Good Friends and a Little Rain

This past week was awesome! Two of our best friends, Jason and Allison, from Dallas came to visit us, with little Charlotte of course. It was wonderful to see them again. And I loved seeing Charlotte and Eliana play together. Eliana doesn't get much play time with other babies, so this was a treat. The other one would smile as big as can be when they saw the other one. Allison and I were pregnant at the same time. Our little girls are a little over two months apart. But don't let that fool you. Eliana towers over little Charlotte. Both, blessed with parents of completely different heights. We picked them up in Baltimore and headed to the harbor for lunch.



We had to do a little shopping the next day and decided to let the girls share the cart. Charlotte had to sit on Eliana a bit, but neither seemed to mind. It looks kind of funny though to only see Eliana's legs.


Bath time has been fun for these too. This was the first time Eliana has shared a tub. Charlotte was sweet and bought Eliana her very own duck tub. It was so sweet to see the two of them.


Thursday night it was off to the races! A friend of ours, Eddie is a horse trainer there and was gracious enough to let us sit in his box. It is a good thing I am not a gambler. I tend to just pick a number, without seeing the horse. Not a good betting strategy. Not that I know anything about horses. We also went outside to get a closer look. Eliana loved to watch them, although got a little spooked when the horses crossed the finish line right in front of us.


We were off to DC on Friday. This was our first trip on a subway. The weather forecast said that there was a chance of rain all day. Since it wasn't raining when we got off the subway we decided to start our day walking to the monuments.


First stop, Abe Lincoln way on the other side. The walk started out pretty, although a little overcast. And then a light mist. Still not bad, we can handle this. And then a little harder. Still bearable. And finally a down pour. We got out the umbrellas, covered the strollers and walked rather quickly past everything cool to see on the way to Lincoln. And if you have ever been there, there are A LOT of steps to see him. So here are two couples, lifting strollers up these steps. And did I mention, that our friend Jason, just had back surgery! Side note, we found the handicap ramp on the way down. We make it inside and are completely soaked. The babies seemed dry, but Eliana's pants were soaked on her bottom where the water pooled up. We decided to take a break. We changed the babies, fed the babies and tried to mentally prepare for the walk back. This is a happy Eliana and a very soaked daddy!


On the way back to the museums, we were able to get some rain ponchos to cover ourselves and the strollers. Both babies fell asleep! We were getting soaked and the babies apparently comfy cozy. Perfect! Although we later found out that the rain found its way through the top of our stroller, so Eliana's head and back were now wet. The rain soon stopped and the rest of the day was dry and fun for all!




"I'm going to eat your face." "Oh yeah, well I'm going to pull that frilly little bow off your head."


No, really these girls are BFFs! We wanted to get a cute picture of them together, but the bench was way more exciting. And for being out ALL day with food coming when we could get it, no naps, and wet blankets, these girls did great. Smiles on their faces all day. That is until we got into the car to head home. That is when you re-think having your baby out until 9:30pm.

The Smith Family goes to the Fair

The Jefferson County Fair was this week. Our church was handing out free sports bottles filled with water, along with free new testaments. There were countless people surprised by such a generous act, with no strings attached. Jason and I had the opportunity to hand bottles out tonight, with Eliana chillin' in her stroller. We also got to eat fair food. Gotta love fair food. Funnel cakes, yummy!



Eliana wasn't tall enough for any rides, even if we held her, so before handing out bottles, we took her to see the bunnies, chickens and roosters. It was like she was Snow White. The minute we walked over, the little bunny put its paws up to see Eliana.



Then it was off to see some cows. I actually expected her to be a little more excited to see all the animals. She was like "Yeah, whatever dad. I mean it's cool and all, but it's not a puppy. I like puppies."



"I have a dream. A dream for a brighter future for cows everywhere. Yes, some day... some day."

On the Move

Eliana Grace is on the move. She has went from rolling all over the room, rather quickly, to an army crawl and now she is up on all fours. I even find her in her crib now on hands and knees. Yesterday, the cat came into the living room and walked by her. With his back to her, she got up on hands and knees and with a look of excitement and determination, she went after him. It takes her a while, so he had time to run away. I call this picture, "I must eat my mommy!"


And this one is just because she is so pretty! Even with food all over her face!

Lovin' The Camera

Eliana loves the camera. Sometimes if I just want to get her attention, all I have to do is just pull out the camera and as soon as she sees it, she smiles and laughs. I couldn't decide which I liked best, so I am posting all of them. If you enlarge them, you can see two of her top teeth!

9 Months Old

Eliana Grace turned nine months old yesterday! So hard to believe. Another tooth decided to make its way to join the other three on top. She gets up on her hands and knees all the time, but has only learned to make one movement forward, then it's on to an army crawl. She is our big girl and our delight! She loves music and loves to dance to it when you stand her up. She also said the word "cat". I know it was an accident that it popped out when and how it did, but it all happened when I was feeding her breakfast. Our cat loves to lay under the high chair, just where Eliana can see him and be distracted by him. She was chatting away in her baby talk, when all of a sudden, she, without skipping a beat, glance down plainly said "cat" and then continued with the baby talk. Never a dull moment!

