The Baylor Family Blog

On Saturday, the day after Abi’s 1st birthday, we welcomed somewhere around 40 people into our home to celebrate! We are so grateful to the friends and family members who have walked beside us through Abi’s first year!

Matt and I carefully crafted a butterfly cake, with Matt as the head cake-icer! We enjoyed using some fun neon-food coloring to add some fun colors to the cake and some fun candies we found at a local candy store.

We served breakfast burrittos for the party-attenders to enjoy for lunch. Though Abi usually enjoys lots of the foods we put into burritos, I think she was a little overwhelmed during lunch and didn’t eat much. Or maybe she was saving plenty of room for cake!

Abi wasn’t too sure when we initially gave her the birthday cupcake.

Eli was quick to come to Abi’s side for encouragement!

Abi wasn’t too sure about the gummy butterfly at first, but she quickly grew fond of the taste and managed to gum down the whole thing!

Abi worked at eating her cupcake for about 45 minutes. I think the smile proves she thoroughly enjoyed it!

With her daddy’s help, Abi opened lots of presents, some bigger than she was! Of course, she had plenty of help from Eli and her cousin, Nathan, too! Abi was spoiled with many things, all which are being well-enjoyed by both Eli and Abi!

Abi snuggled right into her new heart pillow!

And Abi proudly posed for the camera in her movie-star sunglasses, which came in her brand new pink purse!

Of course, the kids soaked up attention from lots of people, including their Gran-B and Poppy.

To our delight, Abi seemed to be in a great mood and enjoyed having lots of people around to celebrate her first birthday! Thanks for all who made her first year so special!

There were lots of posed shots taken that I wanted to include from our time in Wisconsin, too.

Here are my parents with all five of their grandkids:
Andrew (11 months), Grandma, Tycen (1.5 years), Callie (3.5 years), Grandpa, Abi (11 months), Eli (2.5 years)

We took a few pictures of Abi in her Christmas dress, which she wore to the Christmas Eve service. I bought her this dress while I was still pregnant with her, and she finally got to wear it. She looked so pretty Eli had a Christmas suit on, but he wasn’t up for picture since he just busted his lip open.

Here is Abi and her cousin, Andrew, both born on the same day. It was hard getting both of them to sit still long enough for a picture!

Eli with his cousin, Andrew:

Me with my nephews, Andrew and Tycen. Eli popped in the second shot!

On December 22, we loaded up and flew to Wisconsin to spend a week with my family to celebrate Christmas. Since my siblings, parents, and I all live in different states, it is always precious when we can all get together. We all arrived within a day and a half of each other. My parents got to enjoy the busyness of five mobile grandchildren ages three and under. It was fun watching the cousins play together and entertain each other. We had lots of cold weather, but that also included plenty of snow for the kids to enjoy, as well. It was fun watching the personalities of my niece and nephews come out more and more, too.

The first evening with all of us together, we had little birthday celebration for Kevin (whose birthday was in December), Andrew and Abi (whose birthdays are both January 22). I’m not sure Andrew had much of an opportunity to play with his new toy, but the other kids sure enjoyed it

There was plenty of snow, so many went outside to play and shovel or un-shovel, and sled. My parents have a great, long hill in their backyard for sledding. My brother somehow managed to sled down the hill standing up, but Callie and Eli were very compliant sitting in the sled all the way down! Eli enjoyed showing Callie how to eat the snow, too. The weather was quite cold, so the kids didn’t spend too much time outside before needing to get warmed up inside, too. Andrew braved a sled ride, but we didn’t even try and bring Abi out since she his a good history of throwing tantrums when getting bundled up.

Despite the snow, we managed to make it to the candlelight Christmas Eve service. Just before we left home, Eli fell off a bathroom stool and busted his lip open. It hurt for him to eat and drink, so he was a little out of sorts. Poor kid. Neither of our kids lasted the whole service (we weren’t shocked). I brought Eli back in after the sermon. The church gave glow sticks to the kids instead of candles, which was a special treat that was played with all evening.

