35 Weeks!

This pregnancy has flown by...I was officially 35 weeks as of Friday! God has blessed me with a very normal pregnancy and so far I have only experienced the normal aches/pains, tiredness, and discomfort that is to be expected. Elijah keeps asking if he can take Baby Sister out of my belly now. He is very eager to be a big brother. We have decided, after a lot of prayer and conversation with my doctor, to have a repeat c-section, so we know that the baby will be born on May 5, just one short month away! We have a lot to do still to get ready, but my parents will be visiting next week for five days and will be a great help. I'm also looking forward to my baby girl shower that some friends from church will be throwing me next weekend. :)

As I mentioned, Elijah is very excited about becoming a big brother. He talks about Baby Sister a lot and asks plenty of questions. He thinks that we should name her "Babykins" and that she will like to sit on his lap when we ride in the car. :) It is always fun to hear his perspective on life and he keeps us laughing. Elijah is turning into quite the ham and will do almost anything if he gets a laugh out of someone. We enjoy seeing his personality grow and are getting anxious to meet Baby Sister! The next 4 weeks are going to fly by!

Here is a belly shot that so many people have been requesting. 35 weeks!

Elijah Turns 2!

Its March...not sure how that happened. Here is a brief look at our February:

We had Elijah's 2nd Birthday Party on February 1st. It was Sesame Street themed and to say that Elijah enjoyed his party would be an understatement. :)

The Birthday Boy!

Elijah's actual birthday is February 6th. That happened to be a Thursday so I made a dinner that he enjoys, Tim and I gave him some gifts from us, and we played a lot. We've had a 2 year old for almost a whole month now and it is amazing how grown up he seems. As Tim's mom put it once, Elijah doesn't talk in sentences any more, he talks in paragraphs. Oh how this is true! We can spend 15 minutes in the car and never hear a moment of silence! It is hilarious and sometimes puzzling to hear his unique thoughts and take on the world. He recently started asking "why?" And has taken a huge interest in dressing himself.

The pregnancy has been going well. I am about 30 weeks and have been getting an A+ at all of my check ups. Tim and I have been feeling very blessed lately with several opportunities to spend time with other families from church and feel like we are growing our circle of friends. Its such an encouragement to get to know families that have similar priorities to ours.

Our Christmas and New Year Celebrations

What happens after over a week of holiday celebrations? We find our apartment a complete mess, even though we have only slept here 5 out of the last 12 days. We find ourselves exhausted and fighting colds. And we find ourselves generally worn out and ready for our normal schedule again. But, we also find ourselves full of thankfulness for all of the many, many ways that God has blessed us. We find 182 new pictures on our camera and a fun new memory to go with each. And we find ourselves basking in the love we feel from our family and our God. We had three great Christmas celebrations and a fun New Year's Eve. Here are the highlights:

Christmas #1: The (Tim) Choronzy Family Christmas

The night before we left for MI we had our Christmas at home. We ordered out Applebee's for dinner (which was delicious), had Christmas cookies for dessert, and then opened our presents. Elijah was so fun to watch this year since he talks in sentences now. His reactions to his gifts were priceless. :)

Looking in his stocking.

Happy to get Snoopy toothbrushes.

Elijah's main gift from us was fish, which we gave him when we got back from MI. So far, he has only named one fish- the all gold one is Caillou.

Our little Christmas tree. :)

Christmas #2: The Balcom Family Christmas

Next we traveled to MI and spent 4 days, including Christmas day, at my parent's house. We had fun doing some of our favorite things to do in Richland, like eating at TenTen our favorite Chinese buffet and shopping with my mom, Molli and Autumn. On Christmas Eve we met my friend Jess for lunch and then Staci and her family came to spend the night at my parent's. We had a very exciting Christmas morning with all the cousins together. That evening we went to my grandparent's house for dinner with my extended family, which is always a hoot.

Eli & Aunt MoMo

A big present!

Holding hands with my cousin. :)

Yaya's new train set - thanks Nana & Papa!

