Our Promise to Eliana

We are excited to announce that after many years of prayers, tears and fears that Jason and I were able to participate in the Child & Parent dedication at our church, with our beautiful blessing, Eliana Grace, on April 13, 2008. We committed to raise her according to God's word and for His purpose. We promised to share Christ with her and call her to follow us as we follow Christ. The life verse that we chose for her was Romans 12:12, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Thankfully, she was a gem, she decided that she didn't want to eat that morning before church. I was a little panicked, this would mean that she would be going a long time without food and that she would decide that the time to eat was during the dedication. Luckily that wasn't the case and she did great. Although, Jason and I could hear her little tummy growling.

That's so funny!

I just had to post this conversation between two best buddies.


Charlotte: That is soooo funny! Totally cracks me up! My belly hurts! I think I might pee my pants!
Eliana: Ummmm... that is so not that funny.


Eliana: Now that's funny! Isn't that funny...gotta admit that is funny? I KNOW I just peed my pants!
Charlotte: Yeah, whatever...


Eliana: Good times.
Charlotte: Yeah, good times.


And this is totally a random picture of the two of them watching a movie. You can totally tell that a few years from now, Charlotte will be like "I'm bored with this already, do we have to watch it?" and Eliana will be like "Shhhhh...this is getting good." Eliana let Charlotte borrow her bouncy, but still kept a close hand on it just in case Charlotte wanted to take off with it.

Parent & Child Dedication

Sunday we had our parent and child dedication at church. It was an exciting time for us. Even though we always new that we were going to raise Eliana up in a Christian home, it was fun and exciting to have the formal dedication at church with our friends. Although interesting too, Eliana decided that she didn't want to eat that morning, and I just knew that it would hit her that in her head I was starving her, right when we were supposed to be in front of the whole church. She did great! We did hear her little belly growl!

Our Vintage Baby

These are some pictures we took over the weekend. We are excited to be celebrating her baby dedication this next Sunday and wanted to get a few pictures of her in her dress. It is crazy to see how much she has changed. She is our precious little beauty!

It's All About Perspective

Eliana is growing more and more each day. It is amazing to see her develop physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is fun to interact with her during her different activities during the day (movie time, tummy time, reading time, eating time, and more). We are so blessed to be stewards of the precious little girl. She definitely gives us perspective on life, just as we are trying to instill perspective into her life spiritually.

Pushing up during tummy time...


Smiling after tummy time...


Watching her Baby Einstein movie...


Still watching her movie...


Making her lips an impenetrable fortress at the end of eating time...

Dallas Blooms at the Dallas Arboretum

This was a special trip for us. Jason and I got married at the Dallas Arboretum in the fall of '99. And to go back now with a little one was so special. I tried telling her the whole story of "this is where we got married, and this is where the reception was , and this is where mommy got bridal pictures..." I am not sure she was listening, but she is pretty smart, so I am sure she will remember all of it. And boy was it hot and muggy! Our trip got cut short, but we still managed to take a few pictures and enjoy some really pretty flowers.






This is the path from our wedding to our reception. To think that almost 9 years ago we were shaking the hands of our guests on this same path and today I am holding a baby.

Daddy time... I love to see her little head on his shoulder. She is such a daddy's girl too!

Pooped and hot... She came to the arboretum in a dress and a bow and left in just a diaper.

Car ride home, not so pooped... I was holding the camera over her head from the front seat. She was cracking up!


And if walking around the arboretum wasn't enough, we added a walk around the neighborhood!

Eliana's First Easter

Our gift from God celebrated her first Easter today! She got to wear a pink bow on her head for the first time and got her first full Bible with her name on it. She seemed to like wearing her dress, although it seems that she likes to eat it not just wear it (see picture below). We are so blessed for the gifts that God has given to us. First, His Son, Jesus, who died and rose again to give us eternal life. Then, Eliana Grace, who is the answer to our prayers. We have a lot to celebrate this Easter.

Her first Easter dress . . .


Happy Easter baby . . .


Sleepy Easter baby, before dad got her up from her nap. She was chewing on her dress, it was soaked!

Sittin' Pretty

My name is Eliana Grace Smith and I have been helmet-free for one day!





Eliana would like to send a shout out to her friend, Charlotte Reagan, who let her borrow her bumbo seat today.

It's a GOOD Friday!

Off with the helmet, on with some cool shades! 


This is Eliana's first day without her helmet and she is ready to accessorize! We are so excited to be able to kiss her all over her head. We are so thankful for the DocBand and our baby's new head. This is Eliana before her last sleep in the helmet.

Mugshot

Excuse me Miss, have you been drinking (milk that is)? This would make an excellent mugshot of little Eliana, although she will never need one. Granted this is just after she ate dinner, took her helmet off, and was getting ready for a bath. Even in this disheveled state, she is still adorable.

Video Time with Some Friends

Eliana enjoys her videos (Baby Einstein and Baby Faith) tremendously, maybe a little too much! Here you see her hanging with some of her friends, Mr. Parrot and Luv Bear. It is amazing how she responds to the videos, specifically laughing at the puppets and little kids smiling when they would come on the screen. It is fun to see her enjoying the little things in life.

Three Fingers are Better than One Thumb

Eliana learned pretty early on to find her mouth with her hand (reference the very first picture of her on this blog--her sonogram). She has moved progressively from the thumb to the index finger and now she has decided that all the fingers work just fine. As you can tell she is very proud of herself and her ability to stuff her fingers in her mouth (this will be something we will have to work on soon). But isn't she sooooooo cute!

Garage Sale

Every morning it is a joy to walk into Eliana's room and see her smile and stretch as she is waking up. She is growing fast and we just want to soak up every moment. In skiing, when someone wipes out going down the slopes and their skis, poles, gloves, etc. spread far and wide it's called a "Garage Sale." Well, I believe that when you go to get you daughter up in the morning only to find one sock toward the top of the bed, one toward the bottom, her sleep positioner kicked off at a 45 degree angle, her at the opposite 45 degree angle, and her pajamas trying to work their way off you have a "Garage Sale." Fortunately, she hasn't figure out how to get her diaper off by herself, yet. I guess it's time to get rid of the sleep positioner!

What an E-Venture!

Eliana went to her first Easter egg hunt. And besides the fact that it was really cold and we missed the hunt, she still managed to walk away with a few eggs in her basket.






But I think she would rather eat the basket. More candy for mommy!



All smiles 'cause she knows if mommy eats the candy, she will get some too!

Eliana's Opinion of Sesame Street

She either had a lot to say to the puppets, or maybe she was trying to say, "Why am I being smothered by all these toys!" I had to be a little stealth with the camera, because the performance is placed on pause when she sees the camera recording her. She also has a lot to tell her mobile, yesterday she woke up an hour early from her nap, but spent the time chatting with her bugs.



Eliana having fun in her playard. She loves to watch her blinking star!

And The Sleep Position Is....

You never know what you may find when you go get Eliana up for the morning. I don't know how she does it, but she makes it to the bottom of the bed. And her little leg made its way out too!