Happy 11 months Eli!!

My little boy is 11 months old today!!!! I just can't seem to wrap my head around that. Where have the past 11 months gone? They have gone by so fast. That means in just one month we will be celebrating his 1st birthday. I have thought about it for so long, but now it is so close. I actually have to start planning his party. I need to get his invitations out in the next few weeks. His birthday is going to be here before I know it. My little boy is growing up so fast, but he will always be my baby!

Eli on his 11 Month Birthday

Looking out the back window!!

Playing before bed!

Is it obvious that I love to take pictures of this little guy?

Two More Days of Christmas

Well Christmas is finally over for the Reger family. We had our last 2 family Christmas parties this weekend. On Saturday we went up to Fowler to have Christmas with my mom and on Sunday we went to Greenfield to have Christmas with my Dad. It was such a wonderful weekend. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families.

It can get a little crazy at my moms, my twin and I are the youngest of five kids and Eli is 12th out of the 14th grandchildren ranging from ages 16 to 5 weeks. We had a blast though. Eli was reaching for his grandma the entire time, it was so cute. Unfortunately he had to share his grandma. His cousins Maya and Lily who are 2 were also very attached to Grandma! Eli got some great gifts. My mom is so talented. She made each of her grandchildren a fleece blanket, so you can imagine how much sewing she has been doing. Eli also got a new taggie blanket which he loves!!!

Eli's new blankies

He loves to read with Daddy

Eli's new Purdue Dino from Grandma!

Sunday was just as much fun. Eli got more great toys. I don't know that we will ever need to buy him toys again! He also had fun playing with all of Grace, Isaac, Lily, and Luke's toys, especially Lily's new trampoline from Santa!

Eli with Papa and Lily

Playing with his new toy

Jumping on Lily's trampoline

Sisters with their baby boys!

Katie and Sunjay, Me and Eli, Tracy and Luke

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Reger's

Yesterday afternoon we went over to Mike's parents house for Christmas with them. It was a lot of fun. It is always great to spend time with family. Right now Eli and Madeleine are the only little ones and it was fun to watch them open their presents. Eli got so many toys and they are all so neat. Most of the toys I had never seen before. Eli's favorite(and my favorite too) is a VTech toy train. It is so neat. He can sit on it and ride or we can take the back off and he can walk behind it. It also has alphabet blocks with it. It is fun and educational. I am becoming very fond of VTech toys. After all the presents were opened I could tell that Eli was tired. I laid him down in my arms and he was asleep in no time. He ended up taking an hour nap in my arms. I didn't mind at all. :-) It was a wonderful day. We are very lucky to have such great families.

Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas tree

Eli and Grandma Reger

Riding in his train

He loves to stand and play

Opening presents is a tiring job!

Playing back at home, what a cheesy smile!!!

Eli's First Christmas!!!

Eli had a wonderful Christmas! It was better than I could have asked for. I was so excited I could hardly sleep. I seriously woke up every couple of hours and just checked the time. I heard Eli around 6:00 and just when I was about to go get him he got quiet again and I knew he was asleep. So I went back to sleep. Finally at a little after 7:00 I was wide awake so I got up and took the dogs outside and turned on all the Christmas lights downstairs and waited for Eli to wake up. At 7:45 I heard him stirring so I went in there to talk to him so he wouldn't go back to sleep. I couldn't believe that he slept so late. When I brought him downstairs Mike had the video camera going so that we could get his reaction. He noticed everything right away. I sat him on my lap in front of the presents and he just sat there looking back and forth. I could tell he didn't know what to think. It took a little while, but he finally reched out for the toys. We had his giraffe rocker and his Vtech Train Station already set up for him. We let him play with those for awhile before we moved on.

Santa May have went a little overboard this year, but I think he was just so excited that it was Eli's first Christmas and he seemed to find everything on sale!! :-)

He eventually noticed the presents behind him and reached for one. We tore a little piece of the paper for him and let him rip it more. When he got a piece off he was so excited and would shake it in the air. He was more excited about the paper then the present, until he saw what was in the present. So we helped him open each of his presents and let him look at them. We decided that we weren't going to open them all right away because we wanted to be able to get through all his presents and hopefully have time for a morning nap. There were a few presents that he was so excited about that we had to get them out right away. My favorite memory was when he open up his dinosaurs that Mike picked out for him. The front of the package was clear plastic so he could see all the dinaosaurs. As soon as the paper was off he started pointing at each dinosaur. He kept trying to get closer and closer that he eventually sat on the box. We had to get the dinosaurs out right away. :-)

Checking out his drum

He was able to get this one dinosaur out!

