More P365

I've really been enjoying this "P365" thing. On most days, I have plenty of pictures to choose from, photos of our normal daily events. And then there are those days when I completely forget to get out the camera and remember at 11pm that I haven't taken my daily picture. Therefore, I have several great shots of Eli sleeping. :) Hopefully I don't forget much more, because there is only so much you can do with a sleeping toddler, photographically speaking. :)

Anyway, here are a few from recently:

April 6- fixing his bike with his tools. This is one of his all-time favorite things to do.



April 13- climbing at the playground. Climbing also ranks among Eli's favorite pastimes.



April 14- We were attemping a picture of all the cousins in the bluebonnets, which turned out to be a massive failure. I don't know if it's possible to get a good shot of three 2-year-olds, a 4-year-old, and a 4-month-old! But my sister snapped this cute one of Eli, though. We'll try all five cousins again soon, though I doubt the results will be much improved. :)



Have a great week!

Camping

This past weekend we went on our annual spring camping trip with the whole Bergstrom side of the family. As always, we had a blast! The weather was absolutely perfect, and I don't think we could have had a better time.

Eli had a blast taking long walks, fishing, riding in the boats, splashing in the water, and playing with his cousins. He is such a happy, cheerful kid- he is a joy to be around! We love taking him camping because I don't think there is anything he enjoys more, and we happen to feel the same way ourselves. :)

A little fishing:



A lot of walking:



Plenty of splashing:



Some boating:



It all adds up to a perfect long weekend away. We are so thankful!

Easter

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Easter! What a beautiful time to really reflect on what the resurrection means to us. God heaped all of our horrible sins upon His only Son and poured out His wrath upon Jesus Christ. Then He conquered death by rising from the dead. There is no greater gift, no greater reason to celebrate than this! Praise be to our gracious God!



Easter weekend was a joyful, fun time this year. We got to spend some time with Eric's mom on Saturday morning, and then on Saturday afternoon my parents had an egg hunt for the kids. I wasn't sure if Eli would "get it," but he ran out the back door and hunted eggs like an old pro! He picked up way more than his fair share, and Eric kept sneaking them out of his basket and re-hiding them to give his cousins a fighting chance. :) We enjoyed dinner on the backyard patio, with sticky buns for dessert (my favorite Easter tradition!).



On Sunday morning Eli was, of course, elated to see baskets full of candy and treats. Sunday School and church were fantastic, as was Easter dinner with the whole family afterwards. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend!



Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is risen indeed!

Friday

"Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him."

Isaiah 53:4-6

Persistence

Eli has a good amount of persistence. When he sets his mind to something, he will get it accomplished. I love this about him, but there is one particular application of this persistence that tests my patience more than a little. :)

He will randomly think of something or someone, and it takes a good fifteen minutes and perhaps 500 repetitions of the same word to get it out of his brain. And he wants me to answer him with every repetition.

Example:

Eli: [random thought popping into his brain] Bike?

Me: Oh! Did you remember that you took a bike ride with Daddy yesterday?

Eli: Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike?

Me: Yes, you ride the bike with Daddy sometimes.

Eli: Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike?

Me: Honey, we can't ride the bike right now- we're driving in the car right now.

Eli: Bike? Bike?

Me: No, baby, not right now.

Eli: Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike?

Me: Maybe later. Please stop asking about the bike now.

Eli: [loudly, with more persistence] Bike? Bike? Bike?

Me: No, sweetie.

Eli: Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike? Bike?

Me: [beyond annoyed, trying to exude patience] No.

And this will go on for literally fifteen minutes. It's cute at times, and it definitely make me laugh, but it drives me nuts at times, for sure! :)

He does this with people, too. His latest favorites have been Nick and Sarah, which, the way Eli says it, sounds like "Nice and Rara." Heaven forbid that Sarah call during the day, because that will set Eli off on a monologue about their whole family that will last a good portion of the morning.

P365

Have you heard of P365? Not to be confused with P90X, this is a much more fun and much less exhausting project to embark on.

P365 is basically just an effort to document every day of your child(ren)'s life for an entire year. It was created as a scrapbook thing- take a picture and then scrapbook about it. But I am about as far from a scrapbooker as a girl can get, so I decided instead to just do a daily picture and write a little note about each one in a notepad document, so that I can look back and see what has happened in this year of Eli's life. Ideally, this would have either started on Eli's first birthday or on January 1, but I always forget my camera. :)

For the past 5 days, though, I have successfully snapped a picture of Eli. And thus begins P365- I will not be thwarted!

Here are days 1-5. And no, I will not be posting all 365 pictures, much to your relief. I tried to choose pictures that were indicative of each day, not just a random "good shot."

March 5- playing on "cars" in the driveway. He spends hours on end riding up and down the street, up and down the driveways, with me and/or Eric frantically chasing after him.



March 6- watching Eric work in the vegetable garden, soon to be planted with all our tiny seedlings!



March 7- a rainy Sunday spent at church and then inside. This was when I remembered that I had to take a picture that day and made Eric and Eli stand outside on the porch before bath time. I'm an outstanding photographer of candid moments, I tell you.



March 8- another rainy day spent mostly indoors. Eli's favorite rainy day activity is banging with metal spoons on metal bowls. I tolerate the racket only when there is no other option for entertainment. :)



March 9- I worked all day and then left 30 minutes after I got home to go to Awana, so the picture I had to resort to was Eli totally sacked out in bed when I got home. Eric wore him out with hours outside this afternoon, and I looooove the deep sleep of a little boy tired from playing!



I wished so much I had my camera this afternoon when I watched Eli run around outside for a few minutes after work. He ran into our neighbor's garden and sat down on a little stone deer to "go for a ride." :)

Have I bored you yet? Regardless of the bore factor, I am committed! I heard it said once that you will never look back on a picture of your child's life and say, "I wish I hadn't taken so many pictures of him." I am trying to soak up and remember every minute of this toddler phase. So here's to P365! :)

Spriiiiiing!

Can it be that we have said goodbye to the last of the extremely cold winter days? Oh, how I hope so! I am soooooo ready to devote long mornings and afternoons to taking walks, feeding ducks, climbing on playgrounds, finding sticks, swinging, digging, exploring, and all the other pleasant outdoor things that come with having a toddler boy. I honestly never thought much about winter besides, "Boy it's cold." But now that we have a toddler that thrives when he is outside and wilts when he is not (much like a plant!), I've been wishing this winter away every since it began. So bring on the spring!

The one thing I am dreading about spring is daylight savings time beginning (or ending- which is it?). I loathe anything that messes with Eli's schedule, and I'm pretty sure most moms of young kids feel the same. Eli already likes to go to bed late (8 or 9pm, which we consider late!) and sleep late (8:30 or 9am). I'd much prefer him to go to sleep around 7pm and wake up around 7am, thus giving Eric and I a decent chunk of time alone together in the evenings. He goes to work at 5am, so he tries to be in bed by 9pm at the latest. Anyway, all that to say that I am dreading daylight savings when Eli will want to go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 10am. Any tips on slowly changing a child's schedule to look more like you want it to look would be greatly appreciated.

And, on that extremely boring note, I will wish you all a happy beginning of spring (unofficially) and head to bed to rest up for the fun day of outdoor activities we have planned for tomorrow!