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

Looking Back

As Elijah quickly approaches his first birthday (16 days....how did this happen??), I have been thinking a lot about how much growing he has done. Elijah seems so old lately, and he still has his whole life ahead of him! A few weeks ago, I finally figured out how to get pictures off of my phone and on to the computer. I know, this is common knowledge for most, but I don't have a "smart" phone so it took some work. Anyway, I thought I would share a bunch with everyone since they date back about a year to just before Elijah was born! Enjoy! I know I did!

Pouting during ultrasound one week before he was born.

Shortly after coming home.

What?

Cow baby :)

Disco Eli!

Mr. Cuddles!!

Learning to hold onto toys.

So cute and so bald. :)

First ride on Sandy at Meijer.

Such a big boy!

We are thankful for you Elijah!!

Christmas 2012

We had a blast celebrating Christmas this year! Having your own child brings back some of the excitement of Christmas that isn't always there as an adult. Tim and I were excited to share our Christmas traditions with Elijah, and we were able to pack in a lot!

Our "Christmas Marathon" started on the Friday before Christmas with a gift exchange between Tim, Elijah, and myself. Elijah jumped right into ripping the wrapping paper and seemed to enjoy his gifts. One item in his stocking, a Toy Story bath book, he kept in one hand while he unwrapped and played with every other gift. One of our gifts to Elijah was a pop up tent and tunnel to crawl through. We knew it was a hit when Eli spent the rest of the evening giggling while he and Daddy climbed through the tunnel.

Elijah, the tree, and PRESENTS!

What's in my stocking??

Tim really likes the shirt I bought him.

Next came Christmas with my, Kelli's, family on Saturday. Both of my sisters and their families were able to be there along with my parents. It was fun to see all the kids' excitement and Elijah always enjoys playing with his cousins. One classic moment came when we were trying to take a picture of all five cousins on the couch. Elijah was sitting next to his cousin who is 10 months older than him and she looked over at him and then poked him in the eye! Needless to say, Elijah was not into picture taking after that, but his eye made a full recovery. :)

Playing with his farm from Nana & Papa.

Daddy and Eli in his new tent.

On Sunday we left for Wisconsin. We had a very smooth trip getting there. No snow or traffic and one happy baby made for two happy parents! We always try to make a few long stops where we can do something fun and this trip was no exception. We tried to take a new picture of Elijah at Cabella's with the same polar bear that made him cry in this picture when he was a few months old. Our plan was for Eli to point at the bear but, as you can see below, he kept pointing at himself instead. :) But, he isn't afraid anymore.

Being able to stay for a week in WI this time was really great. We were able to spend a lot of time with Tim's family, which was great for Elijah. He was able to get very comfortable with everyone and really enjoyed playing with his Grandma, Grandpa, uncles and aunts. Tim and I were able to go out on a date, do some shopping, eat at some yummy restaurants, and play games with the family. Tim even got to go skiing.

Playing video games for the first time.

Don't let this picture fool you, he loved his snowman bib.

Opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Bathrobes!

Playing with Uncle Andy on Christmas morning.

Reading with Aunt Diana & Uncle David.

Elijah loves Grandpa's fishies!

On our way home we stopped at Mars Cheese Castle because it is an actual castle now and had Elijah try on his first cheesehead!

All in all, we had a wonderful holiday. It's taking us a bit longer than usual to get going again after vacation because 2 days after we got back I got sick and was down for a day and a half with a fever and head cold. But, I am returning to health and am looking ahead to 2013!

10 Months!

Life sure has been exciting around the Choronzy house lately! Last weekend, Tim's parents came for a visit and we had a lot of fun swimming, shopping, and hanging out with them. Elijah always enjoys seeing his Grandma and Grandpa and I think they like seeing him too. :)

Grandma brought Eli this fuzzy snowsuit...even Elijah was laughing at himself!

