Road Trip

My grandfather is unable to travel due to some recent health problems. In fact, I had not even seen him for a long time because he was in the hospital when I was pregnant and I was not allowed to visit him. Also, July 17th was my grandmother's 80th birthday so we wanted to be there to celebrate and introduce Eli. They, along with my aunts and cousins on my dad's side of the family, live in Atlanta or nearby. So, on July 18th we packed up the car with ALL of Eli's things, our luggage, my sisters, and my mom, and we headed south. Jordan drove and I sat up front with him, while the aunts and DeDe (my mom) sat in the back and entertained the little one.

They did a great job keeping a fussy car seat rider happy the whole way there.

Feeding him helped...and we didn't have to stop at all.

Jordan and I enjoyed our time in the front talking and listening to music.

When we arrived we were met with some anxious great grandparents, great aunts, and cousins.

Eli and Pa

My Aunt Debbie in the background...so sweet.

Eli and Grammy

It was a wonderful weekend. More pictures to come of aunts and cousins. I just don't have them uploaded yet...whoops. We had a great time and look forward to seeing them all again soon. Now, Eli needs to see my Ohio family and he will have met most of our extended family members. Ohio, Eli is anxious for a meeting....a plan is in the works. Love you all.

A California Visit

2 of our dearest friends, Adam and Mary, who live all the way in California were in town working but were able to come by and meet our little man. It was short but sweet and so wonderful to see them.

Eli loved them I could just tell, mother's intuition, that he would really like it if they would be our neighbors someday. No pressure you guys, I mean no big deal disappointing a one month old. :-) Love you guys... we look forward to another visit.

Eli Meets Jordan's Grandparents

We are very behind on our posts considering this event happened a month ago. However, I am on a mission to get caught up, so here goes...At the end of June, Jordan's grandparents made a visit from South Carolina to Tennessee to meet Eli. We all had a good time visiting and passing Eli around.

The first look

Eli and Nonny

Eli and Memaw

Eli and Papa


The Boys

Eli's Favorite Pics

Thank you Caitlin for the personalized onsie!

Momma did not know that Dad was allowing this to happen, but no worries momma, Toby loves me...so much that he even gave me a kiss, but dad told me not to post that one.

Dad asked me to "Look Terrified" for my 1 month old pic. Pretty good huh?

Hugs to all! Check ya later.

Hello

Hey out there!!! I have been quite the absentee blogger...Jordan has really stepped up to the plate and kept us current for the most part. I thought that I would surface today and tell those who venture by "Hello".

All is well in the Hester house accept that my sweet angel has been quite the fussy fella lately, leaving me to type with one hand while constantly bouncing him with the other. We are in the midst of trying to decode his various vocal cues. Now, it is true that I have been known to purchase a good logic book with all those crazy, brain exercising, problem solving, puzzles just for fun. I find much joy in figuring those things out and doing everything in my power to not peek at the back of the book with all the answers. However, I will say when it comes to Eli's puzzle, I would pay big bucks for a glance at all the right answers. But, I guess, just like those books it would not be near the ride if all the answers were simply given to me before I even had a chance to try and figure them out.

So, in the mean time when "the going gets fussy...the fussy goes dancing". Eli loves him some dance and music, which works out well because his mother does too. He has especially taken heart to one of our friend's songs. So, it has been played probably over 20 times in the last few days. Also, lucky for me, I love the song as well and have been known to play many other songs over and over myself (much to Jordan's dismay). Therefore it is definitely a win win situation because it makes Eli so very happy and keeps his momma's head from spinning around and her spirits up. All this, so very important. :-)

Experiencing joy in the midst of challenging situations...a gift from God. I am thankful.

fyi. you can buy our friend, Andy's cd at your local Barnes and Noble. It is called "Let The Woman" by Andy Davis and Eli's favorite is track number 2. You should check it out. Eli knows good music. :-)

Thanks for stopping by,

Ryan