Christmas # 3: The Choronzy Family Christmas

The Saturday after Christmas we were back in WI for Christmas with Tim's family. Elijah got a lot of fun presents and then we put him to bed and stayed up till after 1:00am with the adults opening presents. It was as memorable as ever, but boy were we tired afterward!

A car mat from Uncle Andy.

Wow!

"This a big present!"

Elijah helping empty the box.

Thanks Uncle Nate & Laura!

New Year's Eve

I actually forgot my camera for New Year's Eve so, sorry, there are no pictures. But, Elijah has the best grandparents, uncles, and aunts because seven adults played hide and go seek with him for at least 45 minutes. He had a blast walking around Grandma and Grandpa's house with a little lantern finding everyone. After Elijah went to bed, the adults played the Logo game which we never actually finished because midnight came and then we were all too tired to keep playing. Later New Year's day we were back at Tim's parents' for a lobster and steak dinner.

Whew! I am exhausted just giving you the highlights of our incredibly blessed holiday celebration. Now, I'm going to go clean our apartment...

It's A....

We had our ultrasound appointment on Monday and the baby received an A++! Elijah thought it was neat to see the baby "on the TV" again and Tim enjoyed his first look at our little one. By the time we left the doctor's office Elijah was the talk of the nurses. He is so charming, he makes friends literally everywhere we go! :) And now what you really want to hear.

We are very excited to announce...

Elijah was right! He is having a baby sister! Tim and I are thrilled to be able to experience having both a son and a daughter. It's been very exciting around our house knowing that we can now call the baby "she" or "her" and thinking of all the little girl things we get to buy. :)


Here's a  few more pictures of our little charmer.

We are getting very excited about Christmas.

Elijah needs to have all of his friends to help him sleep. :)

Feeling Settled

These past few months have really flown by! We are enjoying settling into our life here in Wisconsin. Tim is enjoying his job and all the perks that come with it - like playing with knives, discussing survival techniques and weekend trips to the trailer to test gear. We are all enjoying getting involved in church and making friendships there. I have been helping in Elijah's nursery and attending women's Bible study once a week. Tim has been volunteering with the Jr. High youth group. And Elijah loves going to church so he can play with his friends. He talks about nursery a lot and sings the songs that he learns there.

Elijah has grown and changed so much since we have moved to WI. He has a lot of energy and loves to run around and sing songs. He is talking in 4 to 5 word sentences and blowing us away daily with how smart and observant he is. Elijah is also the funniest kid I've ever met. We are never short on laughter in this house.

Our biggest excitement recently is that we are expecting baby number two in May! Elijah is thrilled to be a big brother and convinced that he will have a baby sister. We find out the gender next week so we will know if he is right! The pregnancy has made it a bit more difficult to adjust to our move, but we are happy that we finally feel settled and at peace that we are where God wants us. He is doing some exciting things in our family!

Elijah and Grandma on Thanksgiving.

Watching a family favorite, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Our living room all decorated for Christmas.

Kitchen.

Dining room.

Our stocking are hung in the hallway with care. :)

Our Travels... Part One

We have been back for almost a week now from our vacation. The first part was spent in Wisconsin with Tim's family. Tim spent most of that time fishing and camping with his dad and brothers. Elijah and I had a blast staying back with Grandma. We went to the zoo, played in the yard, went shopping, had lunch at Culver's and read lots and lots of books. :)

At the NEW Zoo.

Feeding the giraffes with Grandma.

Playing in the yard.

Learning how to mow the grass.

From Wisconsin we made our way to Iowa for a week at Twin Lakes Bible Camp....

June??

How did it get to be June already? We have been keeping busy, as usual, with enjoying the great outdoors and doing as much together as a family as we can. Two weeks ago we spent a couple days house/cat sitting for our friends who live over by Detroit. We spent a day at the Detroit Zoo and, although the weather was cool, we enjoyed it very much! Elijah was a bit overwhelmed by the end of the day from all the new sights and sounds.

Elijah meets an alligator.

In the polar bear tunnel.

Seals!

