Our family photoshoot

For those interested in checking it out, please visit http://www.sweetcheeksphotography.net/ and go to Client Gallery.  Password is "Eli".  It's going to be so tough to choose among all the great photos of both kiddos!

Eli slept through the night!!!

I feel so amazingly rested this morning!  Eli went to bed around 7:45 last night and did not wake up until 4 a.m. to eat ~ woo hoo!!!!!  He's still sleeping peacefully right now.  Makes for a very happy Mommy :)  I'm not crazy enough to believe this will recur often, but wow is it great when it happens!

A preview of our photo shoot

A couple of weeks ago, we took Eli for his "newborn" photo shoot at SweetCheeks Photography (http://www.sweetcheeksphotography.net/).  Okay, so he was almost 2 months at the time but we had a busy summer :)  Laura, the photographer, sent me the picture below this morning as a preview of what's to come . . . I cannot wait to see the rest!

Another Awesome Week!

It was another wonderful (and BUSY!) week in casa de Fisher :)  The week was off to a GREAT start on Monday when the two munchkins were kind enough to snuggle nicely for the camera before we headed to storytime at the library, where Alli suddenly decided she was more than willing to sit on the carpet by herself and follow all directions!!!

The week just got better from there . . . Eli has now decided that bathtime is loads of fun and he just chills while enjoying the warm water.

On Wednesday, we celebrated my birthday.  Don't bother asking how old, that truly is one of my best kept secrets ;-)  Those who know, do NOT even think of revealing!!!  Alli gave me the BEST present I could have asked for, a whole day without a single temper tantrum ~ woo hoo :)  She even let me leave the room at dance class.  This was huge as normally I am dancing with her!  How cute is our little ballerina???  This is the only picture I really got because once I was out of the room and she was having fun, I was not about to go back in to rock the boat.  You cannot tell, but she is twirling a ribbon :)

Here's a cute pic of Alli from that afternoon, showing off her new shirt from her pal Madison (Thank you!)

After dance class, we stopped by my folks to wish my dad a safe trip to WI (my gma is not doing so well).  Eli just adores Ducky Papa and gives him tons of gummy grins while chatting up a storm :)

That night, we went to church as it was the kick off for Wednesday meetings.  We all had a great time and both kids were on their best behavior.  I have to say, it was a very nice birthday!

The highlight of the week was definitely Alli starting preschool!  Her first class was today and she was soooooo excited to start. We decorated her bucket earlier in the week and all she talked about the whole week was going to school (burst her bubble a bit when she learned she would not be riding a school bus!)  I was nervous about how she would do but she loved it.  Didn't hurt that the first person she saw when she walked into class was Miss Kaitlyn (works in the nursery at church).  She loved coloring, playing babies, and getting creative with playdoh.  Story and snack time were big hits too!  She actually got upset when it was time to leave!!!  Here's hoping she continues to enjoy it so much :)

Our little school gal before class . . .

And after . . .

Guess I get a little long winded when I don't blog more often ~ oops!

Puyallup Fair Fun

We took the kiddos to the Puyallup Fair this afternoon after naps. This is one of our Fall favorites and decided it was time to introduce them to the joy of corn dogs and scones ;-) For the most part, it was a big hit! Alli enjoyed her scone, greasy pizza and ice cream cone. Eli, despite having gotten three shots earlier in the day, was pretty content the whole time and actually awake for much of it!!!

The rides were hit or miss. You would think from these pictures that she loved them but as soon as they started moving, she wanted off. Of course, as soon as she was off, she begged to go on them again ~ silly girl! After three rides, we said enough was enough and gave the rest of our tickets to a family standing in line to buy tickets. We told Alli that the rides needed to go night night (yes, we lied but it worked!)

As silly as it may sound, going to the Puyallup has always been one of my favorite things to do around my birthday and I was so excited to get to share it with my two kiddos tonight!

Alli's favorite part was definitely seeing all of the animals. The cows, goats and baby pigs were a hit!

E.Z. is living up to his name :)

Here's a shot of our sleeping little angel after his two month appointment this morning, where he received 3 shots :( OUCH! He is such a laid back little guy that after screaming for about 20 seconds, he was perfectly content to snuggle with me for a snack and then zonked. We refer to him as EZ E! Unlike Alli (our adorable little peanut who is 26 lbs and 36.5 inches!), Eli is quite the little porker and at 2 months, he is now . . .

11 lbs 15 oz and 22.5 inches

It was a great appointment and all is well with both kiddos. We need to continue working on Alli's eating but at least she is growing a little (1/2 a pound in the last 4 months) Guess we'll take what we can get :)

When shyness may be something more . . .

