found freedom and feeling very "grown up." Similar to when he suddenly took those first steps along, he literally just decided one day (Oct. 16th) that walking on his feet was better than walking on his knees and amazed us by just suddenly starting to walk all the time! I guess he just has his own time table for everything and does things when he wants to do them :) This past Saturday Eli had his 2nd visit to Schnepfs Farm. Aunt Bonnie joined us, which was very fun! Eli was able to do a lot more this year than last year. He rode the carousel, rode a pony (a REAL one), rode on the train, sat in the pumpkin patch, and watched the pig races. He had a great time cheering for the pigs, who seemed to be more interested in eating than in actually running their race! We'll be posting more pictures of our fun day at the farm soon, Aunt Bonnie has to email them to us :) We are enjoying being able to get outdoors more lately since it's cooling off. We even visited the Zoo last week with Grandma! Eli was sad that he didn't get to ride the camel, but there was quite a long line and waiting in line is not something Eli graps the concept of yet :) Oh well, maybe next time?!?
Eli has enjoyed visiting the mall many times over the past months to play at the indoor playland and ride the carousel. As you can see from his picture, he was VERY sad that the ride ended and he had to get off. Poor guy, doesn't quite understand why he can't keep riding. Well this was a very exciting week because Eli walked on his own for the first time! It was Tuesday evening (Sep. 18th) when I glanced over from the kitchen and saw Eli let go of the couch and toddle a few steps. He then just sat down as if nothing unusual had happened, it was as if he had always been able to do that :) So, I went over helped him again, balanced him and off he went- walking across the room! We were so excited!! Unfortunately daddy is out of town this week so we had to tell him the news over the phone, but he shared our excitement and can't wait to see Eli's latest achievement when he gets home. He still prefers walking on his knees... I guess since he goes so much faster and doesn't fall over! But, he has at least crossed that line into the walking world. Yeah for Eli! Since the weather has still be insanely hot around here, we continue to enjoy as many indoor activities as possible. Today Eli attended his first Diamondbacks game with Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa Thompson, and Uncle Casey and Aunt Bonnie. He had a great time cheering and clapping, eating snacks, playing at Baxter's Den, and riding in his stroller. We have also been getting our "fill" of the mall playland... Eli loves climbing on all of the toys. He has also almost mastered walking on his knees. I guess he figures it makes him taller than when he crawls :) He continues to make progress in his walking though, and pushes anything he can around the house to help him balance. In excitement for some cooler weather to come our way, we purchased a bike attachment that Eli can ride in with mommy or daddy pulling him. We are very excited to try it out and enjoy outdoor activities again. Hopefully won't be too long... Officially 18 months old! Wow, time flies! Eli is now over 32 inches long and weighs 26 pounds. He has actually only gained about 1 pound since he turned 1 year, so he is just lengthening out now I guess :) Dr. Kipp says Eli is doing wonderful and should just keep practicing his walking... but he is making good progress. Lately Eli has been more frustrated that he can't communicate as well as he would like. He is trying to tell us things, but often doesn't quite have the words so this makes him quite upset. Poor guy! Soon enough Eli, soon enough. We are looking forward to the weather cooling off so that we can actually play outside (without having to be in a pool), go on more walks, and visit the park and zoo. I think we are all fighting a little bit of cabin fever... a person can only do the indoor activities for so long :)
Everybody is always asking "Is he walking yet? Is he walking yet?" And the answer is "not yet" :) People always give me a sad look about it, but I think to myself... "ya know, I'm actually enjoying this time of seeing my cute little baby scoot and crawl around the house!" I am excited for him to walk just because I know that he will enjoy the freedom and independence that it will bring. However, I also realize that he is only this little once! And after he starts walking, these days of watching my little bug crawl all over the house will be long gone. I had a revelation today that I almost feel like God has given me this blessing of having an "elongated" stage of non-walking. I am a working mom, and although I don't work full-time, I know that my work causes me to miss out on experiencing every stage that Eli goes through the way that stay-at-home moms can. Sometimes it seems like I blink my eyes and he is already on to the next stage! But, I feel blessed that I have been able to truly enjoy this time with Eli before he begins walking. Before I know