Somehow, we all managed to wait until Christmas morning to exchange gifts. We were all spoiled with LOTS of gifts. There were presents stacked half as tall as the Christmas tree, several feet out. The little kids did better than us big kids leaving the presents alone Eli scored some new games, matchbox cars, puzzles, and so much more. Abi is enjoying new dolls, a stroller, shopping cart, vacuum, lots of food for her kitchenette and more. Matt enjoyed some Wii chargers, tools, and lots of athletic clothes. I walked away with a new DVD player, garlic press, silicone whisk, muffin pan (okay, I’m feeling all grown up now!) and more! We packed all our suitcases to the maximum weight limit and still shipped a large box home.

After Christmas, Matt and I got a much needed escape from kids and headed out for a date one afternoon. We haven’t gotten out nearly enough for dates since Abi’s birth. We visited the highlights of Monroe and simply enjoyed the freedom of just being us! We were thankful to my parents and siblings for watching the kids!

My brothers and their families had to maneuver through some very icy and snowy weather on their way home. Despite the fact they went south and we headed north to the airport, we somehow had much better roads. We found out after checking in at our gate that our flight was overbooked by 10 seats. With Matt’s job done at Focus, there was no reason for us to be home that day. So we voluntarily gave up our seats. In return, the airline put us up in a nice hotel, provided us with meals, confirmed us on a flight the next day, and gave us three round-trip airline tickets. Score! It was a bit tricky doing this with small kids, but it was definitely worth it in the long run. It was an adventure, for sure!

(Eli showing Tycen how to drive Grandma’s scooter. I think Eli will have no problem helping Tycen get in trouble during future visits)

On December 12, we traveled to Denver to celebrate Christmas with Matt’s parents and brother and his family. Soon after arrival, to our delight, Abi took her morning nap without much fussing. It was her first time sleeping well in a new place! The rest of us enjoyed some delicious breakfast before opening stockings!

I’m not exactly sure what was going on in the picture above, but the Baylor boys were definitely laughing and having some fun. I don’t think anyone got hurt while taking this picture

It wasn’t long after that Abi awoke from her morning nap, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, and shared gifts with each other. The kids had fun delivering gifts and helping everyone else open their gifts.

Eli enjoyed spending lots of time with his cousins and Gran-B and Poppy. He especially enjoyed their matchbox cars in the basement. In fact, it was hard to lure him upstairs with everyone else most of the time!

Here are the four Baylor cousins, not quite in age order: Abi (11 months), Katya (1.5 years), Nathan (4.5 years), and Eli (2.5 years)

In the afternoon, we walked over to Than and Michelle’s house (who live nearby) and decorated some gingerbread cookies. I hadn’t braved the task of decorating cookies with Eli this season, so I was thankful he still had the opportunity. Unsurprisingly, he really enjoyed himself. I’m pretty sure we’ll be decorating some cookies at home together next year

Well, somehow, October has gotten away from me in terms of blogging! At the beginning of the month, we were having some technical difficulties. My tech-savvy husband kindly rebuilt our blog, but then life got busy and I haven’t updated since! Though I don’t have a large number of blog entries to prove it, October has proven to be a very busy month for us! Here are a few things to get me started again…

