Happy Christmas!

I know, I'm really late updating this blog. We had a busy month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, for some reason I didn't take too many pictures to commemorate all the festivities. We had a lot of fun celebrating both holidays with our families in town.

We took a quick trip to Seattle for one night so that Dan and I could attend his work Holiday party. The Space Needle had a really cool Christmas tree on display in front:


Here is Elliott on Christmas Eve after opening his Holiday Popper, he liked the crowns, alot!:


On Christmas Morning he woke up to a new basketball hoop!!! He's very excited about it. Since the weather has been rainy and cold we still have it inside.


Christmas night at the Godley's, new Lego's!!


My pregnancy is going well. I had a cold for a while that was sort of a battle, but I think I'm finally over it! No real morning sickness or nausea to report. I'm just tired, but that could be because I always stay up too late reading and am woken at least once during the night by Elliott or to use the restroom. I definitely do have heartburn again. Thank goodness for Tums!

On December 30th we welcomed a new niece to our family, Pagie! Sarah and Paige are both doing really well. She is a tiny peanut and very snuggly. Elliott is barely interested in her. He touched her very nicely when we visited in the hospital and otherwise he stays away from her. However, he does talk about her ALL the time. He is very concerned with her feet - she needs shoes. He also says that he named her, smart kid chose the name Paige too. He told Dan and I,
"Don't poke Paige, poke Lauren". We talked a lot about not being mean and poking her, not sure why he chose Lauren to poke instead.

I'll try to be a bit better about posting on here. Maybe just a few short updates a week (or, one a week) will keep me going with it.

Big News

After a month long break, I'm back. It's hard to have the energy to blog right now. I usually only blog on our Mac, which Dan uses for work. So, the only time I have to blog is at night, and I'm tired then. So...that's what happens...nothing!

We have big news to share (if you haven't already see it on Facebook). We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting baby #2 in July! My official due date is 7/1, but that will most likely change. Elliott likes to say, "I be big bro'da". My sister, Sarah, is due in a few weeks with her 3rd little girl. I'm hoping that Elliott will be well aware of what a little baby is like by the time his sibling arrives.

I brought my camera to Thanksgiving, but didn't take any pictures. I've been lazy about picture taking recently and don't have any good ones to share. We are gearing up for Christmas around here. The house is decorated (mostly) and nearly all our presents are purchased! I'm quite proud of that last fact. This weekend is scheduled to be a busy one, so hopefully I can nap today with Elliott to prep for it. :)

2 Years Old!

Elliott turned 2 one week ago. We had a birthday party for him at our house on the 30th of October. We decided on a Halloween theme and all the kids wore costumes to the party. Dan created "Spooky Caves" in our basement with old refrigerator boxes and christmas lights. The kids loved the caves! They would all hang out back in the area Dan created to play in (our bedroom) and somehow the kids were able to access our closet through the boxes. My sister took pictures for us, which is the reason for the late post. Elliott got a ton of great presents and had a really good time. We are so glad we had all of our family and a few friends join us to celebrate with us.



Cousin Pic:


The next few are what it looks like to open presents with all these kids around. Elliott would open one present and forget about the rest. Thankfully he had many helpful cousins around to help open all the others.








Riding his favorite toy accessorized by his new favorite hat:


Can you believe he's already two? Remember when he came home from the hospital?

What we've been doing...

What to know what Elliott has been up to recently? Well, I decided that I'd try potty training him. I've read online that the "ideal" age for potty training is 22-24 months. So, we bought a potty, some candy as a prize and some stickers. Elliott could have either 2 Reese's Pieces or 1 sticker for going pee. It's amazing how that is a big incentive to a nearly 2 year old. He gets both if he goes poo -which has only happened 1 time so far. But, we are pretty good with going pee. He's comfortable with the sitting on the big potty (adult size) and he does pretty well. We are still working on warning me before he needs to go. Seeing him walking around in little undies is so cute!



Elliott got rain boots that he finally decided to like:


He has some boxer briefs for kids - it's hysterical! I have some pictures of that, but they were taken with my cell phone and the camera isn't very good.

Overall, I'm happy we are making forward progress :) But, what happened to my little baby? :(

Halloween Sneak Peak

I especially like the tummy hanging out :)

A Month Already?

First off, I'd like to apologize to those who do check on this blog, even if it's just semi-regularly. This month totally got away from me and I didn't even think about posting much.

That being said, let's see what Elliott has been up to:

Elliott is talking a lot now. Usually he likes to tell me who he likes. Amy and Papa are the most popular. Every now and again other names get thrown into the mix. He really likes Lauren's chickens. He asks Dan to take him on hikes. This means going to a local nature park, standing by the water and throwing rocks. That's heaven for him, he could do it for hours

He is now obsessed with Fire Trucks and driving Fire Trucks. We visited our friend Brad, who is a Fireman/Paramedic, at his station at the beginning of September. Now all Elliott talks about is Brad and Fire Trucks and how he wants to drive them....every day! I have a video of him talking about it. Check back later (unless it's already posted) to see it.


At the end of August Dan's Grandpa, Dale, passed away. We had a really nice week celebrating Dale's life with all of his family here in Portland. All of Dan's cousins were able to make it, except one who was about to have a baby. I think it's really great that everyone was able to be here to remember him and his life.

Dale and Elliott, Father's Day 2009:


Powell Family dinner at the Porter's:




Elliott wanting to play with the twins:


That's some serious coloring:

The last night everyone was in Portland we met at a local hotel for Pizza and cookies. One of Dan's cousins has twins, Hayden and Hunter. Elliott loved Hunter. For his part, Hunter was very patient with Elliott which was pretty good for a 7 year old. In order to keep the kids busy we let them draw on the white board in the conference room:

Hayden, Hunter & Elliott


Elliott liked to be traced:


Bryan gave Elliott his first tattoo (now E wants to draw on himself, thanks...)


Wait...there's more

Elliott also likes to be a helper in the kitchen. Sometimes it works out well. He helped me make cookies in August and this past week he helped turn the crank to make applesauce:







Okay, I think that's all. Long posts happen when I only update once a month!

Wow

Is it okay to brag for a minute? Just now Elliott and Dan were walking out the front door. Elliott looks down at our welcome mat and says, "E". I looked at Dan and said, "did he just say E??" Then he says, "Two E". We asked him to point the E's out for us and he did! I don't even know where he learned that!!

I have lots of pictures to post on here. It's been a busy last week and we haven't had a ton of extra time to try to blog. Check back in a bit and hopefully there will be more pics to look at.