it, he will be up and running! But in the meantime, I'm thankful for every minute that I can watch him crawl or scoot down the hallway. :) No, he's not walking yet, but has made a ton of progress just in the last couple of weeks. Eli has finally started pulling up on everything around the house, and realizing that although he can't walk he can certainly climb to wherever he wants to go. He has learned how to get off and on the couch, as well as in and out of his little rocking chair. He also attempts to climb onto the dog and ride him, but that doesn't usually work out very well. We are guessing within the next couple of months he will be walking on his own... :) Our second and final vacation for the summer was to Ohio for Grandma and Grandpa Lorton's 55th Anniversary. Only Bethany and Eli went on this trip, along with Eli's Grandma and Grandpa Thompson and Uncle Ben. We enjoyed the time spent with relatives that we don't often see, as well as playing out in the soft, green grass under large shade trees... something we don't find much here in AZ. Eli proved to be a great traveller once again, despite the 4-hour plane trip each way! He was definitely a trooper. The 3-hour time difference threw him a little off schedule though, so mom and Eli had some "fun" midnight playtimes together. We even found ourselves on the back yard porch swing at 3:30am one night! Eli enjoyed learning to play pool (mostly he liked to throw the pool balls), playing with the many sizes and shapes of balls in the laundry basket (the ball basket), feeding the ducks (he also enjoyed eating the ducks bread), going on walks under the shade trees, visiting Lake Erie and Put-In-Bay, and playing with his cousins Austin and Kylee. We had fun and miss everyone already! We had a wonderful time in Colorado last week. We went with Micah's parents (Nana and Papa), and two of Eli's cousins: Arieanna and Brendon. We stayed in a nice little cabin in Keystone, near Breckenridge. While there we went paddle boating, kayaking, biking, hiking, shopping, and lost of other fun activities! Eli was a great traveller and did well on the plane and all of the hours in the car. He learned some new things on the trip: 1. Ducks say "quack quack" 2. How to climb up the stairs 3. How to point his finger at mommy and daddy and say "NO!" That's been fun :) Bethany and Eli are getting ready for trip #2 next week as we will head to Ohio. More pictures to come... The month of May seemed to just fly by! We were very busy with many activities this month. We went on a camping trip to Christopher Creek with some friends from church, the Maire's and the Pohl's. We had a great time hanging out with our friends up in the pine trees, and Eli enjoyed scooting all around the forest floor trying to eat sticks. Eli had his 15-month check-up which went really well. He still weighs the same as he did at 12 months (24 lbs), but has grown to 32 inches, so he is thinning out a bit. Dr. Kipp isn't worried that Eli is not walking yet... after all, he has pretty much done everything else a little late in regards to movement. This past month he has progressed in leaps and bounds though, as he is finally pulling himself up and can stand for a few seconds alone. He has also started walking holding our hands, which is something he refused to do previously. My guess is that he'll be well on his way to the walking world within the next 2-3 months. :) We had a great time at the park a couple weeks ago visiting with our friends, Matt, Kristin and William Kalcevich from Baton Rouge. Eli is sad that William doesn't live closer because he thinks they could be best buds! Other than all of that, we are gearing up for a very busy month of June with lost of fun travels planned... including Eli's first plane trip!! His parents are a little nervous as to his reaction of being cooped up in a plane, but hopefully he will do just fine. The new portable DVD player and lots of Baby Einstein and Sesame Videos should help do the trick :) Last Saturday Micah's cousin Deena was married, and we had a great time attending her beautiful wedding. Eli's favorite part was of course the reception where he crawled, scooted, and boogied out on the dance floor. Click here to see a video clip of his fancy moves! We will be taking Eli on his first camping trip this coming weekend... he had a great time crawling around in the tent that set up in the backyard to make sure we had all of the parts :) It will be fun!! We had a fun, but BUSY Easter weekend! On Saturday we went out to lunch with Eli's Nana and Papa, Uncle Steve & Aunt Jenny, and cousing Emmie. Eli and Emmie had a great time crawling around the patio of Serrano's :) On Easter Sunday Eli wore his "big boy" suit that Nana bought him. He is going to get double use out of it when he wears it to Deena's wedding next weekend. He looked so grown up and very handsome! Eli's Grandma and Grandpa joined us at our church on Sunday morning and they helped watch Eli while his mom and dad tended to their church duties. Grandma even took Eli into the little petting zoo! Such fun! In