Reading with Daddy, I thought this was so sweet

He wanted to see his dinosaurs!!

He really wanted to see his dinosaurs!!

After we finished opening the presents we showed Eli his stocking. In his stocking he had a stuffed Panda. Now for the past few weeks Eli has been pointing at the stockings anytime he sees them. When he saw that there was something in it he was very interested in it. When we gave him his panda he got the biggest smile on his face and hugged it. He then leaned over and gave it a kiss. It was the sweetest thing.

Pointing at the Panda

After Eli got his Panda we had breakfast. It is a tradition that we have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning. I was so glad that Eli got to have cinnamon rolls with us!

After breakfast Eli took a morning nap and we got the rest of his toys out and put together. When he woke up from his nap he was very excited to play with his toys. I stood him up behind his walking toy and he just took off with it. He got the biggest smile while walking with it!

Christmas Eve

Today we celebrated Christmas with Mike's dad's side of the family. It is a tradition that we always get together on Christmas Eve. It is a lot of fun to see everyone. We don't get to see these people too often, even though they live less than an hour away. Eli did great. I helped him open his presents and then we let him play with the cars he got and he loved them. They were also a big hit with some of the cousins!

Checking out his new car

The Reger Great Grandchildren

Thomas, Jordan and Eli, Madeleine, Jake and Isaac, Hannah, Leah and Cole

I cannot believe that it is already Christmas. It has gotten here so quick. I am so excited for Eli to wake up and see his presents. I am more excited to see Eli on his first Christmas then I have ever been excited for a Christmas. Everything is better when you are a mommy. Everything is more meaningful. I can't wait to make memories.

Santa!!!

Today we went to see Santa!!! Yay! It was so exciting. Eli had fallen asleep on the way to the mall and we had to wake him up when we got there so I was a little worried about how he would do. When we got up there I showed Eli Santa and made sure to sound excited to see him. Eli was curious of him. I put Eli on Santa's lap and stood back to take a picture. Eli was so serious, he wouldn't crack a smile. I took some pictures and then went to get Eli. As I was walking up to get Eli, he was looking at Santa and Santa was looking at him. It was so cute. I was about to turn the camera back on to get a picture when I saw his little lip start to pucker up and I knew he needed his Mama. It was very sweet. I think the picture turned out great!!!

Eli and Santa 2008

Before and After

So after I saw Eli standing in his crib I quickly realized it was time to move the mattress down. So tonight Mike moved it down for me and I think it made quite the difference. :-) Now I won't be scared to put Eli in his crib awake, I don't think there is any way Eli can fall out of his bed now.

Before

After

Much Better!

Nap Time = Play Time :-)

I put Eli down for his usual afternoon nap today. I had the monitor on so that I could hear him. I could tell that he was playing so I went to check on him and this is what I found...

I knew it wouldn't be long before he was standing in his bed, but this was the first time (that I know of). He is getting so big!

The Yucky Yucky Flu

Sunday was a terrible day for me. I went to bed feeling absolutely fine and woke up at 2:30 with the flu. I felt terrible. I was up every half hour to 45 minutes getting sick and the rest of the night I was tossing and turning. I hate being sick. Sometime around 4:00 AM Mike woke up to me getting sick and came into the bathroom. I will give him some credit for asking if I was ok first, but then he followed that with "Are you pregnant?". Seriously that would be the worst morning sickness ever! I knew it was going to be a rough day. I felt terrible and I knew I wouldn't be able to take care of Eli without a lot of help. Mike took Eli to 9:00 mass by himself so that I could try and get some rest. This was the first time Mike has taken Eli anywhere by himself. Then grandma and grandpa Reger came over at 11:00 to help out for a few hours. While they were here Mike finished the rest of his homework he had and they fed and played with Eli. They left around 1:00 and I nursed Eli and tried to get him down for a nap. He played for a little bit in his bed and then started crying. When Mike went to check on him he found that he had spit up everywhere. So we had to change Eli and wash his sheets and blankets from his bed. While I had Eli on the changing table and Mike was starting the laundry I had to yell for Mike to come help with Eli because I was going to be sick again. After that we brought Eli downstairs with us and I rocked him to sleep and let him take his nap laying on my chest in the recliner. I think he had been missing his mommy all day and I know that I had been missing him all day. It was very hard to be upstairs feeling miserable and not being able to be downstairs with my baby, but I am so thankful that Mike was able to be with Eli and that his parents were able to come help out. Yesterday I felt better, but I was completey wiped out. I felt so weak. Today I am feeling almost back to myself.

