Guess Who's One?!

Saturday Eli turned one. Can you believe it?! I can't. I seriously feel like it was just last month that I was counting down the days until he was born, and now he is one. Any ways, do any of you remember this post, My Little Pirate, that I wrote last year? If you didn't get to read it last year then click the link and read away. And well, honestly, if you don't read it then you will have no idea why I'm about to share what I'm getting ready to share. Does that make any since folks? Okay so here it goes.....

So for all of you that told me that I would love Eli the same, and I must confess that I totally doubted you, and well you were right!!! I was so scared to bring him home and throw Isaac's life out of whack, but let me tell you, Eli is the greatest thing God has done for our family. He has been such an easy, content baby, well that is after we figured out all of his little belly/milk issues.

The day I found out I was having another boy, I laid on the ultrasound table and cried. And then prayed that if God was giving me another boy he had to be my calm in the storm. God heard me that day and gave me just that, He gave me Eli. And the bond that I was SO afraid I wouldn't have with him like I had with Isaac is there, it's different, but it's there. Isaac always loved on me, but he never really liked me to just sit and hold him unless he was sick or something. It always bugged me, but it was never to much of a big deal. Well let me tell you, Eli is my snuggle bug. When he was first born I would put Isaac down for his afternoon nap and seriously just sit and hold Eli up on my chest. And he was SO content laying there. Actually to this day he loves to be held close and snuggled. He is a true blessing and every time I look at him he smiles and confirms to me that he loves me and thinks I hung the moon just for him. I love him!!! I love his BIG blue eyes, crazy fuzzy hair, the way he wobbles like a penguin, the way he tackles Isaac, and most of all that God chose him for us to be our calmness in our storm.

Well anyways, enough mushiness and on to the good stuff. He went to the doctor's today and at one Eli is weighing in at a whooping 24.14 lbs. and is 31.75 inches tall. He has 10 teeth and two of those are his one year molars that came thru actually before his second tooth from the front two teeth. Eli loves to run around the house and giggle at himself. He loves to eat obviously, and his favorite foods are probably bananas and sweet peas. He has a special blankie just like his older brother. He will give you a high five or yummy kisses. And he is very inquisitive.

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Boy!!!!! We love you!!!

Seriously, What is this World Coming To?

Have any of you seen the new Burger King Kid's Meal commercial? If you haven't then watch it below. But if you have, what do you think about it? Me personally, I am completely shocked and sickened by it. I mean come on people you are selling to kids!!! And I surely don't want Isaac going around and singing "I like square butts..." The honest truth, I'm not sure I'll even purchase a kids meal from them because of that commercial. It is no wonder we have kids strutting their stuff at the age of 8. Good grief TV land people!!!

Who'd a Thunk

Saturday my wonderful friend Tara came over to help me do some spring cleaning of my backyard. While she was there she had a great saying she kept using, "Work smart, not hard." She had brilliant ideas on how to get rid of roots that I couldn't get up, she told me how to kill an ant mound with cornmeal, and then she informed me of something I had never known before. Did you know that every box of aluminum foil, plastic wrap, etc. has these little things you push in on each end of the box to lock in the roll?! I honestly never knew that!!! Anyways I was telling my wonderful neighbors yesterday and they looked at me like I was way out there. I guess it was just a blond moment for me. But quick question, how many of you knew that?

Eli is Walking!!

That is right!!! Eli is walking!!!! And well, he has been for about a week now his mom is just completely slacking on getting post up on this blog. And I believe I've got a good reason....Isaac and Eli are both on the move.....aghhh!!!! Well anyways it's really cute because he thinks he can keep up with the big kids. So here is the video. Enjoy it and by the way he is saying hi.

Ant's Can Swim.

Sorry but this is another peeing post. I can't help it. Seriously my child goes to the bathroom anywhere!!! I told Barry when we, I mean HE, started letting Isaac go outside on a bush that we were in BIG trouble, but I figured we could, I mean I could, keep it under control. Well....I was wrong....I guess. So yes it happened again, but it is hilarious.

Isaac went with Barry to his softball game the other night. I was supposed to go but got distracted at a friends house so I never made it. No worries there were other people there NOT playing so Isaac was supervised. Any ways, so Isaac was at the game and I guess he decided he had to pee. So he looks around and finds an ant mound and decides to go right there. A mom from our church saw him and tried to abruptly stop him, but he was not having it. He informed her that the ants wanted to swim and so he was giving them water to swim with. She was shocked that ants knew how to swim, but he convinced her other wise.

Shake What Your Mama Gave You

I love to listen to music and dance...especially in my car with Isaac. I put the radio on and when the beat comes on we shake it. And it is SO funny. So of course, did you actually think anything else, I recorded Isaac shaking what his mama gave him. Enjoy! And remember to get in your car and groove.

He Aims and He Scores

As most of you have read before, my little Isaac LOVES to pee in random places. And by random I mean ANYWHERE, but the toilet!!!! Well last week, once again, he amazed me. Here is how it went down....