• We spent a day in Denver with Matt’s parents, brother and family. The kids enjoyed running around, playing with grandparents, and of course playing Red Light, Green Light! The adults enjoyed good conversations, delicious food prepared by Michelle, and of course several games of Red Light, Green Light!
• We’ve passed around a couple colds. Eli thankfully has been able to kick three colds so far this fall without having to go to the doctor. Abi ended up at the doctor with a double ear infection. Unfortunately, we learned that her tummy doesn’t tolerate antibiotics will. We tried two different ones, and she threw up after most doses.
• Eli spent a day with his Gran-B and Poppy. Matt had some training in Denver, so he brought Eli up one evening and spent the night in Denver and then they traveled home the next day after Matt’s training. All reports are that  Eli had a blast swimming, playing in the leaves, running around with his cousin, Nathan, seeing Sadie, and much more. He was exhausted when he came home and took long naps for a couple days afterwords!
• Abi had an Upper GI, which is an X-ray of her GI tract taken after she drank some barium. To my delight and surprise, Abi tolerated the procedure amazing well. She actually held the barium down and cried more from being restrained than anything else. The doctor recommended this test when she was 4-months old. For various reasons, we decided to wait. Well, five months later, she still is having a really difficult time having a bowel movement, even with medication. And about every month, she has the symptoms of a GI bug and can’t hold anything down for 12-24 hours. It could be a bug, but that seems odd since the rest of us have never gotten sick and she isn’t in daycare or around sick kids. So, with that said, we decided the test would be prudent. The doctor called a few days after the procedure to report everything looked normal, which is exactly what we expected.

Labor Day weekend was extra special this year because it included a visit from my parents! Somehow they managed to keep up with our busyness, though i think we may have completely wore them out on some days! Eli and Abi soaked up the extra attention and have been going through detox this week, as they re-adjust to far less attention!

On Friday, we enjoyed time in our backyard. Eli rode his tricycle and changed my mom around the shed! Abi drove her car (with help, of course!). The kids loved all the attention! We ended the day at Mimi’s for some delicious chocolate dessert! Yummy!

On Saturday, we woke up at the crack of dawn and headed over to the Balloon Classic only to be disappointed that the hot air balloons were not able to lift off due to weather. Fortunately, my parents hotel was nearby and had a great indoor pool. Eli was thrilled to get to go swimming and thought everyone took way to long changing into their swimsuits! Abi’s growing love for water fits in well with our family!

If seeing hot air balloons and swimming wasn’t enough, we decided to head over to the zoo to finish off the morning! Eli was hesistant to feed the giraffes, but he loved watching his grandpa feed them! Abi hung out in the Baby Bjorn and did great napping on the go!

On Sunday, we decided to take things a little slower! We went to the late service at church and enjoyed a late grilled lunch here at home. We enjoyed some chocolate zucchini cake and played Rummi-Kub while the kids napped.

On Monday, we woke up once again at the crack of dawn to head back to the Balloon Classic. We weren’t disappointed this time as 73 hot air balloons were inflated and lifted into the sky! Eli was especially intrigued by the balloons this year. He immediately took his place on Grandpa’s shoulders to take in all the sights and sounds. We ran into our friends, Cameron and Lisa, and enjoyed catching up with them. Matt and Cameron were recruited to help with the inflation on a balloon. Any chance to have hands on experience always excites Matt! We walked around the lake watching several balloons dip down into the water. It was beautiful!

After the balloons, we met up with my mom at the hotel to go swimming. After swimming, we all changed into our sports shirts and headed over to Chick-fil-A to get our free sandwiches. Even Abi got one Unsurprisingly, the kids were simply exhausted and took great naps! My dad’s request for ice cream led us on a drive over to the Old Colorado City Creamery for ice cream and some window shopping. What a weekend!

We told Eli that Grandpa and Grandma were going to fly in an airplane to go back to their home. Now, when Eli sees an airplane, he points up in the sky and says, “Grandpa and Grandma!” When Eli woke up from his nap today, he said, “Me Grandpa and Grandma come back to me house.” Too sweet. He misses their attention greatly!

We had a great weekend! On Saturday, we loaded up in the car and headed to the Colorado State Fair. We’d been telling Eli he would get to see farm animals, so he was quite excited! We arrived before the fair officially opened, and we were able to explore the animal barns without much of a crowd! Eli was a bit anxious around the animals and preferred to be safe and sound on his daddy’s shoulders. But he’s been talking nonstop about the animals since we got home, so I know he still enjoyed it!

