MKE

Hi.  I know that it's been several months since my last post, but things have been crazy.  As most everyone knows, we moved our family across the country.  We now live in the greater Milwaukee area.  I've told so many that I never thought I'd come to Wisconsin much less live here, but it's been an exciting adventure thus far.  I guess we've lived in our new house about 6 weeks...crazy that it's been that long.  Man, if I didn't know before this move, I know now that it's so hard to move/unpack with two little ones.  It's taking much longer to get settled than I'd like, but I'm trying to be patient and not let it worry me.  Our house was built in the '90s so it's pretty new, but we'd like to make a few changes to make it our own.  We went back to Texas last week and I repeated the phrase, "I know, I need to post photos of our house and neighborhood," so many times.  Because of that, here's my post.  I'm going to try to be better about posting, but honestly it just takes soo long.  (FYI: Most of the rooms haven't been fully decorated.  It's a work in progress, but here's what I have done thus far.)

Entryway

Living Room...new furniture but nothing yet on the walls.

Kitchen...it's a nice space but it we'd like to change a few things.

Nook

Dining Room

Downstairs 1/2 bath...nice but we'll update 

Guest room/office

Basement...didn't take a picture of the play area (i forgot)

Graham's Room...one of two rooms that are complete in the whole house.  it's okay, we'll get there eventually.  :)

Eloise's Room...it's complete too!

Full bath upstairs...needs some love too!

Master Bath

The bed wasn't made in the master bedroom, and I was lazy so that's why there's no picture of it.  

This is what we see out our front door.  Fall is in full swing up here.  It's beautiful!

Apart from the house, things are going well with us.  I've tried to get Graham involved in as much as possible so that he can meet friends and feel more at home in our new home and state.  He's in soccer now...which he is loving but also, pretty good at.  (I'll post pics of that later).  He goes to school 2 days a week and loves that too!  In all of our activities, Eloise is always happy to be along for the ride.  She's happiest if we're out of the house on the go.  At this point, she's crawling all over and pulling up.  When she doesn't realize it, we'll catch her standing by herself without holding on.  

The weather is pretty chilly up here already.  Most days it's been in the 30s and 40s in the morning, but it'll be 50s or 60s by the afternoon.  It's a nice change.  

Well, that's it for now.  I really am going to try to be a more faithful blogger in the future.  Have a great day!

Who do they look like?

I've been trying to back up all of my photos lately, and ran across a few of Jeff and I as babies. It's so fun to look at them to see who Graham and Eloise look like. I see so much of Jeff in Graham. I didn't see that much of him until I looked at these pictures. Especially the one of Jeff at Graham's age. I see a little of me in him too...a good mix. Eloise looks a lot like I did...so sweet!

Me at 2.

Jeff with his grandmother

Jeff was probably 2.5 here...Graham's age.

Here's my sweet girl pretty much sitting up.

Graham had so much fun dying Easter eggs.

I can't believe it, but E turned 5 months today. She got her first tooth today too...big day!

Eloise at 5 months:

-She got her first tooth.

-She's almost sitting. She can sit without support for about 30 seconds before falling over.

-She started eating one serving of rice cereal which has helped her sleep straight through the night. (8 to 8)

-She found her feet in the last couple of weeks.

Graham at 34 months:

-He can tell me all of his friends names.

-He told me that he loved me without prompting for the first time.

-He loves going to school...I hope he continues to love it.

4 months for E and 33 months for G

3 months for E and 32 months for G

Its's hard to believe that Eloise is already 3 months old. This last month has been fun, and a little less crazy than the 2 months prior. She's so smiley...as you can see in this first picture of her.

Eloise at 3 months:

*She started laughing today. At first I noticed her laughing in her sleep, but today she laughed when I tickled her tummy.

*She's regressing a little with her sleep. She's going to bed around 11:30 or 12 and sleeping until 6 or 7. She was going to bed around 10 and sleeping until 5 or 6.

*She can roll from her back to her side pretty easily. She just hasn't made the full roll yet.

*She's lost most of her hair on the top of her head...still has some on the back though.

*All she wants to do is sit up straight. It's kinda sad when she's reclining you can see her trying so hard to sit up, but she just can't. She's working those abs hard.

Graham at 32 months:

*Well, he's fully regressed on his potty training. He doesn't tell us at all when he needs to go; however, if you take him, he'll always go. I'm a little worried because next year at his school, he has to be potty trained. It's several months away I know, but I'm already worrying about it.

*He loves his sister. He's so kind and gentle with her. His kind spirit just blows me away every day. I've decided and I think he has too, that he was not meant to be an only child.

*He can say his alphabet. Sure a few letters get left out...especially there in the middle, but he's got most of it.

*At school, they've been talking about pets and what they need to survive (ie. food, water, shelter). He's been so cute because he keeps repeating it. He's even been hand feeding Lucy.

On a side note, we are so excited and proud of Uncle Andy (Jeff's brother). He competed with about 100 other tuba players for one spot in the Chicago Lyrical Symphony. Uncle Andy won the job and will be moving to Chicago in August to start his professional tuba playing career. If you're ever in Chicago and you go to the Opera, you'll see Andy...the one and only tuba player.

He built this long train all by himself. Papa's been teaching him the ropes.

Eloise playing with the age appropriate toy and Graham playing with the same toy that is not age appropriate...haha

The beautiful flowers my hubs sent me just because.

2 months already...

Time is flying by with Eloise. It's hard to believe that she's already 2 months. She is such a joy to us. Lately, I have really been thinking about how wonderful it is to be a mom of these two cuties. Graham keeps me laughing and on my toes for sure, while Eloise's smiles and coos warm my heart. If I love my kids this much, I just think about how much our heavenly Father loves us. I am so thankful that he has entrusted us to steward Graham and Eloise. The song "How He Loves" really sums it up so well.

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.


We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking
So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way

And oh, how He loves us
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so


Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Eloise at 2 months:

Weight: 13 lbs. 6 oz.

Height: 23 1/2 inches

New things: She started cooing and smiling around 7 weeks old.

Sleep: from about 10:30 to 6 or so....

Big Brother Graham:

He's been helping out mommy by getting her "my my" or her blanket.

He says "put El-Weez down" so that mommy can get him a snack or play.

eloise

I guess it's been a little while since I've done any blogging. Things have been so busy around here with Graham and our newest arrival Eloise. I've had several people ask if I was going to create another blog for her, since this one is named littlegsmith. However, I can barely keep up with this blog...so it'll be just one combined blog for all of us.

I can't believe it, but Eloise is one month old today. Time has gone by so much more quickly with her. Partly I think it's because she's a better sleeper than Graham was at this age. She's only waking up once at night...not bad at all. She's has brought us such joy, and I cannot express how thankful I am that she's part of our family!

I'm always short on my words on this blog...mainly because I'm not good with writing them down, but now it's not only about that but about my time. I'm pretty sure from here on out that my posts might become shorter and shorter because I'm chasing down a 2 1/2 year old and trying to keep my littlest one happy. My blog will pretty much be full of pictures, which is what I'm sure you'd just as soon see anyways.

Here are a few from the last month.

Pumpkin carving

We've carved pumpkins every year since Jeff and I were married, but this was the first year that Graham really participated. He requested triangle eyes and teeth in the mouth. He was very engaged until we got to the gooey center. He thought that was "yucky"...which didn't surprise me at all. We had fun!

Before.

Oh no...

This was the yucky part.

The finished pumpkin. He's so proud.