Okay so my mom flew back up to the SC with me and the boys. When she woke up Thursday morning she was in a bit, well a lot, of pain. She was trying to pass a kidney stone. And so for any of you that have done that you know that it is worse than have 3 children at one time. Anyways, so she was in the midst of passing it and well, I'm sure she is loving me for sharing this, but she had to go potty in a cup so she could see if she had passed the little rock. Well with that detail I believe Isaac over heard our conversation about peeing in a cup, and well the child never ceases to amaze to me. I walked in to find him standing on his stool, leaning over the bathtub and aiming for a small shampoo bottle in the tub. The crazier part is he did really well.

A Family Camping Trip, Wedding and a Honeymoon

Well the SC Russell clan just went on a two week hiatus or a family vacation. Our trip started out with CAMPING!

You read it right folks... we- ME, Barry, Isaac and Eli....Did I say ME? Went camping!!!! Can you believe it? Well I did and boy was I a trooper. Just ask Barry. He told me he was very proud of me. Any ways enough of that, let me tell you just how awesome this campsite was.

We went to Hunting Island, SC. For those of you who have never heard of it, it is between Beaufort and Hilton Head and it is amazing. It is also known for some major Hollywood films too. Forest Gump's war scene's were filmed there and so were G.I. Jane's. The place is absolutely beautiful, peaceful, beautiful...did I say it is beautiful? It is!

Any ways back to our trip. We did an old fashioned style of camping, you know in a tent on the beach. I wasn't really sure what we needed to pack so I left the camping part of the trip up to Barry. He told me what to bring and I did. We got there on a Sunday afternoon and set up camp, started dinner, and enjoyed God's creation. The whole time we were setting up I was like "man I wish we'd brought this or that". And then I'd say, "next time we go I'm bringing this or that." But it was fun. Isaac enjoyed getting and staying dirty. Barry enjoyed showing me the outdoors. Eli, well he really didn't enjoy much of it at all, he had an allergic reaction to something and got hives, but he survived. I enjoyed it, but did decided on a few things that we will need next time or eventually if we continue this. My list is..

1. warm and cool clothes- the first night there it got into the 30's and we were NOT prepared. We ended up putting both boys in bed with us for us all to stay warm.


2. outdoor carpet- poor Eli had to stay in a Pack-n-Play the WHOLE time. If I had the carpet I could've put it down and put the play yard up for him to crawl around.


3. broom- I had to use a palm frawn to sweep out the tent. The nice people next to us saw me and let me use theirs.
   
4. cool decorative lights- all we had was campfire light or a lantern.


5. a Pop-Up- lots of people had those and it seemed a bit easier. You know the kitchen set up and the beds, but you still could open it up and feel like you were in a tent.

Well overall it was a blast. We did all the sight seeing stuff and really enjoyed one another's company. I'm pretty sure our fellow campers were ready to see us pack up and head out though (Eli cried most of the night...errrr..)

Check out ALL the pictures to the left under the Family Trip 2009.

After camping we headed to the good old Titusville, FL to drop off our wonderful children to grandparents, visit very quickly with family, do laundry, re-pack, and head a little north to St. Augustine. It was a short visit in Titusville, but me and Barry were SO looking forward to our best friend Chad Kane's wedding and of course a mini-honeymoon too.

Chad's wonderful parent graciously blessed us with 5 days and 4 nights at the Renaissance Resort at the World Golf Village. It was amazing! Barry and I had not been alone with no children, not our own or teenagers, since 2003 when our best friend Brandon got married. We so needed this little get-a-way. We got to sleep in, lay by the pool with no children to worry with, and watch whatever the heck we wanted to on T.V.!!! It was great. We also got to enjoy time with good old friends that we grew up with. Being with Chad and Brandon made us want to start an annual get together with them and their beautiful brides.

Anyways we really enjoyed the time we had, but the wedding was amazing too. Check out the pictures that I took in the Kane Wedding photo file to the left.

After the wedding Barry headed back to SC to take our students to Atlanta for a spring break mission trip. Check out his blog to hear about that. I drove south to pick up our boys and visit a few more days with family. Then me, the boys, and my mom flew back to SC. This was exciting for Isaac. He has flown several times, but this is the first time that he can remember and right now he loves planes and the idea of flying. He was really cute the whole time. And once we got way up in the air where you couldn't see any land below, he turns to us and says "look we are in outer space!!!! Look at the aliens!!!!" He had just gone to see Monsters vs. Aliens a couple days before so he was for sure they were after us. Eli on the other hand enjoyed the flight, but the ones of us traveling with him (everyone!) did not. He hates to be contained or held actually and he loves to hear his voice echo. So needless to say the two combined was not a good mix. I was SO ready to get off of the plane.

Overall our little vacation was much needed. We live, or well Barry lives, a very crazy life and schedule. So it was nice to not use cell phones or Internet for a few days and just completely depend on each other for enjoyment. The boys and I both needed that focus from our hero...daddy, babe, Barry.