the evening, daddy was very tired so mommy and Eli went to a picnic with the International Bible Fellowship (the church grandpa pastors) which was very fun. Eli enjoyed sitting in on the children's story... though he didn't pay much attention, he still opened his eggs right on cue when grandpa told him to. He liked swinging at the playground the best. Eli is almost 14 months and has finally decided that crawling is something he wants to do. He started last week perfecting the "army crawl" and then quickly transitioned into the upright crawling within the past couple of days. Once in awhile he will still make us laugh with his expert rolling techniques, but he now prefers the crawling almost all of the time. He is also beginning to use his legs much more than he used to, attempting to pull himself up on everything though he's still pretty unsteady in the standing position. Soon enough right? We are looking forward to celebrating Eli's second Easter next Sunday. It's hard to believe that he is now celebrating the holidays for a second time already! I don't know that he's quite ready to understand the concept of hunting for eggs, but I'm sure he would enjoy doing it anyway. :) Eli loves going to the parks in our neighborhood. Last Saturday the weather was really nice so mom and dad took him to the big park. He went down the little slide ALL BY HIMSELF! What a big boy! He also swung with dad on the big swing and although his little body was tense the entire time, he was laughing nonstop. He's definitely a kid who enjoys thrills! We had a fun family vacation in Sedona for the past few days. Eli was such a great traveler and entertained us the whole time. He enjoyed riding around in the baby backpack (even though he barely fits) during our Oak Creek hike, as well as throwing leaves into the creek and watching them float away. Daddy showed him that trick. Every time we went to a restaurant Eli was the center of attention by all who sat near us. He knows how to wave, smile and turn on the charm for complete strangers. At one point we stopped at the grocery store and a guy we passed in the aisle told us that we should enter Eli into a contest because he's so cute! We agree about the cute part, but I don't think we'll be entering any contests :) Eli's favorite activity in Sedona was rolling off the sides of the bed in our hotel room with daddy catching him. He laughed and laughed! Mom was worried Eli wouldn't sleep well, but he actually did great... except for getting up very early both mornings! But, that's okay! Eli is looking forward to his second "trip" this week, where he'll be spending the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's while mommy and daddy take the youth group to California. Well Eli had another trip to the ER this past week. He went to see Dr. Kipp for his 1-year check up and immunizations and we think the shots caused him to become really sick. He was already fighting a cough, so the shots probably pushed him over the edge. He's never had a reaction to the shots before, but the doctor explained that at 1-year they get the MMR and Chicken Pox vaccine, which are both live viruses and can cause illness. Anyway, by the time evening rolled around Eli's temp. was up over 103 degrees, so we were instructed to take him in. We were there ALL night long as it was very busy, and they kept him until his fever went down. He also had a chest x-ray, which thankfully came back clear so it appears he just came down with a virus or something. He is starting to feel better now, just still trying to get over his nasty cough. Poor baby! Despite not feeling well, he thoroughly enjoyed riding around Target in a cart yesterday and waving "bu-bu" to everyone that we passed! Ha! At 1-year-old Eli is 30 inches long and weighs 25 pounds :) He is definitely a big guy! However, he gained the least amount of weight in the past 3 months then he has ever gained between doctor's visits previously. I guess he starting to stretch out. When he stands up he's almost half my height! He is wearing clothing sizes 18-24 months. He still fits into a few 12 month items, but not too many. Eli had a wonderful time on his first birthday! He woke up so excited that morning... it was as if he knew it was his birthday. He had a relaxing morning playing with mom and dad and opening up his new piggy bank that we gave him. He enjoyed shaking it and hearing the coins rattle, although it will be awhile before he actually understands that his more uses than serving as a musical instrument. Then we celebrated his birthday with family and friends at an afternoon party at our house. We had a great time seeing everyone, and Eli did very well considering he doesn't always like a crowd. He enjoyed opening all of his nice gifts and of course, eating his birthday cake! Though he focused on eating the frosting. It was a great day and now his parents just have to get used to the fact that they have a 1-year-old!
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From a Mother's Heart...
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