Yesterday we also had an opportunity to have a bbq with several couples, at a park about a mile from our house. It is amazing how God has surrounded us with awesome people. There were 8 couples, 18 kids and 3 puppies! It was so much fun. This was the first time Jason and I have been to that park. We decided to go more often, Eliana laughed really hard on the swing.

Three New Teeth?

Ummm, yep. Eliana has 3 new teeth on the top. The crazy thing is one of them has been there about a week and we never knew it! It has been a while since we have put our fingers in her mouth. With her bottom two, she had a consistent fever, drooling and a runny nose, no fussiness. With her top, nothing. No symptoms. No fussiness, no drooling, no runny nose, no fever, nothing. We had no clue. I was feeding her this morning and thought, "Self, you need to check her gums. Why not." And I was surprised
to find visible ridges for her front two and then the one to the left, all the way out and completely visible! I couldn't believe it. Three teeth we knew nothing about. I heard that the top hurt a lot more when they come out, so I have been trying to prepare myself for it. My baby has five teeth, what? Where has the time gone? She is also eating three different things at dinner now, two veggies and one fruit. She eats puffs, drinks juice...soon she will be going off to college! She hasn't really been sitting up well, because she sees something across the way and would rather roll to it, but the past two days she has really been sitting up and catching herself to remain stable. She has also been getting up on her knees, so crawling isn't far off. But in the mean time, she gets most places scooting on her head, yes, I said head. She lays on her back, arches her head all the way back where she can see what is behind her, puts her bottom in the air and pushes with her feet. I will have to get that one on video. But for now, here are a few pics..


Jason decided to create a new hairstyle during bath time. Nothing like a good faux hawk. She seemed to like it.




I do exist! Mothers don't seem to make it into many pictures. At least this one doesn't. Most of the time, I am the one grabbing the camera. The poor thing won't even know I was around. Notice her hair still in the faux hawk formation. I don't think her hair got brushed after bath time. Or is that normal for her? Her hair has been known to do some crazy things.

Pat the Bible

When we were at Hill Country Bible Church even the littlest baby was taught God's Word. They had a special song that they sang to them, called "Pat the Bible". Jason and I need to get the actual words to the song, but we have been incorporating our version into Eliana's nightly routine.


A while back, a book club that I was involved in read "Wrapped in Rain" by Charles Martin. I was inspired by the woman in this book. She was a strong, Godly woman. She was a servant in the home of a very mean man and she sacrificed so much to raise two young boys. Here is an excerpt:
"Miss Ella, why do you read to us? I don't understand half that stuff."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a brass engineer's plumb. "See, the engineers take this, hang it from a string, and that point, that place on earth where it hangs, becomes the plumb from which everything else is built or measured. Without that point, that place, there's no order to nothing. It's just chaos. The plumb is the starting point, the beginning and the end, the..."
Mutt broke in. "The alpha and omega?"
Miss Ella smiled. "Yes, honey." We jumped back in bed and she patted her Bible. "I'm trying to build you boys up straight..." She paused, thinking for a minute. "With strong walls, square corners, and able to stand when the storms come. But I can't do it without a plumb line."
Later, one of the boys recall Miss Ella reading a chapter a day to them. He said, "By the time I reached high school, Miss Ella said that we'd read through the bible five times."


Some would say that Eliana is too young to understand the Bible right now. There are times, as an adult, I feel I don't. But Jason and I believe the bible is living and active. God created her and knew her, before we did. So, we feel it is important to introduce her to the God we know, now. We bought her her first bible for Easter. And that is the bible we use to read to her at night. Hopefully this is a routine we won't break to soon.

Finger Foods!

Eliana has moved into the world of finger foods the past couple of weeks. We have started her on the new Gerber puffs. At first she didn't like the flavor, but now she gobbles them up! I read that usually when they start with the finger foods, the food is picked up with the thumb and index finger and then crammed into the mouth with the palm of their hand. And then they develop placing it in their mouth later. Eliana actually started out by placing it in her mouth with her fingers! I am so impressed with her! Each day we are more amazed by how much she is growing. She is the length of the changing pad!

She is getting so big!

Everyday I look at Eliana and notice how big she is getting. She is an amazing girl that I am so honored to raise. I look at her and see in her so many great things. She smiles and laughs all the time, so I know that she will be a fun person. She has Jason's calm nature, so I know that she will be patient with people. She is so sweet and loving, so I know that her big, loving heart will touch so many lives. I love this little girl!

Here are a few pics from a church bbq. Notice the sippy cup! She is still learning. It is a little heavy for her, but boy does she love the juice!

Just Because...