In the agricultural barn, Eli was able to play in a large box of dried pinto beans. He loved it. We literally had to drag him kicking and screaming out of the bean box. Good times!

After watching a shark show and monkey show, we sat in the shade for a simple picnic lunch with a touch of fattening fair curly fries (yummy!). Abi was such a trouper eating and sleeping on the go!

I think one of Eli’s favorite stops was looking at the big farm machines! He was completely enthralled and didn’t stop talking for a second as he ran between all of the machines!

Eli has always been a kid who doesn’t do well on less sleep. But to our delight, we pushed his nap back two hours later than normal and he did great! He had one major temper tantrum (after the bean box), but otherwise did great! He only slept for an hour on the way home and even made it until bedtime in a decent mood! Miracles do happen!

On Sunday, both Eli and Abi did great in their classes, so Matt and I were able to enjoy the service together! After church, Matt went to soccer practice while the kids napped.

On Sunday evening, we had Matt’s Grams and Grandad and Mom over for dinner. Grams and Grandad were in town celebrating their anniversary and staying overnight in the same hotel they stayed in during their honeymoon! The kids soaked up the extra attention!

What a great weekend

With Eli’s birthday only a couple weeks away, we had an early birthday celebration with Grandpa and Grandma Davis! Eli doesn’t have a clue that he is turning two, but he definitely knows what to do with a wrapped present! He tore into his packages like a pro!

Eli is showing off his new bubble-making lawnmower with all-terrain wheels to his Grandma!

I don’t have a good picture, but Eli also got a Fridge Phonics game to help him learn the alphabet and letter sounds! He thinks its pretty cool. After only a couple days, Matt and I have been finding letters of the alphabet spread into all rooms of the house!

Grandpa found a special toy for Eli: Elmo Live. After using the toy to entertain Eli in the store while shopping, Grandpa ended up returning to buy it as a surprise. I wish I had a picture of the BIG smile that creeped onto Eli’s face when he saw Elmo (or as Eli calls him, “Mo”)! Elmo is Eli’s new best friend and has been carted up and down the stairs multiple times and even accompanied Eli down the slide.

Eli has been exploring every inch of his new Elmo. He even trusted Elmo so much that Eli stuck his face in Elmo’s mouth.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Eli gave Elmo a ride on his new lawnmower.

I can hardly believe our little guy will soon be two! But he makes us laugh so hard!! It was fun to have an early celebration with his grandparents! And to say the least, our little guy got spoiled!

My parents have been on a tour to see all five of their grandchildren in February! Their first stop was to my oldest brother’s, Kevin’s, home to meet their brand new little guy, Andrew, who was born the same day as Abi!  Then they had a visit with my brother, Brad, to see their two kiddos. And lastly, this past week, my parents flew in to meet their newest grand-daughter! As you can see from the pictures, Eli made sure he got plenty of attention, as well! Abi could often be found cuddled in Grandma’s arms, while Eli and Grandpa played and spread toys all over the house! Enjoy the pictures!

This past week, my parents flew in for a visit! Because the weather was nice, we decided to go to the zoo! This was only our second trip to the zoo, and the first trip was at night to see the Christmas lights. Since that visit, Eli has added several animal sounds to his vocabulary, so we were looking forward to seeing his reaction to the animals!

One of the coolest exhibits at the zoo is the giraffes. There are A LOT of giraffes, and you can buy “giraffe crackers” to feed them! Its quite the experience to have a big giraffe tongue come at you to request a cracker! Though Eli was a little intimated by the tall creatures, the rest of us loved the giraffes! By far, Eli’s favorite stop at the zoo was the monkeys. It was fun watching him run around the zoo, and we look forward to many more visits, as we got a membership. Abi enjoyed the comfort of the Baby Bjorn and wasn’t too interested in the animals