Time to Paint

One of the first things we decided we were going to do when we bought our house two years ago was paint the outside. The color choices were not our favorite, and we couldn't wait to change them. Well, here we are two years later and still with teal gutters and trim. Yes, teal. We decided to do some home improvement projects with our tax return this year and are finally getting serious about getting the house painted. We should get the rest of our estimates this week from a few painters and then will pick one to go with. I have been looking through paint color samples this past week trying to decide. I think I am going to have to buy several sample cans and paint small areas first before I decide. This is a big committment so I want to make sure we like the color! It is not unusual for me to fall in love with a color on paper and then hate it when it is finally up on the wall (just ask my dad and Marc about this one!). We are probably going to go with something in the beige or tan family with cream for the trim. Anything other than teal should do wonders for our curb appeal (sorry if any of you have teal houses, it just isn't my favorite color). :)

I showed Eli some colors I liked.

He wanted to take a look for himself.

What about this color mom?

I reminded Eli that we no longer wanted to be the most noticeable house on the street and that pink probably wouldn't help us out with that.

Then we had to take a break because all the decision making was stressing Eli out.

I reassured him there are many more difficult decisions in life than picking paint color.

It will all be ok. :)

Weekend Wrap-Up

Marc was moonlighting in an ER 4 hours away all weekend and the housing didn't work out for me and Eli to join him so we hung out, just the two of us. We had fairly nice weather which allowed us to get out to one of our favorite spots. There is a park really close to our house that has lots of geese and ducks to feed. The last time we went was last fall and I knew Eli didn't remember it, so I was excited to take him back to see what he would think. Marc reminded me before we left of how aggressive the geese were last time. I think he was afraid they were going to attack Eli. Once I got there, I became a little nervous myself. You could tell they were hungry! I couldn't believe how quickly they surrounded us, and I certainly did not bring enough bread. Good thing they didn't want us for lunch. :)

Just as I ran out of bread a man pulled up and got out of his car with a big bucket of corn kernels for the birds. They went crazy!

Eli loved it!!!

We left the geese and ducks and walked around the park to a nice playground that I knew Eli would enjoy. They finished this playground last spring and it is SO nice. It has that really fun rubber ground which makes it so colorful.

There were so many kids! Eli really loved watching them all run around.

He was a perfect fit in the baby swings! This was his first time and I can't wait to take him back with Marc sometime soon.

Little Giraffe

Here is a video of Eli playing with some of his snack cups. This is one of his favorite things to do lately on the kitchen floor. I think he likes the clip-clop noise they make. He looks like a giraffe to me when he is on all fours walking with these cups! :)

Messes

(Warning: this post may not be for those with a weak stomach)
Oh the messes a baby can make! Some of the funniest memories I have with Marc in Eli's first few months involve cleaning up all those baby messes. I remember when he pooped in the bathtub for the first time, sprayed the wall by the changing table with pee, and squirted poop 3 feet away from his changing table to the opposite wall when Marc lifted up his legs during a diaper change. Oh the laughs we had! The joys of parenting. :) Lately, Eli has been a wiggle worm with his diaper changes. He tries to flip over and crawl away. He also puts his hands everywhere which is such a problem with the messy diapers. I have come to learn you can either hold both his feet or both his hands by yourself, but not both. Today I was holding his feet and cleaning him up and putting the dirty wipes in the diaper by his feet. Then, all of a sudden Eli started reaching for his diaper. I had his feet with one hand and a wipe with the other hand and I couldn't act quick enough. At that point everything went into slow motion as Eli grabbed a handful of poopy wipes and smeared them all over the wall beside him and I began frantically yelling NO still without a free hand. Gross. Gross. Gross. Too bad daddy wasn't home to help out with that one. :) I eventually got things sanitized, cleaned, and then re-sanitized and went in to fix Eli's lunch. The pictures below clearly show that today was just meant to be a day of messes. Beef raviolli with spaghetti sauce may not be on the menu for a while. Ha! :) He is such a cutie pie even when he is messy. I think he has figured out that if he makes a big enough mess during his meals that we take him straight to the bath tub!

And this was after clean-up #2!

Eli and I went to Babies R Us this afternoon to stock up on what else, diapers and wipes. We also spent some time in the toy aisle checking out some of the "big boy" toys for his upcoming birthday. He liked this Little Tykes piano a lot. It was really loud and most of the people in the store were staring at us, but Eli was sure having fun!

Well, we hope everyone has a great weekend. Hopefully, you all are enjoying the first signs of spring like we are with 70 degree weather! Aaahh!