You either know, or have heard us mention, how shy Alli can be in many situations. Many have told us that this is just a phase or something she will outgrow, but in our hearts we have known it may be more than that. We wish all of you could see the outgoing, funny, sweet little girl we see all the time at home. Sadly, when she is outside the home or around non-family members, she completely clams up; unable to make eye contact or even speak above a whisper, if at all. It breaks our hearts that she begs us to take her to see her "friends" in the neighborhood but once she is around them, she is unable to speak or participate. Today, she told me that she wants to talk to her friends but is afraid and doesn't know why she cannot. That nearly brought me to tears! Garrett and I decided last night that we needed to get some professional help so today I made the scary call to Holly Ridge to have her evaluated. I spoke with the most wonderful caseworker who conducted the initial phone evaluation this morning. She decided that although Alli is right on target or ahead of her age in each developmental category, she needed to be evaluated for the social/personal interaction. We will begin with a three visit, in person evaluation and go from there. Praise God! Once again, we feel like we may be getting the help Alli needs. We are not looking for her to be a social butterfly, we just want to help her feel more comfortable in social settings. Please keep our peanut in your prayers . . .

Sleep!

Eli truly is the best little sleeper!!! The last few weeks, he's only been waking once or twice in the night to eat. To make it even better, he is quite efficient so he's only up for about 10 - 15 minutes. Last night was another great night ~ he went to bed at 8, woke at 3 and again at 7 to eat, going right back to sleep and he is still sleeping! I felt so refreshed after feeding him at 7 that I hopped on the treadmill for a half hour (my running is a bit pathetic at this point but you have to start somewhere right?!?!) Life is good :)

Our Little Ballerina

Alli started ballet and tap class this morning at Just 4 Kicks and, for the most part, it was a huge success. She needed a little help from Mommy at times but otherwise participated well and had a great time, as you can see from this photo taken after class. She told me that she cannot wait until next week to go dancing again. When G got home this evening, she showed him some of her new moves ;-) As you can see from the photos, she looks adorable in her little leotard!

Here she was with Miss Jessica (one of her teachers) practicing walking on her heels in her tap shoes . . . How cute is she in this outfit???

At the end of class, Ms. Tonya gave each little one a sticker ~ Alli thought this was VERY cool!

Our Magical Disney Vacation

We arrived home this evening from our wonderful trip to Disneyland, where we enjoyed 90 degree, sunny weather while swimming and exploring the happiest place on earth :) Alli had a blast and Eli was a trooper. We could not have asked for a better vacation, just maybe a longer one! Here are a couple shots of the highlights . . . We promise to update more later but we are all a bit exhausted this evening and ready for a good night's sleep.

Waiting for the Disneyland Express . . . we were all very excited to leave LAX and head to the hotel for an afternoon of exploring and swimming :)

Here's G sporting Alli's Mickey Ears right after we checked into the Disneyland Hotel ~ we had an amazing 2 bedroom suite that was PERFECT!!!

We had a great time swimming in the Neverland pool!

Ready to leave the hotel for our first day at the park . . . we were all very excited!

Eli managed to stay awake for a couple photo ops at the park ;-)

Meeting the characters was Alli's favorite part ~ as she said: "All my friends are here!"

One of the best parts of the trip was meeting up with "our" Johnsons :) We had the BEST time with them (miss you guys already!)

We took over 500 pictures so these are just a few of our highlights. We will make a slideshow of the vacation and the kiddos will update their blogs with their favorite memories this week . . . stay tuned!

A little reminder to enjoy life . . .

I recently received the following email and it really hit home for me. G and I are always commenting that we are so tired of feeling like life will be great when (fill in the blank). Life is great NOW!!! After all, this picture tells me that we have everything we need to make us happy . . .

We just need to remember that and learn to enjoy everything rather than always looking toward the future. We realized recently that we must not be enjoying the moment as Alli's favorite phrase these days is "maybe later" Well, who knows what will happen "later" I would rather be teaching her to "just do it" NOW. Thanks for letting me share!!!

A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

'This, - he said - isn't any ordinary package.'

He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

'She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on , was saving it for a special occasion.

Well, I guess this is it.

He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.

He turned to me and said: 'Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion'.

I still think those words changed my life.

Now I read more and clean less. I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.

I spend more time with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.

I no longer keep anything.

I use crystal glasses every day...

I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.

I don't save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to.

The words 'Someday...' and ' One Day...' are fading away from my dictionary.

If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see, listen or do it now....

I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell.

I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.

She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.

I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favourite food.

It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come..

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special. Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one...