The Smith Family Adventures

Elias is two months old today! He had his doctor appointment this morning. Here are his stats:

Weight: 13.0 pounds, 81 percentile

Height: 24.1 inches, 88 percentile

In general she said he is developmentally and physically and healthy boy!

Elias also got his first shots today. 🙁 He had three in the leg and one orally. He cried a lot but the nurse said that he actually did well compared to other babies. He even smiled at me 15 minutes after the shots while I was putting him in the car seat. I guess he is not scarred for life or anything.

Elias loves his Kick and Crawl Gym

Elias has been having lots of firsts and lots of fun adventures recently. We decided that it was time to get out the “Kick and Crawl Gym” that we were given as a shower gift from a friend at church. He enjoys watching the mobile so much that we thought he would enjoy this too. We were right! The Kick and Crawl is especially cool because he can kick a beach ball-like thing that hangs or reach for toys with his hands. Elias loves it! He “talks” so much when he is playing there. Lots of smiles too! He even smiled at himself in the mirror on one of the toys. It is also great because we can do tummy time with this as well. We are also excited for when he will be able to crawl through it as a tunnel!

First Snow

This week we also had our first snow of the season. A tiny little bit stuck to the ground so I bundled Elias in a nice warm sweater and blanket and took him out to experience it. The sweater was knitted just for Elias by someone at our church. It is amazing work and it fits well! After putting on the sweater, I set off with Elias. We just went for a walk around the neighborhood, and I’m not sure how much snow Elias actually saw from his stroller, but that wasn’t the point. He enjoyed hearing the crunching sound that the stroller made when it was pushed over the snow on the bridge. I am hoping to take Elias up to Mt. Hood sometime this winter in his little snowsuit to actually get out and sit in the snow. Or maybe we will be lucky and have a little more around here….

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we decided to have a mini photo shoot because yesterday also marked the day that Elias was 8 weeks old! It is so hard to believe how much he has developed already since he was born. It is amazing how much I love him! Anyway, I’ve posted some of the photos from our photo shoot below.

Elias and Mommy

Family Photo

Happy to see Daddy

Cute Thanksgiving outfit from Grandma Bartle

And here is how you know you have taken too many photos of your baby……..

No more photos!

After our photo shoot, I made a key lime pie and we headed off to my Aunt and Uncle’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Everything tasted wonderful and we had a great evening!

Last weekend my brother Scott got married. It was a very happy time, but also provided some challenges because Elias was only 6 weeks old, and Nathan and I were both in the wedding party. Elias got to have his first hotel stay, meet tons of family members on the Bartle side, have his first dance with his new Auntie, and much more.

Our weekend actually started on Thursday with the wedding rehearsal. After the rehearsal, we went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Elias stayed awake and happy the whole time. Maybe we need to get a whole bunch of interesting lamp shades and lighting in our house too. He loved looking around at everything.

Scott and Kristy at the family shower

On Friday, a lot of my aunts, uncles, and cousins made it into town from Idaho and Hawaii. Elias also met my Auntie Jeani and Uncle Jim for the first time. We started out the morning by getting manicures….but Elias didn’t have to come to that. He was babysat by Grandpa Bartle and Uncles Scott and Greg. Then we had a lot of fun at a family wedding shower where we got to meet a lot of Kristy’s family too. They played some hilarious games and had some great food. We dressed Elias in his Packers outfit to win over all of Kristy’s family from Wisconsin.

The boys getting ready. (Left to right) Greg, Dad, Scott, Nathan

Friday night we had a lot of fun hanging out with our family at my parents’ house. Then on Saturday, we had the actual wedding. When we were at my parents’ house getting ready, the boys wanted to do some funny pictures. I love how Nathan cannot act serious in the picture. That makes it even more funny. I don’t know what the fascination with guns is, but it is there just the same.

All the Bartle cousins posing for pictures before the ceremony

The ceremony was really beautiful and I am so happy for my brother. I knew that I love him and was very happy for him, but did not expect to get quite so emotional. I know I saw Nathan glancing at me and smirking because I was tearing up when Scott said his vows. I know he will be such a good husband and I am proud to be his sister.

Scott holding Elias.

Then the reception was also very fun. The whole night went by so fast. Elias got to meet lots of new people, and he had his first dance with Auntie Kristy.

Elias dancing with Kristy and my Dad

I was really glad we had booked a hotel room at the Embassy Suites so we didn’t have to drive all the way home.

After the reception

When we got back to the room, Elias was still in a very happy mood as he had been all night so we decided to take some really cute pictures of the three of us all dressed up.

He is such a cute boy!

Our family after the baptism

Elias was baptized yesterday on All Saints Day. We, of course, love our son very much and were very excited for him to become a member of the body of Christ. There was a lot going on at the worship service because of All Saints so Elias got a little fussy at times. For the most part, though, he did very well. He only made a few little sounds when the water was poured over him. The water that was used actually had water from the Jordan River mixed in so that was cool! I have to admit, I got a little teary when the priest said, “Elias, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.” Nothing can every take this away from him. Jesus died to save him and there is nothing anyone can do to change that. It was very moving.

Elias and his suit

In other news, we bought a cute white suit for Elias to wear. He decided that it would be on this fine occasion when he would have his first complete diaper blowout. We knew he had pooped shortly before the baptism was to happen, but there was not enough time to do anything about it. Afterward, during the offertory, Nathan and I went out to change his diaper and found that it had gone beyond the diaper and out onto his clothes. We had to put the suit back on without the undershirt, but oh well.

After the service we got to go to grandma and grandpa Bartle’s house for a nice lunch. Overall, it was a very happy day for our family.

With his godfather, Andrew

Sleeping and looking cute

The whole family. (left to right) Uncle Greg, Grandma Bartle, Grandpa Bartle, Mommy, Daddy, Elias, Uncle Scott, Grandma Smith, Auntie Kristy

Elias is 5 weeks old and I am finally feeling like things are getting into a rhythm. I took Elias out this week to the library where a cute little girl asked me: “Why are all babies bald?” We also went to costco where I bought him some books for Christmas and got some prints for his photo album. I am sad that the weather is turning cold and rainy just as I am developing more confidence to take him places on my own. It would be so fun to go to the park or go on longer walks. Oh well. We’ll have to get creative. Pretty much everything is different going places with a baby. But I am learning and enjoying the time I have while he is so little.  He is “talking” more and more every day. It is so fun to watch him grow!

Elias started fussing as soon as the Giants won the world series.

Happy Halloween!

First Halloween

Elias got to wear his cute “first Halloween” outfit from Grandma Smith. He also got to listen to Tocata and Fugue in d minor for the first time. It was the postlude at church today! Then when we got home he got to watch football and baseball with his daddy. All-in-all, he had a good first Halloween.