But even though I was sick life still goes on around here. On Sunday Eli pulled himself to standing for the first time!!! He was playing on the floor with his daddy and he crawled over to his leap frog table and pulled himself right up. I was so excited!!! I knew he would love this table and it would be good for him, but Mike didn't think it would be. Mommy knows best! :-) He also learned to pull himself up to the stairs. He hasn't figured out how to climb them yet, but I am sure that won't be long. He has only been crawling for a week and a half and he his already getting himself into trouble. He is constantly crawling into the kitchen and last Friday Eli got on his knees by the dvd player and before I could get over there he had the dvd in his hand!! Oops!

They are so Beautiful!

Reggie and Maggie got groomed today and they look beautiful. They gave Reggie a bandana and Maggie got a very cute bow in her hair. I sure do love these westies!!! I really wanted to get a good picture of the 2 of them but trying to get both of them looking at me was difficult. Here is what I got:

Reggie and Maggie

Reggie

Maggie

Me and my babies

Eli's First Christmas Ornament

Today we got Eli's first Christmas Ornament. I had ordered it a few weeks ago and it finally came. I am so excited about it. It is absolutely perfect. I searched and searched for the perfect ornament for Eli to get from his mommy and daddy and as soon as I saw this one I knew it was the one. Mike wasn't as sure about it because we had to order it and it was more expensive with shipping so we had picked out a different one. That is the same one that Eli got from his Grandma and Grandpa. So it was meant to be. As soon as we realized that Eli already had the 2nd ornament I ordered this one for him. I love it!!!!!!! This is something that Eli will have for the rest of his life and he will be able to share it with his family someday! :-)

It says Baby's First Christmas across Santa's hat and it has Elijah Kent and his birthdate on the blanket. It is the perfect ornament for my baby boy!!

A Special Visit

Today was a very special day. Eli and I had some special visitors. Katie and Girish wanted to finish up their Christmas shopping so I got to watch Maya and Sunjay. It was so much fun. Sunjay is still so tiny. He is only 3 weeks old. I think he is the youngest baby I have ever watched (besides Eli of course). Sunjay was so good. He barely made a peep. He did have a very messy diaper that required me to change his outfit. His 0-3 month onesie was huge on him. :-) I also had Grace and Zack today. The only time that got a little crazy was when it was time to feed Sunjay. Zack was getting tired, but he won't put himself to sleep yet and he wouldn't let me rock him to sleep so I had to put him down to feed Sunjay. He cried for a little bit, but was fine. Maya kept wanting me to hold her, but between Sunjay, Eli and Zack I always seemed to have a baby. I did find some time to hold her before she went home. It was a fun day. :-)

Sunjay is so little!!

Maya Loves her baby brother!

Eli was very curious about baby Sunjay

He really just wanted the pacifier:-)

Nap Time???

Since Eli hasn't been feeling well he hasn't been able to go to sleep on his own. I think since he is so congested it is hard for him to breathe while laying down. So I have been rocking him to sleep, which I don't mind at all. Well today I thought Eli was feeling a little better so I tried laying him down for his morning nap. He fussed for a little bit and talked for a little bit and then he was quiet. He had been quiet for quite a few minutes so I went upstairs to check on my angel. This is what I found:

He heard the camera and turned around with the biggest smile on his face.

He then went back to playing with the aquarium.

I love this little boy so much!!! Needless to say after he saw his Mama nap time was over. I guess no morning nap today. Oh well this little angel slept in until 8:00 this morning.