Memorial Day was cold and wet here so we ended up going with my parents and Elijah's cousin, Autumn, to the mall. We went to Build-A-Bear and Eli picked out a new friend. We weren't sure if he would care too much about his new bear once we got home, but he has been playing with him every day since! Eli also had a blast dipping his hand in the fountain at the food court. He kept giggling! :) He and I also rode the carousel, but Elijah wasn't too sure about it.

Carousel ride.

Eating dinner while wearing Autumn's bib.

Eli's new friend!

This week is going to be pretty quiet, but the following two weeks will be full to the brim! We are heading to Wisconsin to visit Tim's family on June 11. Tim is going to spend some time with his brothers backpacking and Eli and I will be spending time with his parents. The following week Tim has been asked to guest speak at Twin Lakes Bible Camp in Iowa. So on Father's Day we will drive from Wisconsin to Iowa and spend the following week at the camp. Tim will be speaking at their evening chapel each night to 4th - 6th graders. It should be a lot of fun! Pray for us, that Tim will be able to prepare fun and engaging lessons for the campers, that we will have safe travels,and  that we will be able to soak up and enjoy our family time together getting away from everyday life. There has definitely been a lot going on in our life right now, but we are continually seeing God provide for our financial, emotional, and physical needs!

Elijah Turns One!: The Party

The Saturday after Elijah's birthday we had a dog-gone good time at his dog themed birthday party! I chose a dog theme because it was one of the first animals Elijah could identify, and he always gets excited to see a doggy. :) It was really a special party because several of Tim's family members were able to come from Wisconsin for it. Elijah seemed to enjoy the attention, he has always been a people person, and he definitely enjoyed his cupcake!

I made some decorations, including a birthday banner,

dog balloons,

and dog cupcakes!

This was my first attempt at cake decorating and I think they turned out pretty well!

And, of course, there were lots and lots of presents!

Elijah just learned how to ride this bike all by himself today!

After opening his presents, we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Elijah and he hammed it up eating his cupcake. I knew it would be a good show because he has always enjoys his food. :)

You can't stop eating for pictures. :)

I'm really happy with the way we celebrated Elijah's first birthday. We made a lot of good memories and showed Eli how much he is loved. I read in a magazine once that a mom started a blog without the intention of ever having followers or readers, but just so that she and her family could look back on what everyday life was like. She wanted her kids to be able to see pictures and hear stories and thoughts on life when they were young. I would like to do a better job of that on here. This blog was started to keep near and far family and friends up to date on our every changing life, and it is doing just that. But I want to start recording more, posting more pictures and writing more thoughts on everyday life. For this blog to be a digital scrapbook of sorts. Hopefully someday adult Elijah will be able to look back at our blog and see how many people have loved on him over the years. :)

Elijah Turns One!: The Birthday

We have been very busy celebrating at our house...Elijah had his first birthday!!!! Since his birthday was on a Wednesday, we had a fun day on his actual birthday and then had his party on Saturday.

On his actual birthday, Elijah and I went to story time at our library like we usually do on Wednesday mornings. Elijah received his first birthday card from a little friend of his who is only 20 days younger than him. It is always fun to watch the two boys enjoy the stories and singing together. At the end, the whole group sang happy birthday to Elijah, and I think he may have sort of realized they were singing to him. :) That afternoon we skyped with my sister and her kids so they could all sing happy birthday to Eli.

Nana & Papa gave Elijah this couch for his birthday. :)

For his special birthday snack Elijah had a powdered donut, which he thoroughly enjoyed. And I thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures of it. We were still talking to my sister and Elijah was being very silly.

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Daddy came home a bit later and we gave Elijah his presents. We decided I would make his gifts since I have been improving my crochet and sewing skills a lot recently. I crocheted a football hat, made a Packer blanket with Elijah's name on it, and made a felt quiet time book.

For dinner we took Elijah to McDonald's, but we forgot the camera. Overall I think it was a pretty good first birthday. :) Stay tuned for Part 2 of Elijah Turns One!: The Party