Photo Shoot

New photos are up on my photography blog. The link is to the right.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our anniversary. It was four years ago today that we snuck off to City Hall and eloped! It might not have been my proudest moment (the sneaking off and eloping, that is) but I still maintain that marrying Eli was the best thing I ever did. I love him so much. I'm crazy for him. The plan for tonight was to go out to dinner and then go see my brother in the theater's production of Gypsy. Unfortunately, when we got downtown to go to our favorite restaurant, we found that it was not open for dinner due to Beerfest! Yes, by all means, let's have a big party where people can walk around all the bars and get as drunk as they can stand! Anyway, by the time we got to another restaurant for dinner, it was 7:20 and the play started at 8. So we decided to go to WalMart instead and pick up some things in case this storm affects us. It was definately a unique anniversary. We'll go to the play next week.

Tomorrow is Brayden's second birthday. I'll be sure to post lots of pictures of his cake and him opening gifts.

I have a heavy heart this week. Most of you know that Eli was hospitalized Monday of this week and diagnosed with diabetes. I brought him home Thursday evening and he's been doing well, but it's still so hard to think about. Seeing Erin's post and the picture of Eli from a few years ago before life touched him really made me cry. I haven't let myself think about it in any sense other than the pragmatic or I know I'll totally lose it. A couple times I've started to tear up, but I feel like now's not the time to let go. There's still so much to do. We have to find a way to make it through the next few weeks. Eli doesn't have sick days, so next week we won't see a paycheck. On top of which his insulin and suppplies are $450 a month, and we're going to run out of the freebies they gave us in the next couple days. I know God will make a way for us (He always does) but it's hard to sit on my hands and wait while trying to decide what bills I can pay and how I'm going to afford the medicine he needs. Brayden's birthday is in two weeks and I know I should probably use the money Eli's parents sent for his present (a train table and train set) for insulin, but I just can't bring myself to think about it. We went looking at toys today and he beelined for the little train table they had set up. I just don't know if I can take his present away from him. We're hoping the doctor will have some samples we can use. Eli has been doing well. He has been taking the basal 24-hour insulin every night. But he's not been taking the rapid acting insulin each time he eats and his blood sugar hasn't gone above 200. Nor has it really risen after eating. It gives us a little hope. I'm looking for a specialist so we can have the proper tests run and know for sure if his pancreas is working at all and what may have triggered this all of a sudden. And then we have to let the Air Force know. I don't know what they're going to do. It's all a lot right now.

Photo Fest

So, I have admittedly neglected my blog lately. So I thought I'd post a bunch of photos from the last few weeks.

These are from Kid's Day out at Langan Park. The balloon on his wrist is a turtle. He thought all the animals were curious to look at. And he thought we were all out of our minds when the lady was painting Mickey on his arm.

















I took Brayden downtown to Bienville Square and let him terrorize...I mean chase...the squirrels. He had an absolute ball!





This about sums up the day.



And here's a few odd pictures. Brayden loves playing Guitar Hero and taking baths with Daddy.

Brayden's First Haircut

This is the first of several posts to update everyone on what's been happening around here. Last Friday, Brayden got his first official haircut! It was really cute and I got great shots! Here are the pictures! Aren't they adorable?!

All Things New & Exciting

So, lots of exciting news. First off, I got my hair cut! And I'm not talking about a trim. She took the better part of a foot off my hair. (I'm donating it to locks of love.) Now it falls halfway between my chin and my shoulders and curls under at the bottom. It is just so cute! I LOVE it! I was really anxious that it might freak Brayden out, but he just looked at me for a second and then went on about his day. Eli, on the other hand, didn't take it quite so well. I don't think he really likes it as of yet. It makes me look rather different and he's going to need more time to adjust to it. Although before bed last night he did finally admit that it was pretty cute. I'll take pictures and get them up later so you can all see.

Second, and probably more important, Brayden has started trying to talk! I knew it would come in time, but it has been the source of many arguments between Eli and me and I'm glad he's decided to start communicating. He said 'ball' again yesterday, which he hasn't said in many months, and he'll occasionally say 'up'. He said something else, too, but I can't remember what. (I know, I know, way to go Mom.) He's also doing more signing which is a blessing. He will sign 'drink', 'up', 'down', and 'more'. And he points when I say 'go'. He knows and responds to 'car' and 'bath', 'food'/'eat' is still a work in progress. I think that's harder for him because it refers to a variety of things. Even though 'drink' also refers to several different things, they are always presented in his sippy cup. I'm just very excited. It's a huge step forward for us. He's also listening to me more. I can ask him to come to me to change is diaper and he will come. I sit down in the rocking chair with his Puppy Love and a book and he crawls in my lap to read before bed. In fact, I'm now putting him down more or less awake and he'll doze off on his own. He'll hold my hand without much complaint. When he starts to run off in public, I can call him back and he comes to me. The list goes on, but the point is his tantrums and pushing the limits has eased up a lot.

My last big news is that Eli has quit playing WoW! A new game came out that everyone has moved to. He likes it well enough, and a bit more considering all his friends are on it, but our computer won't run it as it is. We would need a new processor, graphics card, and power supply at the very least, and that's just not money we have. So Eli is off gaming. He says it's until we have the money for a new computer, but I think that if I can keep him interested in other things, that he may well not go back at all. He's been talking about that for several months now, but has always gotten bored with nothing else to do, so he's continued to play. But today we're going to buy the supplies and Eli's going to build the baby a wagon! The one I want is $100 and that's just too much for us. So Eli's going to build it instead. (Totally his idea, amazingly enough!). That should keep him sufficiently occupied for a couple weeks. I'll let you know how it goes.

We went to see Kung Fu Panda last night. So good! Brayden actually sat and watched the entire thing without squirming once! He got really excited during the last 20 minutes or so. That will definitely be one we purchase for him.

Anyway, I guess that's about it. I'll check back in soon.

~Liz