On Monday, December 3, our new niece arrived! Autumn Renae arrived 2 weeks early in order to let her parents enjoy Christmas. :) She is teeny tiny, weighing 5lbs 12oz. Which is a huge difference compared to Elijah's 9lbs at birth! We all can't get over how tiny and precious she is.
 

Baby Autumn :)

The other big news is that Elijah is 10 months old today!! He is enjoying life and all it has to offer a 10 month old. I always list Eli's likes and dislikes at each month in his baby book. While I was doing that today, I found that I was having trouble coming up with very many things he doesn't like. We are thankful for that! We are loving how curious he is and it is so fun to watch him explore the world. He is very friendly and waves at everyone and everything. He enjoys eating in general, but some of his favorite foods are peas, bananas, Mum Mums, and noodles. He signs "more", "eat", and "all done" and often signs "eat" just to see if we will feed him! He keeps us laughing and enjoys laughing himself. He also always has a lot to say! We are proud parents of our loud, funny little boy!

Playing with Cool Whip in a baggie.

Elijah also enjoys rubbing food all over his head!

Yay! I'm 10 months old!

Surrounded by some of my favorite things.

I think Mommy's pretty funny!

So sleepy...this melts my heart!

Patiently Waiting...or at Least Trying To

There is a song by John Waller called "While I"m Waiting". Tim and I have both felt encouraged by this song at different points over the last few years, and God brought it to my mind again today. The chorus says:

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I think this is something that God has been pounding into my head. It is so important to not view our situation as "limbo" like I often describe it to people. But to recognize it as a time of waiting and an opportunity to serve, worship, and praise God now. We never run out of reasons to praise and worship God and he never stops giving us opportunities to show his love and serve him. As I write this, one of my daily opportunities to show God's love is crawling around on the floor in a pile of books. :) I must remember that even though we are in a state of waiting, our life is not on pause. I should be seeking out ways to serve and worship Him each day just as I would if we were in the place God has for us next.

And since life is never on pause, our little boy keeps getting bigger and bigger!

Eating a snack and watching the first snow fall.

Elijah was mesmerized by the falling snow.

He spends a lot of his time in the highchair these days. I'm thankful Eli is a good eater!

Every boy needs to know how to shoot a nerf gun!

We are getting excited for Christmas!!

Technical Difficulties

Technical difficulties have prevented me from posting lately because I prefer to write posts with pictures. The cord that connects our camera and video camera to the computer has gone missing, so I have a lot of pictures that are stuck on the camera. :( But since its been so long, I felt the need to keep the blog updated because now it is getting overwhelming at how much I could write about. Which, on top of how slow our computer is,and an active baby, adds to the list of reasons that will keep me procrastinating. So, no more excuses, here is a (non-comprehensive) list of what has been going on in our life.

- Tim is finishing week one of a two week roof project that he is helping a seminary friend with. Tim has been able to work several odd jobs along with substitute teaching since school started.

- We were able to spend several days with my aunt and uncle who were visiting from Texas. They had not yet met Elijah so it was fun to show him off. And I got to improve my sewing skills by helping my aunt sew for her online business: Heavenly Things for Angels on Earth

- Elijah is 8 months old (HOW did this happen??) and is army crawling, eating finger foods, drinking from a sippy cup and a straw, and is the most curious (and hungry) boy I have ever met.

- We have begun visiting churches in Grand Rapids in hopes to find one that we will attend once we move. We have been enjoying our visits and hope to find a church so we can begin to establish community before we get to Grand Rapids.

- Elijah has discovered the joys of sitting in a restaurant high chair. He loves to bang on the table and there almost always seems to be a baby girl sitting nearby to stare at. :) He also enjoys riding Sandie the Pony at Meijer and even used his cuteness on an innocent elderly man go get him to give Mommy pennies for a ride.

- We have made a few short trips with Elijah. At the end of August, Tim's parents were camping on Lake Michigan near South Haven so we spent a night out there. My mom and I have taken Elijah several times to Grand Rapids to visit my sister. Elijah LOVES his cousins and could spend the whole day watching them run around. :) He also likes a good visit to the library.