Hey! Is that a homeless man running down Pyramid?

So, randomly.

No really.

Randomly.

We were driving home from my Yaya's and saw a guy with a shirt that Joe has running down the highway.

Except, upon further scrutinizing it wasn't just a guy... who looked rather homeless...

But yes.

My husband.

And I think this really is the reason I love him.

He just decided he was going to run home from work.

12 miles.

Oh Forrest how I love you.

And I love God even more for protecting you from all the crazy DRIVERS ON THE HIGHWAY.

Like really, who just runs down the highway?

GQ

Our GQ lil' fellow all set for church....

The best shot we could get of all three. :)

Halloween Festivities

This year we laid low on the Halloween happenings because 1. We have a newborn and 2. Events usually turn out lame. Our ward trunk or treat was fun and then this "Autumn Festival" (Halloween event #2) made me want to play Rod Stewart's Roxanne on a recorder... I was not going to document this lameness, but I have a cute picture of all the girls, so I have to.

Also as a side note, we all went in the white maiden together (the van) and I realized we didn't have gas and it's the end of the month... so thanks Papa and Yaya for the gas! Otherwise we'd be running down Pyramid Hwy like homeless people (see above post). They also treated us to Eli's first movie!! Puss in Boots!! It was decent and Eli was awake the whole time, except the last 5 minutes... let me just say I love my nursing cover!!

Fashion Him Up...

Today we were playing with Elijah and Maria came up with a great idea... quote:

"Mommy, can we fashion baby Eli up and take pictures of him?"

Where My Papou was from....

Zakynthos Island, Greece

(picture found on pinterest.com)

Ummm.... time to visit the motha-land. ASAP.

Obsessed with Elijah

Many of us refer to Eli as "My...". For example, "My lil' milker." "My pouliki" "My lil' man man." "My tank tank" "My miko man" etc.

But Maria quickly corrects, "He's NOT yours... he's OURS."

(I think she's a bit possesive of him... seeing as she gives him kisses every 2-5 seconds)

Adorable lil' tiger.

I could just eat him.

The thinker.

Ummm really. It doesn't get cuter.

Dinner!

What a treat!! Christina did a wonderful job cooking her very first dinner! She browned the meat, boiled the pasta and voila! We had the best spaghetti EVER!! Maria said, "It's even better than Red Robins!!"

I was breastfeeding the baby and Christina offered to cook, so I thought... why not? I took her up on it and was very proud of her accomplishment! The only thing I did was drain the pasta. She timed it, stirred, poured, watched and then dished everyone up.

Also, on a Christina note... she is over halfway done with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. She is also reading a werewolf book from the school library AND just finished George's Marvelous Medicine. Talk about a book addict.

Pre-Halloween Picture Overload!!

Eli's photo shoot wasn't really working for him.... we decided not to torture him. Maria stacks it up to he just really doesn't want to be a pirate.

100% all princess.

Christina surprisingly chose to be a witch. Thanks Yaya and Papa for the hat and Maria's tiara!! To the rescue always!! Come to find out Christina's best friend Lily also was going to be a witch. Too cute.

Do you love our first family photo and that Eli is hiding?

Tank... TANK!

He seriously makes the greatest faces. This was in response to talking about Governor Sandoval.

We had a 1 month check up because our doctor is just fabulous and wants to make sure we are as comfortable and reassured as possible. Well, we weighed him and he was 9 lbs 8 oz!!! In fact he was weighed twice because they couldn't believe it!! Just 2 weeks ago he was 7 lbs 11 oz. Needless to say, he is doing great!! Our sweet little Eli.

Ronja's Surprise 30th!

I couldn't believe I was able to keep this a secret. I'm just horrible when it comes to knowing something and not being able to share it. With that said, we were so excited to be invited to an awesome party that Grand Mammy Queency threw.

Ummm... gorgeous!

Amyra did a great job holding Elijah! She was super gentle and loving!

I really liked all the company. Not a surprise though, I mean, why wouldn't I like people Ramya likes? I am just the overweight white version of her. The food was amazing, the music-Shakira and Celine Dion was fantastic and the grand finale of a slide show presentation of Ramya through the years was possibly one of the happiest moments of my life. It was seriously just a great party. Not to mention that my husband was out back with all the Sri Lankan men chatting about where to find a whole goat to roast in Reno... And of course, Joe knew where to find one.

I think the very very best part of the party though was how much fun the kids had!! My girls were so excited to dress up and make cards for Ram. They ADORE her. They got along really well with all the kids and played outside. They were giggling and all smiles. It really was such a perfect evening!

Tank

This beautiful boy will be 1 month old in 2 days!! I realized I forgot to mention that our wonderful wonderful wonderful Pediatrician was checking him at the 2 week appointment and told us the hospital had mismeasured him!! He was actually 22" long!! She told us often times they are in a hurry and don't use the most accurate measuring tools. So here's to the NBA perhaps :)

Most of the time you can find him like this. Perhaps that's why he's up to 9 lbs!! And he must be growing in length because none of the 0-3 month sleepers fit him. We had to break out the 3-6 month so he could have room for his legs!

He's sleeping a good 4 hour chunk at night and then is up about every 2 hours at night.

Maria is obsessed with him. I need to get a video of her talking to him. It is too funny and I don't even know how to describe it other than as fantastic! Christina loves him too, but she is OK giving him space... unlike some others as pictured above.

He's our sweety pie. I've deemed him my little tank.

MUST DO Decorations

These were up Sept.1 because I was nesting. Then sweet Eli came and the girls insisted "he" wanted Halloween decorations. So up went these!!

I must admit, I do love the little 50 cent hand painted decorations from the thrift store and enjoying the colorfulness of candy.

Just because...

So adorable!! I love that Maria cannot stay away from him. She ALWAYS has to be rubbing his head or hands or asking to hold him or rubbing my arm while I feed him or giving him kisses while I feed him. She likes to be "close". And I love it!!

Mr. T Treat your mother right

It was my mother's birthday on the 6th. I wanted to do a thoughtful post, and decided this did her justice. This truly... is amazing just like you grand mammy. I cherish you and wish that someday we can re-enact this beautiful production in a home music video together. Happy Happy Birthday dearest mother.

FHE: Pumpkin Patch in Our Backyard!!

Well, the harvest arrived!! This little garden brought us, especially myself, lots of joy this year!

Maria's first pumpkin....

Then her 2nd.

Hey everyone, look crazy!!

The girls did most of the carving and all the scooping. We had a great time and they were super excited!! I carved Eli's pumpkin while daddy rocked him. Joe still needs to create his...